Another Cork heritage open day is looming. The 2016 event will take place on Saturday 20 August. For one day only, over 40 buildings open their doors free of charge for this special event. Members of the public are allowed a glimpse of some of Cork’s most fascinating buildings ranging from the medieval to the military, the civic to the commercial and the educational to the ecclesiastical. This event was greeted with great enthusiasm by building owners and members of the public alike in 2015 with an estimated 25,000 people participating in the day.
It is always a great opportunity to explore behind some of Cork’s grandest buildings. With the past of a port city, Cork architecture has a personality that varied and much is hidden amongst the city’s narrow streets and laneways. It is a photogenic city, which lights up with sunshine as it hits the limestone buildings. Much of its architecture is also inspired by international styles – the British style of artwork and nineteenth century brick pervading in most cases– but it’s always pays to look up in Cork and marvel at the Amsterdamesque-style of our eighteenth century structures on streets such as Oliver Plunkett Street or at the gorgeous tall spires of the city’s nineteenth-century churches.
Cork Heritage Open Day is twelve years in the making and with 40 buildings it is almost impossible to visit them all in one day. It takes a few goes to get to them all and spend time appreciating their physical presence in our city but also the often hidden context of why such buildings and their communities came together and their contribution to the modern day picture of the city. The team behind the Open Day, Cork City Council, do group the buildings into general themes, Steps and Steeples, Customs and Commerce, Medieval to Modern, Saints and Scholars and Life and Learning – one can walk the five trails to discover a number of buildings within these general themes. These themes remind the participant to remember how our city spreads from the marsh to the undulating hills surrounding it, how layered and storied the city’s past is, how the city has been blessed to have many scholars contributing to its development in a variety of ways and how the way of life in Cork is intertwined with a strong sense of place and ambition. For a small city, it packs a punch in its approaches to national and international interests.
The trail Medieval to Modern is a very apt way to describe the layers of our city. The trail walk encompasses some of the amazing buildings in the city centre, but also some where you come away going, “why haven’t I seen this hidden gem before”. Admire the historic frontage of the Princes Street Unitarian Church, examine the coat of arms and symbols within the Masonic Hall, explore the “Modest Man” in Christ Church, re-imagine the past court cases in the Cork Circuit Court House, revel in life in an eighteenth century merchant’s house in Fenn’s Quay, discover Cork one hundred years ago through exhibitions in St Peter’s Cork on North Main Street, get lost in the street and harbour views of Cork in the Crawford Art Gallery, stand under the proscenium arch in Cork Opera House, and walk the winding staircase of Civic Trust House. All of these buildings celebrate life in Cork, an active populace constructing the senses of place in Cork, and all relate the multitude of memories, which ignite the ambitious streak in the city’s development DNA.
Meanwhile down by the river, the Customs and Commerce trail follows the Lee and showcases some of the old and new commercial buildings in the city. These buildings track the commercial history of Cork City and highlight its many industries over time. For the more energetic walker this route can be combined with the Medieval to Modern walking route. Re-imagine the turning of the wheels of the trams at the National Sculpture Factory, learn about local government in the City Hall, think highly of the multiple stories of the city’s masons and carpenters at the Carpenter’s Hall, feel the energy of the steam ships in the maritime paintings in the city’s Custom House, and look at the fine details on the pillars within AIB Bank on the South Mall.
The Custom House was designed by William Hargrave in 1881 and built at Custom House Street between the north and south channels of the River Lee. At the time its main work dealt with inland revenue. In 1904 the Cork Harbour Commissioners took over the building on a 999 year lease. In 1906 a magnificently ornate boardroom, designed by William Price, the then Harbour Engineer, was added to the building. Equally impressive is the Committee Room, a dark wood panelled room, with pale cream and gold wallpaper and a delicately patterned ceiling. The Boardroom and Committee Room house a fine collection of maritime artwork owned by the Port of Cork Company.
See www.corkheritageopenday.ie for more information on the city’s great heritage open day and then followed by Heritage Week (information at www.heritage week.ie). My tours are posted at www.kieranmccarthy.ie under the walking tours section or follow my facebook page, Cork Our City, Our Town.
Captions:
857a. Custom House and Cork Docks, view from the top of Elysian Tower (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
857b. City Hall Complex and the city centre island beyond, view from the top of the Elysian Tower, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
The rediscovery of the tram tracks at Blackrock Pier has created much enthusiasm and many historical questions. Some of the answers may be below:
The tram tracks will be re-incorporated into the pier regeneration project.
Whose vision was it?
Circa 1897 the Corporation of Cork planned to establish a large electricity generating plant. The plant would provide public lighting and operate an electric tramcar extending from the city centre to all of the popular suburbs.
The site of the new plant was on Monarea Marshes (now the National Sculpture Factory) near the Hibernian Buildings.
The Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Ltd, was registered in Cannon Street, London and had a close working relationship with eminent electrical contractors, the British Thomson-Houston Company. This latter English company were appointed the principal contractors.
Who built the street track?
The street track was completed by William Martin Murphy, who was a Berehaven man, but with a company in Dublin (the Dublin 1913 lockout employer). Murphy was the first chairman of the Cork Company.
Leading Cork housing contractor, Edward Fitzgerald, soon to become Lord Mayor of Cork, completed the building of the plant. To provide proper foundations for the large plant, extensive quantities of pitch pine were sunk under the concrete.
Mr Charles H. Merz, one of British Thomson-Houston’s up and coming engineers, supervised the electric tramcar system. He became the secretary and head engineer for the Cork operation. Merz was a native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and arrived in Cork during the laying of track and near completion of the plant.
What were the termini?
Cork was to become the eleventh city in Britain and Ireland to have operating electric trams. Four of the six suburban routes were complete for the line’s commencement.
The eventual termini included Sunday’s Well, Blackpool, St. Luke’s Cross, Tivoli, Blackrock and Douglas.
When did the tram car system officially open?
Eighteen tramcars arrived in 1898 for the opening, which occurred on 22 December.
How many trams were in operation in Cork City at the turn of the twentieth century?
By 1900, 35 electric tram cars operated throughout the city and suburbs.
For 33 years, the Cork electric trams wandered the city and its suburbs, and provided a needed service and employment for 260 employees.
Describe a tram car?
These were manufactured in Loughborough, U.K. All were double deck in nature, open upstairs with a single-truck design. There were minor variations in many of the cars. Six of the trams had a luxury design. They had a longer roof and their ends were curved, which provided extra seating upstairs and a cover for the driver and conductor. Passengers on the lower level sat on two long slated timber seats. Upstairs, there were short seats at either side of a central passageway.
Most tram cars could hold at least 25 people upstairs and 20 downstairs. However, in rush hour situation, some trams were known to have carried 70 citizens. However, a key rule on the tram was that nobody could sit or stand on the driver’s front platform.
What was the fare?
Circa 1900, a single fare to any of the suburbs served by the trams was one penny. The fare did rise up to three and half pence by 1910 but had dropped to two pence by 1930.
What colour were the tram cars?
In the early years of the twentieth century, large white indicator boards at the front of the trams identified their destination. These had the initials of the terminus or where the tram was travelling. For example, Blackpool was shown by B.P. and Douglas by D.S. In the second decade of the 1900s, small rectangular plates in different colours replaced the boards.
Each displayed the full name of the destination. The name was located over the numbers and on the side of the cars as follows; Douglas–white; Blackrock-brown, Tivoli-yellow; Sunday’s Well and Summerhill-red and Blackpool-dark blue.
To identify clearly the trams at nights, the relevant officials fitted lighted bulbs of the different colours. Instead of a brown bulb for Blackrock, a green bulb was used.
Where did the company complete their repairs and alterations?
Repairs and alterations to any of the tramcars were completed at the Albert Road depot. A special tramway watering tram car sprayed water from its large attached tank on both sides of the track in order to keep the durst down. A number of tower wagons, pulled by horses, also operated on the various lines to give access to workers to fix any cables if necessary.
Were there any track problems?
On the majority of the routes, there were outbound and city bound tram tracks. However, on a number of routes, especially the Douglas and Blackrock routes, single-track sections were in operation. Thus, when the driver reached the end of the loop and therefore, the entry to a single-track section, he left his platform.
The driver then went to a box on an adjacent pole, flicked a switch, which turned on a light on the pole at the other end of the track. This warned any drivers of any approaching trams. Of course, this is also the first evidence for electric traffic lights in Cork. Problems were encountered with several reports of trams having to reverse or passengers changing trams for the convenience of the relevant drivers.
Who used the trams?
In the first decade of the 1900s, the electric trams did played a large part in providing much needed public transport. Professional men living in the suburbs and working in the city used the service regularly.
Young recruits used the service to travel to Victoria Barracks, so that they could train for the Boer War (1899-1900). The International Exhibition, which graced the lands of the Mardyke in 1902 / 1903, coincided with the trams working overtime as Corkonians packed into the cars to travel out the Western Road.
Hurling and Football matches at the Cork Athletic Grounds, located near the Marina brought much business on Sundays on the Tivoli and Blackrock lines. Many citizens would travel to Tivoli to catch a regular ferry service across the river.
What happened the trams?
From 1925 onwards, a new form of public transport appeared on the streets in Cork that of the motor bus. In 1926, Captain A.P. Morgan, retired officer of the British Army, financed and introduced four Daimler double decker 44 seater buses.
City Commissioner, Philip Monahan, later to be an eminent City Manager, governed the motor bus affairs. Soon buses were running form the city centre to the south west, south east, south and north western suburbs.
The electricity supply as a private development in Cork was hindered by the Irish Free State’s Shannon Scheme – hydro-electrification plant of the late 1920s.
New tarred roads replaced muddy suburban and urban roads. Thus, cycling without severe struggling became more possible for Corkonians.
On 30 September 1931, the final abandonment of the trams occurred. Fireworks, cheering and souvenir collecting were all aspects of general public’s final goodbye.
Key sources of information:
A detailed history of the trams can be found in Walter McGrath’s (1981) Tram Tracks Through Cork, available to consult in the City Library on the Grand Parade. Also check out the online newspaper archive for the Irish Examiner at www.irishnewspaperarchive.com.
National Heritage Week is upon us again at the end of next week (20th – 28th August). It’s going to be a busy week. For my part I have organised six tours. These are all free and I welcome any public support for the activities outlined below. There are also brochures detailing other events that can be picked up from Cork City Hall and City libraries. If you are up the country on holidays, check out www.heritageweek.ie for the listings of national events. It is always a great week to get out and explore your local area and avail of talks, trails and a wide range of family events.
Heritage Open Day:
Saturday 20 August 2016 – Historical Walking Tour of City Hall with Kieran, learn about the early history of Cork City Hall and Cork City Council, learn about the development of the building and visit the Lord Mayor’s Room, 11am, ticketed (free, duration: 75 minutes); contact The Everyman Palace, 0214501673.
The current structure, replaced the old City Hall, which was destroyed in the ‘burning of Cork’ in 1920. It was designed by Architects Jones and Kelly and built by the Cork Company Sisks. The foundation stone was laid by Eamonn de Valera, President of the Executive Council of the State on 9 July 1932 (www.corkheritageopenday.ie).
Kieran’s Heritage Week, 20-27 August 2016:
Sunday, 21 August 2016, Eighteenth Century Cork, Branding a City: Making a Venice of the North; historical walking tour with Kieran on how streets like Oliver Plunkett Street and French Church Street came into being; meet at the City Library, Grand Parade, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, www.corkheritage.ie)
Monday 22 August 2016, The Victorian Quarter; historical walking tour (new) with Kieran of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Wellington Road and McCurtain Street; meet at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, www.corkheritage.ie)
This is a new tour that hopes to bring the participant from the top of St Patrick’s Hill to the eastern end of McCurtain Street through Wellington Road. The tour will speak about the development of the Victorian Quarter and its hidden and beautiful architectural heritage. All are welcome and any old pictures and documents that people have of these areas, please bring along.
Tuesday 23 August 2016, Cork Docklands, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
Thursday 25 August 2016, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour with Kieran; learn about the workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841 (the year 2016 marks the 175th anniversary of the site’s creation), meet at the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 7pm (free, duration: two hours).
The Cork workhouse, which opened in December 1841, was an isolated place – built beyond the toll house and toll gates, which gave entry to the city and which stood just below the end of the wall of St. Finbarr’s Hospital in the vicinity of the junction of the Douglas and Ballinlough Roads. The Douglas Road workhouse was also one of the first of over 130 workhouses to be designed by the Poor Law Commissioners’ architect George Wilkinson.
Friday 26 August 2016, The Walk of the Friars; historical walking tour (new) with Kieran, explore the local history from Red Abbey through Barrack Street to Friars Walk; meet at Red Abbey tower, Mary Street, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
This new walking tour begins on Red Abbey square and explores the area’s medieval origins and the impact on the area. In such a small corner of the city, post medieval Cork and the story of industrial housing can be told, as well as stories of St Stephen’s School, Callanan’s Tower, Elizabeth Fort and the Gallows at Greenmount.
Saturday 27 August 2016, Fitzgerald’s Park; historical walking tour with Kieran; learn about the story of the Mardyke to the great early twentieth century Cork International Exhibition, meet at band stand, 2pm, note the afternoon time (free, duration: two hours)
Looking at the physical landscape of the Park, there are clues to a forgotten and not so familiar past. The entrance pillars on the Mardyke, the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, the museum, the fountain in the middle of the central pond dedicated to Fr Mathew and timber posts eroding in the river were once parts of one of Cork’s greatest historical events, the Cork International Exhibitions of 1902 and 1903. Just like the magical spell of Fitzgerald’s Park, the Mardyke exhibitions were spaces of power. Revered, imagined and real spaces were created. They were marketing strategies where the past, present and future merged; aesthetics of architecture, colour, decoration and lighting were all added to the sense of spectacle and in a tone of moral and educational improvement. The entire event was the mastermind of Cork Lord Mayor Edward Fitzgerald, after which the park got it name.
Hope to see you on some of these tours…
Captions:
856a. Fitzgerald Park during recent sunny weather (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
856b. Map of St Patrick’s Hill area 1801 (source: Cork City Library)
Summer is well and truly upon us. So the first set of walking tours are set out below. Don’t forget that Heritage Week begins on Saturday 20 August. Put it in the diary if you have a passion for all things Cork history.
Monday 25 July 2016 – Blackrock Historical Walking Tour with Kieran, From Blackrock Castle, learn about nineteenth century life and a fishing village, castles, convents and industries, meet in courtyard of Blackrock Castle, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes St Michael’s Church of Ireland).
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. In the early 1700s, the prominent Tuckey family, of which Tuckey Street in the city centre is named, became part of the new social elite in Cork after the Williamite wars and built part of what became known in time at the Ursuline Convent. 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.
Wednesday 27 July 2016 – Sunday’s Well Walking Tour with Kieran, From Wise’s Hill to the heart of Sunday’s Well learn about the development of an eighteenth century suburb, historic churches, gaol, and the early origins of the Mardyke, meet at Old Wise’s Distillery House, North Mall, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes at Shaky Bridge).
This tour begins at the elegant house at the junction of the North Mall and Wise’s Hill, which was the residence of the distiller Francis Wise. It is a beautiful detached five-bay three-storey former house, built c. 1800, now in use as a university building. The building retains interesting features and materials, such as the timber sliding sash windows, wrought-iron lamp bracket arch, and interior fittings. The North Mall distillery was established on Reilly’s Marsh around 1779, and by 1802 the Wise brothers were running the firm. Whiskey production was another significant industry in Cork from the late eighteenth century.
Across the river channel, the complex of buildings known as the Lee Maltings, now the home of the Tyndall National Institute, forms one of the most significant surviving industrial sites in Cork city dating back to the eighteenth century. They were the largest water-powered flour and corn milling installation to become established on the north channel of the River Lee, and was also the last flour mills within the city to rely solely on water for milling.
Thursday 28 July 2016 – Ballinlough Historical Walking Tour with Kieran, From the heart of Ballinlough along, learn about nineteenth century market gardens, schools, industries, and Cork’s suburban standing stone, meet outside Beaumont BNS, Beaumont 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes at Ballinlough Community Centre).
With 360 acres, Ballinlough is the second largest of the seven townlands forming the Mahon Peninsula. If you think of its geographic location on a limestone ridge over-looking the river and harbour and the name Baile an Locha – settlement of the lake – that is where the name could come from, a settlement overlooking the nearby Douglas estuary. There is a lot of early history in Ballinlough from the standing stone in Ardmahon Estate to the Knight’s Templar church and graveyard site to the former big houses of the area, the last remnants of the market gardens. Then there is the sporting heritage such as Flower Lodge and Cork Constitution.
Friday 29 July 2016 – Blackpool Historical Walking Tour with Kieran, From Fair Hill to the heart of Blackpool, learn about nineteenth century shambles, schools, convents and industries, meet at the North Mon gates, Gerald Griffin Avenue, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes on St Mary’s Road).
The walking tour weaves its way from the North Mon into Blackpool, Shandon and Gurranbraher highlighting nineteenth century life in this corner of Cork from education to housing to politics, to religion, to industry and to social life itself. Blackpool was the scene of industry in Cork in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for industries such as tanning through big names such as Dunn’s Tannery and distilling through families such as the Hewitts. The leather industry at one vibrant in Blackpool with no fewer than 46 tanyards at work there in 1837 giving employment to over 700 hands and tanning on average 110,000 hides annually.
Captions:
853a. Sunday’s Well, c.1900 (source: Souvenir of Cork & Killarney: with 19 illustrations, complete with letterpress, see Cork City Library).
853b. The Marina, Cork, c.1900 (source: Souvenir of Cork & Killarney: with 19 illustrations, complete with letterpress, see Cork City Library).
July 2016 Historical Walking Tours with Cllr Kieran McCarthy
Monday 25 July 2016 – Blackrock Historical Walking Tour with CllrKieran McCarthy, From Blackrock Castle, learn about nineteenth century life and a fishing village, castles, convents and industries, meet in courtyard of Blackrock Castle, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes St Michael’s Church of Ireland).
Wednesday 27 July 2016 – Sunday’s Well Walking Tour withCllr Kieran McCarthy, From Wise’s Hill to the heart of Sunday’s Well learn about the development of an eighteenth century suburb, historic churches, gaol, and the early origins of the Mardyke, meet at Old Wise’s Distillery House, North Mall, 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes at Shaky Bridge).
Thursday 28 July 2016 – Ballinlough Historical Walking Tour withCllr Kieran McCarthy, From the heart of Ballinlough, learn about nineteenth century market gardens, schools, industries, and Cork’s suburban standing stone, meet outside Beaumont BNS, Beaumont 7pm (free, duration: two hours, finishes at Ballinlough Community Centre).
Friday 29 July 2016 – Blackpool Historical Walking Tour withCllr Kieran McCarthy, From Fair Hill to the heart of Blackpool, learn about nineteenth century shambles, schools, convents and industries, meet at the North Mon gates, Gerald Griffin Avenue, 7pm(free, duration: two hours, finishes on St Mary’s Road).
Kieran’s Heritage Week, 20-27 August 2016
Sunday, 21 August 2016, Eighteenth Century Cork, Branding a City: Making a Venice of the North; historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; meet at the City Library, Grand Parade, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
Monday 22 August 2016, The Victorian Quarter; historical walking tour (new) with Cllr Kieran McCarthy of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Wellington Road and McCurtain Street; meet at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
Tuesday 23 August 2016, Cork Docklands, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
Thursday 25 August 2016, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour (new) with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; learn about the workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841 (the year 2016 marks the 175th anniversary of the site), meet at the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
Friday 26 August 2016, The Walk of the Friars; historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, explore the local history from Red Abbey through Barrack Street to Friars Walk; meet at Red Abbey, Mary Street, 7pm (free, duration: two hours)
Saturday 27 August 2016, Fitzgerald’s Park; historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; learn about the story of the Mardyke to the great early twentieth century Cork International Exhibition, meet at band stand 2pm, note the afternoon time (free, duration: two hours)
On Saturday, 25 June 2016, 12noon, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, in association with the Friends of St Finbarr’s Hospital, will give a public historical walking tour of the hospital grounds (meet at gate). The walk is free and takes place to support the summer bazaar of the Friends. Cllr McCarthy noted: “St Finbarr’s Hospital, the city’s former nineteenth century workhouse, serves as a vast repository of narratives, memories, symbolism, iconography and cultural debate, this year the site is 175 years old”. When the Irish Poor Relief Act was passed on 31 July 1838, the assistant Poor Law commissioner, William J Voules came to Cork in September 1838 to implement the new laws. Meetings were held in towns throughout the country. By 1845, 123 workhouses had been built, formed into a series of districts or Poor Law Unions, each Poor Law Union containing at least one workhouse. The cost of poor relief was met by the payment of rates by owners of land and property in that district.
In 1841 over eight acres, were leased to the Poor Law Guardians from Daniel B. Foley, Evergreen House, Cork. Mr. Foley retained an acre, on which was Evergreen House with its surrounding gardens, which fronted South Douglas Road (now a vacant concrete space). The subsequent workhouse that was built on the leased lands was opened in December 1841. It was an isolated place, built beyond the City’s toll house and toll gates. The Douglas Road workhouse was also one of the first of over 130 workhouses to be designed by the Poor Law Commissioners’ architect George Wilkinson.
On Saturday, 25 June 2016, 12noon, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, in association with the Friends of St Finbarr’s Hospital, will give a public historical walking tour of the hospital grounds (meet at gate). The walk is free and takes place to support the summer bazaar of the Friends. Cllr McCarthy noted: “St Finbarr’s Hospital, the city’s former nineteenth century workhouse, serves as a vast repository of narratives, memories, symbolism, iconography and cultural debate, this year the site is 175 years old”. When the Irish Poor Relief Act was passed on 31 July 1838, the assistant Poor Law commissioner, William J Voules came to Cork in September 1838 to implement the new laws. Meetings were held in towns throughout the country. By 1845, 123 workhouses had been built, formed into a series of districts or Poor Law Unions, each Poor Law Union containing at least one workhouse. The cost of poor relief was met by the payment of rates by owners of land and property in that district.
In 1841 over eight acres, were leased to the Poor Law Guardians from Daniel B. Foley, Evergreen House, Cork. Mr. Foley retained an acre, on which was Evergreen House with its surrounding gardens, which fronted South Douglas Road (now a vacant concrete space). The subsequent workhouse that was built on the leased lands was opened in December 1841. It was an isolated place, built beyond the City’s toll house and toll gates. The Douglas Road workhouse was also one of the first of over 130 workhouses to be designed by the Poor Law Commissioners’ architect George Wilkinson.
Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in the seventh 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 Atlantic Pond on Sunday 12 June 2016, 2pm. The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara and the Cork Harbour Festival. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. The theme is ‘Cork Harbour Boats’, which is open to interpretation. 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”. In addition, Cllr McCarthy emphasises that places like the Atlantic Pond are an important part of Cork’s natural and amenity heritage. For further information and to take part, please sign up at www.corkharbourfestival.com.
The Cork Harbour Festival will bring together the City, County and Harbour agencies and authorities. It connects our city and coastal communities. Combining the Ocean to City Race and Cork Harbour Open Day, there are over 50 different events in the festival for people to enjoy – both on land and on water. The festival begins the June Bank Holiday Saturday, 4th June, with the 28km flagship race Ocean to City – An Rás Mór. Join thousands of other visitors and watch the hundreds of participants race from Crosshaven to Douglas to Cork City in a spectacular flotilla. Cllr McCarthy noted: “During the festival week embark on a journey to discover the beautiful Cork Harbour and enjoy free harbour tours, sailing tasters, open days at Spike Island and Fort Camden, and lots more; we need to link the city and the harbour more through branding and tourism. The geography and history of the second largest natural harbour in the world creates an enormous treasure trove, which we need to harness, celebrate and mind”.
The imprisonment and executions of Irish Volunteers in May 1916 resonated across all classes of people. Exactly today one hundred years ago, Thursday 19 May – British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith paid a visit to Cork as part of his Irish tour of Rising hotspots. He arrived in Dublin on 12 May, almost three weeks after the Rising – there he stopped any further executions by General Maxwell. However, by then Irish public opinion had swung against him and Westminster.
Newspapers such as the Irish Independent and Cork Examiner describe the Cork visit. In the week of 12 May, it was taken for granted that he was coming to the south of the country with the aim of interviewing leading citizens and to ascertain for himself and first-hand the exact position of military affairs locally and regionally. Silence was displayed by those who knew of Mr Asquith’s movements, and when he would arrive in Cork, as well as the place where he would have his meetings with local political and policing leaders. It was not stated whether he would arrive by train or motor car. Many thought he would travel by train and hence many went to the Glanmire terminus to await the arrival of the 2.20pm train from Dublin. The train steamed in exactly to scheduled time, but the Prime Minister was not on it. A number of cross channel journalists who had been following Mr Asquith during his visit to Ireland alighted and it was ascertained that he was travelling down by motor car.
The hour of Asquith’s arrival was not known with certainty. He had, it was found, left Dublin somewhere about ten o’clock in the morning. At that time a motor-car would take five hours or more to negotiate the upwards of 160 miles. Putting two and two together, the journalists concluded that the distinguished visitor would reach Cork between three and four o’clock in the afternoon. Those who were set to receive and meet him professed not to know exactly when he would reach the city. It was discovered though that he intended to conduct his interviews at the Municipal Buildings or City Hall.
Just as the clock was showing five minutes to four a smart motor car came along via Parnell Bridge and unobserved drew up at the Municipal Buildings. The police in charge cleared a passage from the kerb to the steps of the buildings, and the Private Secretary, Mr Bonham Carter, was inside the vestibule before very many citizens were aware that he had reached the city. Here he was received by the Lord Mayor Thomas C Butterfield. The Prime Minister, evidently bent on business, was immediately conducted to the Lord Mayor’s Room. Here he chatted with Captain Dickie, the army official who dealt with the surrender of arms in Cork. The Premier next received Bishop Daniel Cohalan and a long discussion took place. Sir Henry O’Shea, ex-Lord Mayor, was then received. A deputation comprising of Captain D Sheehan MP, Alderman J C Forde, Mr David McDonnell and Mr Joseph Hosford, then awaited on the Prime Minister. The purpose of this deputation was not disclosed in the press, but after about fifteen minutes they withdrew. After this the City High sheriff, Councillor William Hart had a short interview with Mr Asquith; County Inspector Howe, RIC was next received, and after him Colonel Du Cros, and Lieutenant J F O’Riordan.
While the Prime Minister was at City Hall, the news that he was in Cork travelled rapidly. By the time Mr Asquith left the building at 6.25pm, a large crowd of citizens, of all classes and both sexes, gathered in the vestibule of City Hall and outside on Albert Quay. As he came down the stairs those in the balcony and vestibule raised cheers, which were taken up outside. He got into his motor-car and was driven to the Custom House Quay, where a steam launch was waiting to convey him down the river to Queenstown. The Prime Minister acknowledged the expressions of goodwill by raising his hat and bowing several times. On arrival at Queenstown, a steamer was placed at Mr Asquith’s disposal to convey him to Fishguard en route for London. Asquith remained tight-lipped on what he learned from his visit to Ireland. Ultimately he did not withdraw martial law. Weeks later he still claimed that Irish Home Rule could be best served after the war ceasing on the European continent. By the end of the year, due to the Irish and other military crises in his World War I campaign his political career was over as Lloyd George took over as Prime Minister.
Meanwhile further to the political discussion and the aftermath of the Easter Rising, some 1800 Irish men were interned at Frongoch internment camp at Frongoch in Merionethshire, Wales. It had been a makeshift place of imprisonment during the First World War. Until 1916 it housed German prisoners of war in an abandoned distillery and crude huts. In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, the German prisoners were transferred and it was used as a place of internment for approximately 1,800 Irish prisoners, among them such notables as Michael Collins.
Captions:
844a. Cork City Hall, c.1916 (source: Cork City Museum)
844b. Lord Mayor of Cork, 1916, Thomas C Butterfield (source: Cork City Hall)
