Don’t miss out on these very special concerts presented by the fantastic Cork Youth Orchestra.

West End Stars:

• Sofia Escobar (current “Christine” in Phantom of the Opera) 
• Linzi Hateley (current “Madame Thenardier” Les Miserables)
• Michael McCarthy (Javert, Les Miserables)
• Mike Sterling (over 1,000 appearances as “The Phantom” in Phantom of the Opera)

will join the Cork Youth Orchestra for two very special concerts in the CITY HALL CORK on 11 MAY and 12 May. Musical hits from

• Les Miserables,
• Phantom of the Opera,
• Chess,
• My Fair Lady
• and many more will make these concerts memorable

http://corkyouthorchestra.ie/

Mark the date in your calendar because a date has been set for this year’s Ballinlough End of Summer Festival!! On Saturday 24 August 2013 the only place to be is the Ballinlough Community Park! Get ready its gonna be great!

2012 pictures: http://kieranmccarthy.ie/wordpress/?p=8985

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 2 May 2013

A Gate of Heaven

“Take ship and travel into strange lands; go into strange villages, towns and cities. You may not know the roads or streets; you may not understand the human language. The first road or street you will discover is the one that leads to the Church. Enter it, you will always understand the language in it- it is the language of prayer, adoration and love” (Fr Kieran, OFM CAP, 11 September, 1938, Sermon, Dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough).

As a side topic this week, I’m currently doing research on Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ballinlough to mark its 75^th anniversary. This is an article looking for memories of the people involved in its design, construction, and fundraising.  If anyone has information, I’d love to hear from them (087 655 3389). The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes at Ballinlough was solemnly blessed by Bishop Daniel Cohalan, Bishop of Cork in September 1938. The church as a project followed shortly after the opening of Christ the King Church in Turners Cross in 1931.

The solemn ceremonies in 1938 marked the realisation of a long cherished hope of priests and people of the extensive Parish of Blackrock. The new church was a long felt want in the Ballinlough area of the parish due to the rapid growth of it as a residential suburb of the city. The project had been envisaged for some years and in 1935 the Bishop of Cork laid the foundation stone. The design was quite different to the elaborate concrete Christ the King Church. Simplicity of design was the keynote of the Ballinlough building in regard to both exterior and interior. Despite this, passing this building and viewing it from a distance especially from the northside, its striking lines do make an immediate impression on its limestone ridge. The altar is of a beautiful design. The tabernacle stands out impressively as a separate unit. The Stations of the Cross are also of a distinctive pattern.

There was a large attendance of the parishioners for the 1938 dedication ceremonies and when the time came for the public to enter the church, the accommodation for 1,000 worshippers was well taxed. Bishop Cohalan in his address highlighted the importance of having a temple to worship God thanked all those involved in it; “I would like to thank all who have helped to provide the means of meeting the cost of this new church. About £10,000 has been already expended and paid out on this church. That was a notable sum for the organisers and collectors to collect…there remains a debt of £1,000 and a house must be provided for the priest in charge of this church…And I appeal to the parishioners and to charitable friends to help Canon Murphy to wipe off the debt and to provide the small sum required. And not to confine myself to mere words, to appeal by example, I am myself giving the Canon £100 to meet the remaining liability”.

The architects were Messrs. Ryan and Fitzbibbon, 21 South Mall (looking for information on?). The building is in a Romanesque style and is faced externally with bricks and white cement. It was originally decorated internally in cream coloured paints. The flooring in the nave was timber, with the centre and side passages of terrazzo and the sanctuary floor was in cream, white, brown and blue mosaic. The altar rail, altar, or predella (the platform or step on which an altar stands), and steps are of marble. In the sacristy, there was ample room for space a mortuary. The baptismal font was situated at the west end of the nave. Two recessed confessionals were provided, and space was provided for an organ.

Messrs. Coveney Brothers, West Douglas, Cork (information needed?) were entrusted the important job of chief contractors in the erection of the new church. They were specialists in the work of church and school erection. They were known for their attention to detail in making structures solid and lasting. Their name was linked to many projects of note in the city and outside of it. The products of Ballinphellic Brick Company, Ltd (information needed?) were widely known and appreciated. Their works were at Ballygarvan and their offices at 29, Watercourse Road. To Messrs. Lynch’s Joinery Works, Kyrl Street (information needed on?) was entrusted the work of the seating and other joinery works. The firm had a reputation as manufacturers of joinery of a very high standard of quality.

In his sermon, Fr Kieran OFM CAP eloquently wove themes of the importance of community coming together in changing the nature of a building into something more sacred; “We are gathered and united in one living Holy Faith this morning in this beautiful little church, planned by Christ-like minds and built by human hands and generous hearts. We have witnessed a simple and significant ceremony of the Mother Church, a ceremony that has changed this chaste material building, making it now and for years to come, no longer a mere house, but a house of prayer, a house of God, A gate of heaven”.

Caption:

689a. Interior of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

     Cllr. Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in McCarthy’s ‘Make a model boat project’. All interested must make a model boat at home from recycled materials and bring it along for judging to Cork’s Atlantic Pond on Saturday morning, 1 June 2013, 11am.

    The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara’s Ocean to City, Cork’s Maritime Festival (1-10^th June) and the Lifetime Lab. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. There are prizes for best models and the event is free to enter. Cllr. McCarthy, who is heading up the event, noted “I am encouraging creation, innovation and imagination amongst our young people, which are important traits for all of us to develop”. In addition, Cllr. McCarthy emphasised that places like the Atlantic Pond are an important part of Cork’s natural and amenity heritage.  See www.kieranmccarthy.ie under community programme details or email info@kieranmccarthy.ie

Pictures from 2012 event: http://kieranmccarthy.ie/wordpress/?p=8737

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 25 April 2013

Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2013

This year marks the tenth year of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project co-ordinated by myself. The Project for 2013 culminated recently in two award ceremonies for the project. It  is open to schools in Cork City and County- at primary level to the pupils of fourth, fifth and sixth class and at post-primary from first to sixth years. A total of 46 schools in Cork took part this year. Circa 1200 students participated in the process and approx 200 projects were submitted on all aspects of Cork’s history.

One of the key aims of the project is to allow students to explore, investigate and comment on their local history in a constructive, active and fun way. The emphasis is on the process of doing a project and learning not only about your area but also developing new personal skills. Students are challenged to devise methodologies that provide interesting ways to approach the study of their local history. Submitted projects must be colourful, creative, have personal opinion, imagination and gain publicity. These elements form the basis of a student friendly narrative analysis approach where the students explore their project topic in an interactive way. In particular students are encouraged to attain primary material through engaging with a number of methods such as fieldwork, interviews with local people, making models, photographing, cartoon creating, making DVDs of their area.

Students are to experiment with the overall design and plan of their projects. It attempts to bring the student to become more personal and creative in their approaches. Much of the work could be published as local heritage / history guides to people and places in the region. For example a winning class project this year focussed on the history of The Glen- researched it, mapped out its memories through interviewing local people and even bringing in their local public representatives to explore the future of the site. 

This year marks went towards making a short film or a model on projects to accompany history booklets. Submitted DVDs this year had interviews of family members to local historians to the student taking a reporter type stance on their work. Some students also chose to act out scenes from the past. A class in the city this year chose to narrate their own film on the history of Cork City Gaol Heritage Centre. Another group created a short film on the story of their school.

The creativity section also encourages model making. The best model trophy in general goes to the creative and realistic model. This year the best model in the city went to a model of Blackrock Castle, which complemented her creative booklet. Indeed models of the Titanic featured this year in several projects. In the county, the top model prize went students from Derryclough, Drinagh who re-created different archaeological monuments into a type of mini model representing such sites.

Students are encouraged to compare and connect the past to their present and their immediate future. Work needs to involve re-imagining what life may have been like. One of the key foundations in the Project is about developing empathy for the past– to think about attitudes and experience in the past. Interpretation is also empowering for the student- all the time developing a better sense of the different ways in which people engage with and express a sense of place and time.

Every year, the students involved produce a section in their project books showing how they communicated their work to the wider community. It is about reaching out and gaining public praise for the student but also appraisal and further ideas. Some class projects were presented in nursing homes to engage the older generation and to attain further memories from participants. Students were also successful in putting work on local parish newsletters, newspapers and local radio stations and also presenting work in local libraries. This year the most prominent source of gaining publicity was inviting parents into the classroom for an open day for viewing projects or putting displays on in local community centres and libraries. 

Overall, the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project attempts to provide the student with a hands-on and interactive activity that is all about learning not only about your local area but also about the process of learning by participating students. The project in the city is kindly funded by Cork Civic Trust (viz the help of John X Miller), Cork City Council (viz the help of Heritage Officer Niamh Twomey), the Heritage Council with media support from the Evening Echo as well. Prizes were also provided in the 2013 season by Lifetime Lab, Lee Road (thanks to Meryvn Horgan), Sean Kelly of Lucky Meadows Equestrian Centre Watergrasshill and Cork City Gaol Heritage Centre. The county section is funded by myself and students. A full list of winners, topics and pictures of some of the project pages for 2013 can be viewed at www.corkheritage.ie and on facebook on Cork: Our City, Our Town. For those doing research, www.corkheritage.ie has also a number of resources listed to help with source work.

Back to the Crawford Municipal Technical Institute next week…

Caption:

688a. Students from Scoil Oilibhéir accepting the Overall School Effort Perpetual Trophy from Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Buttimer and Cork City Council Heritage Officer, Niamh Twomey (sponsored by Buckley’s/ Laura’s School Wear and Drapery)

Cork’s young people are invited to participate in the fifth year of ‘Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s Community Talent Competition’. The auditions will take place on Sunday 28 April 2013 between 9am-5pm in the Lifetime Lab, Lee Road. There are no entry fees and all talents are valid for consideration. The final will be held over one week later. There are two categories, one for primary school children and one for secondary school students. Winners will be awarded a perpetual trophy and prize money of €150 (two by €150). The project is being organised and funded by Cllr Kieran McCarthy in association with Red Sandstone Varied Productions (RSVP). 

Cllr. McCarthy noted: “The talent competition is a community initiative. It encourages all young people to develop their talents and creative skills, to push forward with their lives and to embrace their community positively”. Further details can be got from Kieran at 087 6553389 or info@kieranmccarthy.ie from the talent show producer (RSVP), Yvonne Coughlan, 085 1798695.

My ward fund allocations for 2013 are posted at the link here: http://kieranmccarthy.ie/wordpress/?page_id=1440

Question to the Manager:

To ask the manager to give an update on the revamp of the Lee Rowing Club pier (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Motions:

To provide a traffic calming measure at the top of Flaherty’s Lane (out of Glencoo Estate) as it meets Ballinlough Road (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

That the City Council upgrade the public realm along Albert Street adjacent the Elysian Tower and the National Sculpture Factory including the central traffic island strip (to include flowers, trees) (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 18 April 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 52) –A Rallying Centre”

“It is not generally realised that my Department has co-operated with many vocational education committees in endeavouring to provide suitable training for entrants to new industries. Two-thirds of the cost of training suitable persons for technological posts in the new Sugar Beet Factories at Mallow, Tuam, and Thurles were defrayed by my Department, the remaining third being borne by Comhlucht Siucre Éireann Teo” (Thomas Derrig TD, Minister of Education, 21 June 1935).

Thomas Derrig TD, Minister of Education, spoke at length at the luncheon following the laying of the foundation stone of the Cork College of Commerce in June 1935. He summarised some of the key developments in education and its relationship with industry since the passing of the Vocational Education Act in 1930 and in light of the ongoing economic war with Britain. In particular he described how apprentices required for Irish sugar factories for example were selected by an examination under the auspices of his Department with the co-operation of local Vocational Education Committees. Almost all these apprentices were drawn from course at the technical schools. He also promoted a number of other projects. A number of youths were trained in Wolverhampton, in preparation for employment in an aluminium factory. Provision was made in another technical school for training girls for new hosiery factories. Similar facilities for classes in connection with boot factories were provided for in four or five schools. A class in ceramic art was formed in preparation for the establishment of a new pottery factory. Power machines were installed in certain centres for the provision of trade instruction for the ready-made clothing industry.

Derrig’s Department and vocational educational committees were also anxious to co-operate with industrialists in providing technical training not only for new employees, but also to those already engaged in industry and who wished to add to their qualification as a means towards attaining more “responsible posts”. He was arranging in the summer of 1935 a special course in retail practice and salesmanship for senior commercial teachers. Over 40 teachers were drawn from all parts of the country to receive intensive courses in being an assistant in the drapery and the grocery and provision trades.

Derrig also described the constant demand for the extension of existing technical schools and the erection of new ones. He noted during his speech that the “laying of the foundation stone of your magnificent new School of Commerce and Domestic Science today forms but one link in the chain of schools that have been erected since 1930”. In Dublin important extensions had been made in Vocational Educational schools at Ballsbridge and Rathmines; the new branch school at Marino was soon to be completed. Plans were being prepared to erect a new School of Domestic Science in a central position, near O’Connell Street. In Limerick additions had been made to their central school, and a proposal was under consideration to erect a new feeder school in another part of the city. The Waterford Technical School had been also considerably extended to meet existing educational demands.

New schools were provided for in Galway and Drogheda and an extension was provided for at the Wexford school. In over 20 counties smaller schools had been erected or were near completion by 1935. Many had been constructed to cater for the needs of the rural population and according to Derrig represented an important step in the development of our national rural economy: “Such schools properly administered should not only enable the boys and girls in our rural areas to play a more efficient part in the many agricultural projects now being encouraged, but also a rallying centre for the social and national life of the rural population”.

Progress was not only confined to the building of schools and as Derrig noted “the formation of relationships with industry”. He described that several vocational schools were also exercising their valuable influence slowly but definitely on the development of the Irish language. There was, he argued, a definite advance in the teaching of subjects through Irish. The marked increase in previous years in the number of teachers qualifying for the Ceard Teastas Gaeilge was a “gratifying sign of development”. Continuing he argued that: “no amount of the teaching of Irish or of subjects through Irish can succeed in making the present generation realise the value and worth of their national language unless it is combined with a deliberate effort on the part of all concerned to make Irish the living language not only of the school, but also of the playing fields, and above all, of the home”.

Concluding his address Minister Derrig referred to a question raised regarding the setting up of Conservatoire of Music in the Country, and expressed the hope that the day “would come soon when they would have one in the country, whether in Dublin or in Country”. Interesting and like the request for a Cork conservatoire of music, Mr J Hurley at the luncheon representing the Crawford Municipal Technical College, expressed the hope that the application for a college of technology in Cork would also not be lost sight and would soon come to fruition.

To be continued…

Caption:

687a. Cork College of Commerce, present day (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

On Tuesday April 9^th the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Buttimer launched the  Cork City Community and Voluntary Awards 2013 at an event in the Council Chamber, City Hall, Cork attended by over 50 representatives of Community and Voluntary organisations in the city. Speaking at the launch Lord Mayor Buttimer stated: “These awards recognise the invaluable work of community groups in the City, which engage in a diverse range of activities that add to the vibrancy of the city. I encourage everybody to nominate their favourite groups because your appreciation of their efforts will spur them on.”

This is the 10^th year of these awards, recognising the valuable contribution the Community & Voluntary groups make to the life of the City. The awards are presented by Cork City Council but are sponsored by local company Express Kitchens and Floors and by the Evening Echo.  The awards this year have been revamped slightly with one winner announced in each category with a new overall winner to  be announced on the night. The categories are: Community & Neighbourhood Services, Sports, Arts & Culture, Equality & Social Inclusion, and Children & Youth.

Sixteen groups will be shortlisted for awards and will have video footage of their activities showcased on the awards night on the 22^nd of May. Anyone can nominate a group, even groups of which the nominee is a member. Applicants can nominate a subset of the organisation in which volunteers make a significant contribution, the whole organisation or just the board or executive committee.

Closing date for entries is Friday 26^th April. To download a .pdf of the application form please click on the link Community and Voluntary Awards 2013 or contact Con O’Donnell, Administrative  Officer,Corporate & External Affairs Directorate, email: con_odonnell@corkcity.ie ;  Tel: 021/4924101