Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, Cork Independent,

In the Footsteps of St. Finbarre (Part 225)

Strangers and Shadows

“Outside of here, there must be a world. There’s other places and colours, and there must be cities and towns and villages with people, right? Stories must clash about and finish abruptly or start afresh and live for moments or maybe days even. And these stories must be shapeless and free and twist into new directions and possibilities….and people move from one story to the next, from a moment’s conversation to a whole life’s dialogue, maybe” (Enda Walsh, 2010, Penelope, p.49).

It began as an early day-a 5.30am family funeral. The family dog had died over night. In the early morning daylight and surrealness of being shocked and upset, the back garden unfolded as a funeral home. It became a place of mourning. The enclosing hedgerow and garden shed provided a setting for the grave of the 13 year old terrier, Sandy, who had been suffering from heart problems for a number of weeks. A grave was dug and the dog covered and laid to rest in a space she knew really well as her home turf.

However, in those early morning hours, it struck me that here was a private space in a sense invaded by death and its devastating wake. This place apart from being bounded by its history seems to be bound up with the mind as well. The meanings and memory of places can change according to circumstances. Currykippane which the column has discussed and its story been scratched at, has human emotion in abundance. Through the signs and symbols on gravestones, it is a place for memory to thrive. However, with such a place, not only is sincerity and loss very much present but also a form of playfulness with memory or some kind of rich power attempting to pull time and forgetting apart.

Hours later after the funeral, my planned holiday was upon me. Cork Airport is a place of coming and going and a place of beginnings of discoveries and explorations; a place that always seems to begin with one situating yourself  – whether that be looking at the clock, plane number or even finding the gate. The people waiting with me for my Paris flight were engaging with a range of activities. Ipods, Harry Potter books, newspapers all brought people to other worlds and imaginative destinations. The two kids on the floor in front of me, playing with ‘dinky’ cars had a whole racecourse set up complete with car crashes and adventure until their mum stepped in and crushed their story as passengers negotiated their race car track or maybe even town or city they had made.

An hour and twenty minutes later on a plane and a thirty minute underground spin, I emerged out the dark landscapes of travel in Paris City Centre. It is believed that a settlement on the present site of Paris was founded about 250 BC by a Celtic tribe called the Parisii, who established a fishing village near the river Seine. Through civil wars, revolutions, kings, emperors, Paris survived the test of time to become a multicultural capital of a modern European state and one of the world’s major global cities. However, what is impressive about the history of this great city is how its history is presented to the public for consumption, monument after monument, memorial after memorial across the city centre.

Reading into the meanings of these memorials reveal many aspects of how people remember them. Every evening of my stay I walked up from my nearby accommodation to the Arc de Triomphe to engage with some of the atmosphere. The Champs-Élysées boulevard, which leads to the monument, seemed to create a public interaction with place as it channels people to the lit up Arc at night. The Arc de Triomphe itself tends to act as both a memorial and an object of pilgrimage. The triumphal arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Every night of my visit, people made their way to stand under the structure, admire its height, its lines of architecture and also the most dominant feature the burning light of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument seems to be both personal and cultural. The monument provided some basis for self reflection as well as communication with others. 

The Arc de Triomphe also serves a space for coming together. It creates an emotionally charged place and is possessed by the ongoing public gaze and the life of its visitors. Perhaps the monumentality of life is also celebrated here. But the most interesting marker I encountered was on a faded message on a tomb in Père–Lachaise Cemetery, which was one of the first landscaped cemeteries in Europe and opened in 1804. It was here that for me another aspect of the power of symbolism and memory were revealed. The most interesting element though is that I saw a similar message at Currykippane in the lovely rural setting of the Lee Valley;“There are days that might outmeasure years that obliterate the past, and make the future, of the colour which they cast”.

Heritage Open Day, this Saturday 28^th , www.corkheritageopenday.ie

Captions:

554a. Arc de Triomphe, Paris (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

554b. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arc de Triomphe

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, Cork Independent,

19 August 2010

Kieran’s Heritage Week

National Heritage Week is upon us again next week (21^st – 29^th August). It’s going to be a busy week. I have set up a number of events. They are all free and I welcome any public support for the activities outlined below:

Sunday, 22 August, 2pm, “Heritage Treasure Hunt”, A family and fun activity; start point: outside Cork City Library, Grand Parade, Cork, Duration: 1 ¼ hours

This is a family activity, which leads participants into the heart of old Cork looking for clues. This year the focus is on South Parish area, Clues will be found in the heart of Douglas Street to St. Finbarre’s Cathedral. The trail is a hands on activity that requires looking up and around at Cork’s built heritage.

Monday, 23 August, 7pm; “Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth:  A historical walking tour through Ballinlough and environs”, start point: Ballinlough Pitch and Putt car park, opp. Pairc Ui Rinn, Cork, duration: 1 ½ hours

With 360 acres, Ballinlough is the second largest of the seven townlands forming the Mahon Peninsula. This October, Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough celebrates 75 years since the laying of its foundation stone. However, the area has a deeper history dating back to Bronze Age Ireland. In fact it is probably the only urban area in the country to still have a standing stone still standing in it for over 5,000 years. My walk will highlight this heritage along with tales of landlords, big houses, rural life in nineteenth century Ballinlough and the development of its twentieth century suburban history.

Tuesday, 24 August, 11am; lecture entitled ‘The southern suburbs: a history of Ballyphehane and Turners Cross”, Tory Top Library, Ballyphehane, duration: 1 hour

By the mid 1920’s, the South Parish of Cork City had grown in both population and area to a point where it could no longer function with a single church. In an effort to address the situation, the bishop of Cork, Rev. Daniel Cohalan D.D designated Turners Cross as the location for a second parish church to serve the ever growing congregation. One of the key features of the area is the iconic church created by architect Barry Byrne and sculptor John Storrs, the Church of Christ The King. The talk takes this church and other important historical gems of the area as its focus.  The talk also addresses aspects of Ballyphehane as one of the oldest suburbs in Cork created as part of a post-World War II initiative to create a model community in Cork.

Tuesday, 24 August, 7.30pm; lecture entitled: “Tales of Theatre and the Arts in Cork’s History”; Civic Trust House, Pope’s Quay, Cork, duration: 1 hour

As a city on the very edge of Western Europe, Cork has grown due to an anthology of influences. As a port city, Cork has always been open to influences, both geographically and culturally, to Europe and the World. As Corkonians, we have a large range of strong cultural traditions from the city’s history to GAA, festivals, literature, art and to the rich Cork accent itself. We can be very proud of the city’s achievements through time.  The activity of Cork’s artists, musicians, writers, poets and players is evident on our streets, in our galleries and on our stages. In this light, the central theme of this talk is to explore is the development of theatre in the city in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Friday 25 August, 9-5pm, Kieran’s Lee Valley photographic exhibition for Water Heritage Day at the Lifetime Lab, Lee Road Cork (www.lifetimelab.ie)

Photography also has the ability to stop the viewer, to impress and make the viewer question, wonder, dream, remember, disturb, explore and not forget – promoting a reaction. With all that in mind, my photographic exhibition attempts to capture the many moods and colours of the River Lee Valley, the characters who have interacted with it, the major events and the minor common happenings to construct a rich and vivid mosaic of life by and on the water.

Saturday, 29 August, 1.30pm; History and Legacy: A historical walking tour through Cork City Hall, start point: City Hall, Anglesea Street entrance, required booking in advance with heritage office, Cork City Hall, 021 4924018, duration: 1 hour

One of the most splendid buildings of Cork is Cork City Hall. The limestone structure replaced the old City Hall, destroyed by British troops on 11 December 1920. The foundation stone of the new City Hall, which was build at the same place as the old building, was laid by the Executive Council of the State, Mr. Eamonn de Valera, on 9 July 1932. In March 1935 the first staff members of a few departments of the city administration moved into the western wing of the building. The first council meeting was held in City Hall on the 24^th  April 1935. Celebrating its 75^th anniversary next year, the building was officially opened by the Irish President on 8^th September 1936.

Further information on any of the above, contact Cllr Kieran McCarthy, 0876553389, www.corkheritage.ie. Also check out the overall the Cork heritage week brochure, available from Cork City Libraries.

Captions:

553a. Red coat re-enactors at the recent Cork Military Show in Cork City Gaol Heritage Centre, August 2010 (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

553b. Beautiful design work on pulpit in St Finbarre’s Cathedral, open on Cork Heritage Open Day, Saturday 28 August 2010 (www.corkheritageopenday.ie)