Tales from 1919: The Life of William Martin Murphy
On 27 June 1919 newspapers across the country ran their regret of announcing the death of Mr William Martin Murphy, which took place in Dublin. He was one of the most prominent men in Irish commercial circles, being actively engaged at the heart of many enterprises.
William was born in the year 1844, the son of Mr Denis William Murphy, a building contractor from Berehaven, County Cork, his mother being a daughter of Mr James Martin, also of Berehaven. His primary education was received in a private school at Bantry. In 1858 he entered Belvedere College, Dublin, as a student. On that first trip to Dublin – from Bantry to Dublin – he had a forty-five-mile coach drive to Cork City and the next day had a six-hour train journey from the city to Dublin.
On the finishing of his college course, William became a pupil of the then well-known Dublin architect, Mr John J Lyons. However, at the age of 19 William’s father passed away who was then extensively engaged as contractor for public works in the South of Ireland. As some contracts of an important nature had not yet been completed, the energy and capabilities of his only son William were put to the test. He not only undertook and completed the works – which his father had in hand, but he extended and developed the business generally. Before long he returned to Dublin to develop his business.
Shortly after transferring permanently to Dublin William became interested in the construction and development of street and road tramways in the city and its suburbs. For many years he worked in this direction, not alone in Dublin and other parts of Ireland, but in many important centres in Great Britain. Up to 1895 no tramway in Ireland had been run by electricity, save a line, from Portrush to the Giant’s Causeway, which was worked under a system not practicable in a city. As a result of a visit to America in 1895, William witnessed the work of George Francis Train, the inventor of tramways. On his return he promptly proposed its adoption in Dublin on the overhead wire and trolley system. William soon saw the fruition of his project and the electric system year on year extended all over the city and suburbs, radiating from the centre outwards. He also promoted and built the Cork electric tram line.
From small beginnings in 1880 as a contractor for the Bantry rail extension to Drimoleague, William became one of the most influential figures in the Irish railway business. Subsequently he went on to construct lines such as Wexford and Rosslare, the Clara and Banagher, West and South Clare, Mitchelstown and Fermoy, Tuam and Claremorris, Skibbereen and Baltimore, and the Bantry Extension. Later in life he organised the construction of railways on the Gold Coast in West Africa from his London sub office. William also became the director of a number of rail lines, being elected to the board of the Waterford and Limerick line in 1885, and when this was amalgamated into the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1901, he was subsequently elected to the Board of Ireland’s premier railway company in 1903.
William’s first connection with journalism was in November 1890 when at the time of the Parnell split, he took a leading part in the founding of the National Press. In 1892 the National Press amalgamated with the Freeman’s Journal and having been one of the largest directors in the former, William became a director of the new concern. In 1900 William decided to purchase the Irish Daily Independent, then offered for sale under a court of bankruptcy.
William also figured in the public life of the country. He was a prominent member of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, of which he was Chairman for about two years. He was also a member of Parliament representing Dublin from 1885 to 1892. He was a member of the Irish Convention in 1911. He took a leading and active part in advocating Home Rule and carried a representative section of the Convention with him.
In 1912, William established the Dublin Employer’s Federation as a reaction to the growing power of organised labour. Worried that the trade unions would destroy his Dublin tram system, he led Dublin employers against the trade unions led by James Larkin, an opposition that culminated in the Dublin Lockout of 1913. William locked out all workers who refused to resign from the union. The 1913 Lockout in Dublin was a major industrial dispute between almost 20,000 workers and 300 employers. It lasted from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914 and is often seen as the most severe and important industrial dispute in Irish history.
William was the leading promoter of the Irish International Exhibition at Herbert Park, Ballsbridge, Dublin in 1909. His leadership was stamped all over the project. During the visit of King Edward VII to the Exhibition William was offered a title but refused it.
Notwithstanding his business engagements William found time to devote himself to the Society of St Vincent de Paul. From 1867 to 1875 he was president of the Society’s Conference at St Finbarr’s South Chapel, Cork. Subsequently he founded a new Conference at Terenure, County Dublin, of which for several years he was the President.
Next walking tour:
Saturday 6 July, The City Workhouse, historical walking tour with Kieran; learn about Cork City’s workhouse created for 2,000 impoverished people in 1841; meet just inside the gates of St Finbarr’s Hospital, Douglas Road, 12noon (free, duration: two hours, on site tour, part of Friends of St Finbarr’s Hospital garden fete).
Captions:
1003a. William Martin Murphy, a painting by William Orpen (source: National Gallery, Dublin)
1003b. Tram at Blackrock, Cork, c.1901 (source: Cork City Library)
The excitement is building for Cork Carnival of Science in Fitzgerald’s Park on Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 June. There is a jam packed line-up of live demonstrations, big top shows, hands on workshops and entertainment.
On the second week of June 1919, a strike of the Cork tramway employees occurred, which threatened to cause a serious dislocation in transport movement in the city. Recorded in the Cork Examiner in May 1919 the employees put in their claim on the lines of the national demand for a weekly wage of 50s and a 49-hour week. The notice expired on Saturday 6 June but on the timely intervention of Capuchin priest Fr Thomas Dowling, he recommended the men to lay their claims and concerns before a conciliation board. In the meantime, the men agreed to continue working.
Fr Thomas had a great interest in social reform especially in the work of mediation and arbitration between employers and trade unions. In late February 1919, he succeeded in establishing a Cork Conciliation Board and was its first president. It consisted of four delegates from the Employers’ Federation and four appointed by the Cork and District Trade and Labour Council.
The request for an increase in the wage of the tram workers came before the conciliation board on 10 June at a special meeting at 7pm held at the Fr Mathew Hall, where Fr Thomas presided. Mr Edward Lynch of the Transport Workers represented the men, and Mr N H Nalder and Mr Whiting appeared for the Cork Electric and Lighting Company. An award of 4s per week increase with a reduction in working hours was agreed upon, and this finding was tentatively ratified at the meeting.
In the first two decade of the 1900s, the electric trams of Cork City played a large part in providing much needed public transport. Professional men living in the suburbs and working in the city used the service regularly. On the other side of the social scale, city dwellers such as domestic services with jobs in the large houses in the suburbs travelled out using the trams.
In 1919, 35 electric tram cars operated throughout the city and suburbs. These were manufactured in Loughborough, UK. All were double deck in nature, open upstairs with a single-truck design. There were minor variations in many of the cars. Six of the trams had a luxury design. They had a longer roof and their ends were curved, which provided extra seating upstairs and a cover for the driver and conductor. Passengers on the lower level sat on two long slated timber seats.
The various routes totalled 12 miles, starting from a common centre at the Father Mathew Statue on St Patrick’s Street, and radiating from this to the various termini at Sunday’s Well, Summerhill, Blackpool, Douglas, Tivoli, and Blackrock. Large white indicator boards at the front of the trams identified their destination. These had the initials of the terminus or where the tram was travelling. For example, Blackpool was shown by BP and Douglas by DS. By 1919, small rectangular plates in different colours replaced the boards. Each displayed the full name of the destination. The name was located over the numbers and on the side of the cars as follows; Douglas-white; Blackrock-brown, Tivoli-yellow; Sunday’s Well and Summerhill-red and Blackpool-dark blue. To identify clearly the trams at nights, the relevant officials fitted lighted bulbs of the different colours. Instead of a brown bulb for Blackrock, a green bulb was used.
On the majority of the routes, there were outbound and city bound tram tracks. However, on a number of routes, especially the Douglas and Blackrock routes, single-track sections were in operation. Thus, when the driver reached the end of the loop and therefore, the entry to a single-track section, he left his platform. He then went to a box on an adjacent pole, flicked a switch, which turned on a light on the pole at the other end of the track. This warned any drivers of any approaching trams.
The annual general meetings for the Cork Electric Tramways Company in the decade of the 1910s reveal ongoing maintenance. In 1913 increases in station expenses were witnessed mainly because of coal and maintenance of the plant. The system of supply was direct current, at a pressure of 500 volts taken from an overhead line by the trolley of the tram cars, the power being generated at the Company’s generating station at Albert Road (now the National Sculpture Factory). There were also lighting and power expenses for maintaining cables on streets. In 1916 it is recorded at the company’s AGM that one of the original 225 KW generating sets, was replaced. This small set has had to be removed to provide space for a new turbine, which was to provide extra voltage capacity.
During the First World War, stores of fuel materials were stocked up – over £1,400 worth of coal to make sure fuel shortage did not become an issue. Despite war conditions the fares charged were still amongst the lowest between Britain and Ireland. For example, from the Statue to Blackrock, the distance was 3.3 miles with a single fare, 2d. Circa 1900, a single fare to any of the suburbs served by the trams was one penny. The fare did rise up to three and half pence by 1910 but had dropped to two pence by 1930.
In 1919, the tram cars ran from 7.45 am to 11.20 pm, with intervals varying from 6 minutes on the Summerhill and Sunday’s Well routes, to 10 minutes on the Douglas and Blackrock routes. Since the system was started in 1898 the Cork Electric and Lighting Company had, on an average, carried about 6 million passengers per year.
Kieran’s Next Walking Tours:
Saturday, 22 June, The Friar’s Walk; historical walking tour with Kieran; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack St, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 11am; free, duration: two hours.
Sunday 23 June, The Lough & its Curiosities; historical walking tour with Kieran, explore the local history from the Legend of the Lough to suburban development; meet at green area at northern end of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough; 2.30pm (free, duration: two hours).
Captions:
1002a. N H Nalder on upper deck of no.6 on Albert Road (c.1900) from W McGrath’s Tram Tracks Through Cork (source: Cork City Library).
1002b. A sleepy Douglas Village with tramcar, c.1901 from W McGrath’s Tram Tracks Through Cork (source: Cork City Library).
So much to see and do at Shandon Street Festival 2019. The excitement is building…Remember- Saturday 22 June 2019, 1-6pm. Parade leaving North Cathedral at 12.45pm.http://www.shandonstreetfestival.com/
Cork Carnival of Science is a two day spectacular event at Fitzgerald’s Park (22-23 June 2019) and is free to attend thanks to the support of Science Ireland & Cork City Council; For more info and to check out the fantastic line up, check out ow.ly/xM8a50uEIME
The 6th Annual Bessborough Commemoration is next Sunday 23rd June at 2pm at the Bessborough Centre, Blackrock, Cork.
The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes published their fifth interim report – The Burials Report, which revealed that 904 children died there during the years that were being investigated; 840 children remain missing with their burial places unknown.
Saturday, 22 June, The Friar’s Walk; historical walking tour with Kieran; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack St, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 11am; free, duration: two hours.
Sunday 23 June, The Lough & its Curiosities; historical walking tour with Kieran, explore the local history from the Legend of the Lough to suburban development; meet at green area at northern end of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough; 2.30pm (free, duration: two hours).
My new book The Little book of Cork Harbour has recently been published by The History Press (2019). Following on from last week, below is another snippet from the book– focussing on some of the sociable aspects of the harbour’s history.
Royal Cork Yacht Club:
The Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) traces its origins back to 1720. It began with the establishment, by six worthies of the time, of the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork, headquartered in the castle of Haulbowline Island. Membership was limited to twenty-five, and strict protocol governed all the club’s activities, both afloat and ashore. One rule, for example, ordered ‘that no boat presume to sail ahead of the Admiral, or depart the fleet without his orders, but may carry what sail he please to keep company’. Another forbade the Admiral to bring more than ‘two dozen (bottles of) wine to his treat’. The rules were applied with some rigour by the founding six members, who formed the club’s committee in 1720. One of the six was 24-year-old William, the 4th Earl of Inchiquin, and probably the first Admiral of the club.
The Victorious Goalers:
The Victorious Goalers of Carrigaline and Kilmoney is a rare Cork Harbour ballad, which tells of hurling games played long before the GAA came into being. On 17 December 1828, a local team from Carrigaline and Kilmoney defeated a team from the neighbouring parish of Shanbally-Ringaskiddy. Such matches were not infrequently organised by local landlords and in this case the team from Shanbally was led by William Connor, a naval officer of Ballybricken House (now demolished). The venue was Cope’s Field, a large field north-east of Carrigaline Castle. The ‘goal’, as the contest was termed (in Irish, baire), was conducted according to rules similar to the present GAA ones. There were eighteen to twenty players a side, the sliotar covered with stitched leather, an agreed referee, marked endlines and a change of sides at half time.
Royal Victoria Baths, Glenbrook:
The Royal Victoria Baths were opened in 1838. The Baths were tremendously popular with the people of Cork. The hot salt water was believed to be invigorating and a valuable treatment for rheumatism, lumbago and similar complaints. During the nineteenth century, the Baths were probably Cork’s most popular seaside resort. Towards the end of the century, other destinations further down the Harbour became increasingly accessible by river steamer and the Baths began to lose their popularity. They closed around the turn of the century and were derelict by 1929.
Bowling at Castlemary:
The sport of road bowling has a long connection with County Cork. A painting by Daniel McDonald from 1842 is entitled Bowling Matchat Castlemary, Cloyne. It is the possession of the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork. It shows a mid-nineteenth century bowling match. The bowlers depicted are reputed to be Abraham Morris, a leading Cork businessman and Orangeman, and Montiford Longfield, likewise an Orangeman. This narrative is unusual as the participation of such establishment figures in bowling in the nineteenth century is a strange one. Local police viewed the game as dangerous on public roads and bowl players regularly found themselves in trouble with the law.
Queenstown, the Health Resort:
In the nineteenth century, Queenstown (now Cobh) was promoted as a health resort on account of its climate and location and was on par with Bournemouth in the south of England and Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. The promenade on the water’s edge was and still is a favourite place for locals and visitors to relax. The bandstand was originally built for the visit of Queen Victoria in August 1849. During the summer months regular band recitals take place there. The two cannons in the promenade were returned from the Boer and Crimean Wars in 1899 and 1854, respectively. Later in time, the promenade was named after US President John F Kennedy.
Ford Boxes and Holiday Homes:
In the late 1800s, Crosshaven flourished from a quiet backwater into a tourism resort. The numerous bays like Graball Bay were unrivalled for bathing accommodation – even bathing dresses and towels could be attained. One media story records a local lady who erected two comfortable tents which could dine at least fifty people, and which were in constant demand. By the 1930s, the area had witnessed many light wooden holiday bungalows constructed by Cork’s citizens. Many were constructed from disused Ford delivery crates for cars in the mid twentieth century. Ford Boxes were salvaged from the Ford factory on The Marina and sold en mass after they had been used to ship motor parts over from Dagenham. Hard and enduring, the boxes became a marvel around Cork and were used as dog kennels, fowl houses, pigeon lofts, piggeries, flooring for trailers, boxes for storing grain, and even dancing platforms.
The Majorca Ballroom:
The big news of Thursday 30 May 1963 was the opening of a lavish new ballroom in Crosshaven. It was built on the most modern lines and was the brainchild of brothers Jer and Murt Lucey, who also owned the Redbarn Ballroom in Youghal, with a number of chalets and a fully equipped caravan park. There was to be dancing space for over 2,000 and the soft, subdued lighting and lush decor took quite a lot of thought and planning. One of the features of the ballroom was its revolving stage. The first to take the stage were Clipper Carlton and Michael O’Callaghan. The building and site of the Majorca ballroom was bought in July 1995. The building was dismantled and the site taken into enlarging the adjacent boat yard.
Kieran’s Next Walking Tours:
Saturday, 22 June, The Friar’s Walk; historical walking tour with Kieran; Discover Red Abbey, Elizabeth Fort, Barrack St, Callanan’s Tower & Greenmount area; Meet at Red Abbey tower, off Douglas Street, 11am; free, duration: two hours.
Sunday 23 June, The Lough & its Curiosities; historical walking tour with Kieran, explore the local history from the Legend of the Lough to suburban development; meet at green area at northern end of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough; 2.30pm (free, duration: two hours).
Captions:
1001a. Postcard of Queenstown, c.1900 (source: Cork City Museum)
1001b. Graball Bay, near mouth of Cork Harbour, c.1940 (source: Cork City Museum)
