A couple of years ago BBC Radio 4 ran a marvellous series of programmes titled “A History of the World in 100 Objects”. The idea was simple. Staff from the British Museum chose 100 objects from their vast collection that would represent the history of the world over the last two million years.
The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor was responsible for compiling the series, and the subsequent book. He readily admits that the task was almost impossible. There can be no definitive list of 100 objects that would address the many evolving aspects of planet Earth and the human race. Nevertheless, the MacGregor, the staff or the Museum and the BBC made a fair hand of achieving their goal.
Lists like this always make good talking points. Arguments will rage over the best books, the best films, the best paintings, the best teams, players, horses etc. Everyone has an opinion.
I read last week of a fundraising walk to be held on April 1st next. The event is titled “The 21 Bridges of Cork”. It is a guided two hour walk, led by my old schoolmate Antóin O’Callaghan, along the banks of the River Lee. Antóin will impart some of his vast knowledge on the history of Cork’s bridges during the walk. The monies raised by the event will be given to three charities supported by UCC.
All this set me thinking about our sporting heritage here in Cork. Supposing you were entertaining a visitor to Cork for a few hours, and let’s suppose that this visitor has heard of the great diverse sporting prowess of Cork. Your guest asks you for a guided tour of some of the hotspots of Cork’s sporting heritage. Where would you take him?
There are no easy answers to this but here are 10 suggested places that have cradled of our sporting culture and that are more or less within the city.
The Chetwynd Viaduct. Cork has been a hotspot of road bowling for about 400 years. Fintan Lane in his book “Long Bullets The history of road bowling in Ireland” suggests the game was probably introduced to Cork by British weavers in the late 16th early 17th century.
The Viaduct was built in the 19th century to accommodate the West Cork Railway. The iconic viaduct presented a challenge to the bowl players of Cork. Could it be lofted with a 28oz bowl? It has never been cleared but Mick Barry and others have landed a bowl on top. Lofting the Viaduct may not be as important as winning an All-Ireland title but it is without doubt the most tangible image of the power of a good bowl player.
The Straight Road. It may not look much now, but the Carrigrohane Straight was once the site of Grand Prix motorcar race. That was April 1938. The race circuit, which featured Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Bugatti cars, took the drivers around Victoria Cross, right at Dennehy’s Cross, out the Model Farm Road to the Poulavone Roundabout. Then back in the Carrigrohane road. There were 33 laps in the race. The race was won by Frenchman Rene Dreyfus driving a Delahaye. The circuit was also used in other motor racing and motorbike events.
The Mardyke. The Mardyke is synonymous with Cork sport. From Presentation College (Winners of Munster titles in hurling and rugby) along to the Cricket Grounds, the Sundays Well Tennis and Boating Club and finally to the UCC grounds, the Mardyke has nurtured and hosted countless Olympic, world and All-Ireland champions. It is undoubtedly Cork’s Golden Mile of Sport.
The River Lee. The dear old River Lee lost its lustre as a sports venue during the second half of the 20th century. It is no longer the venue of the famous Cork Rowing Regatta with its famous Leander Cup. The old glory of the Regatta can be seen by searching “Cork Regatta 1902” in YouTube.
As well as being the site for rowing the Lee was also famous for the Lee Swim in the 1930s. This event has been revived in recent years and once again is attracting a top class field of swimmers.
Páirc Uí Chaoímh. Along the Marina you have the Páirc Uí Chaoímh and the Showgrounds. All this area was once the site of the Cork Racecourse.
Even when it was still a racecourse it was used by the GAA and other organisations as a playing field. In the early 1900s it was owned a managed by a private company who rented the facility for a share of the gate. It rarely turned a profit because it was too easy to gain admittance without paying. Eventually the GAA fenced off the Athletic Grounds site and became owners of that section.
Further up the old racecourse site you have the old Fords Factory, which spawned the famous Fordson FC. Fordsons were one of the top League of Ireland teams in the 1920s and won the FAI Cup in 1926.
Victoria Hotel. Coming back into the city centre we find the Victoria Hotel. The hotel was the venue for the second meeting of the new GAA in December 1884. This was arguably just as important as the first meeting in Thurles. It was a better-attended meeting and Dr Crokes letter of acceptance to be a patron of the GAA was first read in public.
City Hall. The City Hall was the venue for many of Corks greatest boxing tournaments during the 1940s and 50s. The crowds used to flock to the City Hall to see great Cork boxers like Tommy Hyde, Willie O’Mahony, Paddy “Champ” Martin, Fred Tiedt and many more. If you were good enough to win at the City Hall you could box anywhere in the world.
Collins Barracks. The “Barracks” will always be associated with GAA and the great Army teams that won county senior football titles in the 1940s and 50s. In its earlier carnation as Victoria Barracks, it was the provider of many the soccer teams that helped to get soccer off the ground in the first decade of the 20th century. The Rifle Brigade, the 49th Brigade and many other teams took part in the Munster FA competitions.
Basketball also arrived in Cork through Collins Barracks; the game was first played in there in 1927. For many years after that the “Barracks” had the only basketball court in Cork.
The Croppy Boy. No tour of sporting hotspots would be complete without the cry of the hounds. There have been many good hunting grounds all around the outskirts of the city but the Croppy Boy, on the top of Fair Hill with its view of the Lee Valley, is as good and as representative as any.
As Sean O’Callaghan wrote in the original version of the song “The Boys of Fair Hill”
“Come on boys and spend a day with our harrier club so gay,
Around the Croppy Boy and the old road called the Cill”
Turners Cross. There are two important venues here. The first was originally known as Johnny Butler’s field. It was once known as “The Box” but nowadays it is simply called “the Cross”. Back in 1898 the Lees Gaelic Football Club secured a lease on Butler’s Field and for the next thirty years it was an important GAA venue for the City. In 1940 it became a venue for soccer, and the Munster FA are the current landlords.
The other venue is just up the road at Musgrave Park. The venue succeeded the Mardyke as the premier city rugby venue in the 1950s. Munster defeated Australia there in 1991 and it is home for the Sundays Well and Dolphin Rugby Clubs.
That’s my brief tour of Cork sporting hotspots. I don’t claim that it is definitive, but it is representative of how we have sported and played by the Lee, and it would give any tourist a flavour of our sporting tradition.