Category Archives: S.E. Ward Local History

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 31 October 2013, Docklands Historical Walking Tour

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

715a. Docklands, Rebel Cork Week Concert, October 2013

 

Kieran’s Our City Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  Thursday 31 October 2013

 

Docklands Walking Tour

 

 

 

On Saturday 9 November, at 2pm I will conduct a historical walking tour of Cork Docklands (free), meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road. The tour will take in the city’s docks, Albert Road/ Jewtown/ Hibernian Buildings and speak about the development of Centre Park Road. One aspect of this area are the old Cork Showgrounds, located there since 1892. In 2010, I was involved in penning a book with the Munster Agricultural Society on its heritage, its old name in the nineteenth century being the County of Cork Agricultural Society.

 

From 1857 till 1890 the shows of the County of Agricultural Society were held in the ground of the Corn Market (now the site of Cork City Hall). In the early months of 1890, the informality of attaining the Corn Exchange premises from the trustees turned to formality. There was a concern over finances and responsibility over outstanding costs arose between the County of Cork Agricultural Society and the Corn Market Trustees. That was resolved by the Society’s AGM of 22 March 1890 but uncertainty of using the space remained. Those issues were also coupled with lack of space for development. There was sufficient room for an ordinary Cattle Show but when the Society, following the lead of other cities, increased its operations and adopted the idea of holding horse-jumping contest, the enclosure in the Corn Exchange was too limited.

 

In late February in 1891, double booking occurred at the Corn Exchange on the days of the annual show. As work was already being carried out in terms of advertising and organisation, the committee decided not to move the time but investigate another location. A letter was read from Mr Daly, secretary from the Cork Park Race Committee who stated that their committee would be happy to give the society the use of their premises for which they would charge £25 and that they would even give a donation of £10 toward the show fund. The motion was proposed by Sir George Colthurst and seconded by Captain Newenham. Permission was received from the trustees to open an office at the Corn Exchange to receive entries. A series of temporary buildings were constructed at the Cork Park Racecourse.

 

At a post show discussion on 1 August 1891 at a general meeting led Mr A Ferguson, former chairman proposed that a permanent show yard be erected in a portion of the Cork Race Park with grounds 20 acres in extent. The general committee agreed to appoint a deputation to discuss the matter with the Corporation of Cork. The deputation comprised General Davies, Sir George Colthurst, A Ferguson, D Ahern, L Beamish, Crawford Ledlig, R.L. Longfield, Jason Byrne and A.J. Warren. The Corporation of Cork was approached as the site was on their land.

 

Initially, there was no immediate response from the town clerk by mid-September 1891. By October there was some formal discussion between parties. Mr. Bass, the society’s solicitor was instructed to write to the town clerk and inform him that on no account would the society take a lease unless they were given a free hand to use the ground as they sought fit. By early November 1891, there was still no lease forthcoming from the corporation. By 14 November 1891, Mr Bass recommended that the society should form themselves into a limited liability society in order to raise the money required for the erection of the new buildings. A sub-committee was subsequently formed to investigate the matter and reported back on 28 November 1891. By early December 1891, the society decided that the clause with reference to the loan fund should be altered and that the society should not undertake to pay back any part of the money raised by voluntary contribution.

 

By mid-December 1891, all society members were sent a circular with a copy of the scheme and a request asking for a subscription. A deputation was sent to the Royal Dublin Society asking for a grant towards the new buildings. There was no success there. The secretary was further directed to write to the secretary of the North East Agricultural Society for some information as to the new buildings which they were erecting. Mr S French proposed on 23 January 1892 that a premium of £10 for the best plans for the new show yard be given. The idea was accepted.  The three gentlemen nominated to adjudicate on the plans for the new show yard reported that eight plans were submitted for the competition. They selected two marked respectively – “Native Industry” and “Fiat Pistetia Ruat Coelum”. The second (‘Fiat’) was adopted. The author of the successful design was Mr John Leslie O’Hanlon, Darmouth House, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin. He was subsequently invited down to meet the directors of the new company.

 

On 3 March 1892, the memorandum of agreement between the limited company and the society was adopted and in early 1892, the company obtained a lease from Cork Corporation of 27 acres of reclaimed land and the first stages of the show yard was built. More on the above can be got from my 2010 book on the Cork Showgrounds (available from the Munster Agricultural Society, 021 480 1919).

 

 

Captions:

 

715a. Recent Rebel Cork Week Concert, Cork Docklands, October 2013 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 10 October 2013, Ballintemple Historical Walking Tour

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

712a. Ballintemple Graveyard

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Ballintemple Historical Walking Tour

Thursday 10 October 2013

 

With the autumnal weather quickly coming in, change can be seen on The Marina’s trees with a mirth of colour beginning to form. I have been researching a new walking tour of the adjacent Ballintemple area for a while (Saturday, 12 October, 2pm, meet at Ballintemple graveyard, opp. O’Connor’s Funeral Home, Boreenmanna Road, two hours, free).

It forms part of a set of ten tours I’ve developed in this side of the city, an experiment in one way in one corner of the city before beginning to look at other suburbs. There are several suburban local history books within the local studies in Cork City but there a feeling on the ground that much of the history remains unexplored. Each tour I try to focus on the significance of landmarks, such as big houses, modern housing, graveyards, monuments, churches and in Ballintemple’s case convents as well but also telling the story through archives such as government reports, diaries, census reports, statistical reports, sketches, maps oral histories and even headstones.

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”. The graveyard is impressive in its collection of eighteenth century and nineteenth century headstones. It has a series of low uninscribed gravemarkers in its south east corner. There are also many inscribed headstones with smiling faces with one inscribed with Remember Death. The graveyard remains an undiscovered corner of the city with much of its family histories unresearched and unpublished.

There is also much to discover within a short space in Ballintemple and its role in the wider city as an architectural conservation area. Various architectural styles can be noted Norman, Gothic, Renaissance, Georgian, Victorian, Italianiate, French, and Oriental. The houses can boast such architects such as Bro Michael Riordan, Sir John Benson, Deanes, Morrisons, Richard Brash, Hargraves, Walkers and the Hills. The architectural DNA comprises local stone, sand, brick, slates from Killaloe, Rosscarbery and Wales, timber from Canada and Scandinavia, cement from Portland in England and ironwork for railings obtained from Scottish foundries. 

In the nineteenth century there was an increasing tendency in Cork for the middle classes to live in suburban homes and for the work-place to be separate. Your social circle saw your house a lot. It was important that the house was impressive that is was designed in the latest fashion. The house of a successful Victorian family was more than merely a home. It was a statement of their taste, wealth, and education. The Victorians drew deeply from history, nature, geometry, theory, and personal inspiration to create their designs. At the top end of the market, builders employed employ a reputable architect. Private Houses were an important status symbol – detached house allowed privacy, comfort, convenience, spaciousness, order and warmth. There was an increasing diversity in house styles, a detached big house to a row of terraced houses. Many interiors were done in the grand manner reflecting their owners and builders. Interiors of the Renaissance mode included smooth plastered walls often in light colours, marble fireplaces usually with heavy gold mirrors above, elaborate ceiling cornices, elaborate pediments over doors, frescoed ceilings, and chandeliers.

West of Ballintemple on Blackrock Road, the area also has the presence of personal monuments. For example Daniel McCarthy erected the McCarthy Monument near the former Diamond Hill quarry (a quarry of white quarts or rock crystal. It was built in honour of his brother Alexander McCarthy in 1871.  Alexander was a junior, Butter Merchant plus was an MP for Cork in 1846 and became High Sheriff of the County in 1856. McCarthy was a fine public speaker and a supporter of Daniel O’Connell’s Repeal movement. He died on 2 January 1868. The memorial, a column of limestone, 25 feet tall, was designed by William B Atkins. Richard Evans built the monument and the sculptor was Samuel Murphy. Bronze plaques, showing scenes from the history of the McCarthy clan, have been lost from the monument over the years.

As for the architect William Atkins, he was was born at Firville, near Mallow, circa 1812. Between 1845 and 1869 Atkins entered at least thirteen architectural competitions, gaining first place in five of them. In time he became a prominent architect in Cork and further afield in Co Kerry. Some of his prominent works include The District Lunatic Asylum on Lee Road (1847-1852),  the priory at Mary’s Dominican Church on Pope’s Quay (1861), the completion of the interior of Holy Trinity Church (1850), St Marie’s of the Isle Convent of Mercy (1850), St Patrick’s Orphanage, Greenmount (1855), and the Lindville Private Lunatic Asylum (1855 and which is part of the walking tour) and the base of the statue of John Hogan’s Fr Mathew Statue on St Patrick’s Street (1864).

 

Caption:

712a. Ballintemple Graveyard (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 26 September 2013

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

710a. Entrance hall, window dedicated to Kate Conway, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough

Article 710- 26 September 2013

New Book – Journeys of Faith

 

Following on from last week’s article, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough was dedicated on Sunday 11 September 1938. A day later The Cork Examiner published an in-depth report of the dedication ceremony and a guide to the new building, which was constructed on land given by a local woman, Mrs McSweeney. There was a large attendance of parishioners for the dedication ceremony. When the time came for the public to enter the church, the accommodation for 700 worshippers was well taxed.  The bishop first blessed the outer walls and subsequently the interior after the recital of the litanies and psalms. The Bishop was assisted by Canon William P Murphy. The singing was provided by the choir of St Michael’s Church, Blackrock especially augmented for the occasion under the direction of Ms Mary Keller, with Ms Sheila Keller presiding at the organ.

Following the Gospel, the dedication sermon was preached by Fr Kieran, OFM Cap. His sermon was wide-ranging but focussed on how churches animate personal belief and faith. He spoke at length about the building belonging to the people and the people belonging to the church: “We are gathered and united in one living holy faith this morning in this beautiful little church, planned by Christ like minds and built by human hands and generous hearts”. He wove many ideas into his sermon describing Our Lady of Lourdes church as a place apart, a gate of heaven and a sacred space.. That through the building, “Catholic devotion transforms itself into stone and steel and precious metals” – that the story of Our Lady of Lourdes Church will quote: “not be written in stone but in the souls and lives of those who visit and worship it in the years ahead”.

Bishop Cohalan in his address highlighted the importance of having a temple to worship God thanked all those involved in it:

I would like to thank all who have helped to provide the means of meeting the cost of this new church. About £10,000 has been already expended and paid out on this church. That was a notable sum for the organisers and collectors to collect…there remains a debt of £1,000 and a house must be provided for the priest in charge of this church…And I appeal to the parishioners and to charitable friends to help Canon Murphy to wipe off the debt and to provide the small sum required. And not to confine myself to mere words, to appeal by example, I am myself giving the Canon £100 to meet the remaining liability.

The architects were Messrs Ryan and Fitzgibbon, 21 South Mall (originally of 44 Grand Parade). Anthony Fitzgibbon was a son of Daniel Fitzgibbon of Robertsville, Friars’ Walk, Cork. Born on 9 June 1906, he trained in the office of O’Flynn & O’Connor and was still working for O’Connor in 1929 after the partnership with O’Flynn had been dissolved. Although he was elected a student of the Royal Irish Architects of Ireland in 1927, he never became a member. In the early 1930s he lived in Bernadette Way, which would have made him aware of the church project going ahead. Very little is recorded of his later career, apart from the fact that he designed the Ritz Cinema in Washington Street, Cork, in 1939.  He later emigrated to work as an architect in London and in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) in the late 1950s. He ended his career in Cape Town, South Africa. His nephew, Dan Fitzgibbon, still lives in Ballinlough. Of the other architect Ryan, I have been unable to find information on him or her (if anyone has info give me a call).

As a building, Our Lady of Lourdes Church is in a Romanesque style and is faced externally with bricks and white cement. It was originally decorated internally in cream-coloured paints. The flooring in the nave was timber, with the centre and side passages of terrazzo and the sanctuary floor was in cream, white, brown and blue mosaic. The altar rail, altar, or predella (the platform or step on which an altar stands), and steps are of marble. There was ample room for a mortuary. The baptismal font was situated at the west end of the nave. Two recessed confessionals were provided, and space was provided for an organ.

Messrs Coveney Brothers, West Douglas, Cork were entrusted with the important job of chief contractors in the erection of the new church. Paddy Coveney, a native of Ballyfeard in South Cork, headed up that operation. His company were specialists in the work of building churches and erecting new schools. He was known for his attention to detail in making solid lasting structures. The products of Ballinphellic Brick Company, Ltd were widely known and appreciated. Their works were at Ballygarvan and their offices at 29, Watercourse Road. The owner was a brother of Barrett, a builder, living on the Douglas Road. To Messrs Lynch’s Joinery Works, Kyrl Street, was entrusted the work of the seating and other joinery works. The firm had a reputation as manufacturers of joinery of a very high standard.

For more info and to read the memories of local parishioner, Kieran’s new book, Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years is available (E.15) from the church and its parish office.

 

Caption:

710a. Entrance hall window, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, The Little Flower – dedicated to opera singer Katie (Birdie) Conway (d.1936), sponsored by her family (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 19 September 2013, Journeys of Faith

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

709a. Aerial view from church roof of bell tower and Ballinlough Road, 2013

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 19 September 2013

New Book – Journeys of Faith

 

Following on from last week’s article, to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, my new book, Journey’s of Faith celebrates its story. Ballinlough in the 1930s was a part of Blackrock parish. At the heart of Blackrock is St Michael’s Church. The first building was erected in 1821 and was a chapel of ease to the parochial chapel of St Finbarr, or the South Chapel. St Michael’s Parish was created in 1848. The original parish area comprised almost all of the Mahon Peninsula and included Blackrock, Ballintemple and Ballinlough.

Ballinlough was an area of hard-working people. Circa 55% of the land comprised market gardens. In the 1911 census, it had a population of just over 400 people with 17 families engaged in market gardening. This is a theme which is returned to in more detail in parts of this book through memories of interviewees. In his address to the congregation at the laying of the foundation stone in 1935 of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Bishop Cohalan noted that, in his younger days, he remembered the district around Ballinlough Road and Boreenmanna Road as largely devoted to market gardening but it had grown into a popular residential area and the necessity for a church was “heavily” felt.

The 1930s coincided with an increase in veneration and celebration of Our Lady of Lourdes and created a framework of symbols for the new chapel of ease in Ballinlough. Our Lady of Lourdes is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary cited by the Roman Catholic church in honour of the Marian apparitions which are said to have taken place before various individuals on separate occasions around Lourdes, France. Most prominently among these was the apparition on 11 February 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, admitted to her mother that while gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, a “lady” spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a mile from the town). Similar appearances of the “lady” were reported on seventeen further occasions that year. In 1862, Pope Pius IX authorized Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Laurence to permit the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. In 1907, Pope Pius X introduced the feast of the apparition of the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes. The first Official Irish Pilgrimage to Lourdes happened in September 1913. In later years on 6 June 1925, Pius XI actively furthered the venerations in Lourdes by beatifying Bernadette Soubirous.

The year 1933 coincided with the 75th anniversary of the 1858 apparitions and the anniversary celebrations at the shrine were duly reported upon across the world. The celebrations were enhanced at the end of the year on 8 December 1933 on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception when Pope Pius X canonized Bernadette and determined her feast day to be 16 April. This was followed in 1934 by a heavily publicised triduum of masses at Lourdes to celebrate Bernadette’s elevation to sainthood. These were held in conjunction with the extension of the holy year in honour of the 19th centenary of Christ’s crucifixion. This holy space of time was brought to a close at Lourdes on 25-28 April 1935 with more triduums of masses and other religious events. All of these events helped to boost pilgrimage traffic to Lourdes which by 1935 had reached 1.1 million per annum.

In Ireland, the response to the canonisation of Bernadette was enormous. For a considerable time in the mid 1930s, every weekly issue of The Irish Catholic newspaper contained a substantial article on the shrine, under the title “Notes from Lourdes”, in which pilgrimages were discussed. Through this source, one can read about the revamp of Ireland’s ‘Lourdes’ at Knock and about the numerous annual pilgrimages organised by a variety of Catholic bodies to Lourdes, France. By the mid 1930s, there were at least half a dozen big pilgrimages each having from 400 to 1,200 pilgrims and thousands of associate members furnishing support at home. Pilgrimage promoters and organisers also utilised lectures, slides, and film to attract recruits and spread interest. The film entitled Lourdes and St Bernadette, praised for its fine camera work, good acting and effective musical accompaniment, was originally sponsored by Irish missionaries. The Holy Ghost Fathers, whose principal work lay in Africa, arranged for its screening in Cork and other southern counties during the summer of 1935. Franz Werfel’s novel, The Song of Bernadette, also had great impact as well the subsequent film based on it. The novel was the number one best seller in Ireland from 1942 to 1946. Naming churches after Our Lady of Lourdes also became a common practice from 1930s onwards through to the Marian year of 1954 and into the 1960s. In Blackrock, Cork, Canon William Murphy was one of many priests who sought to remember the significance of the canonisation of Bernadette and hence named the new Ballinlough church after Our Lady of Lourdes. It became the first church to adopt the name in the south of Ireland.

Kieran’s new book, Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years is available (E.15) from the church and its parish office.

More next week…

 

Caption:

709a. Aerial view of bell tower and Ballinlough Road from church roof of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, 2013 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

At the recent book launch of Journeys of Faith, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Fr David Maher, Canon Jim O'Donovan & Vincent Twohig, 13 September 2013

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.”

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 12 September 2013

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

708a. Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 12 September 2013

New Book – Journeys of Faith

 

Following on from last week’s article, to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, my new book, Journeys of Faith celebrates its story. I’d like to share some of the earlier thoughts of the book especially the early origins of the church and its origins. Personally I find the story of the early Irish Free State fascinating especially in terms of its ambition and determinism to achieve goals.

The prominence of the Roman Catholic Church in Irish society and Cork society was significant in the Irish Free State. Daniel Cohalan (1858–1952) served as Bishop of Cork from 1916 to 24 August 1952 and he defined the sense of religion in the city during his time.  For many of the early years Cohalan found himself commenting on the nationalist independence struggles of the day. He attempted to take the middle ground in a struggle that was rapidly deteriorating into chaos and atrocity. His anti-violence attitude was the guiding principle in his episcopacy. He had a crucial role in condemning the 1916 rising and pressed that the Volunteers including Cork leaders Tomás MacCurtain and Terence McSwiney stand down in the face of superior Crown forces. Cohalan was eager to avoid bloodshed and having the city plunged into chaos. In 1918 Bishop Cohalan campaigned against conscription into the British army. Whilst attending a public meeting in Cork, he made it clear that conscripting Irishmen to fight Britain’s wars was unacceptable.

The 1920 burning of Cork City by the Black and Tans (following the Dillon’s Cross and other local and regional ambushes) resulted in a city and region dominated by the gun and violence. It prompted Bishop Cohalan to issue a decree of excommunication against those who perpetrated violence in any form. It was issued in SS Mary’s and Anne’s North Cathedral on 12 December 1920. This did not calm the situation. The IRA was unhappy with the decision and the position of the local Catholic Church especially as a number of the clergy were active in the IRA. Cohalan remained steadfast on the controversy isolating himself from republican parishioners and clergy, even to the point of refusing a Catholic burial to any hunger striker after 1922. To underline his support for law and order, Cohalan welcomed the 1922 Treaty, which established the Free State, agreeing that it was not perfect but was a great “measure of freedom”. This support was preached publicly in the North Cathedral on 10 December 1922.

In 1937 Cohalan turned his attention to the role of the Protestant churches in Ireland. He encouraged the Protestant community of Cork to unite with its Catholic brethren to achieve Christian unity. He even went so far as to suggest to the Protestant Bishop of Cork that they merge the dioceses between them with St Finbarr’s Cathedral presiding over southside districts and the North Cathedral presiding over northside districts. All the Protestant Bishop had to do was to convert to Catholicism!

By the mid 1920′s the South Parish had grown in both population and area to a point where it could no longer function with a single church. In an effort to address the situation, Bishop Cohalan designated Turners Cross as the location for a second parish church to serve the ever-growing congregation. Commissioned in 1927, the church’s modern concrete architectural look initiated an enormous debate amongst those involved in the brick masons’ trade, which saw the use of concrete as cutting jobs for masons in the region. The architect was Chicago-born Barry Byrne (1883-1967) who was a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright. By the late 1920s Byrne had, designed three Catholic Churches in the US to acclaim and criticism. The model for Turners Cross was based on the Church of Christ the King, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1926).

Work on the Turners Cross site began in March 1929. Its heavy foundations went down 15 feet into a marshy stream-like area. A total of 1,200 tons of Condor brand of Portland cement were used in its construction. Its marble terrazzo floor is overlooked by the largest suspended ceiling in a European church and it also possesses the impressive John Storr-designed Christ the King sculpture at its entrance. The church was officially dedicated on 25 October 1931 and set a marker for the future development of large churches in Cork’s suburbs. The notable exception was Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough, planning for which started possibly 2-3 years after Christ the King. As Ballinlough church was a chapel of ease to St Michael’s Blackrock, there was a return to a traditional-looking structure.

More next week…

I will be giving a reflection on the 75th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in Our Lady of Lourdes Church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and church sacristy from 13 September onwards.

 

Caption:

708a. Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 5 September 2013, Kieran’s New Book, Journeys of Faith

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

707a. Front cover of Journeys of Faith, edited by Kieran McCarthy

Article 707- 5 September 2013

Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years

 

In the past eight months I have been fortunate to interview many people in Ballinlough, my own homeplace, to produce a book to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Located on a prominent limestone ridge, the church is a familiar, impressive and welcoming landmark in Ballinlough, a south east suburb of Cork City. The building represents one of the multiple threads of community life of the area. Indeed, it can be said that many of the original ideas for the present community infrastructure in Ballinlough, ranging from actual buildings to various sporting and social clubs had their roots amongst the people and priests who created, and in time, added to the meaning of building in the lives of the community.

At the dedication ceremony on Sunday 11 September 1938, the orator of the sermon, Fr Kieran, OFM, Cap spoke at length about the building belonging to the people and the people belonging to the church; “we are gathered and united in one living holy faith this morning in this beautiful little church, planned by Christ-like minds and built by human hands and generous hearts”. Those ideas of hope, self determination, generosity, faith, dedication, and adoration are all starting points to begin a reflection on the past 75 years.

In Our Lady of Lourdes Church, there is a faith in the sacredness of this edifice that has never been relinquished since 1938. It is a thriving and resilient place, a place of aspiration. Here is a faith founded on familiar cultural and personal Christian principles to which those in the present day are heirs; we also carry forward some of that faith and all the ideas that go with it; we continue to build and trust in our faith. The text on the 1935 foundation stone at the side of the building reminds one of this spirit of co-operation in faith and that together the clerical and lay community have brought forward the multiple meanings and memories within the building as a socially inclusive community.

The church is a celebration of re-invention and re-imagination of the faith and initiative in Free State Ireland. A sense of initiative remains constant in the character of the Ballinlough community today. The Bishop of Cork in 1938, Dr Daniel Cohalan, had an interest in harnessing new possibilities, ideas, and new skills, to reach higher and to combine them with ideas of faith. There is a power in faith, in journeying with it. It is our lasting birthright but, it is also about what we do with it. Faith does not have a financial value but, without it, people’s moral compass, personal development and journey in life would certainly be anchored in a different direction.

As its core aims, this book excavates below Ballinlough’s official histories. Its key milestones are presented but the book aims to provide insights and foster debate into the woven relationships between the church, community life, and society. What is presented is a cross-section of Ballinlough residents and those connected to the parish throughout the years. Using the themes of the spirit of co-operation and community building put forward during Fr Kieran’s sermon at the 1938 dedication ceremony, the book aspires to recover and provide a cross-section of voices and personal memories of the most memorable aspects of Ballinlough. It also tries to create a framework of the development of motivations and visions for community life. The book is divided into four parts – firstly it presents the historical framework for the construction of Ballinlough church and the nature of Cork society in the 1920s and 1930s. Secondly memories covering Ballinlough’s market garden heritage and the emergence of the area’s development in the 1930s and 1940s; secondly the book focuses on the construction of the community infrastructure in the period c.1950-c.1980; fourthly the book explores more recent memories and concludes with the perspectives of a cross-section of individuals in the Ballinlough Parish Assembly.

Over 100 people speak at length in this book about their faith, their personal connection to Ballinlough, and its sense of place and how they link to it. They speak about the layered aspects of life such as change, love, hope, uncertainty, fragility, tragedy, integrity, traditions, renewal and imagination and their role in the formation of human values. Interviewees commented on the role of the church in the past and seek to be involved in its future. All merge together to reflect on the mark made on history by Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the wider community, but also their role in the future of Ballinlough and in the wider city and region.

I will be giving a reflection on the 75th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in the church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and sacristy from 13 September onwards.

 

Caption:

707a. Front cover of Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years by Kieran McCarthy; cover designed by Alexandria O’Donnell, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ballinlough.