'You’d have to be of a certain vintage to remember Charlie': Do you remember this Cork character?

THE search is on for information on an enigmatic Cork character colloquially known as ‘Charlie the Bogman’.

Independent councillor in the city’s South-Central ward, Paudie Dineen recently issued a social media appeal for information on the mysterious Leesider as he intends putting forward a submission for a new bridge connecting Grange to Tramore Valley Park to be named ‘Charlie’s Bridge’.

“You’d have to be of a certain vintage to remember Charlie! I don’t know his surname — that’s why I put the request out on social media to try and get some more information on him — but Charlie used live in the bog which back in the day was adjacent to the landfill,” Mr Dineen told The Echo. 

“He was like a wild man for want of a better word, but he was a quiet man. When we were young, we’d see him walking into town with his dogs and his stick. He’d be in doing his bits in town and he’d come back to the bog and swim in the water there and bathe himself.”

The Grange Rd to Tramore Valley Park pedestrian and cycle link consists of a pedestrian and cycle path from the Grange Rd down the Valley and into the Tramore Valley Park via an overbridge over the N40. It is currently under construction with an expected completion date of September.

Last month, Cork City Council commenced a public consultation, inviting nominations for the naming of the new bridge. Elements of the bridge will be delivered to site over the coming weeks and its installation is planned for mid-April.

Mr Dineen said he believes it would be fitting to name the bridge after Charlie. 

“I think it would be very appropriate to name the new bridge after him because you could say he was the official owner of that area before anyone really knew it was there — long before Tramore Valley Park.”

Mr Dineen is appealing for any information on Charlie to strengthen his submission to the council.

“Someone somewhere must know something about him. Even if it was just his surname or when he passed away,” he said.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is April 28 at 4pm. For details on how to make a submission see consult.corkcity.ie/en