The Friday View 06/05
A disappearing statue in West Cork, the builders are finishing up St. Peter's and Snatch comedy returns. It's the Friday View on T+D
News in brief
Last Friday I happened to be passing through Glengarriff in West Cork, but I didn’t stop. If only I had, because the new statue of Maureen O’Hara commissioned by Cork County Council was still on display that day. However, it did not stay in place very long, and as has been well reported at this stage, it was removed after only seeing the light of two days. Tripe + Drisheen have been in contact with Cork County Council with some questions about the statue and the sculptor, but the response we have received so far is that a statement will be sent to us when it is made available.
Luke and Brian Comer, the Galway brothers and billionaire property developers, have big plans for the docklands down by Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Their company, Tiznow Property, submitted a planning application last month for a 10-year planning permission application for a strategic housing development on the site of the old Tedcastles Yard. They intend to build 823 apartments over six buildings in a development called City Park. The full details of the planning application including the minutes to the 2019 meeting with the City Council executive are here. The Docklands is envisaged as “low car ownership” area according to the City Council. The issue of a new school(s) in the area was raised by the Executive in that 2019 meeting.
The builders are nearly finished up at St Peter’s on North Main Street and it’s been quite the job as they’ve replaced about 8,000 tiles on the former church as they work to restore it and reopen in the coming weeks. They’ve had to replace all the slates, some of who are hundreds of years old, as they get the building ready for the next few hundred years.
Also this week
If money spent is an indication of intent, then that’s good news for the light rail line that would link the west and east of the city. The Irish Examiner reported this week that over €700,000 has been spent on “costs associated with the Cork Luas project so far.”
There’s been a slow drip of news around the so-called Cork Luas line in the past few weeks and that’s likely going to continue as we get nearer to the date of the announcement of the preferred route.
But as with everything, with the €700k, the devil is in the detail: The Examiner reports that according to National Transport Authority (NTA) the money has been spent on transport modelling, surveys and assessments. None of this guarantees that a light rail line will be constructed in Cork. How long has Dublin been promised a metro? So in the words of every adult ever, “we’ll see!”.
Midsummer Festival: The arts and theatre festival makes a full comeback this summer and this week the full program of events was released. There’s lots and lots in there including the Earth coming to Cobh. Full run-down here.
Photo of the week
“Golden Hour” by Cork-based photographer Terry McCauliffe. Terry took this shot on Tuckey Street in the city centre in October 2021. You can see more of Terry’s street photography over at his Instagram account : @___hance___
Out + About
😹 Snatch is Back: Snatch Comedy Improv returns to their monthly residency in the Roundy bar after over two years of a hiatus. This live comedy ever sees performers take on the challenge of working solely from prompts given to them by the audience.
Time, date, place: Tuesday, May 10 at The Roundy, Castle St. 10 Doors open 8.30 pm, starts at 9 pm.
🚲 Georgian cycle of Cork: Fancy a cycling tour to take in some of Cork’s Georgian heritage? This weekend, as part of “European Week - Destination Napoleon”, there will be guided tour for cyclists of Cork’s Georgian buildings from the early 1800s. It’s a free tour, but make sure you bring a lock for when the tour parks up.
Time, date, place: 1:30 pm, Saturday, May 7, meeting at Peg Twomey's shop on the Coal Quay/Corn Market Street)
📸 Shoot the city: O’Leary’s Camera World will be holding a photowalk to Fitzgerald’s Park this weekend. The free tour will be led by photographers Lorna Egan and Philip Corkery. More information and booking details about the free event here.
Time, date, place: 9:45 am, Saturday May 7, meeting at O’Leary’s Camera World, 90 Oliver Plunkett Street
🌸A rare thing comes to Fota: Fota House is hosting a Rare and Special Plant Fair this Sunday; the annual Bord Bia event sees more than 40 vendors of rare and wonderful plants rock up to a different stately home around the country to sell their wares. We don’t think much of a cover charge to a sale and unfortunately it’s €5 entry for over 18s for this one, even before you and your cash get parted by purchases.
Time, date, place: Sunday May 8 from 11am until 4pm at Fota House .
🖼 Saturation: Photographers Ruth Medjber, Conor Clinch and Hazel Coonagh will join curators Dawn Williams from the Crawford Gallery, and William Laffan for a conversation about the exhibition currently ongoing at the gallery. Ellie interviewed Ruth Medjber in Cork just before the exhibition opened earlier this year. You can listen to that podcast here. The panel discussion is free and you can get more information about the event here.
Time, date, place: 5:30 pm, Thursday, May 13, Upper Gallery at The Crawford
This week on T +D
On Thursday JJ stayed local as he went to interview a fellow Douglas man, albeit a lot younger and a lot more talented. At 19, Adam Lingane is one of the youngest hurley makers in the country and his hurleys are now used by Cork senior and minor players. You can read the interview with Adam here in our Lives Less Ordinary newsletter.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. Watch out for tomorrow’s instalment of our Arts+ Culture podcast from Ellie.
Any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact either of us at jj.odonoghue@gmail.com or emailellieobyrne@gmail.com. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity. Get in touch.