Boolean logic and a derelict house: Every time you search on Google, for say, a restaurant or pub that serves pizza and pints, the underpinning magic, OK, technology, is relying on the foundations of Boolean algebra and the work of mathematician George Boole, an autodidact and the first Professor of Mathematics at Queen’s College Cork.
In 1849, the same year Boole was appointed to UCC, remarkably, having never even attended university, he moved into a house overlooking the Lee at Grenville Place. Locally known as Boole House, it’s a sight for sore eyes. For years, there was a large poster covering the front of the house with the slogan “The Boole House of Innovation.” UCC took it down when the joke got old.
Boole House was on the agenda at this week’s City Council meeting, when Cllr Niamh O’Connor (SDs) asked about the finances surrounding the house, which the council bought and transferred to UCC in 2017.
The City Council spent €961K on Boole House, including considerable construction works to make it safe, and transferred it to UCC for €600k.
You would think that, having bought the house at a reduced price and given nearly ten years to do something with it, the University, which named its main library after Boole, would have transformed the historic residence. Perhaps as a museum and/or digs for postgraduate students?
Au contraire.
“The figures show that the City made a substantial investment in this property and, unfortunately, at the moment there is very little to show for that investment. I acknowledge that the building is now in much better condition than it was in 2009 and 2010, when it partially collapsed, but it remains vacant and unfinished,” Cllr O’Connor said.
“Boole House could have been a flagship case study in how a city rescues and successfully repurposes a derelict historic building. We have done the difficult part by saving the structure from collapse, but the job is only half-finished if the building remains empty,” she added.
Meanwhile, nature is growing wild in the front garden, and likely elsewhere in the house too. As the University is keen to point out, “UCC is ranked an impressive 2nd in the world for sustainability”.
Moving on.
(Side note: the Boole family were a fascinating bunch. Earlier this year during a visit to China, Chinese president Xi Jinping brought up a book he had read in his youth in scripted conversations with our own dear leader. That book: The Gadfly by Ethel Voynich, daughter of George and Mary Boole.)
E-bike rental scheme: Twenty-five e-bikes are now available from Cork City Council to rent as part of a new initiative. While e-bikes are great, especially in a hilly city such as Cork, cheap they are not (most sell for north of €1k). Under the City Council's new e-bike scheme, you can rent one of the bikes for up to three months, enough time to make a considered decision as to whether you want to stick with one. The bikes are available from St Finbarr's GAA Club, Mayfield GAA Club, Blackrock GAA Club, Cork City Library, and Blackpool Community Association. Successful applicants will be required to pay a €50 refundable deposit
Putting plants and trees on Pana: Contractors for the City Council (the Pavilion) are well on their way to finishing the flower and treescape on St Patrick’s Street, outside Brown Thomas. Next up is a smaller, but similar, flower and tree bed opposite near the Savoy.
It’s a tricky time to be planting flowers, given the heatwave and general absence of rain. However, the City Council can hardly be taken to task for weather conditions. The intervention, as the City Council calls it, is being funded by the National Transport Authority, and the objective is to make the city centre greener and more welcoming. The pilot will run for 12–18 months, during which lessons will be learned, etc.
A few hundred metres up the street, the vegetation on the much-heralded €10m redevelopment of MacCurtain Street is looking, well, parched and unloved. The lobby group for the area, the VQ, is currently holding a photo competition to promote MacCurtain Street; we doubt our effort below would win hearts and minds
Asking for… a lot?: Visitors to the Lee Fields, as well as college kids, will be familiar with BOXD, which has been operating on the Carrigrohane Road for a number of years as a drive-thru cafe. CC & H Imperial Ltd, which operates the cafe, has applied to Cork City Council for retention and development, including building a new kitchen, outdoor seating and storage. One agency that will likely take a close look at the planning application is Transport Infrastructure Ireland, as the "straight road," as it's colloquially known, is a national route and the cafe is located just off the road. But, given coffee's "critical" status, perhaps the planning gods will be forgiving. A decision is due by the end of August.
Ultra vires: Life lesson 47 - a little knowledge of Latin never hurt; you never know when it will come in handy, especially in affairs of local government. How so, you say? Well, the phrase ultra vires came to the fore in recent correspondence concerning the Chief Executive’s endorsement of Páirc Uí Chaoimh‘s (PuC) bid to get increased access to the stadium across municipal land. As you may recall, the material contravention failed to garner a majority in an all-councillor vote. The City Council’s planners and environment officers also signalled their opposition to the planning application, but the Cork City Council’s Executive Management Team rowed in behind PuC.
Did the Chief Executive act ultra vires, or beyond her power, in batting (you mean hurling?) for PuC? Certainly not, she replied in a response to councillors. Besides, as she pointed out, the material contravention failed to get a majority in the council chambers, and PuC has the right of appeal. All quite true. But while it might not be ultra vires, it certainly sounds like… what’s the Latin for “stay in your lane”?
Event Centre update #658: Here come the Canadians. This week, The Examiner reported that the Shenkman Group have partnered with Cork County Board for an 11,000 capacity Event Centre at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on the 4G pitch.
If it ever got off the ground, it would certainly help the County Board put a much more sizzle dent in the debt built up from the redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh. However, such a bid is likely to face massive local opposition, as well as opposition from groups in the city centre, which needs a lot more than flower planters.
Blackpool flood defence: The government this week gave the green light for the controversial flood defence scheme of the River Bride in Blackpool. The €20m construction scheme would see a 350m culvert of the Bride as it comes through Blackpool to the Lee, mitigating flooding in the built-up area.
Those against the scheme have long said that the best defence is upstream, and not with a culvert which will section off the river. Unless a judicial review is once more mounted against the scheme, there’ll be boots on the ground and diggers in the river soon enough.
Cycling for All Cork: If you've been up or down the Marina Promenade, you'll likely have come across Cycling for All Cork, a volunteer-led inclusive group that is premised around making cycling available, well, to all. Set up by Glanmire man Mark O'Donoghue, Cycling for All Cork has a number of bikes, including tandems and other bikes which they modify based on the participants' needs. This week, Cycling for All Cork was named the overall winner at the Lord Mayor's Civic, Community and Voluntary Awards. For more information about volunteering or participating, contact cyclingforallcork@gmail.com.
What to do about Bessborough?: When Bessborough closed in 1998, it left open the question of where more than 800 babies and children who were born and died at the former mother-and-baby home are buried. That has come to the fore once more as planning permission has been granted for homes to be built at Bessborough on the southside of the city. The irony is stark: Bessborough was a home, where mothers and children were separated from society. At the same time, we are living through a housing crisis and need to build upwards of 40,000 houses a year. The government is building more houses but repeatedly missing those targets; Bessborough was rezoned and added to the City’s Development Plan (which councillors approved) as a place to build homes for people, and for the developer, Estuary View Enterprises, to turn a tidy profit.
In City Council this week, there was a suspension of orders, which allowed for councillors to debate the future of the site.
Protesters, and some of those born at Bessborough, want the sanctity of the site, which in all likelihood is a burial ground, kept intact. To do so, they are urging the City Council to carry out a compulsory purchase order. There is cross-party support for keeping the site unbuilt; how that will be done, by a compulsory purchase order or some other means, remains to be seen. The Labour Party is organising a protest for this Saturday, 18 July at 2:30pm outside the City Library on Grand Parade. They want the government to intervene and ensure that Bessborough is not developed and that a full extensive survey is carried out.
Separately, as The Echo reports, nine Cork city TDs have written to the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, asking that the Government buy the 60-acre grounds.
At the full Council meeting this week, Cllr Terry Shannon (FF) told the chamber that he was born at the institution, along with his siblings. His late wife, who was born in London, was “trafficked to Ireland for adoption” from Bessborough. While he said he supported fellow councillors’ calls for the compulsory purchase of the Bessborough site, he added that councillors needed to be aware that landowners would be entitled to compensation for residential land with extant planning permission.
Widderlings Lane gallery: If you go down, or up, Widderlings Lane you’re sure to find a load of art on the walls. The lane which cuts up to the Shandon from Pope’s Quay (right next to Myo Cafe) has been transformed into a vibrant outdoor gallery, celebrating the creativity, talent, and stories of the young people who took part in the CEART project. Have a look out for Mother Jones in the mix. Also, if you know how that lane got its name, drop us a line.
And finally, as we all learned this week, football is not coming "home," but it could have come to Ringmahon Rovers, where memesters were quick to whip up posters of Kane & Co versus the FAI-fined side for a match-up on 19 July, in where else but Páirc Uí Chaoimh. You can imagine the chuckles from PuC, while at the same time wishing it were true.
The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival. July 23-25, Shandon
Another Love Story, July 17-18, Ballyvollane House
Skibereen Arts Festival. July 24-August 2. Across Skibereen
West Cork Literary Festival. 10-17 July. Bantry
Cork Craft Month: August. Across the city and county
Cork on a Fork: August 12-16. Various locations across the city.
🚲Cycling, as anyone who has ever been up on a bike will tell you, is about freedom. And escape. If you fancy taking it to the nth level, World Naked Bike Ride rolls in to Cork this week for the annual celebration of cycling and wearing of body paint and/or birthday suits. The cycle is about two hours long and will drop by City Hall en route. Volunteers, musicians, body painters and participants can contact nakedBikeCork@gmail.com for more information and to join in.
Fun fact: Ken O’Flynn, then a city councillor, now a TD, sent a strongly worded email outline his 'profound concerns' of a picture featuring participants taken with former Lord Mayor Dan Boyle in 2024.
🎺The Triskel’s lunchtime Jazz Series returns this weekend with local stalwarts Rory McCarthy (piano and keyboards) and Hugh Dillon (guitar) taking to the stage. Both musicians have recorded and toured extensively and for the Triskel gig they’ll be performing some original compositions as well as more contemporary pieces. They’ll be joined on the day by Davie Ryan on drums and Mikey O’Connell on bass. Tickets (€18/16) and more info here.
Time, date, place: 1pm, Saturday July 18, The Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin St
🎥Jodie Foster returns to the big screen for a French-speaking role in a whoddunnit mystery caper. Foster plays Lilian Steiner, a renowned psychiatrist, who is convinced that the death of one of her patients is not at all what it seems. Cue psychiatrist cum detective in a bid to get to the bottom of the mystery. Tickets and more info here.
Time, date, place: Sunday July 19-Wednesday July 22, The Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin St
🖼️The Open Walls artists collective are holding a workshop and craft day ay Myo Cafe this coming Tuesday. Artists Tori Ciolkosz, Patrick Penney, and Ailbhe Reilly Tuite will be the tutors o the day for three interconnected workshops spanning bookbinding, printmaking, and stop motion. All materials for the workshops will be provided, and you will come out with a multimedia artwork at the end. All funds raised are will be used to support the first ever Open Walls Summer Festival in mid-August. Tickets (20) and more information here.
Time, date, place: 4pm - 7pm, Tuesday July 21, Myo Cafe, 34 Pope’s Quay
📈The Story of Us: Census 1926 is a touring exhibition marking the historic release of the census records from 100 years ago. Essentially, it puts more colour and flesh on all those stats as it explores the world reflected in the census and reveals what life was like in 1926: in towns and cities, across rural communities and islands, from crowded urban tenements to the mansions of the aristocracy. Free in. More info here.
Time, date, place: 10am – 5pm, Mon – Sat, 9 – 25 July, St Peter’s, North Main Street.
🎻Céilí Cois Locha: Shoe the Donkey every Wednesday evening out at the lovely Lough (and feed the ducks while you're at it). The community céilí is open to all every Wednesday throughout the summer. Irish trad music and tutors for beginner dancers.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm -9pm, every Wednesday, The Lough
🖼️Summer show: The Lavit Gallery's summer show returns this week through August with nearly 40 artists on show, including a mix of painting, print, photography, sculpture and craft. Per the gallery, there is a Cork emphasis, but new artists from across the country are invited each year. Pencil in August 1, if you're about, for a guided tour of the new exhibition and a talk on collecting art with gallery director, Brian Mac Domhnaill.
Time, date, place: Daily until August 29, closed Sunday and Monday, The Lavit Gallery, Wandesford Quay, Clarke’s Bridge
🎶Multi-instrumentalist Niamh Dalton who also records with Ana Palindrome and Tra Pháidín comes to the Boole Library next week for the Boole Sounds 2026 sessions. Both collectives are well worth checking out. Dalton will be performing with Rattling Ark, an experimental Irish folk project led by acclaimed cellist Kevin Murphy, alongside Thomas Haugh, Lizzie Murtagh and Consuelo Breschi, who have just released their debut album, Top of a Mountain. This is a gig well worth your time. Tickets from €13.50. More information here.
Time, date, place: 7pm, Thursday July 23, The Creative Zone, UCC Library.
👔Silly shirt: For one night (and one hour) only, Forde’s Bar at the bottom of Barrack Street will be giving out a free pint to wearers of silly shirts this Saturday night. It’ll be hard to top bar man Barry’s curated pieces, especially his most recent yellow rubber duck against a pink back drop number, but try you can. Free pint for silly shirt is form 9-10pm.
Time, date, place: Saturday July 18, Forde’s, 2 Barrack Street
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. As always, any tips, comments, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us at tripeanddrisheen@substack.com. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity. Get in touch. Have a lovely weekend!
🔔If you know about something to do in Cork that you’d like us to share in the Out+About sections of our Friday View newsletter (published every Friday morning), please fill in the form below. It could be an art exhibition, a film, music to go see, theatre, comedy, something delicious to go eat, a clothes swap, public lecture, a community clean-up, community gardening - anything readers could get out and do.
We’d be delighted if you could share your listings of events with us via this form and we’ll include them in the Out +About section of the Friday View.
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