Well done to all the participants of this great evening of entertainment in Blackrock for Cork Culture Night!
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 19 September 2013, Journeys of Faith
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 19 September 2013
New Book – Journeys of Faith
Following on from last week’s article, to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, my new book, Journey’s of Faith celebrates its story. Ballinlough in the 1930s was a part of Blackrock parish. At the heart of Blackrock is St Michael’s Church. The first building was erected in 1821 and was a chapel of ease to the parochial chapel of St Finbarr, or the South Chapel. St Michael’s Parish was created in 1848. The original parish area comprised almost all of the Mahon Peninsula and included Blackrock, Ballintemple and Ballinlough.
Ballinlough was an area of hard-working people. Circa 55% of the land comprised market gardens. In the 1911 census, it had a population of just over 400 people with 17 families engaged in market gardening. This is a theme which is returned to in more detail in parts of this book through memories of interviewees. In his address to the congregation at the laying of the foundation stone in 1935 of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Bishop Cohalan noted that, in his younger days, he remembered the district around Ballinlough Road and Boreenmanna Road as largely devoted to market gardening but it had grown into a popular residential area and the necessity for a church was “heavily” felt.
The 1930s coincided with an increase in veneration and celebration of Our Lady of Lourdes and created a framework of symbols for the new chapel of ease in Ballinlough. Our Lady of Lourdes is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary cited by the Roman Catholic church in honour of the Marian apparitions which are said to have taken place before various individuals on separate occasions around Lourdes, France. Most prominently among these was the apparition on 11 February 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, admitted to her mother that while gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, a “lady” spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a mile from the town). Similar appearances of the “lady” were reported on seventeen further occasions that year. In 1862, Pope Pius IX authorized Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Laurence to permit the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. In 1907, Pope Pius X introduced the feast of the apparition of the Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes. The first Official Irish Pilgrimage to Lourdes happened in September 1913. In later years on 6 June 1925, Pius XI actively furthered the venerations in Lourdes by beatifying Bernadette Soubirous.
The year 1933 coincided with the 75th anniversary of the 1858 apparitions and the anniversary celebrations at the shrine were duly reported upon across the world. The celebrations were enhanced at the end of the year on 8 December 1933 on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception when Pope Pius X canonized Bernadette and determined her feast day to be 16 April. This was followed in 1934 by a heavily publicised triduum of masses at Lourdes to celebrate Bernadette’s elevation to sainthood. These were held in conjunction with the extension of the holy year in honour of the 19th centenary of Christ’s crucifixion. This holy space of time was brought to a close at Lourdes on 25-28 April 1935 with more triduums of masses and other religious events. All of these events helped to boost pilgrimage traffic to Lourdes which by 1935 had reached 1.1 million per annum.
In Ireland, the response to the canonisation of Bernadette was enormous. For a considerable time in the mid 1930s, every weekly issue of The Irish Catholic newspaper contained a substantial article on the shrine, under the title “Notes from Lourdes”, in which pilgrimages were discussed. Through this source, one can read about the revamp of Ireland’s ‘Lourdes’ at Knock and about the numerous annual pilgrimages organised by a variety of Catholic bodies to Lourdes, France. By the mid 1930s, there were at least half a dozen big pilgrimages each having from 400 to 1,200 pilgrims and thousands of associate members furnishing support at home. Pilgrimage promoters and organisers also utilised lectures, slides, and film to attract recruits and spread interest. The film entitled Lourdes and St Bernadette, praised for its fine camera work, good acting and effective musical accompaniment, was originally sponsored by Irish missionaries. The Holy Ghost Fathers, whose principal work lay in Africa, arranged for its screening in Cork and other southern counties during the summer of 1935. Franz Werfel’s novel, The Song of Bernadette, also had great impact as well the subsequent film based on it. The novel was the number one best seller in Ireland from 1942 to 1946. Naming churches after Our Lady of Lourdes also became a common practice from 1930s onwards through to the Marian year of 1954 and into the 1960s. In Blackrock, Cork, Canon William Murphy was one of many priests who sought to remember the significance of the canonisation of Bernadette and hence named the new Ballinlough church after Our Lady of Lourdes. It became the first church to adopt the name in the south of Ireland.
Kieran’s new book, Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years is available (E.15) from the church and its parish office.
More next week…
Caption:
709a. Aerial view of bell tower and Ballinlough Road from church roof of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, 2013 (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Blackrock Historical Walking Tour, Friday 20 September 2013, For Cork Culture Night
As part of Cork Culture Night and the open evening fete on Blackrock Pier Cllr Kieran McCarthy will conduct a historical walking tour of Blackrock Village on Friday 20 September 2013, 5pm, leaving from the grotto (approx 90 mins, free event). The earliest and official evidence for settlement in Blackrock dates to c.1564 when the Galway family created what was to become known as Dundanion Castle. Over 20 years later, Blackrock Castle was built circa 1582 by the citizens of Cork with artillery to resist pirates and other invaders. The building of the Navigation Wall or Dock in the 1760s turned focus to reclamation projects in the area and the eventual creation of public amenity land such as the Marina Walk during the time of the Great Famine. The early 1800s coincided with an enormous investment into creating new late Georgian mansions by many other key Cork families, such as the Chattertons, the Frends, the McMullers, Deanes and the Nash families, amongst others. Soon Blackrock was to have its own bathing houses, schools, hurling club, suburban railway line, and Protestant and Catholic Church. The pier that was developed at the heart of the space led to a number of other developments such as fisherman cottages and a fishing industry. This community is reflected in the 1911 census with 64 fisherman listed in Blackrock.
Cllr Kieran McCarthy notes: “A stroll in Blackrock is popular by many people, local and Cork people. The area is particularly characterised by beautiful architecture, historic landscapes and imposing late Georgian and early twentieth century country cottages; every structure points to a key era in Cork’s development. Blackrock is also lucky that many of its former residents have left archives, census records, diaries, old maps and insights into how the area developed, giving an insight into ways of life, ideas and ambitions in the past, some of which can help us in the present day in understanding Blackrock’s identity going forward.”
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 12 September 2013
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 12 September 2013
New Book – Journeys of Faith
Following on from last week’s article, to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, my new book, Journeys of Faith celebrates its story. I’d like to share some of the earlier thoughts of the book especially the early origins of the church and its origins. Personally I find the story of the early Irish Free State fascinating especially in terms of its ambition and determinism to achieve goals.
The prominence of the Roman Catholic Church in Irish society and Cork society was significant in the Irish Free State. Daniel Cohalan (1858–1952) served as Bishop of Cork from 1916 to 24 August 1952 and he defined the sense of religion in the city during his time. For many of the early years Cohalan found himself commenting on the nationalist independence struggles of the day. He attempted to take the middle ground in a struggle that was rapidly deteriorating into chaos and atrocity. His anti-violence attitude was the guiding principle in his episcopacy. He had a crucial role in condemning the 1916 rising and pressed that the Volunteers including Cork leaders Tomás MacCurtain and Terence McSwiney stand down in the face of superior Crown forces. Cohalan was eager to avoid bloodshed and having the city plunged into chaos. In 1918 Bishop Cohalan campaigned against conscription into the British army. Whilst attending a public meeting in Cork, he made it clear that conscripting Irishmen to fight Britain’s wars was unacceptable.
The 1920 burning of Cork City by the Black and Tans (following the Dillon’s Cross and other local and regional ambushes) resulted in a city and region dominated by the gun and violence. It prompted Bishop Cohalan to issue a decree of excommunication against those who perpetrated violence in any form. It was issued in SS Mary’s and Anne’s North Cathedral on 12 December 1920. This did not calm the situation. The IRA was unhappy with the decision and the position of the local Catholic Church especially as a number of the clergy were active in the IRA. Cohalan remained steadfast on the controversy isolating himself from republican parishioners and clergy, even to the point of refusing a Catholic burial to any hunger striker after 1922. To underline his support for law and order, Cohalan welcomed the 1922 Treaty, which established the Free State, agreeing that it was not perfect but was a great “measure of freedom”. This support was preached publicly in the North Cathedral on 10 December 1922.
In 1937 Cohalan turned his attention to the role of the Protestant churches in Ireland. He encouraged the Protestant community of Cork to unite with its Catholic brethren to achieve Christian unity. He even went so far as to suggest to the Protestant Bishop of Cork that they merge the dioceses between them with St Finbarr’s Cathedral presiding over southside districts and the North Cathedral presiding over northside districts. All the Protestant Bishop had to do was to convert to Catholicism!
By the mid 1920′s the South Parish had grown in both population and area to a point where it could no longer function with a single church. In an effort to address the situation, Bishop Cohalan designated Turners Cross as the location for a second parish church to serve the ever-growing congregation. Commissioned in 1927, the church’s modern concrete architectural look initiated an enormous debate amongst those involved in the brick masons’ trade, which saw the use of concrete as cutting jobs for masons in the region. The architect was Chicago-born Barry Byrne (1883-1967) who was a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright. By the late 1920s Byrne had, designed three Catholic Churches in the US to acclaim and criticism. The model for Turners Cross was based on the Church of Christ the King, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1926).
Work on the Turners Cross site began in March 1929. Its heavy foundations went down 15 feet into a marshy stream-like area. A total of 1,200 tons of Condor brand of Portland cement were used in its construction. Its marble terrazzo floor is overlooked by the largest suspended ceiling in a European church and it also possesses the impressive John Storr-designed Christ the King sculpture at its entrance. The church was officially dedicated on 25 October 1931 and set a marker for the future development of large churches in Cork’s suburbs. The notable exception was Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough, planning for which started possibly 2-3 years after Christ the King. As Ballinlough church was a chapel of ease to St Michael’s Blackrock, there was a return to a traditional-looking structure.
More next week…
I will be giving a reflection on the 75th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in Our Lady of Lourdes Church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and church sacristy from 13 September onwards.
Caption:
708a. Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough (picture: Kieran McCarthy)
Draft Mahon Local Area Plan, Avenue de Rennes area Exhibition, Thursday 12 September 2013
Avenue de Rennes area Exhibition, Thursday 12 September 2013, 5pm-7pm, @ Mahon Community Centre
You are invited to come along to a consultation event being run by Cork City Council to give stakeholders from the Avenue De Rennes area the chance to take a look at the Draft Local Area Plan and ask any questions that you may have about it in an informal setting.
You have the opportunity to make a written or electronic submission by 4pm on Monday 16 September 2013 (submissions must be received by this date / time). Please send postal submissions to Patrick Ledwidge, Director of Services, Strategic Planning and Economic Development Directorate, City Hall, Cork. Electronic submissions are made through the City Council’s website (www.corkcity.ie ).
Planning Policy Section Strategic Planning and Economic Development Directorate
9 September 2013
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 5 September 2013, Kieran’s New Book, Journeys of Faith
Article 707- 5 September 2013
Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years
In the past eight months I have been fortunate to interview many people in Ballinlough, my own homeplace, to produce a book to mark the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Located on a prominent limestone ridge, the church is a familiar, impressive and welcoming landmark in Ballinlough, a south east suburb of Cork City. The building represents one of the multiple threads of community life of the area. Indeed, it can be said that many of the original ideas for the present community infrastructure in Ballinlough, ranging from actual buildings to various sporting and social clubs had their roots amongst the people and priests who created, and in time, added to the meaning of building in the lives of the community.
At the dedication ceremony on Sunday 11 September 1938, the orator of the sermon, Fr Kieran, OFM, Cap spoke at length about the building belonging to the people and the people belonging to the church; “we are gathered and united in one living holy faith this morning in this beautiful little church, planned by Christ-like minds and built by human hands and generous hearts”. Those ideas of hope, self determination, generosity, faith, dedication, and adoration are all starting points to begin a reflection on the past 75 years.
In Our Lady of Lourdes Church, there is a faith in the sacredness of this edifice that has never been relinquished since 1938. It is a thriving and resilient place, a place of aspiration. Here is a faith founded on familiar cultural and personal Christian principles to which those in the present day are heirs; we also carry forward some of that faith and all the ideas that go with it; we continue to build and trust in our faith. The text on the 1935 foundation stone at the side of the building reminds one of this spirit of co-operation in faith and that together the clerical and lay community have brought forward the multiple meanings and memories within the building as a socially inclusive community.
The church is a celebration of re-invention and re-imagination of the faith and initiative in Free State Ireland. A sense of initiative remains constant in the character of the Ballinlough community today. The Bishop of Cork in 1938, Dr Daniel Cohalan, had an interest in harnessing new possibilities, ideas, and new skills, to reach higher and to combine them with ideas of faith. There is a power in faith, in journeying with it. It is our lasting birthright but, it is also about what we do with it. Faith does not have a financial value but, without it, people’s moral compass, personal development and journey in life would certainly be anchored in a different direction.
As its core aims, this book excavates below Ballinlough’s official histories. Its key milestones are presented but the book aims to provide insights and foster debate into the woven relationships between the church, community life, and society. What is presented is a cross-section of Ballinlough residents and those connected to the parish throughout the years. Using the themes of the spirit of co-operation and community building put forward during Fr Kieran’s sermon at the 1938 dedication ceremony, the book aspires to recover and provide a cross-section of voices and personal memories of the most memorable aspects of Ballinlough. It also tries to create a framework of the development of motivations and visions for community life. The book is divided into four parts – firstly it presents the historical framework for the construction of Ballinlough church and the nature of Cork society in the 1920s and 1930s. Secondly memories covering Ballinlough’s market garden heritage and the emergence of the area’s development in the 1930s and 1940s; secondly the book focuses on the construction of the community infrastructure in the period c.1950-c.1980; fourthly the book explores more recent memories and concludes with the perspectives of a cross-section of individuals in the Ballinlough Parish Assembly.
Over 100 people speak at length in this book about their faith, their personal connection to Ballinlough, and its sense of place and how they link to it. They speak about the layered aspects of life such as change, love, hope, uncertainty, fragility, tragedy, integrity, traditions, renewal and imagination and their role in the formation of human values. Interviewees commented on the role of the church in the past and seek to be involved in its future. All merge together to reflect on the mark made on history by Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the wider community, but also their role in the future of Ballinlough and in the wider city and region.
I will be giving a reflection on the 75th anniversary on Friday 13 September at 7.30pm in the church during the celebration mass and mission. The book launch is after this event on the same evening at 8.30pm in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book can be purchased for E.15 from Ballinlough parish office and sacristy from 13 September onwards.
Caption:
707a. Front cover of Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years by Kieran McCarthy; cover designed by Alexandria O’Donnell, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ballinlough.
Festival of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough
McCarthy’s New Book, Journeys of Faith
Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s new book is entitled Journeys of Faith, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Celebrating 75 Years. The book marks the 75th anniversary of the dedication of the building. The book aims to recover and provide a cross section of voices and personal memories of the most remembered aspects of Ballinlough parish over the past decades. The church represents one of the multiple threads of community life of the area. At its dedication ceremony on Sunday 11 September 1938, the orator of the sermon, Fr Kieran OFM Cap, spoke at length about the building belonging to the people and the people belonging to the church.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “Over 100 people were interviewed and worked with in order to produce a very personal book on the story of life within Ballinlough parish. People speak at length in this book about their faith, their personal connection to Ballinlough and its sense of place and how they link to it. They speak about the layered aspects of life such as change, love, hope, uncertainty, fragility, tragedy, integrity, traditions, renewal, imagination and their role in the formation of human values. All merge together to reflect on the mark made on history by Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the wider community but also their role in the future of Ballinlough and in the wider city and region”. The book is being launched on Friday 13 September. Kieran is giving a short talk on the 75th anniversary at the celebratory mass at the end of the Church’s Festival of Faith at 7.30pm on the Friday. The book launch follows the mass in the church and is in St Anthony’s Boys National School. All welcome. The book from the 13 September will be available at the church and from the sacristy.
Draft Mahon Local Area Plan 2013
Cllr Kieran McCarthy wishes to remind residents in Mahon that an open public consultation exhibition regarding the Draft Mahon Local Area Plan 2013 will be held on Thursday 5 September 2013 between 3pm and 9pm at Northridge House, Saint Luke’s Home, Ferney Road. The aim of this event is to give people the chance to discuss the plan proposals with officials from the Strategic Planning and Economic Development Directorate of Cork City Council. Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted: “the plan aims to enhance the urban design of Mahon; most significantly, the concept of a neighbourhood Park at Bessboro House is to be welcomed. It is also important that the Council aims to improve the public realms in certain areas; this plan is all about what can be added to improve the existing community life in Mahon”.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 29 August 2013
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 29 August 2013
Canon Patrick Sheehan Remembered
Passing through the County Cork countryside recently, I was struck by the myriad of community festivals and Gathering events taking place. One group, whose work I came across recently was that of the Canon Sheehan Commemoration Group. The Very Rev Patrick Augustine Canon Sheehan (1852 – 5 October 1913) was an Irish Catholic priest, author and political activist. He was invariably known and referred to as Canon Sheehan of Doneraile, having been appointed on 4 July 1895 as Parish Priest of Doneraile, where he wrote many of his literary works.
During Patrick’s early years, the Fenian movement was beginning to take shape with men secretly drilling and marching in the woods in and around the area. This period of history remained ingrained in his memory and was a central theme in the book he completed shortly before he died – The Graves at Kilmorna. He referred to the Fenians of his youth as “strong silent men into whose character some stern and terrible energy seemed to have been infused..Their passion was too deep for words and that passion was an all consuming, fierce unswerving love for Ireland”.
His carefree youthful days took a backstep when, in 1863, his father died and in February of the following year his mother passed away. Rev John McCarthy, PP Mallow, became guardian to the Sheehan children. At the age of 14 Patrick was sent to St. Colman’s College in Fermoy, which served as the Diocesan Seminary for Cloyne. Upon completion of his secondary education the young Patrick entered Maynooth. On Sunday 18 April 1875, he was ordained in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Cork by Bishop Delany.
As no vacancy existed in Cloyne the young priest began his ministry as part of the Cathedral staff in Plymouth. He returned to Ireland and to Cloyne in 1877 and took up duty as a Junior Curate in his home town of Mallow. Patrick was subsequently transferred to Cobh in March 1881. His experience as a curate in Plymouth stood him in good stead in the naval town of Cobh. Though his pastoral work always took precedence, the young Fr Sheehan began to realise the power of the pen, and started to contribute to local publications. In 1890 he returned as Senior Curate to Mallow and this marked a new phase in his literary life. He saw his writings as a means of spreading the Christian message through short stories, poems and novels. In 1895 he completed the manuscript of his first novel, Geoffrey Austin, Student. This coincided with his appointment to be Parish Priest in Doneraile.
Fr Sheehan’s growing reputation as an author –“the world’s greatest living author” according to Tolstoy, would lead one to believe he spent the greater part of his life in literary pursuits. This was not so – writing was always secondary to his sacred and pastoral duties. His early years in Doneraile coincided with the last stages of the Land War and the introduction of the Land Acts. He played a major part in the negotiations between tenant farmers and landlords in the parish. Following the satisfactory conclusion of the land purchases, he used his influence to get as many improvements as possible for Doneraile. With the help of Lord and Lady Castletown, he was instrumental in getting an electric plant to provide light for the town and Doneraile Court. The power plant also supplied electricity to pump water to the houses which was of enormous benefit. In 1910 he consulted an eminent surgeon in Dublin, Sir Charles Ball, who diagnosed him with cancer. Nevertheless, he continued to write and was still working on The Graves at Kilmorna on his death. Canon Sheehan of Doneraile died on Rosary Sunday, 5 October 1913.
One of the most memorable chapters in Canon Sheehan’s novel Glenanaar is the one describing the famous dash from Derrynane, Co Kerry to Cork to secure the services of Daniel O’Connell in a forthcoming trial. The event is commonly known as “The Doneraile Conspiracy” and arose when 21 Doneraile men were brought before a court in Cork accused of being part of Whiteboy agitation in the Doneraile area. The first four to be tried were sentenced to death. William Burke, a brother of one of the accused, undertook to ride the 90 miles to Derrynane in to bring O’Connell back to defend the rest of the prisoners. The ride in question was an epic one, which the canon calls the Night Ride. O’Connell returned to Cork on the Monday and successfully defended the rest of the prisoners.
This chapter is known to generations of children who grew up in Ireland in the 40s 50s and 60s as it was a part of the Intermediate English reader. Canon Sheehan beautifully describes the various scenes. William Burke rides through, from the river Lee, to Macroom, the Pass of Keimaneigh, to wild mountain scenery, eventually arriving at the coast road, the Atlantic and the Abbey of Derrynane itself. The Canon Sheehan Commemoration Committee and Ballyhoura Bears’ Walking Club will host a walk commemorating the event over the weekend of 31 August-1 September.
Check out www.canonsheehanremembered.com for more information.
Caption:
706a. Statue of Canon Patrick Sheehan on grounds of Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Doneraile, Co. Cork (source: Canon Sheehan Commemoration group).