Sturdy on a table top and lit by youngest fair, a candle is blessed with hope and love, and much festive cheer, Set in a wooden centre piece galore, it speaks in Christian mercy and a distant past of emotional lore, With each commencing second, memories come and go, like flickering lights on the nearest Christmas tree all lit in traditional glow, With each passing minute, the flame bounces side to side in drafty household breeze, its light conjuring feelings of peace and warmth amidst familiar blissful degrees, With each lapsing hour, the residue of wax visibly melts away, whilst the light blue centered heart is laced with a spiritual healing at play, With each ending day, how lucky are those who love and laugh around its glow-filledness, whilst outside, the cold beats against the nearest window in the bleak winter barreness, Fear and nightmare drift away in the emulating light, both threaten this season in almighty wintry flight, Sturdy on a table top and lit by youngest fair, a candle is blessed with hope and love, and much festive cheer.
Over
the past two to three years, three bridges in Cork have received much media
focus – St Patrick’s Bridge and its cleaning and restructuring, the new Mary
Elmes Bridge and its modern design, and thirdly Daly’s Bridge, AKA the Shaky
Bridge and its mass cleaning and re-strengthening programme. Such work was spearheaded by Cork
City Council.
Perhaps
of the three bridges that I have listed the last one, Daly’s Bridge or the
Shakey Bridge, opened in 1927, is one which holds the fascination of the public
the most. The recent removal of the main body of the bridge to de-clean it off
site caused a large tinge of public sadness. Its re-opening this week heralded
hope and almost the sense of a valued family member having returned. The
bridge’s essence has transcended time from a physical bridging point to one of
playfulness, one of fun and one whose shakiness is a key part of Cork’s
cultural heritage.
The story of Daly’s Bridge is rich. With the development
of Fitzgerald’s Park and the adjacent Rugby Grounds circa 1905, the
ferry crossing that had formed a route from Sunday’s Well to Shanakiel came
under increasing pressure.
On
28 August 1908 a deputation of residents of Sunday’s Well appeared before the
members of Cork Corporation in the then City Hall. Coroner Blake acted as
spokesman and noted that he had got a recent letter during that week from Mr
Thomas Dooley, proprietor of the ferry at Ferry Walk, stating that he was
willing to sell his interest in it (due to his impending retirement) to the
Corporation of Cork for £100, if they sought to purchase it.
Coroner
Blake outlined that the Corporation had been, as far he knew, owners and
proprietors of most of the ferries in the city of Cork, and if they attained
Dooley’s ferry rights in question it would be, he believed, “an advantage
to the citizens at large”. If the Council thought the proposal a good idea, he
suggested that instead of a ferry, a suspension bridge could be erected.
Sir
Edward Fitzgerald, councillor, said he believed that the bridge proposal was a
necessity and asked that the matter be referred to the Corporation’s Public
Works Committee.
On 1 September 1908,
the proposed Ferry Walk Bridge was discussed at the Public Works Committee.Sir Edward Fitzgerald said the first thing to be
done was to instruct the City Engineer to supply the Committee, at his earliest
convenience with the cost of a suspension bridge.
In April 1910, the City
Engineer gave particulars regards the site and the approaches to the bridge and
a general discussion took place on the question of the situation and character
of the new bridge. Shortly afterwards, the proposed cost of a new bridge became
a stumbling block for the Corporation to be able to move forward developing the
project.
Sixteen years later, the substantial
financial contribution by local man James Daly eventually broke the deadlock on
funding the suspension bridge project. Born at Moycollop, County Waterford in
1856, James Daly (1856-1942)began his busines life in his native
district as a butter and egg merchant. His business acumen was not long in
making itself felt, and at an early age he was able to open up as a butter
merchant being founder and managing director, of the firm of James Daly
and Sons, Ltd., Shandon Street, Dominick Street, and Mulgrave Road. His
association with the butter industry extended over 50 years from the 1880s to
the early 1930s – over half a century.
Under his own
personal supervision James merited for his firm a world-wide reputation and
employed many people. In addition to the butter industry, the firm were
also proprietors of the Shandon Castle Margarine Factory, which was established
until 1905, and erected on the site of the ancient Shandon Castle.
James
was one of the trustees of the Cork Butter Exchange. As an agriculturalist, James was
well known throughout Cork and Waterford, being the owner of large farms in
each of these counties, while he also possessed extensive
fishing preserves on the River Blackwater, and game preserves in the same
vicinity. James was also a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Cork Chamber
of Commerce, and a member of the National Liberal Club of London.
The
decision was made by City Engineer, Stephen Farrington that the new bridge
should be a steel suspension bridge, a type popular in the early decades of the
twentieth century, though few were built in Ireland. The decision was made to
purchase a bridge from the English bridge manufacturers David Rowell &
Company.
In his 3 February 1927 report, Stephen Farrington
said he was notified by Messrs Rowell & Co that the steel erectors were
coming over that week to start work on the suspension bridge at Ferry Walk. In late
February 1927,the new suspension footbridge was rapidly nearing
completion.
The formal opening of Daly’s Bridge took place on
Saturday 9 May 1927. Very Rev Canon O’Sullivan presided at the function. Mr M
O’Driscoll, PC on behalf of Mr James Daly opened the bridge.
Mr O’Driscoll said that he felt that a very great
honour had been conferred on him in asking him to formally open the bridge,
which “would do so much to enhance the attractions of the district, and at the
same time confer such as substantial benefit on the citizens in general, and on
the residents of Sunday’s Well in particular”.
For more information on the story of Daly’s Bridge
aka The Shakey Bridge, check out Kieran’s History Trails on www.corkheritage.ie
Happy Christmas to everyone.
Caption:
1080a. Daly’s Bridge AKA Shakey Bridge, post
refurbishment, December 2020 (picture: Kieran McCarthy).