One hundred years ago this month the Cork Fever Hospital hosted their annual general meeting. The hospital had a distinguished career caring for Corkonians since 1802 and was located atop the Fever Hospital steps adjacent Our Lady’s Well in Blackpool. It was founded by Corkman Dr Milner Barry who introduced vaccination into Cork in 1800, and was the first to make it known to any Irish city. In 1824, a monument with a long laudatory inscription was erected to his memory in the grounds of the Fever Hospital by Corkonians. The hospital site was sold off in 1962 and the housing estate of Shandon Court stands in its stead.
The annual general meeting of the President and Assistants of the Cork Fever Hospital and House of Recovery was held on 15 May 1917 in the Crawford Municipal School of Art. The annual report of the Hospital Committee was read by member Sir John Scott. He revealed that on 1 January 1917 there were 37 patients in the hospital and 256 were admitted during 1916. This made a total number of 293 patients treated, compared with 500 during the year 1915. Of the patients treated 253 were discharged and cured whilst 11 remained in hospital on 31 December 1916. There were 24 deaths during the year, and it was noted, with great regret, that many of them were only brought to the hospital in a “hopeless condition”. Deducting these from the number of deaths the mortality showed a low rate namely 6 per cent, which was deemed by the committee as a “satisfactory outcome” with dealing with dangerous life-taking fevers. A regular call was made by the Fever Hospital urging upon Cork citizens the immense importance of prompt isolation and hospital treatment for cases of infectious diseases. Many of the cases treated came from the thickly populated districts the city. Of the cases admitted 108 came from the north side of the city, 54 from the south side, 53 from the centre and 25 from the rural districts.
A considerable number of military cases were treated. One soldier, having returned to his home in England, wrote a letter to Dr Sutton, the Resident Medical Officer, thanking him and the medical staff for their “excellent treatment” which he had received. He stated that he had been in hospitals in various parts of the world but that he never got better care and attention than he received in the Cork Fever Hospital under Dr Sutton and Miss McCullagh, the Matron.
The Committee regretted to report that a case of typhus fever was admitted to the hospital from a Cork locality. It was some years since there was a case of typhus fever in Cork, mainly owing to the excellent and watchful eye of the officials of the Public Health Department of Cork Corporation. They were active in their endeavours to promote cleanliness, and to guard against overcrowding in congested areas, and thus prevent the outbreak and spread of any infectious diseases.
In the report of the Medical Staff, read by Dr O’Callaghan, he called upon parents and guardians of unvaccinated children – a substantial number of whom were in the city – to have them immediately vaccinated, as there was every danger that the disease, small pox, might be brought into the country by some of those returning from the various fronts of the War. It was hoped that that the Board of Guardians, who were responsible for the enforcement of the Vaccination Act, would insist on it being complied with by parents and others in charge of children. Under the amended 1907 Act the parent could escape penalties for the non-vaccination of his child if within four months from the birth he/she made a statutory declaration that confidently believed that vaccination would be prejudicial to the health of the child.
The high prices of the cost of living added considerable expense of maintaining the Fever Hospital. It was acknowledged that the cost of treating fever patients was heavy. The increase in prices was shown by a comparative return made by the Auditor, who pointed out that in the year 1913, before the war, the cost of food and necessaries amounted to £416 14s 7d. During 1916-17 the cost under the same headings came to the large sum of £850 8s 2d, being a rise of over 101 per cent.
The treasurer’s report showed a balance due to the bank of £1,466 5s. The cash received from Cork Corporation was £1,500 from the County Council, £100, from subscriptions £101 15s, and from paying patients £556 9s. The committee noted an increase under the head of subscriptions and also of paying patients. The Hospital Aid Society sent £11 and the Hospital Saturday Fund sent £16. Early in 1917 because of the heavy debt, which had accumulated on the Fever Hospital, the Committee made a special appeal to the public with a view to reducing the bank debt. The appeal met with considerable success with a sum of £819 9s 4d being fund-raised. This included £30 3s 0d, an amount realised by the proceeds of a bridge tournament kindly held by the Lady Mayoress, Mrs Butterfield.
Looking to read more Our City, Our Town articles from over the years, log onto the index at my website www.corkheritage.ie
Captions:
896a. Map of site of Fever Hospital from the 1949 Ordnance Survey map (source: Cork City Library)
This month one hundred years ago apart from the American Navy settling into Queenstown and World War I raging, local issues, such as poverty and charity also dominated the media headlines. The flag day for the Cork poor in March 1917 made £300 and was distributed to St Vincent de Paul Society (60). Ladies of Charity Society (£ 60), Sick Poor Society (£60), Police Aided Society £ 60 and the Indigent Room Keepers’ Society (£60).
Cork has six conferences in the city attached to the St Vincent de Paul Society in 1917. The City president was Francis J Murphy of Shanakiel House, who was also the Chairman of his family’s business J J Murphy’s Brewery in Blackpool. There was also a St Vincent de Paul Ladies Association who tasked themselves in looking after widows and orphans led by Miss K M Murphy of the Bons Secour Convent. The Cork Examiner for May 1917 had a media campaign asking Cork citizens to donate money to the St Vincent do Paul Society. The prices of bread, milk and coal were abnormally high, and if the Society was to continue its work it would require more money. Its average income for the previous thirty years had been £l,780 per annum, but in 1917, owing to the increased cost of food and growing poverty in the city, the society noted that at least £3,500 extra was required. Their entire administration of the Society was carried out by voluntary workers. During 1916, the families relieved numbered 890 comprising 4,372 persons, old and young. This necessitated 7,028 visits by members of the Society to what they deemed the “homes of the distressed”. Nine years previously in 1908, the number of visits paid was lower at 4,540. In 1917, over 80,000 2-lb loaves of bread, 15,555 pecks of coal, and 63,064 pints of milk were distributed. The Society relieved distress wherever found, regardless of class or creed of those requiring assistance.
In 1833, Frédéric Ozanam, a young French student and six companions, studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, founded the St Vincent De Paul Society. A year later membership had grown to over 100 people. Within a short few years of foundation, conferences (branches) were established throughout Europe and North and South America. By 1853, there were 2,500 conferences throughout the world, each linked to the Council-General in Paris. The first society conferences in Ireland were established in Dublin in 1844 and was introduced to Cork in 1846. Today there are c.1203 conferences in Ireland with 11,000 volunteer members.
The first annual report of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Cork was read at the general meeting at the Mansion House, now the Mercy Hospital on 8 December 1846. This can be viewed in the Boole Library in UCC and reveals the early development of the first Cork conference. It was formed in March 1846 with ten members. By 15 March, the organization was up and running with their officers, namely—a President, two Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and Secretary; they waited on the Cork Bishop to examine their regulations and plan and to appoint a spiritual director to the Society. After that the next step was to procure “letters of aggregation” from the Council General in Paris. With letters secured, society members began visiting the poor on 7 April and, on 13 April, issued their first relief of food poverty depot tickets to 26 cases. These were poor families, of which, at the request of the Sisters of Charity, and Sisters of Mercy had added to society’s list.
By December 1846, the weekly relief extended to 98 families consisting of 470 individuals. For the first three months, the society was accommodated with a room at the Mansion-House, by the Rev Michael O’Sullivan, but from 15th June, they held their meetings in a more central site, at the house no 4, Morrison’s Island, kindly placed at their disposal by the Murphy family. During March and April 1848, the Society of St Vincent de Paul gave relief to 401 families consisting of 1,670 individuals — the food distributed included 16,156 lbs. of Indian meal, 16,758 lbs. of bread, plus bedding-straw, clothes and blankets.
In 1861, there were three well-established conferences meeting weekly in Cork City. The members of the Society strove to meet the necessities of the time. They set up night schools, when these were required; a boys’ brigade was formed; a Prisoners’ Aid Society worked with no publicity in connection with the Cork Prison; a savings bank was formed; in later years, hostels were established.
By 1890 the St Vincent de Paul Society in Cork City offered help to 753 families and conducted 3,315 visits were paid per annum. The Ladies Society made nearly 4,000 visits to widows and orphanages per annum. The increasing scale of charity work is also reflected in the early Irish Free State. In 1925, the number of families relieved were 773 with the number of persons in families totaling 12,799; the total number of visits paid was 21,221; the number of 2-lb loaves distributed reached 151,009 with the number of pints of milk distributed at 141,183; the number of pecks of coal distributed reached 21,487 – all paid for through regular fundraising initiatives across the city and from donations from the wills of citizens.
Captions:
895a. Mercy Hospital, present day – the city’s former Mansion House – the first base for the Cork St Vincent de Paul in 1846 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Cork Independent, 11 May 2017 The Wheels of 1917: The Queenstown Patrol
Sir Lewis Bayley of the British Navy gave Commander Joseph Taussig’s four days to mobilise the six American destroyers, which arrived into Queenstown on 4 May 1917 (see last week’s column). In the ensuing days of preparation work and strategy creation, stories were shared of the engagement between the British flotilla leaders Swift and Broke on one side and six German destroyers on the other side, as well as German submarines.
According to Taussig’s diary entries, by 7 May 1917, a naval strategy had been worked out – some of the core points of which are below. The destroyers, British and American, were to work in seven pairs for the short term. Taussig’s fleet were to replace the larger British naval destroyers, which in time were to be sent back to the British base at Plymouth in the English Channel. The destroyers were to be made to work six days at sea. Ships chasing a submarine on the sixth day with two thirds of their fuel gone were to stop chasing their folly and come home. Shelter was to be taken in bad weather. When ship-wrecked crews were picked up, they had to be brought directly into the harbour. As German submarines were returning to torpedoed and floating steamers to get metal out of them, destroyers were encouraged to wait and approach them with the sun at their back. If they met what appeared to be a valuable ship in dangerous waters they were to escort her. If an SOS call was received, and they thought they could be in time to help, they were to go and assist the ship; but as a rule, they were not to go over 50 miles from their area.
Destroyers were to be careful not to ram boats to sink them as cases had occurred whereby they had been left with bombs in them ready to explode when struck. Senior officers of destroyers were to give the necessary orders with regard to what speed to cruise at, orders for zig-zagging; they knew the capabilities of their ships best. When escorting, it had been found best as a rule to cross from bow to bow, the best distance away being about 1,000 yards; however, this depended on a myriad of factors, which included sea conditions and visibility. Reports of proceedings were not required on arrival in harbour unless for some special reason such as signalling for preparing for attacking submarines and rescuing survivors.
Much confidence was placed in the strategic mind of Commander Taussig. Like his father before him, Joseph was noted as well-known figure with exceptional ability as a naval officer. Joseph Knefler Taussig was born of American parentage in 1877 in Dresden, Germany, where his father, who also became a rear admiral in the Navy, was stationed. His father was Edward David Taussig, a native of St Louis, Missouri, and his mother, Ellen Knefler Taussig, was a native of Louisville, Kentucky. Joseph’s father graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1867 and retired in 1909, ten years after his son completed his work at the Academy. Joseph graduated from high school in Washington, DC, in 1895 and was appointed to the Naval Academy that same year. At Annapolis, young Taussig was known primarily as an all-around athlete: he won first-place medals in the high jump, broad jump, and 200-yard hurdles; he was a member of the crew, varsity football team, and runner-up for the wrestling team.
In 1900, whilst a midshipman, a member of the naval forces, Joseph was sent to China with other members to squash a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901. Near Tientsin, Joseph was wounded and sent to a hospital to recover with an English Captain John Jellicoe who was Chief-of-Staff to Admiral Seymour, who was in charge of the British forces. It was a legend of sorts that grew up around Joseph and that diplomatic relations were something not new to him. In addition, a letter from Admiral Jellico was handed to Joseph in Queenstown in May 1917 welcoming him and the American Navy to the battle zone.
In a public speaking engagement at Carnegie Hall, New York on 30 January 1918, Joseph Taussig recalls that in the three weeks before his arrival to Queenstown, German submarines had sunk 152 British ships in the nearby Atlantic area. Hence, he had depth bombs installed so as to fight off the submarines. He noted in his speech; “we escorted many ships and we saved many lives. I cannot say we sunk any submarines. The submarine I found was a very difficult bird to catch. He always sees you first. Only once did my vessel, in seven months, succeed in actually firing at a submarine. He then went down after the fifth shot was fired. At that he was five miles away. But they were afraid of the depth bombs. I saw results on several occasions, which led me to believe that I had at least damaged one of two”.
Joseph Taussig found the patrol duty very difficult as the ocean was strewn with wreckage for a distance of 200 miles off shore. Judgement was important; “it was hard to tell a telescope when we saw one. We fired at fish, floating spars and other objects because we could afford to take a chance. The submarines grew less active or did less damage as the summer [of 1917] wore on”.
Captions:
894a. Painting by Burnell Poole, 1925. Depicting three U.S. Navy destroyers fighting heavy seas while on World War I escort service, off Queenstown, Ireland (source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington).
894b. Commander Joseph K Taussig in the 1920s (source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington).
The Wheels of 1917: The American Navy Arrives in Queenstown
The morning of 4 May 1917, one hundred years ago today, coincided with an important event in the history of Queenstown, now Cobh. The news was not printed in British or American papers, yet in some mysterious way it reached nearly everybody in the town. A squadron of American destroyers, which had left Boston on the evening of 24 April had already been reported to the westward of Ireland and was due to reach Queenstown that morning. At almost the appointed hour, six warships came into view under the command of senior officer Commander Joseph K Taussig,. The American flag of the Stars and Stripes was decked on public buildings, on private houses and on nearly all the water craft of the harbour. This was the first contingent of the American Navy to arrive in Irish waters.
Media sources for this significant event offer an insight into the faithful day of 4 May – not at that time due to secrecy – but certainly in the ensuing year 1918 as the American Navy relayed agreed positive narratives in East Coast North American newspapers and in speaking engagements at sites such as Carnegie Hall in New York. With the modern digital age, more and more of American newspapers have also been digitised and these offer the researcher wider lenses to study Cork’s role in a World War. In addition, the personal papers of Commander Joseph K Taussig are contained in the Naval Historical Collection Division of Washington DC. Published is the diary that Taussig kept during his time in command of the first US destroyers to arrive in the Atlantic war zone in 1917.
Taussig’s flagship was the Wadsworth. The other vessels of the division and their commanding officers were the Conyhgham (Commander Alfred W Johnson), Porter (Lieutenant Commander Ward K Wortman), McDougal (Lieutenant-Commander Arthur P Fairfield), Davis (Lieutenant Commander Rufus Zogbaum), and the Wainwright (Lieutenant Commander Fred H Poteel). At the outbreak of the hostilities these vessels comprised the US’s Eighth Destroyer Division and were stationed at base no 2 in the York River in Virginia, USA. At 7pm on 6 April 1917, the day that the US Congress declared war on Germany, Commander Taussig received a signal from the Pennsylvania, the flag-ship of the Atlantic fleet – “mobilise for war in accordance with department’s confidential mobilisation plan of March 21”. By 14 April 1917, Commander Taussig received a message to take his flotilla to Boston and there fit out for “long and distant service”. Ten days later he sailed with instructions to go 50 miles west due east of Cape Cod and there open his sealed orders.
At the indicated spot, Commander Taussig broke the seal and read the subject “Protection of Commerce near the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland”. The instruction signed by Josephus Daniels read, “Proceed to Queenstown, Ireland. Report too senior British officer present and thereafter co-operate fully with the British navy. Should it be decided that your force act in co-operation with the French naval forces your mission and method of co-operation under French admiralty authority remain unchanged…when within radio communication of the British naval force off Ireland, call G CK and inform the Vice-Admiral at Queenstown in British general code of your position, course and speed. You will be met outside of Queenstown. Base facilities will be provided by the British admiralty. Communicate your orders and operations to Rear Admiral Sims at London and be guided by such instructions as he may give. Make no reports of arrival to navy department direct”.
It took ten days to make the trip across the Atlantic due to a south-east gale, which accompanied the ships for seven of the ten days. So rough was the sea that Taussig recalls in his memoirs that they could not set their mess tables and ate off their laps. On the ninth day off the south coast of Ireland, the fleet were met by a small British destroyer, the Mary Rose, who came along side flying a flag with “welcome to the American colours” on it. The small ship led the fleet past Daunt Rock lightship off Robert’s Cove where a tug boat was waiting on which was an official photographer sent from London, who took moving pictures of the division as they passed. They stopped just outside Roche’s Point, and a British naval officer came on board each destroyer to pilot them to their berths. Despite the secrecy, the news that the destroyers had reached Queenstown appeared in the German newspapers several days before. For the first time in many months, a German submarine laid a mine field of twelve mines directly off the entrance to Cork Harbour. British mine sweepers swept them up.
The fleet berthed safely at the naval pier where the American Consul, Mr Wesley Frost, met them. There were several automobiles in waiting and they were whisked to the Consulate’s office. There Lord Mayor Thomas C Butterfield made a speech of welcome, where he laid stress on the close relations between the Irish and the American race. He was followed by the Resident Magistrate, Walter Callan. All the time proceedings were filmed by the London photographer. The American guests then proceeded to Admiralty House and reported to British Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly to receive their orders.
To be continued…
Captions:
893a. Bernard F. Gribble’s Painting, The Return of The Mayflower; Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D Roosevelt commissioned the painting in 1919. In 1933, when Roosevelt became President of the United States, the painting hung in the oval office (source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington).
893b. Mr Wesley Frost, American consul, and British Naval officers greeting Commander Taussig and the other officers of the destroyer flotilla upon their arrival in Queenstown, May 4, 1917 (source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington).
Cork Independent, 27 April 2017 Kieran’s May Historical Walking Tours
Early summer is coming and the weather is improving. So below are details of the next set of my public walking tours for the first week of May,
Tuesday 2 May 2017, Historical Walking Tour with Kieran of Eighteenth Century Cork, from the walled town to an eighteenth-century Venice of the North; meet outside Cork City Library, Grand Parade, 6.45pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes on St Patrick’s Street)
For nearly five hundred years (c.1200-c.1690), the walled port town of Cork, built in a swamp and at the lowest crossing point of the River Lee and the tidal area, remained as one of the most fortified and vibrant walled settlements in the expanding British colonial empire. However, economic growth as well as political events in late seventeenth century Ireland, culminating in the Williamite Siege of Cork in 1690, provided the catalyst for large-scale change within the urban area. The walls were allowed to decay and this was to inadvertently alter much of the city’s physical, social and economic character in the ensuing century.
One of the most elegant additions to eighteenth century Cork was the Exchange or Tholsel, which was built on the site of Roches Castle (now the site of the Catholic Young Men’s Society hall on Castle Street). It was an important building of two stories. On its opening in 1710 the Council ordered the upper floor room be established as a Council Chamber with liberty for the Grand Jury of magistrates and landlords to sit. The lower part was used for commercial purposes. where a pedestal known as “the nail”, was used for making payments (still in existence in Cork City Museum). In later times the room was used for public sales. A figure of a dragon made of copper and gilt surmounted the cupola of the building as a weather vane. The Exchange declined as a market in time – through the erection of a Corn Market on the Potato Quay (popularly known as the Coal Quay) and improved facilities for the transaction of business offered to merchants.
Wednesday 3 May 2017, Historical Walking Tour with Kieran on the Walk of the Friars, from Red Abbey through to Greenmount; meet at Red Abbey Square, 6.45pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes near Deerpark)
The central bell tower of the church of Red Abbey is a relic of the Anglo-Norman colonisation and is one of the last remaining visible structures, which dates to the era of the walled town of Cork. Invited to Cork by the Anglo-Normans, the Augustinians established an abbey in Cork, sometime between 1270 AD and 1288 AD. It is known that in the early years of its establishment, the Augustinian friary became known as Red Abbey due to the material, sandstone, which was used in the building of the friary. It was dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity but had several names, which appear on several maps and depictions of the walled town of Cork and its environs. For example, in a map of Cork in 1545, it was known as St Austins while in 1610, Red abbey was marked as St. Augustine’s.
In the mid eighteenth century, part of the buildings of Red Abbey were used as part of a sugar refinery. This refinery was burnt down accidentally in December 1799. Since then, the friary buildings with the exception of the tower have been taken piecemeal. The tower is maintained by Cork City Council who were donated the structure by the contemporary owners in 1951 and also own other portions of the abbey site. Today, the tower of Red Abbey approximately thirty metres high is one of Cork’s most important protected historic structures. The remaining tower cannot be climbed but medieval architecture can still be on the lower arch of the structures and in the upper windows. The adjacent street names of Red Abbey Street, Friar’s Street and Friar’s Walk also echoes the days of a large medieval abbey in the area.
Thursday, 4 May 2017, Historical Walking Tour with Kieran of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet outside Blackrock Castle, 6.45pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes at railway line walk)
The earliest and official evidence for settlement in Blackrock dates to c.1564 when the Galway family created what was to become known as Dundanion Castle. Over 20 years later, Blackrock Castle was built circa 1582 by the citizens of Cork with artillery to resist pirates and other invaders. In the early 1700s, the prominent Tuckey family, of which Tuckey Street in the city centre is named, became part of the new social elite in Cork after the Williamite wars and built part of what became known in time at the Ursuline Convent. The building of the Navigation Wall or Dock in the 1760s turned focus to reclamation projects in the area and the eventual creation of public amenity land such as the Marina Walk during the time of the Great Famine. Soon Blackrock was to have its own bathing houses, schools, hurling club, suburban railway line, and Protestant and Catholic Church. The pier that was developed at the heart of the space led to a number of other developments such as fisherman cottages and a fishing industry. This community is reflected in the 1911 census with 64 fishermen listed in Blackrock.
Captions:
882a. Sketch of Cork Exchange, c.1750 (now the site of YMCA hall, Castle Street, one of the city’s primary market sites, subject of eighteenth century Cork tour (source: Cork City Library)
882b. Map of north east marsh, Paul Street & St Paul’s Church, 1726 by John Carty (source: Cork City Library)
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy will give three historical walking tours in early May across the southside of the City.
Tuesday 2 May 2017, Historical Walking Tour with Kieran of Eighteenth Century Cork, from the walled town to an eighteenth-century Venice of the North; meet outside Cork City Library, 6.45pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes on St Patrick’s Street)
Wednesday 3 May 2017, Historical Walking Tour with Kieran on the Walk of the Friars, from Red Abbey through to Greenmount; meet at Red Abbey Square, 6.45pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes near Deerpark)
Thursday, 4 May 2017, Historical Walking Tour with Kieran of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet outside Blackrock Castle, 6.45pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes at railway line walk)
Commenting Cllr McCarthy noted;
“It is said that 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”.
“Cork has a soul, which is packed full of ambition and heart. Cork is a city packed with historic gems all waiting to be discovered at every street corner. These three walks provide insights into the development of just three of the city’s historical suburbs”.
Easter 1917 coincided with the commemoration of the rising a year earlier. Up to early 1917, the Volunteer organisations appeared to have dissolved but release from English gaols saw companies of Volunteers re-organising and training. In January 1917, the Cork volunteers in their hall at Sheares Street began to regroup under Tomás MacCurtain. Close police attention led to MacCurtain’s leadership being short-lived as he was arrested again. He left behind two battalions which had been built up, comprising eight companies each. Demands were given by British Authorities for the closing of the Volunteer Hall. The Volunteers remained until the doors were closed by force on 4 June 1917 and several arrests were made.
MacCurtain’s arrest was not the only one in February 1917. Terence MacSwiney was also arrested and both were brought to the Military Detention Barracks, where two other Volunteers Sean Nolan and Peadar O’Hourihane were also present. On 23 February 1917, all four were taken to Arbour Hill Barracks in Dublin. Here they were served with deportation orders condemning them to be exiled out of Ireland for an unspecified period to small English towns, free to roam them but not to return to Ireland. Tomás and Peadar were sent to Ledbury in the County of Hereford, north of Bristol and MacSwiney and Nolan to nearby Bromyard. On Easter Monday 1917. they marked the first anniversary of the Easter 1916 Rising in Dublin in their own way. Terence and his wife to be Muriel Murphy were planning their wedding day for June 1917.
Meanwhile across the country, small volunteer companies marked the first anniversary. In Dublin, on Saturday 13 April 1917 the Sinn Féin flag of orange, green and white was hoisted over certain public buildings – the old Post Office wall near Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street, the AOH (American Alliance) offices in North Frederick street, and Boland’s Mills. In O’Connell Street, large numbers of young people gathered and some were noted by police to have taken to the streets breaking windows and resisting police arrest.
A day later on Sunday 14 April in Cork it is recorded by the Cork Examiner that four hundred processionists, many of whom wore Sinn Fein badges and rosettes, marched from the North Cathedral to Cork City Hall. At the Cathedral, a memorial service was held for persons who were killed arising out of the 1916 Easter Rising. During the ensuing march, the Volunteers sang the marching song of the Sinn Féin volunteers and also an Irish version of Easter Week.
At City Hall, some persons had already entered the building, and hauled down the municipal flag replacing it by the Sinn Féin ones. The processionists sang Irish songs, saluted their flag and retraced their steps to the National Monument on the Grand Parade. The parade movements were watched by fifty police, under District-Inspector Walsh, who appealed to the ringleaders of the demonstration to disperse quietly. The police approached the mob with drawn batons and were received with a fusillade of stones. The police noted of the disorder that half the rioters were women, who served as a screen for the ringleaders. The police made a combined baton charge and dispersed the mob in all directions. The Sinn Féin flag was hauled down from City Hall by the police, but was later retrieved by Volunteers and was run up again and flew for the rest of the day over City Hall.
By Sunday 22 April 1917, Bishop Cohalan, sent a letter to the priests of the Diocese for his concerns about further rebellion to be read out following letter was read at each Mass in the City’s churches. He had concerns that on a few occasions after memorial masses, processions to the National Monument were taking place; “I am reluctant to interfere with liberty on the street. The stoppage of a procession or demonstration can easily become an undue interference with liberty…a procession from a Church does not necessarily imply irreverence to the Holy Sacrifice of the mass…But processions after the memorial masses would lend to conflict and disorder in the streets. And I appeal to you all, priests and people, to remember the reverence which is due to our place of worship, and, above all, to the Holy Sacrifice, and to see to it that there shall be no procession or demonstration which might lead to disorder, no matter by whom caused, in connection with the Memorial masses”.
Examples were made of Sinn Fein Volunteers by British authorities. The Cork Examiner on 26 April 1917 records the findings of a District Court-martial held at Cork Barracks into charges made against Patrick Higgins, 70 Dominick street, John Healy, 32 Evergreen street, and Jonnies Courtney. 95 Hibernian Buildings. The accused were charged with having on 7 March 1917 at the Sinn Fein Hall on Sheares Street, taking taken part in drilling without having a permit from the competent military authority. Each of accused was found guilty, and Higgins was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour whilst Healy and Courtney each were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour.
Cork 1916, A Year Examined (2016) by Kieran McCarthy & Suzanne Kirwan is now available in Cork bookshops.
Cork City History Tour (2016) by Kieran McCarthy is also available in Cork bookshops.
Captions:
891a. Terence MacSwiney and his wife Muriel Murphy, c.1917 (source: Cork City Library)
891b. National Monument on the Grand Parade, c.1917 (source: Cork City Through Time by Kieran McCarthy & Daniel Breen)
Cork Independent, 13 April 2017 The Wheels of 1917: The Carpenter’s Call
The history of Cork unions and the labour movement is not an overly researched topic in Cork history, but relationships between employers and employees regularly appear in the newspapers across the years. This month, one hundred years, coincided with strikes and union meetings in the city. A dispute on pay between the Cork Carpenter’s Society and the Builder’s Federation was ongoing. A fully attended meeting of the Builder’s Federation was held on 2 April 1917 with the proceedings being private. The situation was discussed at length and the meeting approved of the reply drafted to the declaration of the carpenters. A Cork Examiner article on 3 April 1917 reveals that it was hopeful that the matter would be resolved: “a much more hopeful aspect is believed to prevail, and the hope is expressed that the spirit of broadmindedness, which is being displayed on both sides at present will have a good effect; the time is ripe for mediation, and that it would be a great pity if the present favourable opportunity were allowed pass, with the danger of the delay giving rise to a more embittered situation”.
The members of the Cork Masons and Plasterer’s societies also struck work on 2 April 1917, the former on a demand equivalent to an increase of 9s a week in their wages, and the latter equivalent to an increase of 6s a week. Both bodies pointed out that their claims were made independently of the Carpenter’s Society. The builders’ attitude in reference to the masons’ demand was that they were prepared to grant them a war bonus of 3s a week and an increase of wages represented by 6d a day subject to a guarantee, to abide by certain modifications of rules. They offered similar terms to the plasters as from 2 April and promised that when “certain matters in the course of settlement with another trade body” were adjusted, their demand would be fully considered.
A week later, the masons, plasterers, builders’ labourers, and munition workers on strike attended public meetings hosted by the Lord Mayor, Thomas C Butterfield to speak about arbitration measures. At the meeting of 8 April it was discussed that the men involved have already appointed their arbitrator, and the masons would soon appoint theirs. The Chairman, Mr P Lynch, was glad to be able to announce that negotiations were proceeding with a view of bringing the dispute to an end and breaking the resolve of employers in the building trade; “If the employers in the building trade had been left lo themselves he was convinced that there would have been no trouble between the men and employers, but unfortunately outsiders intervened and tried to force the employers in the building trade to smash the men’s union. I trust that the men would be able to return to work next week after winning a successful but short fight”. On the motion of Alderman Cllr Kelleher, a resolution was unanimously adopted, hailing the attempts being made to bring about an amicable settlement, between employers and employees.
By 16 April 1917, the outcome of many discussions was that a joint conference of the representatives of the South of Ireland Master Builders Association and the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners under the chairmanship of Captain Fairbairn Downie at 4pm, at the Cork National Shell Factory on Corn Market Street, now the Bodega. After an exhaustive discussion of all the phases of the dispute, arbitration under Captain Downie was unanimously agreed to. The employers present were Messrs T Goodall of Cork Timber and Iron Co, Ltd and William O’Connell, of Messrs W O’Connell and Son and Charles F Hayes of Messrs Meagher and Hayes.
On 30 April, Captain Downie published his proposed award scheme, which did settle the dispute; Working hours to work were to be from 8am to 6 pm from Mondays to Fridays inclusive with an interval of one hour from 1 pm to 2 pm for dinner. Working hours on Saturday were to be 8 am to 1 pm; all carpenters and joiners would work 50 hours per week. Overtime from 6 pm to 9 pm was to be paid time and a quarter. Half an hour for refreshments was to be allowed, and the time to be mutually agreed upon. From 9 pm to 12 midnight was to be paid time and a half, and from midnight to 6 am, was to be double time, with one hour break by arrangement. The rate of wages was to be l0d per hour as and from the 1 April, 1917, until the first day of May, 1917. From that date the wages were to be increased by a further halfpenny per hour, making a total rate of wages from that date to be 10½ d per hour all the year round. Country money was to be paid at the ratio of 1s 3d per day. The sum of 3s was to be added if working on two different jobs in the one week. Train fares to and from jobs were to be paid by the employer. However, a workman leaving his job in the country without permission, or through misconduct, was not to be paid his return fare.
Captions:
890a. The operative society of Masons & Bricklayers have been residents of Carpenters Hall on Fr Mathew Quay since 1950, before that they were residents in Mechanics Hall from 1870, which was used by the volunteers during the Irish War of Independence (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
890b. Carpentry tools on display at Cork Carpenter’s Hall during a recent Cork Heritage Open Day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the decision by Cork Public Museum to join the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland. The Museum officially applied to the programme in September 2016. The Museum was accepted into the programme two months ago and thus began a 3-5-year process to achieve interim and then full accreditation.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “The Museum will need to survey and evaluate its current practices and structures in order to measure them against the standards and guidelines expected by the Heritage Council. This will determine areas of operation that need to be improved and professionalised. The process will involve a closer working relationship between the museum management and various City Council directorates. There will also need to be investment in staffing structures, equipment and building maintenance/ refurbishment to successfully meet 34 standards. Museum staff would have access to training and large bursaries and form part of a national network of participating and supportive museums/ organisation”.
Continuing Cllr McCarthy welcomed the potential of the programme in attaining national funding to protect museum collection plus the outreach potential. “Cork City Council has very good and dedicated curators operating the museum, who have created sterling exhibitions over the last few years and are real champions of Cork’s heritage. The programme will help increase our educational and social outreach capabilities that will form part of a wider agenda to make the city’s collections more accessible to all. This programme will help Cork Public Museum re-connect with the local community by becoming a place that local people relate to, participate in, engage with and ultimately be proud of. If local people visit and enjoy the museum, then tourists will follow”.
My first public walking tour for 2017 returns to the Victorian Quarter – Sunday 9 April 2017, Historical Walking Tour of the Victorian Quarter, From Fever Hospital to Street Grandeur, meet at the green (Bell’s Field) at the top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2.30pm, free, 2 hours. The tour is part of the Lifelong Learning Festival.
In a world where globalisation reigns, more than ever place matters. The Victorian Quarter is a new branding by traders within MacCurtain Street environs and Cork City Council to describe a historic corner of Cork, which was built up during the time of Queen Victoria and espouses the good, the bad and the ugly of Cork History. One is dealing with immense scenic perspectives – book ended by the epic St Patrick’s Hill view to the west, Kent Station to the east and river and port frontage to the south. There is something to be said about how the street and buildings are carefully balanced and placed on a steep carved out sandstone ridge to the north – an important story of strategic engineering, which appears in earnest behind the waterfall feature behind Greene’s Restaurant.
The area comprises gorgeous, original and well invested architecture with rich stories. Its historical DNA is rooted in old Cork but this was the Cork that emerged in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries where the city was branding itself as one of the Venices of the North and the Athens of Ireland in terms of cultural output. When the Corporation of the time invested in planning St Patrick’s Bridge in 1787, it opened up this quarter for development – this was also the decade that brought us the first south docklands plan and the chain the Lord Mayor wears. The 1790s coincided the creation of St Patrick’s Hill – a hill-up avenue from Bridge Street, which aligned with an old windmill now incorporated into Audley House. The decade also coincided with an early MacCurtain Street– back then known as Strand Street and later King Street.
One by one, some of Cork’s greatest stories and architectural structures were added. The tragic Fever Hospital was constructed in 1802 with all that is left today being the Fever Hospital steps. Built between 1801 and 1806 and designed initially by John Gibson, Collins Barracks was once called Royal or Cork Barracks with the largest parade ground in western Europe. Summerhill Road was laid out between 1801 and 1832 as well as a myriad of new residences; these provided the catalyst for the creation of St Patrick’s Church and the first of three St Luke’s Church – St Patrick’s and St Luke’s witnessed their foundation stone laid in the 1830s. St Luke’s Church’s was consecrated in 1837 whilst St Patrick’s Church opened in 1848 – the portico of St Patrick’s echoing the Greek and Roman temples of Central European urban civilization.
The Cork Dublin Terminus & tunnel opened in 1856 – the tunnel was part of an elaborate railway system from Dublin to Cork – in its day one of the major features of engineering in western Europe.
Trinity Presbyterian Church was opened at the foot of Summerhill in 1861 – but Cork’s Presbyterian cultural heritage is 300 years old this year.
The building that Cork’s 96FM occupies first opened its doors in 1888. In the mid nineteenth century, the Vincentian Fathers maintained a seminary at Saint Patrick’s Place in Cork, known as the Cork Diocesan Seminary. In 1888 a new seminary with residential accommodation was completed at Farranferris, and the Vincentian ecclesiastical students transferred there. The then Bishop of Cork, Dr O’Callaghan, invited the Christian Brothers to take charge of the St. Patrick’s Place establishment. The Christian Brothers and Scoil Mhuire or St Angela’s are all part of the educational heritage of the quarter.
The elaborate twelve-bay five-storey structure building, which hosted Thompson’s Bakery was erected about 1890 as well as the seven bay three storey Victoria Buildings. In the 1970s Thompsons output tops 20,000,000 products per annum. The company employed 250 men and women. It distributed Thompsons famous bread throughout Munster and the confectionery was sold throughout Ireland, with depots in Waterford, Dublin, Athlone, Galway, Westport and Limerick. Thompsons vans were a very familiar sight throughout 40 routes Munster and 10 national routes, and numbered in the region of 60.
Thompson’s was soon followed by the Baptist Church building in 1892, the Great Southern and Western Railway Cork Terminus in 1892 and the Metropole Hotel in 1897 financed by the Musgrave Brothers.
In 1897 Dan Lowry opened the building as a luxurious new theatre called The Cork Palace of Varieties, the 120th anniversary of which the Everyman will celebrate this year in their annual programming. Then there is the story of famous Hadji Bey sweet shop post the Cork International Exhibition 1903. The Colliseum cinema, which opened in September 1913 began a social revolution – and the eventual construction of a necklace of cinemas, which were to blossom over the ensuing twenty years.
And the list goes on and on; and as I’m saying these there are possible readers screaming– what about that topic, what about this one; but that is what the public walking tours are trying to bring to the surface – lost stories within familiar places, we all call home.
Captions:
889b. 889a. King Street, now MacCurtain Street, c.1910 (source: Cork City Library)
889b. Map of St Patrick’s Hill 1801 (source: Cork City Library)
