I write with regard to the proposal for Garryduff Woods/ Old Court Woods, Cork and application CN86326.
I have had many constituents write to me to express their worries for the road proposal for the site. Since the boundary extension last year, Cork City has inherited this very beautiful 26-hectare woodland amenity managed by An Coillte. It is a site I am rediscovering over the past year since it passed into the city. In addition, I have also been vocal many times in Cork City Council that it needs an effective urban forestry management strategy within the city area.
Due to the urban location of the woods I would call upon An Coillte and Cork City Council to work closer together on its recreational uses and the management of challenges, which go with that. Good collaboration is crucial going forward especially with a new Cork City Development Plan being put in place.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 Old Garryduff Woods has seen a big increase in day to day usage by locals for walking and really has stood out as a public local amenity. The people I have met have described it as an oasis in the heart of suburban living. I would deem that An Coillte have done a good management job over the decades but clearly now Garryduff Woods has gone from being a purely rural location to now being in the heart of the urban suburb of Rochestown where over 5,000 people live.
Many locals have expressed the view to me that the woods are very small and the amount of timber that can be harvested is low, especially versus the amount of destruction which will be carried out by another felling. Locals have expressed their worry to me that some trees were never replanted some years back leaving a large gap with very little protection for remaining trees. So, every time there is a new storm, the woodland loses more trees again.
The Red Squirrel, which I have seen myself on my walks in the woods, are becoming more and more rare in Ireland and the destruction of their habitat would also be lessened by further tree felling.
I do realise that Garryduff Woods is a working forest but with more and more houses being constructed in Upper Rochestown and Maryborough, I am calling on An Coillte to consider the plans they rolled out in Dublin recently and to apply some of these traits to Garryduff Woods.
I have received much correspondence from locals calling for an end to commercial operations in the woods and calling for the further protection of its bio-diverse and climate resilient woodland.
There is an opportune time now for a strategic collaborative plan between An Coillte and Cork City Council addressing the needs of local residents but also the needs of the biodiversity in this district of Cork City.
Sincerely,
Kieran McCarthy
Old Court Woods, June 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
1051a. Scales of Justice atop Washington Street Courthouse being lit up by recent evening sunshine; the Cork City Republican Courts of the summer of 1920 took place in private houses in the nearby countryside of the city (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 4 June 2020
Remembering 1920: The Republican
Courts
In 1920, as the War of Independence escalated, the formation Dáil Courts were seen as a contest to British rule. In May 1920, Dáil Éireann formally adopted the Courts and they were put under the Dáil’s Department of Agriculture, which connected to their initial function as a means of resolving land disputes. Omagh Barrister Kevin O’Shiel was put in charge of the Dáil Éireann Land Commission, an arbitration body set up mid-1920 to deal with land disputes. It proved quite successful at clamping down on cattle driving and land occupations. In May 1920, instructions were sent to all Sinn Féin branches to establish arbitration courts.
In June 1920, Republican authorities took the concept
of the courts a step further, transferring the authority over the Courts to
their Ministry for Home Affairs under Austin Stack. The Dáil Courts were now to
be criminal and civil courts and professed to have the right to dispense law instead
of the British courts.
Historian John Borgonovo in his article in the book Justice in Wartime and Revolutions (2012) outlines that during the summer of 1920, Dáil Éireann courts were established throughout the country. Courts were set up in each parish. There were also district courts, which dealt with cases referred to them by the parish courts or with the more serious eases. The courts dealt with all minor cases such as boundary disputes, assaults, and larceny. All decisions reached by courts were accepted by the litigants. Fines, where imposed, were collected by the Republican police force, which was also established.
On 19 June 1920 Sinn Féin announced in Irish newspapers that 84 arrests had been made by Volunteers between 3 June and 15 June. In addition, they detailed that 41 Republican Courts were held during that time across 24 counties. During the months of May to August, and indeed September in particular parts of the country, the Dáil Courts operated without interference from the British authorities. Judicial Commissioner of Dáil Éireann Land Courts, 1920-1922 Kevin R O’Sheil notes in his Bureau of Military Archives witness statement (WS1770) that the toleration appeared to have been designed; “The Dublin Castle people felt that if they held their hands and let the republican Courts function, the result would be chaos, in which the entire Sinn Fein and Republican movement would be embedded”.
In
the Cork context, Lord Mayor MacSwiney were involved in the organisation of the
Court as well as Councillors Donal O’Callaghan, Thomas Daly, Liam de Róiste,
and Professor Alfred O’Rahilly. In the first week of June 1920 special
activities were noticed around the Marsh and the centre of Cork City, from
which about fifteen people were arrested on the charge of robbery and taken to
a Republican makeshift prison, about ten miles from the city. Three of the
prisoners were honourably acquitted after three days detention. The others
pleaded guilty to the charges and confessed to the robberies.
The
Cork Examiner on 11 June 1920 records that when the sworn depositions of
the prisoners were taken at a private house in the countryside, they implicated
six receivers, five of whom were business people. Six parties that purchased the
stolen property were summoned to the court. Five of the accused were found
guilty of knowingly purchasing stolen goods, and the others found guilty of
unknowingly buying them. They were ordered to pay the full cost of the stolen goods,
as well as a heavy fine.
The
prosecutor (unnamed in the press) in charging the accused stated that the
receivers were far more guilty than the prisoners, who were only young boys. He
wished for the court to close up any business house found trading in a
dishonest fashion, and that the owners be ordered to leave the district. In
particular the prosecutor wished to direct the attention of the courts to the
fact that all the prisoners practically (whose ages ranged from 14 to 18 years)
detailed in their statements that the ‘Pictures’ or films were mainly
responsible for their desire to steal. The prosecutor called upon the
Corporation of Cork to take steps to prevent children attending pictures,
except on specified nights, when as he noted “pictures tending to educate and
to elevate the minds of the boys would be shown with the permission of the
Corporation”.
A
large quantity of the property stolen was recovered. This included seven or
eight suits of clothes, shirts, overcoats, socks, collars, cuffs, etc, belonging
to draper Mr P O’Sullivan, of Washington Street. Some coats, opera glasses,
razors, and other small articles belonged to pawn broker Mr Kiely of South Main
Street; a new bicycle, lyres, tube, tool-bag, etc., belonged to Mr O’Callaghan’s
cycle shop on the Grand Parade. One bicycle belonged to the Republican Bicycle
Shop on Liberty Street. A suit of clothes and shirts belonged to Mr Leader of
North Main street with boots belonged to the Lee Boot Factory. A bicycle was
recovered that was stolen from Yost Typewriting Office.
The
fines imposed were to cover the cost of stolen petrol from Dwyer’s Engineer Stores
on Gravel Lane, leather belonging to McMahon’s stores on Washington Street,
boots from the Lee Boot Company, marmalade from Baker’s Stores on French Church
Street, sugar from Byford’s Stores on St Patrick’s Street, sweets and matches from
Punch’s Stores on Crosses Green, whiskey, wines taken from Wren’s Hotel on
Winthrop Street, and some fur skins and a rug from Mr Rohu’s on the Grand
Parade.
The
Cork court sat for the greater part of three days. A large number of the public
were present during the hearing. A woman acted as one of the judges [unnamed in
the press] for the first time in the history of Cork. The court also emphasised
the fact that the Republican Government meant to use all its forces to preserve
peace and property, and issued strong warnings to those who were disposed to
robbery, and that in future severe punishment will be meted out to those who
are found guilty.
By the autumn of 1920, seeing
more and more the undermining of the Crown’s law, the British authorities began
suppressing the courts, or at least sought to stop them from meeting in public.
Caption:
1051a. Scales of Justice atop Washington Street
Courthouse being lit up by recent evening sunshine; the Cork City Republican
Courts of the summer of 1920 took place in private houses in the nearby
countryside of the city (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Old Courts Woods, June 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
Serious concern
has been expressed by Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy on proposals to widen a
forestry road within Old Court Woods in Rochestown to fell forestry. A notice from
12 May 2020 has been put up at the Garryduff entrance that Coillte have applied
to the Department of Agriculture to create a wider road for 360 metres within
the heart of the woods.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “I have several constituents write to me express their worries of the site. Since the boundary extension last year, Cork City has inherited this very beautiful 26-hectare forest amenity managed by An Coillte. It is a site I am rediscovering over the past year since it passed into the city especially from a historical perspective of the Old Court estate and the Battle of Douglas in 1922 was held across the woods. Plus I have been vocal many times in the Council Chamber that the City Council needs an effective urban forestry management strategy within the city area. This should also connect to other entities such as An Coilte for cross collaborative work.
Since the
outbreak of Covid Old Court Woods has seen a big increase in day to day usage
by locals for walking with their children and really has stood out as a public
local amenity. The people I have met have described it as an oasis in the heart
of suburban living. And to be fair to An Coilte they have done a good
management job over the decades.
Many locals have expressed the view to me though that the woods are very small and the amount of timber that can be harvested is low, especially versus the amount of destruction which will be carried out by another felling. Locals have noted that some trees were never replanted some years back leaving a large gap with very little protection for remaining trees. So every time there is a new storm, we lose more trees again.
The Red Squirrel, which I have seen myself on my walks in the forest, are becoming more and more rare in Ireland and the destruction of their habitat would also be lessened by further tree felling.
I do realise that Old Court is a working forest but with more and more houses being constructed in upper Rochestown, I am calling on An Coillte to consider the plans they rolled out in Dublin to be also applied to Cork City. Coillte has announced that all nine of its forests in Dublin are changing to non-commercial recreational use.
The move means an end to commercial
operations in the woods and will result in more bio diverse and climate
resilient forests. It was heartening to hear that there will be no more
planting, in Dublin, of Sitka Spruce the dominant species in Coillte’s
plantations. It will gradually be replaced by native species
including many more broad leaf varieties. Clear felling large areas will be
phased out and replaced by a system called continuous cover. This will see some mature trees
removed from areas to allow new planting and new growth as the forest canopy is
thinned.
And lastly the access to public information on plans on the Department of Agriculture’s website needs to be a lot more people friendly if public consultation is to be really inclusive. An online interactive map would be great. It is a very difficult public consultation public information portal. I am calling upon the public with an interest in Old Court Woods to email their comments on the proposal for the widened forestry road to the Department of Agriculture at forestryappeng@agriculture.gov.ie before 11 June”.
Old Court Woods Site Notice, 30 May 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
The Marina, Cork, late May 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy) The Atlantic Pond, The Marina, Cork, late May 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy) The Marina, Cork, late May 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy) Cygnets, The Atlantic Pond, Marina, Cork, late May 2020 (picture: Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
As
the weeks of early summer 1920 progressed, tensions escalated and violence ensued
between the IRA and British forces. One additional element of force, which
appears more and more in witness statements and across the newspapers of 1920, was
the use of arson. It was used on both sides of the conflict especially in the
destruction of buildings (and an aspect, which culminated in the Burning of
Cork in December 1920).
In
May 1920, the burning of old landed estate big houses began and intensified as
the war of Independence progressed. Historian James Donnelly in a journal
article in Éire-Ireland in 2012 records that burnings of such houses were a
common occurrence in County Cork but were rare outside of the county. Fifty Big
Houses and suburban villas were burned there before the Truce in July 1921. Forty of the fifty structures were burned
throughout Cork from April 1921 onwards to the Truce on 11 July 1921.
On early Tuesday
morning 25 May 1920 Kilbrittain Castle, a splendid ancient building, seven
miles from Bandon and standing on an eminence overlooking a most scenic spot,
was at midnight seriously destroyed by arson.
IRA volunteers were determined to prevent the occupation of the mansions
in question by British military or police forces or sought to punish their
owners for allowing or encouraging such use. The IRA’s first burning of a Cork
Big House was certain to seize public attention because of the sheer size,
prominence, and opulence of the Kilbrittain Castle mansion destroyed. The
damage was estimated at least £100,000.
The original Kilbrittain Castle dated from the
eleventh century, but the property was extensively re-modelled in the middle
ages, and later in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Stawell
family. In 1906 it was the property of Colonel William Stawell and valued at
£182.
There were 60 rooms in the Castle, which included a ballroom and banqueting
hall. The corridors in it were extensive, and in front there was an
exceptionally grand lawn and a fine kitchen garden.
From 1913 onwards the
castle as residence lay idle. In 1918 the estate was auctioned in Dublin, and
the purchasers were based in Cork City Mr. Denis VDoyle of Maryville,
Victoria road and Mr Daniel O’Riordan of Clarence Street (now Gerald Griffin
Street). They acquired it for a sum of £15,000. Neither of the purchasers, who
were well-known Cork citizens, save in the summer, took over the Castle as a
residence. The land surrounding the residence comprised over 500 acres of which
200 acres were woodlands and were being harvested – over 40,000 tons of timber.
Of this quantity 2,000 tons or thereabouts was cut down and sold. The men, numbering
over 20, engaged in this work were accommodated and their families with
apartments in the Castle. Some of the felled timber went to Burren pier for
shipment to Cardiff and Newport. Other quantities were carted to the nearby railway
station at Bandon for transport to Cork, where it was sold. The 300 acres of
the estate was good farming land, and this was let to tenants.
On 24 May 1920 the
Castle was occupied by the men employed cutting the trees and their families,
and it appears they were ordered to leave the Castle by the IRA volunteers and
take as much as they could take within ten minutes before the building was to
be set on fire.
Denis
Lordan, Quarter Master with the Cork No.3
Brigade, 1919-1921, in his witness statement (WS470) held at the Bureau
of Military History, outlines that tensions between the local Volunteer
battalion and the local Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were simmering and ongoing
for two years previously and that the May 1920 burning should not be looked at
in isolation but had a deep historical context.
Previous to the purchase of the lands by
Doyle and Riordan in 1918 a number of families in Kilbrittain village had
rented on a yearly basis portions of these lands for tilling and grazing and
for many of them it was their sole means of livelihood. When the lands were
sold on, the tenants were outbid and felt very much aggrieved by the event. Abortive
attempts were made to negotiate peaceful settlements of the dispute and finally
a boycott was declared. All those working on the estate in tree felling were to
cease work. A certain number of men persisted in working and one day a steam
tractor used for hauling timber to Bandon was fired on and one of the workers
was wounded. After the shooting affair Doyle and Riordan applied to the British
authorities for police protection.
Brigade
Staff Officer and member of Cork No.3 Brigade, Michael Crowley in his witness
statement, now held in the Bureau of Military History (no. WS 1603), takes up the
story that the RIC gave Doyle and Riordan police protection and occupied the
castle. The police force sent out day and night patrols into the neighbouring
countryside. But observation by Volunteers revealed a set pattern for patrols and
they ambushed a patrol of eight men and officer disarming them at Rathclarin,
Kilbrittain. A sergeant, however, had time to draw his bayonet and inflicted a
severe head wound on Lieutenant Michael O’Neill of Maryboro, Kilbrittain. The
nine RIC men though were released.
Further
small ambushes ensued across 1919 and 1920. Michael Crowley records that by
April and May 1920, his battalion were continually endeavouring to locate RIC
patrols, which usually patrolled the countryside for some miles around their
barracks. Despite being on the RIC’s most wanted list, they continued to engage
and disarm RIC members. However, by August 1920 in the overall picture of
County Cork as many as eight infantry battalions (20 percent of the total) and
one cavalry regiment were stationed in the county or city (of Cork alone). The
historical tensions had been replaced with all-out war.
Captions:
1050a.
Kilbrittain House, c.1910 (source: Cork City Library).
1050b. Section
of Ordnance Survey of Kilbrittain Castle estate, c.1910 (picture: Cork City
Library)
A €250 million Restart Fund has been
created nationally by the Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation to
help micro and small enterprises with the costs of reopening during Covid-19.
Companies can apply to their local
authority for a grant of an amount equivalent to no more than their 2019 rates
bill. There will be a cap of €10,000.
The grant can be used to pay ongoing
fixed costs, for replenishing stock and for measures needed to ensure employee
and customer safety.
To receive the grant from Cork City
Council a business must:
Have an existing rate
account with the Cork City Council
Have an annual turnover of
less than €5 million and employ between 1 to 50 people
Have closed or suffered a
projected 25% or more loss in turnover to the end June 2020
Commit to remain open or to
reopen if it was closed
Declare the intention to
retaining employees that are on the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and to
reemploy staff on the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment where
applicable
Over the past few weeks, large numbers of SMEs have contacted Cork City’s Local Enterprise Office, which is located at Cork City Hall and works in conjunction with Cork City Council. The LEO has been a central component in the Government’s and Council’s response to the needs of small business in dealing with the repercussions of Covid-19.
At last week’s online City Council Covid-19 briefing Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has praised the efforts of the LEO office and called for even more supports to be put in place to meet the large interest in the Trading Online Voucher Scheme and mentoring programmes. Cllr McCarthy noted: “As the economy moves into restart phase, the local enterprise office is continuing to adapt its training, advice and guidance to respond to the needs of business. The LEO continues to manage its existing and very positive business support programmes to mass interest”.
Under the Government’s National Digital Strategy, the expanded Trading Online Voucher Scheme helps small businesses with up to 10 employees to trade more online, boost sales and reach new markets. There is up to €2,500 available through the Local Enterprise Offices with co-funding of 10% from the business. Training and further business supports are also provided by Local Enterprise Offices, and businesses that have already received a Trading Online Voucher can now apply for a second voucher, where upgrades are required. Funding can be used towards adding payment facilities or booking systems to your website or developing new apps for your customers. The voucher can also be used towards subscriptions to low cost online retail platform solutions, to help companies quickly establish a retailing presence online.
Under the Local Enterprise Office Mentor Programme, clients work with an experienced mentor to identify solutions to areas of exposure within their business. With advice and guidance from their mentor, clients develop strategies that are more robust, which address issues and maximise potential opportunities when the COVID-19 crisis comes to an end. Mentoring services are now free of charge. Weekly free business advice clinics are now being held by telephone or through video conferencing e.g. Skype/Zoom.
The COVID-19 Business Loan from Microfinance Ireland (MFI), in partnership with Local Enterprise Offices, is a Government-funded initiative to support small businesses through the current period of uncertainty. It is designed for micro-enterprises that are a) having difficulty accessing Bank finance and b) impacted, or may be impacted negatively, by COVID-19 resulting in a reduction of 15% or more in turnover or profit.
The Business Continuity Voucher, available through Local Enterprise Offices, is designed for businesses across every sector that employ up to 50 people. The voucher is worth up to €2,500 in third party consultancy costs and can be used by companies and sole traders to develop short-term and long-term strategies to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal is to help companies make informed decisions about what immediate measures and remedial actions should be taken, to protect staff and sales. Further information on the above can be viewed at https://www.localenterprise.ie/CorkCity/
