More extracts from Kieran’s new book

‘A-Z of Cork, Places, People, History’ published by Amberley Publishing (2025) is my latest publication on the rich history of Cork city. Below are extracts from the new book, which is available in any good bookshop in the city as well as online. Below are extracts from the letter F.

Ferry:

In the early twentieth century there were four ferries in Cork city across the River Lee: one from Sunday’s Well to Ferry Walk, one from St Patrick’s Quay to Anderson’s Quay, and another from Penrose Quay to Victoria Quay. The fourth ferry took the passenger from the Lower Glanmire Road to the Marina. It was sanctioned by Cork Corporation and established by a member of the Cork family of the O’Sheas in 1844. The initial nominal rent was one shilling per year whilst the rate was struck at one halfpenny a passenger. If you lived in the north-eastern parts of the city – or if you cycled from Glanmire, Riverstown, Glounthaune and Carrigtwohill – the ferry was a real useful institution. It saved many a person the long trip around via Albert Quay and the Centre Park Road to see the games of hurling and football at the Cork GAA grounds. The O’Shea ferry ceased in 1961 due to rising costs. In particular, insurance charges made its operation an uneconomic proposition.

Festival:

The first iteration of Cork International Film Festival ran under the auspices of Tóstal

Corcaí from 6 to 27 May 1956. An Tóstal (1953–58) was a pageant, or festival, held around Ireland to celebrate the country’s national image. The first Cork International Film Festival opened at the Savoy Cinema on St Patrick’s Street in 1956 with a showing of ‘A Town Like Alice’ (Jack Lee, 1956). The festival was founded by Dermot Breen (1924–78), secretary of the Cork Tóstal Council and manager of the Palace Cinema (now known as The Everyman), who would run the festival until his death in 1978. The design on the 1956 front cover programme was a Celtic-stylised image of Saint Finbarr holding a staff in his right hand. This image was also used in the award statuette piece designed by Seamus Murphy.

Fish:

In around 1884, George Georgeson, a native of Wick, UK, established a fish curing business at Union Quay. Mackerel fishing was rapidly becoming an important occupation in the south of Ireland. Mr Georgeson formed a company and soon had a string of depots in coastal villages all over Cork and Kerry. In one season, 50,000 barrels of fish were exported, chiefly to the US. Of that quantity at least one-fifth was shipped by the firm of Georgeson and Co. In a busy season, over 1,000 people were employed at the various depots.

Flight:

Cork airport was officially opened on 16 October 1961 by then Taoiseach, Seán Lemass. He was also on the first plane to land at the new facility. He was greeted on his arrival by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Anthony Barry TD, and the Minister for Transport, Erskine Childers. The site of the new airport was the top of Lehanagh Hill, 600 feet above sea level. Bulldozers levelled the site, skimming the tops and filling in the troughs. A million cubic feet of earth was shifted and the two 15 foot wide runways, one 6,000 feet and the other 4,300 feet, were laid on their 12 inch deep bed of reinforced concrete.

Foundry:

In 1844 Robert Pulvertaft moved his brass foundry from narrow little Tobin Street to Old George’s Street. In around 1885, a terraced three-bay and impressive three storey industrial building was constructed. Until 1942 this business was within the engineering division, in the hands of the Pulvertaft family. In that year the last of the family line, Amos William Pulvertaft, sold it to Metal Products Ltd.

There was little change until 1955 when the foundry was moved from its 111 year old location in Oliver Plunkett Street to a new, larger and better-equipped home on Monahan Road. It was joined there, of course, by the engineering division, the two being almost inseparable. The shift to Monahan Road gave the foundry and engineering division the space it needed for expansion and smoother production. The retail shop eventually closed on Oliver Plunkett Street and awaits a new host.

French:

Thousands of shards of pottery from the Saintonge area of south-western France have been discovered during excavation beneath Cork’s former medieval core. It occupies almost 65 -70% of the medieval assemblage. Pottery scholar & expert Clare McCutcheon has done amazing work in recognising the extent of Cork’s connections in trade through pottery analysis. The early 14th-century pottery has also been very useful in dating archaeological deposits in which it was found. Sites Christ Church and what is now Bishop Lucey Park in the 1970s, the Dunne Stores site at North Gate Bridge excavated in the early 1990s, the Grand Parade city car park in the early 2000s and smaller miscellaneous excavations from the 1980s to the 2000s have all revealed thousands of sherds of broken Saintonge pottery. The images in the published excavation books show tall, distinctive and colourful jugs. Five types are revealed: mottled green, glazed and unglazed, polychrome, all-over green, and sgraffito.

This article also marks the marks the 26th year of this column. Many thanks to all who read and engage with it. engage with it.