Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 9 January 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – Fr O’Flynn and the Shakespeare Mission

Fr Seamus O’Flynn’s championing of community life in his North Parish was exemplary. In 1911, the Christian Brothers at the North Monastery Schools celebrated their centenary. They decided to put on a pageant of Irish mythology and history and invited their past pupil, Fr O’Flynn, to act as producer. He took on the project and soon after he was scouring the shelves of the libraries in Cork for books on Irish mythology. He produced a pageant, which the North Monastery community was proud of. Pictures of the pageant still adorn the corridors of even the modern day North Monastery schools.

The Irish Outlook, a weekly review of literary and social events, said of Fr O’Flynn in July 1912; “There is a strong magnetic quality in his personality; the magnetism that sways, that encourages, that inspires with hope and confidence. He is enthusiastic and has a multitude of interests, all national in character. His energetic mind is devoted to the re-establishing of the native language, and swayed by his enthusiasm many readily enrol themselves under his intrepid banner. As an orator, he possesses eloquence of a high order; his indisputable and his power to grip and hold an audience unique”.

Arising from his explorations of Irish culture in West Cork Fr O’Flynn believed in a revival of the Gaelic tradition. He became president of the Gaelic League in Cork City and acted as chairman of the Munster Feis. He continued to bring energy to the activities he organised. In the autumn of 19I7 he delivered six lectures to Gaelic Leaguers in Bolton Street Technical School, Dublin on Irish music and on Shakespearean dramas.

In 1918 Fr O’Flynn became a member of the newly appointed sub-committee of the Cork Municipal School of Music. He travelled to Belfast and asked traditional Irish music arranger and specialist Carl Hardebeck to accept the positions of Professor of Irish Music and the Headmastership of the Cork Municipal School of Music. Carl Hardebeck was convinced and agreed to come to Cork. The core issue back in Cork though was Carl’s German origins. The teaching staff resigned in protest at the appointment of a German headmaster in light of the First World War. A complete suite of new staff were appointed.

The Oireachtas – the annual festival of language, song, poetry, music, dancing and games of the Gaelic League – was held in Cork city from 3 to 9 August 1919. Fr O’Flynn had worked on several of the committees to ensure the success of this event.

In 1924 the nuns of St Vincent’s Convent School, Peacock Lane, asked Fr O’Flynn to help students of theirs to stage a scene from The Merchant of Venice. Two girls involved in this event were Kathy Hickey and Eileen Curran. About this time Fr O’Flynn began to develop his idea of establishing classes for the study of Shakespeare’s plays. In November 1924, the Cork Shakespearean Company commenced. Almost all members of the Company came from the area around the North Cathedral. This was a slum ridden area and very much at the heart of Fr O’Flynn’s work as well was to lift people out of poverty and give them opportunities and hope.

Among the first members were Eddie Golden, James Stack, Tom Vesey, Harry McCarthy, Roly Hill, Peadar Houlihan, Leo Griffin, Harry Weldon, Ken O’Shea, Dan Skidd, the Buckley brothers Daniel and James, the Flanagan brothers, the Healy brothers Gus, Ted and Jerome, and the Archer brothers Liam and Fred. The ladies of the Company included Eilen Curran, Kathy Hickey, Betty Arrow, Rita Coughlan, Maeve and Ina Cronin, Annie Hickey, May and Rita O’Neill , Nan Power, Rose Dennehy, Evelyn (“Fluffy) Clancy, Kitty Nott and Lena Long.

At first, classes took place in the Presbytery of the North Chapel, then in room over a shoemaker’s shop in Gerald Grifin Street. Fr O’Flynn’s players ranged in age from 12 to 26. Gradually a repertoire of Shakespearean plays was built up. It was time to go on the road and soon the company was fulfilling engagements at a number of halls in the city.

In the mid-1920s, the Cork Shakespearian Company presented plays of Shakespeare in full or in extract at places such as the Municipal Hall, Kinsale, The Palace, Fermoy, Fr Matthew Hall, Cork, The Ursuline Convent, Blackrock. They also gave open-air performances in a number of venues – the Mardyke Cricket Grounds, UCC (where they presented Twelfth Night), as well as Kinsale, Fermoy and Mallow. They put on Richard III in a disused mill at Newcestown near Bandon.

For example the Cork Examiner records that on Sunday evening, 19 April 1925, Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare’s comedy plays, was staged at the Gymnasium, Collins’ Barracks, Cork, by the North Parish Shakespearean Society. This play had been produced at the Palace Theatre with exactly the same cast. Public sentiment deemed it to be one of the best amateur efforts seen in Cork within the recollection of many older citizens who would come out to support Shakespeare’s works. The Cork Examiner wrote in praise of Fr O’Flynn; “The generosity of the Rev Fr O’Flynn and his talented society in producing this play for the entertainment of the troops is deeply appreciated by the General Officer Commanding and Entertainment Committee”.

To be continued…

Caption:

1286a. North Cathedral area, Cork, c.1920 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town

Cork Independent, 2 January 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – Fr O’Flynn, Shakespeare and the Education of the Heart

The mid-1920s coincided with the emergence of Fr Seamus O’Flynn’s growing interest in Shakespeare. The Cork Examiner on 17 December 1924 notes that under the auspices of the Fermoy Catholic Young Men’s Society, Fr O’Flynn, accompanied by some of his pupils, delivered to a crowded house a most instructive and educational lecture entitled, “How to Study Shakespeare”. The lecture in Fermoy was one of Fr O’Flynn’s first public lectures on the benefits of studying the work of Shakespeare. It was four years since the creation of the Cork Shakespearian Company and fifteen years since his first staging of a Shakespeare play in a Cork community setting.

Fr Fitzgerald, CC, President of the Fermoy CYM Society, said it was his privilege to introduce Fr O’Flynn, of the North Cathedral parish and highlighted that he was known beyond the limits of his native county, and well known to many friends present. Fr Fitzgerald outlined that for many years FrO’Flynn had been an ardent promoter of the Irish language, Irish culture and Irish traditional music, and for many years had been promoting such interests and embedding them in local Cork communities.

The choice of Fr O’Flynn’s lecture subject was How to Study Shakespeare. Fr Fitzgerald articulated that in the local schools the plays of Shakespeare had been taught to the pupils year after year and year after year had been appearing on exam papers. Hence to him the lecture topic was not out of place to champion.

Fr O’Flynn was received with applause and at the outset he gave an explanatory discourse on the means necessary to read and recite well lines within Shakespearean plays. He showed how the thoughts of the writer should first be grasped and then delivered his thoughts as Shakespeare himself might have uttered them. He noted examples of lines from Hamlet. He pointed out the methods involved to attain a perfect understanding of the construction of sentences, the ability to analyse complex forms of composition, to discriminate between essentials and expletive words and the regulation of the voice to suit the sound to the word. “Nothing marked out a finished reader so clearly as his power of modulating his voice. It was by the subtle changes of tone that the infinite variety of feeling was represented. The effects should of course be natural, with no undue straining after effect”.

After the lecture Fr Fitzgerald, in his vote of thanks to Fr O’Flynn, noted that his explanation of how to interpret Shakespeare was “simple yet eloquent”, and his selections from the various plays were “apt and very instructive”. His demonstration of how each character could be found in ordinary daily life was “striking, clear and very real, even in some instances surprising to a degree”.

There are many pieces written on the life and times of Fr O’Flynn. One striking book by writer Richard O’Donoghue, entitled Like a Tree Planted, Fr O’Flynn and the Loft and published in 1967, makes reference to Fr John Forde, parish priest, Newcestown, County Cork, who was the literary executor for Fr O’Flynn when he died in 1962. Richard writes that Fr John Forde gave him a suitcase filled with the notebooks and the recordings of Fr O’Flynn. Richard then supplemented his work by a series of interviews with members of the O’Flynn family, with past pupils of The Loft and with contemporaries of Fr O’Flynn in the North Cathedral Parish and at Passage West.

Richard writes that Cork born Fr O’Flynn’s interest in acting and performance can be traced back to his youth. Born in 1881, the young Seamus attended Blackpool National School and the North Monastery.  In September 1899, he enrolled as a student at the junior seminary of Farranferris and on the accomplishment of his studies he went to St Patrick’s College, Maynooth,

On 20 June 1909, Fr O’Flynn was ordained. Cork’s Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O’Callaghan cancelled an arrangement to send the newly appointed priest Fr O’Flynn from Maynooth to Portsmouth. He appointed him to the staff of the seminary at Farranferris to teach elocution. With a talent for acting, his well-developed voice and his love of Shakespeare, Fr O’Flynn was very content and most enthusiastic.

Later Fr O’Flynn wrote in one of his many notebooks: “I began in Farranferris in 1909. We put planks on porter barrels and covered them with an old carpet, and each year produced a full-length play of Shakespeare’s. Encouragement came from my Bishop, Dr O’Callaghan – God be good to him-and from his relative, Dr Sexton, the President of the College. By means of Shakespeare I aimed not only at helping the students to speak correctly, but at a cultivation of the noble emotions – education of the heart”.

Early in 1910, Fr O’Flynn was appointed to serve as chaplain in Our Lady’s Hospital on the Lee Road. He said Mass, administered the sacraments, visited the patients each day and frequently entertained them with his songs and dramatic pieces. There he also got a close up perspective of the human condition.

In 1910 Fr O’Flynn visited the Irish-speaking districts of West Cork and for the first time came in contact with the old Gaelic world and those who preserved the stories and championed them. He recorded; “There, rummaging among the ruins of the nation, I discovered the remnants of a supremely beautiful culture of emotion in language, story, song and dance still living in the hearts of these people, that completely captivated me”.

For many summers Fr O’Flynn spent his holidays in one or other of the Irish-speaking districts of Munster – Ballingeary or Gougane Barra, or Ring in County Waterford. But his favourite haunts lay far to the west in Kerry – Dunquin, the Blasket Islands and Ballinskelligs. It was there his interest in the marrying of education, culture, and storytelling developed even more and set him on a path to bring the power of storytelling further into the heart of Cork city’s communities.

To be continued…

Happy New Year to all readers of the column. Missed a column from 2024 log onto my website www.corkheritage.ie

Caption:

1285a. Fr Seamus O’Flynn as a young priest, c.1915 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 19 December 2024

The Decanting of the Canova Casts

The Crawford Art Gallery’s iconic collection of Canova casts have departed the building for the first time in 140 years, with a delicate process of crating and removing the much-loved artworks concluding the last few weeks. The Crawford Art Gallery closed to the public in September of this year to undergo an enormously exciting capital redevelopment project: Transforming Crawford Art Gallery. 

This multi-million euro investment will increase gallery space by almost 50%, preserve and protect three centuries of existing built heritage, and create a cultural legacy for a new century as Cork continues to grow. The project is a Government of Ireland 2040 project funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in partnership with the Office of Public Works (OPW). 

It is a historic moment in the life of the gallery, the casts, and Cork, as 25 plaster cast and marble works departed the nineteenth century wing of the gallery, built by brewing magnate William Horatio Crawford in 1884, in part to house the sculptures.

In October 1818 a ship from the UK containing 219 sculpture casts arrived into Cork. The acquisition of classical casts made an important contribution to Cork burgeoning art scene and in today’s Crawford Art Galley a cross section of them form the centre of an impressive sculpture display. Their context and journey to Cork is a unique story. Circa 1810, Pope Pius VII was anxious to express his gratitude to the English people for the return to the Vatican Galleries of many masterpieces looted by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Pope commissioned Italian artist, Antonio Canova, to make a set of over one hundred casts from the classical collection in the Vatican.

Canova (1757-1822) was deemed the greatest sculptor of his time and his name was renown across Europe. A student of antiquity, he had interests in Roman restoration projects of artwork. His early work of a statuette of Apollo Crowning Himself, which he entered into a competition organised by the Venetian aristocrat Don Abbondio Rezzonico. This work led to a large successful line of marble statue commissions across Europe comprising Holland, Austria, Poland, Russia, and England. In France Napoleon Bonaparte was a patron of his commissioning large amounts of work and artistic depictions of Napoleon posing as the Roman God of War. Members of Napoleon’s family were also depicted in marble casts such as his sister, second wife and mother (appears in the Crawford Art Gallery). In 1802, be was given the post of Inspector-General of Antiquities and Fine Art of the Papal State.

As a diplomatic gesture, in 1812, a set of Canova casts were shipped to London by the Vatican as a gift to the Prince Regent, later George IV. The Prince showed a lack of appreciation towards his papal acquisitions and the casts lay firstly in the London Custom House and then in the basement of his residence in Carleton Gardens. William Hare, 1^st Lord Listowel of Convamore, Co. Cork (beside the River Blackwater), was a patron of the arts and as friend of the prince suggested that they be donated as a gift to the people of Cork.

The Prince Regent donated the casts to the Society of Fine Arts in Cork City, whose premises was located on what is now the intersection of St Patrick’s Street and Opera Lane. An article in the Belfast Newsletter notes that the casts were shipped on Saturday 24 October 1818 – arriving a few days after. A contemporary account best tells the story of this event, more especially when it comes from a manuscript autobiographical sketch written by one of the greatest beneficiaries from the casts, Corkman Daniel Maclise.

“A former theatre once supported by the Apollo Society of Amateur Actors was fixed upon as the most suitable place for the reception of the valuable collection of casts. It was situated in a principal street, Patrick Street, and the stage was screened off by a well-painted scene of the interior of a Greek temple. The pit was boarded over and the gallery was partitioned off. The boxes remained only as they were, and the statues were arranged around the Parterre with much taste on moveable pedestals under the Superintendence of a London gentleman who was sent over for the purpose, and whose name happened appropriately enough to be Corkaigne”.

Shortly after the acquisition, the Cork Society of Fine Arts suffered financial difficulty and could not pay the rent of the premises in which the casts were kept. Under considerable embarrassment, they applied to the government for monetary aid. The Westminster Government and under the recommendation of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland stated they could grant no aid but recommended them to amalgamate with the Royal Cork Institution. An arrangement was made that the Royal Cork Institution should attain the casts and pay the debt of £500-£600 that was contracted by the Society of Fine Arts. A compromise was made of £300 and the casts were moved to the Institution’s premises on Jameson Row. Years later again, they were moved to the Crawford Art Gallery when it opened in 1885

After months of planning for the delicate operation of moving the Canova casts in our time the operation has included Crawford Art Gallery staff seeking expert opinion from London sculptural conservators Taylor Pearce Ltd. Bespoke storage crates were commissioned for each sculpture.  Many of the sculptures are estimated to weigh in excess of two tonnes, with smaller pieces weighing in at anywhere between 75kg to 500kg. 

Gallery director Mary McCarthy praised the dedication of the team involved in the removal of the 3D artworks, and said the feat was a pivotal moment in the history of Crawford Art Gallery; She noted: “ I’m delighted to announce the successful removal of our beautiful Canova casts from the Sculpture Galleries, a big moment for Crawford Art Gallery as these treasured works have not been moved out of the building for 140 years. This is a huge milestone in the decant process of the entire collection into safe storage to prepare for Transforming Crawford Art Gallery, our capital redevelopment project.”

Mary also described that the planning and dedication and expertise that has gone into their safe removal has been awe-inspiring to see; “I want to pay tribute to our in-house technical team, supported by additional external experts ,our production manager and our registrar for their work in carrying off this historically important removal smoothly and with great professionalism”. 

Caption:

1284a. Crawford Art Gallery staff, l-r, Curator of Collections Dr Michael Waldron, Director Mary McCarthy and Production Manager Kathryn Coughlan pictured during the removal of the Canova Casts from the gallery (picture: Joleen Cronin)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 12 December 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Thomas O’Gorman and the Shandon Brand

A few weeks ago, this column highlighted the initial growth of Sunbeam Knitwear Company at the historic Butter Exchange Building in 1928. After Sunbeam moved to Millfield in 1933, Thomas O’Gorman made the exchange building space into a factory manufacturing caps and accessories.

Thomas O’Gorman was well known for his business activities. The founder of the firm of T O’Gorman and Son, manufacturers of the “Shandon” brand of hats, caps and braces, An obituary for on 13 August 1947 in the Cork Examiner notes that Thomas was born near Thurles, County Tipperary. He served his apprenticeship time with a Galway drapery firm. On coming to Cork in 1904 he opened a drapery shop in MacCurtain Street, which was damaged during the War of Independence. Circa 1920-1921 he started the manufacture of caps and braces at premises on Pope’s Quay and later moved to a larger premises at the historic Butter Exchange. At the time of his death in 1947, Thomas lived at 4 Landscape Terrace, Sunday’s Well.

The Cork Examiner also reveals that in his younger days Thomas O’Gorman was an enthusiastic member of the Gaelic League and was an ardent supporter of everything Irish. He was an all-round sportsman and took a particular interest in swimming. A popular member of the Cork Catholic Young Men’s Society, he was highly respected by the members for his attention to and work for the Society.

Only a handful of stories exist in the public realm that can be used to assemble the story of Thomas O’Gorman’s factory through the decades. There is no shortage of advertisements for the company in newspapers such as the Cork Examiner throughout the company’s existence. The son of the original founder Thomas was also called Thomas. He was educated at Christian College, Cork and at Clongowes Wood in Dublin. Shortly after finishing his schooling Thomas (Junior) joined his father’s business. He was a keen rowing man, a member of the Cork Boat Club and was also very active in sailing circles, being a member of the Royal Munster Yacht Club.

An interesting note in the Evening Echo on 17 January 1961 highlights that Messrs T O Gorman and Son Ltd had associated with Messrs Christy and Company, London. At that point the factory was one of the oldest hat-making firm in Ireland, with at least sixty years’ experience behind them. The famous Christy firm was 189 years old. The association of the two firms was pursued in order to promote the sale of hats in Ireland. The British firm was one of the biggest hat and cap units in the world. The Cork Examiner reveals that part of the manufacturing process would be carried out in England while the finishing stages would be undertaken at O’Gorman’s in Shandon. The Associated British Hat (Christy) products were manufactured under licence at the Cork factory.

As the 1960s and 1970s progressed the firm began successfully manufacturing hats and caps for tourists and golfers. The traditional styles have been selling very well abroad. Following their participation in the Imbrex International Menswear Show at Earls Court in London, T O’Gorman & Son Ltd. negotiated a major deal with a Japanese market.

By 1976 T O’Gorman & Son manufactured men’s hats, caps, belts and braces. It employed about 80 people during the peak production months.  The grandsons of the original founder, Tony, John and Gregory O’Gorman were now running the business.

Tragedy struck on 30 December 1976 when an early morning fire broke out. The Evening Echo describes the destruction of the Shandon factory. Three units of Cork Fire Brigade fought to contain a fire, which was discovered shortly after 7.30am when the factory caretaker arrived to open up. Employees who reported in for work after the Christmas holidays watched as firemen hosed down the wreckage inside.

Chief Fire Officer Captain C Garvey, described the blaze as “massive” and said that the inside of the building was completely gutted. Firemen kept crowds back because of the flying glass and explosions inside as the fire swept through the factory. The job of bringing the blaze under control was made more difficult because of the age of the building and the combustible material inside.

The Evening Echo also describes that as the early days of January 1977 progressed, the factory premises was a blackened ruin with steel girders buckled and twisted by the fierce fire. Arrangements were made to keep valued employees on full pay during the re-organisation period. Temporary offices were set up at Bradbury House, 38/39 Washington Street.

Warm-hearted offers of help continued to be received by the stricken makers of hats, caps, braces and belts. From the other end of the country came an offer of all possible help in getting the Cork firm into production again. Mr Howard Temple, owner and managing director of the famous Magee firm in Donegal, got through by phone to offer a full range of samples of his famous Donegal tweed. Mr Temple instructed his factory manager to list all surplus machinery not in use and to offer it to Messrs T O’Gorman & Son for as long as the Cork firm needed it, all without charge. Needless to say the offer was been accepted gratefully.

T O’Gorman & Son eventually got up and running again at a new premises in Churchfield. Today it exists online in the hands of Gregory O’Gorman.

As for the historic Butter Market Exchange in the late 1970s Cork Corporation published a plan designed to revitalise the Shandon area of the city. This plan identified the historic Butter Exchange building as a possible centre for craft retail and production. In 1984 the IDA decided to act on this proposal and it took over the building, which it refurbished and converted into self-contained craft units with the aim of fostering the growth and prosperity of the wide craft base in the Cork region.

The new centre, which opened its doors in 1986, had 18 units, including a restaurant, and it enjoyed a close 90% occupancy rate when it opened. Today, the historic Butter Exchange awaits development as the Enterprise Exchange that will offer a space for young companies involved in technology and innovation.

Caption:

1283a. Historic Cork Butter Exchange, c.1900 (source: Cork Public Museum)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 5 December 2024

Kieran’s Cork Books for Christmas

It’s only a few weeks to Christmas. There are three publications of mine, which readers of the column might be interested in to buy as Christmas gifts. All were published in the past two years and are available in Waterstones, Vibes and Scribes, and Easons.

Cork: A Potted History (2024)  is published by Amberely Publishing. The book is a walking trail, which can be physically pursued or you can simply follow it from your armchair. Cork: A Potted History builds upon my other book from Amberley, Secret Cork, but this time it takes the viewer on a walking trail of over forty sites. It takes a line from the city’s famous natural lake known just as The Lough across the former medieval core, ending in the historic north suburbs of Blackpool.

Starting at The Lough – a Cork gem – which once hosted everything from duels to ice skating and its own tree nursery, the trail then rambles to hidden moats, ancient hospital sites, lost meeting houses, legacies of medieval remnants, across ancient streetscapes to exploring forgotten industrial urban spaces. The book reveals the city’s lesser-known heritage and hidden urban and cultural heritage features.

Places matter in Cork. The city’s urban landscape is filled with stories about its past. With some sites, you might stop and contemplate as you’re passing by, and many others might not be given a second look. But a second and even a third look can reveal some interesting historical nuggets and curiosities about Cork’s development. In Cork it always pays to look above the ground floor to shop and house level.

Last year’s publication, The A-Z of Curious County Cork (2023),published by History Press UK (2023) is still selling well. It has been born out of my own personal curiosity for many years now to venture off the main roads of County Cork to explore the curiosities of cultural heritage in County Cork. There are approximately 120 stories from different corners of County Cork. From the A-listing of Apparition to the Z listing of Zeal.

The added task of picking over one hundred curiosities of County Cork was also going to be a challenge. It is difficult to define what a curiosity is. Such a distinction varies from one person to another. The importance of a curiosity in one locale may also not be a curiosity to another locale. The stories within this book, and which I have chosen and noted as curiosities are ones, which have lingered in my mind long after I found them or brought me down further ‘rabbit holes’ of research.  

Being the largest county in Ireland, Cork has the advantage of also having the largest number of cultural heritage nuggets. However, with that accolade comes the conundrum of what nuggets to pick from. With any A-Z of anything it does not cover every single aspect of a particular history but this book does provides brief insights into and showcases the nuggets and narratives of cultural interest that are really embedded in local areas. It also draws upon stories from across the county’s geography.

Much has been written on the histories of County Cork. There is much written down and lots more still to be researched and written up. The County is also blessed with active guardians of its past. In particular, there is a notable myriad of local historians and historical societies, which mind the county’s past and also celebrate and even commemorate it through penning stories in newspaper articles, journals, books and providing regular fieldtrips for the general public. There is also the impressive heritage book series on County Cork, published by the Heritage Unit of Cork County Council.

Celebrating Cork (2022) is published by Amberley Publishing and explores some of the reasons why Cork is so special in the hearts of Corkonians and its many visitors. It takes the reader through the familiar and lesser-known layers of Cork’s importance in Atlantic Europe. Different chapters focus on the history of its port; the documents and maps which defined the city’s sense of identity; the Arts and Crafts movements, which can be viewed within the cityscape; its key institutions and charities; its engineering feats; and perhaps why Cork is known for its rebel nature. Illustrated throughout, Celebrating Cork will be of great appeal to residents, visitors and all those with connections to the city. It will be a source of civic pride as well as a valuable contribution to local history.

Celebrating Cork builds on my previous publications – notably Cork In 50 Buildings, Secret Cork, and Cork City Centre Tour – all published by Amberley Publishing. This book focuses on different topics again of Cork’s past and places more focus on elements I have not had a chance to write upon and reflect about in the past.

With more and more archival material being digitised, it is easier to access original source material in antiquarian books or to search through old newspapers to find the voices championing steps in Cork’s progression in infrastructure, community life or in its cultural development.

More and more I am drawn to a number of themes, which I continue to explore in publications. As a city on the very edge of western Europe, and as a port city, Cork has always been open to influences, from Europe and the world at large. Cork’s Atlantic-ness and that influence whether that be location, light or trade is significant.

Corkonians of the past were aware of the shouts of dockers and noise from dropping anchors – the sea water causing masts to creak, and the hulls of timber ships knocking against its wall, as if to say: ‘we are here’, and the multitudes of informal international conversations happening just at the edge of a small city centre.

Cork’s ruralness and its connections to the region around it especially the River Lee and Cork Harbour is a theme which I have been actively writing about for over a decade. There are certainly many stories along the river and estuary, which have been lost to time and Cork’s collective memory.

Cork’s place as a second city in Ireland and its second city engine is an important influencer of the city’s development in the past and for the future.

Captions:

1282a. Front cover of Cork A Potted History by Kieran McCarthy

1282b. Front cover of The A-Z of Curious County Cork by Kieran McCarthy

1282c. Front cover of Celebrating Cork by Kieran McCarthy

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 28 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Sunbeam Wolsey and the Nylon Evolution

In an article in the Journal of the Association of Chambers of Ireland in July 1953, a write up on Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd reveals the company’s foray into the production of nylon stockings.

When the big American firm of Du Pont announced that they were about to produce a new synthetic fibre, nylon, in commercial quantities, the world took little notice in the late 1930s. For another thing, war (second World War) was imminent. When nylon came it surpassed all expectations and claims and it more than repaid for the ten years of research work and expenditure of many millions of dollars that produced it.

When the concept of nylon appeared on the market, Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd was one of the first to see the possibilities of the new filament. Although wool was the main product of Sunbeam Wolsey, they had ample room for expansion. The company sent its technicians America to study it in all aspects of nylon’s production and manufacture. They returned to Cork enthusiastic about its future. The result was that as soon as nylon became freely available just after the war, in 1947, Sunbeam installed the latest American machinery and began to make nylons.

There was the choice of having the operators trained at home or by practical demonstration and experience in the United States. A group of workers was sent to study the methods used at the famous Berkshire Mills in Reading, Pennsylvania. They worked there for periods ranging from six to twelve months, side by side with the skilled American technicians.

The nylon yarn used in the Cork mill was imported from Du Pont and from British Nylon Spinners. Using American methods and processes throughout, Sunbeam learned to produce nylons identical in quality and appearance with the best American product. Indeed, the first quality Sunbeam stockings retailed at a lower price than similar American stockings did in their home market.

In the Cork mill yarn for nylon was wound onto bobbins or pirns, which were mounted on fully-fashioned hosiery machines. The whole section of the factory was not only self-contained, but sealed off by double doors from the other sections. The delicacy of the yarns used and their response to the slightest alteration in temperature or humidity made it essential that both these factors had to be maintained at a constant level. For this reason an air conditioning system guarded against any deviation from 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the department and a relative humidity of 50 per cent.

Before it could be knit in the machines, the yarn had to be strengthened by receiving a coating of size. This in turn created more difficulties because of the roughness of the treated yarn, which had to be given a certain degree of malleability by immersion in another solution before it became tough enough to withstand the rigours of the knitting and supple enough to link in the form of the stitches without fraying. The Journal noted of the machinery used:

“Stretching a full 53 feet from end to end, the hosiery knitting machine is one of the marvels of the modern world. Unerringly, once set in motion, it performs amazing feats of skill starting the stocking at the top or welt in heavily reinforced material, doubling the welt over and picking up all the stitches again simultaneously, changing down to the finest of yarn, and knitting the almost invisible web of stocking, dropping stitches to shape the knee, calf and ankle, drawing in more yarn to reinforce the heel, and finishing the stocking by dropping more and more stitches until the foot ends at the toe”.

With 12,000 needles working to regular clock-like rhythm, the machine knitted 30 stockings at a time, each run took about 45 minutes; Its movements were pre-determined through an electronic brain, which counted the stitches, casted off, drew in the extra yarn for reinforcing and guided the flashing needles.

Not only is the yarn dependent on strict air and temperature conditioning of the department; the machines were delicate too. If the temperature were to vary by only a few degrees, the consequent expansion of the steel bars that ran the whole 53 feet length of the unit would throw the needles far out of alignment.

The stockings were knitted in the flat opened-out form and of un-dyed yarn. These blanks were very susceptible to snags, and to increase their resistance they were first placed in a conditioning chamber where they are submitted to a temperature of 164 degrees and a relative humidity of 70 per cent for a period of half an hour. Afterwards they were dried and taken to the seamers. The formed stockings were then tested and examined on an expanding tube; “The depression of a foot pedal by the operator exerts a pressure of about 30 lbs, stretching the stocking to more than twice its normal diameter. Any faults will show immediately under such a test, and faulty stockings are discarded”.

The next process was that of pre-boarding. The stockings were drawn over flat leg-shaped metals and placed in a steam oven at about 30 lbs pressure for five minutes to set the stitches, which afterwards would never lose their shape. They were then scoured in a large washing machine to remove the “size still coating the yarn”. After drying the bags were placed in a rotating drying machine and subsequently dried in centrifugal hydro-extractor.

The final manufacturing process involved the stocking once again drawn over leg shaped flat metal pieces, which carry them through another oven chamber in which the shape of the stockings is fixed permanently. They were then laid in heaps of one dozen and moved away by conveyor belt to the packing department, which they were checked for faults and then onto the packers.

All the cardboard boxes used for Sunbeam products were made at the factory, where a complete box-making plant was installed, operators and all, some years previously. There was also a huge dispatch department, from which the many products were sent to the wholesale warehouse in Dublin, from where the entire country, except Cork City and County, was served. Sunbeam was selling more and more goods abroad. Twice a year, buyers from New York’s largest stores travel to Europe seeking the best goods available to bring home to their customers.

Caption:

1281a. Employee at Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd working on nylon stockings, 1953 (source: Journal of the Association of Chambers of Ireland, July 1953; British Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 21 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Sunbeam Wolsey’s War Years

The Thirteenth Ordinary General Meeting of Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd was held on 12 September, 1941. It revealed methods of circumventing challenges posed by the Second World War. In particular, during the summer of 1941, a complete embargo was placed by the Westminister government on the export of Australian wool to Ireland. As a result it was initially feared that only half of the Combing Plant could be utilised. So Irish wool was used. A closer study  found that Irish wool was of infinitely better quality than had been anticipated and that it could be processed on the finest of the factory combs.

William Dwyer much regretted the reduction of £23,000 in stock. It was partly due to the difficulty in obtaining raw materials and it was also due to the much greater demand for the goods manufactured by the Company.

However, against that context in 1942 Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd published a promotional booklet, which set out in brief the first 14 years of the Company since 1928 and an overview of the Company in that year. It was highlighted that the entire Company was managed by Mr Declan Dwyer, who was also a Director and a son of the founder. The initial pages focussed in on the processes of scouring, combing, and carding that took place in a long and grey single-storey building at Blackpool.

Focus was placed on the fact that a large proportion of the hosiery yarns used in this country were dyed at Blackpool, including commissioned work for outside spinners and manufacturers. At Millfield one of the best-equipped machinery dyehouses in Ireland was sited. The booklet noted that the dyeing transformation scene was like a scene in a pantomime; “The products are changed in the dyehouse into riotous colours-every colour imaginable, from the browns of the Silk Hosiery to the blues, crimsons To this portion of the factory come the yarns to and greens of the wool yarns…The dyer’s job is not merely to produce beautiful shades though. He has to make the colours proof against light. washing, perspiration and sea water. To do this, he must have ample supplies of good water, and at Millfield a big filtering plant and the ‘Permutit’ process purifies and softens the water to zero degrees hardness”.

The booklet continued to describe that down in the bowels of the factory was the boiler house with its three 38-foot boilers, each capable of generating 10,000 lbs of steam per hour. Here too was a huge steam accumulator that kept the supply of steam heat to the factory, dyehouse and humidifiers constant – even though the boiler output varied. Finally, the water softening plant ensured that the water used for cleaning and dyeing was of the exact nature required. Pumped through filters to free it from impurities, the water went to the Permutit softening plant at the rate of 5,000 gallons hourly.

There was an interesting section in the booklet dealing with the heat within the factory in the silk thrower section. The whole process of spinning and knitting silk hosiery was carried out at a tropical temperature. Traversing the ceiling at regular intervals were big white humidifiers, which kept the atmosphere at a set warm temperature. If that did not occur, the silk thread would become hard, brittle and unworkable. As the silk arrived from China or Japan, the silk was in long hanks and had to be steeped in special oils and chemicals for a number of hours to give it elasticity.

Throughout the promotional booklet, there were nods as one would expect to the skilled workers and the importance of efficient management; “The Sunbeam Wolsey equipment is the finest procurable. The Sunbeam Wolsey workers are second to none in skill and the materials used are the best that money can buy. Everyone at Sunbeam Wolsey, from the management right down to the latest joined junior, is united in a firm resolve that every Sunbeam Wolsey garment will be all that the most critical wearer could desire. It will give satisfaction, not only when new, but through long and strenuous wear”.

Through graphic illustrations in the booklet, some interesting facts about Sunbeam Wolsey production were highlighted, especially on yarn production and payroll; “In only one day enough wool yarn to stretch twice around the world is produced while the number of employees has increased thirteen times. The weekly payroll has increased twenty times and up to 1940 the production of silk hosiery had grown eightfold. Perhaps the most surprising thing that emerges from those figures is that the production per employee is practically doubled since 1928. The reasons for this are increased efficiency, experience, and the most up-to-date plant obtainable”.

A section in the promotional booklet was also given over to the social services given to employees. A dispensary and surgery at the Blackpool plant was properly staffed and equipped by the management. Workers could have free medical attention. The brochure denoted a contentness in a great reduction in the number of days lost through illness. Other social services were the canteen, the recreation grounds and the football teams. In the canteen employees could purchase hot meals, cigarettes and chocolate. If they wished to bring their own meals with them, they could also eat them in comfort in the canteen along with their fellow-workers.

The booklet also denoted that when the (Second World) War broke out the firm immediately provided proper Air Raid Protection for the staff through building and equipping huge underground shelters. Fully-trained Air Raid Squads and a fully-equipped fire service were always ready to deal with an impending emergency.

To be continued…

Caption:

1280a. A representative pictured in the 1942 Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd promotional booklet of nearly a thousand Sunbeam Wolsey workers. This girl is operating a flatlock seaming machine for making flat-seamed underwear (source: Cork City Library).