Making an Irish Free State City – A heritage of dignity

Over a year on since his first lecture in Cork, eminent town planner Professor Patrick Abercrombie returned to Cork to deliver a lecture entitled Town Planning for Cork.

It was delivered on 15 July 1924 at the Commercial Buildings or at the Imperial Hotel on the South Mall. Arthur F Crawford, President of the Cork Town Planning Association, presided. Arthur F Crawford described that in the previous year a great deal of preliminary survey had been carried out. The survey would enable them with the preparation of a town plan for Cork. All this was highly technical work, for which they would require a substantial contribution from the citizens.

He noted that the request for funds to carry out this important work had been generously met in many cases. He hoped those firms who “had not already subscribed would do so at their earliest convenience”. He further noted they could not of course take the financial responsibility of embarking on the final preparation of a town plan until they were assured that the necessary funds were forthcoming.

Prof. Abercrombie began expressing regret at the absence through illness of the city engineer, Joseph F Delany, whose advice he had the benefit of on the occasion that he was last in Cork. He highlighted that the Cork Town Planning Association had appointed a group of people to prepare the survey. He and his business partner has spent their first afternoon of their visit discussing with those individuals the work done.

According to the professor, the preliminary survey work was practically completed. All the information had been compiled and in a short time it would be available for them to see and study.

Prof. Abercrombie noted the importance of the collection of data: “It is not wise to embark on any big scheme without planning at first. Each town had to provide for its own needs and follow its own lines. They had to correct certain errors of the past and to guide the natural evolution. It was very much better to proceed cautiously and prepare this first stage before proceeding to the schemes of the future.”

Prof. Abercrombie gave the example of Dublin, which was proceeding with a survey on very similar lines to Cork. The survey plan there had been drawn up in the hope of having them ready for exhibition on the occasion of the RDS Horse Show. The survey was pursued with the help of the Dublin Corporation’s City Architect, whose services the Corporation of Dublin actually loaned for the survey work. Dublin had a preliminary competition to get ideas and suggestions, and then proceeded with its plan.

Prof. Abercrombie urged co-operation amongst the different Irish cities. That Limerick and Waterford should also proceed on similar lines collaborating with civic institutes movement, and meeting up and exchanging of views and pooling of knowledge regarding this work.

Prof. Abercrombie highlighted that each citizen ought to be interested in the town planning of his city and that their engagement would bring common sense and local knowledge.

“Common sense, business and humanity were the basis of town planning. They wanted to see first that their town was a sensible and reasonable place to live in – that had got all the facilities as possible considering its location. Then they wanted to see that it was a healthy and comfortable place for people to live in. The survey would show the areas which required to be rebuilt and give a rough idea of the state of these areas.”

He highlighted that a proper survey would also show the traffic problems in a relation to the width of the roads and how they could be improved. A survey would also encompass an industrial survey. The professor revealed that health statistics were very difficult to attain as many of the records were destroyed in the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War.

He articulated a number of questions; “Was Cork aiming at being a gigantic manufacturing City like the Lancastershire towns? Was it going to be the capital of the south? Was it going to be a market and distributing town?”

He added that it was very important to know the future of the city – was Cork’s population going to double or triple, or to increase more slowly? He gave the example of the great industrial growth of English towns during the nineteenth century. The professor argued that the example showed the “results of ill-considered industrial extension”. He felt that the people of Cork did not wish to emulate some of these less desirable results.

On the matter of the housing question, Prof. Abercrombie wanted a careful program regarding the gradual clearing out of certain slum areas. The housing policy should proceed on a town planning basis. He noted that in any city there was some housing not fit for living in.

Professor Abercrombie asserted that the question of the situation of public buildings was very pressing. He thought they should keep up the dignity of Cork city. In Cork, he outlined it possessed in its public buildings and in its wide streets a “heritage of dignity, which should be maintained”.

For Cork the location of the new town hall, the location of a new public library, the site for a new art gallery and the site for a new School of Commerce were being considered. According to Prof. Abercrombie thinking on the nature of the various locations should not be isolated. They ought to be thought of at the civic survey stage, so that the citizens could reflect on such an important group of buildings. He favoured physical groupings of buildings around a central block as against isolated buildings, as the former according to his research “had far more effect and dignity”.

Having spoken on town planning legislation he said a great deal of work was still before the Cork Town Planning Association – work that required “the whole hearted support of the citizens”.

Kieran’s July Historical Walking Tours, All free, no booking required

Saturday 4 July: Stories from Blackrock, historical walking tour of Blackrock Village area; meet in the adjacent carpark at base of Blackrock Castle at 2pm, in association with the Cork Harbour Festival.

Sunday 5 July: Ballinlough: Antiquities, Knights, Quarries and Suburban Growth. Meet inside Ballintemple Graveyard, Temple Hill, opposite O’Connor’s Funeral Home at 2pm.

Sunday 12 July: The South Bank – The South Parish and its Histories. Meet at the Ronnie Herlihy Pocket Park, Langford Row, just opposite intersection of High Street, Summerhill South and Douglas Street at 2pm, in association with the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.

Tuesday 14 July: Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City. Meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade at 6.30pm.

Wednesday 15 July: The Shandon Tour. Meet at North Main Street/ Adelaide Street Square, opp Cork Volunteer Centre at 6.30pm.