Monthly Archives: February 2016

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 25 February 2016

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

832a. View of Liscarroll Castle, published in 1764, published as part of coat of arms of the Perceval family, Earls of Egmont

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 25 February 2016

 

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 50)

The Battle for Liscarroll Castle

 

    The Confederate army in their first incidents of war in late 1641 cleared Kilkenny and Tipperary of the English recently planted there (see last week’s column). It was decided to march to Cork to try and take the county and city. The Roches, McDonagh McCarthys, O’Callaghans, O’Keeffes and Magners joined the swollen ranks of the Confederates at Two Pot House. Fast forward through campaigns in Limerick and its region, and towards the end of August, 1642, General Garret Barry had moved into Cork and advanced on Liscarroll Castle at the head of an army comprising 7,000 men, 500 horse, a train of artillery and a giant battering ram.

    Much is written on the history of Liscarroll Castle. I draw upon the information panels by Dúchas, the Heritage Service at the site, and general historical journals of Charleville and Buttevant, and articles by historians Denis O’ Connell and Edward Garner. All highlight that the structure was developed by the Barry family and is one of the top five of Ireland’s largest thirteenth century castles. It has 30 feet high walls, five great towers and an impressive gateway set in the south wall. In 1637 the structure came into the hands of Sir Philip Perceval as part of a grant from King Charles I. By 1641 Perceval had carried out extensive fortifying work, garrisoned the castle and placed it in the charge of Sergeant Thomas Raymond. Raymond figures quite prominently in the little history known about the stronghold and suffered the humiliation of allowing his charge to fall into the hands of the Irish twice during the wars of the Confederation.

   On 30 August 1642 Barry arrived before the castle’s walls at Liscarroll and began to lay siege. Raymond had to face Barry with a garrison of 30 soldiers. Governor of Munster Lord Murrough McDermod O’Brien was 1st Earl of Inchiquin and he was aware of the Irish presence in North Cork, but his forces were not yet near enough to help Raymond. Before the advent of cannon it took surprisingly few to defend a castle against vastly higher numbers, but Raymond’s small force could be no match against the Irish outside the gates.

    General Barry placed his precious gun artillery to the south-east of the castle and within three days he had the stronghold in his hands. Raymond did his best and although assured of support from Inchiquin on the next day he felt forced to surrender on 2 September. With the castle now his, Barry decided to march onto Doneraile. However, news came to the Irish general that Lord Inchiquin’s forces were closing in on him and so decided to stand his ground at Liscarroll.

   On 3 September 1642, Inchiquin arrived at Liscarroll. Behind him came an army of 2,000 foot, 400 horse and artillery. It was not until his forces were fired upon from the castle walls that he realised that Barry had succeeded in driving back his English horse cavalry. Preparations now began for the major confrontation. Barry had the undoubted advantages. He picked the battle ground, to the east of the castle, and placed the English with the sun in their eyes. Numerically he was much the stronger, but it would be poor discipline that would count against him.

   The Irish Army divided into three main bodies, each with about 2,000 men, with the left wing closest to the walls near to the artillery. On the right the Irish cavalry were grouped in a separate body. Inchiquin also divided his army into three main groups. Musketeers formed the right and left with around 800 muskets and pikes in the main centre body. Inchiquin’s cavalry directly faced Barry’s. Artillery fire opened the proceedings, with little or no advantage to either side. An English musket advance received a severe drubbing and retreated back to the lines after an Irish attack. Inchiquin then moved his left wing forward and managed to turn round the Irish right. Following up the advantage of this Irish reverse, Inchiquin’s right wing, under Sir Charles Vasacour now moved onto Barry’s left wing, formed up by the castle’s west wall.

   Despite all his advantages Barry lost the day after seven hours of grim fighting. The poor discipline of his forces lost him the day, allowing the English to regroup when under severe pressure. Disciplined smaller numbers defeated larger, less controlled numbers and the Irish were obliged to retreat. Barry suffered the loss of six hundred soldiers, his hard won artillery train, 14 colours, 30 wagons and 300 muskets; the English also lost large numbers.

    Liscarroll Castle also featured in lesser engagements in the Confederate wars. Two years later Raymond managed to stave off a very determined Irish attack to regain the fortress and won the day when he led his garrison through the gates to fight the Irish beyond. Some measure of the Irish Army’s successes under their hero, Lord Castlehaven, came to 1645. Raymond had remained in charge and when Castlehaven threatened the castle, it fell into his hands without a shot being fired in anger against him. Thomas Raymond left Liscarroll and returned to England.

To be continued…

For more on North Cork history, check out Kieran’s and Dan Breen’s new book, North Cork Through Time (2015).

 

Captions:

832a. View of Liscarroll Castle, published in 1764, published as part of coat of arms of the Perceval family, Earls of Egmont (source: National Library of Ireland)

832a. Nineteenth century depiction of Liscarroll Castle by Robert O’Callaghan Newenham (source: Cork City Museum)

832c. View of southern gateway of Liscarroll Castle, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

832b. Nineteenth century depiction of Liscarroll Castle Robert O’Callaghan Newenham

832c. View of southern gateway of Liscarroll Castle, present day

Mahon Bus Gate, Terminus & Pedestrian/Cycle Ramps Project

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

Cork City Council, Press Release:


RE: PART 8 – PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS 2001 

Cork City Council propose to carry out improvement works on St. Michael’s Drive, Mahon Link Road and the Blackrock Amenity Walkway/Cycleway

The project aims to enhance the public realm and improve the level of service for all modes of transportation but with particular emphasis on sustainable modes of transportation (Bus, Cycle & Walking).

To achieve these aims it will be necessary to make the following modifications to the road layout:-

–         Two new pedestrian/cycle ramps will be constructed to connect the Mahon Link Road and the Blackrock Amenity Walkway/Cycleway.

–         The junction between St Michael’s Drive and the Mahon Link Road will be signalised and reconfigured.

–         The existing Blackrock Amenity Walkway/Cycleway will be widened, resurfaced, and enhanced between the two new ramps with installation of additional public lighting, CCTV etc

–         All bus stops along St Michaels Drive will be upgraded and real time passenger information displays installed.

–         Provision will be made for the installation of a new bus lane on St Michaels Drive (westbound).

–         A new controlled “Bus-Only” entrance with automatic bollards will be constructed into the Mahon Point Shopping Centre.

–         The easterly mini roundabout within Mahon Point Shopping Centre is to be relocated further south to allow for safe bus access.

–         Footpaths will be realigned repaved and widened where necessary.

–         Carriageways will repaved and relined where necessary.

–         Additional Public Lighting will be installed where necessary.

 

Particulars of the proposed measures will be available for inspection at the Reception Desk, Cork City Council, City Hall, Cork, from Monday, 22nd February 2016 until Monday the 4th April 2016 between the hours of 9.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Friday. Or visit www.corkcity.ie for details.

 

Submissions and observations, dealing with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area in which the proposed development is situated, may be made in writing in an envelope clearly marked “Mahon Bus Gate, Terminus & Pedestrian/Cycle Ramps Project” to the Roads Design Division, Room 331, City Hall, Cork, or by email to roadsdesign@corkcity.ie before 4.00pm on Tuesday, 19th April 2016.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 18 February 2016

Cork History, Uncategorized

831a. Postcard of Mallow Bridge, eastern side of Mallow, c.1900

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  18 February 2016

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 49)

Confederates, Dispositions and Surveys

 

   The last number of weeks the column has been investigating some of the context of the historic maps of Cork held within Cork City Library – and in recent weeks exploring early seventeenth century maps and tying them into some of the seventeenth century histories of County Cork. The elaborate map portfolio in the library and now online at www.corkpastandpresent.ie also possesses a copy of a map of the city and suburbs between the years 1656-1658. The map is a copy of part of the Down Survey of Ireland, undertaken by the Cromwellian regime in the years 1656-1658. Such maps are more elaborate than the John Speed maps from c.1610 (see previous weeks) – in their expansive detail, and more political in their showcasing of knowledge about Irish landholdings and the English control of lands.

   The armies of the English Commonwealth, commanded by Oliver Cromwell, emerged triumphant and without delay undertook a determined mission of social engineering, supported by a substantial transfer in landownership from Irish Catholics to English Protestants. For this to happen, the land had to be accurately surveyed and mapped, a task overseen by the surgeon-general of the English army, William Petty. The Down Survey introduced modern mapping techniques to Ireland, creating the first recognisable maps of the country. The Down Survey was also the first ever detailed land survey on a national scale anywhere in the world and measured all the estates to be forfeited by Catholic landowners. This collection, the originals of which were destroyed in two fires in 1711 and at the Four Courts in 1922, comprises county, barony and parish maps. It is rich in detail, showing not only townland boundaries, but also churches, roads, rivers, bogs, woods and settlements.

   Led by Dr Micheál Ó Siochrú, Associate Professor in Modern History, TCD historians have now tracked down over 2,000 contemporaneous copies of the original survey maps in dozens of libraries and archives throughout Ireland, Britain and France. They have brought them together as a free online resource at http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/. By overlaying these maps onto Ordnance Survey maps and Google maps, and employing geographic information system technology, the website allows users to explore this unstable period in Irish history to an amazing level of detail. Key features of the website include 2,000 county, barony and parish maps from the Down Survey, National, provincial and county maps detailing massive landownership transfer, mapping out of murders and violent assaults reported during the 1641 rebellion, representation of seventeenth century road networks, and a searchable database of over 10,000 landowners.

  In a study of Petty’s Maps, the geographer W J Smith in his greatly detailed book Map-making, Landscapes and memory, A Geography of Colonial and Early Modern Ireland (2006), outlines the enormous historic contexts to what led to the creation of the maps. By 1641, the Irish Catholic Elite aspired to regain their equal rights as well as political, religious and civic rights. They sought access to secure posts in the judiciary and other government offices.

    In June 1642, the Confederation of United Catholics was founded in Kilkenny to wage war for the defence and advancement of Catholic interests in Ireland. War was waged and 1,000s killed. Initially, the war did not go well for the rebels, as government troops, reinforced from Scotland and England, won a number of important victories. In August 1642, the outbreak of the civil war in England prevented further supplies reaching Ireland. As the government counter-attack ground to a halt, the Catholics gained vital breathing space to formalise their alliance in the confederate association, based in Kilkenny. For the next seven years, until the arrival of Oliver Cromwell in 1649, an indecisive, yet bloody conflict devastated much of the country.

    In Munster, the three outstanding regions of devastation were around Cork, Limerick and Waterford. The northern region of the Blackwater and the western section of the River Lee running to the coast were intensely attacked. There is a historical record of such attacks. When Oliver Cromwell and his model army were sent to squash the risings, he established depositions where Protestants could register claims and claim certificates of loss for compensation purposes. The depositions gathered information and sworn statements. The testimonies document the loss of goods, military activity, and the alleged crimes committed by the Irish insurgents, including assault, stripping, imprisonment and murder. They can be viewed fully and are transcribed on a Trinity College research website, http://1641.tcd.ie.

    The confederate army in their first incidents of war in 1641 cleared Kilkenny, and Tipperary of the English recently planted there, and was received positively by allies in Kilkenny, Cashel, Clonmel, Dungarvan, and Fethard. It was decided to march to Cork, and take the county and city. The path initially selected to enter county Cork was through the Ballyhoura Mountains at the Pass of Barnderg. Sir William Ledger of Doneraile, who was created Lord President of Munster in 1627 decided to ambush them here, but General of the Confederates, Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret, got word of Ledger’s intentions, and turned westwards to Kilmallock. Mountgarret was joined here by the chief lords, and gentlemen of County Limerick, and all their forces. This huge army returned to Ballyhea, and on to Buttevant. Ledger withdrew to Mallow. The Battle for North Cork was about to begin.

To be continued…

For more on North Cork history, check out Kieran’s and Dan Breen’s new book, North Cork Through Time (2015).

 Captions:

831a. Postcard of Mallow Bridge, eastern side of Mallow, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)

831b. River Blackwater, western side of Mallow, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

831b. River Blackwater, western side of Mallow, present day

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 11 February 2016

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

830a. St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Mallow, c.1900

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 11 February 2016 

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 48)

Jephson Legacies at Mallow

 

   Mallow town developed rapidly in the late sixteenth century and seventeenth century as an English plantation town. Mallow castle was burned down by supporters of James II in 1689, marking the end of its use. Instead of restoring the house, the Jephsons converted other buildings into a new residence. Shortly afterwards a new bridge nearby was built over the River Blackwater. The section of four small arches on the town side of Mallow Bridge is all what remains of the first stone bridge over the river. Built in 1712, it had a total of fifteen arches. During the severe flood of 1853 several of the arches were swept away and others were severely damaged. This section was replaced by a new bridge of four arches in 1856. On the bridge stands a monument to the volunteers of the old Irish Republican Army of the Mallow area who gave their lives in the War of Independence.

   Throughout the centuries the town has prospered as a market town, helped by the River Blackwater, its rich agricultural hinterland, its central location and its importance on the railway network. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, through the Jephsons, Mallow became famous as a spa resort and became known as ‘The Irish Bath’. Pigot’s Directory of 1824 describes Mallow as follows: “The modern structures consist of a handsome church, and a new market house, with convenient buildings adjoining, erected by the present proprietor; here also are chapels for Roman Catholics, Wesleyans, Calvinists and Independents. Contiguous to the town is a spring of moderately tepid water, bursting from a limestone rock; its medicinal qualities attract a numerous assemblage of fashionable society, for whose convenience commodious baths are about to be erected; it was discovered in the year 1724, and in quality assimilates to the hot water of Bristol – its temperature is 68 ½ . Mallow since the year 1803 has returned one member to the Imperial parliament, elected by a seneschal and freeholders”.

  The Jephson legacy permeated into the nineteenth century. This is evident in the history of the some of the key historic buildings in the town. A descendant of Sir John Jephson, husband of Elizabeth Norrey was Charles Denham Jephson-Norreys who donated a site south of Main Street, Mallow for the construction of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. There in 1818 the Church of St Mary was built. This was a triumph in an intolerant time when the struggle for emancipation was still eleven years from victory. The new church was originally built behind a row of houses that stood along Main St. Access was by a narrow lane to the west and south of the present Credit Union building, formerly the National Bank. It was unacceptable in the days before Catholic Emancipation in 1829 to have a Catholic Chapel in a prominent position. These houses were gradually removed, thus providing a piazza fronting on to Bank Place.

   The new St Mary’s Church was cruciform in plan including a basic nave with side aisles and shallow transepts with galleries. Initially it had an earthen floor and no seats. During the first two decades of the twentieth century Canon Wigmore (P.P. 1881-1917) had the church enlarged and some of it rebuilt. He employed the services of Messrs Ashlin and Coleman architects to carry out this work. The interior was also embellished with a beautiful rib vaulted plaster ceiling and fluted columns this was the work of the Orangie family from Italy. In the 1990s the roof was found to be unsafe and it was completely re-roofed. Unfortunately, the ceiling executed by the Orangie family earlier in the century was unable to be saved. The ribbed vaulted portion over the nave was replaced by a plain tunnel vault.

   The spa house was built in 1828, by Charles Denham Orlando Jephson (1799-1888), MP. It is in the old English style of rural architecture, and in its day contained a small pump-room, an apartment for medical consultation, a reading-room, and baths. The building was fitted up for supplying at short notice, hot and cold salt-water, vapour, and medicated baths. The approach to the spa from the town was and still is partly through an avenue of lofty trees along the bank of an artificial canal, affording great scenery.

   Situated in the heart of Mallow town centre and overlooking Main Street to the north, is one of the town’s most recognisable landmarks – the clock tower. The half timbered Tudor style facade fills the building with character. It was built around 1855 using the designs of Charles D O Jephson who also dabbled as a local amateur architect. The building was once a licensed premises. The bell tower became structurally unsound and was removed around 1970 for safety reasons. The building has been used as offices for many years and the owners have recently invested a considerable sum in works to bring the internal of the building to a high standard. Adjacent today stands the Thomas Davis Statue in remembrance of an eminent Irish statesman, writer, and one of the instigators of the Young Ireland Nationalist movement.

To be continued…

For more on North Cork history, check out Kieran’s and Dan Breen’s new book, North Cork Through Time (2015).

 

Captions:

830a. St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Mallow, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)

830b. Spa House, Mallow, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)

830c. Clock House, Mallow, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)

 

830b. Spa House, Mallow, c.1900

830c. Clock House, Mallow, c.1900

Update, Tramore Valley Park, February 2016

Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized, Ward Events

    Tramore Valley Park is unlikely to open before this summer. The director of Services in Cork City Council’s Environment and Recreation Department said substantial work is needed to be done, before the park could open beyond its current, limited hours. It was also revealed that a shortfall of e.100,000 is needed to finance the park opening in the short term. The director said: “specific provision for the operation of the Tramore Valley Park was not made in the 2016 budget. There are also essential engineering works required. It is expected that these will be completed by mid-summer. It is hoped that, at that time, a sustainable funding model will also be in place to facilitate a full opening”. At present, Tramore Valley Park opens on Saturday mornings to accommodate a BMX track and rugby pitch.

   In a press release from the City Council, in recent weeks, numbers participating in the Cork parkrun have increased considerable, nearly trebling to 520 runners. The site can accommodate 240 cars, but reached capacity recently. The City Council has serious health and safety concerns regarding capacity to cater for such numbers of vehicles, given the proximity of the site to the South Link Road and the park run model not allowing for control of numbers by pre registration. In the event of not being able to cap participants and numbers of vehicles arriving at the site, and attendances increasing each week, the City Council reluctantly has no option but to withdraw permission for the event. The City Council will work with parkrun Ireland, to review the Tramore Valley parkrun to see if it can be tailored to meet necessary health and safety requirements on a more modest scale going forward.

    Raising the issue in the City Council chamber, Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted; “it’s all coming down to funding, small amounts of funding to finish and open the park; we have the Council’s park and ride facility nearby, it can accommodate a large number of cars and a shuttle buses; the question of finding funding to open the park long term needs to be a priority for the City Council; this park will provide a recreational facility for all of Cork citizens. Millions and millions of tax payer’s money has been invested in its development and it has come a very long way from being a landfill; keeping the park closed is in no one’s interest”.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 4 February 2016

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

829a. Main Street, Mallow, c.1900

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 4 February 2016

Cork Harbour Memories (Part 47)

Inquisition at Mallow

 

   Continuing on from last week, an inquisition taken in the year 1611 reveals more information about the nature of early seventeenth century Mallow and the principal landowners. There were several who leased lands within the Jephson manor including the Hydes, Spensers (see last week), Cuffes, and Audleys. To fulfil the plantation of this area of North Cork, they all would have built their own fortified house as such on these lands.

   Apart from Mallow Castle, another structure called Castle Garr or Short Castle was located on the northern side of the Mallow hamlet. It was the residence of Richard Aldworth with 300 acres in fee farm from the Jephsons. The Aldworth family originated in Berkshire, England, from whence Richard Alworth moved to Ireland at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s Irish wars. An Aldworth photograph album is kept in Cork City and County Archives. The legal document with the reference U2/2 includes a Pedigree of the Aldworths since their coming into Ireland. The first Richard got the estate of Short Castle, near Mallow, forfeited by the Earl of Desmond. His grandson, Sir Richard (d.1629), was appointed Provost Marshall of Munster, and married a daughter of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork. The family was granted lands formerly owned by the MacAuliffe clan, including the Manor of Newmarket. There are letters patent from Charles I in 1639 renewing the grant. Newmarket House became the family seat, and many family members are buried in Trinity Church, Newmarket. Colonel Richard Aldworth married Elizabeth St Leger, daughter of Lord Doneraile by whom the Doneraile Estate and Title came into the family in the person of St Leger Aldworth his second son. Elizabeth (d.1775) is thought to have been the only woman ever admitted to the Masonic order.

   Historian Dr John F Berry wrote an extensive article, published way back in 1906, on the history of Mallow Castle estate in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. In this article, he draws on and attempts to translate calendar state and other parliamentary papers to recreate the importance of the Mallow plantation. He records how small and large English communities worked together to made the Munster plantation project work. Some of his place names may not be the exact spelling of present day townlands and some places may have been subsumed by modern day place-names. However, he lists the fee farm holders of Robert Williamson (Starch House, 315 acres) and Roger Wallen (300 acres, Ballyfintery). Next are listed the lessees who had agreed terms for 21 years – Robert Hoames (300 acres, Cloghlucas), Gregory Newman (300 acres, Dromsligagh) William Smith (400 acres, Churbeston and Gortaghmore), Thomas Bettesworth (300 acres, Ballylogh), Thomas Bellamy (300 acres, Lower Quarter), John Gibbes (200 acres Corraghen Early), Thomas Langly and Walter Jenkins (360 acres, Upper Quarter), Philip Waghen (100 acres, Lackenyloagh), William Hollydaie (4 acres), Walter Harris (60 acres), Thomas Edwardes and William Newman and Donston Heard (120 acres), and Thomas Mylier (5 acres).

   The 1611 inquisition provides insight into the small hamlet of Mallow with a population of possibly 100 people (compared to over 10,000 people today). Recognition is given in the inquisition to the names of 25 copyholders, who held houses and gardens within the town of Mallow – John Wreg, John Joanes, George Harbert, Thomas Basnet, Cuthbert Eliott, Christopher Grigg, Thomas Dowdall, Francis Robinson, David Dawkins, William Peiton, Robert [ ], William Sloane, Hugh Laughan, Timothy Lee, Reynarde [ ], William Gilbert, John Uppcott, Mathew Harris, Nicholas Dodington, John Foster, Walter Harris, Christopher Gifford, Robert Hoames, Michae [ ], and Philip Vaghan.

    The inquisition fulfilled the terms of the plantation and the town was incorporated on 27 February 1613 to James I. Under the charter, the town was to be a free borough, and to be known as the borough of Mallow. Under it a corporation, consisting of a provost, twelve free burgesses and a commonalty was created, and Robert Holmes was named first provost. The provost and free burgesses were to have power to send two fit men to parliament.

   Nineteenth-century antiquarian accounts record that on the breaking out of the Confederate wars in 1641, Mallow town comprised 200 houses occupied by English settlers, of which 30 were described as strongly built and roofed with slate. On 11 February, 1642, Confederate forces under Lord Mountgarret entered the town. On that occasion Captain Jephson entrusted the castle of Mallow to the custody of Arthur Bettesworth, with a garrison of 200 men, an abundant supply of arms and ammunition, and three pieces of ordnance. It held fast. Later in time, the castle of Mallow was assaulted and taken by the Earl of Castlehaven, in 1645, and was nearly reduced to ruins.

   In 1642 Castle Garr was to be defended by Lieutenant Richard Williamson, who, after sustaining repeated assaults, in which he lost most of his men, and several breaches had been made, agreed to surrender upon terms. After he had left the fortress, finding that the insurgents did not keep the terms of capitulation, Lieutenant Williamson and a party of men fought their way back through their ranks and retired into Mallow Castle, which had been maintained with better success by Bettesworth.

To be continued…

For more on North Cork history, check out Kieran’s and Dan Breen’s new book, North Cork Through Time (2015).

 

Captions:

829a. Main Street, Mallow, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)

829b. Main Street, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

829b. Main Street, present day