Category Archives: Cork History

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 11 January 2024

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized
1235a. Screen grab of the Digital Atlas of Cork.
1235a. Screen grab of the Digital Atlas of Cork.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 11 January 2024

The New Digital Atlas of Cork

They say the best way to get to know a city is to walk it – and in these early January days it is an ideal time. 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.

Giving walking tours for over 30 years has allowed me to bring people on a journey into that soul but also receive feedback on the wider contexts of what visitors and locals have seen elsewhere. Cork is a city packed with historic gems all waiting to be discovered at every street corner.

Cork has a soul, which is packed full of ambition and heart. Cork’s former historic networks and contacts are reflected in its the physical urban fabric – its bricks, street layout and decaying timber wharfs. Inspired by other cities with similar trading partners, it forged its own unique take on port architecture.

So the new Digital Atlas of Cork/ Corcaigh is very welcome. It is one of a series of digital atlases created by the Irish Historic Towns Atlas team (the others are Derry, Dungarvan and Galway). The Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh is an initiative of the Digital Working Group of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas research programme. The project has been led by Sarah Gearty (Royal Irish Academy) and Rachel Murphy (University of Limerick), with Mani Morse (Dublin City University) as Digital Manager. 

The Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh is a free online interactive map that invites you to discover the built heritage of Cork City in a new way where 6,245 features of the city’s history from AD 623 to 1900 are mapped. The atlas includes descriptions of over 800 streets, including their names in Irish and English as well as historical variants.

Users can browse the digital atlas or search for a specific site in the city. They can also select and view features associated with specific time periods, from medieval times to the present day. Most notably, it maps out Cork’s earlier historical sites especially around South and North Main Street and its Viking age history and Anglo Norman history.

Each historical feature is represented by a coloured symbol, each feature has been categorized into one of eleven different themes such as entertainment, manufacturing, religion and transport. When a user clicks on a feature, key information about it is displayed in a pop-up box. 

A specially commissioned historical map depicts each individual house and plot during the mid-nineteenth century (1842). This is just one of a number of layered maps that may be switched on and off to show how the city developed over the centuries. 

Other layers include Ordnance Survey maps — a present-day plan of the city, as well as historic maps showing Cork pre-Great Famine and at the turn of the twentieth century. Additional map layers will be released over the coming months, providing access for the first time to digitised town plans by the Ordnance Survey (1842) and Valuation Office (1852–64). 

A downloadable user guide has been created to accompany the resource, to allow anyone to explore the Digital Atlas with further education and project work in mind. The project has been part funded by the Heritage Council Stewardship Fund 2023. It has been supported by partners Cork City Council, the Digital Repository of Ireland, the National Archives of Ireland and Táilte Éireann.

The Digital Atlas is remarkable with over 6,000 entries. It is a tremendous new resource for all the people of Cork and will no doubt instil a sense of pride in local communities, through its use in schools and libraries. In particular, the research and further reading aspect of the atlas will be a great source for anyone with an interest in the history and development of Cork City. This innovative project from the Royal Irish Academy will make the valuable research of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas series available to a wider and more varied audience than heretofore.

The atlas will contribute immensely to the work of Cork City Council and the wider professional community in Cork particularly those working in archives, museums, education, planning, architecture and conservation. Ciara Brett, City Archaeologist, Cork City Council noted of the Digital Atlas:

 “The Digital Atlas, when utilised with the forthcoming printed Atlas, will be a great benefit to the study of the changing urban environment and will provide practical assistance in the preparation and implementation of planning policy and development management in the City. The IHTA Cork/Corcaigh volume in digital format will add to the existing corpus of published material and will, I believe, encourage future research and study that will enhance our understanding and appreciation of our city”.

The Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh is based on research carried out for Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 31, Cork/Corcaigh by Howard B Clarke and Máire Ní Laoi, which will be published by the Royal Irish Academy in print in May 2024. 

Based at the Royal Irish Academy, the Irish Historic Towns Atlas research programme traces the topographical development of towns, cities and suburbs through its atlas and ancillary publications, annual seminars and special exhibitions. It is part of a wider international scheme that covers nineteen countries. The Irish programme is considered a leader in the development of digital atlases of this kind.

For more log onto www.ria.ie/digital-atlas-corkcorcaigh

Caption:

1235a. Screen grab of the Digital Atlas of Cork.

Kieran’s Lord Mayor’s Column, 6 January 2024

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

Discover Cork Through a New Digital Atlas:

  They say the best way to get to know a city is to walk it – and a new year with crisp early January days is an ideal time. 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.

Giving walking tours for over 30 years has allowed me to bring people on a journey into that soul but also receive feedback on the wider contexts of what visitors and locals have seen elsewhere. Cork is a city packed with historic gems all waiting to be discovered at every street corner.

Cork has a soul, which is packed full of ambition and heart. Cork’s former historic networks and contacts are reflected in its the physical urban fabric – its bricks, street layout and decaying timber wharfs. Inspired by other cities with similar trading partners, it forged its own unique take on port architecture.

So the new Digital Atlas of Cork/ Corcaigh is very welcome. It is one of a series of digital atlases created by the Irish Historic Towns Atlas team (others are Derry, Dungarvan and Galway). The Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh is an initiative of the Digital Working Group of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas research programme. The project has been led by Sarah Gearty (Royal Irish Academy) and Rachel Murphy (University of Limerick), with Mani Morse (Dublin City University) as Digital Manager. 

The Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh is a free online interactive map that invites you to discover the built heritage of Cork City in a new way where 6,245 features of the city’s history from AD 623 to 1900 are mapped. The atlas includes descriptions of over 800 streets, including their names in Irish and English as well as historical variants.

View the atlas here: Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh | Royal Irish Academy (ria.ie)

Users can browse the digital atlas or search for a specific site in the city. They can also select and view features associated with specific time periods, from medieval times to the present day. Most notably, it maps out Cork’s earlier historical sites especially around South and North Main Street and its Viking age history and Anglo Norman history.

Each historical feature is represented by a coloured symbol, each feature has been categorized into one of eleven different themes such as entertainment, manufacturing, religion and transport. When a user clicks on a feature, key information about it is displayed in a pop-up box. 

A specially commissioned historical map depicts each individual house and plot during the mid-nineteenth century (1842). This is just one of a number of layered maps that may be switched on and off to show how the city developed over the centuries. 

Other layers include Ordnance Survey maps — a present-day plan of the city, as well as historic maps showing Cork pre-Famine and at the turn of the twentieth century. Additional map layers will be released over the coming months, providing access for the first time to digitised town plans by the Ordnance Survey (1842) and Valuation Office (1852–64). 

A downloadable user guide has been created to accompany the resource, to allow anyone to explore the Digital Atlas with further education and project work in mind. The project has been part funded by the Heritage Council Stewardship Fund 2023. It has been supported by partners Cork City Council, the Digital Repository of Ireland, the National Archives of Ireland and Tailte Éireann.

The Digital Atlas is remarkable with over 6,000 entries. It is a tremendous new resource for all the people of Cork and will no doubt instil a sense of pride in local communities, through its use in schools and libraries. In particular, the research and further reading aspect of the atlas will be a great source for anyone with an interest in the history and development of Cork City. This innovative project from the Royal Irish Academy will make the valuable research of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas series available to a wider and more varied audience than heretofore.

The atlas will contribute immensely to the work of Cork City Council and the wider professional community in Cork particularly those working in archives, museums, education, planning, architecture and conservation. Ciara Brett, City Archaeologist, Cork City Council noted of the Digital Atlas:

 “The Digital Atlas, when utilised with the forthcoming printed Atlas, will be a great benefit to the study of the changing urban environment and will provide practical assistance in the preparation and implementation of planning policy and development management in the City. The IHTA Cork/Corcaigh volume in digital format will add to the existing corpus of published material and will, I believe, encourage future research and study that will enhance our understanding and appreciation of our city”.

The Digital Atlas of Cork/Corcaigh is based on research carried out for Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 31, Cork/Corcaigh by H.B. Clarke and Máire Ní Laoi, which will be published by the Royal Irish Academy in print in May 2024. 

Based at the Royal Irish Academy, the Irish Historic Towns Atlas research programme traces the topographical development of towns, cities and suburbs through its atlas and ancillary publications, annual seminars and special exhibitions. It is part of a wider international scheme that covers nineteen countries. The Irish programme is considered a leader in the development of digital atlases of this kind.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 4 January 2023

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 4 January 2024

Past Projections into the Future

The more one studies the vast stories at play in Cork City, the more they pull you in to study them more. The more they pull you in the more one gets under the skin of our historic city; one becomes even more enamoured by the rake of very interesting stories, which created our beautiful city.

In recent months one interesting project in the guise of Island City Sculpture Trail, has harnessed Cork’s urban environment and its heritage and history to bring art to the streets of Cork. The temporary artworks are located on Carey’s Lane, the Exchange Building on Princes Street, Cook Street, Cornmarket Street and soon at Triskel Christchurch.

Island city Sculpture Trail at its heart reflects on how lucky we are in Cork to have a wider heritage and historical contexts, which all add to Cork’s a strong sense of memory and a strong sense of place.

Tempus Futurum by Brian Kenny is a light projection onto Triskel Christchurch that takes viewers on a journey through the building’s rich history, present and future. Brian is a video artist and projection mapping specialist whose work focuses on the transformation of environments through the manipulation of lighting and video technology.  His video and projection mapping work spans all formats of presentation from contemporary galleries to large-scale outdoor productions.  He is the founder and Creative Director of Lightscape Visuals, an award-winning studio specialising in projection mapping, live visuals and immersive and interactive environments.

On the historic South Main Street there is an abundance of stories, memories, and curiosities. It is a former rushes and reeds swampland. On top of that a Hiberno-Norse settlement grew. Some of their foundational timber structures still exist and are so compacted beneath the ground because of our pressure on them. It was they who also built the first South Gate Bridge – a flimsy timber structure, which has changed at least four-five times over the past thousand years.

South Main Street became a former impressive street of the walled town of Cork, whose width was originally probably about three metres and where light onto the street was limited.

Christ Church is the fourth building on the site for Christ Church over the past 1,000 years. It’s current crypt hosting names of families from 17th and 18th century Cork whose names are embedded in street names – for example Tuckey Street.

South Main Street is a street that had once was one of the largest breweries in the South of Ireland in the guise of Beamish and Crawford. It is a street where arches such as those on the southern end of Bishop Lucey Park highlight one of the largest clothing companies in 19th century in the guise of Lyons Clothing Company.

Bishop Lucey Park, soon to be revamped with its impressive array of monuments, hosts a piece of the town wall of Cork’s Anglo-Norman walled town to a 1798 rebellion memorial, and boxing memorials. The park is a nod to the 800th anniversary of Cork becoming an official market place complete with a mayor, councillors and sheriffs.

The list of historical stories goes on – the story of the debtor’s prison, the story of Hanover Street and the House of Hanover connection, the story of Lane’s Brewery, the story of the Wide Street Commission, the earlier nineteenth yellow slob brick from Douglas Estuary in the current buildings on the street, the story of the naming of George Washington Street, the story of the Triskel Arts Centre, and the story of the Sir Henry’s Night Club. South Main Street is very fortunate to have such heritage, history and memory.

Brian Kenny’s remarkable, digitally mapped, moving image artwork is projected onto the South Main Street façade of the Christ Church, which is over 300 years old. Each evening from dusk, for up to seven months a year, the captivating 10-minute looped moving visuals will be projected for all to enjoy.  

Tempus Futurum is inspired by the motto “A society thrives when elders plant trees under whose shade they’ll never rest”. It delves into past, present, and an imminent future, exploring human impact on the environment.

Amidst this journey, the perspectives of 50 local schoolchildren breathe life into the projection, offering reflections on the building’s future. Their youthful imaginations visualise a world shaped by present actions – a reminder that our choices today echo into tomorrow’s legacy.

Beginning with a interpretation of unharmed forests untouched by humanity, the first scene evokes the beauty of nature in its untouched form. Transitioning, the arrival of human settlement marks a central juncture, signalling the beginning of cultivation and humanity’s imprint on the landscape – a forerunner to the city’s birth.

Brian invites reflection into one’s relationship with the location and the city’s evolution. The artwork stresses that even in the face of an uncertain future, our actions echo – a testament to the legacy we leave for generations yet to come.

Brian notes of his narrative: “As viewers immerse themselves in this thought-provoking narrative, they become integral threads in the tapestry of time, realising that our relationship with our surroundings isn’t solitary but part of an enduring continuum—a reminder that our choices today shape the shadows cast upon the landscapes of tomorrow”.

Read more on: www.corkcity.ie/en/island-city-cork-s-urban-sculpture-trail

Happy New Year to all readers.

Caption:

1234a. Artist Brian Kenny at Tempus Futurum at Triskel ChristChurch, December 2023 (picture: Cork City Council).

Building Communities Together, Six Months In, The Echo, 22 December 2023

Arts, Climate Action, Cork City Events, Cork History, Enterprise, European Work, Improve Your Life, International, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Lord Mayor's Work, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Development, Ward Events

Dear Corkonian, as you read this I am at my half way mark in my term as Lord Mayor of Cork. So far it has been a great adventure since my term began in late June this year. As a chronicler of Cork’s history, there is one thing researching Cork, but there is another when one becomes part of its story board, and one gets to wear the 236-year old Mayoralty chain every day and become Cork’s ambassador. The chain has been witness to many stories across time and the urban space of Cork.

My days have been filled with meeting groups across many thematic communities in Cork – from sporting to general community groups to the business community. On average, there are seven to eight events to attend a day – so 35 to 40 events a week is easily the average. So, todate there have been just over 850 events attended in the first six months of my office. The diary is time-managed, curated and packed solid with meetings and opportunities. Days are long but the meeting experiences are very interesting and very enjoyable.

In my first six months, the chain has been witness to all of my key activities, from representing the city in meeting President Michael D Higgins to playing a diplomatic role in hosting Ambassadors from various countries to being head of delegation of the sister city twinning meeting with the Mayor of Shanghai and his various departments from health to culture.

On the ground in Cork it has been important to me to promote local economic development, to highlight the City Council’s work programmes from housing to roads mobility and parks works programmes, to highlighting the history and heritage of our city through the Council’s decade of commemoration programmes, to highlighting arts and culture in the guise of the new urban sculpture trail or through the Community Heritage Concert and Christmas Gala Concert in aid of key charities in our city.

It has been fun and important to actively participate in and showcase festivals such as the Pride Festival and Cork International Film Festival and helping lead this year’s edition of the Dragon of Shandon, platforming the importance of climate action and projects such as community gardens, hosting charities and giving them a space to chat about their work in City Hall. There has been lots of showcasing Cork’s sporting events including honouring our Cork camogie teams. In truth the list of activities is long. And sometimes, there also has been a song along the way.

It has also been an honour to formally open new pedestrian and cycle bridges such as Vernon Mount and mark the completion of public realm works such as MacCurtain Street. To be able to showcase their immediate and surrounding histories and memories has been a privilege.

The 118-school visit programme left me humbled, emotional, and exhausted from a rollercoaster of meeting so many young people on mass but also full of great memories for years to come. To meet the bones of over 35,000 dynamic young people or Cork’s up and coming generation, complete with teachers and principals of city schools, is one of the largest projects on democracy development each Lord Mayor takes on every year. One of my core reflections was that Cork City is very fortunate with a generation coming through that is curious, dynamic, diverse, unique, enthusiastic and ‘up for the match’ to be the next guardians of what we as Corkonians are proud to call home.

I created a social media film series called Voices of Cork, which gives voice to some of the people I have met. My social media encompasses the hashtag Got Cork and WeareCork and ProudofCork, which is also my continued focus on all things positive that Cork people engage and promote.

For me as well, showcasing the voices of different communities matter. Whereas, the daily themes could be diverse from each other, all of the groups I meet are pursuing an aspect of importance to Cork’s DNA and its evolving development. All of the groups are everything that is great about our City – its sense of caring, its sense of place, its sense of pride, its sense of frankness and honesty, its sense of identity, its sense of camaraderie, its sense of life affirmation. Such groups are writing the best version of the city’s evolving story.

All of the groups pack an enormous punch to the heart by bringing people together who volunteer to carve out and create a space for the common good. It is not random that the Latin motto on the city’s coat of arms is Statio Bene Fida Carinis or translated as a Safe Harbour for Ships. However, after the first six months I am of the view that the motto could also be interpreted a safe harbour for people or safe place for people.

Such groups have spent years supporting the city or a specific neighbourhood. They are hard grafters, who are intrinsic to the future of many people’s lives, the important moments in people’s lives. ideas of hope and solidarity, and what I call saving people’s souls. They create incredible special moments of human connection. That tenacity and vision needs to be noted – the holding firm needs to be noted. As a city we need to rejoice and embrace in such a vision.

Such communities of people are genuinely interested in connecting people together, and supporting and helping each other. Building stronger communities brings more opportunities to talk, share, support each other. and to learn.

A more connected community builds a stronger community for everyone in our city. In the world, we find ourselves, supporting each other matters more than ever before. Togetherness matters more so than ever before. What the communities stand for matters more than ever before. These elements of Cork’s DNA need to be minded carefully as the city moves forward into the future.

One cannot buy that energy or connection but it is so important to have in a city such as Cork whose heart when it comes to social and cultural capital beats very passionately.

So, there are lots of moments to reflect upon in the first six months. Sincere thanks to Lady Mayoress Marcelline and Finbarr Archer, Nicola O’Sullivan and Rose Fahy in the Lord Mayor’s office as well as the team in Corporate Affairs ably led by Paul Moynihan, and Chief Executive Anne Doherty, for their partnership, curation of activities, story board creation, support and advice over the past six months.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 21 December 2023

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized
1233a. Thomas Dowdall, c.1923 (picture: Dowdall family archive).
1233a. Thomas Dowdall, c.1923 (picture: Dowdall family archive).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 21 December 2023

Recasting Cork: Cork Corporation in Question

In early December 1923, at a meeting of the municipal ratepayers of the Cork Progressive Association, Mr Thomas P Dowdall presided with many prominent ratepayers present.

The Cork Examiner on 10 December 1923 outlined that Mr Dowdall, chairman, expressed his content at seeing so many large ratepayers present. The meeting was summoned because the Cork Progressive Association felt that the condition of affairs regarding the Corporation of Cork’s expenditure was a cause of concern. It was not a question of the amount expended. The ratepayers were being called together with the aim of putting a proposition before the Irish Free State government calling for a more efficient city administration space or a better value for money. According to Mr Dowdall, if the resolution was accepted it would be forwarded to government.

Mr Dowdall noted that the municipal rates had gone up, but there had been no increase in the operation expenditure of the Corporation or acknowledgment of the increased cost of living. He deemed the expenditure was excessive and the value obtained was unsatisfactory.

Mr Dowdall asked for a letter from the Postmaster General JJ Walsh to be read. In it Mr Walsh  articulated that he was glad to learn that the Progressive Association was determined to strongly support the large task of municipal reform. He outlaid that different people have different views on this important subject and it is only after a number of experiments that the best results would accrue. He admitted that the then system of control through the medium of big and unwieldy popular bodies left much to be improved upon.

Mr Walsh continued in in his letter with his criticism of the executive officers and the condition of the city; “This ability on the part of responsible executive officers to enforce discipline is mainly responsible for the shameful condition of the city. There is no use shirking the fact that the ratepayers are bled white through rates and are getting very poor value for their money… no friend of the city’s welfare can promise such a state of affairs to continue without feeling personal acquiescence in the grave injustice to the physical well-being of the citizens, as well as to the city’s trade and commerce. A smart, well-kept city must necessarily not only attract visitors, and therefore trade, but will inevitably elevate the whole outlook of its people. I see no prospect whatever of such development with the present municipal government”.

The JJ Walsh letter persisted in his argument that the system itself required such a radical overhauling that nothing else done than appointing for a limited time of three or four “sharp, independent and energetic businessmen with practically unlimited powers can save the situation”. He believed that the time had come for those “who pay the piper should call the tune”, and insist on value for money.

On taking the floor, John Callaghan Foley proposed the resolution; “Owing to the excessive rates and the inefficient and wasted administration of the public services of the city or the present Corporation, we call upon the government to hold an immediate inquiry into the existing system of the municipal administration and to report on the changes necessary in order to secure an efficient and progressive city government by Commission or other ways, pending the complete reform of Irish local government. That copies of this resolution be sent to President Cosgrave, the president of the local government department and the representatives of the city”.

Sir Stanley Harrington, in seconding, said that the resolution had been put and what he deemed in a “very acceptable form”. He noted that it did not actually call for the abolition of the Corporation but asked for an inquiry into its administration; “It is not necessary to get into a state of excitement over municipal matters nor do we want to be in any way personal and dealing with what is the matter administration of the body corporate…there are some excellent members in that body and some excellent officials employed by them, but unfortunately those gentlemen were powerless owing to the very bad system that seemed to be obtaining the affairs of the Corporation…there is general universal demand that something ought to be done. The rates are pressing heavy on the people even on the largest firms and what could instance hundreds of cases of waste and bad administration”.

Mr J J Horgan argued that the Corporation of Cork had long overstayed their term, and that had been a strong factor in the expenditure concern. He noted they had also gone through a very difficult and trying period from the War of Independence and the Civil War, and there was the challenge of apathy amongst the general public too. He opined that every local government body in Ireland was three times too large and that the best administration they could get was from an independent committee of one. He continued that Ireland had a lot to learn from America in municipal affairs and that there a small Commission and three or four paid members dealt efficiently with municipal affairs.

The resolution was passed and was to set 1924 up as the year the Corporation would fall and an administrator in the guise of Philip Monahan appointed.

Happy Christmas to everyone and many thanks for the support during the year.

Kieran’s new book The A-Z of Curious County Cork is available in good Cork bookshop.

Caption:

1233a. Thomas Dowdall, c.1923 (picture: Dowdall family archive).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 14 December 2023

Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized
1232a. Pamphlet for Irish Free State National Loan, Winter 1923 (picture: National Library, Dublin).
1232a. Pamphlet for Irish Free State National Loan, Winter 1923 (picture: National Library, Dublin).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 14 December 2023

Recasting Cork: The Free State National Loan

In the midst of newspapers such as the Cork Examiner in late November and early December 1923, there are several advertisements on the benefits of subscribing to the Irish Free State National Loan. Based on British War Stock loan methodologies, Irish people were asked to invest their savings in a scheme, which would also give a return on investment.

Westminster reports from one hundred years ago reveal that as a result of the First World War and its costly financial measures, between 1913/14 and 1918/19, government spending escalated more than 12-fold to £2.37bn. Much of this was almost wholly due to military outlays. Over this time, tax revenue did quadruple, but war debt was required to make up the balance. The debt grew from around 25% of GDP to 125% in four short years.

Rooted in the narrative of a sense of duty the Westminster government appealed for support , The attraction to invest was through an offer of an attractive profit on the bonds. Historic reports outline that initially, the government offered 4.1%, well above the 2.5% payable on other government debt at the time. War bonds were loans where principal was to be repaid after ten years. Ensuing war financings would contribute to investors an even higher premium – including the enormous War Loan of 1917 which created  £2bn by offering a immense return of 5.4%. Such a yield appealed to individuals, businesses and local authorities.

One of the local authorities was the Corporation of Cork. Indeed, on 1 December 1923, at a meeting of Cork Corporation, the Town Clerk, Mr William Hegarty brought to the Council meeting the question of advisability of transferring the amounts of money that the Corporation had invested in British War Stock into the Irish Free State National Loan, which was open for subscriptions. The Corporation had £37,379 3s 2d invested in five per cent British War Stock and £9,015 13s 0d in four per cent stock British War Stock. If it was the intention of members to transfer such a sum to the National Loan, it could be done at a meeting of the Town Council. William Hegarty noted that such a transfer would yield an increase of £1,870 on the amount of money invested.

William Hegarty also outlined that the Corporation’s British War Loan was to be redeemable in the years 1929 and 1949 respectively. The Corporation had already made £6-£7 per share profit on such an investment. Mr Hegarty also noted that when applying for grants it would also be an advantage of the Corporation to have their money invested in the Free State National Loan project.

Council member Mr J Horgan noted that the Council would be unanimous on the transfer to the National Loan; “When subscriptions were sought for the British War Loan the people of England rushed in with their money to stand by their country when that country was threatened with danger from outside. Now the Irish people had a loan to save their country and themselves and it was the duty of every single individual in the Free State to keep on making that loan a success. It was their duty to do so, and to prove to the world that they had not only confidence in their country but that they were prepared to back that confidence by pounds, shillings and pence”.

Mr Horgan continued that he hoped, and he was sure, that the National Loan would be oversubscribed. He also articulated that the citizens of Cork would be pleased if the Corporation would transfer the money in question to the National Loan and it would be the advantage of the country, the Corporation, and its citizens to take such action. He continued that the business people of the South had already shown their confidence by subscribing liberally to the loan. In the weeks that followed the Corporation made the transfer of funds from their British War Stock to Irish Free State National Loan.

Mr Horgan’s general sentiment of public support had also been expressed at a meeting of the Cork Progressive Association two days earlier on 28 November 1923. JJ Walsh TD and Postmaster remarked that there had been an excellent response to the National Loan; “This applied not only to people of property, such as the farming and shopkeeper community, whose business must necessarily receive a stimulus because of the greater circulation of money in those elements of the population, upon which they depend for a market, but also, and still more important the fact the honest unemployed man will at last get an opportunity of earning the wherewithal to support himself and his family”.

The public as well as small and big enterprises also took an interest in the National Loan. For example, the Cork Examiner lists a sum of £20,000 from Messrs Dwyer and Co, on behalf of themselves and their employees, was subscribed to the National Loan.

Initially a national loan of £10 million was successfully floated in Dublin. The loan was over-subscribed by £200,000 giving a vote of confidence to the Government and its financial management. 

Kieran’s new book The A-Z of Curious County Cork is available in good Cork bookshop.

Caption:

1232a. Pamphlet for Irish Free State National Loan, Winter 1923 (picture: National Library, Dublin).

Kieran’s Lord Mayor’s Column, The Echo, 9 December 2023

Climate Action, Cork City Events, Cork History, Enterprise, Grants, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized

The Power of Place:

They say that stories have the power to stop, impress, make one question, make one wonder, make one dream, make one remember, make one be disturbed, make one explore and make one forget – a whole series of emotions. In a historic city such as Cork, one could easily say that such emotions run rampant in approaching all aspects of the city’s stories.

Indeed, the more one studies the vast narratives at play in Cork City, the more they pull you in to study them more. The more they pull you in the more one gets under the skin of our historic city, one becomes even more enamoured by the rake of very interesting narratives, which created our beautiful city.

There were two events at which I recently spoke at and launched, which re-connected the relevant areas back to their history.

A Bridge Through History, Vernon Mount Bridge:

There has been much anticipation for and much looking forward to the opening of the pedestrian and cycling Vernon Mount bridge for many years – mainly down to the dedication, ambition and vision of the immediate community in Grange in particular on the northern ridge here.

Indeed, much of the call for a new connecting bridge has also been bound up with the strong sense of pride and place in the area and the need to renew and reconnect the sense of pride and the sense of place up physically and symbolically to nearby neighbourhoods.   

There is now a new bridge now re-connecting the proud neighbourhoods of Grange to the proud neighbourhoods of Ballyphehane and Douglas and Turners Cross. In the past, before the motorway was connected up you could wander across the Tramore Valley river plain across the many historic and informal human pathways.

Indeed, where the bridge is located there are many stories, embedded in the local landscape – the story of Ballyphehane townland, where Tramore Valley Park stands. Baile an Feitheáin stands for the townland of the sharp grass or marshland; the story of the public commons land on this swamp in the eighteenth century; the story of the sailcloth factory, which created Douglas village in the early eighteenth century; the creation of the beautiful Vermon Mount House and estate by the Hayes family; in the mid nineteenth century, the story of the adjacent Cork Union Workhouse; in the late nineteenth century, the advent of the two railway lines Cork Macroom Railway Line and the Cork Bandon Line and how they were built on raised platforms through one side of the swamp.

In the early twentieth century, one has the story of the Irish War of Independence and the volunteer training that went on here and the story of the Civil War executions near here; the stories of recreation of wandering, hunting and courting out here in the twentieth century; to the story of the traveller community; the story of the landfill from the 1970s for over 40 years, the creation of Tramore Valley Park and in our time the Creative Ireland Kinship programme, which explores our connection to the natural environment here through artist and community participation.

Several of the locations around the new Vernon Mount Bridge possess a strong sense of character, sentimentality, place and belonging, symbolic ownership and are a source of inspiration. Cork people deem such sites as being appealing, timeless, ancestral, eternal, enshrined or sacred in conjuring and summoning a sense of place.

A Street Through Time, MacCurtain Street:

Similarly the recent completion of the revamp of McCurtain Street allows us to take back in for the first time in many decades, through widened footpaths in particular, the array histories, heritage and memories and champion MacCurtain Street’s rich sense of place. street is in the history, heritage and memory of the city and how it connects to the overarching sense and power of place.

The historical DNA of this corner of the work of Cork is rooted in the story of an emerging 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 Cork the time invested in planning St Patrick’s Bridge in 1787 it opened up this quarter for development. The 1790s coincided with the creation of St Patrick’s Hill – a hill-up avenue from Bridge Street, which aligned with an old windmill, the foundation of which is now incorporated into Audley House. The decade also coincided with an early MacCurtain Street– back then known as Strand Street and later King Street, named after MP Robert King in Mitchelstown House. The earliest eighteenth buildings can still be seen at the western side of the street.

One by one, some of Cork’s greatest architectural structures were added to the area. Between 1801 and 1832 Summerhill North built as well a new myriad of new residences; in 1855, the Cork Dublin Terminus & tunnel opened – the tunnel in its day one of the major features of engineering in western Europe and part of plethora of railway networks beginning to appear in Western Europe. In 1861, Trinity Presbyterian Church was opened at the foot of Summerhill.

In the 1880s, the former Ogilive and Dobbin Wholesaler buildings were revealed and are now the Greene’s Restaurant and Isaac’s Hotel complex. About the same time, the elaborate twelve-bay five-storey structure building, which hosted Thompson’s Bakery emerged as well as the seven bay three storey Victoria Buildings.  In 1892, the Baptist Church building was opened. In 1897, Dan Lowry opened the building as a luxurious new theatre called The Cork Palace of Varieties.

It was the energy of all those sites that led to the development by the brothers Stuart and Thomas Musgrave of the Metropole Hotel, designed by Arthur Hill in 1897. The prospectus for the hotel in 1897 sold its luxuriousness and embraced the brand of modernity – a modern hotel for a city of modern vitality.

The Coliseum Cinema opened in September 1913. By the time the street name changed in April 1920 from King Street to commemorate the then recently martyred Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain, the modern street had emerged with an enormous array of services but also a set of buildings with diverse functions and narratives.

Of course, I haven’t mentioned the people involved in creating these sites and their background and ambition. I haven’t mentioned the architects, the business people, the old families, the old shops, all of which we can gleam from old street directories or even legacies of great musicians like Rory Gallagher immortalised in this historic premises.

MacCurtain Street is full of places of tradition, of continuity, change and legacy, of ambition and determination, experiences and learning, of ingenuity and innovation, places of nostalgia and memories, places that are cherished and remembered with fondness. All such places, Cork needs to mind in its future as well.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 7 December 2023

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized
1231a. Kieran with The A-Z of Curious County Cork, Waterstones, St Patrick's Street, Cork.
1231a. Kieran with The A-Z of Curious County Cork, Waterstones, St Patrick’s Street, Cork.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 7 December 2023

Kieran’s Cork Books for Christmas

It’s only a few weeks to Christmas. There are two publications of mine, which readers of the column might be interested in to buy as Christmas gifts. Both were published in the past eighteen months and are available in Waterstones, Vibes and Scribes, and Easons.

My new book, The A-Z of Curious County Cork, published by History Press UK (2023) has been born out of my own personal curiosity for many years now to venture off the main roads of County Cork to explore the curiosities of cultural heritage in County Cork. There are approximately 120 stories from different corners of County Cork. From the A-listing of Apparition to the Z listing of Zeal.

The added task of picking over one hundred curiosities of County Cork was also going to be a challenge. It is difficult to define what a curiosity is. Such a distinction varies from one person to another. The importance of a curiosity in one locale may also not be a curiosity to another locale. The stories within this book, and which I have chosen and noted as curiosities are ones, which have lingered in my mind long after I found them or brought me down further ‘rabbit holes’ of research.  

Being the largest county in Ireland, Cork has the advantage of also having the largest number of cultural heritage nuggets. However, with that accolade comes the conundrum of what nuggets to pick from. With any A-Z of anything it does not cover every single aspect of a particular history but this book does provides brief insights into and showcases the nuggets and narratives of cultural interest that are really embedded in local areas. It also draws upon stories from across the county’s geography.

Much has been written on the histories of County Cork. There is much written down and lots more still to be researched and written up. The County is also blessed with active guardians of its past. In particular, there is a notable myriad of local historians and historical societies, which mind the county’s past and also celebrate and even commemorate it through penning stories in newspaper articles, journals, books and providing regular fieldtrips for the general public. There is also the impressive heritage book series on County Cork, published by the Heritage Unit of Cork County Council.

In addition, this book builds on the Little Book of Cork (2015) and the Little Book of Cork Harbour (2019), both History Press publications. This book can also be read in one go or dipped in and out of. I encourage though that once you have read it bring it out into the historic county of Cork to discover many of the curiosities up close and personal.

Celebrating Cork (2022, Amberley Publishing) explores some of the many reasons why Cork is special in the hearts of Corkonians and visitors. Itbuilds on my previous publications – notably Cork In 50 Buildings, Secret Cork, and Cork City Centre Tour – all published by Amberley Publishing. 

Celebrating Cork takes the reader on a journey through the known and unknown layers of Cork’s history and ‘DNA’. It has chapters about its layered port history, the documents and maps that define its sense of identity, the arts and crafts movements that can be viewed within the cityscape, its statues and monuments, its key institutions and charities, its engineering feats and certain elements of why Cork is known for is rebel nature. 

This book focuses on different topics again of Cork’s past and places more focus on elements I have not had a chance to write upon and reflect about in the past. With more and more archival material being digitised it is easier to access original source material in antiquarian books or to search through old newspapers to find the voices championing steps in Corks progression in infrastructure, community life or in its cultural development.

   Cork’s construction on a swampland is important to note and the knock-on effects of that of that in terms of having a building stock that is not overly tall. Merchants and residents throughout the ages were aware of its physical position in the middle of a marshland with a river – and from this the hard work required in reclaiming land on a swampland. I like to think they saw and reflected upon the multitudes of timber trunks being hand driven into the ground to create foundational material for the city’s array of different architectural styles.

Cork is a stronghold of community life and culture. Corkonians have a large variety of strong cultural traditions, from the city’s history, to sports, commerce, education, maritime, festivals, literature, art, music and the rich Cork accent itself. Celebrating Cork is about being proud of the city’s and its citizens’ achievements. This book at its very heart is a nod to the resilience of Cork to community life, togetherness and neighbourliness.

Caption:

1231a. Kieran with The A-Z of Curious County Cork, Waterstones, St Patrick’s Street, Cork.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 30 November 2023

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized
1230a. Denis Barry, c.1920 (picture: Cork City Library).
1230a. Denis Barry, c.1920 (picture: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 30 November 2023

Recasting Cork: The Death of Denis Barry

November 1923 coincided with a newspaper focus on interned anti-Treaty Sinn Féin supporters. Statements issued by the Irish Free State government and published in the Cork Examiner showed that up to 1 July 1923 the total number of internees interned by the government were 11,316. As the summer and autumn progressed, the weekly number of prisoners being released rose steadily. The number of releases in July 1923 averaged from 100 in that month to 200 in August 1923 and 300 in September 1923. It reached nearly 800 during the weekend of 13 October 1923. Three hundred internees were released on the 3 November 1923, 500 on 10 November 1923 and 300 on 12 November 1923.

However, by 14 October 1923 a hunger strike had commenced.  By 24 October nearly 8,200 prisoners were refusing food – historical records reveal that 70 such individuals were in Cork City Gaol, 100 in Hare Park, 200 in Dundalk, 263 on a prison ship called Argenta in Belfast Lough, 350 in Kilkenny, 711 in Gormanstown, 1700 in Newbridge and 3,900 in the Curragh, Kildare. By late October, many of the internees began to start to eat again – many could not hold out.

At Newbridge Barracks in the Curraghs, Kildare. Cork born Denis Barry died at 2.45am on 20 November. He was on his 34th day of hunger strike. He was one of two internees who died of hunger strike – the other being Andy O’Sullivan Denbawn, County Cavan.

In 1912 Denis Barry was a member of Fianna Éireann youth branch. He entered the Irish Volunteer movement and was involved in building up the Volunteer movement.

In 1915, Denis left Cork to take up business in Kilkenny. There he trained young Volunteers. In 1916 he was arrested and taken to Dublin, being afterwards interned in many English Gaols where new associations were established. He was released in a general amnesty and took an active part in the following years in resuscitating the Volunteer movement, and in the Sinn Féin movement.

When the police movement was formed as an adjunct to the IRA, Denis was Brigade Officer in Command of the Police. In the height of the Black and Tan war, Denis was active in prosecuting and detecting crime. After the Burning of Cork, he with his police force recovered thousands of pounds worth of property from looters. Many merchants of the city paid tribute to his work. Denis was known to be a strict disciplinarian of the corps he controlled.

When the Treaty was signed, there was only one side for Denis to be in on and that was the anti-Treaty side. He was captured on 19 October 1922, and was located from gaol to gaol, until he began his hunger strike battle in Newbridge internment camp in the Curragh on 19 October 1923.

Denis was firstly buried by the Free State army in the Curragh, but three days later, subsequent to a Court Order, his remains were unearthed.

On the evening of 27 November, the remains of Denis Barry reached Cork City and lay overnight at the headquarters of the Cork City Sinn Féin executive at 56 Grand Parade. This unusual procedure was rendered necessary because of the Bishop Cohalan’s perspective that none of the city’s churches would be available for the reception of the Republican body.

On 28 November 1923, for some hours prior to the funeral, large numbers visited the room where the remains of Denis lay and paid tributes of respect to him. A public funeral was accorded to Denis. The Cork Examiner remarks of a large spectacle. Denis Barry’s funeral cortege was similar to those that marked the burials of Tomás MacCurtain and Terence McSwiney; “The cortege assumed remarkably large dimensions being fully representative of the business and particularly for the city and county, as well as many parts of the country, and as the funeral procession proceeded through the city it was generally recognised that it was one of the most imposing spectacles of its kind seen in Cork for some years. That body’s volunteers, as well as kindred units, especially Cumann na mBan, marched in full strength from the city and also the counties districts, and it’s four-deep solid ranks excited general interest”.

The attendance of the general public and representative bodies was also remarkably large. The cortege was described as extending from the Grand Parade all the way down the South Mall and Lapp’s Quay to Brian Boru Bridge. The cortege was headed by the MacCurtain Pipers Band. Then came members of Cuman na mBan carrying wreaths. The horse was laden with beautiful floral tributes, on each side of which members of the Irish Republican Army acted as pallbearers. This vehicle was followed by the coffin borne on the shoulders by relays of comrades along the difference thoroughfares of the cortege route.

  The cortege route was the Grand Parade, South Mall, Warren’s Place (now Parnell Bridge), MacCurtain Street, Bridge Street, St Patrick’s Street, Washington Street, Washington Street, Victoria Cross, Dennehy’s Cross, Wilton Road and Lower Glasheen Road to St Finbarr’s Cemetery. All along each of these thoroughfares large numbers of people assembled to witness such an imposing funeral.

It was dark and after 6pm when the procession reached the cemetery. By the aid of oil lamps supplied by Mr aid Donovan, the Superintendent of the cemetery the final scenes took place in the presence of the mother, brothers and sisters of Denis. A large gathering assembled around the republican plot, in which the interment was carried out, while a large assembly congregated outside the main entrance to the cemetery. The prayers at the graveside were recited by Mr David Kent TD, who also prior to the burial, sprinkled the grave with holy water. Following the internment, wreaths numbering close on eighty were placed over the grave. Miss Annie MacSwiney recited the Rosary in Irish.

Miss Mary MacSwiney TD delivered a brief oration on the campaign to secure a full Republic in Ireland; “The war was over, but their work for the Republic was not over. The loyal citizens of the Republic who were true to their country, would carry on that work to a successful conclusion. The only valid government in the country was the government of the Republic and that government would remain with them…Denis Barry like Terence McSwiney, had died for the Irish Republic, and that while there was a man or a woman left in Ireland the Republic would remain”.

Caption:

1230a. Denis Barry, c.1920 (picture: Cork City Library).

Lord Mayor’s Column, 24 November 2023

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized

Christmas in Cork:

Christmas is an annual stroll down memory lane. It is part of our heritage – our way of life. The ghosts of Christmas pasts are religiously recalled as we prepare to be locked in a type of time warp for a fortnight or so. There are other memories that I can remember – the joy of the school holidays. The dark evenings sitting in the back of the car as my mother collected my Dad from work on St Patrick’s Street or Pana. I remember being taken back by the magical, transforming and bright Christmas lights on the narrow Oliver Plunkett Street. From the safety of the car, I also remember the blustery Atlantic winds and the wintry rain as it dislodged Corkonians in their shopping path.

I remember the Christmas trees on the streets and the Crib in the centre of Pana guarded annually by Share supporters. I can recall the huge crowds hoping over the central rails of the street to get to the other side of the street as if the railings provided an annual workout for our jaywalking Cork citizens.

I remember going to Ballyvolane Shopping Centre, when it initially opened and visiting Santa – those were the days, those wonderful and magical Christmases filled with Santa and the associated photos inset in the family photo albums. I remember my father bringing us to see Santa Claus The Movie in the old Capital Cinema.

The panto in the opera House was annually frequented. The opening bars of the entracte transported one to another world. Dames like Billa O’Connell brought me along in the story – you believed – you watched in awe as the battle between good and evil took place and then everyone lived happily afterwards.

Have my childhood memories changed in 35 years? Do I still get inspired and re-inspired. Yep I still do.  It’s difficult not to be re-awakened by Christmas, that season of specialness. Once the street Christmas lights are turned on, the city seems to buzz with anticipation.

The preparation begins weeks before the 25 December and with growing commercialisation gets earlier every year. Contrasting against all that goes with that debate, the Crib on St Patrick’s Street gets pride of place and reminds one of a fortress surrounded by Share collectors who spread out over the city centre engaging Corkonians.

Prepping for Christmas:

This year is no different in Cork in the build-up to Christmas. At the recent launch of Corkmas, I was particularly delighted to see familiar faces from the city’s hospitality, retail and cultural sector as they actually are ‘Christmas in Cork’. They are the smiling faces that welcome us into crowded hotel lobbies and restaurants in the frenzied days before Christmas and the people who patiently advise us as we scurry to find a last minute present for that awkward relative. They are the creatives and makers who nourish our souls at the plethora of pantomimes, music, arts and cultural events that will be staged in the coming weeks.

Christmas in Cork is also all about food, drink and people. It’s about trying to hit the English Market early in the morning so the crowds will be less and then realising everyone thought similarly. It is about catching up with friends and family for food and drinks, promising to make a bigger effort next year and then promptly forgetting the minute you hop on the bus home

It is about bumping into old class and college mates that you haven’t seen in years, and even if you didn’t particularly know them, spending 10 heart-filled minutes catching up on each other’s lives. It’s about spiced beef, warmth, spontaneity, glittering lights, laughter, it’s about Christmas traditions, both new and old.

For the city’s traders, artists and creatives and particularly during the current cost of living crisis and in the face of growing online shopping, the last quarter of the year is often a  ‘make or break’ period. The season often provides them with a crucial buffer that supports them to keep trading and creating through far more challenging times of the year. 

Launching Corkmas:

With this in mind, Cork City Council, working with local creative agency, Babelfís -and having engaged with yourselves- has created the ‘Corkmas’ campaign aimed at firstly encouraging people to think sustainably by supporting local and  secondly celebrating, discovering, and re-discovering the many experiences and traditions, new and old, that make Christmas time in Cork so unique.

As well the iconic ferris wheel on Grand Parade, this year Corkmas introduces a wonderful new winter light experience in the city centre, SOLAS – which I will invite you to experience with me in a few minutes. The SOLAS light and sound experience will run every day of the week until 21 December, from 4pm to 11pm daily. 

On top of that every weekend from 24 November, SOLAS will be a hub of family friendly fun, musical performances, Christmas singalongs and festive entertainment. Many thanks to Fáilte Ireland’s for their support of the SOLAS winter light experience.

Over seven kilometres of lights are being turned on across city streets and 60 Christmas trees lit up by Cork City Council, Cork Business Association (working with traders) and also by independent outlets.

Over the coming days and weeks you will see Corkmas in public spaces, across media (both traditional and digital) and in a campaign with Red FM at Cork Airport to promote the city’s offering to people coming home and to visitors.

A new map, which beautifully illustrates the festive activities taking place across the ‘magical city of Corkmas’, encourages people to get further details on these varied seasonal events at corkmas.ie. Corkmas has been created to better support, amplify and market what activities there are and striving for a unified voice.

This is only the beginning of Corkmas. It’s a campaign and festive programme that will be built upon in the coming years so that Cork ultimately becomes a destination during the festive season.

So what are you waiting for, Christmas is what you make it no matter what age you are at. Get out and re-witness your youth in the city. Look to the skies and perhaps who will re-awaken your imagination and see a team of reindeer pulling a sleigh with a red suited bloke pushing onwards through the Cork sky…

Check out www.corkmas.ie