CorkIndependent.com History Feed http://www.corkindependent.com Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:52:59 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.corkindependent.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.corkindependent.com CorkIndependent.com History Feed http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7515&Itemid=86 In the 1860s there were 875 inhabitants in Ballincollig, with a large number of British soldiers with their families living in the town. With the creation and blossoming of the Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills came a need for housing and community services. Up to 1808, catholic families living in Ballincollig had to travel to Clash cross in Carriganarra, Ballinora or Kilnaglory to attend mass. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7478&Itemid=86 Inheritance, Heritage and Memory in the Lee Valley is my new book. It is based on the series of articles that featured in the Cork Independent newspaper from October 2007 to June 2009. It documents my explorations in the parishes of Aghabullogue, Inniscarra and Ovens on the northern valleyside on Inniscarra Reservoir, part of the course of the River Lee. Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7356&Itemid=86 In the year 1888, the Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills were bought by John Briscoe and soon after came under the control of Curtis's and Harvey. The mills closed in 1903 due to the advent of the production of dynamite. The Curtis and Harvey's mills were then absorbed into Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). The site was bought by Cork County Council in 1974, which developed it into a public park. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7290&Itemid=86 A newspaper article in the Cork Constitution in 1856 gives a very important insight into the stages of gunpowder production at Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills. Once refined etc, the three ingredients of gunpowder – sulphur, saltpetre and charcoal were then removed to the mixing house. The journalist in 1856 could not ascertain the precise proportions or parts of the final mix. He noted that the process was religiously kept and never divulged to strangers. However, the usual proportions given by chemists were 75 of saltpetre, 15 of charcoal and 10 parts of sulphur. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7148&Itemid=86 When conflict broke out in 1854 with the Crimean War, followed by rebellions in India, a succession of ensuing colonial conflicts and culminating in the Boer War of 1899 – 1902, Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills was an active and productive centre. It thrived because of war within and through the expansion of the British empire. It also flourished due to the business strategies and network of business partnerships the owners, the Tobins engaged with within the empire. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7067&Itemid=86 In the early nineteenth century, Ballincollig was one of three principal Royal Gunpowder Mills in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The other mills were at Waltham Abbey in Essex and Faversham in Kent. However, the mills at Ballincollig were constructed much later (1794) than the latter and hence the County Cork site was based on existing plans and technologies that had developed over many centuries. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6936&Itemid=86 From the ridges at Scornagh, just west of Ballincollig, the view to the Inniscarra side of the Lee Valley is amazing. On the ordnance survey map of Scornagh, Bronze Age fulacht fia or cooking sites are shown. So I'm not the first to 'feast' on the view here; Prehistoric residents set up camp here and munched their boiled meat. But for me at this point I felt that I was giving one of my goodbyes to the rural Lee valley as I descended and headed into a busy Ballincollig. Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6821&Itemid=86 There are many meanings that one can gleam from churches such as St John the Baptist – in particular there are meanings within elements such as its architecture and memorials. I also read in Fr James Tobin's history of Ovens (1985), that when the Church was built there was very little seating accommodation. Seats were later made by Con Sheehan of Ovens, at the cost of £1 each. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6724&Itemid=86 St John the Baptist in Ovens is not the first church that I have wandered up during the off peak mid-afternoon silence in such buildings. I tend to search for clues, memories, looking for plaques and searching for stained glass windows of St Finbarre and his memory in the River Lee valley's churches. I seem to continue to train my eye in looking for the smaller details of the human experience in the Irish landscape. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6382&Itemid=86 In Ovens, the sign to Eire Og reminds one of the presence of the GAA and its profound cultural and social legacy in the Irish landscape. Eire Og was founded in 1928. It won the Cork County Senior Hurling Championship that year and reached the County Final again in 1930. Football was also played in Ovens by Bridevalley, the club which existed before Eire Og was formed and continued to be played at intermediate level for some years after. Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6279&Itemid=86 I had the pleasure in the last two years of researching the history of the Sunday's Well Boating and Tennis Club. This book was published last week. Sifting through over 100 years of documents, minute books, photographs and other material, as well as a substantial collection of artefacts, is a time-consuming business requiring almost infinite patience and judgment. Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6213&Itemid=86 The main road from Cork to Macroom speeds up the visitor to the Lee Valley. It compels the visitor away from the southern ridges of the valley. However, there is much to see and write about in the Parish of Ovens. Ovens is situated on the south line of road from Cork to Macroom and is bounded on the north by the river Lee, and intersected by the river Bride. Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6071&Itemid=86 Landscapes seem to have multiple meanings depending on the perspectives of those who experience them. Uncovering those perspectives for past landscapes tends to depend on multiple lines of evidence, both archaeological and historical. The multiple lines of evidence in Kilcrea shows the complexity of power, ritual, spatial, and social concerns that the site possesses. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5895&Itemid=86 My first experience of Kilcrea was in second year archaeology when my class were led through this ruinous abbey and shown the extant fourteenth century architecture. Kilcrea was used as a lens to highlight various architectural pieces in religious buildings and also to widen our appreciation of such landscapes. We were told of the way of life of its inhabitants and how the building in a sense worked to serve its residents. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5789&Itemid=86 On the Aglish ridge, there is an impressive view to behold of Inniscarra Reservoir. Taking in this view at Clashanure is the 18 holes Lee Valley Golf Course and Country Club course. This was established in 1993 and is owned by the Keohane family (www.leevalleygcc.ie (http://www.leevalleygcc.ie)). Across the reservoir in the northern catchment of the Lee valley is Muskerry Golf Club. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5688&Itemid=86 Apart from the forest paths through Farran woods, one can also explore Inniscarra Reservoir and activities on the water. One has the Water Ski Centre at Dripsey. Monkstown Boat Club hold their Annual Regatta on the waters as well as Skibbereen and Muckross Boat Club. Musgraves hold a triathlon every year for Our Lady's Hospital on the first week of September. Leonard Godsill and Barry Galvin founded Inniscarra Sailing Club in 2002 and it currently has about forty members. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5588&Itemid=86 My first impressions of the Lee are from Sunday drives with my family to Farran Woods. The Lee Valley provided a chance to escape from the pressures of homework and growing up. Farran Woods offered an idealised world where castles and fights were dreamt up, bows and arrows made, and victories against imaginary foes were won. On those sunny days, the excitement of creating and defending an imaginary fortress was preferable to trudging into school every morning. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5482&Itemid=86 The south bank of Inniscarra Reservoir is deeply rooted in the sacred and abounds in monuments. One of the legends active in the area is attached to Finbarr Crowley's well. At Rooves, St Olan from Aghabullogue gave tuition to St Finbarre at the well as he walked down the Lee. Very few regions in County Cork have a holy well that is in good condition, but in Aglish parish, of which Farran is rooted in, there is another well-kept well dedicated to Our Lady. Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5373&Itemid=86 On one trip on the road from Rooves Bridge to Farran, the levels of Inniscarra reservoir were low and there in the dried up mud lay more of the rivers secrets. Clambering down onto the reservoir bank, I walked across broken down field boundaries and encountered a broken down stone and concrete house. These ruins were created fifty years ago during the Lee Hydro Electric Scheme. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5223&Itemid=86 Continuing eastwards along the southern bank of Inniscarra Reservoir from Canovee, the road travels alongside the Kame River as it enters Inniscarra reservoir. Rooves bridge provides access across the reservoir to Coachford. Rooves Mór and Rooves Beg are two large townlands. Rooves, or Ruaidhtibh, can be translated as 'reddish spots of land'. Here I was intrigued to see so many archaeological features associated with past settlements in the area on the ordnance survey map. Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5150&Itemid=86 In a recent completed Masters work in the Geography Department in UCC on the experiences of older people and place, author Joni Kirwan comments that all places and landscapes are individually experienced. People see them through the lens of their own attitudes, experiences, intentions and from people' unique circumstances. For older people memory and nostalgia inform the older people's image of their place. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5024&Itemid=86 Arising out of the Canovee soup house cross roads memorial, much is remembered- poverty, death, survival, emigration. Emigration is a tangent of Irish history that is well narrated but I do feel in Irish history books, one gets the story of the numbers emigrating but little on what happened to them on the other side. Last week, this column addressed the emigration to San Francisco, just one of many corners of America that Irish emigrants were drawn to. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4931&Itemid=86 The narratives of the Great Famine are multiple. One part of its history, which I feel is also important, is the mass emigration side. In my journeys, I have come across emigrant letters shown to me by those I have interviewed and met. These letters in today's world have sentimental value but also tell stories of how places are connected. These letters connect the landscapes of the Lee Valley and connect them to others on other continents. Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4797&Itemid=86 Following on from last week's article, I'd like to further reflect on the multiple narratives that the Canovee Soup House Crossroads remembers. The Great Famine is recorded as a catastrophe of unprecedented dimensions with morbidity and mortality on a scale never before seen. In her work on the Great Famine in Muskerry, Maire MacSuibne notes that the population of County Cork declined from 854,118 to 649,903 – almost by 24 per cent through death and emigration. Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4739&Itemid=86 It is said that remembering is the work of the living. Across the road from St John's Church (built 1869) in Canovee lies an old disused graveyard called Cill Cuallachta (church of the tribe or clan). This area was once the site of a Protestant church but all that is left are the gravestones of unmarked graves. The possible date for these is mid-1800s and before. However, looking at these I was reminded from my own research that they could be possibly graves of victims of the Great Famine. Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4612&Itemid=86 So Heritage Week falls next week – it's a great chance to go discovering new things about your local area. In Cork City, the programme is rich from lectures to walking to heritage hunts. There is nothing like the thrill of exploring – that's where Heritage Open Day comes in – here one can go and discover thirty of Cork's hidden gems, whose legacies cross centuries and also cross a wide variety of themes. These buildings are normally open for the select few who work in them. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4552&Itemid=86 In the graveyard of Bawnatemple, the older family names of the region comprise the Dunns, Lyons, Spillanes, Collins, Lucey, Murphy, Cronins, O'Learys, Lynchs, Lehanes, Callaghans, Burkes, Callanans, Cahills and Healys. One of my guides, Con Dunne shows me the burial place of one of his relatives, Jeremiah Dunn. The plaque reveals a date of 1820s. Con is just one of several families who have roots in this region of the Lee Valley for centuries. Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4260&Itemid=86 It has taken a while for me to get to and to write about the southern side of Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra Reservoirs. But now we leave the north bank, its catchment and its very rich heritage; I spent a long while taking a cross-section of that area trying to unearth histories that highlight the region's identity. However every crossroads I met presented local historians, monuments and new residents with more to say about their area. Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4230&Itemid=86 It is said that places are full of internal conflicts – conflict over what a place's past might have been, conflict over present development and conflict over what could be a place's future. Walking amongst the ruins of St Ann's Hydro, the above strands came to mind when thinking about the various elements of the site's memory. The story of St Ann's seems embedded in many histories compiled on the Inniscarra region. Pictures of the site are in each local historian's archives as well as photocopies of its history. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4203&Itemid=86 From the rich setting of St. Ann's Hydropathic establishment, the view of the present day landscape reveals many cultural memories of Inniscarra Parish and beyond– the growing housing estates of Tower, Blarney and the famous Castle and further south, the water tower on the top of the ridge in Hollyhill, Cork City- all those sites present different meanings for the viewer – for me the commercialisation of heritage in Blarney Castle and the Celtic Tiger housing boom spread below me in Tower. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4170&Itemid=86 I've always been drawn by the Victorian way of life. In Cork City, I love the decorative architecture of the numerous bright red Victorian bricked buildings from the Crawford Art Gallery to the Victoria Buildings on the McCurtain Street to the terracotta design terracing at places such as Summerhill South. There are also many other sites of interest that I been enticed to photograph over the years. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4147&Itemid=86 The graveyard of St. Senan's Church, Inniscarra reveals more of the family names of the Church of Ireland side of the Lee Valley. Of course with research and oral history work, the individuals can be brought to life. They can become in sense a living human document instead of a fact or figure. Here, the older nineteenth century and early twentieth century names comprise Ellis, Woods, Fitzgibbons (of Inishluinge), Hendersons (of Ardrum) Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4116&Itemid=86 "You pilgrim who comes from afar welcome, The Church is a museum of beauty from the past and present, You can enjoy it to the full but this church is also something more, For believers this is a sacred space a house of God, Many generations have come here and there are still many people coming with the greatest joy and their deepest sorrow at turning points in their life or just passing by". Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4074&Itemid=86 It can be hard balancing the need to tell the story of local history with the impact it has on present day communities. Our City, Our Town has strived to see the positives of local heritage in determining modern local identities. Certainly, the further I have travelled the Lee Valley and got to know it I was able to access local knowledge and possibly as one man I interviewed further back along noted to me, that perhaps local history as a way of life – it is bound up with those that still continue to live in the area- those that select to tell certain memories of who they area. Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4046&Itemid=86 My trek in the valley has brought me on several occasions to the old ruined Inniscarra Church of Ireland in Garravagh (Garbhach-rough land); I enjoy walking the river banks and have my own memories here. In my former secondary school, Colaiste Chriost Ri, my geography teacher Charlie O'Leary brought my class here on fieldwork in Leaving Certificate geography. We cycled out from the city exploring the meander of the river at this point. Thu, 28 May 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4018&Itemid=86 "The nearest station to us was a mile away in Cloghroe. In the mornings on the Coachford to Blarney there were no seated carriages for people- at that hour of the morning, the Tram (train) transported goods such as milk churns. The churns held warm milk and heated our hands; we got on the seated carriages at Blarney Station" (George Williams, see last week). Thu, 21 May 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3988&Itemid=86 It's easy to get bogged down in the Lee Valley's history. It's easy to keep excavating into the sense of place. The cultural jigsaw pieces that make-up places such as people, ruins, buildings, roads, artefacts photographs remain and provide rich tools to paint a picture of the way of life in the valley. I first met George William of Carrignaveen Stud whilst researching a cousin of his, Bill Williams, who owned a shop and garage at one time in Lower Dripsey. Thu, 14 May 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3958&Itemid=86 On my digital camera, some of the writing on some of the buttons are worn from overuse. Sure I can take a picture – zoom in, zoom out, set up a shot, play with the light, try to be creative and download the pictures on my computer. The pictures are my framings of place - but there are other camera buttons that look brand new from not being used – I have never fully experimented with the lens and all its features – what I could potentially achieve in taking photos is not harnessed- the camera not brought to its full potential or my own photo skills developed. Thu, 07 May 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3928&Itemid=86 The Wayside Inn in Inniscarra provides further insights into the rich heritage of the Lee Valley. In my fieldwork, I have encountered many local pubs with a myriad of family histories rooted in their community. The sheer varieties of style amaze me but there has always been the picture postcard sense, a rural idyll attached to them. They hold weight and give integrity and character to their local place. Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3900&Itemid=86 So there are now two roads of research, one through the satellite rural area of Inniscarra and the other through the city's south eastern suburbs, both in the Lee valley but both in different human canvasses of settlement. So the new road pulls me back to the city, my canvassing and climb through the Lee Valley's ridges of Ballinlough – the journey brings me to new roads - the grassy valleys of farmhouse and farmland are replaced with vast tarmaced roads jam-packed with houses and even more memories - memories bound up in concrete. Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3872&Itemid=86 This column has already met John Manning, who in his early nineties, lives in Innislinga, Dripsey. John wrote to me again recently with the article below on the story of Daniel O'Connell and his connections to the Lee Valley. "In my working days, I [John Manning] was a painter and decorator. One time when doing some paintwork in preparation for the Stations for John Burke's mother at Faha, Dripsey overlooking Inniscarra Reservoir, the good lady (since deceased) mentioned casually one day that she often heard her granny say that Daniel O'Connell stayed in the house many years ago. Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3841&Itemid=86 The ideas of Philip Pierce and Company, Wexford interest me a lot especially in terms of what this firm did for farming in Ireland and how widespread their products were used. Of course there were other companies but it is their stock that I have come across in the Lee valley and frequently on my yearly visits to agricultural shows in County Cork. Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3811&Itemid=86 The Pierce name I have encountered down the valley in different areas, coming across for the most part Pierce machinery in the guise of collected pieces. They appear in gardens of houses to outhouses. Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3777&Itemid=86 I was drawn to the vintage threshing machine at Inniscarra Community Centre for a number of reasons; there was the idea of celebrating the past - that sense of engaging with nostalgia, nostalgia as something performed and nostalgia upheld by local farmers whose background is rooted in a rich legacy of working the land. I first met the old time threshing machine at Inniscarra Agricultural Show last September and was excited at the sense of pride taken in it by all involved and the onlookers. Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3750&Itemid=86 So the memories of the Lee Valley have a rich texture with so much to think about. The memories work like some kind of pulse being selected, pulled apart and transformed as the people of the valley see fit. The memories light up the region's canvas of histories - every story collected being charged with that emotional sense of nostalgia – the past shaping our present thoughts, ideas and actions. Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3719&Itemid=86 There is a tree, a blackthorn, I watched for many years. It grew tall embedded in a country stone wall. Its branches took shape splaying into an adjacent field. For many years, this tree bore leaves. Its youth and vibrancy were seen annually. I eventually took the tree for granted and forgot about it. I was too busy to notice it and recently a friend of mine showed me the tree and expressed huge concern for it. Over the years, ivy had grown up the tree embedding itself into the tree's arteries, stopping the tree from breathing. Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3692&Itemid=86 Community is about creating a bond and many of the events that supported the Inniscarra Community centre down the years have created a great bond amongst the people. Events such as fun days, discos, road races, bonfire nights, card drivers, Santa, concerts, musicals, American tea parties and fashion shows have all contributed greatly to the life of the community centre. This week, the column continues to look at the history of the site. Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3668&Itemid=86 Overlooking Ardrum is Inniscarra Community Centre in Ballyanley. I've passed the complex several times in my travels and for me it is another active and modern bastion of community life within the Lee valley. At first investigation, I was impressed by its setup. Its multiple clubs and societies bring people together and create a strong sense of place and belonging for those involved. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3641&Itemid=86 On my third field walk of Ardrum, Annie and I walked to the site of the old ring fort, where in a sense the place name Ardrum or Ard Dhruim (height of the hill) began. From here one can physically see the journey of the River Lee and its extent. Looking west Shegha Mountain where the River begins can be observed whilst looking to the east one can see the water tower at Hollyhill in Cork City, where the river meets the tidal area. Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3613&Itemid=86 Places have different meanings to their inhabitants according to the events and actions they witness, partake in and remember. When we roll on the clock in the history of Ardrum, more historical documentation comes to the fore and one see the estate of Ardrum transforming as tastes and styles change. Much of what is known about the eighteenth century in Ardrum is bound up with the actual family history of the Colthursts and passing references to the Inniscarra landscape. Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3587&Itemid=86 "The landscape's effect on those it passes through is powerful. And for tourists - for us - the experiences shadow departures, arrivals, unfamiliarity, fear, settling, unsettling, different perceptions surfacing in different contexts, small things standing in for huge events and historical reckonings, emotional and intellectual baggage reworked in new social and geographical spaces. Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3565&Itemid=86 The old ruin at Ardrum seems to have grabbed my imagination and intrigues me. To me it represents a complex maze of ideas about issues such as identity in the past and how it affects the present; then there are the emerging ideas of how one thinks about the whole idea of a ruin and what it represents and how it pulls one into the story; there is the reality of story itself, the history and the questions to be asked of it and the coming up with possible answers. Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3536&Itemid=86 "The Irish landscape is full of memory; it holds ruins and traces of ancient civilisation. There is a curvature in the landscape, a colour and shape that constantly frustrates the eye anxious for symmetry or linear simplicity…every few miles of road the landscape changes; it always surprises, offering ever new vistas. This landscapes, which surprises the eye and calls the imagination has a wild yet serene complexity" (John O'Donoghue, 1997, Anam Cara, back cover) Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3518&Itemid=86 I can remember that the weather was cold and there was that December bleakness. The trees etched themselves in the horizon line as the half-light set in. The grey skies of dusk made the land in this part of Ardrum townland even gloomier. It was only a matter of time when my digital camera shots became blurry. Several minutes later a blanket of darkness swept across the landscape. Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3492&Itemid=86 "A different point of view is simply the view from a place you're not" (HSBC Bank ad, Heathrow Airport, October 2008). Increasingly I have an interest in how the past and present collide with each other and negotiate a way forward. I recently came across a story where a publisher wouldn't publish a story on an aspect of a city's cultural heritage because it wasn't relevant to modern society. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3477&Itemid=86 The distance along the Lee may only be 65 kilometres as the crow flies and in a sense in an hour and a half one can get from Cork City to the source in Gougane Barra. For me that seems to be the most straight forward aspect of the valley, following the river's journey through the landscape. However, it's the landscape and the people that have stopped me to think and be excited about the journey. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3455&Itemid=86 It's amazing what stories one can unearth in the Lee valley. Those personal histories seem to drive the cultural heritage within the Valley. In particular, the interconnections of people seem to weave across space and time and add immensely to the region's identity. So this week, the article takes a look at the Blair family of Blair's Inn. In fact this family's story touches many eras and places and also in a sense connects the Cork countryside to the city. Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3430&Itemid=86 The main road leading through the southern side of Inniscarra takes the traveller from Balyshonin through to Cloghroe (R579, Cork-Banteer Road). Along that stretch there are a number of key sites that for me reveal more about the character of Inniscarra as a place within the Lee Valley. First up is Blair's Inn. The premises were formerly known as Healy's Pub and it with this family we discuss this week. Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3413&Itemid=86 Picture the scene, the London Underground, rush hour; it's a landscape of elevators, signs and people - people everywhere, moving, queuing, pushing, shoving, negotiating and carving out a space for themselves waiting for and on the tube train. The elevators that give access to the vast impressive labyrinths of the underground are full. People are stuck or corralled for that moment in time going down the elevator. I was stuck going up – but all the way up the elevator I was struck by the people coming down and their restricted movement; the elevator made their upper body move from side to side. It was for me a surreal experience. It grasped my own imagination. That is just one landscape that has impressed me in my own life's experiences. Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3390&Itemid=86 Several weeks I published this picture of the Healy family and friends on an outing in Mushera Mountain. I personally like this photograph for a number of reasons. It is very creatively set up and tells a story. I was more intrigued to hear from Jane Quinlan (nee Healy), who is in the picture and was about thirteen years of age when this was taken in 1932. She talked at length about the people in this photograph, how they came together for this outing with all their own life stories to celebrate family. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3370&Itemid=86 TRAVELLING the Banteer - Blarney (R579) reveals a lot about the character of the Inniscarra parish. The Shournagh River, a tributary of the River Lee, as well as sub tributaries of the Shournagh have created a rolling topography of small valleys – an undulating landscape. This is clearly seen from the height of Donoughmore parish (one of Inniscarra's Parish's westerly neighbours). Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3292&Itemid=86 So we leave the modern and regional industrial history of the Lee Valley to delve and journey back a few decades to the early years of the Irish Free State to native local industry in Inniscarra Parish. I was first introduced to the work of James Cooney, blacksmith in the Model Village in Dripsey. He completed the railings for the grotto. Subsequently, I met his daughter Sheila Desmond (nee Cooney), a teacher, in Dripsey National School who brought me out to the site of the forge in Ballyshonin. Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:00:00 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3274&Itemid=86 It is easy to take for granted that the water we use at home and at work will always be pure and will never run out. But in fact tap water is a sophisticated product, requiring a great deal of technology, skill and science and to provide it. Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:31:36 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3248&Itemid=86 I recently went along to the launch of the Elysian Tower, Cork and Ireland's tallest building. Over the years of its construction, I have photographed its 'putting together'. I probably like everyone had mixed emotions about it. I was excited about seeing all the different pieces added but also fearful of the change; how this building dominates Cork's skyline sticking out and how different it was to most other Cork buildings. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:18:26 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3222&Itemid=86 The Lee scheme was the last of the large-scale hydroelectric projects to be built, following the Shannon, Erne and Liffey schemes. For the politicians and policy makers, those projects were visionary. The generators that were built in the 1950s are still working today. They receive regular overhauls every year. Their basic structure is exactly the same. At Inniscarra, there is generator no 1, a 15 mW unit manufactured by Brown Bovari. Inniscarra generator no 2 is a 4 mW unit also manufactured by Brown Bovari. Carrigadrohid generator no 3 is an 8 mW unit manufactured by Siemens. The manufacturer of all three turbines was J.M. Voith, Germany. Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:11:01 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3192&Itemid=86 The Lee Hydro Electric Scheme is a fantastic project to research especially as many of the young people who were involved in the scheme are still young to talk about it. Yes, there are positives and negatives to the Project, which had a huge impact on the geography of the Lee Valley and its people plus also the people employed to carry out this large scale project and all it entailed. I think it is important with any study of any heritage project to make it as real as possible to the reader and to make it relevant and find a connection to modern day society. The fabric of social life is important. People make places, good and bad. People create the sense of place that stays with people and which people remember. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:10:20 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3167&Itemid=86 This article is a heritage news one. There are a number of community based projects I am touting over the next couple of weeks. These heritage projects I deem educational and are aimed to get people out and about and engage with Cork's rich history and geography. Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:29:51 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3139&Itemid=86 “Inniscarra Dam was busy, noisy, full of activity, very much alive. By the time I left, all the temporary staff had gone and it became a very quiet place. That was in complete contrast to when I first arrived. The Scheme was such a big deal and changed many people’s lives (Aileen Aeger, ESB Secretary, Inniscarra Dam, 1955-1959)”. Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:42:29 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3109&Itemid=86 It's Monday afternoon, 4.30p.m. at Cork Bus Station. I'm waiting for a bus to take me to Waterford. The first bus is full, so I wait for the second. The place is very busy with the coming and going of people and buses to all parts of the country. The faces change with each passing minute. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:29:39 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3071&Itemid=86 “The River Lee Development Project will add a total of 27MW to the generating capacity of the Electricity Supply Board’s system and will contribute a further 65 million units approximately to the annual output of the hydro-electric scheme…These stations are also intended to provide standby capacity for the important load venue at Cork. (O’Shea, 1954, “River Lee Hydro Electric Scheme”, Engineers Journal). Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:16:47 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3050&Itemid=86 The more I chat to those who worked on the dam, the more one can see what I call the network of ideas - the technical thinking and science that were brought to bear on the development of the Lee Hydro Electric Scheme. Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:19:52 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3029&Itemid=86 The Lee Hydro Electric Scheme is still very much at the heart of people's memories in mid-Cork and in the wider region. This article is based on a series of interviews conducted by ESB archive staff with former and present day workers during the summer of 2007. Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:18:25 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2998&Itemid=86 I [Jack Sheehan] was born in 1919 on Dunbar Street, Cork but my family moved shortly afterwards to Blackrock Road and were there for a good many years. I went to school in the South Monastery. I served my time with the ESB in Albert Road, where the old Tramway Company was located. I started there in 1939 in the installations or contracts department. We specialised in installing electric motors and wiring houses. The other departments - operations dealt in overhead wiring and public lighting whilst the meter department installed the meter. Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:29:08 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2929&Itemid=86 Talking about the green field site of Inniscarra Dam takes me back to day one. The people at senior level on the senior civil engineering team in the ESB were Frank Clynch and Brendan Brennan, a man who was superb engineer with very high standards. I [Ferdie O'Halloran] was one of the junior civil engineers. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:33:50 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2905&Itemid=86 It's difficult not to be impressed and touched by the Lee Scheme - the images of transformation, the real–life stories, the infrastructure, the work, the effort, commitment, emotion put into the project by all involved. It's always an added incentive for the quality of research when one gets to chat to those who were physically involved in the research topic. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:49:02 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2878&Itemid=86 During the construction of the Lee Scheme, the ESB saw that the contract was getting into trouble and there was a possibility it might never be finished or that it would run well over budget. This was pointed out to the contractors, and, after much intense discussion, it was decided to put Maurice Sweeney, a very capable engineer, in charge. From then on the work progressed very favourably. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:51:09 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2850&Itemid=86 It's easy to lose oneself in the geographies and human histories of the Lee Valley. I sat recently at the source of the Lee in the Shehy Mountains, looking at the blurb of water protruding from the ground. At its breakthrough to the air, it begins carving a route for itself. By the base of the mountain, the river gathers momentum and fills Gougane Lake before breaking free on route east, a journey this column is still following. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:15:11 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2849&Itemid=86 In the Inniscarra Dam campsite, there was an oratory where Mass was celebrated every Sunday and holiday by priests attached to the Sacred Heart College in Cork. The hut housing the oratory, could also, by the use of parti¬tions, be used for recreational purposes. The suggestion of the erection of the oratory came from Mr. V. L. McEntee, Advisor to the Société de Construction des Batignolles and those associated with him. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:14:08 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2824&Itemid=86 Workers on the Lee Scheme had to look for 'digs' in the area and stayed in every available place along the Lee valley. Many a housewife made a little extra money by keeping a few lodgers. Digs cost £2 per week as a rule. The engineering personnel were accommodated in Innisleena House where they were well looked after by Mrs. Cotter. The French personnel, who never numbered more than twelve, stayed in Cork where they lived an extravagant lifestyle. Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:26:25 +0100 http://www.corkindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2799&Itemid=86 By 1955, approximately three-quarters of the work on the construction of the Inniscarra dam had been carried out. The power station foundations had been poured and work was in progress in the erection of the superstructure. The excavation of the tailrace was nearing completion. The temporary culvert or river diversion was sealed with concrete. A gate was lowered to close the upstream opening. The reservoir was filled in November 1956. The filling was regulated by a temporary sluice gate. Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:05:39 +0100