Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy has called on the executive of Cork City Council for a more hands on future proof strategy for Cork’s historic English market In a recent format visit to the market. Several traders noted to the Lord Mayor of their concern of empty stalls lying vacant for too long, the need for repairing the roof and an overall business plan development.
The Lord Mayor noted: “It is an annual tradition for the Lord Mayor to engage with English Market traders in the first few days of office through a meet and greet. The market is a historic gem down down through the ages and dates back to 1788 – just one year after the Mayoralty chain was created – and has had many high end publicity wins and events in recent years. The market is a civic space all Corkonians can be proud of and I know many Corkonians make weekly attempts to support the SMEs within the space. I am regular punter there as well.
On my formal walk around this week, the traders I met had many questions on a small number of vacant stalls. In recent times there have been a number of retirements of stalwart stallholders, who occupied large stall space and with such retirements have left noticeable vacant spaces. The northern aisle in particular needs a plan with a small number of stalls vacant.
There is a big opportunity to have more foodie start up stalls. Cork City Council does have a food strategy and through the Council’s involvement in the local enterprise board it promotes SME development. Unit 3 within the Market is a start-up stall for foodie SMEs but there is much scope to support more foodie start-ups. I have made my comments to the Council’s management team on the market and have asked them to present a strategy for the market at the Council’s finance committee.
And when I say all of this I say it in the context of future proofing the trade of the market. And above all, it is crucial for all of us in Cork to support the Market or to rediscover it if one has not bought from there in a while”.
St Finbarr’s Cathedral, Cork, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
“Got Cork” – Adventures in the Southern Capital
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy,
23 June 2023
The Diary Entry:
Dear colleagues, [dear TDs, senators], dear Chief Executive, dear family, dear Lady Mayoress, dear Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends;
Cork 1863 – A letter is dispatched to the UK to a young architect letting him know he was successful with his design proposal for a new cathedral.
William Burges, the newly appointed architect of a new St Finbarr’s Cathedral, immediately and proudly remarked in his diary, “Got Cork” and with that embarked on a remarkable piece of building work, a voyage of discovery into the origins of Cork history. He created an iconic structure relevant for his time and forged a structure as it was seen at the time as [quote] “worthy of the name cathedral” [end quote].
And proudly I can write in my diary this evening also “Got Cork”.
Mar sin ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo fíor buiochas do mo mholtóir Comhairleoir Des Cahill agus do mo thaiceoir, Comhairleoir Terry Shannon, an bheirt iar-Ard Mhearaí Chorcaí, agus a chomhghleacaithe daor as do mhuinín a chur ionam, agus as bronntanas dom an noiméad seo “Got Cork”.
Many thanks dear colleagues for your trust in me here this evening.
Such a term “Got Cork” has always stayed with me through many years since my first reading of them.
And this diary entry by William Burges leads to many questions on what it is to “Got Cork”.
William was tasked to be a guardian of a key part of the city’s heritage – to carry out a project, with multiple roles – some of which included remembering and representing a legacy, projecting and re-animating the origins story of the city’s patron Saint Finbarr.
He built upon past legacies of former churches, He assembled striking architectural designs in a historic medieval style. He managed a team, and most interestingly conducted archaeological excavations and move skeletons and burials because the new cathedral was twice the size of the church it was replacing.
Whereas this evening, you are not entrusting me to build a Cathedral or to move graves [I hope not, but I cannot confirm I have read all of the terms and conditions with the role!].
But we are, I feel, in our own political cathedral where “Got Cork” takes on new meanings– we are in a space of guardianship, representation and inheritance.
In our ancient ceremony of handing over the chain at our annual general meeting this evening from Cllr Forde to myself – that strong sense of guardianship is ever present. There is a guardianship over the chain as an object of high symbolism – firstly a gold medallion with the city’s coat of arms and its Latin inscription Statio Bene Fida Carinis or translated A Safe Harbour for Ships,
Secondly a portcullis showcasing the ancient water gate of the medieval walled town of Cork thirdly the SS chain links symbolising sacredness and guardianship, and lastly the medallion inscription where 1787 marks its creation.
There is the guardianship of how this chain links the past to our present, almost seamlessly – that one could argue that the chain links are not just physical links but if it could speak it has seen the highs and lows of Cork history from boom to bust and vice versa. The chain has been a witness to it all in its over 230-year history;
…to the creation of the term of Lord Mayor in 1901 with Daniel Hegarty to the tragedies of office holders such as Tomás MacCurtain and Terence MacSwiney and then woven into a myriad of personal connections by those who have engaged with office holders.
…and then there is the guardianship on how its essence the chain projects the city into the future as debated during the recent boundary expansion scheme. That of all the elements of those contentious debates, which emerged a few short years ago was that the chain and its societal connection meant much to the people of Cork.
And indeed, when you mix the guardianship elements of the past, present and future, one gets a strong mix of high emotion and a deep attachment to the title of Lord Mayor of Cork.
Lord Mayor of Cork’s chain (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
A Personal Journey:
And for someone like me, it’s not lost on me what this chain means.
I was the child on the annual Lord Mayor school visits who felt a deep attachment to the essence of the chain and its connection to the sense of place and pride in Cork– something that made me feel proud, made me connect to my city, driven by proud parents and teachers of Cork. Thanks Mum and Dad, and to my sister Deirdre and my brother Aidan for everything.
I was someone who likened the Lord Mayor’s visit to a form of Christmas and that they had some sort of super powers and that the medallion of the chain was an actual key to a rich box of stories and papers of my city. I look forward to seeing it later.
I was the child who wanted to be Lord Mayor when I grew up
I was the teenager who pursued civic education projects of former Lord Mayors– someone who began to research and photograph the city – its buildings and public spaces – and someone who consumed history books written about the city.
I became a someone who has studied and written on the high and lows of Cork history across time encountering mayors and Lord Mayors like ghosts walking across my research of historic books and newspapers;
A someone who created walking tours, a someone who wrote books on this historic city, and ultimately an epic voyage that has led me straight into this hallowed political gladiatorial space to meet and work with you good people,
to work with different Lord Mayors of differing political hues and interests, to learn more about how this city ticks and develops,
to work in the European Committee of the Regions and now this journey has come to this enormous moment this evening.
So, what my 11 year old self engaged with 35 years ago has brought me on a voyage of epic personal proportions where “Got Cork” has a very high emotional value.
Kieran and his fifth year local history project, Colaiste Chriost Ri, 1993
A House of Democracy:
But perhaps it is my journey since I joined the Council in 2009 that has been the most enriching.
I have had wow factor memories, deeply worrying memories and very proud memories.
I have been very fortunate to work with colleagues who care deeply about Cork’s communities – its essence and people, who represent its people and neighbourhoods, where every meeting is a chance to make a difference. In my time, some evenings we have won incredible things for this city and during other evenings, we remain pushing forward inch by inch, or stuck, or we have gone back to the drawing board, but we have always remained true to a forward-looking path.
Indeed, in the past four years of this Council as a significant house of democracy, we have achieved so much.
In this Council term alone, we have gone through many challenges – the expansion of the city’s boundaries, which feels like years and years ago, brought us many nights of debates.
In 2019 in a special booklet to mark the boundary expansion of the city the Council commissioned poet Theo Dorgan to reflect on the winds of change and the related challenges and visions. He wrote:
[quote]:
“Great changes are coming, the worst of the old ways are dust in the wind and the new energies are crackling with light and variousness of daring thought and music. Go on, said one of my brothers, give us a mad vision of Cork in the coming years. That’s Easy I said, it will be the Athens of a new republic, the dream city where a noble past will give birth to a glorious future. He looked at me and said, would you ever cop yourself on. Fair enough I said – getting a bit carried away…but all the same though. What if”.
[end quote].
Again, a sense of “Got Cork” but little did we know what was ahead of us.
We pushed forward through the significant challenges of Covid. We created an online digital platform to enable us to interact. We created a strong Climate Action team. We established a strong Women’s Caucus. We hosted a strong and rich commemoration programme. We passed an ambitious development plan. We found new ways forward to serve in more ambitious ways our respective local electoral areas or neighbourhoods, to placing a focus on our City of Welcomes paradigm, and much much more.
We kept the Council’s work on the road.
This has been due in no small part to your dedication dear colleagues and our strong Executive led by our CE Ann Doherty.
At this juncture I would like in particular like to thank our former Lord Mayors of this Council Cllr Dr John Sheehan, Cllr Joe Kavanagh, Cllr Colm Kelleher and the outgoing Lord Mayor, Cllr Deirdre Forde for leading us through days ranging from “is this our life now sitting 2 metres away from people” to re-opening the city sprinkling it with hope, positivity and charm, to beginning our journey on the development plan, to championing the rebooting of business and community life” and much much more.
We kept this house of democracy going – the importance of guardianship, democracy and representation never wavered.
I am reminded of the words of Tomás MacCurtain in his Lord Mayoralty speech in late January 1920 where he noted:
[quote]: “I expect from the members of the new Corporation a sacrifice of time and a sacrifice, perhaps, of personal interest…that no self-interest would be put before the interest of the community at large”.
[end quote].
And in our time to each member of this chamber you have made sacrifices to your personal lives to make sure this chamber forges paths forwards through its multitude of its work programmes.
The Hope for Tomorrow:
And so now as we face into the last final 12 months of this Council, there is still much to do. There is much work to finish and much work to start.
And when I say all of that I am very conscious that our citizens and their voices and requests must continue to be listened to, new ideas forged and implemented, and need to be the bedrock of Cork’s DNA building into the future.
In our City, democracy matters. It is renewed every time we have a meeting. It will be renewed with the impending local elections next year.
Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney in his book Principles of Freedom spoke about people gifted with certain powers of soul and body. That it is of vital importance to the individual and the community that one be given a full opportunity to place a value on developing one’s talent, and [quote] “to fill one’s place in the world worthily” [end quote].
He also wrote about the citizen and a hope for tomorrow. As he noted:
[quote]:
“The citizen will fight for that ideal in obscurity, little heeded – in the open, misunderstood; in humble places, still undaunted; in high places, seizing every vantage point, never crushed, never silent, never despairing, cheering a few comrades with hope for tomorrow. And should these few sink in the struggle the greatness of the ideal is proven in the last hour”.
[end quote].
And in a similar vain Eamon de Valera opening this City Hall building and our chamber on 8 September 1936. Addressing the masses, he noted:
[quote]
“I am sure the people will not shrink from the work that is necessary so that the efforts of the past are not to be in vain. The people of this city have clung tenaciously to their nationality with courage and hope even in the darkest hours. Surely that courage and that hope will not sway them now when the dawn is at hand”.
[end quote].
We will have myriads of meetings ahead of us in our final year where the “hope for tomorrow” can make sure our citizens are the front and centre of our priorities such as reducing homelessness, making sure our construction of our new social housing projects keeps on track, as well as keeping our affordable housing programmes on track, to making sure we are put on a firm footing to be Climate Neutral as part of the EU led Horizon Mission,
We need to keep adding to sustainable mobility plans; we need to keep enhancing the offering of the city centre; we need to make sure we keep creating new amenities, and we need to continue to make sure our communities are future proofed by weaving them with the sustainable development goals and the WHO Healthy Cities project. The list is a long one.
And then we need to sprinkle all those priorities with the energy and ambition that a second city brings or what I call Ireland’s southern capital and one gets an exciting future for our city by the Lee.
Cork City Council is on the frontline in building the future of communities in Cork. The Council is a story builder, a strategy builder, and a capacity builder.
In addition, one would be hard pressed to find a community within the city’s boundaries and in its outliers that doesn’t have a strong sense of place and identity – where building community capacity, family nest building, ambition and creating opportunities matter, and when compiled create a very strong Cork Inc.
Without doubt my Lord Mayoralty will champion these many priorities but in particular I would like to offer a voice to many of our citizens through my theme of Building our Communities Together and through a pet project I will be calling the Voices of Cork. My interests in heritage, history and education will be at the heart of this project.
So, at our Annual Meeting this evening, we continue to carry with hope, with confidence, with passion, with wit, with leadership, and all of that bound to the city’s hopes and dreams, which burn brightly for the future. This great city keeps moving and the tests of our time demand continuous action.
And so this evening I can proudly inscribe in my diary “Got Cork” with its multitude of meanings that we all continue to explore, engage and push forward with.
To conclude, I am also reminded of the words of two famous composers, Rogers and Hammerstein who once penned the most beautiful lyrics.
“Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I got a wonderful feeling, everything is going my way,
eh, O what a beautiful day”.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh arís ar an onóir seo.
[Ends].
Sunset at St Anne’s Church, Shandon, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the takeover of ownership by Cork City Council from the HSE of All Saint’s Cemetery in Carr’s Hill.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “It is really great to see the City Council take ownership of this really historic and very important graveyard in Cork’s and in Ireland’s history. There have been many calls in the City Council Chamber and from the general public during the last few years for the graveyard to have a proper maintenance and conservation plan. Whereas the HSE have pursued successful conservation projects in Cork, I feel when it comes to historic graveyards, Cork City Council has more experience; it has concentrated teams focussing on amenity development, heritage and archaeology. Access, the collapse of the historic entrance and stone walls as well as adding to the information history panels need now to be addressed through utilising local heritage City Council funding and drawing down national conservation funding”.
Cllr McCarthy continued; “The graveyard’s history goes back to 1847. As St Joseph’s graveyard could not cope with increase in burials during the Great Famine, Fr Mathew suggested to the Cork Union Workhouse Guardians that a new burial ground should be acquired. As a result, land was attained from George Carr, a workhouse official on the road between Douglas and Carrigaline. Thousands of poor men, women and children are buried there with no headstone. This sacred, sad and hallowed ground needs to be cherished, respected, given dignity. It’s a historically sensitive area which needs TLC”.
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in the thirteenth year of McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat Project. All interested participants must design and make a model boat at home and bring it to The Lough on the evening of Friday 19 May 2023.
The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara and the Cork Harbour Festival Team for the Cork Harbour Festival itself. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. The theme is ‘Boats of the Past which is open to interpretation. The model must be creative though, made from recycled materials and must be able to float. There are prizes for best models and the event is free to enter. For further information and to register a boat, log onto http://www.corkharbourfestival.com
Cllr McCarthy, who is heading up the event, noted: “Over the 13 years of this annual projects, the Make a Model Boat Project has gone from strength to strength. The Cork Harbour festival team and I have seen really creative entries and of course it is great to be able to float boats on a fantastic amenity such as The Lough. I am encouraging creation, recycling, innovation and imagination amongst our young people, which are important traits for all of us to develop. The Make a Model Boat Project is part of a suite of community projects I have organised over the years– the others include the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project with Cork City Council, the Community local history walks, and local history publications”.
Cllr Kieran McCarthy has announced his set of historical walking tours for the month of May, which range from The Marina, Rochestown and Old Court Woods, to the area in and around the top of St Patrick’s Hill.
Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted: “The stories on the three tours for the month of May have different timelines ranging from the mid eighteenth century to Civil War in 1922 but all reflect on the diverseness of Cork’s historical narratives and their multitude of tangents. Ultimately though all of the stories have influenced Cork’s cultural and built heritage and have added immensely to how the city’s story as a whole came into being. All three tours also cover special parts of Cork’s geography such as the City’s relationship with the River Lee, hillside views, and suburban and urban woodland.
The dates and times for Kieran’s tours are below:
Saturday 6 May 2023, The Marina; Discover the history of the city’s promenade, from forgotten artefacts to ruinous follies; meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina, 2pm, no booking required (free, duration: two hours).
Saturday 13 May 2023, The Battle of Douglas, An Irish Civil War Story, meet at carpark and entrance to Old Railway Line, Harty’s Quay, Rochestown; 2pm, (free, 2 hours, finishes near Rochestown Road).
Saturday 20 May 2023, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Tour around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required, finishes on MacCurtain Street).
The public consultation phase two maps on Bus Connects have now been published by the National Transport Authority (NTA). It is my understanding that affected local residents on Douglas Road have received letters from the NTA but those slightly off the road have not.
My sincere thanks to all those who have made submissions todate and especially to the wider Douglas Road residents group and the various sub groups, who have liased with the NTA a number of times voicing not only concerns but also viable alternatives.
Despite a series of alternatives being put forward, very little change has been made to the initial emerging proposals from the NTA on the physical changes to the roadscape – which includes compulsory purchase orders, culling of front garden biodiversities and the reconstruction of nineteenth century stone walls.
As this is a general letter to all residents on the road, some affects on residents are larger than others. However, please note there are also plans to create bus gates, which will limit movement of cars on the road at peak hours and there is also the removal of on-street car parking along 95 per cent of the road (west to east).
It is crucial that as a local resident that you become aware of the still evolving proposals and attend the upcoming info meeting if you have questions, criticisms and/or alternatives.
The full set of maps are available under the Maryborough Hill to City (bus corridor I) at www.busconnects/cork. Info can also be attained from the NTA at their open day meeting at Rochestown Park Hotel on Friday 21 April 10am-7pm.
The public consultation phase two maps on Bus Connects have now been published by the National Transport Authority (NTA). It is my understanding that affected local residents have received letters from the NTA.
My sincere thanks to all those who made submissions to the NTA voicing not only concerns but viable alternatives.
The upshot of the phase one consultation has led to the complete removal of a proposal for a bridge over the Mangala, which included a compulsory purchase order of the Grange Avenue green buffer strip with Grange Road.
What now just remains in the phase 2 maps is a proposal to set back the main entrance to Shamrock Road, to allow the bus to flow freer (see attached map over the page). There are still some questions on whether older trees will be kept or not in this location.
Wider info of the phase two maps can be viewed at www.busconnects/cork or at the NTA open day meeting for the phase 2 plans at Nemo Rangers, South Douglas Road on Thursday 20 April, 10am-7pm.
My thanks again to all who engaged with the Bus Connects process. I also remain at your disposal for any help with any other local concerns.
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy is to restart his free historical walking tours during the month of April. Tours will be of the old Cork City workhouse site on Douglas Road in St Finbarr’s Hospital, the Shandon quarter, and the Barrack Street/ Friar’s Walk area respectively.
Cllr McCarthy noted; “This year my talks and walks reach their 30th year. There have been many walks given since my teen years. I have pursued more research than ever in recent years as more and more old newspapers and books are digitised these have allowed greater access to material and hence more material to create historical walking trails of some of Cork’s most historical suburbs”.
“I am also trying to sharpen the tours I have and to create new ones in a different suburb. The three areas I am re-starting with for the 2023 all have their own unique sense of place, their own cultural and built heritage, their own historic angles, some really interesting ‘set pieces’ and add their own stories to how the city as a whole came into being; they also connect to the upcoming 2023 Cork Lifelong Learning Festival”, concluded Cllr McCarthy.
Full details of Kieran’s April tours are below:
Saturday 1 April 2023, Shandon Historical Walking Tour; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp Cork Volunteer Centre, 2pm, in association with the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
Sunday 2 April 2023, The Cork City Workhouse; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 2pm, in association with the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival (free, two hours, on site tour, no booking required)
Saturday 15 April 2023, The Friar’s Walk; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
This weekend the award ceremony of the Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project 2022/23 takes place at the Old Cork Waterworks Experience. A total of 30 schools in Cork City took part in the 2022/23 school year, which included schools in Ballinlough, Beaumont, Blackrock and Douglas and with a reach to Glanmire, Ballincollig, and inner city suburban schools as well. Circa 1,000 students participated in the process with approx 250 project books submitted on all aspects of Cork’s local history and it cultural and built heritage.
The Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project is in its 21st year and is a youth platform for students to do research and write it up in a project book on any topic of Cork history. 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: “It’s been a great journey over twenty years of promoting and running this project. Over the years, I have received some great projects on Cork landmarks such as The Marina to Shandon to villages such as Douglas but also on an array of oral history projects – students working closely with parents, guardians and grandparents. I’ve even seen very original projects, such as this year I received a history trail on streets of Cork pavements. The standard of model-making and in recent years, short film making – to go with project books – have always been creative”.
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 this year’s project are online on Cllr McCarthy’s heritage website,
