Category Archives: Arts

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 22 May 2014

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

742a. Stained glass window of St Michael the Archangel, St Michael's Church, Blackrock

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  22 May 2014

“Historical Walking Tour of Blackrock”

 

“We are witnesses today of the rebirth of a parish, from hence shall flow a renewed spiritual life, better organised, more vigour, more fruitful that ever before”. (Part of the sermon of Bishop Lucey, 7 June 1964, official blessing of St Michael’s the Archangel, Church, Blackrock).

The fourth walking tour this month focuses on the south east locality of Blackrock Village (Sunday 25 May, 2pm, starts at Blackrock Castle, two hours, free). The Cork Examiner, the day after the official blessing of St Michael’s Church, (a church built to replace the accidental burnt down edifice of the first structure) on Monday 8 June 1964 reveals an age of screaming Beatles fans, Greta Garbo films at the Palace Theatre, Peter Sellers films at the Lee Cinema, Glenn Ford at the Ritz and Rock Hudson films at the Savoy and westerns at the Capital, and the advent of the Carry-on films in North Cork cinemas. His quest to install five rosary churches in the suburbs as beacons of reverence were monuments to the place of religion and community life in Cork and nationwide. Where St Michael’s was not part of the process, it’s burning in 1962 brought it on the Bishop’s radar. There is one thing to build from scratch but another thing to watch your place of worship burn to the ground, get over that and rebuild within a modern society mould.

In a wide ranging and poetic sermon during the official blessing ceremony, Bishop Lucey focussed on four requisites for a parish church; firstly that it should look like a church inside and outside, suggesting as he noted “the majesty and mystery of God’s presence and people’s worship”. Bishop Lucey’s second requisite for a good parish church was that it should embody the tribute of craftsmanship and beauty. The architect, Mr James Rupert Boyd Barrett had nearly half a century of practice under his belt and had designed many major buildings throughout Ireland, including the Department of Industry and Commerce in Dublin, four new churches in Cork and ten new churches in the Diocese of Kerry by the early sixties. At the official opening he was bestowed upon by Papal Order the Knight-Commandership of the order of St Sylvester. The contractor Mr John Sisk, the foreman Joe Murphy and the quantity surveyor Mr Coveney all worked hard to create as Bishop Lucey alluded to an edifice of huge skill and art and “a monument of faith”; and “of another world beyond the present”. The firm of Sisk alone had experience in church building over a period of 110 years previously and had built 60 churches including two cathedrals.

The church is a very beautiful space, lightness and grace define it. Its warmth and coloured glass, images of ships, fish, hearts, diamonds, lambs, castles and heaven reveal that other order of facts of a sense of place, which defines any religious and community structure. It has a timeless and mythic nostalgic feel despite its modern roots. The slender pre stressed concrete spire rises to 150ft. The front wall is faced with stone, having limestone dressings at the entrance doors, centre window and tower. The other walls are faced with bestone and doors have pre-cast concrete dressings. Here concrete has form and meaning illuminating and lifting the great structure from its environs – and creating an embedded picturesque’ quality.

Bishop Lucey’s third requisite concerned the need to provide accommodation for the people of the parish, being large enough for them for Sunday masses and intimate enough for them to feel at one with the priest at the altar wherever they are in the Church. Bishop Lucey alerted the fact that £40,000 had come from the insurance claim and that £80,000 had been fundraised within two years since the burning led by a diligent fundraising committee who are remembered lovingly on a plaque in the porch. The investment by the people brought their connection to history in the making and enabling them to connect to a sense of belonging. Overseen by a frail Canon Ahern who never made it to the official blessing during the construction, the reins were handed over to Fr O’Donovan who came in from Caheragh in West Cork, where he had overseen the construction of a new church, not so similar in design to Blackrock there. He brought energy and drive to this his second construction project within five years.

The final requisite for Bishop Lucey for a good parish church was that good people would constantly worship in it. At the end of the church on the site of an old confessional box, the lit candles light up warmly a quote from the book of Evangelist St Mathew; “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls”. Bishop Lucey’s words deconstructed convey powerful cultural and ideological messages, some rooted in the values of the space and time of 1964, and its way of life but many of which are still as important today in 2014 in community life and in our nation as it has been in the past. More on the walking tour on Blackrock plus see the Church for more on their forthcoming jubilee celebrations.

Caption:

742a. Stained glass window of St Michael the archangel, St Michael’s Church, Blackrock (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

McCarthy’s Forthcoming Community Events

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

 

Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s ‘Make a Model Boat Project’ 2014

Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in the fourth year of McCarthy’s ‘Make a Model Boat Project’. All interested must make a model boat at home from recycled materials and bring it along for judging to Cork’s Lough on Sunday afternoon, 1 June 2014, 2pm. The theme is ‘legends’ and is open to interpretation. The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara’s Ocean to City, Cork’s Maritime Festival and the Lifetime Lab. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. There are prizes for best models and the event is free to enter. Cllr McCarthy, who is heading up the event, noted “I am encouraging creation, innovation and imagination amongst our young people, which are important traits for all of us to develop”. See www.kieranmccarthy.ie under community programme for more details.

 

 

 

McCarthy’s Historical Walking Tour of Mahon, Sunday 11 May

 

On Sunday 11 May, Cllr Kieran McCarthy is conducting a historical walking tour of Mahon (free, meet 2pm, Blackrock Garda Station, Ringmahon Road, approx two hours). Cllr McCarthy noted; “Within the story of Mahon and its environs, one can write about a myriad of topics from its connection to the river and the harbour to its former mini demesne type landscape in the nineteenth century to its heart of hard working labourers and fishermen”. The tour starts by exploring the development of Dunlocha Cottages. They were developed by the Cork Rural District Council, which existed through Public Health Acts of the late 1800s, giving them authority to improve public health in the areas they represented and Labourers Acts of the late 1800s, which gave them authority to clear slum like areas and build new houses for those that needed them most.

 

 

McCarthy’s Historical Walking Tour of Ballinlough, Sunday 18 May

 

Cllr Kieran McCarthy will lead a historical walking tour through Ballinlough on Sunday 18 May starting at 2pm at Beaumont National Schools. The event is free and is open to all. Cllr. McCarthy noted: “Ballinlough is full of historical gems; the walk not only talks about the history of Ballinlough as an important suburb in the city’s development but also its identity and place within the historical evolution of our city. It is also a forum for people to talk about their own knowledge of local history in the area.”  Ballinlough has a rich variety of heritage sites. With 360 acres, it is the second largest of the seven townlands forming the Mahon Peninsula.

Ballinlough has a deep history dating back to Bronze Age Ireland. In fact it is probably the only urban area in the country to still have a standing stone still standing in it for over 5,000 years. Kieran’s walk will highlight this heritage along with tales of landlords, big houses, rural life in nineteenth century Ballinlough and the rise of its twentieth century settlement history.

McCarthy’s Forthcoming Community Events

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

 

 

Cllr McCarthy’s Community Talent Competition 2014

 

Cork’s young people are invited to participate in the sixth year of Cllr Kieran’s McCarthy’s Community Talent Competition’. The auditions will take place on Sunday 27 April 2014 between 10am-5pm in the Lifetime Lab, Lee Road. There are no entry fees and all talents are valid for consideration. The final will be held over one week later on Saturday 10 May. There are two categories, one for primary school children and one for secondary school students. Winners will be awarded a perpetual trophy and prize money of €150 (two by €150). The project is being organised and funded by Cllr Kieran McCarthy in association with Red Sandstone Varied Productions (RSVP). Further details can be got from the talent show producer (RSVP), Yvonne Coughlan, 085 1798695 or email rsvpireland@gmail.com.

 

 

Kieran’s Gramophone Recital

Kieran will present this month’s Ballinlough Gramophone Recital this Thursday evening, 24th April, 7.30pm at Balinlough Pastoral Centre next to the church. He will play and sing songs from the musicals. All welcome.

 

 

Kieran’s Historical Walking Tour of Balintemple

The first of three walking tours Kieran will present in early summer takes place on Sunday, 4 May and is of Ballintemple (2pm, meet inside Ballintemple graveyard, opp. O’Connor’s Funeral Home, Boreenmanna Road, two hours, free). Ballintemple as a settlement hub is one of the earliest in the city that came into being. Urban legend and writers such as Samuel Lewis in 1837 describe how the Knight’s Templar had a church here, the first parish church of Blackrock: “At the village of Ballintemple, situated on this peninsula, the Knights Templars erected a large and handsome church in 1392, which, after the dissolution of that order, was granted, with its possessions, to Gill abbey. At what period it fell into decay is uncertain; the burial ground is still used”.

 

Forthcoming

–          Mahon Historical Walking Tour, Sunday 11 May, 2pm meet Blackrock Garda Station, top of Avenue De Rennes (two hours).

–          Ballinlough Historical Walking Tour, Sunday 18 May, 2pm, meet Beaumont National Schools, (two hours)

–          McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat Project, 2pm, Sunday 1 June, The Lough, in association with the Ocean to City Maritime Festival.

First Call: Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s Community Talent Competition 2014

Arts, Cork City Events, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

Cork’s young people are invited to participate in the sixth year of Cllr Kieran’s McCarthy’s Community Talent Competition’. The auditions will take place on Sunday 27 April 2014 between 10am-6pm in the Lifetime Lab, Lee Road. There are no entry fees and all talents are valid for consideration. The final will be held over one week later. There are two categories, one for primary school children and one for secondary school students. Winners will be awarded a perpetual trophy and prize money of €150 (two by €150). The project is being organised and funded by Cllr Kieran McCarthy in association with Red Sandstone Varied Productions (RSVP). 

Cllr. McCarthy noted: “The talent competition is a community initiative. It encourages all young people to develop their talents and creative skills, to push forward with their lives and to embrace their community positively”. Further details can be attained from the talent show producer (RSVP), Yvonne Coughlan, 085 1798695 or email rsvpireland@gmail.com.

Kieran’s Question to the City Manager and Motions, Cork City Council Meeting, 24 February 2014

Arts, Cork City Events, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

Question to the Manager:

To ask the City Manager, what is the status of the Blackrock Harbour area plan? Plus have tidal surges and sea level rise been taken into account re the proposed stepped down area into the tidal area itself? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).

Motions:

That the Council hold a National Expo in Docklands in future years (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

That a Docklands Festival be established making use of vacant buildings such as Odlums (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Blackrock Historical Walking Tour, Friday 20 September 2013, For Cork Culture Night

Arts, Cork City Events, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

 

As part of Cork Culture Night and the open evening fete on Blackrock Pier Cllr Kieran McCarthy will conduct a historical walking tour of Blackrock Village on Friday 20 September 2013, 5pm, leaving from the grotto (approx 90 mins, free event). The earliest and official evidence for settlement in Blackrock dates to c.1564 when the Galway family created what was to become known as Dundanion Castle. Over 20 years later, Blackrock Castle was built circa 1582 by the citizens of Cork with artillery to resist pirates and other invaders. The building of the Navigation Wall or Dock in the 1760s turned focus to reclamation projects in the area and the eventual creation of public amenity land such as the Marina Walk during the time of the Great Famine. The early 1800s coincided with an enormous investment into creating new late Georgian mansions by many other key Cork families, such as the Chattertons, the Frends, the McMullers, Deanes and the Nash families, amongst others. Soon Blackrock was to have its own bathing houses, schools, hurling club, suburban railway line, and Protestant and Catholic Church. The pier that was developed at the heart of the space led to a number of other developments such as fisherman cottages and a fishing industry. This community is reflected in the 1911 census with 64 fisherman listed in Blackrock.

 

Cllr Kieran McCarthy notes: “A stroll in Blackrock is popular by many people, local and Cork people. The area is particularly characterised by beautiful architecture, historic landscapes and imposing late Georgian and early twentieth century country cottages; every structure points to a key era in Cork’s development. Blackrock is also lucky that many of its former residents have left archives, census records, diaries, old maps and insights into how the area developed, giving an insight into ways of life, ideas and ambitions in the past, some of which can help us in the present day in understanding Blackrock’s identity going forward.”