Hello and welcome to the Friday View. Let’s get to it!
A celestial communal event:In the end, the masses gathered in Tramore Valley Park, at Blackrock Castle, and in Bell’s Field ended up looking at banks of clouds that swarmed over the Cork skyline, eclipsing the solar eclipse (or the Cork Cloud Convention, as one photographer termed it). But until the canopy of cloud moved in on Wednesday evening, there was no doubting the excitement the solar eclipse engendered and the wonder it elicited.
Spare a thought for Barry Gallagher, RTÉ’s reporter at the Blackrock Observatory, who in his live broadcast on the 9pm news was left with the crumbs of expectation to report on, while up in Armagh Vincent Kearney was rubbing it in with comments such as that maybe people bound for Cork should have headed north – or to the sunny and cloudless south-east.
Regardless, the celestial happening thousands of miles away and the fine weather made for a glorious and wondrous communal evening that proves nature can still draw a crowd. See you in 2090.
The Fleadh in Cork: Around 1.6 million people are estimated to have descended on Belfast over the course of the city’s first Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which took place in pubs, derelict buildings, concert halls, city buses, and on the streets and squares of the city last weekend. It looked like quite some celebration of Irish trad music for those looking on from social media clips or on TG4. Even the Unionists were clapping along!
The good news for Belfast is that they get to do it all again next year. Interestingly, as Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice pointed out in a press release this week, Cork city has never had the Fleadh. Predictably, he called for the trad fest to come to Cork. I mean, we do have derelict buildings and incredible trad players across the city and county.
‘Cork has never hosted the Fleadh, and I believe this needs to change. Cork has thriving Comhaltas branches across the county, along with so many talented musicians, singers, dancers and artists who deserve to be celebrated. What is needed now is a real commitment from Cork City Council to develop and submit a serious bid for 2028.’
‘Supporting arts and culture is a key political priority for me, and I would be delighted to work with the Council on this bid,’ he added.
Cork is well served by some great trad music fests such as the ann Cork Folk Fest coming in October, which brings some of the best trad musicians in the county, and further afield, to pubs and concert venues across the city. Likewise, Creative Tradition is doing remarkable work to teach music to a new generation of musicians and has established Féile Fearann Rí on the northside of the city to celebrate and showcase the living tradition. There is plenty of well connected people for Pádraig to link in with.
Being a Kerryman, Pádraig might do well to have a word with the good people of Listowel, who have hosted the Fleadh a grand total of 14 times, the most of any city or town in Ireland. They’re obviously doing something right in the literary capital of the Kingdom.
Pádraig did not mention the Event Centre as a possible Fleadh venue. And neither shall we.
Not charming, not pretty, we’ve been here before: Discharge from the pumping station at Nano Nagle Bridge on the southern channel of the Lee poured into the waterway earlier this week (see video below). This comes months after a section of Grand Parade was closed off earlier this year to carry out work on the pumping station.
According to Uisce Éireann, those works, which concluded in March this year, ‘allowed access for specialist contractors to the underground Pump Station located on Grand Parade, for removal of redundant equipment, cleaning of the pumping station and removal of historical debris.’
As you might recall, we wrote about the effluent just over a year ago when it was a regular occurrence and about the ecological damage it was doing to the waterway.
At that time, in their response, the state agency said it could be as a result of a storm overflow. It’s safe to say storm overflow is hardly the cause of the latest release.
Not building: While new estates and houses fly up, the pace is uneven, especially when it comes to social housing. Per The Echo, almost 40% of Cork city social homes which are already in the pipeline have not progressed at all since 2024 according to new stats from the Department of Housing quarterly Construction Status Report.
In total, 2,646 Cork social homes are in the pipeline across 130 developments.
Of these, 318 homes in Cork county and 438 in Cork city have not moved on from their current stage since 2024 or earlier, meaning just under 40% of the projects still in progress have notmoved forward in over a year.
Crann Ard in Fermoy occupies a special place: the 48 homes are all in limbo land, having been left idle since the end of 2017
Greenway for Glanmire: The new Glanmire to Riverstown Greenway officially opened for business, if that’s the appropriate word, this week, and it comes a week after the City Council announced plans for a new 10-acre park that will link up with the greenway. Currently out for public consultation (link here), with a closing date of Friday 2 October, have your say, etc.
The proposal for the park ticks a lot of boxes : it will include children’s play areas, a learn-to-cycle track, a dedicated dog park, informal recreation spaces, seating areas, picnic facilities, public gathering spaces and landscaped parkland.
One box it does not tick is public toilets (unless we’ve missed something?) The fact that building public facilities such as a new park and not building a public toilet to go with it is a feature and not a bug is both astounding and totally normal. And totally baffling.
How could this be rectified? Through your submissions.
Local YA writer Cethan Leahy will be launching his second novel in Dubray Books on September 3. Following on from Tuesdays Are Just as Bad, his debut novel, Dead Teenager Movie, published by Little Island, follows April, Carl and a bunch of their rich kid friends to a big house in West Cork for one last hooray before college starts. But what they don't count on is blood, guts and the stuff of a slasher movie! You can pre-order here.
Heritage, now!: National Heritage Week kicks off tomorrow, August 15, and runs through until the following Saturday. The theme this year is ‘Heritage at Risk’ – and when isn’t it, says you? Still, there is much to admire and learn about. We’ve picked a few events here that might tickle your heritage fancy.
🎻Opening the luthier’s studio door on George’s Quay: You might not ordinarily know it, but as well as being home to some incredible trad musicians, the city is also a creative base for luthiers, harp makers, reed makers and many others. Top of T+D’sheritage week list is a look inside the workshop on George’s Quay, where luthier and fiddler Ian Knepper makes violins overlooking the Lee and Morrison’s Island.
🗣️Ian will be joined by fellow luthier and musician Macdara Ó Faoláin for the open studio event (12–3pm, Thursday 20 August), which promises to be a great opportunity to look at the tools, observe some techniques and ask questions of two talented and very sound instrument makers. More info here.
Former Lord Mayor, Independent Councillor and local historian Kieran McCarthy will be a busy man next week as he leads seven different walking tours, beginning this Sunday at the National Monument, Grand Parade, with a walk and talk of the historical development of the city.
During all next week, he’ll also be taking his history walk to the Marina (Thursday 20 August), the old city workhouse at St Finbarr’s Hospital (Tuesday 18 August) and Shandon (Monday 17 August). All tours are free and last about two hours. The full list, including where to meet, is all here.
Fancy not walking, but figuring out how to build a dry stone wall? Well, get yourself on the Bus to Ballincollig, where Jim Fahy will be leading a demonstration of the techniques, as well as the vocabulary, such as face stone, coping stones and pinning stones, that goes into building dry stone walls. Meet at the bicycle stand in the main car park on Inniscarra Road at 7pm on Thursday 18 August.
One more, while we’re in Ballincollig, or actually the River Lee, where Ellen Murphy, Cork Water Community Officer with LAWPRO, and Rosemarie McDonald, Parks Biodiversity Officer with Cork City Council, will be taking samples from the river to look specifically at the macroinvertebrates: small aquatic animals that lack a backbone but are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They’re also vital to a healthy waterway. Meet at the bicycle stand in the main car park and head down to the Weir to take samples. 12pm to 2pm.
There’s much else planned for Ballincollig, including a bat walk, tree talk and what the western suburb is doing to promote sustainability. Full list here.
Library calling: Where would we be without the city’s libraries, which will be hosting a range of events for Heritage Week? This talk by Pat Duggan will certainly interest anyone who remembers this name: the Athenaeum.
🗣️The forerunner to the Opera House, it was destroyed by fire in December 1955. Pat is currently writing a book about the old Opera House and how it got built. (If you want to learn more about the disastrous fire and how it brought the curtains down on 100 years of theatre, Doc on 1 has a podcast here, first broadcast in 1985.) Free in. All welcome. Cork City Library, 1:30pm, Saturday 15 August.
🎶In the Rory Gallagher Music Library on the same day, award-winning Sean Nós singer Sorcha de Róiste will be leading a workshop for beginners/all levels in Sean Nós singing. That will include the pronunciation and meaning of two songs. All welcome. Cork City Library, 11am, Saturday 15 August.
🌳UCC likes to promote its green shoots and sustainability, as it should. It’s less shouty about its failure to build a Business School, despite shelling out nearly €20m on a city centre site. The main campus is home to more than 450 species of flora and fauna, and during Heritage Week those species will be the inspiration for a walk and talk that marries art and nature.
Led by Dr Maria Kirrane (Head of the Sustainability & Climate Action Office, UCC) and artist Sarah O'Brien, the walk will focus on the efforts the university is making to protect wildlife and habitats, while also acknowledging some of the wider research on biodiversity loss. O'Brien will lead the arts element. All welcome. Materials provided. More info here. Meet at the Gluckslman. Wednesday, 19 August, 12:30pm - 2pm
🖼️Open Walls, the DIY art collective, is holding its inaugural two-day festival this weekend on the courtyard at Wandesford Quay. There's plenty in the way of workshops (making pastels from old make-up, puppet making for all ages and much else), as well as exhibitions and art markets on both days featuring lots of young artists. Head to Wandesford Quay for both days. More information on their socials.
🎶Laura Hyland will finish up her Triskel residency this weekend with a 70-minute free performance with Rebecca Collins and Eithne Ní Chatháin (no booking required). Hyland has been drifting in and out of the historic site/cultural centre for the past three weeks of her residency.
Per Hyland, the concert will feature ‘songs for voice and guitar in the main church space. The result of a lifelong songwriting practice, these songs are personal, subjective, at times spiritual, and, in essence, humble in the face of the unknown. Offered up in the same spirit of vulnerability as the many souls who have worshipped in Christchurch down the centuries, these songs are my prayers of faith, hope and wonder at the mysteries, beauty and contradictions of our existence.”
🌮Cork on a Fork continues across the weekend with a street zone outside the future city library at the Counting House. Unlike the MacCurtain Street takeover, which is only open to those with deep pockets, South Main Street will be closed to traffic from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 15 August and will feature farm animals, live music, food stalls, face painting and etc. That said, it’ll probably cost a few quid too, but not as much as the posh privilege of sitting down on MacCurtain Street with the LinkedIn lovelies.
Meanwhile, if it’s (free!) cooking demos you’re on the hunt for, head over to Grand Parade (Saturday 15 August) as outside the City Library there is a day of cooking demos lined up. That includes cooking with amaranth (a Mexican superfood, but grown locally), cooking with beans, peas and lentils, cooking with fish, and making soda bread, culminating with a competition to make the best pintxos-style taste of Cork. Where would you get it? Grand Parade. From 10:30am. Full line-up here.
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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