Tom Spalding: River Lee
Life History; Immigration; Childhood; River Lee; Cork Exhibition
Tom is the author of several books on design history relating to Cork City such as “Cork City: A Field Guide To Its Street Furniture and “Layers”.
Tom speaks about how he was born in England and came to live in Cork aged seven when his father got a job in the Chemistry Department of UCC. About growing up in Rochestown Road in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. About the lack of facilities there, description of a tin shack shop ran by an elderly lady which is no longer there. Description of the River Lee and the Douglas Estuary. The disused Blackrock Railway line and the metal pedestrian bridge which at the time was semi derelict. About mullet that swam in the estuary and his fathers attempts to fish for them from the pedestrian bridge in the belief that they were sea bass. About early years in Cork growing up in a number of half finished housing estates in Bishopstown and Rochestown and his father using discarded building materials to build sheds etc. He speaks about his fathers work in Leeds and Sussex universities before they moved to Cork and he describes a period of his young childhood when his father got a job in Ahmadu Bello University which is located in Zaria in Northern Nigeria and the family moving there. Tom’s description of the mainly western enclave they lived in, of picking up some phrases of the local language Hausa and of a prank where himself and some other boys set fire to the bush.
He speaks of the difficulties he had in learning Irish in primary school in Cork and how in later years he came to appreciate the language and adds his thoughts on how the language is thought and its future.
Tom speaks about the relationship Cork City has with the river Lee. About the mainly working class anglers you would see fishing near the Shaky Bridge aka Daly’s Bridge. About canoeing and boating on the river. The history of river ferries on the River Lee and one that was still running up to the 1980’s bringing GAA fans across the river from the Ferryboat Inn on Lower Glanmire Road across to the Marina. On the proposed Cork City flood defence walls and his thoughts on it and alternative options and the Save Cork City movement. Of the negative relationship Cork City has with the River Lee and comparisons with that of other cities. He speaks of the Cork Main Drainage project and how it has improved water quality in the City. About how sewage and effluent from farming would flow into the river. Of the killer whales that entered Cork Harbour and swam up the River Lee in 2001. He speaks about the group Meitheal Mara who sail currachs on the river Lee. He talks about the O Flynn brothers who were the last of the traditional salmon fishermen in the Lee and how their boats could be seen on the quayside by the Trinity Bridge.
He speaks of the Cork Exhibition of 1902/03 and water based attractions such as the giant waterslide which was located on the riverside by Fitzgerald’s Park. About the huge rowing regatta which attracted record crowds and the general growth in popularity of water based activity during the Edwardian era.
Cork Folklore Project
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Cork Folklore Project
1 September 2017
Interviewer: Kieran Murphy
Interviewee: Tom Spalding
Cork Folklore Project
<strong>Other Interviews with Tom Spalding:<br /><br /></strong><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/66" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00538_spalding_2015</a>
<strong><br />Other Interviews in the collection:</strong> <br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/75" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00630_ohuigin_2017</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/82" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00637_oduinnin_2017</a>; <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/83" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00641_tanner_2017</a>.
.wav
English
Sound
CFP_SR00636_spalding_2017
Cork; Ireland; Rochestown; England; Nigeria; 1970s - 2000s
Pádraig Ó Duinnín: River Lee
Life History: Macroom, Childhood, Meitheal Mara
Pádraig is one of the founders of Meitheal Mara and the Ocean to City race
Pádraig says he grew up in Coolcower, Macroom on a peninsula between the rivers lee and Sullane. He says it had a formative influence on his life. His father was a bus driver and his mother was a housewife. They were both from Irish speaking families. He went to school in Macroom. School didn’t agree with him at times. He says he’s been in and out of education since then. He trained for a while as a craft potter, he also worked as a labourer. He says he has a diploma in civil engineering and worked in civil engineering for 12 years and then started building Currach.
Spending his holidays in his youth in the Gearagh and Inchigeelagh and other places. How his family didn’t have anything to do with fishing or the sea so he wasn’t handed down any knowledge about that.
Was inspired to set up Meitheal Mara by a New England project helping marginalised kids build boats.
Pádraig talks about his experiences with the River Lee and the wildlife who live on it. He discusses some of the placenames associated with the river. He compares the maritime culture in Ireland to that of other European countries.
Cork Folklore Project
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Cork Folklore Project
27 September 2017
Interviewer: Kieran Murphy
Interviewee: Pádraig Ó Duinnín
Cork Folklore Project
<strong>Other Interviews with Padraig in the Archive</strong><br />CFP_SR00017_ODuinin&Moore_1996
<strong>Other Interviews in the Collection</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/75" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00630_ohuigin_2017</a>; <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/81" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00636_spalding_2017</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/83" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CFP_SR00641_tanner_2017</a>.
.wav
English, Irish
Sound
CFO_SR00637_oduinnin_2017
Cork; Ireland; Macroom; 1950s - 2000s
Stefan Wulff: Germany, Cycling, Currachs, Change,
Life History; Cork; Ireland; Germany;
A detailed interview with German born Stefan Wulff. He gives a really rich account of building currachs, of trips down the Lee and his impressions of Cork from the river side.
Stefan was born in Dortmund, in the Ruhr Valley, Germany. He has one brother and one sister. He came to study in UCC in 1994.
The agricultural area where Stefan grew up was very spacious with plenty of fields to play in. He played the usual childhood games: cycling, football and a favourite which was shooting darts from an air rifle in their cellar. He had a passion for kite flying and bought hundreds over the years.
His earliest memory is of not wanting to go to pre-school and nun like figures who wanted to give him (calcium) tablets. He remembers his grandmother telling him stories particularly about his father growing up in Prussia and how during the war and they had to flee for their own safety and moved to northern Germany. His grandmother helped in the process of settling the large numbers of refugees. He was told his grandfather was shot, but Stefan later learned he had ended his own life.
Stefan first came with a cycling group in 1983. He came back in 1994 on a student exchange programme to UCC where he met his future wife.
Stefan mentions the differences in the social dimensions between Ireland and Germany. It took him years to settle in Ireland because of these differences.
He uses the words Lee, chaos and change to describe Cork. The river Lee holds a strong attraction for Stefan, and he speaks of it bringing a certain flair to Cork. The chaos comes from observing the lunacy of cork driving and parking habits. He talks about the change in Cork’s architecture and how dilapidated some buildings were when he first arrived.
Stefan highlights his discomfort with the drinking culture and how much more consumer orientated people are and how it has brought greed to some.
Naomhoige Chorcai and Meitheal Mara are rowing clubs that build and row currachs. Stefan describes the boats, getting them into the water and rowing them down the Lee. He gives a detailed description of viewing Cork from the river side and a long journey he took on the open sea, in an Aran currach, from Lettermullen in Connemara to Inishman with Padraig O’Dineen, one of the founders of Meitheal Mara, and Brian Hennessy.
Note; This interview was conducted as part of the Cork 2005 Project
Cork Folklore Project
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Cork Folklore Project
19 November 2004
Interviewee: Stefan Wullf
Interviewer: Mary O'Driscoll
<strong>Cork 2005 Collection Catalogue Numbers:<br /></strong> <br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/5">CFP_SR00329_mccarthy_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/18">CFP_SR00330_odriscoll_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/19">CFP_SR00331_claffey_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/20">CFP_SR00332_hanover_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/21">CFP_SR00333_desplanques_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/22">CFP_SR00334_bale_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/23">CFP_SR00335_sheridan_1996</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/24">CFP_SR00336_steiner-scott_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/25">CFP_SR00337_rot_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/26">CFP_SR00338_stafford_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/27">CFP_SR00339_odonoghue_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/28">CFP_SR00340_hawkins_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/29">CFP_SR00341_ocarroll_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/30">CFP_SR00342_ikebuasi_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/54">CFP_SR00343_ogeallabhain_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/31">CFP_SR00344_geaney_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/33">CFP_SR00346_abdoulbaneeva_2004</a>;<br />CFP_SR00347_gunes_2004;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/35">CFP_SR00348_fourie_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/36">CFP_SR00349_henderson_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/37">CFP_SR00350_valdman_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/38">CFP_SR00351_carmody_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/39">CFP_SR00352_osullivan_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/40">CFP_SR00353_mahknanov_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/41">CFP_SR00354_oflynn_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/42">CFP_SR00355_akhter_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/43">CFP_SR00356_walker_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/44">CFP_SR00357_kelleher_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/45">CFP_SR00358_manresa_2004</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/46">CFP_SR00359_wimpenny_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/47">CFP_SR00360_skotarczak_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/48">CFP_SR00361_vermeulen_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/49">CFP_SR00362_owen_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/50">CFP_SR00363_dsouza_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/51">CFP_SR00364_setter_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/52">CFP_SR00365_obrien_2005</a>;<br /><a href="http://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/items/show/53">CFP_SR00366_botan_2005</a>:
<br /><strong>Published Material:</strong><br />‘How’s it Goin’, Boy? radio series <a href="http://corkfolklore.org/radio-series/">(six thirty-minute episodes, broadcast 2005 and available on the Cork Folklore Project website)</a>
O'Carroll, Clíona for the Cork Northside Folklore Project (2006) How's it goin', boy? Dublin: Nonsuch Publishing.
1 .wav File
English
Sound
CFP_SR00345_wulff_2004
Cork; Ireland; Germany: 1990s - 2000s;