Cork's Historical Sites

This week we were asked to take photgraphs of some historical sites around Cork city. Here are some of the pictues I took.

The National Monument

The first site I visited was the National Monument on Grand Parade. The monumet commemorates te Irish rebellions 1798, 1803, 1848 and 1867. It features four historical figures from those events: Wolf Tone, Thomas Davis, Michael O'Dwyer and Michael O'Neil Crowley

surrounding 'Mother Erin' as the centrepiece of the monument.

The monument was unveiled on St .Patrick' Day 1906 and one of the speakers o the day was the Feian John O'Donovan Rossa. The monoments was funded by the Cork Young Ireland Society and the idea came about at the time of th centeenary of the 1798 Rebellion. The Cork Past and Present websites notes 'As the art historian Judith Hill has written: ‘The public monument was regarded as the obvious way of expressing and cementing a sense of nationality, and the figurative language of sculpture continued to serve political leaders and to be comprehensible to the general public.’

(http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie/places/grandparade/nationalmonument/)

This monument is a fantastic memorial to the memory the expreson of nationalism in Cork in the pre- independence era.

St. Finbarre's Cathedral

 The archiseek website describes this historical site as a 'miniature cathedral but a decorative giant.' (http://ireland.archiseek.com/buildings_ireland/cork/cork/st_finn_barres.html). The architecture on this building is truely unique and it creator William Burges was an enthusiast of 13th century Gothic architecture.

Construction of the cathedral started in 1865 and was completed by 1879. The site has been a site of worship since the seventh century, when St. Finbarre is said to have established his school of learning. A Medieval cathedral was previously located on the site. Today's cathedral features many fascinating sculptures on the outside of the building depicting Old and New Testament scenes. The sculpture below features the Apostles Philip, Bartholomew, Simon and John the Baptist.

The cathedral coninues to hold Church of Ireland services to this day, but outside of service time there is an admission fee for the public to enter. Yet you can have a fascinating walk around outside looking at the graves around the grounds and the magnificent cathedral archtecture.

Kinsale

While doing the project I decided to venture further than Cork city at the weekend and I called to Kinsale.

Charles Fort

Charles Fort is probably the most popular historical

site in Kinsale. It is located in the small village of

Summercove just outside the town. It was built during the reign of Charles II to protect Kinsale harbour and specifically to offset any French or Spanish landing in the area. The fort was built in the 1670s and 1680s with the possibility of  an attack from Louis XIV specifically in mind.  It is a star shaped fort designed to resist attack form cannon. Charles Fort was besieged in 1690 by Williamite forces in their war against the Catholic King James II.

 Charles Fort served as a British army barracks subsequently.

 During the Irish Civil War in 1922/23 Charles Fort was taken over by Free State forces. The fort was badly damaged when it was set on fire by retreating anti-treaty soldiers.

                Today Charles Fort is accessible to the public to walk aound its vast perimeter and there is a fee to enter the interior of the fort.

Desmond Castle

Finally I took some photos of Desmond Castle in Kinsale town. It built around 1500 by Maurice Fitzgerald, the 8th Earl

of Desmond and originally functioned as a customs house

and collected taxes on goods arriving at Kinsale port.

                After the failure of the Desmond Rebellions in the second half of the 16^th century the British took control of Desmond Castle. From 1641 onwards it was used as a naval prison for French and Spanish prisoners caught in sea battles with the British Navy and later held American prisoners caught at sea during the American War of Independence. The tower house was notorious for its appalling conditions.

                During the Irish Famine from 1845-49 Desmond Castle functioned as a workhouse for the suffering people. It was taken into control of the state in 1939 and has since been restored. Today it is accessible to the public from Easter until the end of October and Desmond Castle also functions as an International Wine Museum, relating to the use of Kinsale as a wine port dating back to the 15^th century.

               

Charles Fort and Desmond Castle arejust two of many historical

 Kinsale. The town uses its history as well as its reputation for food to sell itself to tourists. Two weeks ago in class we were speaking of  public historyand in Kinsale public access to its history is exemplified in a great way through the guided heritage walks that take place in the town on most mornings during the tourist season. These walks are an ideal example of how Kinsale makes its history readily accessible to the public whether they are local people or tourists.