Category Archives: Ward Events

Ode to Community

Improve Your Life, Uncategorized, Ward Events

(As published in my heritage column, Our City Our Town, Cork Independent on 12 March 2009)

community-Aghabullogue treeThere is a tree, a blackthorn, I watched for many years. It grew tall embedded in a country stone wall. Its branches took shape splaying into an adjacent field. For many years, this tree bore leaves. Its youth and vibrancy were seen annually. I eventually took the tree for granted and forgot about it. I was too busy to notice it and recently a friend of mine showed me the tree and expressed huge concern for it. Over the years, ivy had grown up the tree embedding itself into the tree’s arteries, stopping the tree from breathing. The ivy had thick branches that hugged and clung strongly. In essence the tree was dying and in past weeks, the tree was cut down; its strangled branches revealing to all present the rotting inner core of the tree.

In the Lee Valley there are multiple trees, some covered with ivy and being strangled, some stretching out and thriving on life. I always think that communities of people are like trees. They can be strong and stretch out with a motivated community of people behind them. However, as noted above, with the ivy and the blackthorn if unattended, a community does not take long to become a wilderness.boat-tour-tivoli-oct-2007

People are an important part of my work so they appear alot. I’m interested in people, their identity and how they physically inscribe places with meaning. It is that inscription like some mark on a art canvas that intrigues me. I have an interest in the architecture of life. The lives of people in my head are like rich artworks, constantly being drawn in my head as they relate their story to me. Heritage seems to be passed down the generations through choice. Life affects heritage as heritage affects life. They are both bound up with each other. I’ve also discovered though that heritage is a personal concept and becomes very engaging for the individual and very relevant when family and memories of growing up are told. Heritage becomes real, integral to present and future actions and powerful in developed self esteem, self confidence and self pride. I’ve also discovered that when you bring the individual stories together, heritage can become highly volatile and contested as the community tries to find the middle ground of what to preserve.

The journey down the valley based on the legend of St. Finbarre has brought me to many individuals and communities, all with very relevant talents to survive in the modern age. I always think that Finbarre met similar people with similar talents but in a different age to the 2009 journey. The heritage of the Lee Valley survives in various conditions from complete disappearance to ruins to surviving because it is being used in everyday lives in a personal way. As noted in the last week Inniscarra Community Centre has much nostalgia attached to it. The multiple pictures on the walls and the vast photo collections it possesses of various events. However, its heritage is tied to people and what they have done for the community over the years. Heritage and modern community work in the present. Here heritage is life itself and is bound up with identity and citizenship. Heritage is harnessed to move forward. Heritage is part of the centre’s foundations but also performed with each meeting held to discuss the way forward.

 

geographies-of-scale-centre-park-road-sept-2007

However, whilst on the canvass trail or the long road as an Independent Councillor Candidate in the south east of Cork City I daily continue to gather a number of ideas about community and its relevance to modern society. Daily I come across isolation and people’s choice to disconnect from the world around them. For my own journeys, I can see the value of community of working together. Of course, the nature, depth and value of participation in creating inclusion or bringing people together are significant factors. Through breaking up the respective letters of community, I came up with the following thoughts, which I wish to share..

• The C is for citizen; active citizenship develops a sense of belonging. One is also taking ownership of one’s life direction.

• O is for onus and responsibility. I think that any community organisation in particular has a responsibility to its people and must move forward with a plan as best as possible. I would like to also note here that even local councillors should not only help their constituents but lead a way forward to be pro-active more so than reactive.

• The first M of community is for motivating. A group of people together can be inspiring, encouraging, empowering and enabling.

• The second M is for moving forward. The future is a worrying element for many people. Even though when one reaches it, one is usually wiser and able to deal with it.

• U is for understanding. From my own travels and attending community meetings, every attender has something to bring to a community. As a result, community has various meanings to people. A sense of place infused by a spirit of doing things individually and collectively. Listening and engaging people and mining their talents is important.

• N is for the new generation in the community. Young people bring vibrancy and energy to any work they engage with. Most are also looking for opportunities to develop their talents and to fit in. Community adds to help people develop in personal ways.

• The I is for ideas. Brain storming and a plan on paper is important. People need direction, something to work toward. Otherwise, the heart of the community will become stale and disillusioned.

• T is for being tolerable of the ‘other’. Working together as a team, getting everyone involved is important. People working together can stop the decline of local living places and bring them to renewed states of stability and viability.

• The Y of community is about the yearning to be part of something- to do something purposeful, to hone our personal talents, to create and sustain strong bonds.

The above are just ideas and in fact there is probably a myriad of other ideas that I have not touched upon. If heritage is about life itself, then community must be a core element in developing a sense of identity and a sense of pride. So what are you waiting for, go get stuck into your local community. If anything, you won’t return to the same place from which you started….

Summer Splendour, Centre Park Road
Summer Splendour, Centre Park Road

Blackrock Pier Clean-up

Uncategorized, Ward Events
There was great community spirit in the clean-up of Blackrock pier last Sunday morning. Kieran McCarthy, local independent candidate, led an enthusiastic group of participants from Blackrock and Ballintemple to clean and clear the rubbish. In total 30 bags were filled.
Kieran McCarthy stated that; “Blackrock village has such potential to be a vibrant economic amenity for the local residents and the city. Much has been achieved in the area but much more can be done. The clean-up initiative is about encouraging community participation and making a difference in a real way to our environment.”
Kieran McCarthy leading the clean-upKieran, Jayne & Charlie at the clean-up
Participants in the clean-up of Blackrock Pier

Community Meetings

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

Local election candidate Kieran McCarthy is outraged at the fact that Cork City Council has failed to adequately include the Ballinlough and Blackrock area in the Draft Cork Strategic Development Plan 2009-2015.  The Independent Candidate has learned that while Cork City Council have made some reference to the area in the plan, it has not addressed some of the key developments in the area.

centre-park-road-sept-2007

Most disappointing according to the candidate for the south east ward is the Council’s failure to adequately make provision for the development of the burgeoning suburbs which he believes are critical to the health of the whole constituency. In the last development plan (2004-2009) which finishes this year only one third of the thirty initiatives planned for the south east of the city were carried out. This time round Mr. McCarthy notes that Ballinlough and Blackrock areas with a stock of circa 5,000 households are not highlighted in the suburban strategy section of the plan. While the plan does make some reference to the docklands, he is concerned by the fact that if that development does not come together, the overall area will gain very little from the development plan.

Kieran McCarthy noted: “Cork City Council’s failure to include Ballinlough and Blackrock will have detrimental consequences for the areas. The plan does not make adequate provison for employment needs, social services, community facilities and community life. The Council talks alot about sustainability but I don’t see what is sustainable about the plan for Ballinlough and Blackrock”.

To address the lack of planning  and to make a community submission to the City Council, Mr. McCarthy is holding two community meetings; the first in Blackrock Castle on Monday 6 April at 7.30p.m. and the second in Blackrock Hurling club on Tuesday 7 April at 7.30p.m. The event is free and residents in Ballinlough and Blackrock are welcome and encouraged to attend to help Mr. McCarthy make a community submission to the City development plan.

Mr. McCarthy can be contacted at 087 655 3389 for further details.

The Marina Walk

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, ‘Journeys of Faith’ Book, 5 September 2013

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

707a. Front cover of Kieran McCarthy's Journeys of Faith

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  5 September 2013

Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years

 

In the past eight months I have been fortunate to interview many people in Ballinlough, my own homeplace, to produce a book to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Located on a prominent limestone ridge, the church is a familiar, impressive and welcoming landmark in Ballinlough, a south east suburb of Cork City. The building represents one of the multiple threads of community life of the area. Indeed, it can be said that many of the original ideas for the present community infrastructure in Ballinlough, ranging from actual buildings to various sporting and social clubs had their roots amongst the people and priests who created, and in time, added to the meaning of building in the lives of the community.

At the dedication ceremony on Sunday 11 September 1938, the orator of the sermon, Fr Kieran, OFM, Cap spoke at length about the building belonging to the people and the people belonging to the church; “we are gathered and united in one living holy faith this morning in this beautiful little church, planned by Christ-like minds and built by human hands and generous hearts”. Those ideas of hope, self determination, generosity, faith, dedication, and adoration are all starting points to begin a reflection on the past 75 years.

In Our Lady of Lourdes Church, there is a faith in the sacredness of this edifice that has never been relinquished since 1938. It is a thriving and resilient place, a place of aspiration. Here is a faith founded on familiar cultural and personal Christian principles to which those in the present day are heirs; we also carry forward some of that faith and all the ideas that go with it; we continue to build and trust in our faith. The text on the 1935 foundation stone at the side of the building reminds one of this spirit of co-operation in faith and that together the clerical and lay community have brought forward the multiple meanings and memories within the building as a socially inclusive community.

The church is a celebration of re-invention and re-imagination of the faith and initiative in Free State Ireland. A sense of initiative remains constant in the character of the Ballinlough community today. The Bishop of Cork in 1938, Dr Daniel Cohalan, had an interest in harnessing new possibilities, ideas, and new skills, to reach higher and to combine them with ideas of faith. There is a power in faith, in journeying with it. It is our lasting birthright but, it is also about what we do with it. Faith does not have a financial value but, without it, people’s moral compass, personal development and journey in life would certainly be anchored in a different direction.

As its core aims, this book excavates below Ballinlough’s official histories. Its key milestones are presented but the book aims to provide insights and foster debate into the woven relationships between the church, community life, and society. What is presented is a cross-section of Ballinlough residents and those connected to the parish throughout the years. Using the themes of the spirit of co-operation and community building put forward during Fr Kieran’s sermon at the 1938 dedication ceremony, the book aspires to recover and provide a cross-section of voices and personal memories of the most memorable aspects of Ballinlough. It also tries to create a framework of the development of motivations and visions for community life. The book is divided into four parts – firstly it presents the historical framework for the construction of Ballinlough church and the nature of Cork society in the 1920s and 1930s. Secondly memories covering Ballinlough’s market garden heritage and the emergence of the area’s development in the 1930s and 1940s; secondly the book focuses on the construction of the community infrastructure in the period c.1950-c.1980; fourthly the book explores more recent memories and concludes with the perspectives of a cross-section of individuals in the Ballinlough Parish Assembly.

Over 100 people speak at length in this book about their faith, their personal connection to Ballinlough, and its sense of place and how they link to it. They speak about the layered aspects of life such as change, love, hope, uncertainty, fragility, tragedy, integrity, traditions, renewal and imagination and their role in the formation of human values. Interviewees commented on the role of the church in the past and seek to be involved in its future. All merge together to reflect on the mark made on history by Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the wider community, but also their role in the future of Ballinlough and in the wider city and region.

I will be giving a reflection on the 75th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in the church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and sacristy from 13 September onwards.

 

Caption:

707a. Front cover of Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years by Kieran McCarthy; cover designed by Alexandria O’Donnell, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ballinlough.