Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 13 February 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – The BBC Interview with Fr O’Flynn

Some of those who began their acting careers at the Cork Shakespearean Company’s Loft became household names, such as Monica Murphy, Joe Lynch, Niall Tóibín, Edward Golden, Chris Curran and Edward Mulhare (who went onto have a successful Hollywood career).  Fr O’Flynn carried on gallantly, holding classes in the Loft, producing plays down the years at various venues and appearing in Sunday concerts. In addition, in 1946, Fr O’Flynn was made Parish Priest of Passage West.

In 1960, Hywel Davies of the BBC visited Fr O’Flynn at The Loft to make a half-hour documentary on his life called, It Happened to Me, produced by James Buchan. Mr Buchan noted of Fr O’Flynn: “I have met many great humanitarians in the course of doing documentary programmes for television, but Father O’Flynn was the greatest of them all What impressed us all about him was his tremendous love of his fellow-man as well as for God. To us he epitomised the Christian”.

Raymond Smith in his book Father O’Flynn – The Well of Love denotes that the 30 minute documentary was televised on Tuesday night, 17 January 1961. It showed Fr O’Flynn taking a Shakespearean production class in The Loft. An estimated 3 ½ million BBC viewers are said to have watched the programme.

The programme opened with children playing ring-a-ring-o’-roses in a street in the Shandon area and there were many scenes taken in The Loft – the old hay loft above Linehan’s Sweet Factory. The programme showed an amazing improvement after six weeks in a young man who was hardly able to say his own name at the beginning, but who finally declaimed a lengthy Shakespearean passage admirably.

Schoolchildren and grown-ups were shown in excerpts from Shakespearean plays. The programme also included a recital by Fr O’Flynn’s school choir, showing his authority on Irish language and Irish music. There was a warm tribute from Gus Healy, who told Mr Davies that but for Fr O’Flynn insisting on his doing principal and minor parts in Shakespeare he would not have had the confidence to go into public life and would probably never have done so.

The programme created a sensation. Fr O’Flynn received hundreds of letters of congratulations and hundreds asking for help with their stammer. Letters asking for advice poured into him from across Ireland, Britain and even from the Channel Islands. They came from people of all religious beliefs. Raymond Smith outlines that one letter from an Aberdeen housewife: “It is good to know that such men as you live in this trouble world of ours”.

Some people asked if they could come to Cork see him and no one who came was turned away. A British doctor wrote that he was so impressed by what he had seen that he was sending over a boy who had. bad stammer.

Fr O’Flynn tirelessly devoted himself to helping the people who wrote to him. Raymond Smith recalls that one evening a well-known Cork journalist, Larry Lyons, told him that he was on the way to Passage West to gather material for a special article for The Guardian on Fr O’Flynn. He suggested that Raymond come along.

When Raymond and Larry called at his house, Raymond recalls finding Fr O’Flynn him sitting in his famous old armchair in front of a blazing fire the sitting room replying to a letter from a Scottish housewife whose brother had a speech defect. Raymond’s eye was immediately caught by the big bundle of letters, divided into two piles those already answered and those yet to be answered. Fr O’Flynn noted; “It’s so easy to show how stammers can be cured but so hard to put it in writing…People are in need of help and we must give it to them”.

Raymond in his account continues to outline that any money enclosed was immediately sent back. In addition, money was sent for special prayers by people, even non-Catholics, who had been deeply moved by the television programme. In particular there was one pound note which Fr O’Flynn could not return, for all that was enclosed with it was a covering note that read simply: “From a black Ulster Protestant”. Fr O’Flynn confessed to Raymond afterwards more than once that he cherished that note most of all and he carried it with him to his death bed. Unconsciously he felt he had broken down the barriers that divide for “his business was with universal humanity and not with a fragment of it”.

Inspired during his visit to Passage Raymond Smith also outlines in his book that he was the person who pushed Fr O’Flynn in the penning of a series of articles in the Sunday Independent setting out ideas on how to cure impediments. Raymond was staff representative for Independent Newspapers Ltd in the Cork Office at the time, having just returned from his first trip to The Congo.

In his book on Fr O’Flynn he noted; “Going down to Passage, I had no intention taking on such a heavy task for, looking back on it no more sweat and toil went into that series than into anything ever I did in my journalistic career. And yet in the end it was a labour of love…The rain-swept road to Passage West that night became as it were the road to Damascus. Father O’Flynn made such a deep impression upon me during that first meeting that I came away a disciple, intent lifting from his shoulders, if I could, some of the burden of answering all those letters. For then he could refer those seeking advice to the newspaper series rather than try to reply to each letter individually”.

On 18 January 1962 – almost on the first anniversary of his famous television appearance – Fr O’Flynn passed away.  After his death, the Cork Shakespearean Company continued the work that he had started. It is still going strong in the present day. In 2024, the Company celebrated their centenary.

Caption:

1291a. Fr O’Flynn with Hywel Davies, BBC 1960 (source: Raymond Smith’s Father O’Flynn – The Well of Love).

Former Lord Mayor and Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has called for public consultation to be included in any future management strategy for All Saint’s Cemetery on Carr’s Hill. In raising the historic cemetery at the February Cork City Council meeting, the Chief Executive outlined that since the completion of the transfer of ownership of the Carr’s Hill graveyard to Cork City Council in mid- 2023 a review of all surveys and information pertaining to the site is being undertaken in order to inform a sustainable maintenance and management strategy for the site. An archaeological conservation strategy is not currently being undertaken.

A number of non-intrusive archaeological surveys have been carried out including GPR (ground penetrating radar) and drone photogrammetry surveys which have created a detailed 2D and 3D model of the physical landscape and features at Carr’s Hill.

A bio-diversity study for the site was completed late last year. Further analysis of these surveys and studies is ongoing and Council Members will be updated as matters progress. In the meantime the graveyard has been included in the Parks work programme for 2025 and grass-cutting on the site will commence next month.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “The detailed survey work on All Saint’s Graveyard is welcome. I asked specifically at the Council meeting that there would be a form of public consultation woven into the future of any evolving management strategy for the site. Arising from public conversations, there are positive suggestions of how to improve access to the site and there are calls for improved interpretation on the site itself. There are also calls that that access to the site is maintained and improved. The maintenance of the Sorenson memorial Cross is essential as well as creating opportunities to commemorate more the victims of the Great Famine. There are also growing public calls to commemorate the children buried there from the City’s Mother and Baby Homes”.

View the site here and explore a short history video, October 2021:

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 6 February 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – Figures of the Cork Shakespearean Company

As time rolled on for the Cork Shakespearean Company, many of its members stayed to champion the Company, but grew older, or left to take up duties in several walks of life. A short few of these members were showcased in the press such the Cork Examiner over the decades.

On 18 October 1933, the Cork Examiner notes that congratulations were given by the Company to young actor Jack Curran. Jack was raised to the Priesthood in Rome. He was the first Company member to be ordained. The Cork Examiner noted: “To the older members it seemed a very short time ago since Jack Curran, as a little boy, struggled with difficulties.  Overcoming these difficulties he was able to play Hamlet with distinction at the Cork Opera House”.

On 26 March 1938, reference is given in the Cork Examiner that another popular actor of the Cork Shakespearean Company Henry A MacCarthy, had been appointed as Ireland’s representative on the Advisory Committee on Social Questions at the League of Nations. Henry came from a well-known Cork family, being the son of Mr Charles MacCarthy, sanitary engineer with Cork Corporation.

Henry MacCarthy qualified for the bar and was called in 1916. He had a flourishing practice in Cork both in the days of the British Empire and later under the Irish Free State legal system. He also enjoyed many social activities in the city. Chief of these was his interest in the Cork Shakespearean company and one of the roles by which he was best remembered by Cork audiences was that of Christopher Sly in the prologue of the Taming of the Shrew.

Henry was noted to have been gifted with a very fine diction. He was appointed to teach elocution in the Cork School of Music. He had just given only two or three lessons when the news of his appointment as a district justice was received. He acted as a temporary district judge filling in for justices who are on holidays or otherwise unable to carry on. In this capacity he visited practically every court in the country. The appointment was made about 1931 and soon after Henry became permanent in the Dublin District Court where he was regarded as a kindly and popular gentleman. In Dublin Henry took part in the Dublin Shakespeare Society for many years and also in several drama festivals in the Dublin region.

Another key stalwart of the Company and who assisted Fr O’Flynn to keep the Cork Shakespearian Company on the road from the 1930s to the 1960s was Eileen Curran. She was involved with the company from the very beginning. She was a member of a well-known Cork family, her great grandfather, was Patrick Curran, a well-known baker. She was sister of Rev Bernard (Jack) Curran OP of St Mary’s, Cork, Mr Chris Curran who was a well-known stage, radio and TV actor, Mrs Seán Clayton, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Miss Chrissie Curran, Cork, and Alfred Curran.

In the Cork Examiner across the 1940s advertisements showcase her giving elocution/ speech training at Skerry’s College on the16 South Mall. She was also a popular recitation artist at variety concerts across the city.

Eileen maintained the closest association with the Cork Shakespearean Company over the years and continued the great traditions set by its distinguished priest founder. She was also responsible for the annual musical productions in St Aloysius College on Sharman Crawford Street, where she taught elocution and singing.

On Eileen’s death on 9 April 1977 Mr Pearse Gunn, well-known Cork producer, who had been associated with Miss Curran for many years noted to the Evening Echo that Eileen’s contribution to the Cork Shakespearian Company was monumental. He noted: “The Company would not have survived after the death of Fr O’Flynn, but for her work and dedication. Fr O’Flynn left the Loft to Eileen Curran and by that I mean he intended that she should carry on the work he started. He had a very distinct method and style, and none could interpret its greatness better than Eileen who was a founder member and an actress of no mean ability”.

Another core supporter was Gus Healy. He was chairman and a founder member of the Cork Shakespearean company. Many actors who performed at the Loft were initiated into the arts of acting through his efforts. Gus played the leading role in many Shakespeare plays.

The Dictionary of Irish Biography denotes that Gus was born on 20 May 1904 on Castle Road, Blackrock, Gus was the second of two sons of Timothy Healy, collector for the Cork Gas Company, from Cork, and his wife, Pauline Groegor, from Germany. Gus was educated at the North Mon. When he left school he worked for a year in a saddlery business on Leitrim Street, Cork. He then went onto train as a dental assistant under Isa Scher at St Patrick’s Hill. By 1938 Gus had opened his own business in Grand Parade, Cork.

In 1943, Gus ran a successful campaign as an independent Councillor candidate in the Local Elections for Cork Corporation. In 1948 he joined Fianna Fáil. In February 1957, he was elected to Dáil Éireann. He married Rita McGrath on 4 February 1957 and they lived at the View, Montenotte, Cork and later at Church Road, Blackrock.

Gus lost his Dáil seat in 1961 but served in Seanad Éireann for the following four years. He was re-elected to Dáil Éireann in 1965 and remained a Deputy until he retired in 1977. The Dictionary of Irish Biography recalls he held a number of chairmanship positions in Dail Eireann committees.

Gus was twice Lord Mayor of Cork in 1965-6 and 1974-5. As part of his Corporation work, he held a number of positions. The Dictionary of Irish Biography recalls; “Mr Healy was a member of Southern Health Board and the City of Cork VEC. He was chairman of the Cork Film Festival, which also included the Cork International Choral Festival, and a director of Cork Opera House. He was chairman of the Cork Tóstal council from its inception in 1954, chairman of the former Cork advisory committee and regional director of the Ivernia Regional Tourist Company”.

The Dictionary of Irish Biography also outlines that Gus took a prominent and active part in sport in Cork. He was a teacher of swimming with long ties with Sunday’s Well Swimming Club. The Gus Healy swimming pool in Douglas is named in his honour. He became president of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association in 1943 and later President of the Munster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. He was president of the Aloysius Camogie Club, Cork for over thirty years. A director of the National Association for Cerebral Palsy, Gus was also chairman of its local branch, the Cork Spastic Clinic and of the Cork branch of the Irish Red Cross.

To be continued…

Caption:

1290a. Front cover of 1930 programme for Cork Shakespearean Company (source: Cork City Library).

The always most awaited results of the annual Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project.

Thanks to all students who entered a project.

It’s year 23 of the Project with 30 City schools, 800 students, over 200 projects submitted, hours and hours of entertaining reading and shortlisting, and one jury who had to make difficult decisions on who should win.

But the Project at its heart remains an opportunity to explore Cork’s history and to be creative in the telling of its stories, and to build a sense of pride in our City.

My thanks to the Heritage Office of Cork City Council for their ongoing financial support for the project and to the Old Cork Waterworks Experience for hosting the projects, whilst reading and judging is ongoing.

Read the 2025 results here: http://corkheritage.ie/?page_id=10008

The proposed development comprises:

• The construction of a new part 3-storey/part 2-storey/part single -storey residential building comprising four number own door access residential units, including two number accessible 2-bed ground floor units, one number 2-bed first floor unit and one number 3-bed duplex unit on the first and second floor.
• The demolition and reconfiguration of the existing front wall.
• All ancillary site works, and signage as outlined in the plans and particulars

More detailed information and plans can be found at www.consult.corkcity.ie

Submissions and observations can be sent to Mark Birch, Acting Programme Manager, Housing Directorate, Cork City Council, City Hall.

The closing date for submissions and observations is Monday 28 April 2025 at 4pm.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 30 January 2025

Making an Irish Free State City – Pursuing the Beautiful in Drama

From 1927 to 1932 Fr O’Flynn and his Cork Shakespearean Company were a highlight of the annual programme at Cork Opera House. Over the six week long programmes, eighteen different Shakespearean plays were presented. The time and effort into rehearsals and financial investment into costumes and venue hire were high.

Despite the challenges the Company remained steadfast in its ideals of Irish culture as something that should be supported to grow and open to all citizens to engage with. For example, in a 1930 season Programme for Cork Opera House, Fr O’Flynn condemned the censorship of the Irish government by using the metaphor that more lights need to be lit for culture more than establishing darkness in Irish culture. It was a nod to the State’s first Censorship of Publications Act of 1929; “To put out the darkness strike a light. Better for a nation’s organisations to establish Culture than organisations to prevent what is degrading. Vigilance Committees and censors and uproar in this Country show that the Irish people’s minds are idle. As with the individual, its government (the will) takes care to flood the soul with light when darkness would possess it, so with the nation, the Government should consider the negative goodness of prohibitive legislation worthless as compared with striking the light of Culture”.

In the late November 1931 Cork Opera House week long season, one of the most entertaining of all the Shakespearean comedies – King Henry IV, Part 1 – was performed. The proceeds that the show made were handed over to the Society of St Vincent do Paul as an offering to help in the noble work of the Society for the “relief of distress and want in the city”.

The Cork Examiner on 27 November 1931 remarked that the Cork Shakespearean Company’s version of the play was growing in its comedy and story-telling; “The company have never exceeded the standard of perfection shown in their previous performances of this play, and consequently the rich humour will be fully reproduced, as will also the nobility of more than one great figure. The character of Falstaff is outstanding in classical literature, and even now his wit and nimbleness of tongue can delight more thoroughly than many a famous cinema comedian. It is a play that well merits study, and nobody, who goes to it will have the slightest ground for regretting his choice”.

The November 1931 season concluded with The Merry Wives of Windsor. The Evening Echo on 30 November 1931 details that the Saturday matinee provided an additional angle to the work of the Cork Shakespearean Company. On the Saturday afternoon they presented a very varied and thoroughly Gaelic programme, which drew on everything from the poetry of Pádraig Pearse to presenting pieces from Irish playwrights.

The Evening Echo continues to praise the several productions of the 1931 week especially in the face of growing cultural trends such as cinemas. The editorial remarked: “This group of amateurs in the city continue to pursue an art that has everything to commend it. Had they been operative in a previous generation their work would have been ever so much easier, and encouragement, far more than the present day quantify, would have been bestowed on them. All the greater, then, is their triumph, when, in face of all the opposing forces of the modern types of entertainment. They are still able to carry on and can find audiences big enough to enable them to pay their way”.

At the conclusion of the performance on the Saturday night Mr Henry McCarthy, on behalf of the Company, thanked those present for their kind patronage throughout the week. He outlined that the patronage had enabled them to do more, than clear their expenses, and, although they did not gauge the measure of their success by the box-office receipts, it was always encouraging to receive such support. He remarked that their work on this occasion had been a labour of love, and if they had helped or given real enjoyment to a few they were satisfied with the outcome of their efforts. Mr McCarthy remarked that if the country was to continue on prosperous lines the Irish must support, everything produced at home – everything both intellectual and material; “We look confidently for support from the citizen. Our culture and civilisation are threatened on every side, and we must do our best to retain them in Ireland. To regain our Christianity we must begin at home on cultural lines”.

At the end of the 1932 season in Cork Opera House. Fr O’Flynn spoke himself from the stage to the audience. He reiterated the motto of the Cork Shakespearean Company “An Áilneacht in Uachtar”, which he translated as ‘pursue the beautiful’. He referred to a time in the world when people found life and happiness in seeking and contemplating the beautiful. He related that for centuries now the world looked for happiness in making money. He called it the “practical way”; “This practical way has caused the present state of life; it has poured the sweet milk of concord into hell. The company knew that the so-called practical way spelled decadence. Hence, they seek and appreciate appreciation and not the making of money. They could easily make money by playing the things of plots and thrills that nowadays fill the boxes. Or they could visit Liverpool or Manchester, get a good Press, and return to be followed. They preferred the way they have chosen: the way of hard work on their part, and the approval or disapproval of those who come to hear them”.

To be continued…

Caption:

1289a. Front cover of Cork Shakespearean Company programme, 1928 (source: Cork City Library).