Question to the CE:
To ask the CE for an update on repair works on the English Market roof?
Motions:
That the badly vandalised phone boxes in front of Waterstones on St Patrick’s Street be removed (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That the graffiti at the base of Red Abbey tower be removed (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in the fifteenth year of McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat Project. All interested participants must design and make a model boat at home and bring it to The Lough on the evening of Thursday 22 May 2025.
The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara and the Cork Harbour Festival Team for the Cork Harbour Festival itself. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. The theme is ‘Boats from your imagination, which is open to interpretation. The model must be creative though, made from recycled materials and must be able to float. There are prizes for best models and the event is free to enter. For further information and to register a boat, log onto http://www.corkharbourfestival.com
Cllr McCarthy, who is heading up the event, noted: “Over the 15 years of this annual project, the Make a Model Boat Project has gone from strength to strength. The Cork Harbour festival team and I have seen really creative entries and of course it is great to be able to float boats on a fantastic amenity such as The Lough. I am encouraging creation, recycling, innovation and imagination amongst our young people, which are important traits for all of us to develop. The Make a Model Boat Project is part of a suite of community projects I have organised over the years– the others include the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project with Cork City Council, the Community local history walks, and local history publications”.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 8 May 2025
Making an Irish Free State City – The Blackrock Fishing Community Speak Out
Early summer coincides with warmer days to host historical walking tours and also to tie some of the tours to my research around early Irish Free State or Cork in the 1920s. My historical walking tour of Blackrock – coming up again on Saturday 24 May in association with the Cork Harbour Festival – is an opportunity to once again take interested people across the rich historical landscape of Blackrock Village.
Through ongoing research for this column, I came across an article in the Cork Examiner published on 12 January 1925. It provides insights into the fishing community in Blackrock one hundred years ago and their challenges in the early Irish Free State.
A meeting was held at the Recreation. Hall, Blackrock with the object of developing the Lee salmon fisheries, as well as securing financial aid for the net fishermen engaged in such fisheries in order to enable them to procure suitable equipment. There were 32 licensed boats, over 100 fishermen – many of whom has years of experience – and circa 1,000 dependents in the Blackrock area on the local fishing industry. The industry in Blackrock yielded on average £1 per salmon caught and some years over £100,000 salmon could be caught by the Blackrock community. The community at Blackrock was notably up there as one of the largest fishing communities in Ireland.
At the meeting there was a large and representative attendance of net fishermen from Cork and Blackrock present while Mr Michael Egan, TD and representatives of the Cork Harbour Board were also present.
Fr T Murphy, CC, Blackrock, occupied the chair. He noted that it was absolutely necessary that the conditions of the fishermen should be improved; “We are within a few days of the new season and I hope that it will be a better season than last season and prove of great benefit to the fishermen and their families and the whole district”.
Fishing community representative Mr Michael Dorney, highlighted that the Blackrock fishermen suffered severely during the Black and Tans regime; “We were unable to properly follow our political beliefs for the advancement of the national cause, and were faced by distress…The fishermen are entitled to consideration for all they have gone through”. Mr Dorney also complained of the lack of suitable grounds and landing places around Blackrock and urged the necessity of having proper gear and equipment provided for the fishermen.
Another fishing community representative, Mr William J Deasy, said up to eight or nine years previously the industry was in a flourishing condition. Sufficient money was then made during the season by the Lee net fishermen to support their families, even though no other work was available during the close season. Within more recent periods, however, that had not been so, and since 1918 many families had been practically starving during the winter months.
Mr Deasy continued that when British troops and Black and Tans swarmed the country and with the knock-on curfew law they could not ply their craft at night. He noted; “Even when such law was not in operation it was not safe for them to work at night; in fact their boats were commandeered and misused and their nets destroyed, and when the men themselves ventured out for a haul they were fired on”.
Mr Deasy detailed that poaching, poisoning and destruction went on in both upper and lower waters. It was a state of affairs that the Conservators were powerless to effectively deal with owing to the conditions prevailing; “The river became so denuded of fish that from 1920 to 1923 the industry was a hopeless failure. How the fishermen had been able to live at all during the past winter was almost a mystery, because the past season has proved a hopeless one, and then there was no work available during the close season”.
Mr Deasy outlined that in October 1924 an effort was made to revive the oyster fishery, which managed to keep off starvation for that time, but in early 1925 the net fishermen found themselves struggling to afford the high price of material for “gear, twine, ropes, etc”. In addition, Mr Deasy asserted that the boats in use were old and almost unseaworthy and a positive danger in the rough weather to be expected in early spring.
Mr Deasy concluded that previous to the recent by-election the fishermen had heard a good deal about the intentions of the Government to give “paternal care towards fostering their dying industries”. Mr Deasy called for a small grant in aid of the fishing industry and to bring the matter before the Minister for Fisheries.
Mr J Dinneen, representative of the Cork Net Fishermen Association, complained that their nineteen boats had suffered an untold loss by being deprived of their landing place in consequence of the Tivoli reclamation scheme. He noted; “Forty or fifty feet of water had now been made available at that place, and the fishermen had no suitable landing place there…If a high-water fishery were made below Tivoli and another at Barrington’s it would be a great benefit to the Cork and Blackrock fishermen”.
Mr Michael Egan, TD, representing the Cumann na nGaedheal government, responded to the various interventions from the floor saying he could assure them that the matter of fishing was of vital importance to the country. He noted that he would bring the asks of the meeting to the relevant Minister.
Exploring the now digitised Department of Fisheries reports from the late 1920s, it is clear that the challenges of Blackrock fishing community were also seen in other Irish coastal villages and that equipment shortages were met through larger national loan schemes, but these were developed slowly over the ensuing years by the Department due to financial prudence.
Caption:
1303a. Blackrock Pier, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).
Next May Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required).
Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical walking tour of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to nineteenth century houses and fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.
Sunday evening,25 May, The Lough and its Curiosities, historical walking tour; meet at green area at northern area of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end; 6.30pm.
Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
All free, two hours, no booking required
Friday evening, 2 May, Cork South Docklands, Historical walking tour, Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm.
Saturday afternoon, 3 May, 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, 2pm.
Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical walking tour of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.
Sunday evening, 25 May, 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.
Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 1 May 2025
Exhibition on the Last General Absolution of the Munster Fusilliers
A new exhibition to commemorate the centenary of the unveiling of the Cork War Memorial on the South Mall, on 17 March 1925, has opened in Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald’s Park.The exhibition entitled The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue de Bois can be viewed until 22 May.
The main feature of the exhibition is the earliest known painted copy of the iconic Great War painting, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by Italian artist, Fortunino Matania. Daniel Breen, Curator of Cork Public Museum has noted that Cork Public Museum is “delighted to be able to display this wonderful and historic painting to the public for the first time ever”.
The painting illustrates the 2nd Battalion of Royal Munster Fusiliers receiving general absolution on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge from their chaplain, Father Gleeson adjacent a roadside shrine on the Rue du Bois in France on 8 May 1915. The scene is based on eyewitness accounts gathered by Jessie Rickard, the widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Rickard, who was killed in the battle.
The following day, the British Army lost 11,000 men, dead or wounded, during the Battle of Aubers Ridge, of which 300 came from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers. Of these 300, 95% were Irish, with at least 50 connected to Cork City and County.
Interpretative panels at the museum outline that the painting was published in the British magazine, The Sphere, on 27 November 1916. It was so popular that large numbers of prints were later sold by the magazine. It was also published in the Irish publication, The Weekly Freeman’s. After the war many households in Cork displayed a copy of the print to honour family members who took part in the conflict.
The original painting is believed to have been lost in the bombing of London during the Second World War. However, the version currently on display at Cork Public Museum was particularly commissioned from the artist in 1919 by Alfred Robinson to hail the safe return of his son Lieutenant Alfred Esmond Robinson MC and Bar, from the war. The painting remained with the Robinson family until it was sold at auction last year. Thankfully, it was purchased by Willie and Mary Slattery from Dublin who very generously loaned it to Cork Public Museum for public display.
Interpretation panels on the artist Fortunino Matania outlines that he was a painter, draughtsman and miniaturist who focussed on historical subjects. Born in Naples on 16 April 1881, he studied art with his father, Eduardo Matania, a prominent artist for the Italian weekly, L’Illustrazione. At the age of eleven, he exhibited his first work at the Naples Academy. Three years later, he followed in his father’s footsteps and was employed as an artist by L’Illustrazione.
At the age of twenty, Matania moved to Paris to work with lustration Francaise. Then, in 1904, he moved to London after Clement Shorter, editor of the British illustrated magazine The Sphere, employed him to create illustrations of news events from around the world. His pictures were frequently based on eye-witness accounts and became known for their authenticity and photorealistic quality.
Matania produced some of his most famous work while working at The Sphere, including detailed illustrations of many different events from the Great War. To ensure these pictures had a high degree of accuracy, Matania visited the Front at several times in order to view the circumstances faced by military personnel.
The Museum’s interpretative panels also outline that the painting was stirred by the 1915 book The Story of the Munsters, which was written by Jessie Rickard, a well-known novelist and wife of Colonel Victor Rickard, one of the officers depicted in the painting and who also lost his life during the Battle of Aubers Ridge. Though Dublin-born, Jessie Rickard spent much of her life in Cork.
Jessie was born in Dublin in 1876. She was the daughter of Canon Courtney Moore, Anglican Rector, noted antiquarian and founder of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, and his wife, Jessie Mona Duff. She spent most of her youth in Mitchelstown, County Cork. When she was eighteen years old, she penned a series of hunting sketches that appeared in The Cork Examiner. These were followed by a hunting story, The Price of a Friend, which appeared in The Irish Times. In October 1901, Jessie married Robert Dudley Innes Ackland. Though the couple had a daughter in 1902, they divorced in 1907, causing a rift between Jessie and her father. The following year, Jessie married Victor Rickard and in 1913, the couple had a son.
After Victor Rickard was killed at Aubers Ridge Jessie published four articles on the Royal Munster Fusiliers in the journal New Ireland. Her account of the Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois on 8 May 1915, shaped the basis of the painting, which served as a visual memorial to her husband and his men. The articles also appeared in the British magazine, The Sphere, and in her book, The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and Hulloch, which was published in 1918.
In 1916, Jessie married Lieutenant Colonel Tudor Fitzjohn, but the couple divorced in 1935. During her life she wrote over forty novels which were published under the name Mrs Victor Rickard.
Jessie was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1925, and in 1946 she came to Cork and resided in Montenotte – home of Denis Gwynn, an old friend and Professor of Modern Irish History at UCC. Jessie Rickard died on 28 January 1963 and is buried in Rathcooney Cemetery in Cork.
The Cork Public Museum exhibition also reflects upon the lives and experiences of some of the men portrayed in the painting, using original object and personal possessions to voice their stories, including that of Private Christy Barry, of Douglas Street, who was present for the last absolution and who also lost his life in the following day’s battle.
May Walking Tours with Kieran (All free, two hours, no booking required).
Friday evening, 2 May, Cork South Docklands, Historical walking tour, Discover the history of the city’s docks, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm.
Saturday afternoon, 3 May, 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, 2pm.
Saturday afternoon, 24 May, Stories from Blackrock and Mahon, Historical walking tour of Blackrock Village, from Blackrock Castle to Nineteenth Century Houses and Fishing; meet in adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle, 2pm.
Sunday evening, 25 May, 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 (free, 2 hours, no booking required).
Friday evening, 30 May, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm.
Caption:
1302a. Picture of the Copy of the painting of The Last Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois at Cork Public Museum, May 2025 (source: Cork Public Museum).