HISTORICAL WALK OF CLONAKILTY AND ITS SEA-FRONT
HISTORICAL WALK OF CLONAKILTY AND ITS SEA-FRONTOn returning we can now view the brewery on our left. It was built in 1807 by Richard Deasy and replaced his father's old brewery which stood in what is now Asna Street.
It was the town's longest surviving industry, being in operation until 1940. It is survived by Deasy & Co.'s Bottling and Mineral Water plant at Lamb Street.
One of the chimneys displays a plaque which proudly states it was built by McCarthy Builder of Bantry 1837. Four different drinks were brewed here, the most famous being a porter known as "Clonakilty Wrastler". "Wrastler" being the local pronunciation of wrestler. Two grades of stout were also brewed, namely Clonakilty XX stout and Clonakilty XXX stout. Finally, there was "Amber Ale" a very popular drink which was first brewed in the late 1920's by the then brewer Joe Flynn. Deasy and Co. won a bronze medal for its stout at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. This and other medals may be seen at the West Cork Regional Museum in Oliver Plunkett St.
The brewery employed its own coopers, using imported English oak to make its barrels. The workers were supplied with two pints daily, at 12.00 noon and 4.00 p.m. A half-day was given for the circus when it came to town, and in earlier times employees were also furnished with the admission fee to the circus. Part of Deasy & Co. Ltd. was the bottling plant at Sovereign St., known as "Clonakilty Wine Beer and Spirit Co". Many of their old advertising mirrors and signs survive, as well as syphons and bottles and can be seen displayed in the many public houses in the town, and in the museum.
Clonakilty is still known to-day as "The Brewery Town". Part of the brewery now houses the West Cork Craft and Design Centre which is well worth visiting.
This church was built in 1861 by the Presbyterian congregation. They were assembled by a Rev. William Irwin of Coleraine and were mainly farmers and land-stewards for the landlords of the district. A manse was built at Old Chapel Lane during the ministry of Rev. W. Reid 1869-1873. In 1875 the Presbyterians of the town and district numbered 26 with Rev. Robert Cowan as minister. The last minister was appointed in 1896 and in 1924 the church without a congregation was taken over by the Dept of Posts and Telegraphs as a post office. This prosperous congregation vanished leaving no trace but this fine building. A look inside reveals a dividing wall which separated the day-school at the back from the church.
We leave the post office behind and cross the street to enter the grounds of the Roman Catholic Church, by a small gate. The grounds, now a car park were once laid out in trees, shrubs and gravelled walks.
This cathedral sized church was opened for worship on Sunday 25th July, 1880, after 10 years work; the foundation stone having been blessed by the Bishop of Ross Dr. Ml. O'Hea, in the summer of 1870. The opening ceremony was a very elaborate affair attended by three bishops including the Archbishop of Cashel Dr. Croke and hundreds of clergy. Thousands of town and country people thronged the streets of the town which were decorated with triumphal arches and festoons of evergreens. The task of building this magnificent church was undertaken by Fr. Matthew O'Donovan when he was appointed parish priest of Clonakilty in 1868, but unfortunately he was never to see it completed, as he died in 1875.
The church being used at that time was in the grounds next to here, where the Boy's National School now stands. It dated from 1802 and was described as "a poor little cruciform chapel with earthen floor, low roof, rough walls and not much ornamentation". Prior to this a post penal chapel at Old Chapel Lane served the people of the town and district, the population, of which at that time numbered 12,107. The chapel was in a ruinous condition and in the autumn of 1798 part of the roof fell in during mass, killing two persons and injuring many.
This church is 18th century French Gothic in style and was designed by the Dublin architect C.S. Ashlin, and is of green sandstone which was quarried locally and dressed in this yard by local craftsmen. Wicklow granite is used in the surrounds of the doors and windows. The spire was erected in the 1890's, the stones of which were dowelled into one another, each section being built and erected at ground level by the firm of John Sisk and Sons at Cork before being removed to Clonakilty. The bell, from the Fountain Head Bell Foundry, Mary St., Dublin, was installed in 1898. The inside reveals some fine examples of stained glass, hand carved statues and altars in pure white Sicilian marble. The altar of the Sacred Heart is the work of James Pearse, father of Padraig Pearse, patriot and leader of the 1916 rising. The altar rails are the work of a local blacksmith Mr. Cullinane of Oliver's Lane.
As we leave here via the main gate, on our left is the burial ground of a number of clergy, including Dr. David Walsh, Bishop of Cloyne and Ross whose residence was in Clonakilty at Youghal's House on the Island Road, where he died in 1849.
Behind the burial ground to our left is the Boy's National School re-built in 1884 adjacent to the site of the old R.C. Chapel (1802 - 1880). This school has the unique record in that three of its past pupils fought in Dublin during the rising of 1916. Michael Collins, fought in the G.P.O. which was the H.Q. of the Rising against the British. Seán Hurley and Con O'Donovan were attached to the Four Courts command at the junction of Church St. and North St. Seán Hurley was mortally wounded on April 29th just before the cease-fire. It is of some interest to note that Michael Collins' brother Seán, was married to Catherine Hurley, sister of Seán Hurley.
Stop at the main gate and observe a house across the street set behind ornate railings and gate. This is the residence of the Monsignor who is Parish Priest of Clonakilty and Vicar General of the diocese. This house, which was once called "Myrtle Grove" was used by the Methodist congregation as a meeting place in the 1790's. The same upstairs room was used by the Plymouth Brethern when they made a short appearance in the town in the 1870's, they then moved to No. 5 Emmet Square. The property was then purchased by the Parish Priest and remodelled into the residence of the Monsignor.
Myrtle Grove House was the birthplace of Timothy Warren Anglin. He attended Kearney's Classical School at Shannon Sq., and became a school teacher. In 1848 he emigrated to Canada where he served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons, 1867-1882. He was Speaker of the House from 1874-1878. His eldest son Francis (1865-1933) was Chief Justice of Canada from 1924-1933.
Further along the street to our left is the fine stone-cut Church of Ireland Parochial Hall dating from mid 1800's. This building, as well as being used for cultural and social activities was the count centre for the West Cork Constituency in General Elections. The counts are now held in the much larger Community Hall off Ashe Street.
We now continue to the next junction and cross the street, to our left, to enter Patrick's Street. As we climb this hill we pass O'Driscoll's Public House on our right with its fine traditional shop front. This pub is still known today as "The Leaguers" pronounced "the laygers," a reminder of this families connection with the Land League of a century ago. As we continue to climb we arrive at the gates of Kilgarriffe Church of Ireland on our right which we will reach by climbing the gravelled hill to the top.
The many 18th and 19th century headstones and tombs make interesting reading. The town of Clonakilty is situated in the Church of Ireland parish of Kilgarriffe, which takes its name from the townland of the same name less than a mile away. Kilgarriffe is first mentioned in 1292 as Kylecofthy, when a charter was granted by Edward 1 to Thomas De Roche to hold a market there every Monday. There was also a pre-Reformation church at Kilgarriffe, a small portion of its ruins are still traceable. When Richard Boyle incorporated Clonakilty by charter from James 1 in 1613 the centre of the church life of the district quickly shifted from the old church at Kilgarriffe to this place. The church we see today dates from 1818, it replaces an earlier one which dated back to the time of Boyle who built the first church on this site. Not much is known of the early church but that it was re-roofed and a gallery added in 1802. It was then taken down in 1818 and the present church erected on its site at a cost of £1,300. The church contains a chalice with the following inscription:
This cup was made in the year 1636. Humphrey Jobson Esq., and John Baker, gentleman, being Church wardens".
This is the oldest known part of the town. It was from this place that the limits of the Borough of Cloghnikilty extended a mile and a half in every direction, according to the charter of 1613. It was referred to at that time as the "Old Chapel", but, there is no record of a chapel on this site before Boyle. One wonders was the old Castle of Clogh Na Kylte mistakenly called the old chapel when the charter was translated from Latin?
We leave this place by returning to the main gate at Patrick St., where we then turn right to climb to the next corner. Before turning right into Assumption Place East, we take notice of a house at the top of Patrick St., at Old Chapel Lane. This house called the "Manse" was built by the Presbyterians for their ministers.
The site of the old post penal R.C. chapel may be reached by turning left at the top of the hill into Old Chapel Lane, but we continue to the next junction at MacCurtain Hill. This street was originally called Barrack St., the upper portion being called Barrack Hill. The arch fronted Garda Barracks can be seen across the street a little up the hill. This building dates from c. 1797 and was built as a military barracks and accommodated 4 officers and 68 privates in 1837. It was originally a three storied building, until its burning during the War of Independence 1918-1921 and was re-built to its present two stories between the years 1923 - 26. It is today the Garda District Headquarters for a large portion of West Cork including the towns and districts of Dunmanway and Skibbereen.
The site of the old Clonakilty Railway Station is farther up the hill on the right and now houses the factory and shop of Carbery Knitwear and is worth visiting.
We return to the bottom of MacCurtain Hill, which contains some very fine Victorian houses, until we arrive at the Old Town Hall on our right set back from the street. This four arched building acted as Town Hall and Market House and the site was the civic centre of the town from 1642 until 1953. Richard Boyle settled one hundred families mainly from Somerset, England at Clogh Na Kylte and obtained a charter for the town in 1613. The charter conferred the right of sending two members to the Irish Parliament, which it continued to exercise 'till the Act of Union in 1800, when the £15,000 awarded as compensation for its disfranchisement was paid to the Earl of Shannon, a descendant of Sir Richard Boyle. The Sovereign and recorder held courts of petty sessions in the market house every Monday. Balls were occasionally given in the rooms over the market house, during sessions week. The Sovereign was also master of the sea.
The first mention of a Market House was in 1642, when the English residents of Cloghnikilty were taken prisoners, by the rebelling Irish and confined in the Market House. This rising saw much bloodshed in the streets of Clonakilty with two full companies of Scottish troops being cut to pieces. When relief came the English troops backed the Irish onto the island of Inchydoney when, the tide coming in, upwards of 600 of them were drowned.
Clonakilty had no walls to protect it ( a fact which is depicted in its coat of arms ) and was therefore at the mercy of its attackers. One occasion saw Joan Barry, a widow of Muckross, march into the town at the head of 300 women, who ransacked every house that was in it, taking with them everything they could carry. On another occasion she commanded upwards of a hundred men and women and again attacked the town. An attack led by a Cornelius O'Crowley, on the 10th February, 1642 was to see forty-five inhabitants of the town, disarmed, robbed and stripped and left in the house of John Baker. These disturbances caused many of the residents to flee to the safety of Bandon, which was walled. Among them was one Walter Bird who took with him the charter and muniments of the Borough. One who was less fortunate, was Mr. Linscombe, who was Sovereign in 1641 and decided to stay with the remaining inhabitants, he was set upon and hanged at his own door. The town was entirely burned down at that time, but it soon began to prosper again and a sign of this prosperity was the production of its own coinage in 1678.
A Cloghnikilty Penny of 1678 can be seen in the National Museum. Tradesmens tokens were issued in 1679.
In 1685 the Catholic King James 11 took the throne of England and on July 12th 1688 Cloghnikilty's old charter of 1613 was set aside and a new one granted by which 'Daniel MacCarthy was appointed Sovereign and 24 burgesses were nominated with him. The reign of James 11 was to be a short one as he was ousted by the revolution of 1688, so the town resumed its original charter. The town was again under siege in 1691 when on the 11th April, 800 Irish troops in the service of James 11 attacked the town, but were repulsed by the town's garrison.
All this activity must have taken its toll on the old Market House as the minutes of the corporation of August 31st 1696 reveals an agreement by the Sovereign and corporation to lay aside money for the building of a market house.
The Market House comes to our notice again in 1706 when it was recorded in the corporation minutes that a Robert Travers, if elected Sovereign, promised "to finish that part of the Market House that now is lathed within-side glaze the said house, and hang up the bells, upon his own cost and charge within this year."
During the great famine of the 1840's which effected Clonakilty severely, it is recorded in the Cork Constitution: "On 8th July, 1847 a hungry and demoralised mob of 300 people from the town and neighbouring parishes descended on the soup room in Clonakilty Market House demanding food. Rations of rice, meal and 900 quarts of soup which were being selectively distributed were taken over.
Driven to a state of near frenzy at the arrest of 67 people by Lt. Redmond of the 54th Regiment from Clonakilty Barracks on the instructions of Thomas Allin, J.P. and their incarceration in the local Bridewell, an attempt was made to break open the jail. Having failed at this they returned to the Market House hauled down the Town Clock and smashed it in pieces"
We return to the town centre just a few steps down the hill, where the four principal streets of the town meet at a place known as "The Cross".
Bennett's History refers to the town as follows: "Originally Clonakilty was built in the form of a cross; but as trade increased, streets sprang out in every direction and crossing the Farlah formed another town on its southern banks".
The final part of this tour of Clonakilty is along Pearse Street, which is to our right. This street was originally called Sovereign's Lane then Sovereign Street. Before 1789 the right hand side of this street was set back about twenty to thirty yards, as a mill stream ran down where the present street now stands. Evidence of this stream was discovered at the bottom of MacCurtain Hill, when two arches were unearthed during road works.
In the 1870's this street contained three hotels: Canniffe's Hotel, Crowley's Hotel and the Royal Arms Hotel. On the left the public house called "The Kilty Stone Tavern" was the office of The Clonakilty Wine Beer and Spirit Co. and Deasy & Co. Ltd.
We make our final stop at O'Donovan's Hotel/Óstán Uí Dhonnabháin which we reach by crossing the street to our left. The hotel was built by the Cork Firm of John Sisk & Co. at the same time the R.C. Church was erected in the 1870's. It was the second Hotel owned by the O'Donovan family, the original one being on Boyle Street now Asna Street, where the premises of Deegan's Garage now stands.
This hotel, once called the "Shannon Arms" saw Charles Stewart Parnell address a large gathering here after he was led into town by a fife and drum band in March 1880.
A rare film clip shows Michael Collins address his fellow townspeople outside the door. Another unexpected visitor to this hotel was Marchese Marconi, the inventor of radio station from which he sent his first trans-Atlantic wireless message to America, he mistakenly alighted from his train at Clonakilty Junction and took the train to Clonakilty, instead of proceeding directly on the Bantry line. At Clonakilty, he discovered his mistake and was directed to O'Donovan's Hotel, where he refreshed himself and was then provided with a covered car and driver and a splendid pair of horses with which to continue his journey.
Some of the most interesting visitors to this hotel were the crew of an American flying fortress which force landed a mile from Clonakilty on April 7th, 1943. The plane was on its way from Africa to England when it strayed off course and ended up hovering over Clonakilty very low on fuel, eventually force landing at the marsh between the mainland and the island of Inchydoney. The crew of ten a passenger and a pet monkey landed safely.
The crew were accompanied to O'Donovan's Hotel by the Local Defence Force. They remained here for three days, the hotel taking on a carnival atmosphere in war-time, rationed Clonakilty. Eventually a mobile runway was laid and the plane took off for England via Shannon on May 2nd, 1943, leaving behind their monkey. "Tojo" who died here and was buried in the yard of the hotel, with full military honours.
To the left of the Hotel, and under the archway was a thoroughfare to the river called Recorder's Alley. There is a reference to women cleaning fish here in the 1780's.
To complete this tour of Clonakilty and its seafront, a visit to the West Cork Regional Museum at Oliver Plunkett Street is well worth while. The Museum carries a wide range of artifacts dealing with all aspects of West Cork and Clonakilty's colourful history. In the civic history section, pride of place must go to the Council Minute Book of Cloghnikilty Corporation. This vellum-bound book dealing with the period from 1675 to 1802 was presented to the Museum by a direct descendant of one of the last Sovereigns of Cloghnikilty, Horatio Townsend.
copyright © Holt Software
Ltd.
For more information contact: ireland@tpages.com