Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 14 March 2013

Kieran’s Events, Cork Lifelong Learning Festival (18-24 March 2013)

The tenth Cork Lifelong Learning Festival offers a huge variety of events, highlighting all the opportunities there are for learning, whatever your age across our city. Its motto is to investigate, participate and celebrate. Over the week and for my part I have arranged a number of free events.

Wednesday morning, 20 March 2013, 10.30am, Talk: From Workhouse to Hospital, The Early Story of the St Finbarr’s Hospital, Curaheen Family Centre, Meeting Room, Church of the Real Presence, Curaheen Road, Bishopstown & Sunday afternoon, 24 March 2013, 2pm, Historical Walking Tour of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Meet at gate, Douglas Road (duration: 1 ½ hours).

This is an opportunity to explore the early story of the hospital and its workhouse past as well as some local history of the area. It is also an opportunity to share your own memories and knowledge. The site played a key role in the life of the city from 1841 onwards. During December 1841, a new workhouse opened in the Douglas Road to replace an older structure known as the House of Industry in Blackpool. The workhouses built at that time had a distinctive uniformity in terms of their peripheral location, their regular block like appearance, together with their enclosed plan; once inside families became broken up – men from women, boys from girls. Initially, the Douglas Road complex had 3,000 inmates due mainly to the desperate employment situation. In addition, a large number of non-residents were provided with a breakfast.

During the autumn of 1846, the effects of the Great Famine took hold. By early September 1846, there were 4,256 non-residents. By the start of October, this figure had grown to 11,633 non-residents. By mid October 1846, the number of workhouse inmates had climbed to over 3,500. Overcrowding became a major problem. By this time also, there were ten relief depots dispersed across the city and each day, 25,000 people were supplied with yellow and white meal. This tour is an attempt to highlight the importance of such a site in Cork’s history plus also its development as a hospital in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Friday afternoon, 22 March 2013, Douglas historical walking tour; meet at St. Columba’s Church Car Park, Douglas, 12noon (duration: 1 ½ hours).

In association with Douglas Young at Heart, discover Douglas and its industrial heritage (duration: 2 hours). The story of Douglas and its environs is in essence a story of experimentation, of industry and of people and social improvement. As early as the late thirteenth century King John of England made a grant of parcels of land, near the city of Cork to Philip de Prendergast. On 1 June 1726, Douglas sailcloth factory was begun to be built. Samuel Perry and Francis Carleton became the first proprietors, who were part of a colony of weavers from Fermanagh. The eighteenth century was the last golden age for wooden sailing ships, before the 1800s made steam and iron prerequisites for modern navies and trading fleets. It was a golden age too for maritime exploration, with the voyages of James Cook amongst others opening up the Pacific and the South Seas. Douglas in its own way added in part to this world of exploration.

Saturday afternoon, 23 March 2013, 2pm; “From Standing Stones to Market Gardens:  A historical walking tour through Ballinlough and environs”; start point: Beaumont Park adjacent Beaumont National Schools (duration: approx 2 hours).

With 360 acres, Ballinlough is the second largest of the seven townlands forming the Mahon Peninsula. the area has a deeper history dating back to Bronze Age Ireland. In fact it is probably the only urban area in the country to still have a standing stone still standing in it for over 5,000 years. The area’s first recorded resident to settle in the area was Patrick Meade. In records from 1641, Ballinlough was written as Ballynloghy and Patrick, a Catholic, had 144 acres of profitable land. The Meades were originally from the west coast of England. During the Cromwellian wars, Patrick Meade was dispossessed of his property. William Tucker had the caretaker’s lease on the property through Oliver Cromwell. Subsequently, the 144 acres were given to Alexander Pigott. The Pigotts came from Chetwynd in Shropshire and initially came to Ballyginnane beyond present day Togher. In time, they re-named this area Chetwynd.

In 1792, when Beamish & Crawford was first established, William Beamish resided at Beaumont House, which was then a magnificent period residence situated on Beaumont Hill (SEE MAP). During their tenure at Beaumont House the philanthropic spirit of the Beamish family was well known. The name Beaumont, is the French derivative of Beamish meaning a beautiful view from the mountain or a beautiful view. In 1850 Griffith’s Valuation of property in Ballinlough, 49 individual land holdings – are listed. The surnames included McGrath, Dennis,Hare, Pigott, Angleton, Barrett, Barry, Callaghan, Coughlan, Delany, Donovan, Hayes, Keeffe, Keohane, Lavallin, Love, Lyons, Mahony, Meade, Noonan, Reid, Regan, Riordan, Silke and Smith. In the 1901 census, Ballinlough townland had 17 market gardeners. This September, Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough celebrates 75 years since its opening. All welcome to the above.

Caption:

682a. Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough (picture: Kieran McCarthy)