Kieran Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 27 June 2013
Freedom, Hope and JFK
“There was a great assembly from all parts of Cork when President Kennedy visited the City yesterday on his Irish whirlwind visit and it will go down as one of the most memorable receptions so far. From an early hour spectators began crowding the sidewalk and streets gaily decorated with the entwined flags of the two countries” (Journalist, Irish Independent, 29 June 1963).
On Friday 28 June, I’m giving a tour of Cork Docklands leaving from Kennedy Park at 7pm (free). The tour aims to mark the visit, fifty years ago to Cork, by US President John F Kennedy. On 28 June 1963, he spent the morning in Cork where he received the Freedom of the City. He later left the city by helicopter from Monahan Road and from what in time became known as Kennedy Park. I was not around in 1963 but walking around Cork City Hall, there are several memorials to him. His visit to the city can be explored in the newspapers from the time and in film (google the youtube footage “John F. Kennedy in Cork, Ireland, June 28th 1963”),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDbsxWGsebc.
A recent debate in Cork City Hall’s council chamber provided food for thought as Kennedy’s legacy was spoken about. In his trip to Ireland, he was just coming back from Berlin where on 26 June, 1963, he gave a historic speech to a crowd in front of the Berlin Wall. The speech was given in response to the Cold War and the tension between the non-Communist countries and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall as a way to keep people from fleeing to non-Communist countries, mainly West Berlin. Kennedy praised the character of the people of Berlin in their pursuit for freedom.
JFK took office during one of the most turbulent times in American history. The Cold War between democracy and communism was becoming more confrontational, and the United States and the Soviet Union possessed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over. In American cities, racial tension was rising. Growing numbers of black Americans had begun to demonstrate for equal treatment under the law, and white segregationists promised to deny these rights, using violence if necessary. As he struggled with the complexities of foreign and domestic politics, Kennedy sometimes fell short of his idealistic rhetoric. A self-proclaimed supporter of civil rights, he moved forward slowly on the issue until 1963, when racial violence forced his hand. An advocate of peaceful development abroad, he hastened America’s descent into the Vietnam war, a conflict that would end countless lives and bitterly divide his nation. His assassination on 22 November 1963, in Dallas, Texas, marked a bloody conclusion to his presidency, but accelerated his coronation as a martyred prince of American politics. In death, he became a cultural icon. The idealism that Kennedy evoked did not die with him. Although Kennedy failed to realize his promise, he left a legacy of hope.
Perhaps it was a message of hope that he carried on his visit to Ireland and to cities such as Cork on his way back to the US from Berlin in June 1963. Indeed, he received the freedom of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Wexford. President Kennedy’s itinerary meant that helicopter was his means of transport on trips through the country. The Minister for External Affairs, Mr Aiken and the American Ambassador, Mr McCioskey travelled in the President’s helicopter. The Minister for Industry and Commerce Jack Lynch travelled in another helicopter and visiting pressmen and officials travelled in two similar craft.
The rain, which had been threatening during the morning held off for the commencement of his visit. As the President alighted at Collins Barracks, a pipe band drawn from the 4th Batallion, Limerick under Sergeant Walter O’Sullivan. The President gave the crew cut White House security men an unexpected problem when he arrived in Cork. Flanked on both sides by security men, he suddenly changed course and went to a window at Collins Barracks where a group of Army nurses were waving frantically and calling “Mr President”, Mr. President. With a broad grin he strode across to them and with an outstretched hand greeted them individually.
Half an hour before President Kennedy arrived in Cork, an emergency call went out from the secret service that one of the two open cars to be used in the procession had broken down. Twenty minutes later a Cork firm had supplied a black 1937 Rolls-Royce. As the motorcade progressed towards the city centre the crowds thickened. Again and again his car had some difficulty in getting through and had to stop more than once. The effective crash barriers in Parnell Place stood up well to surging crowds and all Cork wanted to get a glimpse of the smiling young President as he was brought through the streets.
In McCurtain Street a large banner erected by the ITGWU spanned the roadway issuing ‘céad míle fáilte’ to the President. One of the biggest crowds was the foot of Patrick’s Hill where Gardai had trouble holding back the crowds. On more than one occasion thousands surged forward in an attempt to reach the President’s car but the Gardaí succeeded in maintaining a narrow passage, which was just big enough to allow the procession through.
At Cork City Hall the Cork Lord Mayor, Alderman Seán Casey, TD, opened his address to Kennedy by noting “You stand for the weak against the strong, for right against might”. Continuing the Lord Mayor noted that Kennedy was receiving the honour “in token of our pride that this descendant of Irish emigrants should have been elected to such an exalted office and of our appreciation of his action in coming to visit the country of his ancestors; as a tribute to his unceasing and fruitful work towards the attainment of prosperity and true peace by all the people of the world, and in recognition of the close ties that have always existed between our two countries”. The Freedom of Cork casket was decorated with celtic designs and on the lid the arms of Cork were engraved. On the front was the American Eagle Crest and on the back of the crest of the Kennedy family.
In a well measured speech, one of Kennedy’s key points referred to Ireland’s hope and mission for freedom through the ages: “So Ireland is still old Ireland but it has found a new mission in the 1960s and that is to lead the free world to join with other countries in the free world to do in the 60’s what Ireland did in the early part of this century and indeed has done for the last 800 years and that it associate itself intimately with the principle of freedom”.
As the crowds swelled outside City Hall to get a glimpse of the President, Kennedy’s motorcade struggled as it made its way to Monahan Road to reach his helicopter for his return flight to Dublin. Despite the troops drawn from Collins barracks and Sarsfield Barracks and the 1st Motor Squadron, the public seized their opportunity here and swarmed around the presidential helicopter and gave him a send-off that equalled anything he received to that date on his Irish visit.
Links, more information and more pictures on this story can be seen at my blog www.kieranmccarthy.ie
Caption:
697a. John F Kennedy’s Motorcade travels through St Patrick’s Street, 28 June 1963 (source JFK Presidential Library, USA)
Further information: