Cork History Matters

John Creedon talks to Dave Macardle about his book An Irish Folklore Treasury and explains the roots of his love of place names, history, language and lore. The book is a people’s history of Ireland and introduces a fascinating collection of stories from the Schools’ Collection. This treasure trove of old stories, ways and wisdom, which could have been lost for ever, was collected by schoolchildren as part of a nationwide project set up in the 1930s to preserve Irish folklore. Published here for the first time, this ‘best of’ selection includes chapters on ghost stories, agriculture, forgotten trades, schooling and pastimes. The result is an incredible arc of folk history that tells us about ourselves and how we lived long ago. Click to listen and drink deep....

The Nine Years War was one of the most traumatic and bloody conflicts in the history of Ireland. Encroachment on the liberties of the Irish lords by the English crown caused Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone, to build an unprecedented confederation of Irish lords leading a new Irish military armed with pike and shot. Backed by Philip II of Spain, Tyrone and his allies outclassed the forces of the English Crown, achieving a string of stunning victories and bringing the power of Elizabeth I in Ireland to the brink of collapse. The opening shots were fired in Ulster, but from 1593 to 1599 war engulfed all of Ireland. The conflict consumed the lives and reputations of Elizabeth’s court favourites as they struggled to cope with the new Irish way of war. Sophisticated strategy and modern tactics made the Irish war appear unwinnable to many in England, but Lord Mountjoy’s arrival as deputy in 1600 changed everything. Mountjoy reformed the demoralized English army and rolled back the advances achieved by Tyrone. Mountjoy’s success was crowned by his shattering defeat of Tyrone and his Spanish allies at Kinsale in 1601, which ultimately led to the earl’s submission in 1603, though not before famine, misery and atrocity took their toll on the people of Ireland. Includes O’Sullivan Bere’s battles in Glengarrif wood, under siege at Dunboy Castle and long tragic walk north to O’Rourke country in the late winter of 1603. Part 2 commences at the onset of the battle of Kinsale Christmas Eve 1601James O’Neill is an archaeologist and an alumnus of the QUB History department. He completed a two year post-doctorate fellowship in the School of History, University College Cork, before returning to Belfast where he now works as a heritage consultant, specializing in battlefield/conflict archaeology

The Nine Years War was one of the most traumatic and bloody conflicts in the history of Ireland. Encroachment on the liberties of the Irish lords by the English crown caused Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone, to build an unprecedented confederation of Irish lords leading a new Irish military armed with pike and shot. Backed by Philip II of Spain, Tyrone and his allies outclassed the forces of the English Crown, achieving a string of stunning victories and bringing the power of Elizabeth I in Ireland to the brink of collapse. The opening shots were fired in Ulster, but from 1593 to 1599 war engulfed all of Ireland. The conflict consumed the lives and reputations of Elizabeth’s court favourites as they struggled to cope with the new Irish way of war. Sophisticated strategy and modern tactics made the Irish war appear unwinnable to many in England, but Lord Mountjoy’s arrival as deputy in 1600 changed everything. Mountjoy reformed the demoralized English army and rolled back the advances achieved by Tyrone. Mountjoy’s success was crowned by his shattering defeat of Tyrone and his Spanish allies at Kinsale in 1601, which ultimately led to the earl’s submission in 1603, though not before famine, misery and atrocity took their toll on the people of Ireland. Includes O’Sullivan Bere’s battles in Glengarrif wood, under siege at Dunboy Castle and long tragic walk north to O’Rourke country in the late winter of 1603.Part 1 leads up to the onset of the battle of Kinsale Christmas Eve 1601James O’Neill is an archaeologist and an alumnus of the QUB History department. He completed a two year post-doctorate fellowship in the School of History, University College Cork, before returning to Belfast where he now works as a heritage consultant, specializing in battlefield/conflict archaeology.

Gerard Martin O’Brien traces a history of what is now the Glen River Park from its origins as a site of milling, and industry through to the 1980s, when it was donated to the people of Cork by Sir Basil Goulding. Whole generations of people used this space as an unofficial amenity area long before it became a park and the book reveals it’s now forgotten story. Here he is in conversation on the matter with Dave Macardle

Elvera Butler on ‘Downtown Kampus at The Arcadia 1977-81’ In this Cork History Matters podcast chat Elvera Butler tells Dave Macardle the story of one of Cork’s most important musical institutions, the Downtown Kampus at The Arcadia. As Colm O’Callaghan of the brilliant Blackpool Sentinel music history blog put it “The Downtown Kampus rightly enjoys a mythical standing in the history of contemporary music in Cork, as much for the quality and spirit of the music it hosted as for what it represented in wider socio-cultural terms.”An essential proving ground for a young U2 – who took their sound and road crew from those who worked at the venue – to varied names like John Otway, The Beat, The Specials, Nun Attax, XTC, Sleepy Hollow, The Only Ones, The Blades, UB40, The Undertones, The Cure, The Damned, Doctor Feelgood, The Virgin Prunes and hundreds of others all played this hugely influential and inspirational. It was the petri dish for Cork’s alternative music culture that lead to all that was to come throughout the 80s, into the 90s and beyond. Run by Thurles native Elvera Butler and partner Andy Foster, The Arcadia was one of the few places in Cork city that would host punk bands. Butler had been the entertainments officer at University College Cork, and so the venue became known as the 'Downtown Kampus'. The punk scene that developed in the late at the Arc was an important turning point for emerging Cork punk music; until then live music in the city had consisted mostly of Blues and pub rock bands. According to Mean Features guitarist Liam Heffernan, "the [emerging post-punk] scene was amazing....there was nothing else really in late Seventies and early Eighties Cork. Heavy industry was whacked. Elvera Butler brought some fantastic music to Cork. That woke us all up.”

Author Colum Kenny discusses his new book ‘A Bitter Winter,’ a succinct but graphicly detailed dive into the turbulent years of the Irish civil war through the eyes of its key activists on both sides - Michael Collins, Harry Boland, Mary McSwiney and Richard Mulcahy. Reflecting on the lasting bitterness engendered by civil war, Kenny relates it to current tensions surrounding the future of Northern Ireland. Colum aims to foster an informed discussion about the foundation of the Irish state, with the civil war grasped as relevant today rather than politely skirted. The so-far limited coverage of the civil war dodges the bullet, despite its obvious relevance given Sinn Féin’s current trajectory and that party’s insistence on a border poll. Cork, like many other places throughout Ireland, suffered during the conflict that dragged on into the Spring of 1923. Kenny says, “We should be talking about such events now, because they are still relevant to politics on this island”. Colum’s book touches on the life of Seán Hales, the Co. Cork leader in the war with England who was shot and killed on his way to the Dáil. Seán Hales was pro-Treaty and fought on the opposite side of the war to his anti-treaty brother, though they’d been raised together on their Cork farm. Arrested and imprisoned during the 1916 rebellion, after his death the Cork Examiner described him as ‘the man who kept the [IRA] men together in South and West Cork, and was in many ambushes […] He was one of Michael Collins’ closest friends.’

Lord Mayor of Cork and Commandant of the Cork no 1 Brigade of the IRA, Terence MacSwiney is most famous as the central figure in one of the great hunger strikes in world history, which culminated in his death in October 1920, aged 41, in Brixton prison, London, after a fast of 74 days. For many years prior to his demise, however, he had been an active participant in the intense cultural and political debates that characterised Irish life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In these exchanges MacSwiney employed a variety of literary forms to express his support for the political separation of Ireland from Britain and the promotion of indigenous culture. These writings, regrettably, were overshadowed by the manner of his death, and for the most part have been unavailable to the public ever since. The volume seeks to re-awaken interest in this aspect of MacSwiney’s contribution to Irish life by making these texts available in a single volume for the first time. They cover the span of his adult life, from 1900 onwards: firstly as a published poet; subsequently as a dramatist, and finally as a prose writer. While his work as a member of Dáil Éireann, meant that he had much less time to devote to his writings in the last eighteen months of his life, the last texts included here date from shortly before the arrest and imprisonment that provoked his hunger strike.Authors are Gabriel Doherty, Fiona Brennan and Neil Buttimer.

First a book by the Shandon Area History Group and now documentary produced by Frameworks Films – screened as part of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Indie Cork 2022 - ‘Ordinary Women in Extraordinary Times’ tells the story of five women – Nora and Sheila Wallace and Mary, Annie and Muriel MacSwiney. These women played a vital role in the formation of the Irish state and yet the detail of what they did and how they managed to do these tasks whilst still playing their other roles as wives, mothers, teachers and shopkeepers has received little attention. The documentary first tells the story of how the Wallace sisters ran a newsagents shop on Augustine Street in Cork city centre, which effectively became the unofficial headquarters of the No 1 Brigade of the Cork Volunteers after their own headquarters on Sheares St was closed after the Rising. The second family to feature in the documentary are the MacSwiney family. Mary and Annie MacSwiney were the sisters of Terence MacSwiney, former Lord Mayor of Cork, whose death by hunger strike whilst imprisoned in Brixton Prison made international headlines and Muriel MacSwiney, their sister-in-law, was his wife. For more see http://www.shandonareahistorygroupcork.com/ and https://frameworksfilms.com/

Anne Twomey of Shandon Area History Group tells Dave about the formation of the group, pays tribute to the woman who sparked her interest in history and indulges Dave’s curiosity about a range of aspects of Cork City’s history, joining him for a gentle discursive ramble through parts of Cork city – primarily around the Shandon area of Cork’s north side – all a prelude to their longer chat – a separate pod post – about the book and documentary ‘Ordinary Women in Extraordinary Times,’ which tells the story of five women – Nora and Sheila Wallace and Mary, Annie and Muriel MacSwiney - who played an important role in the revolutionary period in Cork.For more see http://www.shandonareahistorygroupcork.com/

In this Cork History Matters podcast Dave chats to historians John Borgonovo & Gerry White. John from UCC and military historian Gerry are both authors of ‘The Battle for Cork’ and ‘The Burning of Cork’ respectively and both were involved in assisting the presenting of The Battle for Cork, through the Lens of William D. Hogan, a new exhibition newly opened at St Peters Cork. The Battle for Cork, fought between the National Army and Anti-Treaty IRA in August 1922, one of the most significant military operations in the Irish Civil War, it saw the free state army drive the anti-treaty IRA out of Cork following an amphibious landing at Passage West and a fierce series of gun battles through Rochestown and Garyduff woods. Photographer William David Hogan, born in Quartertown, Mallow, was a commercial and press photographer who had a studio in Henry Street in Dublin. During the Civil War he became what today would be known as an ‘embedded’ photographer with the National Army and he accompanied that force during the Battle for Cork. The photographs he took during that time were subsequently arranged by National Army Chaplain, Fr. Denis J. Wilson. Today they are known as the Hogan-Wilson Collection and are held in the National Library of Ireland. To visit the exhibit visit: https://stpeterscork.ie/whats-on/?e=11139213&rand=75027