Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 9 May 2013

Technical Memories (Part 53) – A Princely Contribution

“There was a splendid gathering, who filled the spacious hall of the new School when at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, Mr Thomas Derrig, Minister for Education performed the opening ceremony of the new School of Commerce and Domestic Science at Morrison’s Island, Cork. Among them were many  ladies, clergymen, professional and business men of the city, together with representatives of Cork public bodies, educational, labour, and other organisations” (Journalist, Cork Examiner, 8 June 1938).

The official opening of the new Cork School of Commerce building on 7 June 1938 marked another stage in the development of vocational education in the city. On the day, having opened the main door with a gold key, Minister Thomas Derrig entered the new building, and then Fr J Canon assisted by Canon E Fitzgerald blessed the entire building. With the Minister and the Lord Mayor James Hickey, Canon Scannell entered the Assembly Hall, where the large audience had gathered and where the blessing ceremony concluded.

Once the chairman of the VEC committee Mr Ellis introduced the Minister, the choir sang the National Anthem. The Chairman said that it was a happy occasion for the citizens of Cork and for the progress of Vocational Education generally and that future generations should praise the memory of the benefactor of the site, William T Green for his “princely contribution in the noble cause of education”. Continuing Mr Ellis noted: “The citizens of the Cork of today and tomorrow are fortunate-far more fortunate- than we of the Cork of yesterday were, in that they now possess not only facilities for cultural studies but no less important facilities for fitting and training themselves to be leaders of industry and commerce”.

The Minister noted the importance of the occasion and highlighted that the site of any school should be carefully chosen, especially if it is being used for both day and evening classes. A school should be central and free as possible from the disturbances of traffic. He thanked Thomas Green for his generous gift of land: “The building is really a fine one and will remain as a standing monument of the genius of the architect and the efficiency and skill of the contractor and his craftsmen…it gives to the citizens of Cork a school worthy of the traditions to which it is heir and admirably adapted to the training of young people of the city in the various branches of commerce and domestic science”.

The Minister was particularly interested in the Assembly Hall in which the group were gathered. He commented that it would give excellent facilities for school meetings, lectures and dramatic performances and that it was also fitted for the display of educational firms. The Assembly Hall could also be used as a gymnasium for the students, and provision had been made for dressing rooms with hot and cold showers.

The Minister commented on the work by Seamus Murphy of the relief panels at each side of the main entrance to the school. They were symbolic of the two aspects of the Vocational Education, for which the school was intended. “I should like to see other committees imitate the example of Cork is this respect, and incorporate in their school buildings, some distinctive piece of artistic work. This might take the form of a mural decoration, illustrative of a period of local history, or an example of a craft for which the locality is noted. I believe that there is no more suitable place for fine paintings or sculptures than in a school building, where the merit of the artistry makes a ready appeal to the active imagination and creative instincts of the young”.

In a fine building the Minister believed that progress would be as rapid as it was under the old and less favourable conditions in the former building on the South Mall. He called for the authorities of the school to provide for special studies that were of importance to a great commercial centre- studies in economics, insurance, salesmanship, advertising, industrial design, and the display of goods: “Not only should the school train the rank and file of the commercial life of the city, but it should provide a programme of studies that will induce every student to advance to the fullest extent of his capacity. Without this specialisation, you cannot satisfy the student of ambition and ability, who is marked out for leadership and on whom enterprise and progress so largely depend”.

In concluding his address, the Minister paid a special tribute to the City of Cork Vocational Education Committee for its whole-hearted acceptance of his request to undertake an educational experiment in connection with raising the school leaving age. As from 1 September 1938, every young person in Cork, under the age of 16 was to be required to attend some form of school. The attendance of those in employment was to be restricted to five hours weekly: “The results of the experiment over the next few years will largely determine our policy on the general issue and be the subject of much interest in educational circles”.

To be continued…

Captions:

690a. Front entrance of Cork College of Commerce showing Seamus Murphy sculptures (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 18 April 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 52) –A Rallying Centre”

“It is not generally realised that my Department has co-operated with many vocational education committees in endeavouring to provide suitable training for entrants to new industries. Two-thirds of the cost of training suitable persons for technological posts in the new Sugar Beet Factories at Mallow, Tuam, and Thurles were defrayed by my Department, the remaining third being borne by Comhlucht Siucre Éireann Teo” (Thomas Derrig TD, Minister of Education, 21 June 1935).

Thomas Derrig TD, Minister of Education, spoke at length at the luncheon following the laying of the foundation stone of the Cork College of Commerce in June 1935. He summarised some of the key developments in education and its relationship with industry since the passing of the Vocational Education Act in 1930 and in light of the ongoing economic war with Britain. In particular he described how apprentices required for Irish sugar factories for example were selected by an examination under the auspices of his Department with the co-operation of local Vocational Education Committees. Almost all these apprentices were drawn from course at the technical schools. He also promoted a number of other projects. A number of youths were trained in Wolverhampton, in preparation for employment in an aluminium factory. Provision was made in another technical school for training girls for new hosiery factories. Similar facilities for classes in connection with boot factories were provided for in four or five schools. A class in ceramic art was formed in preparation for the establishment of a new pottery factory. Power machines were installed in certain centres for the provision of trade instruction for the ready-made clothing industry.

Derrig’s Department and vocational educational committees were also anxious to co-operate with industrialists in providing technical training not only for new employees, but also to those already engaged in industry and who wished to add to their qualification as a means towards attaining more “responsible posts”. He was arranging in the summer of 1935 a special course in retail practice and salesmanship for senior commercial teachers. Over 40 teachers were drawn from all parts of the country to receive intensive courses in being an assistant in the drapery and the grocery and provision trades.

Derrig also described the constant demand for the extension of existing technical schools and the erection of new ones. He noted during his speech that the “laying of the foundation stone of your magnificent new School of Commerce and Domestic Science today forms but one link in the chain of schools that have been erected since 1930”. In Dublin important extensions had been made in Vocational Educational schools at Ballsbridge and Rathmines; the new branch school at Marino was soon to be completed. Plans were being prepared to erect a new School of Domestic Science in a central position, near O’Connell Street. In Limerick additions had been made to their central school, and a proposal was under consideration to erect a new feeder school in another part of the city. The Waterford Technical School had been also considerably extended to meet existing educational demands.

New schools were provided for in Galway and Drogheda and an extension was provided for at the Wexford school. In over 20 counties smaller schools had been erected or were near completion by 1935. Many had been constructed to cater for the needs of the rural population and according to Derrig represented an important step in the development of our national rural economy: “Such schools properly administered should not only enable the boys and girls in our rural areas to play a more efficient part in the many agricultural projects now being encouraged, but also a rallying centre for the social and national life of the rural population”.

Progress was not only confined to the building of schools and as Derrig noted “the formation of relationships with industry”. He described that several vocational schools were also exercising their valuable influence slowly but definitely on the development of the Irish language. There was, he argued, a definite advance in the teaching of subjects through Irish. The marked increase in previous years in the number of teachers qualifying for the Ceard Teastas Gaeilge was a “gratifying sign of development”. Continuing he argued that: “no amount of the teaching of Irish or of subjects through Irish can succeed in making the present generation realise the value and worth of their national language unless it is combined with a deliberate effort on the part of all concerned to make Irish the living language not only of the school, but also of the playing fields, and above all, of the home”.

Concluding his address Minister Derrig referred to a question raised regarding the setting up of Conservatoire of Music in the Country, and expressed the hope that the day “would come soon when they would have one in the country, whether in Dublin or in Country”. Interesting and like the request for a Cork conservatoire of music, Mr J Hurley at the luncheon representing the Crawford Municipal Technical College, expressed the hope that the application for a college of technology in Cork would also not be lost sight and would soon come to fruition.

To be continued…

Caption:

687a. Cork College of Commerce, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 11 April 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 51) –A Glass Jar of Hope”

 “Thus the laying of the foundation stone of the new school today marks another stage in the development of Vocational Education in Cork; the new building, as you are aware, will house both the School of Commerce and Domestic Science, allowing additional accommodation for the further development of science and technology in the existing buildings” (Journalist, Cork Examiner, 25 June 1935)

The pinnacle of vocational education projects in Cork in the 1930s was the creation of a new building for the Cork School of Commerce on Morrison’s Island. On 24 June 1935, in the presence of a large and distinguished gathering, Thomas Derrig TD, Minister for Education, laid the foundation stone of Cork’s new £60,000 Municipal School of Commerce and Domestic Science. The attendance included William T Cosgrave TD who travelled especially from Dublin for the occasion. The site and the foundation stone were first blessed by Rev J Canon Murphy, St Finbarr’s South Chapel, who then delivered a short address. The Canon blessed the stone. He noted that they took that day the first step in the direction of a “great municipal, commercial academy, which they hoped would be worthy of the size, dignity and importance of the city of Cork”. He prayed that this great inception might one day become a source of knowledge and instruction to many generations of the youth of the City of Cork “that they might learn many useful lessons of culture and science and skill, which would then be useful members of society and reflect credit on the city of their birth”.

Mr William Ellis welcomed the Minister for Education on behalf of the Vocational education committee of the city of Cork, and said the Minister was engaged that day on the “inauguration of a great work, which would prove of immense benefit to the city educationally and would reflect credit on it in other aspects as well”. He asked the Minister to lay the foundation stone of a building of whose future they had such great hopes. Mr Derrig was then presented with a silver trowel by Mr Sisk, the builder. When the stone was laid, in a cavity of the stone was placed a glass jar containing a prospectus of the school, copies of the “Cork Examiner,” and other daily newspapers, and contemporary coins. The Minister added his card to this collection.

Speaking first in Irish and subsequently in English, the Minister said it gave him great pleasure to be present on this important occasion in the history of vocational education in the city of Cork. He asserted that the school was being erected at a moment when Ireland was endeavouring to expand its industrial development, resources and commerce; “They would send out from it young and women equipped to take their parts in the development of the country and advancing its interests and making its citizens prosperous”.

The Minister congratulated the architect, Henry Hill and the builder Sisks on the “admirable, yet simplicity of the building”.  It was, he noted, a source of satisfaction to him to record that workmen and tradesmen of Cork played such an important part in the building of the school, and the materials and fittings would as far as possible be Irish. Speaking at the subsequent luncheon in the Victoria Hotel, the Minister noted that the constant demand for the extension of technical schools and for the erection of new ones was a “sure tale of progress”. A problem he highlighted was the training of girls for domestic service. It was his opinion that these girls, if properly trained could obtain suitable positions in this country. He was in full agreement with the Chairman of the County Cork Vocational Committee, that to raise the position of the domestic servant in this country was a matter of great importance. To succeed in this endeavour “they can only do so if the girls themselves are prepared to take out a full course of training, which he was sure all the Vocational committees, throughout the country would only too glad to supply”.

Mr A J Magennis proposed the toast “vocational education”. He was doing so as a member of the City of Cork Vocational Education Committee and chairman of the School of Commerce sub committee. He was past president of the Incorporated Chamber of Commerce and Shipping.  As chairman of the School of Commerce committee and in his experience as a professional accountant, he described that the work of the principal and his staff as not surpassed in the Free State; “There is scarcely a business in the city where you will not find past students of the school holding positions of responsibility, all of whom bear unmistakable marks of the training they have received in that in that institution. I can with confidence assert that this school has since its inception, definitely raised the standard of business efficiency and office organisation, not only in the city, but wherever our students have found employment”.

To be continued…

A list of winning projects in the 2013 edition (City and County) of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project can now be viewed at Kieran’s heritage website www.corkheritage.ie.

Caption:

686a. Henry Hill’s design for Cork School of Commerce and Domestic Science, c.1935 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  4 April 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 50) –Green’s Act of Generosity”

The Vocational Educational Bill was passed into legislation on 29 July 1930. The act was important in widening the extent of technical education and expanded the school system to provide general and practical training in preparation for employment. It established 38 VECs representative of local authorities and local interests. Each of these was a statutory body with power to acquire and own land. They were subject only to the Minister of Education. The system remained multi-denominational, co-educational and under lay management. The Act was proof that the State accepted that it had a duty to guarantee the Irish technical education system would meet the trade and industry requirements of the country.

Initially, the 38 VECs comprised four County Borough schemes, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford; 27 counties of Saorstát Éireann with Tipperary North and South Riding comprising separate VECs and seven scheduled Urban districts – Bray, Drogheda, Dun Laoghaire, Galway, Sligo, Tralee and Waterford. The Minister was allowed to designate a VEC area where compulsory continuation education for youth from 14-16 years of age would be brought in. This was invoked in Cork, Limerick and Waterford. As time progressed, the number of Vocational schools increased from 77 in the school year 1931-32 to 206 in 1938-39. The number of full time courses also increased. Much of the development was in the small towns and larger villages rather than in larger towns. By 1932, the VECs had 23 per cent of second-level students.

In his principal’s report of 1930, D J Coakley noted that that the School of Commerce was well placed to provide a more than satisfactory commercial education. The school also aspired to provide full-time day continuation education for young people between 14 and 16 years, commercial education for students of 16 years of age and upwards, and part time classes to meet the specialised requirements of employees. In the previous two years, D J Coakley had been planning an expansion of the college through attaining new premises. Previous end of year reports had criticised the lack of space to expand the operation.  These comments were also echoed when the School held a twenty-first anniversary celebration on 29 September 1929, in the Victoria Hotel on St Patrick’s Street followed by a public dinner on 8 November 1929. These events were attended by the then Lord Mayor Seán French, Cork City Councillors, Department Inspectors, Chamber of Commerce and Shipping members, the President of University College Cork, Professor P J Merriman and Professor Alfred O’Rahilly, registrar, UCC. Various representatives from local government and professional institutes attended as well as managers and owners of huge companies from Cork City and its environs.

With such a captive audience, Mr J C Foley, chairman of the School outlined the history of the establishment and its role in the life of the city; “I need not refer in detail to the remarkable progress of the school, to its roll of over 600 students, divided into morning, afternoon and night session; to the number of its students who have obtained responsible positions here and elsewhere. The best indication I can find of the influence of the school on the industrial development of the city is to take the reasoned opinion of one of our foremost city accountants, who some years previously publicly stated that since the school was established the standard of accounting in the city business houses had shown a marked improvement”. Mr Foley also had happy recollections of a special class for shopkeepers, which was in existence or some years.

Continuing on Mr Foley noted that the buildings were altogether unsuited for the work carried on there; “the business men of Cork who stood by its cradle and watched with pride its progress to manhood should now mark their appreciation by a present of a new building, large and comfortable enough to allow for further developments”. He also announced the donation of a free site for the development of a new school;  “it is with considerable pleasure that I make the announcement that what our well-known highly respected and generous fellow citizen did for technical education by the presentation of a free site, will be done by another equally highly esteemed citizen for commercial education”.

At a meeting of Cork Corporation in mid July 1930, the Lord Mayor F J Daly presiding with the City Manager announced that a unanimous donor, who had purchased a site on Father Mathew Quay for £2,500, had offered it to the Corporation for the erection of a new School of Commerce. The Council accepted the offer, and passed a resolution of thanks to the generous donor. They passed on the offer to the City of Cork Vocational Educational Committee. Gerard O’Dwyer’s excellent book (2008) on the history of the College reveals that the donor was William T Green. William was very interested in the commercial and educational life of Cork City. He was elected President of the Cork Incorporated Chamber of Commerce and Shipping in 1904. He was involved in the original proposal to the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction to provide a School of Commerce for the City.

To be continued….

Caption:

685a. William T Green, donor of site for the present Cork College of Commerce (picture: Cork City Library)