The Friday View 10/03
In praise of bridges and their makers. Plus, our usual round-up of news and events for the coming week as well as details of T+D's inaugural photo competition.
One of the nicer aspects of being a journalist is that you learn things about the world around you while on the job (with the important caveat that you also need to validate those findings too). This usually comes via two ways: research (reading) and reporting (interviewing). A few weeks back, while conducting interviews for a long read on St. Patrick’s Street, I was alerted to the dog trough on that street sculpted by Séamus Murphy. I must have passed by it a few hundred times but never noticed it, until Brendan O’Sullivan, a planning lecturer in UCC, brought it up in an interview. Subsequently, I wrote about the dog trough, and I also got my hands on a copy of Stone Mad, Murphy’s autobiography about the early days of his career, from the local library.
From the opening pages, it’s obvious that Murphy knows his craft is facing hard times. In his lifetime the number of stonemasons and stone cutters will dwindle. In fact, entire yards of men breaking and making from stone - it was nearly all men - will be wiped out.
I was reminded of this while walking over Patrick’s Bridge this week. It was constructed and carved before Murphy’s time, but it’s likely he paid close attention to the character and characteristics of Patrick’s Bridge and the work done by his fraternity. The 90-metre bridge, built in 1861, is made from and limestone and features carved keystones of St. Patrick, St. Bridget, Neptune and three sea goddesses. Over one hundred stonemasons and stone cutters worked on it during the construction phase.
It was built to last, but like all infrastructure it needs care and attention. A few years back, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the City Council carried out a major “rehabilitation project” to the tune of €1.2 million. Of the 40 bridges that cross the River Lee in the city centre, Patrick’s Bridge is one of the best known. While much smaller, Parliament Bridge on the south channel, which has a lovely arch and is one of my favourites, likely because I have seen it so many times coming in on the bus.
If you do have a favourite bridge in Cork, drop up us a line with a picture of it between now and the end of this month for our inaugural T+D photo competition - the theme is bridges. The details below are all below; we’d love to see your contributions.
-JJ
News in brief
A final resting place: Last month, we reported that two decades on from removing the Firemen’s Rest, or the ‘hut’ as it’s also known, from the top of St Patrick's Street, the City Council was finally getting round to a restoration project. When that is complete the big question will be where will it be placed? While an exact location has yet to be decided, the early signs are that it might go back to the fire service, or at least in a place associated with the fire service, which makes sense given the obvious connection. More will be revealed in due time, but it’s good to see a piece of city heritage making a comeback.
Junket time: Now that international travel is firmly back, it’s that time of the year when elected officials and council bureaucrats take flight to spread the word about Ireland under the guise of St. Patrick’s Day. As well as government ministers and their teams, councillors will also be on the ground shaking hands and committing other acts of diplomacy. A delegation from Cork City Council has taken off to San Francisco, New York, Washington DC and Rochester. The City Council delegation includes Cllrs Colm Kelleher, Paudie Dineen as well as Cork City Council Chief Executive, Ann Doherty; Cork Chamber Chief Executive Officer Conor Healy. According to a City Council press release, other senior officials from Cork City Council will accompany the tour at various stages of the US visit.
Park+Ride for the northside: Last month, there was an update to the ongoing project to upgrade the N/M20 Cork to Limerick road. From the update, it sounds like - statutory bodies use words like would and could throughout their preliminary reports so nothing is definite - consideration is being given to a park and ride to be situated around Blarney and near to the Cork to Limerick road. That makes a lot of sense, given the close proximity to the Mallow road and the direct route to the city centre. It would also rectify the fact that there currently is no park and ride scheme on the northside. More information on the update here, including the proposal for 80km of walking and cycle infrastructure.
Tweet of the week: Green buses + bikes on ‘Pana’
A lovely photo from retired press photographer Richard T. Mills snapped on Patrick’s Street in 1985 featuring the No. 7 bus, men on bikes and a Ford Cortina.
Out +About
⛺️Cork-based Portuguese artist Catarina Araújo is taking over the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Fitzgerald’s Park for her first solo show there in conjunction with Sample-Studios. The pandemic and our response to it are the overarching themes that inspire Cocooning – Catch a Breath. Araújo’s new show was designed while working with mental health professionals based in the city. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to enter the cocoons, pictured above, which were designed and constructed in The National Sculpture Factory.
Time, date, place: 11am - 4 pm, Tues-Sat, March 16 - April 22, The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, Fitzgerald’s Park
🎬First Cut! Youth Film Festival will finish up this weekend in Youghal. Now in its 14th year, there’s a great line-up of talent and screenings, including Gan Tadhall by Muirinn Ní Chárthaigh which is screening this weekend. Be sure and check out the full programme of events here.
Time, date, place: Until March 11, varioius locations in Youghal
🖼Head Up Down Town is a new exhibition of paintings and collages by three Cork-based artists at Laneway Gallery, which Ellie profiled last year. Colette Cronin, Emmet Brickley and Rachel Walsh explore the tapestry of our urban environment in the aptly named new group show. More info here.
Time, date, place: 11 am, Tues & Thurs-Sat, March 9 - April 1, 120A Shandon Street
🎶The City Library will hold two very different events today, March 10, and both are free to attend. First up, at 11am, Cork City Crafters will be holding a get-together. You’re invited to drop in for a chat and bring along your project. If you’re still around at lunchtime, the Deja Vu barbershop quartet will be putting on a free performance in the Rory Gallagher Music Library from 12:30pm.
Time, date, place: from 11 am, Friday March 10, City Library, Grand Parade
🚲Cork Cycle Campaign will hold a bicycle ride in honour of International Women’s Day which took place earlier this week. As per usual, it’s open to everyone and all types of bikes and will feature music as the caravan of cyclists make its way at a leisurely pace from the city centre before concluding at the Marina for coffee and chats. Meeting at Grand Parade.
Time, date, place: 1pm, Sunday, March 12, Grand Parade
This week on T+D:
On Tuesday, JJ wrote about the dog trough on St Patrick’s Street that once provided respite to the thirsty dogs of Cork. Sadly, they don’t drink from the bowl which was sculpted by Séamus Murphy anymore. Murphy’s family and many others would like to see a comeback for the trough.
On Wednesday, Ellie profiled Muirinn Ní Chárthaigh, the director of Gan Tadhall, a new short film which screens as part of First Cut! Youth Film Festival in Youghal this weekend. That piece in full here:
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. Any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us via our About page here. 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. Have a lovely weekend.
“Always it is by bridges that we live”
So goes the last line of Bridge for the Living” written by Philip Larkin to commemorate the opening of the Humber Bridge. It’s a wonderful poem. Hear it in full here
https://youtu.be/PNUZ-s7FmYw