Category Archives: Cork City Events
Award Ceremony, Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project 2020
Wednesday evening, 4 March coincides with the Cork City award ceremony of the Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project. A total of 25 schools in Cork City took part in the 2019-2020 edition, which included schools in Ballinlough, Ballintemple, Blackrock and Douglas. This year the project was open to new schools within the broader area of the new city boundary. Circa 1200 students participated in the process with approx 220 project books submitted on all aspects of Cork’s local history & heritage.
The Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project is in its 17th year and is a youth platform for students to do research and write it up in a project book whilst offering their opinions on important decisions being made on their heritage in their locality and how they affect the lives of people locally. The aim of the project is to allow students to explore, investigate and debate their local heritage in a constructive, active and fun way.
Co-ordinator and founder of the project, Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted that: “The project is about developing new skill sets within young people in thinking about, understanding, appreciating and making relevant in today’s society the role of our heritage – our landmarks, our stories, our landscapes in our modern world. The project also focuses on motivating and inspiring young people, giving them an opportunity to develop leadership and self-development skills, which are very important in the world we live in today”.
The City Edition of the Project is funded by Cork City Council with further sponsorship offered by Learnit Lego Education, Old Cork Waterworks Experience and Cllr Kieran McCarthy. Full results for the City edition are online on Cllr McCarthy’s heritage website, www.corkheritage .ie.
Kieran McCarthy elected to lead the European Alliance Group for the new European Committee of the Regions mandate
As the European Committee of the Regions, a Brussels based EU Institution, which represents local and regional government, begins its new term of office on of the six Political Groups, the European Alliance (EA Group) has elected Independent Cork City Councillor Cllr Kieran McCarthy as its new President.
Cllr McCarthy has been an active member of the European Committee of the Regions for the past five years in particular on issues of Urban agenda, Ports policy, green agenda and the Digital agenda, and cultural heritage – all areas, which are hugely important for CoR as a leading European City.
In the first CoR Plenary session held on the 12th and 13th February and during a debate with Vice President of the European Commission Mrs Šuica responsible for democracy and demography, Cllr McCarthy highlighted the need for the European Union to have an open consultation with citizens across the European Union. He said it was important to hear and act on the views of citizens whether they are in Cork or in Corsica, and we need to have actions on issues that matter to people in Environmental policy or on transport. He added that the debate held in the context of the new initiative on the “conference on the future of Europe” would allow this to happen.
The Governor of Central Macedonia in Greece Apostolos Tzitzikostas (EPP) was elected President of the European Committee of the Regions for the next two and a half years where he also focussed on increasing the local and regional government influence in the EU decision making process.
Photo: CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas with Cllr Kieran McCarthy Cork City Council and President of the European Alliance Group.
Cllr McCarthy: Commemoration Fund to Help Communities Tell the Story of Cork in 1920
Douglas Road Cllr Kieran McCarthy has called upon communities and organisations across Cork City to avail of a new Cork 2020 Commemorations Fund to support local events commemorating the centenary of the War of Independence – a monumental year in the history of the city.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “Cork City played a pivotal role in the country’s fight for freedom with two of the city’s Lord Mayors martyred in 1920 and the Burning of Cork by British Forces also taking place that December. Community, social and voluntary groups as well as schools can apply for funding under the open Cork 2020 Commemorations Fund. This is an opportunity for a community to come together to commemorate the events of such seismic year in Cork history. Application Forms can get got by emailing lord_mayor@corkcity.ie”.
Cork is set to host a major state event in 2020 to mark the centenary of the War of Independence. In March 2019, a public consultation event was held at City Hall so that members of the public could share ideas on how the Decade of Centenaries 2019-2023 might be commemorated in Cork City. Participants shared their ideas at workshops that took place across the afternoon.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Sheehan, who is chairing a cross-party committee of Elected Members on the 2020 commemorations, said: “Stories around the events of 1920 have been handed down for generations in Cork and local groups have been commemorating these events for many years. The Cork 2020 Commemorations Fund is about communities and organisations bringing our proud history to life in a respectful way that showcases the city’s rich cultural and historical fabric”.
Meanwhile, Cork City Council will hold a Special Meeting on January 30 to commemorate the centenary of the first meeting of Cork Corporation elected by proportional representation. This Special Meeting will be the first of a programme of events in Cork to mark the 1920 centenary. Under the steerage of Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Sheehan and a cross party committee of Elected Members, a rich and varied programme of events is planned for 2020 which is roundly described as ‘Cork’s 1916’.
Evening Echo, Shalom Park, 29 December 2019
“Evening Echo” Lighting Installation at Shalom Park, 29 December 2019
“Evening Echo” Lighting Installation at Shalom Park
Sunset – Sunday 29th December 2019
Shalom Park
Lighting Sequence:
9th Lamp on : 4:21pm
Sunset : 4:31pm
9th Lamp off : 5:01pm
Evening Echo is a public artwork by New Zealand artist Maddie Leach. It is sited on old gasometer land gifted by Bord Gáis to Cork City Council in the late 1980s. This site was subsequently re-dedicated as Shalom Park in 1989. The park sits in the centre of the old Cork neighbourhood known locally as ‘Jewtown’. This neighbourhood is also home to the National Sculpture Factory.
Evening Echo is an art project generated as an artist’s response to the particularities of place and locality. Now in its ninth year, the project continues to gather support from the Cork Hebrew Congregation,Cork City Council, National Sculpture Family, Bord Gáis and its local community.
The project is manifested in a sequence of custom-built lamps, a remote timing system, a highly controlled sense of duration, a list of future dates, an annual announcement in Cork’s Evening Echo newspaper and a promissory agreement. Evening Echo is fleetingly activated on an annual cycle, maintaining a delicate but persistent visibility in the park and re-activating its connection to Cork’s Jewish history. Intended to exist in perpetuity, the project maintains a delicate position between optimism for its future existence and the possibility of its own discontinuance.
This year the last night of Hanukkah is Sunday the 29th December and offers the only opportunity to see the tall ‘ninth lamp’ alights until next year. The cycle begins 10 minutes before sunset, which occurs this year at 4.31pm, and continues for 30 minutes after sunset when the ninth lamp is extinguished.
The Evening Echo project is an important annual marker that acknowledges the significant impact that the Jewish Community had in Cork. Moreover this artwork, illustrates the precarious balance and possible disappearance of any small community existing within a changing city. Evening Echo continues as a lasting memory of the Jewish community in Cork city, and remains as a comment on the transient nature of communities and the impacts that inward and outward migration brings to the character of all cities.
Cork City Council wishes to acknowledge the essential role played by the Rosehill family of Cork in support of this artwork.
The event will be live-streamed by the Cork City Council on
https://m.facebook.com/corkcitycouncilofficial/
The Blessing of a Candle
The Blessing of a Candle
Cllr Kieran McCarthy
Sturdy on a table top and lit by youngest fair,
a candle is blessed with hope and love, and much festive cheer,
Set in a wooden centre piece galore,
it speaks in Christian mercy and a distant past of emotional lore,
With each commencing second, memories come and go,
like flickering lights on the nearest Christmas tree all lit in traditional glow,
With each passing minute, the flame bounces side to side in drafty household breeze,
its light conjuring feelings of peace and warmth amidst familiar blissful degrees,
With each lapsing hour, the residue of wax visibly melts away,
whilst the light blue centered heart is laced with a spiritual healing at play,
With each ending day, how lucky are those who love and laugh around its glow-filledness,
whilst outside, the cold beats against the nearest window in the bleak winter barreness,
Fear and nightmare drift away in the emulating light,
both threaten this season in almighty wintry flight,
Sturdy on a table top and lit by youngest fair,
a candle is blessed with hope and love, and much festive cheer.
Cork City Council to commemorate first Council elected by proportional representation with Special Meeting in January 2020
Cork City Council will hold a Special Meeting on 30 January 2020 to commemorate the first meeting of Council elected by proportional representation – the first of a programme of events in Cork to mark the 1920 centenary, a pivotal year in the city’s history and the birth of the nation.
Under the steerage of Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Sheehan and a cross party committee of Elected Members, a rich and varied programme of events is planned for 2020 which is roundly described as ‘Cork’s 1916’, so seismic was it in the second city’s history.
The Special Meeting will mark the centenary of the first Council elected by proportional representation and the first Council elected by universal suffrage, the first Council with a Republican majority. At that meeting, the Council pledged its allegiance to Dáil Éireann, a moment of huge national significance.
This commemorative event will take place at Council Chamber at City Hall at 6.30 p.m. Former Lords Mayor, TDs, Senators and Elected Members will read excerpts from the minutes of the January meeting 100 years ago.
A musical piece will open the meeting and a reception will be held at City Hall that night with leading members of the city’s business, voluntary and community sector invited.
Lord Mayor, Cllr John Sheehan said “The election of a Republican majority Council and Republican Lord Mayor changed everything, not just in Cork but nationally. It gave a democratic mandate to Tomás MacCurtain and later Terence MacSwiney so that their deaths later that year were a direct blow to the citizens and not just the deaths of activists in the armed struggle.”
“2020 is a very important year for Cork. The Special Meeting in January will raise the curtain on a year of commemorative events in Cork City, marking the fundamental role played by Cork in the struggle for independence.”
Over the course of next year, Cork City will commemorate the death of the city’s two martyred Lord Mayors, Terence MacSwiney and Tomas Mac Curtain and the Burning of Cork City. The Burning of Cork by Crown Forces devastated the city in December 1920, destroying more than 40 business premises, 300 residential properties, Cork City Hall and Carnegie Library, hugely impacting the local economy.
This Special Meeting of Cork City Council will be streamed on www.corkcity.ie.
Christmas on the Grand Parade, Cork, December 2019
Ballinlough Christmas Concert, 1 December 2019
Time to dust off the vocal chords for the Ballinlough Festival Committee’s Christmas Concert!
