Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 18 July 2024

Cork City Events, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized
1262a. Poster for Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2024.
1262a. Poster for Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2024.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 18 July 2024

Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2024

The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival, which celebrates the life and activities of Cork born Mary Harris, known throughout the world as Mother Jones is now in its 13th Year. It is organised by the Cork Mother Jones Committee, a voluntary community group in Shandon each year. The programme of events from between 25-27 July are on the festival website, www.motherjonescork.com

According to James Nolan, spokesperson, the 2024 festival edition builds upon the 2023 edition: “The 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones festival was without doubt one of the very best we’ve had. Hundreds of people from all corners of Ireland and across the world visited Shandon, and many events had a capacity audience. Trade union leader Mick Lynch was an outstanding speaker. He attracted a huge attendance to the Firkin Theatre and was delighted to be back in the city of his father and the extended Lynch family. All the speakers, musicians, singers, choirs, and many participating for the first time ensured a lively three days. Even the traditional Irish whiskey toast to Mother Jones was packed. We are already looking forward to the 2024 festival”.    

The festival committee aims to make the festival always memorable. The festival and summer school will consist of talks, discussions, songs, music, films and documentaries. They will be interesting, challenging and relevant. A number of standout highlights for the 2024 festival include the visit to Cork of Kentucky based Carla Gover and her band Cornmaiz from high up in the Appalachian mountains where Mother Jones was highly regarded.

The Festival is proud to present the Irish Premiere of Kaiulani Lee’s documentary on Mother Jones Fight Like Hell – The testimony of Mother Jones. Years in the making, it is being shown throughout the USA and it will be shown for the very first time in Ireland at the Dance Cork Firkin Theatre on Thursday 25th at 4pm on the opening evening of the festival.

Later that evening also at the Firkin theatre, Dublin historian Liz Gillis and Anne Twomey of Cork’s Shandon Area History group will discuss what became of the revolutionary women after the Civil War. The Decade of Centenaries has finished but the festival has decided to continue to tell the story of the virtual disappearance of most of that rebel generation of those women. Anne Twomey will concentrate on the life of Cork’s Winters Hill born Margaret Goulding Buckley, an amazing woman.

Julianna Minihan will present a fascinating paper on the historical provision of water in Cork city 1760-1890 and how the rich people benefitted from private supplies of fresh water, while the poor suffered from an unsanitary supply for many years until the public authorities took over the provision of water. And of course there will be mention of whatever became of the lost Shandon Dunscombe Fountain.

Historian Jack Lane will tell the story of the All for Ireland League and Irish Land & Labour League which were uniquely Cork movements. He will also tell of North Cork born D.D Sheehan MP and his efforts to house the rural labourers. Over 40,000 rural cottages were constructed in little over a decade from 1906 onwards.

The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Owen Reidy will give a landmark speech on “The Future World of Work and the Place of Trade Unions” while Cork historian Luke Dineen will discuss Big Jim Larkin and his Cork connections on the 150th Anniversary year of his birth.

Current human rights issues and environmental problem will be discussed. Writer and Journalist Walaa Sabah will tell the story of how the Palestinians are surviving the condition in GAZA at present.

An environmental round table featuring the younger generation of climate activists such as Niamh Guiry, Claudia Hihetah and Dearbhla Richardson will take place on Friday afternoon.

Professor John Barry of Queens University Belfast will earlier examine alternative pathways for society instead of the consumption model of modern society.

These are just some of almost 30 events which are forming the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School and they are all free and open to all in and around Shandon on the days and night of the festival. Thanks to the support of some Irish trade unions, the Cork City Council, Cathedral Credit Union and local businesses. Attendance at each event is on a first-come, first-seated basis, so booking is unnecessary.

Mary Harris was born in Cork in 1837 and was baptised by Fr John O’Mahony in the Cathedral of SS Mary’s & Anne on 1 August of that year. The Harris family lived through the Great Famine, which claimed thousands of lives in the slums of Cork City. They then survived the horrors of the coffin ships when the family emigrated to Toronto in the early 1850s.

   By 1860, Mary had qualified as a teacher and was teaching in Monroe, Michigan. She later worked as a dressmaker and married George Jones, an iron moulder, and who was a member of the International Iron Moulders Union.

Mary went to Chicago where she resumed her dressmaking, established a little business. Again disaster struck when on 9 October 1871 the great fire of Chicago destroyed her premises. Little is known of Mary for a decade or more however it seems that she became very active in the growing Labour movement which was then organising for fair pay and decent working conditions in the factories, mills and mines of a rapidly industrialising North America.

   In 1890, the United Mine Workers union was formed; many of the tough union organisers were Irish and Mary too became an organiser. She was nearly sixty years old. As a woman operating in a rough male world of miners and mining pits, she was utterly fearless. She was outspoken and she cut an inspirational figure, being immaculately dressed in her long black dress, bonnet and carrying a handbag amidst the industrial debris of coal pits.

   Mary witnessed the terrible conditions under which thousands of men, women and young children worked. In this decade she helped miners to demand better pay and conditions in Alabama, West Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania. She had become known as “Mother Jones” to countless thousands of workers. In 1903, Mother Jones led the March of the Mill Children from Pennsylvania to New York, in which highlighted the exploitation of young children in the mines and factories in America.

Caption:

1262a. Poster for Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2024.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 11 July 2024

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized
1261a. View of Cork from Audley Place, c.1890 (source: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 11 July 2024

Cork: A Potted History Selection

Cork: A Potted History is the title of my new local history book published by Amberley Press. The book is a walking trail, which can be physically pursued or you can simply follow it from your armchair. It takes a line from the city’s famous natural lake known just as The Lough across the former medieval core, ending in the historic north suburbs of Blackpool. This week is another section from the book. The book is available to buy from any good bookshop or online from the publisher.

Atop Fever Hospital Steps:

  The Fever Hospital had a distinguished career caring for Corkonians since 1802 until the mid twentieth century, located atop the steps adjacent Our Lady’s Well in Blackpool. It was founded by Corkman Dr Milner Barry, who introduced vaccination into Cork in 1800 and was the first to make it known to any Irish city. In 1824, a monument with a long laudatory inscription was erected in his memory in the grounds of the Fever Hospital by Corkonians.

An annual general meeting of the president and assistants of the Cork Fever Hospital and House of Recovery was held on 15 May 1917 in the Crawford Municipal School of Art. The annual report of the Hospital Committee was read by member Sir John Scott. He revealed that on 1 January 1917 there were thirty-seven patients in the hospital and 256 were admitted during 1916. This made a total number of 293 patients treated, compared with 500 during the year 1915. Of the patients treated, 253 were discharged and cured while eleven remained in hospital on 31 December 1916. There were twenty-four deaths during the year, and it was noted, with great regret, that many of them were only brought to the hospital in a ‘hopeless condition’.

Deducting these from the number of deaths, the mortality showed a low rate of 6 per cent, which was deemed by the committee as a ‘satisfactory outcome’ with dealing with dangerous life-taking fevers.

A regular call was made by the Fever Hospital urging upon Cork citizens the immense importance of prompt isolation and hospital treatment for cases of infectious diseases. Many of the cases treated came from the thickly populated districts the city. Of the cases admitted, 108 came from the north side of the city, fifty-four from the south side, fifty-three from the centre and twenty-five from the rural districts.

The hospital site was sold off in 1962 and the housing estate of Shandon Court now stands in its stead.

Views of Cork at Audley Place:

  When the Corporation of Cork invested in planning St Patrick’s Bridge in 1787, it opened up a new quarter for development. The 1790s coincided the creation of St Patrick’s Hill – an avenue from Bridge Street that aligned with an old windmill now incorporated into Audley House. The decade also coincided with an early MacCurtain Street – back then known as Strand Street and later King Street, then Summerhill North from 1820 onwards. Over the centuries, artists, travellers and antiquarians have tried to capture the essence of St Patrick’s Hill and the vista from Audley Place.

In more recent times, the view was captured by producers of The Young Offenders as its two main characters, Jock and Connor, chat about their lives on a bench. Ascent has always been difficult for any mode of transport, from horse and cart to cars. In 1988, the organisers of the cycle Tour de France held a section of their tour in Ireland and sent their competitors on a gruelling assent of St Patrick’s Hill. There is a spectacular view of the city at the top, especially of the northside suburbs of Blackpool, Gurrananbraher and northwards to Knocknaheeny and Farranree. The river can also be seen winding its way through the city, on its way to meet the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The origins of the name Audley Place or Bell’s Field have been lost to time. Bell’s Field may be a reference to a Major Bell who may have been connected to what is now nearby Collins Barracks. This view from the top is much loved and often photographed. It has been captured through numerous mediums: a sketch by historian Charles Smith in 1750, a painting by John Butts in the 1760s (now on display in the Crawford Art Gallery) and photographic postcards in the early nineteenth century among others.

The early depictions show the early growth of Blackpool as an industrial hub in the city with its myriad of chimneys reflecting the many tanneries and distilleries in the area. Many of these were established in the late eighteenth century. St Anne’s Shandon, with its ornate steeple, dominates all sketches and photographs. The tower is very symbolic of eighteenth-century expansion in Cork. The adjacent butter market, located off Shandon Street, remembers the golden age of prosperity and profit in the city.

A postcard from c. 1890 shows the minarets of St Mary’s and St Anne’s North Cathedral and echoes the social and physical change of nineteenth-century Victorian Cork. Just to the top of the early nineteenth-century photograph are farmed green fields, which were developed with housing estates in the early 1930s, a testament to the growing population of a city and a way to ease the slum conditions of the inner city.

Today, standing at the spot of the viewer, one can see the suburban growth in Knocknaheeny and further east in Farranree. Cork City Council are trying to encourage the recreational use of the area of the top of the hill by supplying seating and landscaping the general area.

Kieran’s Upcoming Walking Tours, no booking required, all two hours, all free.

Friday 5 July, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm. 

Sunday 7 July, The Northern Ridge – St Patrick’s Hill to MacCurtain Street; meet on the Green at Audley Place, top of St Patrick’s Hill, 6.30pm.

Sunday 14 July, Cork South Docklands; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm. 

Tuesday 16 July, The Marina; meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina, 6.30pm. 

Wednesday 17 July, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 6.30pm.

Caption:

1261a. View of Cork from Audley Place, c.1890 (source: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 4 July 2024

Uncategorized
1260a. Sketch of Hewitt’s Watercourse Distillery, 1869 (picture: Cork City Library).
1260a. Sketch of Hewitt’s Watercourse Distillery, 1869 (picture: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 4 July 2024

Cork: A Potted History Selection

Cork: A Potted History is the title of my new local history book published by Amberley Press. The book is a walking trail, which can be physically pursued or you can simply follow it from your armchair. It takes a line from the city’s famous natural lake known just as The Lough across the former medieval core, ending in the historic north suburbs of Blackpool. This week is another section from the book.

Hewitt’s Distillery:

Hewitt’s Watercourse Distillery was established in 1792 by Thomas Hewitt, John Teulon (both butter merchants) and Richard Blunt (a London distiller). By 1794 the production and sale of whiskey had begun. Although sales kept rising during the first decade of the nineteenth century, the distillery was having endless trouble with water power due to the many other industrial concerns using the same supply. Consequently in 1811 the company purchased two steam engines (a new technology) from Birmingham at a cost of £2,062.

The Watercourse Distillery was one of the first distilleries in the country to do so. The company even bought a large sawmill in 1830, which they subsequently dismantled so that there would be one less claim to the millrace and hence the limited supply of water.

The distilleries in the Cork harbour area primarily produced pot still whiskey (repeated distillations producing a spirit with a characteristic flavour), but by the early 1830s patent or continuous stills (more economical and producing spirits with a higher alcohol content but with less flavour) were employed at the Watercourse Distillery.

In 1834 the Hewitt family took sole ownership of the distillery, and a full description of it was drawn up at the time for insurance purposes. The building inventory included a boiler and still house, containing three iron steam boilers; a brewhouse, which also contained boilers and cast-metal mash tuns; a fermenting back house with coolers; two engine houses with a number of boilers (with three steam engines); a malthouse; kilns; a corn store; spirit store; and watermills.

The Hewitt family sold the distillery to the Cork Distillers Company in 1868. By 1876, distilling had ceased at the Watercourse Distillery, although the maltings, corn stores and warehouses were still used by the company. According to local information this latter building was used for yeast fermenting and drying during the 1940s and 1950s. By this time the distilling process had been relocated to the North Mall Distillery and Irish Distillers Ltd used the majority of the buildings at the Watercourse Road complex solely as warehouses. A cooperage was still in business, however, and occupied a workshop in the southern area of the industrial estate.

 Following the demolition of some industrial buildings for the construction of the bypass of Blackpool village (which began in February 1997) the ground plan of several early nineteenth-century buildings were uncovered and recorded during archaeological monitoring of the construction works by a team of archaeologists from Cork City Council. One of these sites was part of Hewitt’s Watercourse Distillery (the Steam Mills/Grain Store Building), which were dated to the end of the eighteenth century/the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Blackpool and its Tanneries:

  Blackpool was the scene of industry in Cork in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In this district various attempts were made at various times to start or revive the manufacture of textiles such as broadcloth, blankets, flannels, hosiery, thread, braid and rope.

            The leather industry was also vibrant in the Blackpool area, giving employment to over 700 hands and tanning on average 110,000 hides annually. Tanning is the process of making leather (which does not easily decompose) from the skins of animals (which do). Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound. Colouring may occur during tanning. A tannery is the term for a place where these skins are processed.

            In 1835, records of industrial enterprises reveal that there were possibly forty-six tan yards in various parts of the city, the most extensive being located in the North Gate Bridge vicinity where there were 615 tanners in constant employment. The average number of hides tanned annually amounted to 110,000 and from 1835 onwards tanners found it necessary to import hides from as far afield as Montevideo and Gibraltar in order to supplement local supplies.

  Richard Griffith’s evaluation of 1852 listed twenty-one tanneries in the Blackpool area. By the turn of the twentieth century only a handful of tanneries remained in production. The main tannery was Dunn’s on the Watercourse Road. One of the most extensive tan yards in Cork belonged to Daniel, fourth son of Jeremiah Murphy. This was located in Blackpool. The firm of Daniel Murphy & Sons was not affected by the decline, which ruined many tanning enterprises following the 1830s. A partnership formed with the firm of Dunn Brothers maintained the business and the new firm became the largest tanning concern in the country at the time.

The Great Famine dealt the industry a very serious blow from which it never recovered. From that date onwards, the industry steadily declined.

Captions:

1260a. Sketch of Hewitt’s Watercourse Distillery, 1869 (picture: Cork City Library).

1260b. Advertisement for Dunn’s Tannery, Watercourse Road, late nineteenth century (picture: Cork City Library).

1260b. Advertisement for Dunn’s Tannery, Watercourse Road, late nineteenth century (picture: Cork City Library).
1260b. Advertisement for Dunn’s Tannery, Watercourse Road, late nineteenth century (picture: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 27 June 2024

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized
1259a. Bust of Gerald Griffin located in North Monastery Secondary School (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 27 June 2024

Cork: A Potted History Selection

Cork: A Potted History is the title of my new local history book published by Amberly Press. The book is a walking trail, which can be physically pursued or you can simply follow it from your armchair. It takes a line from the city’s famous natural lake known just as The Lough across the former medieval core, ending in the historic north suburbs of Blackpool. This week is another section from the book.

Patriotism and Gerald Griffin Street:

  Gerald Griffin Street was formerly called Mallow Lane. In 1832, Mallow Lane was renamed Clarence Street after the Duke of Clarence, who was an outspoken advocate of Catholic emancipation. Born in Limerick, Gerald Griffin (1803–40) was a poet, playwright and Irish novelist. In 1823, he emigrated to London and got a job as a reporter for one of the daily papers. He later turned to writing fiction. One of his most famous works is The Irish Collegians, which was written about the murder of the Colleen Bawn in 1820.

In 1838 Gerald joined the Christian Brothers at the North Monastery and burned all of his unpublished manuscripts. He died from typhus fever at the age of thirty-six. In November 1898, the motion of Cllr John O’Neil of Cork Corporation was accepted to change the name of Clarence Street to Gerald Griffin Street. Gerald Griffin has a street named after him in Limerick City and another in Cork City, Ireland. Loughill/Ballyhahill GAA club in west Limerick play under the name of Gerald Griffins.

Presentation Sisters Convent Site:

  The Presentation Sisters Convent Complex is striking on Gerald Griffin Street. Nano Nagle opened her first school in 1754 with around thirty students. It was on Cove Lane, on what is now the site of Nano Nagle Place on Douglas Street. She was a great educator and believed education was the key to a better life for people. Within nine months she was educating 200 girls, and by 1757 she had opened seven schools – five for girls and two for boys.

Nano Nagle (1718–84) set up three small hovel schools in the north parish. The first was in Philpott-Curran Lane at the back of the cathedral presbytery and was the school for girls. The others were at the end of Shandon Street and strictly for boys. One was located on the left-hand side, at the very end of Shandon Street, an attic at the top of a four-storey house, while the other was on the little lane running at the side of where O’Connor’s Funeral Home now stands at the North Gate Bridge.

It was in the year 1799 that the Presentation Sisters came to live in the north parish. Bishop Moylan sent four ladies to South Presentation for training, and after taking their vows they returned to a Philpott Curran Lane. A local lady, Barbara Goold, had a second storey added onto her house and the sisters lived there while teaching hundreds of children until 15 January 1813.

The sisters needed a convent and a school and Bishop Moylan asked local priest Fr John England to take on the project. It took a long time to find enough money to buy a site; they eventually purchased a site at Hill Grove Lane from the Tanning Yard.

The infant school was replaced in 1871 through a plan to enlarge the schoolrooms and facilities. It was formerly opened on 16 January 1872. It was designed by Sir John Benson and built by Edmund and Peter O’Flynn. It is now disused. A modern Presentation School stands nearby.

As well as a school, a presentation convent and chapel were built. The chapel, which is said to date between 1820 and 1830, is thought to be the work of Presentation Brother and architect Revd Michael Augustine Riordan, who was also involved in the Ursuline Convent in Blackrock. To the north is the four-storey convent building, built c. 1830. The present primary school was built in 1965–67 and the old building was then used as a secondary school until the group moved to Farranree in 1976.

Madden’s Buildings:

 The Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Improvements Acts of 1875 and the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890 detailed the importance of eradicating tenement or slum housing. At that time no significant financial aid was available to carry out large-scale clearance.

However, Cork Corporation did make an effort. In 1886, new houses were built in Blackpool on the site of an old cattle market. A total of seventy-six houses were planned and built comprising a kitchen, front living room and two overhead bedrooms. The contractor was Edward Fitzgerald and by the end of 1886 they were ready for occupation.

 Named the Madden’s Buildings after the mayor of the time, Paul Madden, these new houses were to set the scene for a further three housing schemes before the turn of the 1900s. These comprised of Ryan’s Buildings, built in 1888 (sixteen houses), the Horgan’s Buildings in 1891 (126 houses) and the Roche’s Buildings in 1892 (128 houses). All of these buildings are still lived in by a new generation of Corkonians.

Captions:

1259a. Bust of Gerald Griffin located in North Monastery Secondary School (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

1259b. Maddens Buildings, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

1259b. Maddens Buildings, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s July 2024 Historical Walking Tours:

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

All tours free, no booking required:

Friday 5 July, Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; Historical walking tour; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade, 6.30pm (free, two hours, no booking required).

Sunday 7 July 2024, 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, 6.30pm (free, two hours, no booking required).

Sunday 14 July 2024, Cork South Docklands; Discover the history of the city’s docks, historical walking tour, from quayside stories to the City Park Race Course and Albert Road; meet at Kennedy Park, Victoria Road, 6.30pm (free, two hours, no booking required).

Tuesday 16 July 2024, The Marina; historical walking tour; Discover the history of the city’s promenade, from forgotten artefacts to ruinous follies; meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina, 6.30pm (free, two hours, no booking required).

Wednesday 17 July 2024, Blackpool: Its History and Heritage, historical walking tour ; meet at square on St Mary’s Road, opp North Cathedral, 6.30pm, (free, two hours, no booking required).

Kieran’s Speech, Bessboro Commemoration, 23 June 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

Dear Carmel, dear members of the committee, dear speakers, dear friends.

Many thanks for the invite to speak this afternoon.

I have a short reflection, which is all about the nature of story-telling.

By trade I am a story collector on Cork’s past and Ireland’s past

They say that stories have the power to stop someone, impress on someone, make one question, make one wonder, make one dream, make one remember, make one be curious, make one be disturbed, make one explore and make one to not forget – a whole series of emotions.

And in Cork history there are many stories over the years that have stopped me people, that make people wonder, that make them curious, that make them remember.

In the city library, I regularly take down local history books and learn about this locale or neighbourhood, and as you turn the pages on books on Blackrock for example…

you can read about for example the story of the old railway line (the third railway line to be built in Ireland in the mid nineteenth century),

You can read about The Marina (a former wall to keep ships out from the swamp and then a walkway created during the Great Famine)

You can read about Blackrock Pier (the home to over 2,000 people in a small fishing village in the nineteenth century),

You can read about Ringmahon House (and the story of the Murphy family and their brewing industry),

You can read about Ballinure Village (and the story of the O’Mahonys of the Mahon peninsula)

You can read about the features of the old Lakelands Estate (and the story of the philanthropy of the Crawford family and the surviving feature along the Joe McHugh Park),

And you can turn the page and read about this nineteenth century folly or fake castle and its original purpose and the house here of the Pike family of Bessboro house and their steamship industry and then you turn the page over…and for our story today, the ink disappears.

The city’s memory bubble on Blackrock does much remembering of bricks and mortars stories very well but when you dig down deeper into the social elements and talking about the realities of people’s lives – that’s where there are vast swathes of voices missing.

It has got better in more recent years when it comes to collecting oral history testimonies. The city’s memory bubble collection is very selective, and heavily influenced by Ireland’s memory bubble, which is very selective.

As a place Cork doesn’t do traumatic history re-telling, turbulent history re-telling, dark history re-telling, oppressive history re-telling, control history re-telling so to speak.

I was going to add doesn’t “do very well” to such a statement – but we don’t do it at all really– it’s not in mainstream school curricula, it’s not in mainstream oral history, it’s not in mainstream Irish history books, it’s not in mainstream history conferences, it’s not in mainstream history performances/ pageantry/ festivals/ heritage gatherings.

The recent reports from central government on topics such as industrial schools and Mother and Baby homes are an important step but only a step towards reconciliation of traumatic history and memory.

And so, the importance of the gathering here for the past ten years should never be underestimated. It is crucial for so many reasons.

This gathering is a beacon or a lighthouse to not only tell the stories of what happened here, to the tell the human experiences of what happened but also lead the calls to break the selectiveness of Cork and Irish history and completing the multitude of memory banks that are only partly explored – and to learn from all of that.

 It is said that if don’t know our past, we don’t know where we’re going or history can repeat itself if we don’t learn from the past.

However, if we don’t explore all of the past, if we don’t unlock all of the history – then the paths of our future will only be partly laid out and we will not learn even more effectively going forward.

Bessboro needs to be a place where the selectiveness of history is broken, the woven vines of stories and histories unwoven and laid out properly,

where questions are answered and more questions asked and more answers given and that not just Cork people learn from this tragic site but also the rest of Ireland as well.

This event today and other impressive voluntary work has been the stay of all those who have stayed with the Bessboro story for not just the past decade but before that as well for decades.

In essence the story here needs to be at least in mainstream school curricula, in mainstream oral history, in mainstream Irish history books, in mainstream history conferences, in mainstream history performances/ pageantry/ festivals/ heritage gatherings. Plus, Plus, Plus.

Above all I share the perspective that this site here in Bessboro needs to be a large ,scale memory site or park. In my head, I’d like to see the whole space as as a prominent commemoration site in our city and in our region.  And that’s my call to An Bord Pleanála – that when the planning process is finished and if it is a negative following on from Cork City Council’s planning department’s deliberations that An Bord Pleanála with the help of central government work with the developer to see what can be done to either directly purchase or CPO the lands for commemoration purposes.

–  And for this to be pursued for many reasons – yes as a sincere nod to those whose personal lives are woven to the Mother and Baby home story but also as a commemoration lighthouse of the journey Irish history and all its nuances still need to travel.

A memorial site with the Folly at the heart of it, where the stones represent the pieces of a puzzle that needs to be resolved and much, a folly as a place of discussion, hope, resilience, justice, human rights, dignity, voices, truth, survival, and inclusion – that the names of the babies accounted for and unaccounted for be detailed in bold, where seats, commemorative sculptures or pieces, healing spaces, thought provoking spaces, history re-telling spaces all exist– a space for all to come and reflect – and not just a Blackrock or commemoration City space – but a national and European site of reflection.

We need government, local government and societal intervention for this and all of us working together on this.

My sincere thanks again to all the team for organising this event for the past ten years and also all the daily work for justice to put the story here on the mainstream Irish history map so to speak.

I remain supportive as a local historian and Councillor in Cork City Council and remain conscious we all need to gather together even more to work through the history, heritage and memory of this particular site and through the other similar but precious sites as well.

Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s Outgoing Speech, AGM, 21 June 2024

Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Lord Mayor's Work, Uncategorized
Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy & Lady Mayoress of Cork Marcelline Bonneau, 2023/24
Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy & Lady Mayoress of Cork Marcelline Bonneau, 2023/24

A Return to a Safe Harbour

Dear colleagues, Dear Chief Executive,

As outgoing Lord Mayor of Cork, a very warm welcome to the historic 1936 Council Chamber. A very warm welcome to those who have been re-elected and to those who this is your first time being an elected member of Cork City Council.

We also remember those who retired and those who didn’t make it back through the recent gruelling local elections.

And of course, one of the core parts of our AGM is to appoint our Council chair or the Lord Mayor.

And it will fall to me very shortly to take names of candidates interested in becoming Lord Mayor of Cork for the following year and to pass this eighteenth century chain of history to its next guardian so to speak.

I have but three very short reflections before we proceed.

Firstly, dear colleagues let us rejoice that the democratic process is very much alive in Cork.

My dear colleagues you have not only walked 1000s of kilometres in your quest or pilgrimage to take one of the 31 seats. You have gone to suburbia and into the inner city, and knocked on 1,000s of doors.

You have sacrificed your personal lives in a quest to be in the service of the people of Cork in local government.

It is also important to reflect on that pilgrimage that the process is not as easy as just walking and knocking on doors.

You must have belief in your message. It is a leap of faith. You have been tested. You had to be fit physically and more importantly emotionally.

You met people who befriended you straight away. You met people who closed the door in your face. You met people who had their own message.

You met people who are happy, who are sad, who are very angry, who shout in your face, who don’t want to talk, who are struggling in life, who seek a listener, who seek a chance, who are soaring in life, who buried a loved one, an hour before you called, a mother who just put their child to sleep, people who will ask you in for tea.

You encountered opinionated people and people who have no opinion,

people who are the salt of the earth, people who are guardian angels,

people who you perhaps wept for in your private moments,

people who you laughed with, people who invited you into their house to chat about this and that.

You have met survivors. You have met people who have given up on life. You met people who are lighthouses. Plus many more.

You are a pilgrim of sorts.

All of the conversations, debates and empathy with 1,000s of constituents or citizens and that personal connection piece makes Irish democracy one that is very important.

You have not only rang doorbells and physically pressed the flesh so to speak but deep dived down into citizen life listening to their concerns and now being able through your election as an elected member to bring these concerns into the historic Council Chamber here and to the wider City Hall.

We should never take democracy for granted especially in the world we live in today and that in some parts of the world there is no democracy.

A sincere thanks to all those who voted two weeks ago.

We as local politicians saw another part of the democratic process close up when it comes to counting the votes on ballot papers. The solid count process we have in Ireland and what we have witnessed in Cork is one to be heralded, be proud of and one where great credit is due to the Office of Corporate Affairs and the Office of Franchise in Cork.

And so my first message this evening is a nod on the importance of the canvass pilgrimage of sorts, the democratic process and one of thanks to you, our Council staff and especially to the citizens of our historic city who came out to support our recent local election and its democratic processes.

My second message to you concerns my year as Lord Mayor. Fifty-two weeks ago, the elected Council of the last Council term entrusted me with leadership of the Council.

That has been a really deep honour and it is one thing writing about Cork history, it is another being a part of it. Indeed, it is very difficult to sum up my experiences in a few sentences.

Looking at the diary since the last Cork City Council AGM in late June last year I have been engaged with over 1,600 events. On average there have been about 30-40 events a week depending on the season.

The days have been long and the diary has been very demanding but to get to explore Cork and many of its stories has been very fulfilling. One day can feel like three days when there are so many diary events to juggle!

One hour one could be at a presentation of cheques, or the presentation of certs, and the next you journey on and could be praising someone for their sporting achievement or helping open a new business, meeting an ambassador or giving a talk at one of Cork’s 118 schools or giving a tour of the Lord Mayor’s Office to various community groups.

All of these events look forward and build a sense of identity for Cork’s future. Some events have been varied ranging from a one person engagement to thousands of people. And of course, many of you popped up in the story boards as well to offer support.

However, across all of the events the common denominator has always been Cork. There are thousands of people in Cork engaged in not only its life and its story but enhancing its life and story. Every hour of everyday someone is doing something great for Cork and its communities.

Much of it goes without being seen but the office of Lord Mayor’s gets to what I call “deep dive” down into many stories and moments. In our city such stories matter or indeed such moments need to be cherished.

The sense of togetherness, stories and moments in Cork I have promoted and spoken at length about all year.  

In particular I have harnessed the city’s coat of arms as a message – the two towers and the ship in between and the Latin inscription – Statio Bene Fida Carinis – or translated “a safe harbour for ships”. Whereas the element of shipping has almost moved from the city’s quays, the inscription could also be re-interpreted as a connection to people – that the city is also a safe harbour for people and community life. This is its greatest story and one the City needs to mind, keep vibrant, and for all of us in this historic and innovative city to keep working on.

But during this second message of the importance of stories and togetherness it also falls to me tosincerely thank the Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Colette Finn for her expertise, support, positiveness and I would like to wish her well for the future,

the Lady Mayoress Marcelline for her patience, support and love, and for her charity work, singing and dancing and all round community building with different groups,

and to my parents, and siblings and wider family members for their support and love.

A sincere thanks to Finbarr Archer, Nicola O’Sullivan, Rose Fahy and Caroline Martin in the Lord Mayor’s office as well as the team in Corporate Affairs ably led by Paul Moynihan with support by Alma Murnane and Nuala Stewart – without such a team the office would not run effectively as it does but it is filled with people – a team – that really cares about the role of the office in our city and all the nuances attached to such a role

and also a sincere thanks to you Chief Executive Anne [Doherty], for your friendship, partnership, curation of activities, story board creation, support and advice over the past year. And I am very conscious that this is your last AGM, so many thanks for all your work.

My dear friends, let me conclude with my third message and if I am going to go down as the singing Lord Mayor let me end my Mayoralty where I started with a verse by Rogers and Hammerstein, which in its own way became a different kind of anthem during the year,

Oh, what a beautiful morning,

oh, what a beautiful day,

I got a beautiful feeling everything’s going Cork’s way,

eh, Oh what a beautiful Day.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

Ends.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 20 June 2024

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1258a. John Daly & Co. warehouses, Kyrl’s Quay, 1970s (source: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 20 June 2024

Cork: A Potted History Selection

Cork: A Potted History is the title of my new local history book published by Amberley Press. The book is a walking trail, which can be physically pursued or you can simply follow it from your armchair. It takes a line from the city’s famous natural lake known just as The Lough across the former medieval core, ending in the historic north suburbs of Blackpool. This week is another section from the book.

A Taste of Tanora:

            The 1779 Arch hidden behind North Gate Bridge apartments is an elegant archway with a date of 1779 inscribed on it. The archway was part of John Daly & Co. Mineral Water Manufacturers. The style suggests a late nineteenth-century, Victorian date. The 1779 archway was once part of the entrance door to the offices, one of Cork’s oldest firms reputedly established in 1779, located on Kyrl’s Quay. This was a well-established, presumably wealthy firm (later having owned the Victoria Hotel and Bonded Warehouses on Kyrl’s Quay). The status of the company and the style of the arch suggests that it was made for the Daly offices on Kyrl’s Quay.

  In 1915, John Daly and Co. were also the original creators of the well-known Tanora brand – a tangerine-flavoured drink. At that time, temperance groups lobbied manufacturers of lemonade such as John Daly’s to produce another popular non-alcoholic drink. Tanora was created through the importation of tangerine oranges. Fifty years ago, Daly’s owned Kyrl’s Quay Bonded Warehouses and the Victoria Hotel in Cork.

Five decades ago, Daly’s also bought the total issued share capital of Coca-Cola Bottling (Dublin). They had the Coca-Cola franchise for Munster, which gave Daly’s extensive interests in the Irish market for soft drinks. However, it was a Munster Coca-Cola bottling company that eventually bought out the company.

The 1853 Flood and North Gate Bridge:

            As the northern access route into the walled town, North Gate drawbridge was a wooden structure and annually subjected to severe winter flooding, being almost destroyed in each instance. In May 1711, agreement was reached by members of Cork Corporation of the City that North Gate Bridge be rebuilt in stone in 1712, while in 1713 South Gate Bridge would be replaced with arched stone structures.

In the opening week of November 1853, North Gate Bridge became responsible for large portions of the city being destroyed due to the high floodwaters. The London Illustrated News documented the event on 12 November 1853. The rains of Monday and Tuesday of that fateful week amounted to a total of 2½ inches. However, 5 inches had fallen in the preceding fortnight. This, coupled with a new moon, a rising tide of just over 20 feet and hurricane conditions blowing from the south-east caused the elevation of the water levels in the city’s channels.

As a result, on the Tuesday evening water started to rise at 4 p.m., and in the space of just thirty minutes the entire flat of the city was inundated. Every moment the water continued rising, higher and higher until the turn of the tide at 5 p.m.

Even though by 8 p.m. the tide had been on the ebb for three hours, the rush of water from Sunday’s Well began to rapidly increase. Water tore down the channel in torrid waves inundating the Western Road and the Mardyke, which were speedily impassable. Baths on the Western Road are noted as being carried away by a torrent Soon after 10 p.m. the rush of water at North Gate Bridge – the arches of which were very narrow – became so great that the torrent speedily overflowed its banks and bore down Great George’s Street (now Washington Street) like a river. The lower parts of the Grand Parade, George’s Street, St Patrick’s Street and all the streets and lanes in the vicinity were inundated. By 11 p.m. these streets, as well as North Main Street and South Main Street, were filled with water several feet deep.

Halfway down Lavitt’s Quay was a fountain, at the immediate edge of the river. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard, and the fountain had disappeared and around 30 feet of the quay wall had been carried away. The water, having secured another access point, rushed rapidly over the quay, overwhelming the houses. Seconds later, another portion of quay wall was torn down. On the opposite side of the river, a portion of the sewer burst and part of the quay fell in.

At 12.30 a.m., the flood, far from diminishing, was acquiring additional fury every moment. The waters were dashing under the arches of St Patrick’s Bridge carrying chairs, beams of timber, trees, etc. Suddenly a terrible crash was heard, followed by a piercing shriek. A great piece of the bridge had given way, taking with it eleven people. They were borne down with the tide and all drowned, except for one who was rescued.

Barriers of timber were immediately put into place and police and a party of military people were soon in attendance to warn folks not to cross it. A few moments later another large mass of masonry gave way and was carried into the tide. In June 1856, an Act was passed to enable the mayor, alderman and burgesses of Cork to remove certain bridges and build new ones. Subsequently, a new North Gate Bridge and St Patrick’s Bridge were reconstructed.

The foundation stone for the fourth-known North Gate Bridge was laid in April 1863. The new bridge was to be a cast-iron structure with the ironwork completed by Ranking & Co. of Liverpool. Nearly 100 years later, in 1961, the bridge would have to be reconstructed again due to increased road traffic and heavier vehicles.

Captions:

1258a. John Daly & Co. warehouses, Kyrl’s Quay, 1970s (source: Cork City Library).

1258b. Historical archway (1779) now embedded behind buildings off Kyrl’s Quay (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

1258b. Historical archway (1779) now embedded behind buildings off Kyrl’s Quay (picture: Kieran McCarthy).