Category Archives: Cork History

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 15 September 2022

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events
1168a. Front cover of 2022-2023 brochure for Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project.
1168a. Front cover of 2022-2023 brochure for Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 15 September 2022

Launch of Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project, Year 21

It is great to reach year 21 of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project. It is just slightly younger than this column but both this column, the schools’ heritage project (below) and the walking tours are all about popularising more of Cork’s history and story for interested citizens and the next generation.

Over 15,000-16,000 students have participated in the Schools’ Heritage Project through the years with many topics researched and written about – from buildings and monuments to people’s stories and memories.

Never before has our locality and its heritage being so important for recreation and for our peace of mind. In the past two years, more focus than ever before has been put on places and spaces we know, appreciate, and attain personal comfort from.

The Schools’ Heritage Project is aimed at both primary and post primary level.  Project books may be submitted on any aspect of Cork’s rich past. The theme for this year’s project is “The Value of the Past”. Funded by Cork City Council, the Project is an initiative of the Cork City Heritage Plan.

The Project 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. There are two sub categories within the post primary section, Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate. The project is free to enter. A student may enter as an individual or as part of a group or a part of a class entry.

Co-ordinated by myself, one of the key aims of the Project is to encourage students to explore, investigate and debate their local heritage (built, archaeological, cultural and natural) in a constructive, active and fun way. Projects on any aspect of Cork’s rich heritage can be submitted to an adjudication panel. Prizes are awarded for best projects and certificates are given to each participant. A cross-section of projects submitted from the last school season can be gleamed from links on my website, www.corkheritage.ie where there are other resources, former titles and winners as well as entry information.

Students produce a project on their local area using primary and secondary sources. Each participating student within their class receives a free workshop in October 2021. The workshop comprises a guide to how to put a project together. Project material must be gathered in an A4/ A3 size Project book. The project may be as large as the student wishes but minimum 20 pages (text + pictures + sketches).

Projects must also meet five elements. Projects must be colourful, creative, have personal opinion, imagination and gain publicity before submission. These elements form the basis of a student friendly narrative analysis approach where the student explores their project topic in an interactive and task-oriented way. In particular, students are encouraged (whilst respecting social distancing) to attain material through visiting local libraries, engaging with fieldwork, making models, photographing, cartoon creating, and making short snippet films of their area. Re-enacting can also be a feature of several projects.

For over twenty years, the project has evolved in exploring how students pursue local history and how to make it relevant in society. The project attempts to provide the student with a hands-on and interactive activity that is all about learning not only about heritage in your local area (in all its forms) but also about the process of learning by participating students.

The project is about thinking about, understanding, appreciating and making relevant in today’s society the role of our heritage, our landmarks, our oral histories, our environment in our modern world for upcoming citizens. So, the project is about splicing together activity on issues of local history and heritage such as thinking, exploring, observing, discovering, researching, uncovering, revealing, interpreting, and resolving.

The project is open to many directions of delivery. Students are encouraged to engage with their topic in order to make sense of it, understand and work with it. Students continue to experiment with the overall design and plan of their work. For example, and in general, students who have entered before might engage with the attaining of primary information through oral histories. The methodologies that the students create provide interesting ways to approach the study of local heritage.

Students are asked to choose one of two extra methods (apart from a booklet) to represent their work. The first option is making a model whilst the second option is making a short film. It is great to see students using modern up todate technology to present their findings. This works in broadening their view of approaching their project.

            This project is kindly funded by Cork City Council (viz the help of Niamh Twomey, Heritage Officer) Prizes are also provided by the Old Cork Waterworks Experience, Lee Road.

Overall, the Schools’ Heritage Project for the past 21 years has attempted to build a new concerned generation of Cork people, pushing them forward, growing their self-development empowering them to connect to their world and their local heritage. Spread the word please with local schools. Details can be found on my dedicated Cork heritage website, www.corkheritage.ie.

Caption:

1168a. Front cover of 2022-2023 brochure for Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 8 September 2022

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 8 September 2022

Journeys to a Free State: Remembering Timothy Kennefick

It has been fifteen years since this column focussed on the Timothy Kennefick memorial near Coachford.  My thanks to Tony McCarthy, Blarney for raising Timothy’s story way back when this column was exploring and writing about the River Lee valley.

On a Sunday drive around 2002, a friend asked Tony McCarthy to go and see people home from America –the children of Timothy Kennefick – Tim and Ellen, both in the late autumn of their lives. Corkman Tony McCarthy was drawn to their story and sympathetic to the basic memorial that existed near Coachford, which recorded the death of their father and his part in the Irish Civil War.

As Tony chatted to the Kennefick family on that Sunday afternoon from a history point of view, the facts on the stone and especially the question of who Timothy Kennefick was brought back to life.  With their imaginations fired, Tony and others assembled a committee and began to work on perhaps improving the Kennefick memorial in line with the wishes of the Kennefick family.

The man in question Timothy Kennefick was born the sixth of nine children to Michael and Katherine Kennefick in Cork in 1893. In 1914 he lost one brother due to an accident. His father passed away in 1916 and his mother just five days before his own life was taken. In fact, he was on route to her funeral when he was captured and killed. He married Ellen Enright on 19 July 1919. The family lived upstairs at the Pier Head Inn in Blackrock, where he was a Bar Assistant. The Inn stands to this day, although with updated furnishings. This was where his daughter Kathleen was born.

In his early twenties, Timothy Kennefick left the operation of the Pier Head Inn for full time IRA duties. He learned to drill, to camp, to march and to scout. He moved his family over to the Lady’s Well hill, where his mother lived. Captain Timothy Kennefick was involved in the Anglo-Irish war until the truce was called in July 1921.

After the Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921, the first shot of the Civil War was fired in June 1922. The Civil War lasted until May 1923. Families split and friends parted. Captain Timothy Kennefick took the anti-treaty side during the Civil war, similar to Tom Barry, Dick Barrett, Liam Deasy, Dan Breen, Richard Russell and Liam Lynch. Every known Republican was swept into prison. The houses of people who had sheltered and nursed and helped the very men in power, when they were irregulars themselves, were raided and ransacked by day and by night.

Timothy Kennefick was always an active man thus rising to the position of “Captain”. During the month of September 1922, tension was very high in the Cork area after the August ambush of Michael Collins at Béal na Bláth. Timothy was billeted out near Ballingeary when he got news of his mother’s death. He was a passenger in Mr Seamus Cotter’s lorry making his way back to Cork for the funeral when they were apprehended by Free State soldiers at Mishells Gates.

According to the evidence presented at an inquest after Timothy Kennefick’s death, Emmett Dalton was the Commanding Officer over 30 Free State Officers on Friday, 8 September 1922. They had three lorries and an armoured car. Mr Seamus Cotter the owner of the truck and Mr Herlihy another passenger were allowed go free. Timothy was arrested and put into a caged truck.

The full party then travelled on towards Coachford where all thirty Free State soldiers had breakfast at Thomas Burke’s Restaurant. The prisoner was left in the caged truck. After breakfast some of the Free State soldiers got into the caged truck and travelled towards Dripsey. They turned right and stopped at Oldtown. 

The inquest concluded that it was there that the Free State soldiers tortured and murdered Timothy. He had several marks on the face two broken teeth, and bullet wounds to the head. The groups then returned to join the rest of their party in Coachford.

There was an inquest held by coroner J J Horgan at Fr Gilligan’s house in Coachford on Monday 11 September 1922, on the circumstances surrounding the death of Timothy. The following was the verdict of the jurors;

“We find that Captain Timothy Kennefick was wilfully murdered at Nadrid Coachford on Friday 8th September 1922 by a party of Free State troops and we bring in a verdict of wilful murder against the officer in charge of the Free State troops at Coachford on the morning in question and Richard Mulcahy as Minister for Defence and that the cause of death was shock and hemorrhage due to laceration of the brain caused by bullet wounds. We extend to his wife and relatives our sincere sympathy in their bereavement”.

A little boy was born shortly after Timothy was murdered. Ellen and the children moved shortly afterwards to the east coast of the United States to carve out a new life. Over eighty years later, the commemoration committee of the Kennefick memorial collected funds to revamp the memorial itself. A high cross replaced the stone inscribed slab, which can now be viewed at the side of the monument. Finbarr McCarthy of Denis McCarthy, Mallow Road, sculpted the piece and it was unveiled on 4 October 2006 near Coachford.

Captions:

1167a. Picture of Timothy Kennefick, c.1920 (source: Tony McCarthy).

1167b. Timothy Kennefick Memorial, Coachford, County Cork August 2022 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s September Historical Walking Tours (All free, 2 hours, no booking required):

Saturday 3 September, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 2pm.

Sunday 4 September 2022, Ballinlough – Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth; meet at Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, 2pm.

Saturday 17 September 2022, The City Workhouse; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 2pm.

 Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project Launches for Year 21

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

Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has launched the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2022/23. The project is in its 21st year and is open to schools in Cork City. It is funded by Cork City Council and the Project is an initiative of the Cork City Heritage Plan.

The City Edition of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project (est. 2002/03) is aimed at both primary and post primary level.  Project books may be submitted on any aspect of Cork’s rich past.

The fourth-class level is open to fourth class students. The primary senior level is open to students of fifth and sixth class. Post primary entrant/s will be placed in Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate levels. The post primary level is open to any year from first to sixth year.

A student may enter as an individual or as part of a group or as part of a class project. The theme for this year’s project is “The Value of the Past”.

Free and important project support in the form of free virtual workshops led by the Project Co-ordinator Cllr Kieran McCarthy will be held in participating schools across September and October 2022. This is a 40 minute workshop to give participating students ideas for compilation and resources.

Free workshop support is also available to schools who have never entered before and wish to have a workshop to see how the project works or to get some perspectives on Cork history. Information on entering this year’s project is on Kieran’s heritage website, www.corkheritage.ie.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “It is great to reach the twenty-first year of the project. Over 15-16,000 students have participated in the project through the years with many topics researched and written about – from buildings and monuments to people’s stories and memories. The Project continues to encourage and work with Cork students in celebrating, highlighting, debating and creating fresh approaches to Cork’s cultural heritage. The Project also focuses on students gaining acknowledgement and self-confidence from their work”.

“In addition, never before has our locality and its heritage being so important for recreation and for our peace of mind. In the past two years, more focus than ever has been put on places and spaces we know, appreciate, and attain personal comfort from”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.

View the brochure here: 2022-23-Discover-Cork-Schools-Heritage-Brochure.pdf (corkheritage.ie)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 1 September 2022

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, National, Uncategorized
1166a. Painting of Michael Collins by Sir John Lavery, August 1922 (picture: Hugh Lane Gallery).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 1 September 2022

Journeys to a Free State: The Burial of Michael Collins

The morning after the death of Michael Collins in Béal na mBláth on 22 August, his body lay in Cork City’s Shanakiel Hospital. From an early hour on 23 August, the surrounding roads leading to the hospital were packed with people.

The Cork Examiner records that some members of the public were admitted to the hospital grounds and a few had the honour to enter the room, where the body was lying in state. Officers of the National Army formed a guard of honour and the room was laden with floral tributes and choice blooms. Michael’s comrades including Major General Dalton, were present. Many citizens passed in and said a silent heartfelt prayer and departed again. A number of clergy were also present, including Most Rev Dr Cohalan, Bishop of Cork.

Meanwhile National Army troops lined up along the sweeping avenue to the hospital. About noon, the prayers for the dead having been said by Rev Scannell of Farranferris and the assembled clergy, the lid was placed on the coffin and removed to the hearse. The pall bearers were Major General Dalton, Colonel Commandant Kingston, General Liam Tobin, Colonel Commandant Vincent Byrne, Colonel Commandant Seán O’Connell and Lieutenant Commandant Dolan.

The order was given to the troops to reverse arms and the coffin was brought out followed by a group of nurses carrying the wreaths. The hearse moved down the ranks of the troops, and the military funeral procession went on its way.

As it proceeded on to Sunday’s Well, over Thomas Davis Bridge, Western Road, Washington Street, St Patrick’s Street, and down to Penrose Quay, where the remains were to be put on board a ship to be taken to Dublin, there were repeated deep lines of sorrow by the general public.

When it became known in the city that the body was going to be taken to Dublin by the SS Classic, people in large numbers thronged the quays, and by the time the funeral cortege approached St Patrick’s Quay and Merchants Quay mass crowds were present. The approaches to Penrose Quay were, however, guarded by National troops, and to prevent congestion, the public were not allowed nearer the SS Classic than the Brian Boru Bridge.

The SS Classic arrived from Fishguard at 10.30am, and the news of the death of General Collins caused grief amongst the passengers, many of whom were visibly affected.  Captain Harrison was asked by the National Army for the vessel to convey the remains of Michael Collins to Dublin, and the necessary preparations were at once made.

At 1pm an armed guard with a machine gun went on board, and a little later the armoured car Slievenamon with her crew arrived, the armoured car being was also placed on board the vessel.

Throughout Cork all places of business were closed as a mark of respect to the memory of Michael Collins. The tricolour was flown at half-mast from all the buildings occupied by the National troops.

As the crowds became denser, members of the newly-formed Cork Civic Patrol, under Mr Jeremiah Murphy, assisted the military in keeping the quays clear. Their task was, however, an easy one, for the mourning citizens had only to be told once that their presence on Penrose quay would delay the troops and the transfer of the coffin to the ship.

Shortly after 1pm the funeral cortege moved slowly down Penrose Quay. Bishop Cohalan and several priests walked in front of the coffin, which was covered with the tricolour and borne in a hearse drawn by a pair of black horses. Behind it walked the relatives and friends of the deceased, well-known public men and political sympathisers, and finally the troops with arms reversed.

The Bishop, priests, and friends of General Collins went immediately on board. At 1.15pm the coffin was removed from the hearse, and was borne on the shoulders of General Dalton, General Tobin, Staff Captain McGrath, Commandant Friel, Staff Captain Courtney, and Captain Conroy to the vessel. It was received on board by the Bishop and the ship immediately departed.

Before the Waterford coast had been reached, a wireless message was picked up to the effect that the SS Lady Wicklow was on her way to Cork to convey the remains to Dublin, and that members of the Provisional Government were aboard. Passing Waterford, the SS Lady Wicklow was hailed and instructions communicated to her to return to Dublin. She immediately stopped and started her return journey. The SS Classic reached the mouth of Dublin Bay at 1am on 24 August.

The Cork Examiner records that the body passed through the silent streets of Dublin in the early morning. Over the cobbled quays the gun carriage, carrying the flag draped coffin, made its way. Despite the hour and the uncertainty of the time of arrival along the streets there were gathered with large groups of people.

The procession passed along the silent streets to St Vincent’s Hospital, Stephen’s Green. The remains lay in the mortuary with a guard of honour of military officers until about half-past nine the following morning, when they were removed to the Community Chapel.

Before the coffin was removed from the mortuary the blessing was given by Rev John McLaughlin, Acting Chaplain. Before being removed from the mortuary to the chapel the remains of Michael Collins were embalmed. In addition, Sir John Lavery painted the picture of Michael Collins as the body lay the coffin in the community chapel.

Michael Collins’ remains were removed at 7pm that evening to Dublin City Hall, where they laid in state until the following Sunday evening. They were then taken to the Pro-Cathedral. Solemn High Mass was be celebrated at 11am on the Monday morning, 28 August 1922 after which Michael Collins was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Caption:

1166a. Painting of Michael Collins by Sir John Lavery, August 1922 (picture: Hugh Lane Gallery).

Cllr McCarthy’s September Walking Tour Dates Launched, 29 August 2022

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

Cllr Kieran McCarthy has launched his September set of public historical walking tours. They will focus on three locations – Ballinlough, Blackpool, and the old Cork Union Workhouse site at St Finbarr’s Hospital. 

Cllr McCarthy noted; “These three suburbs have much cultural and built heritage. There are many nineteenth century tales running through these locations. Blackpool has a rich industrial heritage at its heart. Ballinlough has everything from historic graveyards to stories of big house estates to tales of market gardens. Whilst the old workhouse site contains stories from impoverished society and those who struggled to make ends meet”.

“These three locations follow quickly on the back of a successful and recent series of tours for National Heritage Week. It’s great to be able to host physical tours again. The September tours are the last set of public tours till next spring again. I began the public tours in early April and by the time late September rolls around, 22 free public tours will have been given by me this year. All aim to build a sense of civic pride and also just to put a focus on the history and heritage in our own city”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.

Kieran’s September 2022 Tours:

Saturday 3 September 2022, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage, historical walking tour with Kieran; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 2pm, (free, two hours).

Sunday 4 September 2022, Ballinlough – Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth; historical walking tour with Kieran; meet at Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, 2pm (free, two hours).

Saturday 17 September 2022, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour with Kieran; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 2pm (free, two hours, on site tour).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 25 August 2022

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized
1165a. Memorial at Béal na Bláth, County Cork, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1165a. Memorial at Béal na Bláth, County Cork, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

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Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 25 August 2022

Journeys to a Free State: The Death of Michael Collins

Just over a week after reclaiming Cork City for the Irish Provisional Government, General Emmet Dalton played host to National Army Commander in Chief Michael Collins. On Sunday, 20 August 1922, Michael arrived from Dublin with his convoy to begin checking out the Republican manoeuvres in West Cork.

Dalton later recalled that he advised Collins that being in Cork was an ‘unnecessary risk’. Collins responded, “Nobody will shoot me in my own county”. Two days later, Dalton was travelling with Collins in his touring car in West Cork when their convoy was ambushed at Béal na Bláth some short few miles from Bandon.

It was on 22 August at about 7.15pm-7.30pm when the convoy consisting of a motorcycle outrider, a touring car, a Crossley tender and an armoured car were halted by a barricade on a bend in the road. Michael and his convoy took shelter on the side of the road.

In a very insightful section on an RTE documentary in 1978, entitled Emmet Dalton Remembers, it covers the life and times of the Major General. It was first broadcast following his death in March 1978. It was made in the final eighteenth months of his life. The programme is currently posted on YouTube. Dalton at eighty years of age is interviewed at Béal na Bláth.

Dalton recalls that once the ambush started that he and Collins got out and some fellow soldiers got off the Crossley tender and they hid behind a small ditch. It gave them cover from the angle from which the firing was coming, which was up from around 200 yards.

Dalton recalls: “From the volume that was there I would say that there were but a half a dozen at the most – firing rifles. A chosen ambush position is always perilous, and this was obviously a very bad position. There was no area for retreat. There was only one thing that we could have done was drive on. which I said to the Commander in Chief – ‘drive like hell’ but he elected to stop here and fight them, so we did…We were stretched out. We wouldn’t have been piled on top of each other…The spot where we were was one continuous bend of bank and the other members sheltered were firing obliquely across”.

Dalton relates that he saw action and indications of rifle fire. There were 15 to 20 minutes maximum of action on both sides. The motorcyclist came back and said that the obstruction had been cleared. So that it was then possible for them to have driven on. With one eye on Collins and after ten minutes of engagement. Dalton witnessed Collins getting up and moving to the back of the armoured car. He used it as protection to have a better sight of what was happening on the hill above. Then he moved from there up around the bend out of Dalton’s vision but he was firing from up ahead.

Dalton recalls that he thought he heard some of his convoy calling him; “I jumped up on at that stage O’Connell had been up the road to me and he said where’s the Big Fella so I said he’s around the corner around the bend. We both went up there and he had been shot. He was lying there with a very gaping wound to the back of his head…So I called the armoured car back and we lifted him and took him unto the side of the armoured car, we moved behind the armoured car with the armoured car between us and their firing position. We got him to the position on the side of the road. Under protection of the armoured car, I bandaged the wound and O’Connell said an act of contrition to him. I knew he was dying, if not already dead, so we did the best we could to cover it up [the wound].

All action at this stage practically had stopped. Except while they were lifting the body onto the armoured car, the motorcycle scout lieutenant Smith had come forward to give his help. In doing so there was an odd shot came and he was shot through the neck. It was a clean wound and he carried on helping them.

Collins’ wound was a very large wound open wound in the back of the head. On the wound Dalton recalls; “It was difficult for me to get a first aid field bandage to cover it. When I was binding it up – it was quite obvious to me – with the experience I had – it was a ricochet bullet. It could only have been a ricochet or a dum-dum. there was no exit wound…I felt he was dying or dead by the time I reached him. We were both very upset as you can well understand emotionally, and the rest of the word got around to the rest of our column. We got them together and moved quietly down the road and we moved Collins’ body from the armoured car situation onto the touring car back”.

Dalton sat in and carried Collin’s weight on his shoulder in the car and they drove off back to towards their home base of Cork. He remembers a tough journey back to Cork City. “It was a troublesome journey; we had encountered a lot of trouble and bother on the way because the roads were blocked. We had at one stage to go through a farmyard and came out on the other side. It took us quite a long time because we didn’t reach Cork City on 12 midnight”. To this day, there is no consensus as to who fired the fatal shot. 

Caption:

1165a. Memorial at Béal na Bláth, County Cork, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Press, A history-making time for our city’: New exhibition launched in Cork Public Museum, 21 August 2022

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, National, Uncategorized

21 August 2022, “Sometimes in the history of Cork, we tend to silo-ise that history, we talk about the Burning of Cork, the deaths of Tomás Mac Curtain and Terence MacSwiney, which were really important, there’s also the Civil War aspect and the fallout of that, but someone had to pick up the pieces, and we don’t always talk about the people who picked up the pieces,” Cllr McCarthy said, A history-making time for our city’: New exhibition launched in city museum,  ‘A history-making time for our city’: New exhibition launched in city museum (echolive.ie)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 18 August 2022

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized
1164a. Armoured Car with National Army soldiers on Union Quay, Cork, 10 August 1922, photograph by W D Hogan (source: National Library, Ireland).
1164a. Armoured Car with National Army soldiers on Union Quay, Cork, 10 August 1922, photograph by W D Hogan (source: National Library, Ireland).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 18 August 2022

Journeys to a Free State: The Re-taking of Cork City

Kilkenny-born journalist Frank Geary (1891-1961) had a front row seat of the unfolding Irish Civil War. In 1922 he joined the Irish Independent as a staff reporter. On 3 August 1922, he was sent by his editor to cover the unfolding Civil War in Cork. To get to Cork he had to sail via Liverpool because all Irish regional roads were blocked, but he was then the first to get news out of Cork. 

Frank’s notes, which have survived and have been published, recall the landing of the National Army under General Emmet Dalton and their advance to Cork City to clear the retreating Irregulars or Republicans. His account of the days of the Battle of Rochestown is told from his perspective of being in the city and viewing the manoeuvres of the Irregulars as they tried to send reinforcements to Rochestown and the attempt to retain the city.

By Thursday morning 10 August 1922, the Irregulars retreated from Rochestown and blocked the roads at several other points, in order to delay the advance of the National soldiers. Early on Thursday afternoon, the National forces reached Douglas, and the Irregulars commenced evacuating Cork City, which was occupied by the National troops before night fall.

Frank recalls that by mid-Thursday afternoon that there was repeated activity of Irregulars all over the city. Bands of men with rifles flung over their shoulders were marching around. The Imperial Hotel, the County Club and the Ex-Soldiers League had again been vacated. News was being distributed that the National Army were advancing on the city. A Republican War News had been published by Irregulars and was being sold on the streets. It comprised three or four pages of typewritten text.

Frank stood on the opposite bank to Union Quay barracks. Outside the barracks there was an assortment of motor vehicles of all kinds and descriptions – lorries, five-seaters, two-seaters, and bicycles and sidecars. Big crowds still congregated around the quays. A messenger arrived at the barracks. Almost out of breath, he gave a message with desperate haste.  Men ran here and there into the building and out of it. A number of the irregulars rushed on to the road. They got around a big five-ton lorry. They pushed it and got it going, and then, splash, it was in the adjacent River Lee.

 Frank continues: “The men rush to another car, a fine five-seater. They push it into the river. Another and another and another and yet another meet with similar fates before the horrified gaze of the crowd. Several motorcycles, many of them with sidecars, were pushed into the water. One pretty little two-seater motor car just gets caught in the woodwork on the quay and doesn’t fall. It hangs there, betwixt and between, a funny-looking sight. The whole quayside is now cleared”.

At 3pm, suddenly Frank witnessed a volley of rifle and revolver shots ringing out. People ran and sought refuge in every open door. The volleys were apparently been fired as a warning for, as minutes later there was a loud resounding boom. A dense volume of black smoke burst up from the barracks, followed by the crash of falling masonry. Smoke arose from every window, from every chimney, even from between the very slates. In other parts of the city, there were explosions in other Republican strongholds followed by smoke and fire. Elizabeth Fort, off Barrack Street, the Bridewell in Cornmarket Street, Tuckey Street police barracks, Empress Place police barracks and high up on its hill Victoria Barracks was also in flames.

Frank writes of a city that had fallen and which was destroyed by smoke and the stench of burning buildings: “Cork has fallen. The irregulars are evacuating. As it was in Limerick they are going, going, going! Explosion follows explosion with terrifying rapidity. Cork has been my worst experience from this point of view. Like the waters of many rivers converging into a big lake, the smoke of many fires has converged into one dense mass, which hangs like a deadly pall over the whole city. The air below, as it were, is imprisoned and one stifles with the heat, the oppressive heat, and the acrid smell of burning buildings”.

In the midst of the burning Frank describes that looting had begun, and parades of men, women and children flocked to the burning buildings and take everything they can lay their hands on – motor-bicycles, wardrobes, beds, chairs, tables were amongst the materials looted. People even braved the danger of exploding bullets and bombs, and physically went into the burning buildings and carry away various articles of furniture.

At 4pm Frank describes that there was another big explosion. This one was an attempt to blow up the Parnell Bridge. It was only partially successful. A big gaping hole was blown in the wooden groundwork and part of the steel work was rent asunder and twisted like a piece of paper. Pedestrian traffic over the bridge is still possible.

By 5pm large crowds of citizens thronged the streets. Frank writes that there was not a shop open in the city. At the first explosion all the shops were quickly shuttered and closed down. All the factories and workshops in and around the city were also closed. The tramway service, too, was suspended, and was not resumed that evening. Just before the Irregulars departed they also visited the General Post Office and wrecked the telegraphic department. The telephone exchange was also visited and here the apparatus was also smashed. Several bridges on the main line to Dublin were also blown up hampering any railway communications.

By 7.30pm, the announcement spread that National army troops had arrived and were actually in the city – they were crossing Parnell Bridge. The first of them was preceded by an armoured car. The advance guard came slowly. Frank details that tens of thousands of citizens thronged the thoroughfares to view the scene. The following day Frank travelled onto Waterford by boat to write about his experiences there.

My thanks to Billy Collins for alerting me to Frank Geary’s story.

Kieran’s Remaining National Heritage Week tours:

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). 

Caption:

1164a. Armoured Car with National Army soldiers on Union Quay, Cork, 10 August 1922, photograph by W D Hogan (source: National Library, Ireland).

Second Call Out – Kieran’s National Heritage Week Events, 13 August-21 August 2022

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

Saturday 13 August 2022, A Tour of Cork City Hall as part of Cork Heritage Open Day, with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, 10am, meet at entrance at Anglesea Street (90 minutes, booking required at Cork Heritage Open Day website with Cork City Council, from 3 August 2022). Update, 5 August, booked out.

Sunday 14 August 2022, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Grand Parade, 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required). 

Monday 15 August 2022, Shandon Historical Walking Tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp Cork Volunteer Centre, 6.30pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).  

Tuesday 16 August 2022, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy 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 (free , duration: two hours, no booking required). 

Thursday 18 August 2022, Views from a Park – The Black Ash and Tramore Valley Park, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy in association with the KinShip Project; meet at Halfmoon Lane gate, 6.30pm (free, duration: 90 minutes no booking required). 

Saturday 20 August 2022, Douglas and its History, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy 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 (free, duration: two hours, no booking required, circuit of village, finishes nearby). 

Sunday 21 August 2022, The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, meet at carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay, Rochestown; 2pm, (free, 2 hours, no booking required, finishes near Rochestown Road). 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 11 August 2022

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events
1163a. Cork City Hall, one of Kieran’s National Heritage Week tour sites, 13-21 August 2022 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1163a. Cork City Hall, one of Kieran’s National Heritage Week tour sites, 13-21 August 2022 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 11 August 2022

Kieran’s Heritage Week Tours, 13-21 August 2022

It is 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 have, in particular, 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 National Heritage Week this year are all important areas in the city’s development plus they 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.

 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 Cork Heritage Open Day website with Cork City Council).

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. 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 Eamon de Valera, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, on 9 July 1932.

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). 

 Cork City city possesses a unique character derived from a combination of its plan, topography, built fabric and its location on the lowest crossing point of the river Lee as it meets the tidal estuary and the second largest natural harbour in the world. Indeed, it is also a city that is unique among other cities, it is the only one which has experienced all phases of Irish urban development, from circa 600AD to the present day. This tour explores the city’s earliest historical phases.

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).  

 Tradition is one way to sum up the uniqueness of Shandon Street. Despite being a physical street, one can stroll down (or clamber up), the thoroughfare holds a special place in the hearts of many Corkonians.  The legacy of by-gone days is rich. The street was established by the Anglo-Normans as a thoroughfare to give access to North Gate Drawbridge and was originally known as Mallow Lane. Shandon Street locals identify with the special old qualities of the street. Different architectural styles reflect not only the street’s long history but also Cork’s past.

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). 

This is a tour that brings 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 Collins Barracks ridge and its hidden and interesting architectural heritage.

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). 

 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. 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. 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.

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). 

The story of Douglas and its environs is in essence a story of experimentation, of industry and of people and social improvement. The story of one of Ireland largest sailcloth factories is a worthwhile topic to explore in terms of its aspiration in its day in the eighteenth century. That coupled with the creation of forty or so seats or mansions and demesnes made it a place where the city’s merchants made their home it. Douglas makes also makes for an interesting place to study as many historical legacies linger in village’s surrounding landscapes.

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). 

The Battle of Douglas is a three day Irish Civil War battle, which occurred from 7-10 August 1922. In particular, the battle sprawled across the heart of Rochestown Road to Garryduff. Across fields and woodlands, Anglo Irish Treaty supporters faced off against Anti-Treaty forces. Aiming to take Cork City, General Emmet Dalton of the National Army of the Irish Provisional Government led over 450 men, with two artillery pieces and armoured cars, all of whom landed at Passage West.

Caption:

1163a. Cork City Hall, one of Kieran’s National Heritage Week tour sites, 13-21 August 2022 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).