Tours of Douglas and Rochestown respectively and across to Shandon and St Patrick’s Hill are part of Douglas Road Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s upcoming National Heritage Week programme. The Week takes place from Saturday 13 August to Sunday 21 August.
Cllr McCarthy noted; “It’s great to be back to physical tours after a hiatus of two years with Covid. So far this summer, my tours across the city’s suburbs for locals, in particular, have been very busy. Certainly, the Covid period and this post Covid era has brought a renewed interest in people’s local areas and their development and sense of place. The tours I have chosen for Heritage Week this year are all important areas in the city’s development plus all have a unique sense of place and identity. I will host seven tours and all are free. There is no booking required bar the one for Cork City Hall for Cork Heritage Open Day”.
Kieran’s National Heritage Week
All tours are free.
Saturday 13 August 2022, A Tour of Cork City Hall as part of Cork Heritage Open Day, 10am, meet at entrance at Anglesea Street entrance (90 minutes, booking required from 3 August at Cork Heritage Open Day website with Cork City Council).
Sunday 14 August 2022, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm (2 hours, no booking required).
Monday 15 August 2022, Shandon Historical Walking Tour; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp. Cork Volunteer Centre, 6.30pm (2 hours, no booking required).
Tuesday 16 August 2022, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 6.30pm (2 hours, no booking required; finishes on MacCurtain Street).
Thursday 18 August 2022, Views from a Park – The Black Ash and Tramore Valley Park, historical walking tour in association with the KinShip Project; meet at Halfmoon Lane gate, 6.30pm (90 minutes; no booking required).
Saturday 20 August 2022, Douglas and its History, historical walking tour in association with Douglas Tidy Towns; Discover the history of industry and the development of this historic village, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, 2pm (no booking required, circuit of village, finishes nearby).
Sunday 21 August 2022, The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story, historical walking tour, meet at carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay, Rochestown; 2pm, (free, 2 hours, no booking required, finishes near Rochestown Road).
Site of Mangala Bridge Proposal by the NTA (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
As noted in my flyer to houses in Donnybrook and in (some of- photocopying issues!) my Maryborough Woods flyers this week, I note I will host another Q & A meeting on Friday 22 July 2022, 6.30pm, Ballybrack Woods.
The meeting is on the flat green area by the stream at the proposed site of the bridge, next to the central tree in the picture.
Last week’s meeting was targeted at the social media market but I got alots of emails and calls during the week recommending another meeting for those not on social media.
So Many thanks to the flyering team yesterday and today. Over 1500 houses were flyered. We put in alot of steps And there may be people on social media who missed the meeting last Friday, are seeing this, and want to attend
But if you are concerned and are up to speed with the bridge proposal, don’t leave your submission to someone else.
It doesn’t have to be an epic submission, but why the woods is important to you.Make your submission here: https://busconnects.ie/cork/
My thanks as well to all those I met last evening at the public meeting on Boreenmanna Road, and the calls and emails that came into from the Shamrock Lawn area today.
Cllr Kieran McCarthy at Ballybrack Woods, Douglas, July 2022
“A shocking act of environmental vandalism” is how Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has described the proposal by the National Transport Authority to place a 20 metre wide bridge to facilitate bus and cars over Ballybrack Woods from Donnybrook Hill to Maryborough Woods as part of the Grange to Douglas Bus Corridor.
To view the plans, log onto busconnects.ie
Cllr McCarthy noted: “This is a shocking act of environmental vandalism. Yes there is a need to improve the nature of public transport in the city and in the south east of the city but not at the expense of demolishing half a woodland to do it”. “One just can’t have one climate action agenda dominating over a dozen other climate action priorities. They are all important. In this case, it is literally being proposed, amongst other concepts to eliminate the last green lungs of Douglas, to seriously interfere with a biodiversity corridor, and to remove a significant site of enormous health and well-being added value from its surrounding communities”.
“What is also shocking and very disappointing coming from the NTA is the downplaying of a such a removal of urban forestry. Their proposal is hidden away in its series of online bus corridors map proposals, which require the citizen to have a detailed knowledge of map reading and ready access to their own measuring tape”. “The consultation and info sessions are taking place during July when people are away on holidays and people are just beginning to feel freedom post a very tough two years of COIVD”.
“The communication to local communities of the detail of proposals has been shocking and instead of leading to support from communities or encouraging support for change have led directly and certainly led to fear, anger, grief, panic and sadness amongst my constituents. Supposed partnership has turned into a battleship”. “At this moment in time I have no confidence at all in the NTA to deliver the Cork Bus Connects programme that will enhance the city’ public transport in a sustainable and inclusive way”, concluded Cllr Kieran McCarthy.
NTA Bridge Proposal, Ballybrack proposal, July 2022
Marina Promenade Project, 23 June 2022 (image: Cork City Council) Marina Promenade Project, 23 June 2022 (image: Cork City Council)
Lots of people have asked over the past two years is there a plan to resurface the Marina Walk with a more amenable surface. The old concrete in many places is broken and is dangerous to the walker. So I am delighted to see the Marina Promenade progressing now to public consultation.
The project will in essence restore the road to its original state as a walkway (see the images attached). It is also more or less 150 years to the day since the name The Marina, named after a walkway in Palermo, Sicily, replaced the name Navigation Wall. So this public call is very apt.
Details:
Cork City Council is asking residents, communities, businesses, and other key stakeholders to have their say on a proposed upgrading of the Marina which will further enhance the much-loved amenity for pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities.
Today, it published a planning notice seeking Part 8 planning permission on the promenade which was pedestrianised nearly two years ago.
The project team are seeking to repurpose approximately 1.8km of the existing Marina Promenade to deliver a combined footpath-cycle path and improved public spaces.
The plans also provide for the creation of plazas, balconies and new seating areas at intervals along the Marina.Public lighting will be replaced between Church Avenue and Blackrock Harbour and new public lighting and feature lighting installed between Centre Park Road and Church Avenue.
As is currently, the Marina promenade will remain car free from Centre Park Road to Church Avenue (1.5 km) with a shared 6-metre-wide surface for pedestrians and cyclists, widening to 7.0m at the filtered permeability gate at Church Avenue. Similarly, car access will be maintained for residents on Church Ave and those living north of Church Ave on the Marina.
The plans also include:
• Provision of new pedestrian and cycle access points from the Marina Promenade into the adjacent Marina Park including Atlantic Pond and the Cork City to Passage West Greenway.• Retention of the iconic formal tree planting along the route
• Protection and enhancement of the natural heritage, green space and biodiversity of the area and the conversion of some footpath areas to green space
• Provision of an access road serving Lee Rowing Club, Pairc Ui Chaoimh/Atlantic Pond and the lands in between.
More detail is available on https://consult.corkcity.ie/en or alternatively, plans & particulars will be available for inspection or purchase on working days at Reception Desk, Cork City Council, City Hall from Thursday 23 June to Thursday 4 August 2022.
Closing date for all submissions is Thursday 18 August 2022 at 4pm.
An update on the Old Railway Line greenway was given to Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy at last Monday’s City Council meeting.
The Contractor is currently working within the old Blackrock Station. During the course of these works it was necessary to undertake additional conservation and repair work to boundary walls, platforms and adjoining structures. The full extent of this work only became apparent when the overgrowth was fully removed.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “A good few people are asking about the delays to the re-opening of the Old Railway line walk. I questioned the Chief Executive at the last Council meeting and it has been the conservation works around the old Blackrock platform, which has delayed the works. On pulling back the vegetation, the damage on the masonry was worse than expected. I realise that many people are anxious to get back to using a much loved community space. It’s down to a few short weeks now before it’s re-opening”.
Completion works for the new access ramp between the Greenway and the Marina (i.e. through Holland Park) is scheduled to commence in late 2022 as per the original programme. The work on this ramp is staggered to allow for the settlement of the earthwork’s embankment.
The last remaining section of the Passage Greenway Project Phase 1 is scheduled to be fully open to the public in mid-July. The Contractor is likely to have some remaining off line works to complete beyond this date such as the completion of snags etc however this work will not affect users of the Greenway.
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has announced his historical walking tours for May, which have a focus on the hills and views of Cork. He will conduct walks across the area of Tramore Valley Park, St Patrick’s Hill area, and also around the Barrack Street area. The Tramore Valley Park tour will explore the development of the area from being a swamp through to being a landfill and then onto being an artificial mound to enable the development of a park. All of Kieran’s tours are free and no booking is required.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “Cork’s Tramore Valley Park is an exciting addition and recent initiative of Cork City Council. It is great to be able to revisit the cultural heritage of the park and its surrounds with the Kinship arts project this month. Historically William Petty’s 1655 map of the city and its environs marks the site of Tramore Valley Park as Spittal Lands, a reference to the original local environment and the backing up of the Trabeg and Tramore tributary rivers as they enter the Douglas River channel. We are lucky that there is also really interesting perspectives on the area recorded through the ages, which have been great to research”.
“Walking across the park, one can feel the tension in its sense of place, a place haunted and engineered by its past and teeming with ideas about its future. Of course, there are green spaces scattered across the city but none with the same scale of development and story as the 160 acre site off Kinsale Road. This is a site where the city’s environment has also been a regular topic of debate across local newspapers and in the city’s council political chamber”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
Kieran’s May Tours:
Saturday 14 May 2022, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Tour around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
Sunday 22 May 2022, Views from a Park – Tramore Valley Park, historical walking tour in association with the KinShip Project; meet at Halfmoon Lane gate, 2pm (free, duration: 90 minutes no booking required).
Saturday 28 May 2022, The Friar’s Walk; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
1138a. Portrait of Nano Nagle by fourth class in Scoil Naomh Caitriona in Bishopstown
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 17 February 2022
Season 20 for Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project
This month marks the conclusion of the 20th school season of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project. Over the past twenty years the school wing of my local history work aims to engage younger generation to take up an interest in the history, heritage, and geography of the city.
This city-based project is kindly funded by Cork City Council (thanks to Niamh Twomey, Heritage Office), and supported by Old Cork Waterworks Experience Lee Road (thanks to Meryvn Horgan), It is open to schools in Cork City – at primary level to the pupils of fourth, fifth and sixth class and at post-primary from first to sixth years. A total of 25 schools in Cork City took part in this school season. Circa 800 students participated in the process and approx 200 projects were submitted on all aspects of Cork’s history.
A full list of winners, topics and pictures of some of the project pages for 2022 can be viewed on my YouTube film at my website www.corkheritage.ie. A virtual presentation of the projects and students’ work was given to Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Colm Kelleher. For those doing research, www.corkheritage.ie has also a number of resources listed to help with source work and loads of Cork City History virtual trails to discover..
One of the key aims of the project is to allow students to explore, investigate and comment on their local history in a constructive, active and fun way. The emphasis is on the process of doing a project and learning not only about your area but also developing new personal skills. Many of the topics in the city such as general histories of how Cork developed have myriads of history books written on them. However, the challenge in this project is to get students to devise methodologies that provide interesting and personal ways to approach the study of local history for up-and-coming generations.
Submitted projects this year and in previous years have been colourful, creative, contain personal opinions, imagination, and gain publicity. These elements form the basis of a student friendly narrative analysis approach where the students explore their project topic in an interactive way. In particular students are encouraged to attain primary material through engaging with several methods such as fieldwork, interviews with local people, making models, photographing, cartoon creating, and making short films of their study topic.
For example, a winning class project this school season from fourth class in Scoil Naomh Caitriona in Bishopstown focussed on the story of Nano Nagle and her legacy. They visited Nano Nagle Place, took the great educational tour, and returned to their classroom to create a project book thinking about how Nano’s story could be presented to a younger generation. The project book is full of historical snippets but also impressive art and craft work, making their project one that a reader wants to turn the page on. Another impressive and winning project on the life and times of Nano Nagle was delivered by fifth class in St Patrick’s Boys National School, Gardiner’s Hill
Light was also shone on the story of Henry Ford and his legacy in Cork, when an overall winning student, Cuan O’Neill from Beaumont Boys National School wrote about the history of the tractor and car factory on the Marina. He wrote to experts in the field of Ford history engaging their views, and really created a project book, where one could hear the voices of why the Ford legacy should be championed in the present day, but also perhaps how to look at how Corkonians remember such a legacy.
This year marks went towards making a short film or a model on projects to accompany history booklets. Submitted short films this year had interviews of family members, neighbours to local historians to the student taking a reporter type stance on their work. Some students also chose to act out scenes from the past. One winning student, Oscar Ó Loinsigh, from Beaumont Boys National School did a short film tour of the Queenstown Story in Cobh.
The creativity section also encourages model making. The best model trophy in general goes to the creative and realistic model. Models of GAA pitches, Cork City Gaol and the Crawford Art Gallery, and even board games of Elizabeth Fort and Spike Island featured this year in several projects – not only physical models but Minecraft digital models as well.
Every year, the students involved produce a section in their project books showing how they communicated their work to the wider community. It is about reaching out and gaining public praise for the student but also appraisal and further ideas. Covid scuppered a fuller publicity element, but projects were presented to other classes in schools. Over the years students have been putting work on local parish newsletters, newspapers and local radio stations and also presenting work in local libraries. Open days for parents in schools to view projects have been successful as well as putting displays on in local GAA halls, credit unions, community centres and libraries.
Overall, the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project attempts to provide the student with a hands-on and interactive activity that is all about learning not only about your local area but also about the process of learning by participating students.
Check out the YouTube awards ceremony under the Schools’ Heritage Project at www.corkheritage.ie. Here’s to school season 21 coming this September 2022!
Captions:
1138a. Portrait of Nano Nagle by fourth class in St Catherine’s National School in Bishopstown.
1138b. Minecraft model of old Ford Factory, The Marina by Cuan O’Neill, Beaumont Boys National School.
1138b. Minecraft model of old Ford Factory, The Marina by Cuan O’Neill, Beaumont Boys National School.
To ask the CE for an update on the opening of Marina Park and the final cost of its completion and the sources of funding?(Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
Motion:
That City Library’s Cork Past and Present website be put back together online as soon as possible. It plays a very supportive role in the study of local history and genealogy in the city and region (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
“The park looks great and will add immensely to The Marina district. It’s been a long two years with construction work stopping and starting due to Covid 19. Phase one works has also comprised the construction of a new public car park at the Shandon Boat Club end of the Marina, as well as a new cycle lane and pedestrian walkway – these are all now completed and are very well used”.
“One can also see that the installation of perhaps the most eye-catching part of the project – a noticeable red steel pavilion on the site of, and replicating, the central hall of the former Munster Agricultural Showgrounds. The showgrounds at its cultural height in the twentieth century attracted tens of thousands of people, who enjoyed what the Spring and Summer shows had to offer.
The new park is a modern offering on the site, which will attract citizens from across the city and region. The sides of the pavilion reflecting the society’s former buildings will not be enclosed, and there will be possibilities for coffee pods and outdoor seating and arts and crafts. The project is a e.10m investment into the area, of which nearly e.5m came from EU Urban Sustainable Funds, which are part of the EU’s structural funds and are a crucial source of funding for cities”. The EU source of income will need to be chased once again so that phase 2 of Marina Park can be delivered”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
11 December 2021, ” “The new park is a modern offering on the site, which will attract citizens from across the city and region. The park or project represents an estimated €10m investment into the area, of which around €5m came from EU Urban Sustainable Funds — part of the EU’s structural funds and “a crucial source of funding for cities”, Cllr McCarthy said, New park in Cork city to open to the public from Monday, New park in Cork city to open to the public from Monday (echolive.ie)
And there may be people on social media who missed the meeting last Friday, are seeing this, and want to attend 
