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Lord Mayor Launched Exhibition at Cork City and County Archives to Mark the Bicentenary of the North Cathedral

Thursday 21st August 2008

Lord Mayor Opens Cathedral Exhibition

Cathedral Historical Committee: Anne Twomey, Jim Fitzpatrick, Maeve Higgins, Ben Hodnett, Fr. Declan Mansfield.

News Archive 2008

‘Preserving Cork’s Archives Together’ initiative (PCAT)

Lord Mayor’s Charter presented to Cork City Council

In a special ceremony on 13 December at City Hall, the original legal Charter conferring the title of ‘Lord Mayor’ upon the head of Cork City Council was presented to Lord Mayor Cllr. Donal Counihan by Professor Timothy Counihan, and his son Michael Counihan S.C. The manuscript parchment Charter dates from July 1900.  The first city Mayor to receive the honour was Sir Daniel Hegarty and he ie mentioned specifically in the text of the Charter.  Hegarty (1849-1914) was the son of a merchant from Summerhill in Cork.

Lord Mayor's Charter, July 1900

Despite being 107 years of age, the Charter is in excellent condition, having been kept safely by generations of the Hegarty family. It was inherited by Professor Counihan’s late wife, Mary Rose Powell, whose aunt was married to Michael Hegarty, the son of Sir Daniel Hegarty.  Professor Counihan is well known in medical circles, having taught at U.C.D. He graduated from U.C.C. in 1947 and later worked as a Consultant at the Mater Hospital in Dublin where he set up the cardiac department. His wife Mary Rose was also a graduate of medicine from U.C.C.

The Charter is being preserved and put on public display at the Cork City and County Archives in the Seamus Murphy Building in Blackpool. A facsimile will also be put on display at City Hall.

At a special reception at the Council Chamber, City Hall, the Lord Mayor and Members of Council and other dignitaries marked the hand over of the deed by Timothy and Michael Counihan.

Merchant City Online Exhibition Web Site Launched

http://www.corkarchives.ie/merchantcity/home/

At launch of Merchant City . Dr. Alicia St.Leger, Brian McGee, Archivist, Niamh Twomey, City Heritage Officer, Ann Bogan, Senior Planner, Cork City Council and Dr. Eileen O’Leary Cork City Council I.S. Department.

Cork City and County Archives (CCCA), has launched its ‘Cork : Merchant City ’ online exhibition which explores the commercial heritage of Cork through its archives.
Sources found at the CCCA include the original minute books of the Cork Committee of Merchants, the shipping ledgers of corn merchants and the City of Cork Steampacket Company, and the day to day records of the Cork Butter Exchange, as well as various personal papers and photographs of some prominent merchants.

Extract from a John Duke Ltd. Receipt, 1856

Merchant City offers a broad outline of Cork's commercial history illustrated by images of documents and photographs from collections at the CCCA. Amongst the themes covered on the web site are the merchant princes, shipping, brewing and distilling, the provisions trade, workers and manufacturing, and there is also a section on retail heritage. A sources and references section contains a number of extracts from old trade and postal directories, listing all the trades and enterprises in Cork city for the years 1846, 1895 and 1946. An innovative feature of the Merchant City web site is the ‘Gallery’ section, which allows users to view images in a slideshow-type presentation.

The web site is designed to appeal to all users, from school students and third level students to the general public interested in learning something more about their local history. It will hopefully become a resource for those completing school history projects, and it will help to publicise the very important and unique collections held at the Cork City and County Archives to researchers.

This digitisation project is one of the first to be funded by the Cork City Council Heritage Plan, which was launched in November 2007. Merchant City is an example of what can come of the funding currently being made available by local government and the Heritage Council of Ireland through the local heritage officers. In February 2008, the web site received the highest (AAA) user accessibility rating from an independent auditor.

 ‘ Merchant City ’ Project Team:

• Dr. Alicia St. Leger, Writer
• Brian McGee, Archivist
• Niamh Twomey, City Heritage Officer
• Eileen O’Leary and Al Devine, City Council I.S. Dept.
• Eclipse Internet Services, Web Design.

Merchant City was funded by Cork City Council and the Heritage Council

Conservation of Major Collection Completed with Heritage Council Museums and Archives Grant

The conservation has been completed of a major Cork collection from the mid 19th century. This second and final phase of the project was funded principally by the Heritage Council of Ireland through their annual Museum s and Archives Grants Scheme, involved the professional conservation of about 20 boxes of archives.

The collection in question, the ‘Day Papers’, consists of the papers of Richard Dowden (1794 -1861 ). Businessman , botanist, philanthropist, and Mayor, Richard Dowden was one of the most respected and prominent citizens of Cork.

Dowden was involved in the Temperance campaign of Father Theobald Mathew, and he saw service as a Poor Law Guardian, an officer of the Blind Asylum and a Governor of the Lunatic Asylum.  He also served on the Cork Poor Relief Committee, which was established to provide relief during the famine, and on the Cork Anti-Slavery Committee. He was also a member of the Royal Cork Institution and the Cork Literary and Scientific Society, the Cork Cuvierian Society, the Celtic Society, the Zoological Society of Dublin and the Cork City and County Horticultural Society.  A competent botanist, he lectured extensively on the subject and his book “ Walks after Wild Flowers” or “The Botany of the Bohereens” was published in 1852. A Liberal and pro-repealer, Dowden was an associate of Daniel O’Connell. A member of Cork Corporation, Dowden was elected Mayor of Cork City for 1845 and Alderman for the Lee Ward in 1847.

The collection contains correspondence, notebooks, pamphlets, posters, printed memorabilia, scrapbooks, and also records from the Cork Literary and Scientific Society and some other organisations. The conservation process was carried out by Paul Curtis of Muckross House, Killarney, and it has ensured that the collection will be available again for use by researchers and for exhibition and digitisation projects.