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MIXED MESSAGES.

Using signs, advertisements and messages as the inspiration for observation and comment - enlightened and otherwise

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VINCENTZARA

31/12/2013

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Union Quay
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Hanover St
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Gravel Lane (off Washington St)
While out and about of late, I have spotted a number of examples of stencil art by the same artist.

As good a reason as any for a blog entry.

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St. Finbarr's Hospital (Workhouse)

30/12/2013

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Regularly, I find out about a piece of historical interest from rather diverse and odd sources.

It was only eight or ten years ago, having lived many decades in Cork, that I knew that St. Finbarr’s Hospital was a Workhouse in the past. This registered when someone commented that there were people who would go to the then Erinville Maternity Hospital rather than the (then) St Finbarr’s Maternity because of its previous use as a Poorhouse.

FAMINE MEMORIAL

Erected to the memory of all those who died in the Cork Workhouse during The Great Hunger – An Gorta Mór.

Go raibh suaimhness síorraí acu I láthair Dia na Glóire

Famine Commemoration Committee

1997

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Douglas Road, Cork
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James Connolly - Took Refuge From Riot (not the one you might think)

29/12/2013

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FI spotted this plaque in Cobh recently and thought that it was another example of tenuous connection with historical record.

His visits to Cobh are unlikely to figure highly in the deeds and actions of James Connolly’s Book of Life but streets have been names (or renamed) after visiting dignitaries and there are very many plaques recording what would arguably be of lesser historic merit – so why not record this riot.

Cobh should be proud of its plaques and informative boards/trails – definitely keeps the visitor engaged.

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James Connolly

5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916

The Irish patriot and socialist James Connolly was one of the signatories to the Irish Proclamation of Independence in 1916 and was executed as one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.

On the 7th March 1911 he addressed an open-air public meeting in Cobh on the case for government provision of meals for poor children in Irish schools. His opponents provoked a riot, and Connolly was forced to flee. He was given refuge in the bar of this building, then called the Rob Roy Hotel, until the mob dispersed.

This plaque commemorates the centenary of the event.

James Connolly returned to Cobh in 1913 without incident.

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Meitheal Mara - Wall Art

28/12/2013

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Lou Reed - March 2, 1942 - October 27, 2013
I remember first coming across the term ‘Meitheal’ from a former scout telling of a Meitheal Building at a scout camp.

Even then I liked the sound of the word and the concept – so refreshing to the selfishness that seems to be all-pervading.

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The more I see, the more I am liking the larger street art installations such as The Beacon,  Marina Walk and Camden Palace.


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Moving Statues

27/12/2013

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I have recently updated the Cork City page listing those grottos that I have spotted and recorded – currently at 36.

Some months ago, I queried whether anyone would demolish a grotto. I suspect that the grotto at Fota Lawn will need to be relocated in not removed to facilitate Knocknaheeny Regeneration.

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Grand Parade
Dún Mhuire

‘... photograph, c. 1960, shows the attractive building at the riverside end of the Grand Parade, then known as Dún Mhuire. Originally called Daly’s Clubhouse and later the City Club, it dates from around 1787, but was extensively altered and refaced to the design of Sir John Benson. In 1952, the City Club having amalgamated with the County Club at the latter’s South Mall premises, this building was purchased at auction for £9,125 by the Legion of Mary for use as a Diocesan headquarters. It was officially opened as Dún Mhuire on 7 December 1952. In more recent times, it has become a financial business premises.’

CORK In Old Photographs – Tim Cadogan (2003 Gill & Macmillan Ltd)

While reading some books about Cork, I saw photographs of two grottos that were moved or removed – I think the Farren St one was returned to St John’s Square. I do not know what happened to  the one that was on the lower section of the Grand Parade building.

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St. John's Square, Great William O'Brien St
FARREN ST GROTTO

‘A stone sign on a derelict house at Farren Street bears the year 1737. Here at the top end of this old street, looking towards St. Mary’s Road, is a grotto which, attractive though it is, is merely a prop used in the filming of “Angela’s Ashes” in the area in 1988’

Cork’s Own Blackpool – Photographic Memories  - Blackpool Historical Society (2003)

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My Daughter, the Doctor........

27/12/2013

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When in Kerry this summer, I spotted a headstone that had a twist on the old saying, both Jewish and Irish…………….

My son, the Doctor……..

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Little Nellie of Holy God

25/12/2013

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I am reading Frank O’Connor’s ‘An Only Child’ at the moment. Apologies for another quote so soon but I was in Cobh cemetery earlier last week and saw this cross and plaque.

When I read of ‘Little Nellie of Holy God’ , the name rang a bell somewhere on the very dusty shelves at the very back of the brain – somewhere that had not been visited for some time: somewhere originating on AbandonedIreland, I think. I made an ink and mental note to try to discover some more at some time in the future.

That task has yet to be ticked off but finding this cross is as good a reason for a blog.


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Mary Organ died 7th March 1907

At Spike Island aged 27 years

She was the mother of Ellen Organ

“Little Nellie of Holy God”

Who died 2nd February 1908 aged 4 years and

Who was interred in the good Shephard Convent, Cork



‘When I was a child, our walks often took us to the Good Shepherd Convent, in the orphanage of which she had grown up. I liked it because it had trees and steep lawns and pleasant avenues. On fine days we sat with one of her old friends on the lawn that overlooked the valley of the river, or, on showery ones, in the grotto of the nuns’ cemetery, and Mother of Perpetual Succour, who was in charge of the garden, took me round and picked me fruit, and I suspect that sometimes, when things were not going well at home, Mother Blessed Margaret gave Mother small gifts of money and clothes. In the convent cemetery, among the tiny crosses, among the tiny crosses of the nuns, was a big monument to one of the orphans, an infant known as Little Nellie of Holy God, who had suffered and died in a particularly edifying way, and about whom, at the time, a certain cult was growing up. I had a deep personal interest in her, because not only was I rather in that line myself, but Father had assisted at her exhumation when her body was removed from a city cemetery, and verified the story that it was perfectly preserved…..’

Frank O’Connor- An Only Child

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All I want for Christmas......

25/12/2013

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is

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Closing Time

23/12/2013

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I was in City Hall recently and spotted this notice.

I thought that ‘Closing Hours’ was a more appropriate title than ‘Opening Hours’

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Extracting the Michael

22/12/2013

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I smiled recently when passing Best of Buds flower shop attached to the Perry Street Café at their irreverence with regard to quoting ‘famous sayings’

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Best of Buds, South Mall
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Best of Buds, South Mall
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Entry in the Book of Life

21/12/2013

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Carrigaloe, Cobh
'Vision is the art of seeing the Invisible' - J Swift
BRYAN J. FOLEY 1934 – 1997
This memorial has been erected to honour Bryan J. Foley F.I.C.S. who campaigned for over 25 years for a Cross River Ferry. He saw his dream come to fruition on 17th March 1993. Bryan’s achievement was duly acknowledged in 1996 when he became the first person to be awarded Cork Businessman of the Year in recognition of the establishment of the Cross River Ferry.
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Well done that man!!

I do recommend a walk from town to Blackrock; along the Blackrock – Rochestown – Passage old railway line; €1 foot passenger charge on the ferry; and then onward to Cobh. Return by train €5.50.

Good for the mind as well as the body.

I was listening to podcasts while walking. This included Thought For The Day from a few years ago:

“What do we want to be remembered for? That’s the question at the heart of the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, which we’ll be observing this Saturday. It’s that rarest of phenomena, a Jewish festival without food. It’s a time when we ask God to write us in the book of life, and when God, as it were, asks us how we’ve used our life thus far.”
It may be a factor of my age. It may be influenced by the Winter Solstice and the reflection associated with this time of year but that thought did strike home in this quarter.

On this short day, whether you have a God to do the writing or whether you do it yourself, I hope you are happy with what is written.
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Patrick Murphy (Fisherman)

20/12/2013

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As I mentioned last week, I was forwarded an email link to John Spillane singing The Ferry Arms. That night, I continued listening to John Spillane and came across The Ballad of Patrick Murphy.
I hadn’t spotted the plaque on my previous visit to Passage so that was as good a reason as any to walk to Cobh last weekend and stop to take photos on the way.

‘Muricawn’ is a new word for me. Internet searches do not help to educate more about the word so will just have to read and keep the ear open…..
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Old Rochestown - Passage Railway
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"Long ago before I was the man you see today....."

19/12/2013

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This Plaque has been Erected

to the Memory of

JACK DOYLE   1913 – 1978

By

His fellow Citizens of Cobh

By Hosts of Admirers at Home and Abroad

And by his Colleagues of the

Ex Boxers Association



I recently spotted this plaque among the Friday Market stalls in Cobh.  I did a blog in August with a photo of the crowd in Patrick’s Street awaiting news of his British Title Fight.

There was some special publications on the centenary anniversary of his birth but they were not read in depth by yours truly. Spotting the plaque last week did bring the Christy Moore song to mind and so did prompt some web searching.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the five titles or occupations listed on the statue of Con Houlihan. Interesting list that the Irish Examiner sub-editor put together for Jack Doyle. I think it would be nice to have ‘lover’ among the five words that describe you. The RTE Documentary Gorgeous Gael uses the word ‘playboy’ which is not as appealing a title.

Very sad for anyone to die of cirrhosis of the liver while living on the streets and for a burial plot to be provided by the charity of others.   

After watching the RTE documentary, I did make a point on my next visit to Cobh to capture further photographs. I do recommend watching the documentary .
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Church St. Mural

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What is the Irish for 'Avenue'?

18/12/2013

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Since I started conversational Irish classes, I have been reading place name signs with a greater interest.

Sometimes the signs conspire against me.

Sometimes, it depends upon whether one looks left or right….


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Looking West

17/12/2013

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In early November, sleep lost out to restlessness, so I brought the dogs for an early walk to Bell’s Field.

On that cold dry morning, it was refreshing to see the city appear from the darkness and the streetlights shut off for another day.

The view, no doubt, has changed substantially in the last century.

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‘…..When I resumed, it was not at St Patrick’s but the North Monastery, run by the Christian Brothers – I cannot think why unless it meant that I should be out of Corkery’s class and back in Downey’s. Mother, I suspect, may have been influenced by her friendship with Mrs Busteed, whom she met regularly at Mass, for her brilliant son, who had gone to the North Monastery, had had his picture in the paper and was now at the University, and it would never have occurred to Mother that what had worked for him would not work for me.

It was very inconvenient, because it was miles from home, and on rainy days I reached school drenched and cold. The road led past the military barrack on the brow of the hill and then down a dirt track called Fever Hospital Hill to the Brewery, before climbing again through slums to the top of another hill. But the view from Fever Hospital Hill was astonishing, and often delayed me when I was already late. The cathedral tower and Shandon steeple, all limestone and blue sandstone, soared off the edge of the opposite hill, and the hillside, terraced to the top with slums, stood so steep that I could see every lane in it, and when the light moved across it on a spring day, the whole hillside seemed to sway like a field of corn, and sometimes when there was no wind to stir the clouds, I could hear it murmuring to itself like a hive of bees.’

Frank O’Connor- An Only Child

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