Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy will host three events for the upcoming Cork Harbour Festival. Two of the events focus on the rich history of the city’s bridges and the third focuses in on the history and sense of place on The Marina. The events and dates are as follows:
– Bridges of Cork, Online Talk by Kieran, Tuesday 8 June 2021, 7.30pm-8.30pm, FREE:
This zoom presentation explores the general development of the city’s bridges and why they were historically so important and are still so important in connecting the different parts of Cork City together. Details of the link for the talk are available at www.corkharbourfestival.com
– Bridges of Cork, Heritage Treasure Hunt, hosted by Kieran, Saturday 12 June 2021, 1pm, FREE, self-guided walk:
This treasure hunt is all about looking up and around and exploring the heart of Cork City whilst exploring the stories and place of the city centre’s bridges. Suitable for all ages, approx 2hr, with mixed footpaths on city’s quays.Meet Kieran at National Monument, Grand Parade, Cork, between 1pm-1.15pm on Saturday 12 June, to receive the self-guided treasure hunt pack, no booking required. Bring a pen.
– The Marina, Self Guided Audio Trail with Kieran, 4 June 2021 -14 June, FREE:
A stroll down The Marina is popular by many people. The area is particularly characterized by its location on the River Lee and the start of Cork Harbour. Here scenery, historical monuments and living heritage merge to create a rich sense of place. The audio tour will be available here to stream live on your smartphone from 4-14 June 2021. Details of the link for the audio trail are available at www.corkharbourfestival.com
1101a. Front cover of Kieran’s new book, Irish International Trading Corporation, Cork, Celebrating 100 Years (2021, IITC).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 27 May 2021
Journeys to a Truce: The
Irish International Trading Corporation (Cork)
Details on the tit-for-tat violence between
the IRA and Black and Tans during the War of Independence fill vast pages of
Irish history books. However, not much is known on those who were Independence
supporters in Ireland’s cities and regions, but who were also pragmatic and
economically preparing for a Brexit of sorts from the British Empire. The
question of “if we get Independence what do we do next” had not been quite
resolved especially where Britain was also Ireland’s main trading ally.
To resolve such a question in Cork city and
region the creation of Irish International Trading Corporation (Cork) was set
up in 1920 to facilitate international trade, both import and export, for local
businesses. Its story is the subject of my new book, which is published by the present
company, whilst also charting its journey in more modern times.
The company’s origins lay in the ambition of
the Cork Industrial Development Association (IDA),
which was founded in 1903 after the Cork International Exhibition. During the Irish War of
Independence period, the Cork IDA played no small part in formulating schemes
for the economic rehabilitation of the country. Without the cooperation of the
Cork IDA, the Irish Consuls resident at New York, Paris and Brussels would have
been very much restricted in their Consular activities on behalf of the trade
and commerce of Ireland. Important national work was conducted through the
agencies of these Consuls, for which the Cork IDA kept business connections open with.
In 1920 two important
companies are highlighted as closely linked to the work of the Cork IDA – (a)
Messrs Dowdall and Company, Shipping Agents of the Direct Lines to USA and
French ports, and (b) the Irish International Trading Corporation (Cork) Ltd. The
first named company aimed to promote direct trade whilst IITC aspired to build
up business by purchasing from and selling direct to Continental and American
firms. A gentleman’s agreement stood that no goods would be introduced into the
Irish market, which would compete unfairly with the products of Irish
industries.
The
proposal to form the Irish International Trading Corporation (Cork) Ltd for the development of direct trading between
Irish merchants and traders of other countries was generally welcomed by
commercial circles in Cork. The company was in effect a private,
self-help version of what state agencies do to support trade.
On 4 May
1920, the Cork Examiner recorded a preliminary meeting of persons
interested in the company, which was held in the offices of the Cork IDA, under
the Chairmanship of Mr James C Dowdall. Steps were taken to have the prospectus
issued at an early date. Promises of substantial financial support were
forthcoming from those present. The promoters aspired to secure outward as well
as inward cargo for the vessels then running between Cork and the United States
ports, and also for the vessels about to run between Cork and Continental
ports. The company’s temporary offices were at 27 Grand Parade.
Central to the work of the Irish International trading Corporation (Cork) Ltd
was its Company Secretary Liam De Róiste (1882-1959). Liam was an original
member of the Irish Volunteers in Cork. In late 1916 and throughout 1917 Liam
was an important figure to keep the re-organisation of Sinn Féin going in Cork,
especially with Terence MacSwiney and Tomás MacCurtain being imprisoned for
long periods of time during the years 1916-1918. Liam kept the re-organisation
of the party strong, being involved in organising rallies in Cork in late 1917
for Arthur Griffith, Countess Markievicz, and Eamon de Valera. He was elected a Sinn
Féin Councillor for Cork City in January 1920.
The American link for the new
company was Diarmuid J Fawsitt who was born near Blarney Street in Cork’s
northside in 1884. Diarmuid was active in cultural, industrial and nationalist
circles, including the Celtic Literary Society, Sinn Féin, the Gaelic League,
Cork National Theatre Society, and especially with the foundation of the Cork
IDA. During the War of Independence, Arthur Griffith sent Fawsitt to the United
States as consul and trade commissioner of the Irish Republic. He was based in
New York.
With Fawsitt in New York searching for
opportunities, Liam De Róiste as an enthusiastic secretary of the Corporation, a strong chairman was also required to
lead the new company. James Charles Dowdall had a prominent role in
industrial development and was president of the Cork IDA for a time in its
early years. He was educated at the Presentation Brothers
College, Cork, and in Denmark and Sweden. On the death of their uncle, James
and his brother Thomas joined with their cousin, Mr J B O’Mahony, in forming
the now well-known firm of Dowdall O’Mahony and Company Ltd. This company was
based at Union Quay, Cork, with branches at Manchester and Cardiff and
was engaged in the manufacture of butter and margarine.
As
the months passed in 1920 and 1921, the business of Irish International Trading
Corporation (Cork) expanded. By December 1920, an array of import destinations was
in place. Payment were given to Clyde Shipping Company Ltd for freight charges
and the Bank of Ireland for Siemen’s and Company who brought in raisins from
Malaga, Oosthock and Zoon Company, Holland for slated ties, the Lyon and Quin
Company, Prague for chairs, the ZRB Hirdes, Holland for yarn, Verrieries de
Dampremy, Belgium for Glass, Victor Zorn, Berlin for scissors and enamelware,
National Glass Company, Philadelphia, USA for bottles, and baking powder from
the Calumet Baking Powder Company, Chicago, USA as a trial order. Exports from
Cork mainly encompassed butter boxes and egg cases.
Kieran
McCarthy’s new book Irish International
Trading Corporation (Cork), Celebrating 100 Years is a
commission of the company and is now available from the company’s premises on Tramore Road, Cork, or telephone 021 4705800 or
email info@iitc.ie
Captions:
1101a. Front
cover of Kieran’s new book, Irish International
Trading Corporation, Cork, Celebrating 100 Years (2021,
IITC).
1101b. Letter
head for Irish International Trading Corporation (Cork), 1927 (source: Company
Archives)
1101b. Letter head for Irish International Trading Corporation (Cork), 1927 (source: Company Archives)
8 June 2021, 19:30 – 20:30, In association with Cllr Kieran McCarthy.
Cork City’s growth on a swamp is an amazing story. The 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 600 AD to the present day. Hence its bridges all date to different times of urban growth and possess different architectural traits. This zoom presentation explores the general development of the city’s bridges and why they were historically so important and are still so important in connecting the different parts of Cork City together.
Daly’s Bridge, AKA Shaky Bridge, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
– Bridges of Cork Treasure Hunt:
12 June 2021, 13:00 – 13:15, In association with Cllr Kieran McCarthy.
They say the best way to get to know a city is to walk it – in Cork you can get lost in narrow streets, marvel at old cobbled lane ways, photograph old street corners, look up beyond the modern shopfronts, gaze at clues from the past, be enthused and at the same time disgusted by a view, smile at interested locals, engage in the forgotten and the remembered, search and connect for something of oneself, thirst in the sense of story-telling – in essence feel the DNA of the place. This treasure hunt is all about looking up and around and exploring the heart of Cork City whilst exploring the stories and place of the city centre’s bridges.
Suitable for all ages, approx. 2hr self-guided walk, mixed footpaths on city’s quays.
FREE, Join: Meet Cllr Kieran McCarthy at National Monument, Grand Parade, Cork, between 13:00-13:15, no booking required. Bring a pen. Self guided heritage treasure hunt.
St Patrick’s Bridge, Cork, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
– The Marina – Self Guided Audio Trail:
4 June 2021 – June 14, 2021, 06:00 – 23:55,In association with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, FREE
A stroll down The Marina is popular by many people. The area is particularly characterized by its location on the River Lee and the start of Cork Harbour. Here scenery, historical monuments and living heritage merge to create a historical tapestry of questions of who developed such a place of ideas. Where not all the answers have survived, The Marina is lucky, unlike other suburbs, that many of its former residents have left archives, autobiographies, census records, diaries, old maps and insights into how the area developed. These give an insight into ways of life and ambitions in the past, some of which can help the researcher in the present day in understanding The Marina’s evolution and sense of place going forward. Take a walk with us and discover more.
Independent
Cllr Kieran McCarthy has called on the City Council and the ESB to work on a
joint programme of works to return the sub-station on Caroline Street to an art
gallery/ cultural space.’
The sub station
on Caroline Street is in the ownership of the ESB. Until recently the Sub
Station was advertised for Commercial Let. Cllr McCarthy has been informed that
Cork City Council does not have sight of the ESB’s plans for the building. And
that the wider needs in terms of cultural infrastructure in the city will be
reviewed in the context of the forthcoming Arts & Culture Strategy, currently
under development.
Cllr McCarthy
noted; “there is massive scope to do a joint partnership in re-opening the disused ESB substation as a cultural space.
It has a very rich industrial history. It was built in 1931 and was originally
used to convert direct current electricity to alternating current. This
substation is representative of the design employed by the ESB in the first
part of the twentieth century in Ireland.
“In 1932, the ESB
could boast cables running from Ardnacrusha Hydro Electric Station to Cork as
well as having the old generating station and offices at Albert Road, a Station
at Kilbarry, a transformer station at Fords, and the central substation in
Caroline Street. The annual consumption of electricity in Cork City was 8
million units by 1934 and 16 million units by 1945”.
“The
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage notes of this building: “This
functional building is a well-articulated building, with a high level of
architectural design. The building retains many interesting original features
and materials, such as the metal casement windows and metal folding doors”.
“It
is also ten years ago when the Triskel Arts Centre, whilst waiting for the
renovation of Christ Church, moved its gallery off site to the ESB
substation on Caroline Street and did a great job in utilising the space. In
addition, in 2018, Brown Thomas teamed up with Cork City Council and artist
Shane O’Driscoll to transform the exterior of the then disused ESB station
building which had fallen into disrepair. The City Centre Placemaking Fund from Cork City Council was
used to support the project”.
“It is a real shame that such a prominent building remains vacant with so many possibilities for its use. I will be continuing my lobbying of the City Council to partner up with the ESB in finding an appropriate cultural use for the building”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
Press, 25 May 2021, “The abandoned substation has massive scope for transformation now that Cllr. Kieran McCarthy is urging the city council and ESB to turn it into a new entertainment venue for Leesiders. Originally built in 1931 in the art deco style favoured by ESB at the time, the substation was last used by Triskel Arts ten years ago”, Endless possibilities for this gem of a building on Caroline Street to be transformed as council consider new proposal, Derelict Art-deco substation could become amazing Cork city music and arts space – Cork Beo
Caroline Street Former ESB Sub Station, Cork present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
1110a. Western Road with the Cork-Muskerry Tram, c.1910 from Kieran McCarthy’s and Dan Breen’s Cork City Through Time (2012, Amberley Publishing).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 20 May 2021
Journeys to a Truce: Stories from the
Active Service Unit
Patrick Murray was Officer-in-Charge of C Company of the
1st Battalion of Cork No.1 IRA Brigade. In his witness statement in
the Bureau of Military History (WS1443) by May 1921, he was a core part of the
Active Service Unit for Cork City. Much of the work of the Unit during this
period comprised patrols, moving materials from place to place and taking arms,
to columns. The assigned intelligence officers were daily seeking information,
which might lead to a successful ambush of Crown forces.
Patrick describes that a number of spies were executed at
this time, and a captured report from the British, sometime around May 1921,
stated that the last of their intelligence officers in the city had been
executed and that they were now without civilian intelligence in the city. This
particular type of work was very severe on the mental health of Seán Twomey,
who was in charge of the Active Service Unit.
About the beginning of May 1921, a special order was
received from IRA divisional headquarters that every effort was to be made by
each unit in the division, to carry out an attack on Saturday, 14 May. The Unit
decided to concentrate upon Captain Campbell Kelly, who was the principal
British intelligence officer in Cork and who had been responsible for the
torture of many IRA volunteers and had been sought by the IRA for over five
months. He frequently travelled in a motor car to Cork Jail off Western Road, and
it had been noticed by the Active Service Unit intelligence officers that
Saturday morning was one of his regular mornings to visit the jail.
It was decided that the Unit would take up duty from
eight o’clock in the morning along the route usually taken by Kelly. Seán Twomey
and Patrick Murray took up position in St Patrick’s Street at about nine
o’clock. Things did not go according to plan as Seán faced a an anxiety attack.
Patrick got him home but during this time, Kelly had gone up to the jail in an
open car and returned from it in an armoured car.
Patrick recalls: “Immediately all members of the A.S.U.
and helpers were concentrated in one or two parts of the city to see if
something could not be done. Late in the evening, the men on duty at the north
side of the city were informed that an R.I.C. patrol had gone down O’Connell
Street, Blackpool. They immediately ran to the attack and threw some bombs,
killing one and wounding three policemen”.
On the morning of 23 May 1921, plans were again made to
ambush Captain Kelly, this time on Washington Street. Two groups from the
Active Service Unit took up positions along the street. An intelligence officer
was placed some fifty yards or so beyond Patrick and another man. Three other
members of the Unit were placed about seventy-five yards below Patrick’s group.
Captain Kelly came from the jail in an open car on this
particular morning and had practically passed the intelligence officer before
he was recognised. Patricks recalls the throwing of the bombs: “When we got the
signal, the car had passed us, and we signalled to the men further down. The
car was going so fast that it was practically past them before they threw the
bombs. One bomb was thrown into the car but failed to explode. The second bomb
hit the hood of the car and rolled on to the roadway. Some shots were also
exchanged, but Kelly escaped”.
Days later Seán Twomey was arrested, subsequently walked
out of the police barracks, and was fired on by soldiers, receiving some six or
eight wounds. Peter Donovan, the new Officer-in-Charge was arrested practically
immediately after his appointment. About a week later, Patrick was appointed as
Officer-in-Charge of the Active Service Unit. For a week or two he tried to re-group
the battalions and replace arrested officers. At that time, everyone in Cork
City who was known to have had any association with the Volunteers had been
arrested, and casualties among the officers were substantial.
After the attack on the patrol at Blackpool, police
patrols became less frequent; in fact, they often did not appear on the streets
for five or six days. The Active Service Unit were patrolling the streets
regularly at this time, and their intelligence officers were constantly engaged
in trying to find out the movements of the police. They noticed that they
congregated outside the different barracks for a short time in the evenings and
decided to attack them outside Tuckey Street and Shandon Street RIC barracks (on
North Abbey Street). To do this, they got two motor cars.
Unfortunately, the driver of the car attacking Tuckey
Street had some trouble with the motor and drove the car to the attack about
two minutes before the agreed time. As a result of this, some thirty or forty
Volunteers, who were leaving their own points to converge on Tuckey Street,
heard the bombs before they were in a position to attack. Patrick was forced to
withdraw his men. Bombs were thrown though at Shandon Street barracks and
Douglas barracks was attacked with gunfire.
Up to this time, the Active Service Unit was equipped
only with revolvers and bombs and operated in the city area only. As a result
of the attacks on patrols and barracks, the movements of the British were
restricted to travelling through the city area in lorries, protected by
armoured cars. With this change of tactics on the part of the British
authorities, it was decided that the Active Service Unit would extend its
operations to the suburbs and country areas.
This article marks the 1100th
article in the Our City, Our Town series. Check out the index to the
series and the new history trails section on my blog, www.corkheritage.ie.
Captions:
1110a. Western Road with the Cork-Muskerry
Tram, c.1910 from Kieran McCarthy’s and Dan Breen’s Cork City Through Time
(2012, Amberley Publishing).
1099a. Fr James O’Callaghan, c.1917 (source: O’Brien family archive).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 13 May 2021
Journeys to a Truce: Fr O’Callaghan’s
Last Stand
Ireland experienced a tragic
Whitsuntide bank holiday weekend in mid-May 1921. Many deaths amongst civilians
and Crown forces were reported from various parts of the south of the country.
About four o’clock on
Saturday evening, 14 May, a bomb was thrown at police in the Blackpool
district, near O’Connell Street. One constable was killed and three wounded.
One died later on. Large swathes of military and police searched the area with
much of Blackpool ransacked. Several arrests were made across the city.
One tragic outcome was the quest to arrest
Alderman Liam De Róiste of Sinn Féin on Cork Corporation. In the search for
him, instead of Liam being arrested, a renter within his house was shot and
died from his wounds. On Saturday night/ Sunday morning, 15 May, Father James O’Callaghan
was staying at Liam’s residence in Upper Janemount, Sunday’s Well.
From the Templemartin district, County Cork,
Fr O’Callaghan was ordained at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth in 1908. He was a
fluent Irish speaker and was a valued Irish teacher in Ballingeary Irish
College. He had a ministry abroad between 1908 and 1912 and was curate in
Ballingeary from 1912 to 1917. He then became Chaplain at the Good Shepherd
Convent between and 1917 and 1920. In 1920 he was made curate of the North
Cathedral Parish and at Clogheen Church. he was attached to the convent of the
Good Shepherd’s.
Fr O’Callaghan’s new post in
the North Cathedral left him with no living quarters. He was an acquaintance of
Sinn Féin Corporation member and Teachta Dála Liam de Róiste. He asked Liam
for hospitality and was invited to stay at the parliamentarian’s house.
According to a report which Liam
sent to Bishop Cohalan after Fr O’Callaghan’s murder, Crown forces raided his
house only a few days after Fr O’Callaghan had moved in and treated him roughly.
At the General Elections
held in May 1921 under the provisions of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, Liam
De Róiste was an unopposed Sinn Féin candidate for the Cork borough
constituency. Afraid that this situation would draw hostile interest from the
Crown forces, Liam decided not to sleep in his house at night, leaving Fr O’Callaghan
there together with his wife, his mother-in-law and the priest’s housekeeper
Katie Kearney. Katie was from Inchigeela and had been a housekeeper of the
priest for fourteen years.
On Saturday night /Sunday morning, 15 May
1921 between 3.30am and 4am, a number of armed men broke open the
glass-panelled door and rushed into the house. Liam De Róiste was fortunately
not there at the time. Liam’s wife Nora, detailed to the Cork Examiner
in the days that followed and to her husband for his diary that her mother was
present and that both occupied bedrooms immediately over the hall door. Fr O’Callaghan
and Katie had their respective rooms at the other side of the house.
Nora enquired who was there and got an order
to come down and open the door. She declined. One of the men climbed up a
garden trellis and entered a bedroom through the window. She grappled with him
and a revolver fell from his hands. Threatening him with a clothes brush she
made him back out the window.
Meanwhile, other members of the party of men
had forced the opening of the half-door and one man walked up two flights of
stairs and branched off to the two other rooms in the house – occupied by Fr
O’Callaghan and Katie respectively. They both met the intruder outside their
bedrooms. A scuffle ensued between the man and Fr O’Callaghan.
Katie Kearney (years later) penned her memory
of the evening and recalls of the scuffle; “As the Tan came up the stairs,
he had a cap on his head and a scarf on his neck. I put up my hand to pull off
the cap and scarf and was not able to do so. I said to them ‘This is Fr O’Callaghan,
you won’t shoot him’. He drilled towards me and the Priest went backwards a few
steps. The Tan followed him and pulled him to the bedroom door. I saw him
prepare the revolver and I grasped it by the muzzle and as I did one shot rang
out against the partition. He shook the revolver out of my grasp and pulled
over the Priest and shot him through the spine and paralyzed him, he fell on
the corridor, the Tan walked down the stairs and away”.
Father O’Callaghan was seriously wounded in
his liver and spine before the raiders took their departure. The Corporation
ambulance was summoned, and Fr O’Callaghan was conveyed, still conscious to the
North Infirmary. It was there that he detailed that he knew his attacker – a Black
and Tan who was on regular duty in and around Shandon Street. Some hours later
at 6pm he succumbed to his injuries in the presence of a nurse and Liam De Róiste
who prayed for the priest by his side.
Originally the internment of
Fr O’Callaghan was fixed for St Joseph’s Cemetery, but by request of the
residents of Clogheen, where the deceased ministered, the place of burial was
changed to Clogheen. Despite widespread warnings the streets and roads were lined
to mark their respect as the funeral cortege passed. A cross now marks his
burial place at the Church of the Most Precious Blood. Over many decades, the
story of the murder has been passed down by many historians and especially by the
O’Callaghan family. Fr O’Callaghan’s coat complete with bullet marks has
survived as part of their family heirlooms. Remembrance was also shown through
the name of Cork’s Fr O’Callaghan’s GAA Club for several decades.
Many thanks to Mary and Donal Healy, Maureen and Mary O‘Brien, Rita
O’Brien, Cork City and County Archives, and Cllr Ken Collins for their help and
insights with this article.
Captions:
1099a. Fr James
O’Callaghan, c.1917 (source: O’Brien family archive).
1099b. Mary Healy (nee
O’Brien) and Mary O’Brien with Fr James O’Callaghan’s priest jacket, present
day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1099c. Burial place of Fr James O’Callaghan, Clogheen Church, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1099b. Mary Healy (nee O’Brien) and Mary O’Brien with Fr James O’Callaghan’s priest jacket, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1099c. Burial place of Fr James O’Callaghan, Clogheen Church, Cork, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Much reference is given in the
newspapers of Spring 1921 to Cork Volunteers from across the batalions of the
Cork IRA Brigades being rounded up and sent to Ballykinlar Internment Camp in County
Down. Monaghan born Frank O’Duffy was interned in Camp II, Ballykinlar from
January to December 1921 and acted as Prisoners’ Commandant in that camp from
June to December 1921.
In his witness statement in the Bureau
of Military History (WS665), Frank describes that there were two internment camps
at Ballykinlar – Camp I and Camp II. Though these two camps adjoined each other
for a short distance at one end being separated only by the double fence of
barbed wire, which encircled each camp they were isolated from each other, and
communication between the prisoners in one camp and those in the other was banned.
Frank relates of this latter issue: “This regulation was overcome, however, by
the simple plan of throwing messages (attached to a stone) from one camp to the
other at the place where the two camps adjoined. To prevent these messages
falling into the hands of the British a code of signals was arranged to
indicate ‘coast clear’, and safe receipt of the message”.
Each camp was self-contained, apart
from the fact that there was only one hospital for sick prisoners. This was
located in Camp I, and this fact was availed of for discussions of important
issues of policy between the prisoners’ leaders of the two camps: a reliable
person from Camp II “went sick” and got transferred to the hospital.
It was also availed of to transfer men who were wanted by British crown forces
from one camp to the other. Though there was a British medical officer on the
staff of the Camps, the medical treatment of the prisoners was left mainly to
their own doctors, of whom there were a number among the prisoners. So, names
could be changed on documentation.
Each camp contained (when full) 1,000
(one thousand) prisoners. These were divided, for purposes of administration,
into four companies (250 men each), and each company was housed in ten huts (25
men to each hut). The companies in Camp I were described as A, B, C, and D, and
those in Camp II as E, F, G, and H. In addition to the huts, in which the men
slept, the camp buildings included large central huts for use as chapel,
dining-hall, recreation (concerts etc.), canteen, cook-house, work-shops, etc.
The sanitary arrangements were very primitive with latrines and buckets.
At first no objection was raised to
the prisoners’ drilling in the camp, and all (especially the younger men) were
drilled for some time each forenoon. A roll was made (and checked, as far as
possible) of all prisoners who were Volunteer Officers, and lectures and
training. Frank details: “Prisoners who had taken part in ambushes or other
military events gave an account of them, and discussions on tactics, etc. took
place. After a few weeks, an order was issued by the British forbidding drill
in the camp, but military training continued secretly”.
Formal classes in subjects such as Irish maths and
surveying also took place. Examinations were held and certificates issued at
the end of some of the educational courses. Lectures, debates, and discussions
were frequently held. Frank describes that historical anniversaries for Wolfe
Tone, Robert Emmet, and host of other names were faithfully celebrated.
Dramatic performances were also staged frequently. Some of the prisoners
devoted all their spare time to the preparations for these performances, (making
costumes, scenery, etc.), and the results of their work sometimes reached a
high standard.
In his witness statement Frank also compliments the Irish
classes section – who have as he notes, “the most faithful and hard-working of the Irish
teachers” – being Cork’s Cllr Micheál Ó
Cuill (of Cork Corporation). Micheál’s obituary in the Cork Examiner on
19 September 1955 describes that he was a native of the Macroom district,
he came to Cork circa 1910. He was connected with Countess Markievicz in
the founding and organising of Fianna Eireann and a few years later was largely
responsible for the formation of Cumann na mBan.
Micheál was one of the Cork volunteers who paraded at
Easter 1916 hoping to take part in the Rising. When circumstances prevented
Corkmen from playing their part he set out alone for Dublin and had got to the
neighbourhood of the city when the surrender took place. He was arrested and deported
to Frongoch.
Micheál was a close friend of Terence MacSwiney
and TomásMacCurtain and worked closely with them in the Irish
Volunteers. He became a member of Sinn Féin’s bench in Cork Corporation in
January 1920. It was he who, speaking in Irish,
proposed Tomás MacCurtain for the office of Lord Mayor on 30 January. On
Terence’s death Micheál was sent to be among the Guard of Honour to the deceased
Lord Mayor in London. He also acted tor some time as Deputy Lord Mayor
following Terence’s death before Donal Óg O’Callaghan took on the position. In
late 1920 he was arrested in Cork City and sent to Ballykinlar.
Micheál was an ardent lover ofIrish and
a fluent speaker of it, He was one of theprominent Gaelic League
organisers and teachers in the country and later in time became Vice President
of a Cork branch of the Conradh na Gaeilge. For many years he conducted classes
at An Dún, Queen Street (now Fr Mathew Street). About 1930, he joined the staff
of the Cork County Vocational Education Committee as Irish inspector. He became
very well-known at the summer courses of Ballingeary, which hesupervised
every summer.
1097a. SS Ardmore II, c.1930 (source: Cork City Library).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 29 April 2021
Journeys to a Truce: The Advent of SS
Ardmore II
During the
First World War the City of Cork Steam Packet Company lost six vessels, and the
company were determined to replace the losses with the construction of new vessels.
In particular, the new ships were designed to meet the requirements of the
cross-Channel trade, especially the cattle trade. One of the ships replaced was
the SS Ardmore, which was hit by a torpedo on 13 November 1917. It was replaced
by the SS Ardmore II, which looked very similar in design to the original.
On 28 April
1921 at noon, the SSArdmore II made her maiden visit to Cork with
flags flying and decorated with bunting. She was welcomed by the sirens of all
the vessels in the river. She was the largest of the fleet of the Steam Packet Company’s
cross-channel steamers and was built by the Ardrossan Dry Dock and
Shipbuilding Company, Ltd North
Ayrshire, Scotland. From
1919 for a time, Harland & Wolff Ltd managed the yard on behalf of the Royal Mail Group.
The SS
Ardmore II was launched in August 1921 in the presence ofdistinguished
company at Ardrossan Port. The Managing Director of the City
of Cork Steam Packet Company Sir Alfred Read, at the launching ceremony, was
very anxious not only to restore their pre-war position in that trade, but to
improve on it, and that they were “contracting for vessels that would give the
maximum of service”.
The
christening ceremony was performed by Lady Margaret Pirrie. At the event, she was
presented with a silver chalice as a souvenir that looked like the Ardagh
Chalice. Margaret Pirrie was
Belfast’s first woman justice of the peace and the first woman to
receive the freedom of that city. Pirrie was also involved in charity work,
working as president of the Royal Victoria Hospital. She also served on the
Senate of Queen’s University, Belfast, and as president of Harland &
Wolff’s, the Belfast shipbuilding firm of which her husband was chair.
The SS
Ardmore II was fitted to carry about 1000 mixed cattle. In addition, she could
carry 75 first-class passengers, and also accommodate for steerage passengers. The
ship was fitted with five steam cranes for handling cargo. The Cork Examiner
described the vessel and its sea route: “She is a beautiful vessel, and most
up-to-date in every way, and an idea of her well-appointed
accommodation may be gathered from the fact that she cost over a quarter of a
million…The Ardmore will ply between Cork and Liverpool, and on her first visit
to Cork to visited and inspected by a fairly largenumber of
people who greatly admired her beautiful proportions. She leaves or Liverpool
to-day at two o’clock”.
Owing to
the unfortunate strike of joiners, which began in November 1920, the City of Cork
Steam Packet Company was forced tobring the steamer into commission
before her saloon and cabin accommodation were properly built.
The SS Ardmore
II was to be the first oil-burner to be used by a cross channel company between
England and Ireland with a speed of 14 knots. Previously the first steamshiptocross the Atlantic was in 1838 when Cork’s SS Sirius
established the record.
The
insulation was by the J D Insulating and Refrigerating Company, Ltd, Liverpool,
and the cooling system was by the Thermotank Company, Glasgow. The ventilation was
through the use of tempering batteries by James Keith Blackman Company, Ltd.
and the ventilation arrangement in the cattle spaces was created by the same
firm.
Fast forward to 11 November
1940, the SS Ardmore II had on board 500 cattle, about the same number of pigs
(which were deck cargo), and a quantity of agricultural produce. The actual
crew of the vessel numbered 20 and with them were five cattle or bullockmen. Still
owned by the City of Cork Steam Packet Company she was commanded by Captain
Thomas Ford of Liverpool. Thomas had been with the City of Cork Steam Packet Company
for sixteen years. He was well known in Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, Fishguard and
other ports through his lifetime at sea.
On 11 November 1940, the SS Ardmore II departed Cork for
Fishguard with a cargo of livestock. Hours later she was reported missing with
her crew. An uneasy vigil was maintained. Air and sea searches proved futile.
On 26 November one of her lifeboats, unfilled, was washed ashore on the Welsh
coast. The body of Captain Ford was discovered near Aberystwyth on 3 December.
Ten days later that of Seaman Frank O’Shea was retrieved from another Welsh
beach. His remains were returned to Cork for burial.
What caused the loss of the
ship was not verified for nearly sixty years. In February 1998, the wreck of the
SS Ardmore II was found by divers three miles south of the Saltee Islands, off
the Wexford coast, in 183 feet of water. The hull showed signs of a large
explosion from a mine near the engine room. In the Second World War section of
the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition in Collins Barrack Museum, Dublin there is a
model of the SS Ardmore II and a plaque on Cork’s Penrose Quay also
remembers the 1940 tragedy.
Captions:
1097a. SS Ardmore II, c.1930 (source: Cork City
Library).
1097b. Plaque commemorating the sinking of SS
Ardmore II, Penrose Quay, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1097b. Plaque commemorating the sinking of SS Ardmore II, Penrose Quay, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
