Category Archives: Cork History

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 28 April 2016

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

841a. Crowds beneath the printed Proclamation during the recent Easter Monday Commemorations 2016

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 28 April 2016

Remembering the 1916 Rising

  This week marks the actual centenary of the 1916 Rising. It is most apt to note that across the country 100 years ago, thousands of Irish volunteers waited for the order to come to Dublin to take the Capital. By 1916 the national figure for volunteer membership had risen to 15,000. The 1,600- strong rebel force in Easter week contained 1,300 Volunteers and over 200 from the Irish Citizen Army; this amalgamated battalion was designated by the insurrectionary leaders as ‘the Army of the Irish Republic’.

    Journalist Niall Murray in his research remarks that on St Patrick’s Day, 1916, thousands of men and boys in uniform — almost half of them carrying arms — took to the streets of cities and towns to demonstrate the growing membership. From almost 40 county inspectors (Cork, Galway, Tipperary and others were split into two Ridings), reports compiled in RIC headquarters put the numbers who turned out at just over 4,500 outside Dublin city. When 1,400 who paraded there — from among the capital’s estimated 2,225 Irish Volunteers — were added, it was seen that a total 5,955 members of the organisation had shown up at nearly 40 events in 19 counties.

   Tomás MacCurtain was the Brigade Commander of the Irish Volunteers in Cork city and county in 1916 and he had organised volunteers to march to Kerry to collect guns from the German ship, the Aud which was to land the weapons at Fenit. Their head-quarters was at the Volunteer Hall on Sheares Street, upon which a new memorial was unveiled by Cork City Council in recent weeks.

     Research by Dan Breen of Cork City Museum is now shown in newly erected historical panels on walls opposite the Volunteer Hall. In February 1915 the leadership of the Cork Brigade of Irish Volunteers signed a lease on a large building at Sheares Street for use as a headquarters. Unlike their old headquarters on Fisher Street, the building had a sufficient number of rooms to allow concurrent activities such as arms drill, map reading and first aid classes to take place on days when training was conducted on the premises.

   On Easter Sunday morning, 23 April 1916, 163 Volunteers from the Cork City Battalion, together with others from Cobh and Dungourney, paraded under arms outside of the Volunteer Hall prepared to take part in the manoeuvres that were a cover for the Rising planned to establish an independent Irish Republic. After an address by Brigade Commandant, Tomás MacCurtain, they marched off to Capwell Railway Station to board a train for Crookstown. However, just as they were departing, an order arrived from Dublin cancelling the operation. This was the latest in a series of conflicting orders that had been received by MacCurtain during the past week.

    That day just over members of the Cork Brigade mobilised and assembled at eight designated concentration camps throughout the county. But, when he received the latest order, MacCurtain felt he had no choice but to stand his men down and order them to return home. When Tomás MacCurtain returned to the Volunteer Hall on Easter Monday evening he learned that the rising had commenced in Dublin. As his men had dispersed and the element of surprise had been lost, he decided that it was too late to join the fighting and that his best course of action would be to defend the Volunteers against the British Army. Negotiations between both parties mediated by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Thomas C Butterfield and Bishop Cohalan eventually led to a peaceful settlement. The deal involved the Irish Volunteers agreeing to hand over their guns on the understanding they would be returned at a later date in return for being allowed to return home but MacCurtain was arrested and detained in Frongoch internment camp in Wales along with those who fought in Dublin. Shortly after his return to Cork he was elected Lord Mayor in January 1920 and at the same time continued to hold the rank of brigade commander of the IRA. On his 36th birthday, 20 March 1920 MacCurtain was shot dead by the Royal Irish Constabulary in front of his wife and son at their home in Blackpool, which was then ransacked.

   All the above historical elements are explored at the Military Museum, Collins Barracks, Cork City. The exhibition is entitled “Order, Counter-order and Disorder” – Cork in Easter 1916 (opening Monday to Thursday from 10am to 1pm and opening on Friday from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 3pm). An exhibition on the 1916 rising is opening this week in Cork City Museum – it explores its connection to Cork City – illustrating people, places and events connected to Easter Week in Cork. In addition, check out in the historic St. Peter’s Church this year which is home to the “Rebellion!” exhibition curated by Rachel Abraham, which explores the people and organisations that went beyond the ideals of an Irish Republic and laid the foundations for its reality. It places the Rising in context by outlining the issues of the time, e.g. home rule and the outbreak of World War One. The exhibition shows why the effects of the Rising have been so far-reaching that we still remember those individual men and women today.

Captions:

841a. Crowds beneath the printed Proclamation during the recent Easter Monday Commemorations 2016 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

841b. Photograph of officers of the Cork Brigade outside the office of the Freeman’s Journal in Dublin; back row: Daithí Cotter, Seán Murphy, Donal Barrett, Terence MacSwiney, Pat Trahey; front row: Tadgh Barry, Tomás MacCurtain & Pat Higgins (source: Cork City Museum)

841c. Cork Volunteer Hall, Sheares Street (source: Cork City Museum)

 

841b. Photograph of officers of the Cork Brigade outside the office of the Freeman’s Journal in Dublin

841c. Cork Vounteer Hall, Sheares Street

Update, Blackrock Harbour and Village Renewal Project, April 2016

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

    In response to a recent question to the Chief Executive of Cork City Council by Cllr Kieran McCarthy for an update on the current work programme of the Blackrock Harbour and Village Renewal Project, a report was issued. The construction period for phase 1 has commenced, comprises 43 weeks and the project should be substantially completed in January 2017. This will consist of the realignment and widening of Convent Road, Blackrock Road and the Marina including boundaries, footpaths, surfaces, crossing and underground utility works common to phases 1 and 2. The scope of work will be limited to the current level of available funding. Further efforts will be made this year to secure the remaining funding so that work on phase 2 can commence at an early date. Funding applications have been made to a number of agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Transport Authority and the South East Regional Authority. Unfortunately, however these applications have not been successful. In the absence of additional funding, the Council proposes to split the tendered works into phases and to proceed with that portion of the works that can be executed. Commenting, Cllr McCarthy noted: “this has been a long, difficult and frustrating process of planning work over two decades. It’s a testament to the tenacity, patience and good will of Blackrock residents who have pushed and pushed to make this current construction phase happen”.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 21 April 2016

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

840a. Some of the cast for the upcoming Cork City Musical Society production of Crazy for You, The New Musical

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 21 April 2016

Crazy for You

   My second foray with Cork City Musical Society brings Crazy for You the musical from 29 April to 1 May in the Firkin Crane Shandon, four performances (three evening shows and a matinee). The show for all the family is being directed by myself, has a cast of 30 and a 7-piece band, with musical direction by Michael Young and choreography by Aisling Byrne Gaughan.

    We are delighted to present our musical to the public. Our cast of 30 have worked very hard on this production to bring a toe-tapping, sing-along and funny musical, which will leave a smile on the faces of the audience. Amateur musical societies are multiple in nature up and down the country. All bring their local communities together under a volunteer and charity umbrella – collaborating and bringing people together to create an outlet for people and to put drama, music and all ultimately form a key cultural vein within towns and villages. It is important that a city such as Cork has a musical society to promote the inherent love for musical theatre.

    Crazy for You is a romantic love musical with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as “The New Gershwin Musical Comedy”, it is largely based on the song writing team’s 1930 musical, Girl Crazy, but incorporates songs from several other productions as well. George and Ira Gershwin will always be remembered as the songwriting team whose voice was synonymous with the sounds and style of the Jazz Age. By the time of their 1924 Broadway hit, Lady Be Good!, George had worked with lyricist Buddy DeSylva on a series of revues, George White’s Scandals, while Ira reveled in success with composer Vincent Youmans on Two Little Girls in Blue. But from 1924 until George’s death in 1937, the brothers wrote almost exclusively with each other, composing over two dozen scores for Broadway and Hollywood. Though they had many individual song hits, their greatest achievement may have been the elevation of musical comedy to an American art form.

    The history of jazz has its roots firmly planted in the American cities of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City. And the musical tradition within these cities still lives on today. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to many distinctive styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style and Gypsy jazz (a style that emphasized musette waltzes) were the prominent styles. Ira Gershwin was a joyous listener to the sounds of the modern world. He had a sharp eye and ear for the minutiae of living. He noted in a diary: “Heard in a day: An elevator’s purr, telephone’s ring, telephone’s buzz, a baby’s moans, a shout of delight, a screech from a ‘flat wheel’, hoarse honks, a hoarse voice, a tinkle, a match scratch on sandpaper, a deep resounding boom of dynamiting in the impending subway, iron hooks on the gutter”.

    In studying the history of jazz music on the other side of the Atlantic, it is very interesting to research the anti-jazz movement in Ireland in the 1930s. It is difficult to imagine the halting of such glorious toe-tapping music such as “I Got Rhythm”. In an article in the History Ireland magazine (1993) by Jim Smyth entitled Dancing, Depravity and all that Jazz, The Public Dance Halls Act of 1935 he notes the pressure for constraints on the dance halls was becoming forceful. The Gaelic League re-launched its anti-jazz campaign in 1934 with a statement very much in tune with the sentiments of the bishops: “It is this music and verse that the Gaelic League is determined to crush…its influence is denationalising in that its references are to things foreign to Irishmen: that it is the present day instrument of social degradations all too plain, even in Ireland. That was the reason for their-launching of the anti-jazz campaign, the reason it received the blessing of the church and the approval of the state. The League was quick to condemn politicians who were seen as behavin an ‘anti-national’ fashion”. The Secretary of the League, attacking the broadcasting of jazz on Radio Éireann, had this to say about the minister responsible: “Our Minister of Finance has a soul buried in jazz and is selling the musical soul of the nation for the dividends of sponsored jazz programmes. He is jazzing every night of the week”. A number of County Councils adopted resolutions condemning jazz and all-night dancing. In January 1934 a large demonstration took place in Mohill, County Leitrim. It was made up mostly of young people and the press estimated the attendance at 3,000, with five bands and banners inscribed with “Down with Jazz” and “Out with Paganism”. Support came from church and state.

   But one can imagine that deep within some dance halls, the needs to release this soulful and spirit enhancing music. Come and enjoy Cork City’s musical production of Crazy for You, 29 April-1 May, see www.firkincrane.ie for tickets.

Captions:

840a. Some of the cast for the upcoming Cork City Musical Society production of Crazy for You, The New Musical; 29 April-1 May, www.firkincrane.ie for tickets (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

840b. George Gershwin at piano with Ira Gershwin and Fred Astaire (source: Getty Images)

 

840b. George Gershwin at piano with Ira Gershwin and Fred Astaire (2)

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 14 April 2016

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized

839a. Cork Blackrock & Passage train, The Marina, c.1920

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 14 April 2016

Talk on Daily Life in 1916

 

    Next Saturday 16 April at 11am, as part of the Lifelong Learning Festival Week, I will give a talk on Cork and daily life in 1916 in the Cork City and County Archives in Blackpool (all free, all welcome). It will form part of the half day seminar entitled Cork and the Easter Rising. Speakers will also include Dr John Borgonovo (UCC), Cork and the 1916 Rising (12noon); at 1.30 pm Rosaleen Underwood (Prof. Genealogist) will speak on Roibárd Langford, His Family History and his role in 1916 in Cork (Lieutenant, Cork No. 1 Brigade). Mark Cronin will speak on Blackpool in 1916: A Cork Suburb at the Crossroads (2.30 pm). Come for one talk or all of them. Booking at 0214505887.

    I am currently working on a project that takes the year 1916 from the point of view that there were multiple conversations to be heard during the year – a kaleidoscope of ideas which provided the context and framework for revolution – everyday life being one – some led Cork citizens to connect with the Republican mantra at the time and others to just maintain existence, survive and struggle with the bleakness of a national and local economy. Entering the Cork Examiner on 1 January and progressing page by page one discovers key nuggets about the nature of Cork society, the soul of Ireland’s southern capital, the ongoing conversations about maintaining a contemporary status of being one of Ireland‘s distinguished port cities, and all the advantages and problems that run with that.

     January 1916 begins with the aftermath of a winter storm – buildings were windswept and damaged, transport networks such as the City’s tramways were indented – as such there was nothing the Corporation of Cork and the citizens could do but sit it out and wait; much was out of their hands; the storm was something bigger than themselves. Indeed, the thread ‘much was out of their hands’ permeated throughout Irish society at this time – pervaded Cork society at this time. Despite, the rationing of food and materials, the pulses of society in Cork retained it as an ambitious place. Unemployment, jobs, requests for wage increases, Union Interventions, the role of employers and the needs of rate-payers reverberate in the pages throughout the year. The debates of the Cork industrial Association pops up in discourse throughout the pages of the paper, their efforts culminating in the large scale announcement of Ford Tractor and Car manufacturing coming to Cork in 1917. The Cork Harbour Board revelled in this announcement as well as plans for the physical rejuvenation of its quays. Another artery of the city was its train network travelling into County Cork. One can read about the benefits of such lines as the Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway, the Cork Muskerry Tram, the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway Line connecting people, animals, fisheries and place from the coast and hinterland to the city and vice-verse – igniting the region and city into one. The same direction was pushed by the Munster Agricultural Society – whose aims consistently led to discussions on the role of land, cattle, the prices of Ireland’s traditions and industries – exports destinations, and ultimately the intertwinement into the British Empire.

   The city’s institutions such as its hospitals – Mercy Hospital, South and North Infirmary, and institutions such as the City and County gaols, the Magdalene Asylum, the Sailor’s Home as well the City’s workhouse or Cork Union record the need to address the needs of society and to provide more financial aid and food to citizens immersed in large scale poverty.

   The other pillars of Cork Society were its educational ones – the core schools that appear are the North Monastery, the South Presentational Convent, Crawford Municipal Technical Institute and the Cork School of Commerce. All continue through the press to showcase the importance of education and life-long learning in escaping from poverty and to help the overall societal pull to a better life.

   The role of the Catholic church in society is ever felt – the refusals to leave cinemas open on a Sunday, the role of public professions of faith in galvanising public expressions of religion through events such as the confraternities and Corpus Christi, are written about in depth. The death of Bishop O’Callaghan ended another chapter in the city’s religious life and opened a new one on the rise of Bishop Cohalan and his take on non-violence and faith-based community approaches.

    The public representation by City Councillors and Lord Mayor Butterfield on municipal issues from the provision of social housing to park provision is enormous– there is the role of escapism in the programmes of Cork Opera House, the Palace Theatre – and even in Cork Park Racecourse – as horses galloped across its mud-soaked landscape. GAA matches, athletics, handball, cricket are all recorded in depth on the Monday edition.

   There is much to learn from this time – not just on the political side but that life itself in any city keeps moving and that society needs to grow and evolve with it – and that even from a dark time in Ireland’s past, there is much to learn about the diverse framework of historical events and how they shape our lives and our future.

Captions:

839a. Cork Blackrock & Passage train, The Marina, c.1920 (Source: Cork City Library)

839b. View of Cork c.1910 (source: Cork City Museum from the book, Cork City Through Time by Kieran McCarthy & Dan Breen)

839b. View of Cork c.1910

Kieran’s Talks, Lifelong Learning Festival Week

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

For the forthcoming Lifelong Learning Festival Week, Douglas Road Cllr Kieran McCarthy will give a talk on some of the histories of West Cork through old postcards at the meeting room of the Church of the Real Presence, Curaheen on Wednesday 13 April, 10.30am. Based on his book, West Cork Through Time, Cllr McCarthy noted: “The talk focuses on in selective detail postcards from Cork City museum of the region of West Cork from one hundred years ago. It takes the reader from Bandon to Castletownbere through the changing landscapes and seascapes. This region is a striking section of Ireland’s coastline, over 320 kilometres in length, encompassing a raw coastal wilderness with expansive inlets eroded away by the Atlantic Ocean. The old postcards represent many memories of the landscape, sold to visitors and locals a century ago.”.

Cllr McCarthy will also give a talk on Cork and daily life in 1916 in the Cork City and County Archives in Blackpool at 11am on Saturday 16 April (all free, all welcome). It will form part of the half day seminar entitled Cork and the Easter Rising. Kieran is currently working on a book that takes the year 1916 from the point of view that there were multiple conversations to be heard during the year – a kaleidoscope of ideas which provided the context and framework for revolution – everyday life being one – some led Cork citizens to connect with the Republican mantra at the time and others to just maintain existence, survive and struggle with the bleakness of a national and local economy. Cllr McCarthy noted: “Entering the Cork Examiner on 1 January and progressing page by page one discovers key nuggets about the nature of Cork society, the soul of Ireland’s southern capital, the ongoing conversations about maintaining a contemporary status of being one of Ireland‘s distinguished port cities, and all the advantages and problems that run with that”.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 7 April 2016

Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work

838a. Representatives of the County schools involved in the Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project 2016

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 7 April 2016

Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2016

    This year marks the thirteenth year of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project co-ordinated by myself. The Project for 2016 recently culminated in two award ceremonies. It is open to schools in Cork City and County – at primary level to the pupils of fourth, fifth and sixth class and at post-primary from first to sixth years. A total of 44 schools in Cork took part this year. Circa 1200 students participated in the process and approx 200 projects were submitted on all aspects of Cork’s history.

   One of the key aims of the project is to allow students to explore, investigate and comment on their local history in a constructive, active and fun way. The emphasis is on the process of doing a project and learning not only about your area but also developing new personal skills. Many of the topics in the city such as Shandon or UCC have a myriad of history books written on them. However, the challenge in this project is to get students to devise methodologies that provide interesting ways to approach the study of local history for up-and-coming generations. Submitted projects must be colourful, creative, have personal opinion, imagination and gain publicity. These elements form the basis of a student friendly narrative analysis approach where the students explore their project topic in an interactive way. In particular students are encouraged to attain primary material through engaging with a number of methods such as fieldwork, interviews with local people, making models, photographing, cartoon creating, and making short films of their study topic.

   Students are to experiment with the overall design and plan of their projects. It attempts to move the student to become more personal and creative in their approaches. Much of the work could be published as local heritage / history guides to people and places in the region. For example, a winning class project from Cork Educate Together on Grattan Street this year focussed on the history of 1916 in Cork City Centre researched it, mapped out its legacies through interviewing local people and even added in their own mixed family history to add to the complexity of the 1916 narrative. Light was shone on lesser commemorated volunteers who fought in Dublin in the Rising – for example born in 1887, near Drinagh, Sean Hurley was the only Corkman who died in or was executed for his participation in the 1916 Easter Rising. In literature about Michael Collins you will see Sean’s name. Sean’s sister Kate was Michael’s sister-in-law; she was the first wife of Michael’s oldest brother Johnny Collins. To commemorate the memory of Sean Hurley and his fallen comrades, a day of celebration and remembrance, in their honour will be held in Drinagh, County Cork, 1 May 2016.

   This year marks went towards making a short film or a model on projects to accompany history booklets. Submitted short films this year had interviews of family members, neighbours to local historians to the student taking a reporter type stance on their work. Some students also chose to act out scenes from the past. Students from Our Lady of Lourdes National School, Ballinlough this year composed a rap song on the story University College Cork.
The creativity section also encourages model making. The best model trophy in general goes to the creative and realistic model. Models of Cork City Gaol and St Anne’s Church, Shandon featured this year in several projects – not only physical models but Minecraft digital models as well.

Every year, the students involved produce a section in their project books showing how they communicated their work to the wider community. It is about reaching out and gaining public praise for the student but also appraisal and further ideas. Some class projects were presented in nursing homes to engage the older generation and to attain further memories from participants. Students were also successful in putting work on local parish newsletters, newspapers and local radio stations and also presenting work in local libraries. This year the most prominent source of gaining publicity was inviting the public into the classroom for an open day for viewing projects or putting displays on in local GAA halls, credit unions, community centres and libraries.

    Overall, the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project attempts to provide the student with a hands-on and interactive activity that is all about learning not only about your local area but also about the process of learning by participating students. The project in the city is kindly funded by Cork Civic Trust (viz the help of John X Miller), Cork City Council (viz the help of Heritage Officer Niamh Twomey), the Heritage Council with media support from the Evening Echo as well. Prizes were also provided in the 2016 season by Lifetime Lab, Lee Road (thanks to Meryvn Horgan), Sean Kelly of Lucky Meadows Equestrian Centre Watergrasshill and Cork City Gaol Heritage Centre. The county section is funded by myself and students. A full list of winners, topics and pictures of some of the project pages for 2016 can be viewed at my website www.corkheritage.ie and on facebook at Cork, Our City, Our Town. For those doing research, www.corkheritage.ie has also a number of resources listed to help with source work.

Captions:

838a. Representatives of the County schools involved in the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2016 at the recent award ceremony in Silversprings Convention Centre (picture: Yvonne Coughlan)

838b. Tapestry from Derryclough NS, Drinagh commemorating the life of 1916 Rising participant, Sean Hurley (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

838b. Tapestry from Derryclough NS, Drinagh commemorating the life of 1916 Rising participant, Sean Hurley

Kieran’s Our CIty, Our Town, 31 March 2016

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

837a. Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper 1656

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town,

Cork Independent,  31 March 2016

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 54)

Cromwell Comes to Cork

On 30 January 1649, the parliament in England arranged the beheading of Charles I and plans were made to restore the throne to parliament itself through the proclamation of a new king, Charles II (continued from last week). To suppress any royalist support in Ireland, a new army was established under the leadership of the new Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell landed in Drogheda on 15 August 1649 and swiftly took the town for the new parliament. The town’s defenders did not surrender and the town was besieged accordingly. Stories relate that three thousand combatants lay dead on the streets of Drogheda, following Cromwell’s attack.
Cromwell proceeded to Ross and sent out small contingents into the Munster countryside to take note of royalist military activities. Cromwell’s next major town for taking was that of Wexford which comprised a large amount of Royalist Protestant inhabitants. Soon after Waterford, Duncannon, Clonmel, Limerick, Galway and Kilkenny fell. The New Model Army met its only serious opposition at the Siege of Clonmel, where its attacks on the town walls were repelled at a cost of up to 2,000 men. The town nevertheless eventually surrendered.

    In Cork, the principal plotter and commander of Cromwell’s forces in Munster was Richard Townsend (later landowner of the Castletownsend region in West Cork). On the night of 16 October 1649, Townsend put plans into operation to take Elizabeth Fort off Barrack Street in Cork for Parliament. The choice of this night was due to the fact that the Royalist captain, Muschamp was away and the fort with its thirty-five men on duty that night was easily secured for parliament. Soldiers are also recorded as marching on the main guard at North Gate Drawbridge and forcing their way into the town. Seven days after the takeover of the walled town, a letter was sent to Cromwell informing him of the position. Shortly after, the anti-parliament Protestant army in Munster surrendered and an agreement was drawn up, which was signed by each member of the army itself submitting themselves to the parliament in England and the Lord Lieutenant, Cromwell.

   In the case of events that happened in Cork City in 1639, two urban folklore stories are prominent in the old antiquarian books. Tuckey’s Cork Rembrancer (1837) records that on the night of 16 October 1649 the taking of the town came as a surprise to the governor, Sir Robert Starling who did envisage losing his authority in the walled town of Cork. A second story told is recounted in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society in 1905 by Mr Moore. It that tells of the escape of the wife of an officer named Lady Fanshawe from Red Abbey, the site of an old Augustinian Abbey, the tower of which still stands off Douglas Street. Her husband had previously been in the service of Charles I and she is said to have detailed an account to her son. A few days after her escape to Kinsale, her husband was given orders from the self-appointed new King in England, the son of Charles I, Charles II to go to Spain. To get to the continent, they had to travel to Galway in order to take a ship. It is detailed that they sailed from Galway in early February in a ship named Amsterdam bound for Malaga, Spain at which they are said to have arrived at in early March.

In the case of the Royalist supporters inhabiting the walled town, suburbs and liberties of Cork apart from signing an agreement to succumb to Cromwell, a further agreement was offered to them if they aided Cromwell in his military attacks on other Royalist garrisons throughout Munster. Throughout Cork County, there are many other stories relating to Cromwell and the devastation and his model army. The majority involve arson or the burning down of minor and major castles owned by Irish Lords or Royalists and Catholic Abbeys.

   By December 1649, Cromwell had seized control most of both the eastern and southern coasts from Belfast to Cork except for garrisons at Duncannon and Waterford City itself. The harshness of the ensuing winter weather forced Cromwell to fall back to Youghal and set up his headquarters there for the remainder of the winter period. Both Waterford and Duncannon were eventually taken but after Cromwell had departed Ireland in 1650. Urban folklore abounds about how Cromwell spent Christmas in 1649. One story relates that by mid December, Cromwell visited the walled town of Cork and is reputed to have spent Christmas in the company of a Mr Coppinger who occupied a house on South Main Street. Contradicting this evidence is another story, which relates that Cromwell spent his Christmas in the Ballyvolane area, in a house now known as Ellis House or The College. Whether or which, Cromwell is said have used the immediate area of the walled town as a headquarters in order to visit nearby garrisons at Kinsale and Bandon, both walled towns. He is also said to have ordered the rebuilding of Elizabeth Fort, which was damaged when it was taken in the previous October for Parliament by Cromwellian soldiers.

To be continued…

Captions:

836a. Oliver Cromwell by artist Samuel Cooper c.1656 (National Portrait Gallery, London)
836b. Red Abbey, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

837b. Red Abbey, Present Day

Kieran’s Talks, Lifelong Learning Festival Week 2016

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Landscapes, National, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized

 

   For the forthcoming Lifelong Learning Festival Week, Douglas Road Cllr Kieran McCarthy will give a talk on some of the histories of West Cork through old postcards at the meeting room of the Church of the Real Presence, Curaheen on Wednesday 13 April, 10.30am. Based on his book, West Cork Through Time, Cllr McCarthy noted: “The talk focuses on in selective detail postcards from Cork City museum of the region of West Cork from one hundred years ago. It takes the reader from Bandon to Castletownbere through the changing landscapes and seascapes. This region is a striking section of Ireland’s coastline, over 320 kilometres in length, encompassing a raw coastal wilderness with expansive inlets eroded away by the Atlantic Ocean. The old postcards represent many memories of the landscape, sold to visitors and locals a century ago. There are places that charm, catch and challenge the eye. West Cork in itself is a way of life where individuals and communities have etched out their lives. It is a place of discovery, of inspiration, a place of peace and contemplation, and a place to find oneself in the world”.

    Cllr McCarthy will also give a talk on Cork and daily life in 1916 in the Cork City and County Archives in Blackpool at 11am on Saturday 16 April (all free, all welcome). It will form part of the half day seminar entitled Cork and the Easter Rising. Kieran is currently working on a book that takes the year 1916 from the point of view that there were multiple conversations to be heard during the year – a kaleidoscope of ideas which provided the context and framework for revolution – everyday life being one – some led Cork citizens to connect with the Republican mantra at the time and others to just maintain existence, survive and struggle with the bleakness of a national and local economy. Cllr McCarthy noted: “Entering the Cork Examiner on 1 January and progressing page by page one discovers key nuggets about the nature of Cork society, the soul of Ireland’s southern capital, the ongoing conversations about maintaining a contemporary status of being one of Ireland‘s distinguished port cities, and all the advantages and problems that run with that”.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 24 March 2016

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

836a. Ballyphehane GAA group participating at the recent Cork City St Patrick’s Day Parade, March 2016

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 

Cork Independent,  24 March 2016 

Centenary Programmes: Reflecting 1916-2016

 

    For a century, the stories of the Easter Rising and the Irish Citizen Army have morphed into powerful national metaphors for Irish identity. The events are written and spoken about in almost mythic and romanticised terms, encoded and re-encoded, distilled and re-distilled into key events and moments in the Easter period of 1916 and onwards into subsequent years – the idealism of democracy, the Rising, the Rebellion, the Volunteers, the reading of the Proclamation, the Irish Citizen Army, the standing down of those ready to fight outside of Dublin, the role of the GPO and its shelling by British forces, the violence, the surrender, the executed leaders, the sorrow, the questions of clemency, the morality, the internment camps, the beginning of the war of Independence, the role of objects of nostalgic currency such as participation medals, copies of the actual proclamation, the citizen army flag, letters and documentation.

   In Cork many hundreds of Cork men and women mobilised (c.180 alone in the Cork City Battalion). An anxious standoff took place at the Volunteer Hall on Sheares Street between the Irish Volunteers who had gathered there and the British Forces. The intervention of the Lord Mayor and the Bishop of the day led to a peaceful outcome and no bloodshed.  However these aspects and above and much more are all stitched into a national history framework – a cultural consciousness – a continuous conversation about Irish heritage by successful Irish governments and by civil society on what the building blocks of a national nostalgic and a national collective memory should be and their meaning, relevancy, value and connection to today’s world.

    The Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, under the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is a year-long programme of activity to commemorate the events of the 1916 Rising, to reflect on challenges and achievements over the last 100 years and to look towards Ireland’s future. The 31 local and community plans are a core element of the Community Participation strand of Ireland 2016, one of the seven programme strands alongside State Ceremonial, Historical Reflection, An Teanga Bheo – the Living Language, Youth and Imagination, Cultural Expression and Global and Diaspora.  Over 2,000 events will take place in 2016 as part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. The 31 Local Authority Programmes for Ireland 2016 represent the outcome of many hundreds of hours of reflection, consultation and discussion involving thousands of people all over Ireland.  Cork city and county, under the efforts of both local authorities, will have the biggest percentage of events in the country.

   The Cork City programme is the outcome of consultations with interested local groups, organisations and individuals. Led by Cork City Council, the programme comprises events and initiatives ranging across all seven strands of the Ireland 2016 programme.

  • Easter Monday Commemorative Ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the Rising in conjunction with Cork County Council. Events will be held at St. Francis Hall on Sheares Street, the home of the Cork Volunteers, and at the National Monument on Grand Parade. A synchronised wreath laying ceremony will be held at 1.15 p.m. – the time that the first shots of the 1916 Rising were fired.
  • Sacrifice at Easter: Corcadorca Theatre Company will stage Sacrifice at Easter by Pat McCabe at Elizabeth Fort in June 2016. Written in response to the 1916 centenary, Sacrifice at Easter is a creative collaboration between director Pat Kiernan, writer Pat McCabe and renowned composer Mel Mercier.
  • Exhibition: Perceptions 2016, the Art of Citizenship: Part of a series of exhibitions and events the Crawford Art Gallery will host in response to the 1916 Centenary, Perceptions 2016 is an exhibition, seminar and public engagement workshops and events that expand the range of voices, visions, perceptions and approaches to creativity that the public engage with. This will be held in cultural venues throughout the City including Crawford Art Gallery, Wandesford Quay Gallery, City Hall Atrium and a number of satellite venues around Cork.
  • Exhibition on the 1916 rising and its connection to Cork City: Illustrating people, places and events connected to Easter Week in Cork at Cork Public Museum.
  • Centre of Commemoration at St. Peter’s Church, North Main Street: Cork City Council will manage a year round venue based programme in St Peter’s Church on North Main Street. The centre will be called ‘The Centre of Commemoration’ and will host a range of exhibitions, talks, readings, music and community events. All national themes relating to Remember, Reconcile, Imagine, Present And Celebrate will be programmed, supported and presented into this venue.
  • Ballyphehane 1916-2016 programme: Ballyphehane’s main roads are named after the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation. See their facebook page for more.
  • Upstairs at The Oliver Plunkett, Revolution is a dramatic, specially commissioned series of plays, written and directed by Eoin Hally, which bring the events of 1916 to life. The series features six different plays, including the following: The Women of the Rising, O’Donovan Rossa Connection, WWI Roger Casement, The Lockout 1913, Connolly and The finale play – The Preparation and The Rising. Tickets are available to buy online at www.theoliverplunkett.com or at the bar.

For City City commemorative events,

see http://corkcity1916.ie/clar.pdf

and for the County Programme

see http://www.ireland.ie/sites/default/files/cork_county.pdf

 

 Captions:

 836a. Ballyphehane GAA group participating at the recent Cork City St Patrick’s Day Parade commemorating Ballyphehane’s historic roads named after the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 836b. Large scale banner of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, Cork City St Patrick’s Day Parade 2016 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

836b. Large scale banner of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, Cork City St Patrick’s Day Parade 2016

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 17 March 2016

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

835a. Historical plaque marking the site of the Battle of Knocknanuss 1647

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  17 March 2016

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 53)

Cessations, Confederates and Crown Supporters

 

   During the Confederate wars of the 1640s, one leading crown supporter in Munster was the prominent military commander and fifth Lord Inchiquin, Murrough O’ Brien. He ruthlessly kept control of south-western Ireland until the Cessation of Arms was signed between the Confederates and the King’s representative, the Marquis of Ormond, in September 1643. Then Inchiquin’s concerns began over his future as lord in the province and he defected to the side of the anti-crown supporters or the anti-royalist side. The religious policies of Charles I, united with his marriage to a Roman Catholic, produced the antipathy and mistrust of reformed groups such as the Puritans and Calvinists, who perceived his views too Catholic.

    Inchiquin was civil and military governor of Munster and held command by royal and parliamentary commissions but was highly ambitious. After his father-in-law, Sir William St Ledger, who held the presidential office in Munster died, he thought that he would receive the title. During the Cessation of Arms, Inchiquin sent five Irish regiments to reinforce the King’s army in England in the expectation that he would be granted the presidency of Munster. However, the position was left vacant and Inchiquin only became the acting president for several months. When it came to the securing of the post of President of Munster in February 1644 in Oxford with Charles I, he failed to acquire it.

   Inchiquin also had a fear of losing his land. When in September 1643, a truce regarding the hostilities between the crown, Charles I and the Irish Confederates was drawn up, Inchiquin and his companions were not too pleased. During the war with the Irish Catholics, finance for the English crown’s armies in Ireland was achieved through contributions from several baronies and towns and also through the raiding of monies belonging to Irish Catholics. However during the cessation of hostilities, commanders like Inchiquin were not willing to take the full burden of the expenses. He worried that through lack of finance his army would have to be disbanded and that towns and garrisons would return to Irish possession. Subsequently Inchiquin defected to the side of Parliament or to the growing anti-crown or anti-royalist side. To parliament he argued that his defection was due to the undermining plans for the English crown by the Irish Catholics. He demonstrated this by expelling hundreds of Irish people from their homes in Cork, Kinsale and Youghal in July 1644.

    The civil war in England between anti-crown Protestants and Charles Is’ supporters escalated quickly. Inchiquin after his defection received his title of President of Munster and used his position to upset the King’s peace covenant, primarily conducted by the King’s Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, Ormond. Inchiquin introduced a new oath which would maintain and defend the Protestant religion. Inchiquin remained on the defensive against the Confederates.

  Twelve months after the expulsion of the Irish, Inchiquin realised that parliament had no intention of sending soldiers to Munster and were content with the peace treaty in place. He appealed on the grounds of political and religious reasons but his undermining of Parliamentary power was clear and culminated in several Munster Parliamentarians calling for him to be impeached before the Commons in England. However, these claims were dismissed due to the Commons’ own problems with the parliament and king.

   During the summer and autumn of 1647, Inchiquin decided to assert his authority in Munster by mounting a major military offensive against the Confederates. He stormed and captured Dungarvan, Cappoquin and other garrisons. In the post cessation of arms period, the Confederates sent Viscount Taaffe of Corran, Co. Sligo and Sir Alasdair MacDonald of Colonsay, Scotland into County Cork with 8,200 troops. Although heavily outnumbered, Inchiquin with his 5,200 troops inflicted a decisive defeat on the confederates at the battle of Knocknanuss four miles east of Kanturk in November 1647. Approximately 3,500 men were killed, making the battle the bloodiest of the Confederate and the extended English Civil War. Inchiquin won, was praised by parliament but afterwards, it was discovered that there were several allegations made against Inchiquin concerning the fact that he had enlisted royalist soldiers and gave high positions in his army to ill fit men. He denied the allegations, escaped impeachment again. He still requested more soldiers to come to Munster to suppress the Irish.

  Inchiquin’s fear of the Irish retaking the land nearly became reality after Knocknanuss when royalist forces secretly blocked forces and supplies to Munster. As a result, parliamentary commissioners were sent to Munster, what Inchiquin had demanded since his first day as President of Munster. Unfortunately, by the time the Commissioners, arrived in Munster, Inchiquin had amassed a small army with his own loyal officers to deal with his fear of the Irish confederates himself. The Parliamentary Commissioners were called back to England and Inchiquin was declared a traitor and all honours bestowed on him were taken away.

   On 30 January 1649, the parliament in England arranged the beheading of Charles I and plans were made to restore the throne to parliament itself through the proclamation of a new king, Charles II. To suppress any royalist support in Ireland, a new army was established under the leadership of the new Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell.

 To be continued…

 Captions: 

835a. Historical plaque marking the site of the Battle of Knocknanuss 1647 (source: Cork City Library)

835b. Historical plaque marking the site of the Battle of Knocknanuss 1647 (source: Cork City Library)

835b. Historical plaque marking the site of the Battle of Knocknanuss 1647