All About Cork: Heritage Week and open day to host series of events

Heritage Week, from August 16-24, and Heritage Open Day, on August 16, are to be filled with music, talk, and intrigue across the Northside.

Blackpool Library has a few events on for Heritage Week. On Saturday, August 16, at 11.30am, there will be a traditional music session with Michael Lynch.

If you can play a polka or two, drop into Blackpool library with your instrument and join in with the slow-session regulars. All are welcome and if you just want to have a listen and a chat, that’s fine, too.

On Tuesday, August 19, at 11.00am, you can enjoy ‘From the Mountains to the Sea’. This is a talk by photographer Tim McCoy on the history and course of the River Lee, using photographs from drone footage.

Thursday, August 21, at 10.15am, a tutorial/workshop will introduce online genealogy resources available for Irish family history research, including the 1901 and 1911 census returns, civil and church records, Griffith’s Valuation, and online newspaper archives. No booking is required.

On Heritage Day, you can enjoy a historical stroll through the Coal Quay with Michael O’Donovan. The meeting point is outside Peg Twomey’s Shop at 1:30pm.

Booking is essential here.

Dance Cork Firkin Crane will be open from 10am to 5pm. Dance Cork Firkin Crane is the foot of Shandon Bells, in Cork’s Northside. This heritage building, which was part of the Butter Market, was opened in 1855. ‘Firkin’ is a Danish word, meaning ‘quarter barrel’. The firkins, or casks, were weighed on a balance known as a ‘crane’, hence the building’s unusual name.

Guided tours of Dance Cork Firkin Crane will take place at 11.30am, 12.30pm, and 1.30pm. Booking is essential at www.dancecorkfirkincrane.ie.

Civic Trust House invites members of the public to attend a special work-in-progress event, offering insight in to a new project exploring the history of no 50 Pope’s Quay and its neighbourhood.

Built in 1720, no 50 Pope’s Quay is one of the earliest surviving Georgian buildings in Cork. Once home to merchants, a hospital, and later a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, it has served many purposes over the centuries.

Since 2006, it has housed Civic Trust House, a shared base for arts organisations in the city.

It will be open from 4pm to 5.30pm. No booking is required.

A guided tour of MacCurtain St’s Everyman Theatre will take place at 11am.

The Everyman was designed by H Brunton and built in 1840 by John O’Connell. Located on the street front of MacCurtain St, this terraced, two-bay, three-storey was built as a house, which was part of a group with the adjoining houses to the east and west.

The Everyman is now one of the busiest presenting and producing theatres in Ireland. It incorporates a diverse and eclectic programme of world-class theatre, dance, music, visual arts, family entertainment and variety shows.

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour at the Everyman at 11am which will be ISL interpreted by Ray Greene. Booking is essential on www.everymancork.com.

For more info on Heritage Open days, visit: https://tinyurl.com/33nrmf9u Information on Heritage week is available here.

IT’S YOU, IT’S YOU, IT’S YOU!

Film about Mother Jones

Following the recent success of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival in Shandon, another event will put the focus on the famous woman who fought so hard for workers’ rights.

The documentary Mother Jones and Her Children will be shown on Tuesday morning, August 19, at 11am at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon, as part of Heritage week in Cork city.

Eddie Noonan, of Cork Community Media Hub, will describe the making of this documentary in the US and Cork and it will be followed by a question-and-answer session with members of the Cork Mother Jones committee.

All are welcome; no need to book. There is free entry, so just head along and enjoy learning about the labour heritage of Cork-born Mary Harris.

Call 086 3196063.

Credit union boost for students

Cathedral Credit Union Ltd, Shandon St, has announced details of its third-level bursary awards, which are open to its members.

A €3,000 bursary is payable over a three-year period and is open to members who are entering full-time third-level education this year for the first time.

An additional €1,000 bursary is payable over one year and open to all members in full-time third-level education.

The closing date for receipt of applications is September 30. Application forms, and terms and conditions, are available in their office at 44/46 Shandon St or can be downloaded from cathedralcu.ie/educationbursaries.

Assistant deputy manager Aaron Hosford said: “We are well aware of the increasing cost of college and accommodation facing third-level students.

“Being a community-based organisation, we are delighted to offer financial support to local students.”

The bursary was introduced in 2004 and has proved to be a great success.

Parish office opening hours

Office hours in the family of parishes have been communicated. The times are as follows:

• The Cathedral Parish Office — Monday to Thursday: 8:30am to 4pm. Friday: 8:30am to 2pm.
• St Finbarr’s South Parish Office — Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9am to 11am. Genealogy enquiries — Wednesday: 10am to 11am.
• St Patrick’s Parish Office — Monday to Thursday: 9am to 12pm. Friday: 9am to 10:30am.
• SS Peter & Paul’s Parish Office — Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am-2pm.

Prisma back at the Everyman

Cork’s dedicated Queer Film Festival – Prisma – is back at the Everyman. The festival’s opening gala is to take place on August 29.

The venue said: “We’re very excited to host the festival opening with the Irish premiere of Mathias Broe’s intimate romantic drama Sauna [Denmark 2025].

“Following the film, Cork’s drag collective Krystal & The Queers will make their theatrical debut with the premiere of their drag performance Somewhere under the Rainbow.”

Tickets can be found here.

Ceilí fusion dance workshop

Blackpool Block Party with Cork Community Art Link and Blackpool Community Centre presents Community Ceilí fusion dance taster workshop with Maeve Kelleher today and next Tuesday between 7pm and 8.30pm at Blackpool Community Centre. Book and get more info at 089-4013274 or just pop along on the evening.

‘The Good Crank’ opens

Opening tomorrow at Cork Arts Theatre is The Good Crank.

The venue said: “Kitty Clog is an aging woman who is determined not to go quietly into that good night. With lots of attitude, a motley crew of supporting characters [all played by star of Father Ted and Fair City, Rose Henderson], Kitty takes us with her on a rollercoaster journey to find her lost man. Treading a blurry line between humour and pathos; yearning and farce; belonging and marginalisation, The Good Crank is an exploration of the flip-flop existence of an older woman at odds with the world she has been squeezed into.”

Written by Alan McMonagle and directed by Gorretti Slavin, the show is presented by Sight Nor Sound Theatre. See www.corkartstheatre.com for tickets.

Firkin Crane heritage talk

Heritage week will see a talk entitled ‘Honouring Heritage, Shaping the Future: The Story and Conservation of the Firkin Crane’ next Tuesday at 11am. This conversation brings together Colin Rynne, senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at University College Cork, and Chris Southgate, conservation engineer and director of Southgate Associates to reflect on the heritage significance of the Firkin Crane.

Admission is free, but booking is essential at dancecorkfirkincrane.ie.