Kieran’s Our City, Our Town,

Cork Independent, 29 April 2010

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 210)

A Village Transforms

The year 1945 coincided with a general depression over the Irish economy. Times were harsh and jobs were few. It was only in 1959 when Eamonn de Valera became President and the new Taoiseach was Sean Lemass when a series of plans to rebuild the Irish economy really began. The memories of the bloody struggle for independence, the partition of the country were also still fresh for the Irish public. Sean T.O’Kelly became the second President of Ireland in 1945 (till 1959). He had been involved in the 1916 rising and was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1918 until his election as President. Due to a loss of support by a majority of TDs, he also had to dissolve the Dáil on four occasions (in 1948, 1951, 1954 and 1957).

Guy’s Directory of Cork in 1945 (available in Cork City Library) for the Ballincollig region details a large farming base with approximately 55 farmers listed. Like most towns, it provided a number of services. Ballincollig’s post mistress was M. Duggan; the shopkeepers were J.  Boyde, P. O’Connell, T. Coakley;  Sergeant P. White was in charge of the ‘Civic Guard’s Station’;  Mrs. H Beechinor was one of the local victuallers,  P.J. Lynch, a vintner,  J. Crowley, a local doctor, J. Flynn, a horse dealer,  F. O’Sullivan and D.O’Sullivan, local harness makers and Ford and Sons, local builders.

The national school teachers were Miss A. Horgan, J. Coughlan, J. Long, Miss M.O’Neill, Mrs E. O’Neill, Mrs Clancy and Miss O’Riordan.  Rev. J. Sexton (1930 to 1953) and Rev. P. Sheehan, were the parish priests. Mr. T.H.G. Wallis, was a local solicitor who lived in Parknamore.  J. Mahony was a motor agent.  William Murphy was the caretaker of Powder Mills whilst  W. Egar was manager of the local creamery. Mrs. Riordan headed up the dispensary whilst T. Riordan was the local blacksmith. In 1945 D.O’Keeffe is recorded as the station master whilst J.O’Neill was the signal man  Ten years previously Ballincollig railway station closed to passenger traffic on 1 July 1935, closed to goods traffic on 10 March 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 December 1953.

There was also a movement into urban centres from rural areas. The Journals of Ballincollig Community School, Local History Society reveal that between 1948 and 1955, Cork County Council purchased land and developed four local authority-housing schemes at Ballincollig and Carrigrohane – three housing schemes were completed in the vicinity of the East Gate viz. Leo Murphy Terrace, Fr. Sexton Park and Peter O’Donovan Crescent (early 1960s development). Village life was enlivened by the playing of the village children, fancy dress parades and by the Aonach festival, organised in 1948 to raise money for the building of Scoil Eoin and the Repair of the church. Almost £15,000 was raised. Teachers, Gardaí and priests form the backbone of every local community. Mr. Eugene O’Callaghan taught in the boy’s school between 1922 and 1964. In his last 25 years he was principal in Scoil Eoin.

The Rainbow Ballroom on the Carrigrohane Straight was a centre of attraction from 1949 to 1967. Dances, plays, concerts formed the entertainment and provided the memories – For example McNamara’s Band. In 1955, James Dillon, Minister of Agriculture, opened the Cork Farmers’ Union Factory in Ballincollig. It later became Byrne’s meats before it closed in the mid 1980s. From the early 1950s and the early 1960s, Hennessy’s of Cork assembled cars, bikes and lorries in Ballincollig. Their name is mainly associated with DW cars. Both John A Wood’s and O’Regans have been working in the Ovens-Ballincollig area since the early part of the century.

In the 1970s, Ballincollig developed as much more of a satellite town, with many housing developments constructed around the old village and housing people who worked in Cork City or its suburbs. This expansion continued through the late 80s and 90s. Consequently the town’s population has risen dramatically, particularly with the westward expansion of the town. A total of 10,000 people are recorded for 1982.

The most recent change came with the Government decision in July 1998 that Murphy Barracks, along with five others, would be closed and disposed of, thus facilitating and supporting a much needed reinvestment programme to meet the on–going equipment and infrastructure needs of the Defence Forces. With the purchase of the property from the Department of Defence in O’Flynn Construction took the opportunity to construct a new town centre for Ballincollig comprising residential, commercial and retail elements. Today the population of the town and environs stands at 20,000 people.

Ballincollig has played a large role in Irish history climbing from the role of a key gunpowder mill in the British empire of the nineteenth century to the current presence of multi-nationals and their role in the present globalised world. With such changes, Ballincollig’s identity as a place has fluctuated as each generation and different town functions brought new people to the town. A great narrative exists through the lens of Ballincollig’s heritage on telling the story of how Ireland’s identity changed and continues to evolve by different interest groups. A wonderful opportunity also now exists to integrate the historic sites into the fabric of the town of Ballincollig.

To be continued…

Captions:

537a. Present day Ballincollig Town Centre (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

537b. Contrasts, modern housing and the Lee Valley, Ballincollig Old Quarter, June 2006

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town article, Cork Independent, 22 April 2010

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 209)

The Quiet Revolution

In the Ireland of the 1940s and 1950s, Irish people saw widespread electrification and mechanisation of their way of life. The physical and cultural fabric of Ballincollig also experienced vast change. In particular, on Tuesday 20^th and Wednesday 21^st January 1948, the Hurler’s Hall in Ballincollig became the ESB’s base for demonstrating the benefits of electricity to the general public in rural areas not yet possessing the technology.

Approximately 300 people turned up to the Wednesday evening as revealed through archived field notes by P.J. Ennis of the Development Division. His notes can now be read in the ESB Archive in Dublin. P.J. Ennis talks of Ballincollig as close to Cork City and having electricity for quite a while and hence was a central hub for attracting people from the surrounding region to hear the ESB’s sales pitch. He noted that a Mr Lyons made a thorough sales canvass immediately after the display and harnessed the ‘new’ hire purchase agreements as a means of inducing very small famers to buy into the kettle and iron sales.

Between 1923 and 1929 an Electricity Supply Bill was proposed in order to establish Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board. The state board was founded on 11 August 1927, focusing on the countrywide distribution of electricity and the promotion of its use. The marketing for the electricity campaign proved successful and in the ten years from 1932 to 1942 the number of the Board’s customers jumped from 77,134 to 200,000. The initial stages of electrification were confined to large towns and large villages. In 1932 the demand for electricity was approaching capacity and the Board had to look again at the River Liffey hydro electric scheme project. The war years was a tough period in the history of the ESB as the Board struggled to provide supplies for its customers.

Developments were not confined to increasing generation capacity and a major step was taken on the distribution side of the business when in August 1943, the then Irish government announced its approval of the ESB scheme for rural electrification. In Michael J. Shiel’s book (2003) The Quiet Revolution: The Electrification of Rural Ireland, 1946-1976, he outlines the ESB’s strategies for a successful rollout.

William F. Roe (1904-1982) was the electrical engineer who led the rural electrification scheme in Ireland. A Kilkenny man William Roe’s early career in the ESB saw him as District Engineer in Portlaoise, Waterford and Cork City. When the Rural Electrification Scheme was initiated in 1945, William Roe was based at the ESB station on Albert Road in Cork. In 1950, he was appointed Assistant Chief Engineer of the ESB and in 1965 Deputy Chief Engineer, all the time keeping his finger on the pulse of the Rural Scheme.

Despite many post-war difficulties, the scheme got under way in 1946 and the first pole was erected at Kilsallaghan, County Dublin on 5 November 1946. By the following year an area for development had been established in twenty-three of the twenty-six counties. In 1948, seven of the areas had been completed. Area officers of the Board were urged to have a word with the parish priest or work through such organiza­tions as Muintir na Tíre, Young Farmers’ Clubs or the ICA. There were always some people in every parish who were anxious to procure electrici­ty for their area. Inniscarra was the first rural electrification scheme to be put in operation in County Cork. The Cork Examiner on 23 December 1947 reported:

“By throwing a switch at Curaheen a few miles from Ballincollig yester­day afternoon, Mr Henry Golden, Cork, ESB, brought light to 100 houses in the Inniscarra area. When Mr Golden operated the switch, which was on a pole, a lamp on the pole was lighted and bulbs in nearby houses glowed in the gathering darkness. Thirty-two more houses will receive their electric current supply soon after Christmas, and by March 750 houses which have contracted to take supply in this area will have the benefits of electricity”.

An account is given by two ESB officials in Aghabullogue, Con O’Shea and his assistant Jerry Linehan. The two of them, working together and marketing electricity visited every house. They answered any questions asked by the local community. Prior to doing the survey they were advised never to visit too early in the morning and never to refuse a cup of tea. They cycled all over the parish and completed the survey in three months. The organizing committee was overjoyed when it was announced that their application was suc­cessful and eventually the power was switched on in September 1949.

Even though electricity was now available, people were still very slow in making full use of the facility. The rural electrification scheme made steady progress and by 1959 75 per cent of the country was completed. However, it was not until 1975 that the last area, the Black valley in County Kerry, was electrified. By that time, more than 370,000 rural dwellers had been supplied. The benefits to people of rural Ireland were widespread and revolutionary. Indeed, the programme has been called The Quiet Revolution.

To be continued…

Captions:

536a. Switch on at Inniscarra, 22 December 1947 (pictures: ESB Archives)

536b. picture of ‘gang’ of rollout of rural electrification scheme

 Kieran’s Our City, Our Town article, Cork Independent, 15 April 2010

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 208)

That Flying Spirit

Enormous work was pursued in the late 1980s and early 1990s by history teacher Dermot Lucey of Ballincollig Community School who encouraged his students to document the changing village of Ballincollig in the twentieth century. That work culminated in a number of annual historical journals. They shine a light on people, events and transformations within Ballincollig over the century.

By 1900, an elaborate village social structure was well in place in Ballincollig comprising military, police, clergy, teachers, shop-owners, vintners and landowners. The main employers during the early twentieth century were the gravel pits of John A. Wood and at O’Regan’s Poulavone as well as the military presence. These all contributed to the local economy.

However, from reading the journals one can also learn of Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock, a World War I flying ace who was born on 24 May 1887 in Ballincollig. Edward grew up to be a master of air strategy. After joining the Royal Air Force during World War I, he officially shot down 73 enemy planes. Edward received many honours for his courage including the Victoria Cross. He was shot down in 1918 by enemy ground fire while assisting a young pilot. His body was never recovered.

In 1922 Ballincollig Barracks was formally handed over by the War Department to the new Irish State. During the ensuing Civil War, the barracks was burned and was only reopened in 1940 when it was named Murphy Barracks in memory of a former Officer Commanding 3rd Batallion 1st Cork Brigade, who saw active service during the War of Independence and was killed in action at Waterfall on 22 June 1921.

During the Second World War the Irish army began to use the Barracks after it lay in ruins for almost 20 years. Manoeuvres were conducted by the LDF and the army in the Barracks and in the surrounding district, including the guarding of the level crossing on the Cork-Macroom line, near Maglin and the locating of a checkpoint on Inniscarra Bridge.

In the 1930s also a number of flying circuses came to Ballincollig and used the landing field behind the ruined barracks for their displays. Alan Cobham’s was the most famous of these. The public enjoyed the thrill of air flights, parachute drops, giro copters and the exploits of two of Britain’s youngest pilots, Miss Winnifred Drinwater and Sir Alan Cobham.

A member of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, Alan Cobham became famous as a pioneer of long distance aviation. After the war he became a test pilot for the de Havilland aircraft company. In 1921 he made a 5,000 mile air tour of Europe, visiting 17 cities in 3 weeks. In 1928 he flew a Short Singapore flying boat around the continent of Africa landing only in British territory. In August 1926, he flew from England to Australia where 60,000 people swarmed across the grassy fields of Essendon Airport, Melbourne when he landed his DH.50 float plane. On 25 November 1926, Alan Cobham attempted but failed to be the first person to deliver mail to New York City by air from the east, planning to fly mail by taking off from the White Star ocean liner RMS Homeric in a De Havilland DH.

In 1932 Alan Cobham started the National Aviation Day displays. They comprised a team of up to fourteen aircraft, ranging from single-seaters to modern airliners and many skilled pilots. The displays toured the Britain and Ireland, calling at hundreds of sites, some of them regular airfields and some just fields cleared for the occasion like Ballincollig. Generally known as “Cobham’s Flying Circus”, it was hugely popular, giving thousands of people their first experience of flying. The displays continued until the end of the 1935 season. Indeed, the presence of Cobham’s Flying Circus led to considering Ballincollig as a possible location for Cork Airport, but this suggestion was rejected because of the nearby hills.

Ballincollig also enjoyed considerable success in GAA fields in the 1940s when the Club featured in the County Senior Hurling Final in 1941, 1942 and 1943. Two of Ballincollig’s most famous players were Paddy “Hitler” Healy and Billy “Long Puck” Murphy. Paddy Healy was both a hurler and footballer and won All-Ireland medals in both sports. Paddy Healy won his All-medals during the 1940s. In Hurling, he won medals as a substitute in 1943 and 1944 and he won his third medal playing right wing forward in 1946. Whilst he played for Ballincollig during most of his playing career, he also played with Clonakilty when he was stationed there as a member of the 31^st Army Battalion. Between 1944 and 1952 he won four Cork County football titles with Clonakilty and he won his All-Ireland football medal in 1945. He said he got his nickname “Hitler”- during the war years because he was “game for anything” and he had a similar hairstyle to the real Hitler.

Billy Murphy was born in 1915 in Ballincollig. He was successful in the Ballincollig Hurling Team. As he struck the ball probably longer than any other player has ever done, he will always be remembered as “long puck” Murphy. He won All-Ireland medals at right corner-back for Cork.

To be continued…

Captions:

535a. Checkpoint on Inniscarra Bridge during World War II (pictures: Ballincollig Community School Collection)

535b. Cobham’s Flying Circus at Ballincollig on the banks of the River Lee, 1930s

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town article,

Cork Independent, 8 April 2010 

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 207)

A Place for Us

Next week I present a lecture to the Cork Adult Education Council annual lunchtime lecture series entitled In Search of Gougane Barra: History and Memory (Crawford Art Gallery, Wednesday, 14 April, 2010, 1pm). It has been great to revisit the memories at the beginning of the valley. In particular I am quite taken by the late nineteenth century renewal of Gougane Barra by Fr Patrick Hurley. In 1872 the Bishop of Cork Rev. Dr William Delaney, Bishop of Cork wished to raise the profile of the pilgrimage island in Gougane Barra. He paid a visit to the Carthusian monks in the Chartreuse Mountains, to the north of the city of Grenoble in France His visit aimed to get some of the monks to settle in Gougane Barra.

It perhaps can be speculated that Bishop Delany saw similarities in terms of sacred characteristics between the remote sites of Chartreuse and Gougane. Four of the Carthusian monks came the next year to see Gougane Barra but abandoned the idea. However, their advent had one result – the leasing of the island on 29 January 1873 at a nominal rent of one shilling from Mr Townsend, Uncle of a Captain Townsend, the proprietor, to the Catholic Bishop of Cork Bishop William Delany and Parish Priest of Inchigeela, Fr Jeremiah Holland (as evidenced through documents in the Diocese of Cork & Ross Archives).

Fr Patrick Hurley, who accompanied Dr. Delany in his visit to the Grand Chartreuse, was appointed parish priest of the surrounding parish of Gougane Barra in 1888. This appointment was made in May 1888 on the death of Fr Jeremiah Holland. Fr Patrick Hurley’s obituary in The Cork Examiner, on 26 June 1908 and in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland for 1909 reveals a learned man with a strong intellect. In particular he had a passion and an interest in the power of education in helping the less well off and in ideas of heritage management and harnessing those ideas for the good of the society.  Born in 1841 in Eniskeane, near Bandon, Co. Cork, Fr Hurley certainly would have had experienced the ravages of the Famine in rural Ireland. He received his early education in the Diocesan Seminary in Cork and completed his course in the Irish College in Paris and he was ordained in 1865 at the age of 24.

After ordination, he was appointed to Schull, Co. Cork for a short time but was transferred in 1867 to Kilbrittain, Co. Cork and in 1869 he was appointed to Blackrock, Co. Cork.  After spending six years in Blackrock, Fr Hurley was transferred to SS Mary and Anne’s North Cathedral, Cork City – He was elected as chaplain to Bishop Delany.

During his late thirties, Fr Hurley also developed an interest in the history of the Diocese of Cork and Ross. He published a number of articles in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record concerning Cork Bishops and their lives – namely Robert Barry, Bishop of Cork and Cloyne, 1647-1662 and Dr Patrick Comerford, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, 1629-1652.

Two years after the death of Bishop Delany, Fr Hurley was involved in securing Gougane Barra for the Diocese of Cork in 1888. Subsequently he was sent to Gougane Barra by the new Bishop O’Callaghan to administer in that area of West Cork. Fr Hurley’s continued interest in antiquities is reflected in the fact he became a member of the Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland in 1890 and in time became honorary local secretary for County Cork.

Fr Hurley also became a committee member and a contributor of articles (1892 & 1896) to the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. In his first contribution to the first volume of the journal series he admits to having been engaged in collecting materials, which might serve to unveil the past history of the Diocese of Cork.

Fr Hurley also highlights his early work at Gougane Barra in managing the area’s heritage. In Fr Hurley’s commentary (1892) in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society he notes that the trees had become decayed and the walls of the enclosure in Gougane Barra, where tradition had it that St Finbarr had his cell were in a very dilapidated state. Fr. Hurley had the walls repaired, new stations of the cross in terracotta erected and also the cross restored where it formerly stood. He also engaged in the design of a new oratory which brought new meanings to the landscape of Gougane Barra.

Fr Hurley’s obituary of 1908 in the Cork Examiner also acknowledges him as a staunch advocate of the Irish language movement. He noted that on his arrival he found the language on the point of going. In an attempt to encourage the use of the Irish language in schools, Fr. Hurley made the acquaintance of Rev. Richard O’Daly, a priest of a diocese of Goulbourne, Australia. In the summer of 1903 Fr Daly invited Irish scholars to Ballingeary from several parts of Ireland. This was the start of the Irish college in the region. It was found the accommodation at Gougane Barra was too limited and it was arranged to have the Irish college opened in Ballingeary.

More at Kieran’s lecture: In Search of Gougane Barra, History and Memory, Kieran McCarthy, Crawford Art Gallery, Wednesday 14 April, 2010, 1-2pm

Captions:

534a. Pilgrims at Gougane Barra, c.1900 (picture: Cork City Library)

534b.Tomb of Fr. Denis O’Mahony; He established the present cells on the pilgrimage island in the early eighteenth century (picture: Kieran McCarthy).