West Cork Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

From 1830 to 1832 Clonakilty native the Rev. Bishop Michael Collins was bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne and Ross. Before becoming bishop he was parish priest of Skibbereen from 1814 to 1830. The life of Bishop Collins was full of... more

From 1830 to 1832 Clonakilty native the Rev. Bishop Michael Collins was bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne and Ross. Before becoming bishop he was parish priest of Skibbereen from 1814 to 1830. The life of Bishop Collins was full of incident, including an attempt on his life, and was lived against the backdrop of the many issues facing Ireland in the early years of the nineteenth century. Bishop Collins’ responses to these issues teaches us much about west Cork in the years leading up the Great Famine.

This article was the first in a series written about Protestant decline in County Cork, and particularly, West Cork based on the release of the 1911 census online which showed the complex nature of the Protestant population in Cork. The... more

This article was the first in a series written about Protestant decline in County Cork, and particularly, West Cork based on the release of the 1911 census online which showed the complex nature of the Protestant population in Cork. The article showed that in Cork more than half of the decline was related to the British military industrial complex in Cork. Inevitably, this was relevant to the 'Dunmanway' controversy in Irish history and recent separate research by Dr. Andy Bielenberg and Professor David Fitzpatrick which confirms the analysis contained here.

The ruin of Belgooly Flour Mill – more commonly known as 'Belgooly Distillery', still dominates the village of Belgooly, on the main road between Cork and Kinsale. Built in 1832 – it operated as a flour mill for approximately thirty... more

The ruin of Belgooly Flour Mill – more commonly known as 'Belgooly Distillery', still dominates the village of Belgooly, on the main road between Cork and Kinsale. Built in 1832 – it operated as a flour mill for approximately thirty years. In 1872, it was converted into a whiskey distillery. Despite high borrowings and vast amounts of money being spent – the venture was a commercial failure. Abandoned, and with its copper fittings stripped out, it was used by the local community – and was the cause of two court cases among the small population of Belgooly. Dismantled in the 1940's, the ruin remains, despite the best efforts of the Irish Army to demolish it completely. Recently, plaques have been erected at its gates to give a snapshot of its history, by the Belgooly Tidy Villages Committee. The following article is an attempt to fully trace the history of this enigmatic building.

Before universal suffrage the political system in Ireland was controlled by a small male elite. In Cork City a category of voters know as Freemen enjoyed significant privileges. This is an attempt to give background to a sub group the... more

Before universal suffrage the political system in Ireland was controlled by a small male elite. In Cork City a category of voters know as Freemen enjoyed significant privileges. This is an attempt to give background to a sub group the 'Non Residents' who had West Cork connections

Note on decline of spoken Irish in West Cork and some forgotten poets in Irish

Mortimer Moynahan was a leading figure in both the IRB and the Fenian Brotherhood. He was a founder of the Phoenix National and Literary Society in Skibbereen. He was a prominent leader in the early expansion of Fenianism and was arrested... more

Mortimer Moynahan was a leading figure in both the IRB and the Fenian Brotherhood. He was a founder of the Phoenix National and Literary Society in Skibbereen. He was a prominent leader in the early expansion of Fenianism and was arrested in 1858 and in 1865. A confidant of the Fenian leader James Stephens, he rose to become, for a brief period, the leader of the Fenian Brotherhood in America. However, by the time death in 1881 he was largely overlooked and forgotten. This article examines his life, work and why he is so little remembered.

Scart Barytes Mines This mine supplied the paint factory of Mr. Harris of Donemark, Bantry in 1886. The transport of the barytes gave much employment and many horses and carts were hired.. The ground barytes was bagged and exported in... more

Scart Barytes Mines This mine supplied the paint factory of Mr. Harris of Donemark, Bantry in 1886. The transport of the barytes gave much employment and many horses and carts were hired.. The ground barytes was bagged and exported in loads of 200­300 tons for porcelain manufacture. The paint was made also of umber which had been fired in a furnace. It might be noted that when the railway to Bantry was under construction in 1880 evidence of an old lead mine with traces of silver was discovered when making the cuttings at Scart. Dereenlomane Barytes Mine

New evidence from the Irish Bureau of Military History provides evidence from inside the IRA about the motive and perpetrators of these murders. Much of the speculation around these events must be shown to false if the credibility of... more

New evidence from the Irish Bureau of Military History provides evidence from inside the IRA about the motive and perpetrators of these murders. Much of the speculation around these events must be shown to false if the credibility of former GAA President Michael O'Donoghue is accepted. According to O'Donoghue the murders were in direct response to the killing of Michael O'Neill, and were not sectarian.

Using the recently published online versions of the 1911 census of Ireland the Protestant community in County Cork before the War of Independence is reconstructed. Startling new evidence shows that more than 1/3 of the population were in... more

Using the recently published online versions of the 1911 census of Ireland the Protestant community in County Cork before the War of Independence is reconstructed. Startling new evidence shows that more than 1/3 of the population were in fact English or Scottish and most of this group were directly connected with the huge British Military establishment based in the county. The research shows that far from 'a mass migration of native protestants' less than one in ten of this community left in the revolutionary period. The history of this period demands to be revised based on accurate information and this article provides accurate statistical analysis for scholars of the period to use.

Originally, written in 2013 this paper was slightly revised in 2018 to clarify the language and arguments. Eve Morrison and Gerard Murphy criticised John Regan for mis-dating the crucial Record of the Rebellion which Peter Hart had... more

Originally, written in 2013 this paper was slightly revised in 2018 to clarify the language and arguments. Eve Morrison and Gerard Murphy criticised John Regan for mis-dating the crucial Record of the Rebellion which Peter Hart had selectively quoted. As it turned out the criticism had no relevance because Peter Hart had made exactly the same mistake when he was writing, also believing that the record was printed after the April 1922 murders. The paper also examined Hart's 'burying' of the references for the Record of the Rebellion in 'The IRA and its enemies'. The article invites the reader to consider why this was done.

The Rev. Fisher was one of the later installments of a process that commenced in the late 1810s when various outside Protestant Evangelising societies targeted the coastal, peninsular and islands of West Cork in their aggressive... more

Numerous studies within academic literature examine motivations of walkers engaging with nature-based tourism activities, such as hillwalking. However a gap exists in the literature regarding the suppliers of this type of tourism, namely... more

Numerous studies within academic literature examine motivations of walkers engaging with nature-based tourism activities, such as hillwalking. However a gap exists in the literature regarding the suppliers of this type of tourism, namely land owners and farmers. This research hopes to address this identifiable gap in tourism research in a confined study area located in the Sheep’s Head Way in Co. Cork. The purpose of this research was to examine geographical spatial differences in environmental attitudes, and to determine the factors that
influenced the landowner’s intentions to permit the walkway throughout their land. To examine these factors, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted and to further examine these factors a survey collection of a near complete census of landowners (212 farmers) on the peninsula was carried out. Through the method of door-to-door collection, the information gathered numerous variables were analysed. The information compiled as part of this study forms a data rich analysis of landowners’ and farmers’ attitudes to the evolution of the walkway as well as other attributes such as; environmental awareness, issues of sustainability, community links, farm diversification and conservation of the landscape. The results illustrate significant differences among the landowners' orientations towards the environment and a range of factors that influence landowners' intentions to engage in environmental conservation and sustainable tourism.. Suppliers of nature-based tourism activities are at the helm of the future direction of sustainable tourism and it is essential that they are examined with the same detail as users of nature-based activities.