Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the recent report by Cork City Council Director of Roads, Gerry O’Beirne, which highlighted that the Blackrock Harbour and Village renewal Project is now substantially complete. The contractor will complete all remaining snags and outstanding works within the next month. This includes the agreed paving work, gates, fencing etc around the Community Centre. Cllr McCarthy noted: “it is intended that the Ursuline grounds will be re-graded and grassed as part of the current project.
The future park and playground will be advanced by the Environment and Recreation Directorate when funding becomes available. The Roads directorate are also trying to resolve the problem of a small number of cars, which are now parking illegally on the new pedestrian area. The Council have spoken to a number of locals to resolve the issue. Tickets were also issued recently over a recent weekend. What has emerged in the renewal project is a beautiful space, which needs to be minded and protected”.
This month, one hundred years ago – June 1917 – just 14 months after the Easter Rising and with the political climate throughout Ireland dramatically changed, the last of the sentenced republican prisoners in jail in England arrived home to an enthusiastic reception. During May 1916, following the end of the Rising, almost 2,000 Irish Volunteers from all over Ireland, were deported to internment camps and jails in Wales and England.
In August 1916, 1,136 internees in Frongoch Internment Camp in North Wales were released and the remaining 600 internees were freed the following December. However, over 100 sentenced political prisoners, including Countess Markievicz, continued to be imprisoned throughout England. Lloyd George, the British prime minister, was challenged with increasing calls for the prisoners’ release and the anxiety of another prisoner being nominated for the forthcoming East Clare by-election following the election of Joe McGuinness as MP for South Longford the previous month. Lloyd George proclaimed a general amnesty for all republican prisoners in English jails. There was rejoicing all through the night before the arrival from England on the mail-boat from Holyhead of more than 100 political prisoners. Huge crowds gathered to greet them.
By the time the eight ex-prisoners from Cork arrived at Glanmire Railway Station on Saturday 23 June (now Kent Station) at 8:35pm, an enormous crowd, stewarded by the Volunteers, was waiting for them. They were given an enthusiastic reception. The eight comprised J J Walsh (Cork-born, Postmaster General to Irish Volunteers), Diarmuid Lynch (Tracton-born, aide-de-camp to James Connolly and staff Captain in GPO, Dublin 1916. David Kent (Castlelyons-born, brother of Thomas and William), Maurice Brennan (Dromina-born, B Company, 1st Battalion, Dublin, 1916), Fergus O’ Connor (Cork City-born, F Company, 1st Battalion, Dublin, 1916), William Tobin (Cork-born, fought in the Four Courts Garrison, Dublin 1916), Con O’ Donovan (Clonakilty-born, fought in Four Courts, Dublin 1916), and Thomas Hunter (Castletownroche-born, second-in-command at Jacob’s Factory in Dublin 1916).
Long before the arrival the Glanmire Station premises were taken in charge of by Irish Volunteers, and large numbers of people gathered both inside and outside the building. On the big entrance gates spanned a banner signaling a céad míle fáilte to the incoming political prisoners who travelled by the 3 o’clock train, from Dublin. Contingents to form the procession were marshalled in the station yard. Many were members of Gaelic clubs, wearing their jerseys and carrying sticks, to many of which was tacked a photo of one or other of the leaders in the Easter week rising. With them were the Workingman’s Brass and Reed Band and the Blackrock Fife, and Drum Band, and the Brian Boru Pipers Band, with deputations from Belvelly to Blarney.
The train emerged on time from the tunnel. All the vantage points from the station at to the: National Monument on the Grand Parade were crowded with people, and on the footpaths hundreds congregated. Cheers of welcome and the waiving of flags marked the progress of the procession, in which, in addition to the Gaelic Clubs, the Camogie Association, the Finnan na Fáil, Cumann na mBan, Irish Volunteers, with Pipers Band, took part. The procession was headed by the Workingmen’s Band and these led the wagonette in which the eight were placed.
When the National Monument was reached, J J Walsh and his colleagues were lifted on to the platform, and formed up in line to face the crowd. This was the signal for another outburst of cheering and waving of hats, handkerchiefs. and flags. After some time, the meeting was called to order and speeches delivered. Tomás MacCurtain presided. He had also been released, made his way back to Cork and returned to active duty as a Commandant of the Cork Volunteers. His speech offered “one hundred thousand welcomes” to the eight arriving back home. They honoured the flag under which these men fought. He trusted that “the spirit that they had put into the people would live for all time”. Terence MacSwiney also expressed similar points to MacCurtain’s. He had been interned in Shrewsbury and Bromyard internment camps until his release in June 1917.
In turn, each of the eight ex-prisoners gave passionate speeches to the crowd about the 1916 Easter Rising and plans for the future. J J Walsh noted that if was necessary they would have another Easter Week. Thomas Hunter wished to have an Irish army. Diarmuid Lynch wanted no Irish Convention or concessions from England – just an “Independent country”. David Kent was proud of the actions of his brothers and mother. Con O’Donovan spoke about wanting an “All-Ireland, not a half or three-quarters Ireland”. Fergus O’Connor noted that the Irish Republic was “alive and strong”, and that their cause would be successful.
After the meeting the procession again formed, and escorted the party to the Victoria Hotel. While the proceedings in connection with the procession were orderly, there were some incidents subsequently including the smashing of the windows of the windows and the breaking of the fire escape at the Courthouse. The escape was used to hoist the Sinn Féin flag over the courthouse. The following day riots broke out in the city.
To be continued…
Captions:
901a. Released prisoner J J Walsh, Cork-born, Postmaster General to Irish Volunteers (source: Cork City Library)
901b. Diarmuid Lynch (Tracton-born, aide-de-camp to James Connolly and staff Captain in GPO, Dublin 1916 (source: Cork City Library)
901c. Thomas Hunter, Castletownroche-born, second-in-command at Jacob’s Factory in Dublin 1916 (source: Cork City Library)
To ask the CE for a progress report on Blackrock pier plaza plus future plans and funding arrangements for the Ursuline Convent grounds and Community Centre surrounds as part of the regeneration ? Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
Motion:
That the newly acquired former HSE Health Centre Building at Lakelands Crescent, Mahon be considered as the Blackrock / Library space (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
Our City, Our Town article number 900 coincides with the launch of my new book Secret Cork. It is over twenty years since I gave my first walking tour across the flat of Cork City and eighteen years since I began writing my weekly column series Our City, Our Town in the Cork Independent. Both have given me much joy and I have really enjoyed researching and promoting Cork’s story. It is a great story to research and to tell. One cannot but be pulled into the multitudes of narratives, which have framed Ireland’s southern capital.
For all the tours and for all the columns and themes though, I still seek to figure out what makes the character of Cork tick. I still read between the lines of historic documents and archives. I get excited by a nugget of information, which completes a historical puzzle I might have started years ago. I have sat in the library pouring over a book or old newspaper on many an occasion trying to figure out where a piece of information sits in my researches. I still look up at the architectural fabric of the city to seek new discoveries, hidden treasures and new secrets. I encourage people on my tours to look up and around and always they see something that I have not seen. I am still no wiser in teasing out all of Cork’s biggest secrets. But I would like to pitch that it’s biggest secret is itself, a charming urban landscape, whose greatest secrets have not been told and fully explored.
We all become blind to our home place and its stories. We walk streets, which become routine spaces – spaces, which we take for granted – but all have been crafted, assembled and storified by past residents. It is only when we stand still and look around can we hear the voices of the past and its secrets being told.
I have articulated over the years that there is a power of place – that the concept of place matters. Cork is a place of tradition, continuity, change and legacy. It is a place of direction and experiment by people, of ambition and determination, experiences and learning, of ingenuity and innovation and a place of nostalgia and memory. Cork’s urban landscape is filled with messages about the past – from positive to negative. That beyond the physical surfaces of a city such as Cork, there is a soulful and evocative character etched across the flat of the city, the estuary of the river Lee and surrounding valleysides. Place matters in Cork. Within this topographical frame is a heritage – physical and spiritual to a degree – that needs to be minded, cherished and nourished.
Cork’s place and story has been carved over many centuries and all those legacies can be found in its narrow streets and laneways and in its built environment. was built by a combination of native and outside influences, its ever-changing townscape and society shaped by different cultures since its origin as a monastic settlement. Cork possesses a unique character, derived from a combination of its plan, topography, built fabric and location.
Cork is unique among other Irish cities in that it alone has experienced all phases of Irish urban development, from c.AD600 to the present day. The settlement at Cork began as a monastic centre in the seventh century, founded by St FinBarre. Legacies echo from being an old ancient port city where Scandinavian Vikings plied the waters 1,000 years ago – their timber boats beaching on a series of marshy islands – and the wood from the same boats forming the first foundations of houses and defences. We will never know and will always speculate upon their raison d’être to construct such a settlement upon a wetland.
Themes of survival, living on the edge, ambition, innovation, branding and internationalisation are etched across the narratives of much of Cork’s built heritage and are amongst my favourite topics to research. Indeed, I fully believe that these are key narratives that Cork needs to break the silence on more and this is a book constructed on those themes.
Secret Cork, my 20th book, is part of my own campaign over the years to promote Cork. It is a companion volume to Cork City Centre Tour (2016) and contains sites that I have not had a chance to research and write about in any great detail over the years. Secret Cork takes the viewer on a walking trail of over fifty sites. It starts in the flood plains of the Lee Fields looking at green fields, which once hosted an Industrial and Agricultural fair, a series of Grand Prix’s, and open-air baths. It then rambles to hidden holy wells, the city’s sculpture park through the lens of Cork’s revolutionary period, onwards to hidden graveyards, dusty library corridors, gazing under old canal culverts, across historic bridges to railway tunnels. Secret Cork is all about showcasing these sites and revealing the city’s lesser-known past and atmospheric urban character.
Secret Cork is available from Cork bookshops and from www.amberley-books.com; previous publications are listed on www.corkheritage.ie. Previous columns are also available here.
Note:
Saturday 24 June, 12noon, Old Workhouse Tour with Kieran; meet at entrance to St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, in association with the Friends of St Finbarr’s (free, 2 hours)
Captions:
900a. Front cover of Secret Cork (2017) by Kieran McCarthy
900b. St Patrick’s Bridge, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)
On Saturday, 23 June the Friends of St Finbarr’s Hospital will be holding their annual Garden Fete Party from 1.30pm to 4.30 pm. As part of a whole series of events planned, Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites the general public to take part in a historical walking tour of St. Finbarre’s Hospital at 12noon (meet at gate). The walk is free and all are welcome. The tour focusses on the former Douglas Road workhouse, which was also one of the first of over 130 workhouses to be designed by the Poor Law Commissioners’ architect George Wilkinson.
Cllr McCarthy notes: “The tour attempts to paint a picture of the workhouse, its function and insightful stories into life at that time – all of which have conditioned the feel and sense of place of this corner of Douglas Road and the wider city. When the Irish Poor Relief Act was passed on 31 July 1838, the assistant Poor Law commissioner, William J Voules came to Cork in September 1838 to implement the new laws. Meetings were held in towns throughout the country. By 1845, 123 workhouses had been built, formed into a series of districts or Poor Law Unions, each Poor Law Union containing at least one workhouse. The cost of poor relief was met by the payment of rates by owners of land and property in that district”.
Cllr McCarthy continues: “In 1841 eight acres, 1 rood and 23 perches were leased to the Poor Law Guardians from Daniel B Foley, Evergreen House, Cork. Mr Foley retained an acre, on which was Evergreen House with its surrounding gardens, which fronted South Douglas Road. The subsequent workhouse that was built on the leased lands was opened in December 1841. It was an isolated place, built beyond the City’s toll house and toll gates”.
Kieran’s Comments, Cork City Council AGM, 16 June 2017
Congrats on a great year – sometime during this week, a news reporter noted that you have been a “tremendous ambassador for Cork”, which is true to say.
Positivity as a theme has a very worthwhile ship to steer – it is one which many people could get behind and steer – and one where people naturally gravitate to.
Positivity is one that this city more and more needs to address inward looking and outward looking – there are challenge yes – there are problems – but in this city’s ship there are many cabins, crew members, different leaders– there are ship’s ropes that one can get entangled in and stuck in – but also ropes when dusted off, pulled taut, can lead to an amazing set of sails to ride the crests of wild raging storms.
One would be hard pressed to find a community within the city’s boundaries and in its outliers that doesn’t have a strong sense of place and identity – where building community capacity, family nest building, ambition and creating opportunities matter, and when compiled create a very strong Cork Inc.
The narrative of Cork Inc was one your ship also embraced -where ever you travelled the importance of the identity and identities created over time through the lens of this ancient port city prevailed your speeches.
Identity does play on the imagination, personal, collective and civic in Cork; it interconnects between spaces and times into our present and future engaging memories to flow and bend across the story of the development of this north Atlantic big hearted small city.
The medallion on the Mayoral chain, which you clearly wore proudly this year, I always feel embraces that sense of openness as well – the city’s coat of arms – the two towers of King’s and Queen’s Castle and the ship in between with the Latin inscription, Statio Bene Fida Carinis, or A Safe Harbour for Ships.
The portcullis, the symbol of a gate, which once lifted to leave ships in to dock into Cork’s walled town – to a small harbour, with creaking stone walls as well as creating timber ships – Each arriving ship would have brought a sense of wonder and acknowledgment in the city’s role in maritime western Europe – and no doubt creating an orchestra of materials, river, dock and sea – enough to force the dock workers, business people, sailors and captains to speak loudly and more assertively above the orchestra of the docks to transact their business.
One of the many defining features of your year was to give voice to the busy flotillas of the city’s ships of business. In a Council where we depend on the goodwill and trust of the business community, it has been enlightening to see your small business award schemes being floated giving voice to very hard-working business owners.
It has been enlightening from a local history context to hear about businesses whose roots go back far in the city through recessions and oppressions, wars and destruction to transformations and boom, development and re-starts. Indeed, it is true to say that what you shone a light upon is an unexplored heritage, which needs to continue to be minded and elaborated upon.
Ultimately what your ship of positivity has championed is that there are many corners in the city that are proud of their identity, are willing to take on the winds of challenges as they come.
The Wheels of 1917: The Complexities of the Cork Union House
The history of the Cork Union workhouse on Douglas Road is well documented (now the site of St Finbarr’s Hospital). The archives of the Cork Board of Guardians in Cork City and County archives are extensive, and include a large numbers of minute books, that record the proceedings of the Board’s meetings, 1841 – 1924. Many subjects are recorded in the minute books, such as the ongoing struggle to both fund, staff and manage the workhouse and related services, attitudes to poverty, developments in public health provision, and the care of the infirm, the destitute, children, and the mentally ill. Such subjects are also fleshed out and debated in Cork newspapers of the day, such as the Cork Examiner, which published the minutes of meetings as far back as 1841.
Continuing the thread of exploring life in Cork one hundred years ago, like many other institutions in the city, the year 1917 for the Cork Union House coincided with continued cuts to service provision due the ongoing war. The old workhouse site provided an array of public services from accommodation, food, schools and hospitals. By 1917 the term workhouse had been renamed Cork District Hospital. At a special meeting of the Board of Guardians on 15 January 1917 salaries and cutbacks were outlined. There were men in their employment who were working for less than labourer wages. Urgent repairs were only to be pursued. The price of food was at such a level that a further increase made securing such goods prohibitive for relief. In January 1917, the provision of tobacco or snuff was to be minimised. It was proposed that milk be substituted for eggs. The consumption of coal in the institution was deemed too high with the cost in the summer the same as in winter. The butter bill was an enormous one. Other public boards had substituted margarine. As to the scarcity of sugar, they proposed to utilise condensed milk to sweeten teas. Attention was brought to the question of the three distinct lines of telephones in the institution– and that one ought to be suffice.
At the meeting of the Visiting Committee on 2 May 1917 officials spoke about being refused a war bonus because they were receiving rations. The meeting saw further cuts in rations. Unmarrried officials were to be cut but the difference made up in cash to them. Two shillings per week more were paid to dispensary porters. At 16 May meeting, the engineer’s report, which was read, highlighted that the cost of building materials had increased fifty per cent and timber was coming in 100 per cent dearer. It was impossible to fully carry out the ordinary repair work needed with a small staff contingent of seven painters and two masons.
In mid-May, the figures in the media revealed a large operation programme and the debate at meetings gives insights into the scope of the Union House and its complex. There were 1,450 people in the House (102 less than the figure for 1916). In the hospital, there was 980 patients in the hospital (45 less than the figure for 1916). The deaths during the week ended 5 May amounted to ten. The numbers of persons in receipt of outdoor relief totalled 1925. The daily supply of milk required totalled 182 gallons. It was bought from two sources – Mrs Hannah Forrest of Clogheen and Mr F Bradley of Carrigrohane. The tender of James Murphy of Nicholas’ Well for ten pigs at £112 was accepted. The wages of the bakers in the house were increased to the standard operating in the city, as were those of the carpenters and the fireman of the house. At the mid May committee meeting, the Ladies Boarding Committee was proposed to be dissolved – it had been established 30 years ago for the specific purpose of looking after young women with regards to giving them access to the site and improving their health.
At the Board of Guardians meeting on 29 June 1917, complaints were read from the Federation of Trade Unions of Cork and District Health Insurance Society as to two of its members and the treatment they received as patients. It was acknowledged that there was a prolonged delay at the porter’s lodge with formalities and restrictions. A custom existed that all patients had to undress at the lodge All no matter what they were suffering from were to seen by the medical officers. Deputy attendants was deemed not conducive to the sympathetic treatment of patients in the hospital. The shortcut solution for many years was to propose the appointment of paid attendants but the expenditure was high so probationer nurses were appointed.
At a Board of Guardians meeting on 21 September 1917, further insights are revealed. The Clerk of the Cork Union was manager of the schools – the number of girls in the female school was 51 whilst the teachers numbered 5. In the boy’s school there were 41 pupils and 3 teachers. In the Fever Hospital, there were three nuns, two probationers by day and one night nurse, and one paid wardsmaid and one inmate. There was a six-month fever course in the Cork District Hospital. Dr D Horgan of 11 Sydney Place, Cork was appointed eye specialist.
Note: Forthcoming June Walking Tours with Kieran, all free, 2 hours
• Saturday 17 June, Turners Cross & Ballyphehane Historical Walking Tour, meet at Christ the King Church, Turners Cross, 12noon (finishes a Ballyphehane Park)
• Saturday 24 June, Old Workhouse Tour, meet at entrance to St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, in association with the Friends of St Finbarr’s, 12noon
Caption:
899a. Map of Cork Union complex with Cork District Hospital, c.1910 (source: Cork City Library)
Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed ongoing developments in the Docklands quarter of the city from Blackrock through Pairc Uí Chaoimh, the Marina Park to Centre Park Road. “it is clear there in a progressive energy in this corner of the city at this present moment; in continuing progress and to meet the current economic climate and the demand for housing, a new Cork City Docks Local Area Plan will replace the South Docks Local Area Plan 2008 and the expired North Docks Local Area Plan 2005. The Tivoli Docks LAP will be a new plan. All of these area have seen lands been incorporated into NAMA and it is very important that their future is unlocked and older plans are amended”.
“As a first step, the City Council is undertaking a pre-plan issues exploration consultation and invites all stakeholders and interested parties to identify the issues that they feel need to be addressed in the proposed LAPs and how the areas should be redeveloped. The Cork City Docks (Local Area Plan) Issues Paper and the Tivoli Docks (Local Area Plan) Issues Paper can be viewed at www.corkcity.ie/localareaplans”.
The public Consultation workshop to promote discussion about the future of the Cork City Docks and Tivoli Docks is being held on Tuesday 20 June 2017 between 6pm-9pm (with light bites between 5pm-6pm) at the Clayton Hotel, Lapp’s Quay, Cork. Workshop places are limited and the City Council asks that interested people RSVP in advance of the meeting by emailing planningpolicy@corkcity.ie or ringing 021– 492-4086 / 021-492-4757. The City Council aims to ensure a good balance in those participating in the event. Cork City Council invites written submissions from you to inform the plan-making processes. The deadline for the receipt of submissions is 1.00pm on Friday 7 July 2017.
Report of the Expert Advisory Group on Local Government Arrangements in Cork
Comments by Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Cork City Council Meeting, June 2017
This is a very welcome document in terms for Cork City’s Council’s perspective on the Local Government Review.
I think it’s a document to note more so than adopt; I have a lot of questions about aspects of the document – and just because we are now getting what we want – we shouldn’t just take the first cheque that comes our way – winning a battle – doesn’t mean we have won the overall war.
I certainly agree with the thoughts that an implementation team should be moved straight away to work through the many questions within this document and address any clarifications needed.
There is a scarily short lead into the next local elections of 2019.
The sooner the implementation oversight body test the proposals within this document the better in an effort to forge forward.
This document needs to be plugged into the submissions of the City and County Councils for the NPF around planning for the next thirty years.
And there are a lot more questions to ask:
If we are agreeing with the proposal for a five-year term for a Lord Mayor – then we should go all the way and propose a directly elected Lord Mayor by the public – a Council elected Lord Mayor runs the risk of one political party ruling the roost for five years.
This document is very light on financial figures, which raises questions for me similar to the County Council’s, and I note their queries that they are not against the document, which is a positive development but are seeking clarifications, all of which I agree with and also such questions need to be asked by our side in order to get a successful outcome for us.
I have questions around costs of transfer of directorates, staff and assets – I would like to get clarification figures on the costings around social housing, roads and environment in the proposed new areas for the city.
I would like the oversight body to provide us with the costs behind the transfer of outstanding debts including commercial rates.
I agree with the point that there has to be long term financial sustainability of the reconfigured County Council – but I note most of all the proposal of providing the County Council with 40 million euros a year for ten years – near half a billion euros over a decade – a lifeline to keep the County Council alive – that’s a huge debt to hang over any city authority – we need to send out a strong signal that such a debt is not sustainable over 10 years.
Again all of this debate comes down to the Department of Local Government’s financing of local authorities.
The emerging city area must have proper funding to encompass another 100,000 people – there is nothing within this document about what extra income will come to the new city council – if the extra income is for example e.40m per annum– it wouldn’t be financially sustainable to take on any new debts – and try to develop the region at the same time and look after the everyday requirements.
We need proper finance figures. I can support many of the report’s recommendations but do not endorse all of it. I have many finance questions, I need answered by the implementation oversight body.
Arising from the review of limiting tourists numbers at the English Market, Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has acknowledged the lesser numbers freeing up trade in the English Market but again makes the point of the opportunity to tell the story of Gastronomy in Cork City and Region; “there is a clear interest in the history of the market and in the food itself; there is a huge opportunity for the region to promote these stories. The English Market is a thriving food venue but some other venue should be developed close by to tell the story of the market viz-a-vis a small food museum and an opportunity to buy English Market hampers of food. The English Market INC can be more than just a market. There is an opportunity to push more of an international story. We can do more to push and showcase Failte Ireland’s food trails of Cork”.
“There are international gastronomy trails in several countries across the world and even college courses in colleges such as CIT which aim to reveal people and key influences in the historical development of regional gastronomy, and the evolution and social, cultural and economic influences of contemporary Irish cuisine and Irish culinary arts”.
“Apart from the physical market, we should also be championing its heritage and legacy in our city and region more in the form of a food centre or on a digital hub; at the moment in time, this is a missed opportunity”.
