Historic Cork city structure ‘returned to the streetscape from the scrapheap’

A HISTORIC structure which once was an integral part of Cork City Fire Brigade has now been restored and will serve as an educational point of interest in the heart of the city.

The old Fireman’s Rest that stood proudly on Patrick Street for over a century had been in storage in a Fitzgerald’s Park depot for 20 years but will now become an educational installation on Anglesea Street.

A number of specialist contractors were employed to carry out restoration works on the old structure, a spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Echo. 

“The restoration works are very specialist and so a number of specialist crafts people were employed to work on the project, for example, Leeside Forge, Glasgow-based Walter Mcfarlane and Co. These were led by our own architects department, Carrig Construction and Queenstown Restoration,” they said.

The spokesperson said interpretation points will be installed which will provide “a historical context and background to the rest”. “The intention would be to provide an oral history of the people involved in the rest and the organisations associated with it and the different uses it had.”

The Fireman’s Rest was originally assembled for the city’s fire brigade and consisted of a metal hut that was manned 24/7 by a firefighter with a ladder and hose nearby. Their task was to use this equipment and at the scene of a fire or the immediate environs, and respond to the incident until back up arrived from the city’s fire station at Sullivan’s Quay.

Independent councillor Mick Finn, who had called for the structure’s renovation, said the hut was shared with staff of the old tram company (1898-1930) and later, exclusively used by CIE (1931-2003).

“I am delighted that such an important piece of our city’s history, the Fireman’s Rest, has been resurrected and returned to the streetscape from the scrapheap,” he said.

“The structure survived the Burning of Cork, along with another hugely important part of our heritage — Mangan’s Clock — and it is great to see these two pieces of our past back up in running order. We must continue to preserve and promote Cork’s heritage and history and I look forward to the Fireman’s Rest — now aptly located outside the fire Station — being fitted with resources to continue telling Cork’s story. Preserving and enhancing the historical significance of Bishop Lucey Park is now next on the agenda.”

Cork City Council said once the final works are complete, it intends to hold an official opening for the restored structure.