The Friday View 21/07
Fr Mathew wears it well and often, a spotlight on artists in Cork, why we need more arts criticism and the northside/southside divide on active travel spending.
Yeah Fr Mathew’s wheely bins, traffic cones and face masks
Following on from last week’s picture of the week of the state of Fr Mathew by Kieran Murphy we got a (mini) flood of pictures and videos showing the father of the temperance movement in Ireland decorated in a variety of assorted paraphernalia.
That photo (below) showed two firemen removing the cone from Fr Mathew’s crown, and it’s likely a rite of passage for the fire service removing objects from the statue. Not that Fr Mathew seems to mind; he has that same old stoic look about him since he was first erected.
What I have never seen is the act of crowning Fr Mathew, but I imagine it’s mostly done in the hours of darkness and quite often under the influence and inspiration of the black stuff (and other stuff).
As well as St Patrick’s Street, Dublin’s O’Connell Street also features a statue of Fr Mathew. It was moved off the street for the Luas, but was moved back later, albeit in a different location. Which begs the question, could our own Fr Mathew one day be moved off St. Patrick’s St. should a Cork Luas, or CART as it’s sometimes called, make its way down the street? Surely, no matter what the emerging preferred route will be for the light rail route, it’ll have to come up/down St. Patrick’s Street, and Fr Mathew might have to make way, if only, for a while (or forever)?
“Pana” without Fr Mathew though would be like O’Connell Street without the monument to Daniel O’Connell: hard to imagine, but sometimes we can only begin to imagine in the absence of a thing. But, you might ask where would you hang all those traffic cones?
The Cork Luas is however a ways off, and in the meantime Fr Mathew remains steadfast in place. Never mind the smell from the Lee, how does he put up with all those traffic cones being hoisted on and off him? Like any statue: stony faced.
JJ
Summer in Cork and get your entries into our photo competition on T+D
The picture above was taken around this time last year in Lough Hyne, West Cork. There’s still a few weeks left in our photo competition. The theme is summer (or the possibility of it:) in Cork. Send your entries to tripeanddrihseen@substack.com by July 31. More details here.
News in brief:
Flat repair: Cork City Council staff and management are to visit the flats in Noonan Road next week. Residents there have been campaigning for the flats to be renovated citing persistent mould and dampness. At the most recent City Council meeting, three councillors raised concerns about the condition of the accommodation at Noonan Road and local media has helped illuminate the deteriorating conditions.
Northside southside divide: Who gets more when it comes to public money being spent on active travel infrastructure (i.e. travel that is not by car, bus train etc.)? Figures shown to the city councillors earlier this month clearly show more money flows south of the river. From a total of 92 projects announced as part of Active Travel Funding in Cork city, 42 of the projects were on the Southside, wheil only 22 were for the Northside.
In money terms that breaks down to more than €14 million being allocated for the Southside and €6.2 million on the Northside, with the average project allocation coming in at just under €380k for the Southside and just over €280k on the Northside. Cllr Kenneth Collins in his motion called on the Council to priortise the Northside in the next round of funding for active travel.Painters in focus
Artists in focus:
Cork is blessed with hugely talented painters and this week on the Fiday View we’d like to focus on two in particular. First up, Cork-based Kerry artist Matthew Sexton who recently showed at the Connecting Artists Exhibition at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland in Dublin. Matthew is pictured below with his painting “The Sheepdog” alongside broadcaster Miriam O’Callaghan at the exhibition which finished up this week.
Matthew was one of only two artists from Cork chosen for the show, the other being Jennifer Humpreys. During the week Matthew is a resident with The Brothers of Charity where he works on his paintings amongst other things. This is not Matthew’s first exhibition, and you can view (and buy) his work from the Connecting Artists Exhibition at their online site.
Another artist who didn’t start out in Cork is Oksana Lebedeva, a former journalist from Kyiv, who moved to Ireland following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Oksana told me she has been drawing from a young age, but since the war started, art has taken on a new urgency and importance for her. Art is, Oksana says, a form of therapy.
"But today for me, drawing is, most likely, therapy. After what I saw in Ukraine, after the constant sound of sirens, after the tears and grief that surrounded me, I wanted to somehow restore my strength."
Oksana’s exhibition at The Hideout Cafe on Wellington Road was opened last night by Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy. The exhibition runs until September 15.
Arts and arts criticism on T+D
Last weekend, Pádraig O’Connor, a playwright based in Cork made his debut for T+D when he reviewed The Hare which ran for three nights at The CAT Club on Carroll’s Quay. As we’ve stresssed often, brining new writers and new voices into T+D has been the goal of T+D from day one, but also paying people for their work. Pádraig will be reviewing more plays in the weeks and months to come. Not everyone liked Pádraig’s first review, in fact one commenter called it a “review.” Perhaps, a harsh review of his review, but nonetheless, criticism is not a popularity contest, and feedback is welcome, as long as we play the ball and not the player.
For nearly 10 years I was a restaurant reviewer in Japan for The Japan Times and I think criticism has an important place in the media. There’s not half enough of arts criticism to reflect what’s showing on Cork’s stages (and galleries), and when honest criticism comes along it can feel harsh, or at least jarring, at first. But criticism is also a chance to celebrate, champion and tease out what should be disected and discussed. At the very least it shows us different ways of looking at art or food or books, and agreeing to disagree. I’m looking forward to more reviews from Pádraig and for readers to parse what’s showing on stages across Cork. Onwards and upwards for the arts, and arts criticism.
Out + About
🎸Fitzgerald’s Park is the place to be this weekend, with “Joy in the Park” bringing some of Cork, and Ireland’s, best live acts, all for free and all for the Cork Mental Health Foundation. The Frank&Walters will headline the main Joe McCarthy stage, along with Karen Underwood, John Spillane, Pontious Pilate and the Nail Drivers, and the Kabin’s Misneach Girls. The second stage, near the Sky Garden, will feature performances from Dundalk punk Jinx Lennon as well as Bubba Shakespeare, Stevie G and Stephen James Smith.
Meanwhile over at the Mad Hatter’s Tent there will be performances from Hank Wedel, Elly O’Keeffe and Leah Sohotra and Martin Leahy, who’s been making a weekly pilgrimage to Leinster House to sing his song of protest to highlight the housing and accommodation crisis. Also, watch out for Circus Ring with performances by the Circus Factory, a meditation space, and a storytelling space.
Time, date, place: 11am-6pm, Sunday July 23, Fitzgerald Park, The Mardyke.
🌳Coill Bheag (small woodland) is a small, dense and biodiverse native woodland at Test Site, created in collaboration with An Taisce and Hometree, to provide people a chance to learn more about native Irish species of trees and hedging plants. On Saturday, Niamh Ní Dhúill, An Taisce LEAF education officer, will be leading a workshop where participants will help maintain the woodland, along with planting another bed. Participants will also learn about the plants in the woodland and their benefits to biodiversity. More information here.
Time, date, place: 1pm-2:30pm, Saturday July 22, Test Site, Kyrl’s Quay.
🎶Connolly’s of Leap will be hosting a day-long festival on Saturday featuring some of the county’s best up and coming DJs. Leap into the mix features reboot resident Keyrah, Diversion, who have recently DJed in Glasgow, acid techno DJ M.Sparrow and local DJs Battsy, WMD, Euan and Matty. Hopefully some good weather will turn up for what appears to be a great time in the heart of West Cork. More information here
Time, date, place: 3pm-12am, Saturday July 22, Connolly’s of Leap, Leap
🎤Rita Lynn plays Half Moon Place at 1pm today as part of the Opera House’s series of summertime performances in the new space. Influenced by Little Dragon, Nick Hakim, Nina Simone and Amy Winehouse, her vocals are led by emotional intuition, with writing that draws influence from nature, intimacy, movement, heartache and spiritual wonder.
Time, date, place: 1pm, Friday July 21, Half Moon Place, Cork Opera House, Emmet Place.
The Cork Ska and Reggae festival returns this year, with the Pavilion joining the Crane Lane as hosts. The Crane Lane hosts Yes I tonight at 9pm, Pontious Pilate and the Nail Drivers tomorrow at 6:30pm, and the Skatuesques on Sunday at Midnight. The Pavilion’s lineup features Prince Fatty and the Horseman tonight at 11pm, The Beat ft Ranking Jr tomorrow at 10m, and Bob Marley tribute band Buffalo Soul on Sunday at 9:30pm. The Pavilion will also feature two film screenings: Yardie at 5:30pm on Saturday, and Babylon at 6:30m on Sunday.
Time, date, place: 9pm-12am, July 21-July 23, Crane Lane Theatre, Phoenix Street.
5:30pm-12am, July 21-July 23, The Pavilion, Carey’s Lane.
🗣It’s still a week away, but Callanan's, Cillian Murphy’s favourite pub with a snug in Cork city, will be hosting a pop up Gaeltacht on the evening from Friday, July 28. As the poster says, whether you’re learning Irish or a Gaeilgeor, you’re more than welcome to join. Just remember don’t ask for Guinness (in any language) there.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Callanans, George’s Quay, Cork city
🎸Woah! Mama! is one of Cork’s best cover bands, and they continue their monthly residency in Coughlan’s on Saturday. They’ll be playing some funky hits and rock classics, from 10 until close. Why not head down for a boogie?
Time, date, place: 10pm, Saturday July 22, Coughlan’s, 7 Douglas Street
📚Ballinadee Bus is becoming one of the spots to stop in when travelling to West Cork, and they’ll be hosting their weekly kids ‘Storytime at the Big Blue Bus’ every Saturday, from 12pm-1pm. What better way to spend a sunny day, than sitting in the sun (hopefully), reading a book!
Time, date, place: 12pm, Saturday July 22, Ballinadee Bus, Cloncouse, Ballinadee.
This week on T+D
On Wednesday, we published a story about the derelict site on Coach Street and Peter’s Street which is loaded up with kitchen appliances and even a car. It’s been like this for decades and it’s attracting anti-social behaviour. Residents in the Marsh are tired of the slow (no) movement on this site, and others. You can read that story here:
And before we sign off, we’ve had a great response to that piece on dereliction this week and thank you to our new subscribers. There are so many stories we’d like to get to, and with more resources we can get writers and journalists to do that. So if you can afford to subscribe, know that your money will be going to fund new voices and bring more coverage about all things on Leeside. Have a great weekend.
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