Monthly Archives: August 2024

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 29 August 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized
1268b. Ronnie Herilihy Pocket Park, Langford Row, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1268a. Ronnie Herilihy Pocket Park, Langford Row, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 29 August 2024

Ronnie Herlihy Pocket Park at Langford Row

In recent weeks, Douglas Street Business Association in conjunction with Cork City Council launched a new pocket park at Langford Row. The park is in memory of the late Ronnie Herlihy, Local Historian, who wrote and gave walking tours across the South Parish. The new pocket park contains some of his writings on information panels.

The park is about unlocking more of the sense of place of the South Parish and sending people into a parish as Ronnie describes in his books “where you’ll find something of historical interest around almost every corner”.

In publishing his first edition of his South Parish book in 2003, Ronnie writes that he was aiming to do two things. Firstly, the book was simply meant to be a place one could go if they were interested in the rich heritage of the South Parish. Ronnie describes his work as, “a sort of one-stop-shop if you like, compiling between the covers of one book a list and some basic information about many of the historic places within the present parish, rather than having to search out the numerous different publications that contain articles or reports on those places”.

Secondly, Ronnie was hoping to awaken in people, no matter where they live, an awareness of their own surroundings, and “to get them thinking of the fantastic history all around them that has led to the making of this great City of Cork”.

Ronnie describes that all 1,000 copies of the initial South Parish book were sold. In the process €7,300 was donated to the Children’s Leukaemia Unit in the Mercy Hospital, being all the proceeds received from the sale of the book.

Ronnie undertook a second edition because of the number of times people asked him if the book was still available to buy. So, he published a second, revised edition. In doing a revised edition, it afforded Ronnie the opportunity to expand on many of the items in the original book. In Ronnie’s new introduction he quotes; “Having spent over 44 years either living or working in the heart of the South Parish, the area is in my blood. I’m still fascinated by the history of this part of Cork City, and as a proud member of the Cork South Parish Historical Society. We know that learning about the history of our own place is a never-ending process. Take a walk with me now in my own place, the open air museum that is the South Parish”.

1268b. The late Ronnie Herlihy.
1268b. The late Ronnie Herlihy.

The ‘awaken in people’ and the connection methodologies served Ronnie well in his next publication journey where he took on Victorian Cork. As he researched the South Parish, he spotted other nuggets of stories from Cork’s Victorian past, which took him off on another adventure.

Known as Victorian Cork, the book looked at events that occurred during the early Victorian period, from 1837 to 1859. The publication sought to as Ronnie noted “throw a little light onto the past, allowing the modern reader the opportunity of peering through the eyes of their Cork ancestors. It will hopefully give them a glimpse of a city that would only have been familiar to their grandparents, great-grandparents or great great-grandparents”.

The majority of the newspaper reports in his book were gleamed from the Cork Examiner, apart from the first few years between 1837 and 1841, when The Constitution or Cork Advertiser, was exclusively used.  Where in our time it is easier than ever to use the digitised Irish Newspaper Archive from home, back in the day, Ronnie spent hour after hour, work lunchbreak after work lunchbreak turning physical newspaper pages and micro-film pages in Local Studies in Cork City Library.

Ronnie’s interest in people and their stories also brought him on his journey with his third book – this time returning to a physical space that of St Joseph’s Cemetery. The idea for writing this book followed on from research he carried out when he undertook a project on St Joseph’s Cemetery for the Annual Exhibition of the South Parish Historical Society.

            That initial research, which looked at around two dozen burials in the cemetery, led to him as he quotes in his introduction spending many hours there in the summer of 2008, walking among the headstones of our ancestors, and “realising for the first time what an important historic gem we have here in the city”.

From that initial visit to research the project, as Ronnie explains in his introduction he was hooked. Ronnie followed that up by creating a powerpoint presentation that looked at the history of the cemetery, a number of those who are buried there, and some of the impressive monuments dotted around it. Afterwards, based on the presentation, Ronnie put together a walking tour of the cemetery. The next most logical step after that was to write a book.

In the immediate years leading up to his shock death, Ronnie’s interest in public history gathered further momentum.  For many years Ronnie was a core part of the South Parish Historical Society annual exhibition – he was a core driver – and there was many a year he would spend hours and hours and hours involved in its organisation and its evolution

Ronnie’s adult education courses with Tom Spalding and others, regular phone ins with Neil Prendeville left many citizens wondering if they knew their city at all; it brought many citizens to Ronnie’s banner, so to speak, wishing to see the city through his eyes. In addition, there was his regularly gifting of photos and other snippets of Cork history to the world of Facebook.

The new pocket park is a fitting memory to Ronnie Herlihy – a great local historian but also a proud Corkonian.

Kieran’s September 2024 Tours, All free, 2 hours, no booking required:

  • Sunday 1 September, The Friar’s Walk in association with Douglas Street Autumnfest; Discover Red Abbey and Barrack Street area, Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 12noon.
  • Sunday 8 September, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 2pm.
  • Saturday 14 September, Cork South Docklands; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 2pm.
  • Saturday 21 September, Fitzgerald’s Park: The People’s Park, meet at the park band stand, 2pm.
  • Sunday 22 September, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.

Caption:

1268a. Ronnie Herilihy Pocket Park, Langford Row, Cork (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

1268b. The late Ronnie Herlihy.

Kieran’s Historical Walking Tours, September 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events
  • Sunday 1 September, The Friar’s Walk; historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy in association with Douglas Street Autumnfest; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 12noon (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
  • Sunday 8 September, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 2pm (free, duration: two hours, no booking required).
  • Saturday 14 September, Cork South Docklands; Discover the history of the city’s docks, Historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 2pm (free, two hours, no booking required). 
  • Saturday 21 September, Fitzgerald’s Park: The People’s Park, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, from stories on the Mardyke to the Cork International Exhibition, meet at the band stand, 2pm (free, duration: 90 minutes, no booking required). 
  • Sunday 22 September, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical Walking Tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm (free, 2 hours, finishes at railway line walk).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 22 August 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events
1267a. Group on a recent walking tour of The Marina by Kieran McCarthy.
1267a. Group on a recent walking tour of The Marina by Kieran McCarthy.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 22 August 2024

Kieran’s National Heritage Week Tours, 17-25 August 2024

My 2024 National Heritage Week historical walking tours continue. I am half way through my programme of tours. All are free and there is no booking required.

Thursday 22 August 2024, The Lough and its Curiosities; historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm.

This walking tour explores the Lough, its heritage and the rich surrounding history of this neighbourhood of the city. This amenity has witnessed eighteenth century market fairs as well as ice skating to nineteenth century writers and nursery gardens to twentieth century cycling tournaments and the rich and historic market garden culture.

Friday 23 August 2024, Douglas and its History, historical walking tour in association with Douglas Tidy Towns; Discover the history of industry and the development of this historic village, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, 6.30pm. 

The story of Douglas and its environs is in essence a story of experimentation, of industry and of people and social improvement. The story of one of Ireland largest sailcloth factories is a worthwhile topic to explore in terms of its aspiration in its day in the eighteenth century. On 1 June 1726, the Douglas Sailcloth Factory is said to have been founded by a colony of weavers from Fermanagh. The eighteenth century was a golden age for wooden sailing ships, before the 1800s made steam and iron prerequisites for modern navies and trading fleets.  The era was also a golden age too for maritime exploration, Douglas in its own way added in part to this world of exploration.

Douglas Village is lucky that it has been written about in depth by local historians in the 1980s and 1990s – scholars such as Con Foley and Walter McGrath – both of whom shone a huge spotlight on the depth and range of material available. Con Foley’s book on the history of Douglas shows his love of place and his participation in sitting down for years, penning notes, walking the ground, using ordnance survey maps and pondering on and mapping interconnections between the different memories of families active in the village and environs through time.

Saturday 24 August 2024, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1.30pm.

The Cork workhouse, which opened in December 1841, was an isolated place – built beyond the toll house and toll gates, which gave entry to the city and which stood just below the end of the wall of St. Finbarr’s Hospital in the vicinity of the junction of the Douglas and Ballinlough Roads.

Written in depth over the years by scholars such as Sr M Emmanuel Browne and Colman O’Mahony, many in-depth primary documents have survived to outline the history of the hospital. What shines out are the memories of how people have struggled at this site since its creation in 1841. Other topics perhaps can also be pursued here such as the history of social justice at the site, why and how society takes care of the vulnerable in society and the framing of questions on ideas of giving humanity and dignity to people and how they have evolved over the centuries.

TheHospital serves as a vast repository of memories, symbolism, iconography and cultural debate. Standing at the former workhouse buildings, which opened in December 1841, there is much to think about – humanity and the human experience. The architect to the Poor Law Commissioners in Ireland from 1839 until 1855 was George Wilkinson. Nearly all the workhouses, accommodating between 200 and 2000 persons apiece, were designed in a Tudor domestic idiom, with picturesque gabled entrance buildings which contracted the size and comfortlessness of the institutions which lay behind them. By April 1847 all 130 workhouses were complete, the Douglas Road being one of the first.

Sunday 25 August 2024, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 1.30pm.

 Sunday’s Well was a famous landmark through the ages and the adjoining district took its name from the well. In 1644, the French traveller M de La Boullaye Le Gouz, visited Ireland. In the account of his journey he writes: “A mile from Korq [Cork] is a well called by the English, Sunday Spring, or the fountain of Sunday, which the Irish believe is blessed and cures many ills”.

Walk from Wise’s Hill to the heart of Sunday’s Well and learn about the development of an eighteenth century suburb. This tour begins at the elegant house at the junction of the North Mall and Wise’s Hill, which was the residence of the distiller Francis Wise. It is a beautiful detached five-bay three-storey former house, built c. 1800, now in use as a university building. The building retains interesting features and materials, such as the timber sliding sash windows, wrought-iron lamp bracket arch, and interior fittings. The North Mall distillery was established on Reilly’s Marsh around 1779, and by 1802 the Wise brothers were running the firm. Whiskey production was another significant industry in Cork from the late eighteenth century.

Caption:

1267a. Group on a recent walking tour of The Marina by Kieran McCarthy.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 15 August 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Development
1266a. View of new exhibition called “Cork Voices of the Irish Revolution” at St Peter’s Church, North Main Street (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
1266a. View of new exhibition called “Cork Voices of the Irish Revolution” at St Peter’s Church, North Main Street (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 15 August 2024

Cork Heritage Open Day, 17 August 2024

Another Cork heritage open day is looming. The 2024 event will take place on Saturday 17 August. For one day only, over 40 buildings open their doors free of charge for this special event.  Members of the public are allowed a glimpse of some of Cork’s most fascinating buildings ranging from the medieval to the military, the civic to the commercial and the educational to the ecclesiastical. This event was greeted with great enthusiasm by building owners and members of the public alike in 2023 with an estimated 20,000 people participating on the day.

   It is always a great opportunity to explore behind some of Cork’s grandest buildings. With the past of a port city, Cork architecture has a personality that varied and much is hidden amongst the city’s narrow streets and laneways. It is a photogenic city, which lights up with sunshine as it hits the limestone buildings. Much of its architecture is also inspired by international styles – the British style of artwork and nineteenth century brick pervading in most cases– but it’s always pays to look up in Cork and marvel at the Amsterdamesque-style of our eighteenth century structures on streets such as Oliver Plunkett Street or at the gorgeous tall spires of the city’s nineteenth-century churches.

    Cork Heritage Open Day is nineteen years in the making and with 40 buildings it is almost impossible to visit them all in one day. It takes a few goes to get to them all and spend time appreciating their physical presence in our city but also the often hidden context of why such buildings and their communities came together and their contribution to the modern day picture of the city.

The team behind the Open Day, Cork City Council, do group the buildings into general themes, Steps and Steeples, Customs and Commerce, Medieval to Modern, Saints and Scholars and Life and Learning – one can walk the five trails to discover a number of buildings within these general themes. These themes remind the participant to remember how our city spreads from the marsh to the undulating hills surrounding it, how layered and storied the city’s past is, how the city has been blessed to have many scholars contributing to its development in a variety of ways and how the way of life in Cork is intertwined with a strong sense of place and ambition. For a small city, it packs a punch in its approaches to national and international interests.

One of the buildings, which is always open to celebrate all aspects historic in the city is the historic St Peter’s Church – now an exhibition centre – on North Main Street. The building is the second church to be built on its present site overlooking North Main Street. The first church was built sometime in the early fourteenth century. In 1782, the church was taken down and in 1783, the present limestone walled church, was begun to be built. At a later stage, a new tower and spire were added to the basic rectangular plan. The new spire though had to be taken down due to the marshy ground that it was built on.

In recent years and in accordance to the aims of the pilot project of the Cork Historic Centre Action and the finance of Cork City Council and operational support of Cork Civic Trust, St Peter’s Church has been extensively renovated and opened as an arts exhibition centre.

One of the most interesting monuments on display in the church is the Deane monument. This monument, dating to 1710, was dedicated to the memory of Sir Matthew Deane and his wife and both are depicted on the monument, shown in solemn prayer on both sides of an altar tomb.

Now a deconsecrated space, a historic graveyard was attached to the medieval parish church of St Peter. The graveyard is in use as a public amenity space. In 1750, Charles Smith in his History of Cork in 1750 recorded that some of the gravestones had ‘dates as old as the year 1500”.

Antiquarian John Windele records the discovery in 1838, of numerous tombstones belonging to the “olden era of this Church, forming the foundations of the building which preceded its present steeple shows to what uses the ancient remains connected with this building have been converted”.

Certainly, the site has undergone modification and possibly significant disturbance to underlying deposits. Burials within the church would have been substantially dislocated during the demolition works of 1782 and the construction of the present church.

During renovations to the church building during the 1990’s skeletal remains were uncovered beneath the floor. Since 1975, Cork City Council has maintained the graveyard when it was then laid out as a park. There are thirteen headstones lining the northern boundary wall towards the back of the church. The headstones that are legible date to the eighteenth century. They are not in their original spot. The chest tomb of William Rogers (1686), also which remains in its original position in the graveyard.

A new exhibit at St Peter’s Church will underpin the facts and footnotes through the human accounts and experiences of Cork from 1912-1923 The exhibit is entitled “Cork Voices of the Irish Revolution” and is written and curated by long-time collaborator and historian Gerry White in conjunction with Cork Public Museum and UCC.

Cork Voices is the natural culmination point of the various exhibits and installations from the Decade of Commemorations in St Peters; following key events from brewing tensions with the Home Rule movement and the formation of the Irish Volunteers to the death of Corks own, Michael Collins and the cessation of the Irish Civil War. The installation details the events as seen by the eyes of the people who lived it, illustrated by their words, and made real by the emotions captured in their testimony.

Caption:

1266a. View of new exhibition called “Cork Voices of the Irish Revolution” at St Peter’s Church, North Main Street (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 8 August 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Development
1265a. Historical walking tour of St Finbarr's Hospital earlier this year with Cllr Kieran McCarthy (picture: Marcelline Bonneau).
1265a. Historical walking tour of St Finbarr’s Hospital earlier this year with Cllr Kieran McCarthy (picture: Marcelline Bonneau).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 8 August 2024

Kieran’s National Heritage Week Tours, 17-25 August 2024

Another summer month to come and more opportunities to take a historical walking tour. The tours I have chosen for National Heritage Week this year are all important areas in the city’s development plus they all have a unique sense of place and identity. I will host eight tours, and all are free. There is no booking required bar the one for Cork City Hall for Cork Heritage Open Day.

Saturday 17 August 2024, A Tour of Cork City Hall as part of Cork Heritage Open Day, 10am, meet at entrance at Anglesea Street (90 minutes, booking required at Cork Heritage Open Day website with Cork City Council).

Learn about the early history of Cork City Hall and Cork City Council; learn about the development of the building and visit the Lord Mayor’s Room. The current structure replaced the old City Hall, which was destroyed in the Burning of Cork in 1920. It was designed by Architects Jones and Kelly and built by the Cork Company Sisks. The foundation stone was laid by Eamon de Valera, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, on 9 July 1932.

Sunday 18 August 2024, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.

Cork City city possesses a unique character derived from a combination of its plan, topography, built fabric and its location on the lowest crossing point of the River Lee as it meets the tidal estuary and the second largest natural harbour in the world. This tour explores the city’s earliest historical phases.

Monday 19 August 2024, Shandon Historical Walking Tour; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp Cork Volunteer Centre, 6.30pm.  

 Tradition is one way to sum up the uniqueness of Shandon Street. Despite being a physical street, one can stroll down (or clamber up), the thoroughfare holds a special place in the hearts of many Corkonians.  The legacy of by-gone days is rich. The street was established by the Anglo-Normans as a thoroughfare to give access to North Gate Drawbridge and was originally known as Mallow Lane. Different architectural styles reflect not only the street’s long history but also Cork’s past.

Tuesday 20 August 2024, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 6.30pm.

 This is a tour that brings the participant from the top of St Patrick’s Hill to the eastern end of McCurtain Street through Wellington Road. The tour will speak about the development of the Collins Barracks ridge and its hidden and interesting architectural heritage.

Thursday 22 August 2024, The Lough and its Curiosities; historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm.

This walking tour explores the Lough, its heritage and the rich surrounding history of this neighbourhood of the city. This amenity has witnessed eighteenth century market fairs as well as ice skating to nineteenth century writers and nursery gardens to twentieth century cycling tournaments and the rich and historic market garden culture.

Friday 23 August 2024, Douglas and its History, historical walking tour in association with Douglas Tidy Towns; Discover the history of industry and the development of this historic village, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, 6.30pm. 

The story of Douglas and its environs is in essence a story of experimentation, of industry and of people and social improvement. The story of one of Ireland largest sailcloth factories is a worthwhile topic to explore in terms of its aspiration in its day in the eighteenth century. That coupled with the creation of forty or so seats or mansions and demesnes made it a place where the city’s merchants made their home in. Douglas makes also makes for an interesting place to study as many historical legacies linger in village’s surrounding landscapes.

Saturday 24 August 2024, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1.30pm.

The Cork workhouse, which opened in December 1841, was an isolated place – built beyond the toll house and toll gates, which gave entry to the city and which stood just below the end of the wall of St. Finbarr’s Hospital in the vicinity of the junction of the Douglas and Ballinlough Roads. The Douglas Road workhouse was also one of the first of over 130 workhouses to be designed by the Poor Law Commissioners’ architect George Wilkinson. 

Sunday 25 August 2024, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 1.30pm.

 Sunday’s Well was a famous landmark through the ages and the adjoining district took its name from the well. In 1644, the French traveller M de La Boullaye Le Gouz, visited Ireland. In the account of his journey he writes: “A mile from Korq [Cork] is a well called by the English, Sunday Spring, or the fountain of Sunday, which the Irish believe is blessed and cures many ills”. Walk from Wise’s Hill to the heart of Sunday’s Well and learn about the development of an eighteenth century suburb.

Caption:

1265a. Historical walking tour of St Finbarr’s Hospital earlier this year with Cllr Kieran McCarthy (picture: Marcelline Bonneau).

Kieran’s National Heritage Week 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

Saturday 17 August 2024, A Tour of Cork City Hall as part of Cork Heritage Open Day, with Cllr Kieran McCarthy, 10am, meet at entrance at Anglesea Street (90 minutes, booking required at Cork Heritage Open Day website with Cork City Council).

Sunday 18 August 2024, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required). 

Monday 19 August 2024, Shandon Historical Walking Tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; explore Cork’s most historic quarter; meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp Cork Volunteer Centre, 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required).  

Tuesday 20 August 2024, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; Historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy of the area around St Patrick’s Hill – Old Youghal Road to McCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required). 

Thursday 22 August 2024, The Lough and its Curiosities; historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required)

Friday 23 August 2024, Douglas and its History, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy in association with Douglas Tidy Towns; Discover the history of industry and the development of this historic village, meet in the carpark of Douglas Community Centre, 6.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required, circuit of village, finishes nearby). 

Saturday 24 August 2024, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 1.30pm (free, 2 hours, on site tour, no booking required).

Sunday 25 August 2024, Sunday’s Well historical walking tour with Cllr Kieran McCarthy; discover the original well and the eighteenth century origins of the suburb, meet at St Vincent’s Bridge, North Mall end, 1.30pm (free, 2 hours, no booking required).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 1 August 2024

Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized
1264a. Entrance to From Source to Sea, Crawford Art Gallery (picture: Kiran McCarthy).
1264a. Entrance to From Source to Sea, Crawford Art Gallery (picture: Kiran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 1 August 2024

From Source to Sea at the Crawford Art Gallery

One of the last exhibitions before the revamp of the Crawford Art Gallery celebrates the River Lee. The exhibition is entitled From Source to Sea and is on from 22 June to 22 September in the Gibson Galleries at Crawford Art Gallery.  

The exhibition following the course of the River Lee, from its origins in the Shehy Mountains and Gougane Barra in the west to its meeting with the Celtic Sea at the mouth of Cork Harbour in the east, has opened at Crawford Art Gallery. Spanning historic and contemporary artworks from the collection, From Source to Sea celebrates the culture of Cork’s mighty Lee and its tributaries. 

Artworks from the 1750s through to the present day are featured in the exhibition. Each painting, drawing, print, and sculpture offers a perspective on the river, the stories it has carried and collected, the places and people it has shaped, and the changes it has inevitably borne. 

The exhibition features much-loved paintings, ranging from John Butts’ View of Cork from Audley Place (c.1750) and Whipping the Herring out of Town (c.1800) by Nathaniel Grogan, to George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson’s Paddle Steamer Entering the Port of Cork (1842) and Skellig Night on South Mall (1845) by James Beale. These are joined by the work of artists Sarah Grace Carr, Kate Dobbin, John Fitzgerald, Robert Gibbings, Patrick Hennessy, Seán Keating, Diarmuid Ó Ceallacháin, and George Petrie. 

Recent acquisitions by Ita Freeney, Bernadette Kiely, and Donald Teskey offer new contexts, while portraits by Séamus Murphy, Nano Reid, and Eileen Healy recall rich tales from the Lee Valley, including The Tailor and Ansty and the inimitable voice of Cónal Creedon.  

In an overall sense, the exhibition encourages the viewer to reflect on the histories and perspectives of the River Lee Valley and to travel back from the city to the source in the Shehy Mountains. Michael Waldron, curator of the exhibition, says: ‘Following our popular exhibitions focusing on Cork city and harbour, it’s been such a pleasure to take a journey along the River Lee itself. I hope visitors will take as much enjoyment in following its course, connecting with the river’s rich history and culture, and maybe even get inspired to take their own stroll at Gougane Barra, Lee Fields, or the Marina”.

It has been over a decade since this column chronicled histories from the Lee Valley and recorded many oral histories from life within it. Some of these stories I have placed up on my website www.corkheritage.ie. At the time, I wrote that the origin of the name Lee is sketchy and legend reputedly attributes the name to an ethnic group known as the Milesians from Spain who reputedly arrived in Ireland several thousand years before the time of St. FinBarre. Legend has it that the Milesians acquired land in Southern Munster, which they named ‘Corca Luighe’ or ‘Cork of the Lee’ from Luighe, the son of Ith who attained the land after the Milesian advent to Ireland.

In addition, the River Lee – An Laoi over the centuries has had many variations in its spelling. In early Christian texts such as the Book of Lismore, it is described as Luae. It has also been written as Lua, Lai, Laoi and the Latin Luvius. An entry in the Annals of the Four Masters in the year 1163 A.D. names the River Sabhrann. However, many scholars agree on the name Lee as the most common name of the River.

The columns from over a decade ago also reflected upon the rich heritage of Gougane Barra. Most notably and grabbing the visitor’s eye at the start of the Crawford Art Gallery exhibition is a hand coloured and beautiful acquatint by Newton Fielding entitled “Gougane Barra Lake with the Hermitage of St Finbarr, County Cork”. It is a copy of George Petrie’s work.

George Petrie (1790-1866) was an important Irish landscape painter of his day. He explored people’s memories along with native Irish cultural traditions as he found them in the historic fabric of old monuments and buildings in the four corners of Ireland. He devoted himself to landscape painting in watercolours.

In 1819 Petrie supplied ninety-six illustrations for Cromwell’s Excur­sions Through Ireland. He subsequently furnished drawings for several publications, such as the Rev G N Wright’s Guide to Killarney, Guide to Wicklow and Historical Guide to Ancient and Modern Dublin, 1821, as well as Brewer’s Beauties of Ireland, 1825. Petrie’s appreciation of landscape was deeply indebted to William Wordsworth. He also had a constant awareness of the continuity between living folk art and antiquity. Petrie’s work explored the Irish landscape as a cultural echo informed by the lingering memories of native cultural traditions and antiquities.

Petrie’s work as a field officer with the Ordnance Survey of Ireland in the early nineteenth century was, according to art historian Peter Murray, an enormous salvage operation to collect and preserve the remains of Ireland’s native culture and identity. George Petrie’s Gougane Barra(one of two versions) attempts to put the viewer in the heart of the Shehy Mountains. Pilgrims/tourists seem dwarfed by awe-inspiring landscapes and give an increased interest and picturesque aspect to the scene.

Explore and rediscover the Lee Valley with From Source to Sea, whichis on from 22 June to 22 September in the Gibson Galleries at Crawford Art Gallery.  

Captions:

1264a. Entrance to From Source to Sea, Crawford Art Gallery (picture: Kiran McCarthy).

1264b. Hand coloured and beautiful acquatint by Newton Fielding entitled “Gougane Barra Lake with the Hermitage of St Finbarr, County Cork”. It is a copy of George Petrie’s work.

1264b. Hand coloured and beautiful acquatint by Newton Fielding entitled “Gougane Barra Lake with the Hermitage of St Finbarr, County Cork”. It is a copy of George Petrie’s work.
1264b. Hand coloured and beautiful acquatint by Newton Fielding entitled “Gougane Barra Lake with the Hermitage of St Finbarr, County Cork”. It is a copy of George Petrie’s work.