Saturday 8 November 1919 coincided with unresolved grievances being discussed by the members of the Cork Branch of the Irish Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors. Shortly after 3pm many members formed into processional order in front of their rooms on St Patrick’s Quay. To the accompaniment of the music supplied by the band attached to the Federation, they marched to City Hall, where a meeting was held. The body of the Hall and the side galleries were fully occupied. Apart from city contingents, members also arrived from Bandon and Mallow.
Mr H B Fisher, President of the Cork Branch, presided. The meeting also aimed to mark the first year passing since Armistice Day. The Cork Examiner records that in opening the proceedings the chairman explained that the meeting had been called for the purpose of drawing public attention to the manner in which ex-soldiers and sailors were being treated. He spoke on behalf of upwards of 1,900 members in his branch. They had been promised in 1914 that they would get employment post the war, but nothing was forthcoming. They had been promised adequate pensions, but none were forthcoming. He strongly urged the Westminster Government to fulfill their promises.
Mr Barry O’Leary, Chairman of the Southern District Divisional Council, said there should be no mistake about the protection of the interests of ex-service men. They were non-sectarian and non-political, and their claim was a good one in spite of the political upheaval that occurred in their country since 1914; “We went out and offered our bodies. This is all we had to offer to stop the rush of the German hordes…We went out with the unanimous consent and voice of the country, and now I ask are we disgraced; No, we held the Germans, and it was good logic that the men who paid the piper should call the tune. We have nothing to disgrace or sully Ireland’s record for chivalry…the promises made to us when we went out, that their King and country would look after them, have not been carried”.
To give an example of the way discharged and demobilised soldiers were treated, Mr O’Leary detailed that the Government gave officers who had served in the army, even those of the lowest rank, a gratuity of about £90 for the first year. They were offered £45 for the second and every subsequent year the war lasted, and the grand total sum that the men of the rank and file, who fought through it all, were to get was £29. The Cork branches as well as other nationwide branches wished to know why there was such a great disparity between the amounts granted to a second lieutenant and the regimental sergeant-major who taught him his work.
On the proposition of Mr Barry, the following resolution was carried with acclamation: “We, the discharged and demobilised sailors and soldiers of Cork City and County protest against the action of the Government and other responsible officials in keeping out of employment men who have served their country during the great war. We condemn as a breach of the promises made to us – the keeping of, in Government and War Department employment, civilians who, under no circumstances whatever would serve in the navy or army, no matter how great the need, and we call upon those responsible to now and at once have such people replaced by discharged and demobilised men. We, who have satisfied the needs of our ‘King and Country’, now call upon our ‘King and Country’ to satisfy our needs, and we wish it to be known that those responsible for satisfying such needs have ignobly failed”.
The next resolution was the motion of Mr Kirby, unanimously adopted. It was as follows: “That we, the discharged and demobilised soldiers and sailors of Cork City and County wish to place on record our dissatisfaction at the inadequacy of the war gratuity paid to us, and wo call on the Army Council to raise the amount granted to the Imperial troops so as to bring them into line with the Colonial troops”.
The Lord Mayor, William F O’Connor highlighted in his speech that when the soldiers and sailors went out in 1914, he was with them in sympathy, and now, twelve months after Armistice they still had his sympathy. He would do all in his power to have those grievances redressed; “It was a shocking state of affairs for a mighty Empire like the British Empire to see that after all their service in the war the discharged and demobilised soldiers and sailors were compelled to come to that hall an ask for the justice that was not given to them. They had entered the war as a war of justice. They had gone out, and risked their lives; they stormed the heights; they filled the gaps in the bullet swept zone, and they now had to ask the Government to give them fair play…Where would the might of England be today but for the Ministers, the Dublins, and the Connaughts. They would have a German Dictatorship ruling in England today if the Irish had not jumped into the breach”.
Caption:
1022a. Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr William F O’Connor, 1919 (source: Cork City Council).
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has warmly welcomed the upcoming parking proposals for On Street Parking in Douglas Village in the lead-up to Christmas. The arrangements will only apply to the City Council controlled On Street parking spaces. A large number of parking spaces are controlled by private operators. Previously these operators were invited to participate in a joint initiative, but the offer was not accepted. The implementation of the initial parking promotion together with the lead-in Christmas proposal will impact on parking income from Douglas, approximately e80,000 to the end of 2019.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “Since 9 September, after the devastating fire in the Douglas Shopping Centre, Cork City Council responded to local businesses and their call for help and provided one hour free parking in the On Street parking spaces. The promotion was continued as part of the Autumn Parking Promotion for the city that runs until 17 November 2019. Business remain active in their call for support measures. The temporary closure of the Douglas Shopping Centre Car Park has caused a knock-on effect to business in Douglas. Supporting local businesses and local jobs is never more apt for Douglas village in light of the September fire.
The following Christmas parking arrangements in Douglas are to be applied to On Street parking spaces: Two hours free parking from Monday 11 December to Tuesday 31 December; no parking charges on the Saturdays in the run up to Christmas and just after, from Saturday 30 November to 28 December; no parking charges on Sundays, no parking charges on Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day and New Year’s Day. Normal parking arrangements will resume on 2 January 2020.
As Cork City Council has done over the last number of years it will extend the operating hours of Paul Street Car Park, North Main Street and Black Ash Parka and Ride, as well as opening all the latter facilities on Sundays/ extending the Sunday opening hours as appropriate. A temporary Park & Ride will also operate from County Hall at the Weekends.
On 5 November 1919, a public meeting was held in Cork City Hall to discuss the public milk scheme in operation for the winter. The scheme is another lens to study living conditions and the poverty in Cork, one hundred years ago. Bishop Daniel Cohalan presided at the meeting, and the attendance included the Lord Mayor William F O’Connor, the city’s High Sherriff and members of the clergy and approximately 25 male and female leading citizens.
The Honorary Secretary Fr P Cahalan outlined the report of the Milk Supply Scheme and its operational period of 24 weeks from November 1918 to the end of April 1919. During this time, the quantity of milk subsidised was two pints per family per day and the cost of subsidy was 2d per pint. The number of families relieved varied from 900 to 950 and the cost of the scheme averaged about £100 a week. The scheme would have cost £2,400 were it not that some families were provided with milk at less than the retail price. For the 24 weeks, the scheme came in at £2,292 19s 6d. Overall the scheme and its committee subsidised 275,000 pints of milk. The general secretariat work cost less than one per cent while Mr Pelly gave the work and the work of his staff free.
The subsidisation came from monies raised from different groups and companies in the city and region. For example, in the 24-week season for 1918-19, special sums came from the dairy farmers regionally of £180; the O’Meara Company concert raised £58 and two church collections amounted to £560. Smaller amounts had also been forwarded by other firms. Cheques were received for £50 from both Messrs J J Murphy and Company and Dwyer and Company.
The Lord Mayor proposed that the scheme be put into operation again for the winter of 1919 in order that impoverished citizens may be able to procure enough quantities of milk for their children at a comparatively cheap rate. Canon O’Leary seconded the resolution and highlighted that the scheme was needed more than ever. In collaborating with the milk vendors of the Middle Parish he found multitudes of poor people amongst the population of circa 5,000 people living in tenement houses without any milk. The Canon noted that the milk vendors had told him that they were not selling half as much milk as they did the previous year – the reason being because of increasing costs. Some milk vendors had even made an allowance of 1d per pint for some needy cases.
Fr Cahalan outlined that in the city centre schools the numbers of children suffering from swollen glands had increased due to a lack of calcium. Some of them had to be treated at the Infirmaries. The teachers explained to him that this was because they were not provided with natural food for children. Many of the city’s poorest citizens were returning to the habit of using black tea. In 1919, black tea was deemed ruinous for personal health.
The Bishop outlined that the parish priests and administrators of the city went to great length to find out the families who were really in need, as well as those families with young children, and those who had not enough income to provide milk for their children.
The Bishop expressed the view that no matter how much wages had increased there was always many families who for one cause or another did not have a living income and had not enough income to maintain themselves and their families. The Bishop deemed that milk was not the only question that required public discussion in society. The whole question of prices and inflation was also serious problem across the country.
In the beginning of the Milk Supply Scheme in the winter of 1917, the Cork and Kerry Creamery Company supplied milk to the poor of the South Parish. The Scheme dealt with children only and babies for whom milk was an absolute necessity. Excellent quality milk was supplied at a very cheap rate of one penny per pint. Subscriptions from local merchants and businesses made up the balance of price to the vendor. Initially, there were 660 families registered to be given milk, with the figure rising to 965 families by the end of 1917. The income threshold of families interested in the Scheme was not to exceed 25s per week, and in any one family there had to be children under six years of age.
In 1918 the milk was sold at 3 ½ d a pint, and then the poor paid 1 ½ d whilst the subsidisation fund paid was 2d per person. The committee decided that the distribution of funds would be on the basis of the number of families on the parish lists as follows: North Parish – 400 families, SS Peter and Paul’s – 200, St Finbarr’s – 200; Lough – 70 and St Patrick’s – 60.
The price in 1919 was 4 ½ a pint and the Milk Scheme made provision for 1,000 families. The organising committee believed that the number seeking milk would be higher in 1919-1920 Milk Supply Scheme. There had been a greater number of people who could pay for provision such as milk through receiving war bonuses in their employment with war However since the end of the war and by the winter of 1919, these had all but disappeared leaving many families under financial pressure with rising inflation levels also hitting in.
Kieran’s book The Little Book of Cork Harbour (2019) is published by The History Press and is available in Waterstones, Vibes and Scribes and Easons.
Captions:
1021a. Map of Middle Parish, c.1900 (source: Cork City Library)
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the news this week that the Douglas Pop-Up Library has begun at Douglas Community Centre, three times-a-week. Douglas Library will pop-up on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at Douglas Community Centre from Thursday 07 November to Saturday 21 December. The part-time opening hours will be Thursday will be 2.30 pm-7.30 pm, Friday 10am-1pm and Saturday 10am-4pm. Douglas Library Service has noted: “Come along and choose from our specially selected collection of brand new books for all ages, or read your favourite newspaper or magazine. Special events and activities for children; keep an eye on our website and social media pages for details as they are announced”.
Director of Services Adrienne Rogers has also highlighted that the City Council is also making progress in restoring a full library service in Douglas on an interim basis. This would be in a smaller location than the Library damaged by the fire, but would be on the basis of a 5-day, 40 hours per week service. It is expected that there would be some refurbishment to be carried out to enable this interim solution, and Council Officials are urgently progressing this matter. Refurbishment is likely to take a number of months, and more detailed information will be provided to councillors in the near future.
As Douglas Library was a lending facility, like other local libraries, one third approximately of the stock was in circulation outside of the premises at the time of the fire, and this stock will be available to initiate the resumption of service in Douglas. The Council is in discussions with the relevant government department to secure funding for additional stock, and is hopeful of a positive outcome.
Cllr McCarthy noted; “Douglas Library is a cultural focal point in the village and has a high membership with adults and in particular younger people using it. It also hosted a large number of weekly community events, which attracted a lot of interested local people. It is imperative that the permanent library is got up and running again. I am also very happy that Douglas Community Centre is a partner in the pop-up-library as they themselves provide amazing community services locally.
“There are also moves afoot to make provision for local organisations who wish to help with collections of donations of books for the new full Douglas library to be restored sometime during 2020. More information on this donation mechanism is to come forward to the public very shortly”, noted Cllr McCarthy.
Great to be able direct this concert on 20 October last – Great Tunes and Melodies: An Evening of Musical Theatre. Many thanks to a hard-working cast, the musical director Jimmy Brockie, the producer, Yvonne Coughlan and crew 🙂
Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the ongoing works in Douglas Community Park as part of the Douglas Flood Relief Scheme. The Contractor has installed safety barriers along the western edge of the cycle track and this half of the park (between the cycle track and the river) will be out of public use for the duration of the works. It is estimated that the works to the park will take approximately 5-6 months to complete.
Due to the extensive planned works to Douglas Community Park and Church Road, the opportunity was taken by Cork County Council Architects Department (before the move of Douglas village into the City Council administration area) to deliver a public amenity outcome from the Flood relief works. This was as envisioned in the Douglas Land Use Transport Strategy 2013 (DLUTS) to deliver public Realm outcomes for the community.
Cllr McCarthy noted: “The river will be visually opened to the park to create a pleasant riverside walking and viewing areas which are accessible and safe. Quality materials and bespoke furniture will be incorporated to provide place making and flexible use of public space for community events”.
The widening of the river and the replacement of the left bank with a gabion wall (on private lands) reduces the space allowable for replanting of trees. To account for this, relocation of proposed trees and scrubs was designed in cooperation with a Landscape Architect Consultant to create screening and sheltering at appropriate locations. Where possible, existing trees will be retained and incorporated into the revise layout plan. Selections of scrubs and grasses are included to compliment the tree planting.
Compensation replanting will also be provided in other areas of the community to account for any net loss of trees to the park/Church road. The location of these areas will be identified in consultation with Cork City Council Parks Department and the Tidy Towns Association. For more information on the development of the scheme please visit www.DouglasFRS.ie
