The Friday View 17/12
In our last Friday View of the year there’s mulled wine, a winter solstice celebration, remembering cillíní, a photographic mystery and T+D comes full circle.
We started Tripe + Drisheen by reporting on the scourge of dereliction and we’re ending the year with a report on it too. Housing and accommodation is one of the most pressing concerns facing so many people in Ireland today. Shelter is a basic human right, but providing affordable accommodation is something successive Irish governments have been unable or unwilling to sort out. Meanwhile, as investors pour money into housing and accommodation in Ireland everyday we see all around us derelict houses and vacant buildings, some of which have been lying idle for decades. It’s hard to square these two things, and inevitably it leads people to ask why a property that could be habitable lies empty? Sometimes the most simple questions are the hardest ones to find answers to.
At Tripe + Drisheeen we have put a lot of our time and resources into reporting on dereliction. This week Ellie had a short news on two long-term derelict properties on Barrack Street which are set to be acquired by Cork City Council in the coming weeks. That news piece garnered a huge response because people want to know what is (and isn’t) being done.
Our long read from this week goes into detail on another derelict property, this time Number 38 Gould Street, a single-storey, mid-terrace cottage next to the Lough that is owned by Cork City Council. It takes time and a lot of other resources to report out stories such as this, so we’re really grateful to everyone who can help by supporting us.
Image of the week 1
Out and about
📺 Seán Ó Riada – Mo Sheanathair
Slightly down the road, but one for the calendar in the hazy days post-Christmas is a new documentary on Seán Ó Riada, one of Cork’s - and the country’s - most celebrated composers. It’s presented by his granddaughter, the musician and broadcaster Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, as she sets out to find out more about her relative and his role in Irish life. In the documentary Ní Ghlacáin interviews some of those closely connected to Ó Riada including her mother Sorcha Ní Riada, her aunt Rachel Ní Riada and her uncle Peadar Ó Riada. The documentary features musical performances by Barry Douglas, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Nell Ní Chróinín, Steve Cooney, Cormac McCarthy, Cór Chúil Aodha and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin.
It airs on St. Stephen’s Day, December 26 at 2021 at 9.20 p.m. on TG4.
🧶 Nano Nagle Place final Christmas fair and Soup for Simon
Here’s a pair of reasons to drop by the award-winning cultural and religious centre over the coming week. This Sunday - December 19 - sees the final instalment of Nano Nagle’s Christmas Fair, and there are some wonderful exhibitors including Cermafique, Good Day Deli, Wild Wool Way, Hurrah Hurrah and mellowcotton. The market runs on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Also, on Christmas Eve Nano Nagle will host their annual soup (and mulled wine) drive. If you pick up either beverage from Good Day Deli on the grounds of the centre, your financial contribution will be given to the Simon Community. The Christmas Eve charity tradition dates back to the 18th Century.
More information on both events here.
🎼🤸🏿♀️Solstice celebrations at Greywood Arts
To mark the winter solstice on December 21, Greywood Arts is putting together a performance by some well-known entertainers and musicians in Cork. It’s all happening at the Killeagh Community Centre and features an evening of performance, storytelling and music to light up the shortest day of the year. Includes performances by The Fresh Air Collective, Cormac Moholly and Patrick Doyle.
Tickets and more information here.
🎸You might have heard of this band?
Although it’s a tune from the Sultan’s of Ping that was chosen for the intro and lead out for Tripe + Drisheen’s podcast, it doesn’t mean we don’t also love (all) Cork bands, especially The Frank & Walters. The Franks play Cyprus Avenue this Saturday, December 18. Make sure to bring your jumper! (🤦♀️See what we did there?!)
🖼 Exhibition: Cillín at Uilieann
Today is the final day to catch Cillín by Tommy Weir. The photography exhibition focuses on the subject of cillíní - burial grounds which are scattered around Ireland and where stillborn and unbaptised infants were buried. But cillíní were also the last resting place for those who were not allowed into consecrated churchyards such as famine and shipwrecked victims, mothers who died in childbirth and those who died by suicide. The exhibition at Uillinn in Skibereen includes two new works “Maunvough” (between Bantry and Drimoleague) and “Gloun” (between Schull and Durrus).
Image of the week 2
Can you help us find…the photographer? Last weekend JJ wrote a short (true) story about the man in the photo - John O’Donoghue, also known as his Dad. The shot was taken on August 20, 1975 on Merchant’s Quay and it shows John, a C.I.E. bus driver, returning to the No. 3 bus after having left it to go save a woman who had fallen into the Lee. It’s an incredible shot and we’d love to find the man or woman who took it; we believe they were in someway connected with The Cork Examiner or The Echo, possibly the photographer was a freelancer and just happened upon the scene, or they were in the right place at the right time. If the photo in anyway rings a bell, please do get in touch with JJ and we’ll see if we can pick up the story from their angle.
More on that story here:
Image of the week 3: Paris, how are ya!?
Union Quay gets the Princes Street treatment with a parade of parasols which were installed this week.
Remember, if you’d like to pick up Tripe + Drisheen in print, or a T+D-themed Christmas present have a look at our online store below.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View update. We’ll be back tomorrow with our Arts + Culture newsletter. You can always contact us with news, tips or information at jj.odonoghue@gmail.com or emailellieobyrne@gmail.com.