Kieran McCarthy gives a zoom talk on Nineteenth Century Engineer Sir John Benson on his Cork works ranging from bridges to waterworks to special sites such as the Berwick Fountain. Thursday 25 November, 6.30pm, with Engineer’s Ireland, Cork Branch, and the Friends of the Crawford. Booking details here: www.engineersireland.ie/listings/event/7906
Kieran notes: “The talk reflects on the enormous legacy of engineer and architect Sir John Benson. His work as County Surveyor, Cork Harbour engineer and then City Engineer in Cork from 1846 to 1873 was concerned with not only developing a public road network, developing river dredging works programme but also engineering a water supply for the entire city, and ultimately improving the quality of life in the city and region.
Much has been written on many of John’s well-known works over the years such as the beautiful Berwick Fountain, the red bricked English Market exterior, the striking St Patrick’s Bridge and his work on designing the North Cathedral’s western tower.
John was passionate about his work and about Cork. His array of works he was involved in show he was a hard-worker and a visionary for his time. He was also a pioneer in designing National Exhibition buildings in Cork and in Dublin in order to showcase the products of the country. He is also remembered for his extensive railway line work being the engineer for the old Cork-Macroom rail line and the architect for the first Cork-Dublin railway terminus, which existed before the current Kent Station, and part of which still survives and is currently being preserved”.
1125a. Henry O’Mahony in a peaked cap, centre back of this old photograph from Spike Island Internment Camp (source: Spike Island Heritage Centre).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 11 November 2021
Journeys to a Truce: A Daring Escape from Spike Island
A very insightful exhibition on some of the key Irish War of Independence figures from Passage West town takes place in the town’s museum at present. One of the figures presented is Henry O’Mahony, who in November 1921 as well as six others made a daring escape from the Internment Camp in Spike Island.
Henry was born in Passage West and attended the local national school. At the age of sixteen, he was indentured as an apprentice engine filter in Haulbowline dockyard where he continued to work after his apprenticeship was over.
Henry joined the IRA in 1917 and became Company captain and Deputy Commandant of the 9th Battalion, Cork No.1 Brigade. He was active in politics and was elected on the Sinn Féin ticket to the first meeting of the newly formed Passage West Town Commissioners on 14 July 1920. Five days later he was elected chairman of the body.
Not long afterwards Henry was arrested in Glenbrook and was one of 500 prisoners interned in Spike Island. At the next meeting of the town commissioners a few days later the clerk stated he had received a letter from the chairman stating that circumstances prevented him from attending meetings for the time being.
Henry in his Bureau of Military History account (WS1506) outlines his escape through tunnels and a boat escape on 10 November 1921. Henry, with six other Volunteer Officers, Maurice Twomey, William Quirke, Tom Crofts, Dick Barrett, Paddy Buckley and Jack Eddy got away under cover of darkness. Henry notes: “We tunnelled through a wall surrounding the prison which was the inside of a moat. We then scaled the outside wall by means of a timber ladder made from the joists of the flooring of the prison which we had by then wrecked. We made our way to the coast and eventually to the pier where we saw a guard on duty. When the guard left, Eddy waded out and brought to the pier a boat into which we tumbled into and, with the aid of a storm, succeeded in reaching Cobh and safety”.
The Passage West Exhibition also has more detailed descriptions of the escape by Volunteer William (Bill) Quirke. It took two full months to complete the plans – each member of the group of seven detailed for the escape attempt had certain tasks to complete. They worked in shifts making notes, charts to the changes of the moon, the height of the tide and, above all the operation of the search lights. A rope ladder was made from rungs of chairs and electric light flex. It was a range of seven men or try to escape.
On 10 November 1921 at 5pm, the group crowded into a hole in the wall at the back of one of the blocks and entered an old used passageway leading to the moat. The stones were immediately replaced by comrades. They then crouched in silence listening to the walk of the sentry as he marched to and fro on his regular beat above their heads. In addition it was a while and stormy night.
Bill relates in his account: “Now the accuracy of our time chart was put to the test. We knew it was only a matter of minutes before the searchlights started and that we must get over the second wall before going into the limelight, so to speak. It was an anxious time…Each time the sentry clicked his heels, which meant he was about to march back on the return beat, one of the two men dropped over the parapet and onto the island proper…We were all over the second wall and had the ladder clear when the torchlight swing into action”.
With very slow stages the group reached the boat on which they had planned to make their escape only to find that it would take a steam engine to shunt it to the water’s edge. Bill remarks that the group had heard about the boat from some prisoners who were taken out in a barbed wire cage to bathe during the summer. They went to an old outhouse to review the situation when a further complication arose. A soldier and a girl came in. It was an hour before they left. They were not aware of the group’s presence.
The group moved to the water’s edge and worked their way around the island to the pier. They knew that some boats were usually anchored on either side of the pier. Two pier guards marched briskly towards them but did not see them.
When the guards had gone some distance, the group made for a boat only to find that it was chained and locked. Two further boats were tried with a similar result. It was time for quick action. One by one they slipped across the pier and down the steps at the other side. Again, the first two boats were chained to the pier – but there was still another boat apparently anchored out abit from the others. Jack Eddie, from Ardmore, swam out to investigate. He came back and reported that it was anchored with a rope. Silently he entered the water again with a knife between the teeth.
Bill relates: “Jack swam out; cut the rope and paddled with her alongside. One by one way we took our seats. Dick Barrett beside me. Moss Twomey from Fermoy and Henry O’Mahony were in the next seat. Paddy Buckley from Mitchelstown and Tom Crofts from Cork were in the next while Jack Eddy steered”.
The group narrowly missed the patrol boat and they thought they were safely away when on came the big search light. It stopped in the water just a few feet short of the boat. Henry O’Mahony directed their course and at 3am they scrambled ashore at Cobh. Each one then began their journey back to their home area.
The Irish War of Independence Exhibition is currently open in Passage West Museum. More information on opening times from this website, www.passagemuseum.ie.
Captions:
1125a. Henry O’Mahony in a peaked cap, centre back of this old photograph from Spike Island Internment Camp (source: Spike Island Heritage Centre).
1125b. View of interior of Passage West Museum, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1125b. View of interior of Passage West Museum, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
It is true to say that Bishop Lucey Park has served this city well since 1985.
It’s been 36 years since the park has been revisited as a whole.
The site has always been in flux with interesting ideas on the nature of Cork’s urbanity.
Delving into a site biography of the park site and one can see old seventeenth and eighteenth century maps of the city showcasing the structural legacies of an alms house and a school associated with Christ Church – so the site initially was space of helping citizens and one of education.
Fastforward to the mid-twentieth century and the demolishing of such buildings created an open sore in the heart of the city.
The additional decision in the 1970s to build Cork’s first public carpark on the site was deemed a constructive one at the time but was bound up with the city’s struggle to cope with increased cars and the demand for car parks.
But it was the city’s University archaeologists that put Cork Corporation thinking on another track in a very short time.
The excavation in the late 1970s by the late Dermot Twohig showcased what stories lay beneath the old school and almshouse. It was the first urban excavation in Cork City.
Finding timber tree trunks as foundational supports for medieval housing, collapsed fourteenth century wattle walls and full to the brim timber lined pits with shells and associated objects re-ignited an interest in the city’s medieval and resilient past.
The dept of archaeological work completed in the 1980s can be viewed in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society in Cork City Library and online.
That coupled with various local historians, the late Sylvester O’Sullivan, who was the Corporation’s autobiographer of the history of its officials and engineers, and of course the late Seán Pettit, amongst others in the hallowed halls of UCC’s history department, who wrote at length newspaper articles and conducted walking tours, and who put public pressure on the Corporation Cllrs and the officials to create something more beneficial than a car park on the site.
And credit needs to be given to our predecessors in 1984 and 1985 for their vision and their re-interpretation of what was a derelict site and for taking a risk with it. Indeed, their risk in creating Cork 800 – the celebration of Cork’s being granted its first urban charter in 1985 – was one that laid many foundations across many arts and cultural fields and left our generation many positive cultural legacies especially in the fields of heritage, music and dance in the present day.
The centre piece of the celebrations was to be a new inner city public park. Majority support was expressed in the Council chamber for its name Bishop Lucey, who had just passed away – and was widely acknowledged for his work on the creation of the city’s rosary churches and associated community centre infrastructure and in the creation of the Credit Union system in Cork.
Of course when it came to laying out the park, the experience of the city’s archaeologists came to bear as foundations of the town wall were discovered. Indeed, such experience is very apparent in an interview with Maurice Hurley, consultant archaeologist at the time who spoke to RTE news – a piece of which is now archived online – when he went through the finds on the site, the nature of the town wall discovery and called for a larger museum for the city.
The City was also blessed to have Tony McNamara, City Architect, working in the city at the time – his re-engaging with the old cornmarket gates at City Hall and finding them a home at the entrance to Bishop Lucey Park as is thanks due to the vision of other City hall officials over the years, who gathered sculptures such as Seamus Murphy’s Onion Seller and plaques to the men of the 1798 rebellion and in more recent years the boxing wall memorial plaques.
One also needs to nod to the wider environs and the infrastructure work that has gone on there – the widening of the Grand Parade project, the re-orientation of Berwick Fountain, and the reputed seventeenth century canon.
Indeed, not only has Bishop Lucey Park served this city well over its 35 years – this little park has served as an inspirational platform for conversations on dereliction, environmental and greening challenges, well-bring, public art, incorporation of archaeological finds, conservation and preservation of urban memories and stories – to name but a few – but above all it is a little oasis in a busy city, which adds immensely to the heart of the city’s beating sense of place and identity. It is a place to be cherished and minded going forward. It has given the city so much over its 35 years but also the wider site has a long heritage of a number of centuries.
My thanks to Tony Duggan and his team for his work on our re-interpretation in the present day, and look forward to see the re-animation of Bishop Lucey Park.
More to be added at some point!
Kieran’s submission, Ref: Public Consultation, Bishop Lucey Park Regeneration Project, 16 August 2021
Dear City Architect’s Office,
I wish to warmly welcome the regeneration proposals for Bishop Lucey Park and its surrounds. I outline below a number of comments;
On areas outside of the park on Tuckey Street and on South Main Street extending to South Gate Bridge, there is an opportunity to demarcate archaeology reference points through lining perhaps or other different coloured road surface material – e.g. the original width of Medieval South Main Street, the old drawbridge tower on the South Main Street side of South Gate Bridge, or at Keyser’s Hill.
Within Bishop Lucey Park, the Pavilion feature is welcome plus it would be great to have info panels in it on the surviving town wall section. The 1985 Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society archaeology report on the town wall section by Maurice Hurley should be revisited and possible ideas of artwork and symbolism gleamed from it.
It would be great if the tower feature on the South Main Street side could be moved to the Grand Parade side – it would be great to mark the site of Hopewell Castle, the walled town turret, which in modern day terms existed at the Grand Parade side of the former Christ Church lane. The rectangular foundations of the tower were exposed in preparation works for the park in 1984 but were destroyed inadvertently.
I have an open mind on the current Cork 800 fountain site within the park. The core part of it really are the eight swans, which represent 800 years since Cork’s first charter. There is an opportunity, I feel, to create a new sculptural piece, which would not take up as much space as the large fountain and the eight swans could be incorporated into the new sculpture. Such a sculpture could also bring together the existing plaques in the park together – boxing memorials, 1798 memorial, and even Seamus Murphy’s Onion Seller sculpture.
Such latter clustering of heritage assets, perhaps next to the window ruins of Lyons Clothing Factory, may free up more public realm space – in particular helping to create more of an effective greening strategy for the park itself.
1122a. Hugh C. Charde’s Portrait of Terence MacSwiney, 1920, oil on canvas, 77 x 64 cm. Collection Crawford Art Gallery, Cork. Many thanks to Michael Waldron for his help at the gallery.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 21 October 2021
Journeys
to a Truce: Commemorating Terence MacSwiney, One True Man
October
1921 coincided with the first annual anniversary of Terence MacSwiney’s death.
He was commemorated through a number of means – many of which were politically linked
to the formal opening of the Treaty negotiations in London. First up on Sunday
16 October 1921 Dublin’s Abbey Theatre presented Terence’s play The Revolutionist (1915), which was presented by
special permission by the MacSwiney family. The proceedings were in aid of the
Irish Republican Prisoners Dependents’ Fund.
During
the play’s interval, an interesting address was delivered by Richard Mulcahy, Chief
of Staff of the Irish Republican Army. He expressed regret that the committee
of the fund had been unable to get Mary MacSwiney to deliver an address. He
said that Terence MacSwiney needed no introduction to them. Mr Mulcahy referred
to some of his associations with Terence mentioning that his first introduction
to him was through reading some “wonderful articles” on the pages of the
newspaper entitled Irish Freedom. Irish society, said the speaker, was “on
the threshold of big things” and they faced a future with the realisation that
all of them had certain duties if they were going to win. He noted: “A few men could
do very great things, but it was the people of Ireland who are fighting against
the enemy. The few men doing great things could be undermined if the people of
Ireland did not realise that these great things were to be done and if as a whole,
they do not make themselves one in the work and on the outlook of those great
men”.
On 23
October 1921, a demonstration in commemoration of Terence MacSwiney was held in
Trafalgar Square. The members of 40 branches of the London district committee
of the Irish Self Determination League (ISDL) of Great Britain, many of which
were Sinn Féin supporters, were present at full strength. These contingents
were headed up by banner bearers and accompanied by pipers, brass and reeds,
and fife from drum bands. They marched through different thoroughfares on their
way to the square.
At Trafalgar
Square, Republican colours were worn by large numbers of the crowd while colour
draped banners hung in different positions around the plinth of the Nelson
monument. A number of these banners contained models, one of which attracted a
good deal of attention been written as follows – “In loving memory of Terence MacSwiney,
Irish Patriot, who died for his country in Brixton Gaol, October 25th, 1920 –
One True Man”.
The
audience heard stirring speeches, which made reference to Terence’s great
sacrifice. Art O’Brien, Vice President, ISDL of Great Britain, and Sinn Féin
London correspondent & Dáil Éireann Envoy to London, opened the proceedings.
After him the crowd was addressed by other speakers from three platforms.
Alderman Liam de Róiste was present, representing Cork and the municipality.
Liam was greeted with loud cheers and cries of “Up the Rebels” and “Up Cork”.
He said as a friend of Lord Mayor MacSwiney and as a representative from his
city he deemed it his duty to attend the demonstration to honour an Irish patriot.
He highlighted that it was important that Terence’s memory should be honoured
in London because “it was in an English gaol, he laid down his life for Ireland”
and that his memory is honoured in Cork and in Ireland and throughout the
world.
At
the conclusion of the addresses, a resolution was simultaneously submitted from
each platform and the following was adopted unanimously and enthusiastically;
“That this meeting of Irish
residents in London expresses its reverent admiration for the glory of
sacrifice made by Terence MacSwiney in defence of the rise of his country, and
its sincere respect for his memory; and the Irish residents in London further take
this opportunity to call for the release of all Irish prisoners and internees
who, like Terence MacSwiney, have been seized and imprisoned by the British
government on account of the part they have taken in Ireland’s fight for
freedom”.
On
the anniversary of Terence’s death on 25 October 1921 at Saint Georges
Cathedral, Southwark, London, a requiem mass was held for him. It was attended
by the Irish delegates to the peace conference negotiations as well as by other
Irish people living in London.
In Cork
on 25 October, high mass was celebrated for the repose of the souls of Terence
MacSwiney, Michael Fitzgerald, and Joseph Murphy at the North Cathedral. Bishop
Daniel Cohalan presided. There was a full attendance of clergy, and members of Cork
Corporation, Cork Harbour Board, the Cork United Trades and Labour Council, the
University College, and the city’s hospitals – were all represented.
In addition, a beautiful portrait
of Terence got a formal showing and was unveiled at the Munster Fine Art Club
in the gallery of the Crawford Municipal School of Art. It was completed by the
school’s principal Hugh Charde.in late 1920. A native of Cobh, Hugh Charde (1858-1946) was Principal
of the Crawford School of Art from 1919 to 1937. He was a teacher in the School
as far back as 1889 and received his early tuition in the Drawing School of the
North Monastery. He later studied at the School of Art under Mr James Brennan,
RHA. Apart from instructing and encouraging young art students, during his
forty-eight years connection with the School of Art, Hugh Charde was a painter
of great ability himself. Of latter years he specialised in water colours. Hugh
Charde was also the founder of the Munster Fine Art Club, of which he was
President for very many years. The Terence MacSwiney painting is still a much
favoured piece within the collection of the current Crawford Art Gallery.
Caption:
1122a. Hugh C. Charde’s
Portrait of Terence MacSwiney, 1920, oil on canvas, 77 x 64 cm. Collection
Crawford Art Gallery, Cork. Many thanks to Michael Waldron for his help at the
gallery.
1119a. Front cover of 2021-2022 brochure for Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 30 September 2021
Launch of Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage
Project, Year 20
It
is great to reach year 20 of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project. It
is just slightly younger than this column but both this column, the school
project 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.
Covid-19
has brought many challenges to every part of society and never before has our
locality and its heritage being so important for recreation and for our peace
of mind. In the past eighteenth months, 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 “Cork Heritage
Treasures”. 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 and entry
information as well.
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 in the City is free to enter and 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 twenty 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:
1119a. Front cover of 2021-2022 brochure for Discover Cork Schools’
Heritage Project.
Journeys to a Truce: The City Engineer’s Perspective
Cork Corporation’s Reconstruction Committee’s
six-month report was an important one to release in September 1921. It was over
nine months since the Burning of Cork. Politically there was pressure to move
the reconstruction on but there was also the headache of who brings all the
physical thinking and oversees the actual construction. Last week, the column
mentioned the addendum document to the six month report and Joseph Delany, the
City Engineer, who outlined that without plans being submitted, the rebuilding
ran the risk of building heights and respective architectural design being out
of sync with neighbouring rebuilds.
In truth there was so many moving parts for Joseph.
In an earlier report, penned by him, in January 1921, he argued that several features of the restoration problem were
complex. The problem had its opportunities and its difficulties. Due to the
unprecedented nature of the rebuild, from the outset, he called for a special
administration facilitation and “diversion from the ordinary lines of procedure
by which building operations are usually regulated”. He noted of the need for a
public spirit: “The desired improvements can only be achieved by the parties
concerned adopting a sound policy of public spirit in the public interest. The
proprietors of the lately destroyed property will, I have no doubt, appreciate
their obligations to assist, both individually and collectively, the civic
authorities and with their architects and advisors in making the work of
restoration and the improvements incidental there to a success”.
Arriving
to Cork Corporation in 1903, Joseph amassed nineteen years experience within
the organisation. Joseph was also interested in Irish industrial and language
movements, in the country’s national well-being, its educational advancement
and in economic reform.
Joseph’s
back story reveals a learned man. W.T.
Pike in his Contemporary biographies’, published in Cork and County
Corkin the Twentieth Century by Richard J. Hodges in
1911 reveals that Joseph (1872-1942) was educated at St Vincent’s
College, Castleknock, Dublin. He continued his studies at Art School, Clonmel
and there he was awarded the Mayor’s Prize in “Science and Art Subjects”. He
also attended the City of Dublin Technical Institute, and the Dublin
Metropolitan School of Art, where he was awarded “School Prize in Art Subjects”.
Joseph
trained as engineer and architect by indentured pupilage under well-known
Dublin architect Walter Glynn Doolin. Joseph became a certified surveyor under
the London Metropolitan Building Act, combined with private study in the
engineering courses of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and of the Institute
of Municipal and County Engineers. He was awarded a travelling studentship of
the Agricultural Association of Ireland in 1897 and was medallist in architecture
in the National Art Competition, South Kensington Science and Art Department in
1898.
Joseph believed in networking and learning from
other engineers and architects. He was Honorary Auditor at
Royal Institute of Architects, Ireland in 1900 and Honorary Secretary
Castleknock College Union, 1901-10. He was member of the Committee of the Irish
Roads Congress and member of the Joint Committee on Waterworks Regulations,
London. He was also a Member of the Society of Engineers, London, the
Institution of Municipal and County Engineers, England, the Royal Institute of
Architects, Ireland, the Royal Sanitary Institute, London, the Architectural
Association of Ireland, and the Royal Institute of Public Health. He also
published technical contributions to engineering and architectural magazines
and penned a book called “A Memoir of Walter Glynn Doolin”, which was dedicated
to his mentor Walter.
Joseph
served on the temporary Civil Staff of the Royal Engineers and was Assistant
City Architect in Dublin, for five years. In 1903, he was then appointed City
Engineer of Cork. On taking up the
Cork post he immediately set about improving the water supply system and
reducing the abnormally high rate of water wastage in the city.
However, one of the many legacies Joseph left
Cork City came from a visit to the US on an inquiry into
American methods of municipal engineering and architectural practice, and an
inspection of public works of civic utility. There he learned about the remodelling of American towns and
cities to meet the modern requirements of their everyday life and that this was
a common feature of civic pride in America.
In his January 1921 report, apart from his
report covering the Burning of Cork, Joseph outlines in a few pages the need
for Cork to have a town plan noting that “town planning should be considered
advantageous in Cork, with a view to the future improvement and better shaping
of the city”. He called for this work to be investigated by specially appointed
commissioners, consisting of prominent citizens and commercial and professional
life, together with representatives of municipal councils. Planning ahead was
crucial he argued; “The schemes produced, and in many cases accomplished, have
resulted in the complete re-casting of the plans of cities, with consequent
improved public convenience, and enhanced amenity of environment”.
Joseph detailed that clear foresight was very
essential to the future development of Cork City, and the preparation of a town
plan by a town planning competition or otherwise, as was pursued in Dublin
after the Easter Rising of 1916, would result in useful suggestive proposals
for the future betterment of the city. Although Joseph moved on from Cork in
1924, he did influence the creation of a Cork Town Planning Association – a
group who two years later in 1926 produced Cork: A Civic Survey –
technically Cork’s first town plan or guide at any rate.
Joseph resigned in 1924 from Cork Corporation because
of illness brought about by pressure of the reconstruction work. He is said to
have retired from Cork to Clonmel. From circa 1926 until 1936 he kept an
office at 97, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. He died at Clonmel in 1942.
Caption:
1118a. Joseph F Delany,
City Engineer, c.1911 in W.T. Pike’s
“Contemporary Biographies”, published in Cork and County Corkin
the Twentieth Century (1911) by Richard J. Hodges.
The Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project launches in its 20th year and is open to schools in Cork City. Funded by Cork City Council, the Project is an initiative of the Cork City Heritage Plan.
The 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. Suggested topics are over the page. The theme for this year’s project – the 2021/22 school season – is “Cork Heritage Treasures”.
FREE and important project support in the form of funded workshops (socially distanced, virtual or hybrid) led by Cllr Kieran McCarthy in participating schools will be held in October 2021. This is a 45min physical or virtual workshop to give participating students ideas for compilation and resources.
September 1921 coincided with several notes being published by the Reconstruction Committee of the Corporation of Cork outlining their six-month review in the Cork Examiner. By an order of the Council of the Corporation of Cork on 26 February 1921 a special committee consisting of one member from each electoral area was appointed to supervise the work of reconstruction of the destroyed portion of the city during the Burning of Cork event on 11/12 December 1920.
The
committee was authorised to co-opt members from other bodies such as the Cork Industrial
Development Association, the Technical Instruction Committee, the Employers
Federation, the District Trades and Labour Council and the Cooperative Building
Federation. The committee was seen as thoroughly representative of the
industrial, commercial, and labour interests of the city.
Between
February and September 1921, six meetings of the general committee were held
and their minutes are recorded in a surviving minute book (1921-1924) in Cork City
and County Archives. Many discussions also took place between a sub committee,
which was appointed to deal with the nuanced details, and to formulate
proposals with the owners, architects and builders of the relevant premises.
Cork
Corporation building bye-laws dictated that premises could only be re-erected
without the permission of the Reconstruction Committee, whose job was to
approve plans for entire buildings, so that proposed schemes could be viewed
and regulated. The same applied to the temporary timber premises that had been
erected – of which twelve businesses are recorded as located on cleared plots
within the St Patrick’s Street area by late September 1921. Time limits were
placed on temporary structures in order that actual rebuilding work be
incentivised.
Despite
the building by-laws, it was a fine balance by the Reconstruction Committee to
give business owners some leeway, ask that rebuilding work be started but also
create a spirit of collaboration. Many owners were still emotionally raw, were
broke, could not survive on the offers of insurance companies, and needed more
time to think about their future needs.
The
job of the committee was also to lobby for the compensation packages arising
out of damage, inflicted by British forces, to be delivered. But by September
1921, there was still no compensation forthcoming from Westminster. In general,
it was hoped that perhaps part of the Truce negotiations may bring a significant
compensation fund and one that could especially kick start the owner of a
property, who did not have reserve funding put aside in order to rebuild.
In
his six month review, chair of the Reconstruction Committee Cllr Barry Egan
details that aside from compensation funding, one of the prominent aspects
regularly discussed at committee level was the possible re-alignment of
building lines in the damaged St Patrick’s Street area plus creating a widened
Winthrop Street. In the pre-Burning of Cork era, footpaths were narrow and some
buildings, constructed in the nineteenth century jutted out in front of their
adjacent ones.
Winthrop
Street, which was a much narrower street to what exists today, was targeted for
widening and for creating more of a plaza as it meets St Patrick’s Street. It
was suggested that the work could be accomplished by acquiring the burnt out sites
of Messrs Thompson, Murphy and Tyler, and to determine a new building line
running north and south through their sites.
To
allow for more space, it was also proposed to close up and build over the next
street – west of Winthrop Street – that of Robert Street – and transfer back
the whole of what was described as block number three across the width of the
street – in otherwards eliminate the street. Discussions were held with property owners on Robert
Street but strenuous opposition was put forward to the closing of that
thoroughfare. The City Solicitor advised the Reconstruction Committee that
streets could not be closed or eliminated except upon an agreement being
entered into with the owners and occupiers of the property therein. The Robert
Street closure was eventually put to one side in the negotiations.
Negotiations
between the Reconstruction Committee and the business owners were intensive. However,
the minute books do reveal positive public support for the work of the
committee. In the six-month report, Cllr Egan places on record the committee’s
high appreciation of the manner in which Mr William Roche of Roches Stores met
the committee and the concessions supplied so far from him. The object with him
was trying to rectify a building line in area number one on St Patrick’s Street
and to possibly increase the width of Merchant Street on the western side.
Messrs J Daly and company Ltd expressed a full sympathy with the improvements
proposed by the committee and their willingness to make a concession of
property towards the widening of Merchant Street. Merchant Street in time though
was subsumed into Merchant’s Quay shopping in the 1990s.
There
is an addendum document to the committee’s six-month report. Joseph Delany, the
City Engineer, outlines his concerns that without plans being submitted, the
rebuilding ran the risk of building heights and respective architectural design
being out of sync with neighbouring rebuilds. Technically a business could come
back with just a one storey design and with a jarring architectural design. The
City Engineer references the need to set a fixed policy on the use of Irish
materials such as local limestone in particular. Mr Delany noted: “if there is
no standard as to height there are possibilities of one-storey deformities
placed in juxtaposition to buildings of three or four storeys high on either
side. Balance, symmetry, unity, harmony in design will be difficult to achieve
under these conditions of procedure by individuals”.
Caption:
1117a. Section of map
produced from Reconstruction Committee Minute Book, 1921-1924, showing proposed
building plot re-alignments (see red line) (source: courtesy of Cork City and
County Archives, ref: CP/CM/RE/1).
In a recent reply to a question posed by Cllr Kieran McCarthy at the recent City Council meeting, Cork City Council have noted a revised completion date of the Marina Park section next to Páirc Ui Chaoimh. Due to Covid 19, delays in construction works and poor weather has pushed the opening date from this month to mid to late November this year.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “The park looks more or less ready to open. It looks well 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 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. The public can now see the grass on sunken lawn areas in the park section and the diversion of a watercourse, as well as new pathways – all of which are in place.
“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 sides of the pavilion 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”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
