All About Cork: Bowling exhibition ‘takes to the road’ for Heritage Week

Cork County Library is running an exhibition, entitled ‘Road Bowling in Cork and Armagh’, for Heritage Week.

Kieran Wyse, of the Local Studies Library, told The Echo the exhibition celebrates a sport that is synonymous with Cork.

“It’s a subject that [might] be of special interest to Bishopstown readers, through the Mick Barry connection, and the regular activity on the Waterfall Rd and other parts of the outskirts for the Sunday ‘score’,” Mr Wyse said.

The late Mick Barry was, of course, a Waterfall native widely regarded as the greatest road bowler of all time. He won eight All-Ireland titles in a sporting career that spanned 60 years, starting in 1937 and ending with his final score on Dublin Hill in 1997.

His most famous feat was lofting a 16oz bowl over the Chetwynd Viaduct on St Patrick’s Day in 1955.

In 1999, the national road bowling organisation, Ból-Chumann na hÉireann, named him the ‘Supreme Bowler of the Millennium’.

Mick Barry passed away, at the age of 94, in December 2014.

Road bowling is a sport played mainly in Cork and Armagh, although it enjoys some popularity in parts of Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, Mayo, Louth, Monaghan, Tyrone, and Dublin. Competitors attempt to propel a 28oz solid iron bowl, or ‘bullet’, along a predetermined course of country road in the least number of throws.

The sport is thought by some to be indigenous to Ireland, and it dates back to at least the 17th century.

However, a similar sport, called Klootschieten, is played in northern Germany and in eastern parts of the Netherlands, among them Friesland and Schleswig-Holstein. Tournaments have been staged between Ireland and those regions.

Given the similarities with Klootschieten, a school of thought suggests that road bowling might have been brought to Ireland by Dutch soldiers fighting in the Williamite Wars of 1689 to 1691.

Whatever its provenance, road bowling remains a sport very identified with Cork, and the County Library’s celebration of it is well worth a visit.

The exhibition, ‘Road Bowling in Cork and Armagh’, will run until Wednesday, August 27, in the LHQ Gallery in the County Library on the Carrigrohane Rd, T12 K 335.

Playground works plan

Cork City Council has officially put out to tender the planned works to upgrade and reinstate Innishmore Playground, a former lord mayor of Cork has said.

Colm Kelleher, Fianna Fáil councillor for the Cork city south west ward, told The Echo that, a number of months ago, he and his party colleagues had secured over €85,000 in funding for the works at the playground.

“I’m thrilled to say that Cork City Council has now officially gone out to tender for the works, marking a major step forward for the project,” Mr Kelleher said.

“Following an update from the Cork City Council executive, I’ve been advised that, all going to plan, the upgrade works should be completed by late November or early December, which is great news for Ballincollig.”

Burns wreath laying ceremony

A wreath-laying ceremony is due to take place this Friday evening commemorating a Ballincollig patriot who died during the Civil War. Born in the Powdermills in 1879, Patrick Burns joined the IRA in 1916, taking the anti-Treaty side during the Civil War.

He was accidentally injured on August 10, 1922 when Ballincollig Barracks was set alight by republican forces withdrawing from Cork city. He succumbed to his injuries in the Mercy Hospital on August 21, 1922, and is buried in the republican plot at St Finbarr’s Cemetery. Last September, a plaque dedicated to Patrick Burns was unveiled at the East Gate.

At 7pm this Friday evening, August 15, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Fianna Fáil councillor Fergal Dennehy, will lay a wreath at the plaque, in a ceremony organised by the Volunteer Patrick Burns Memorial Committee.

The event will be chaired by Sinn Féin councillor Joe Lynch, and the late Des O’Grady, who was instrumental in the erection of the plaque, will be honoured.

Heritage Week in Ballincollig is nine days of events in park

This Saturday, August 16, Heritage Week launches in Ballincollig, with nine days of free events in the regional park.

There will be a competition to name the creatures on the tree sculptures, sponsored by Café Chico, with entry forms available at the café. Created from two dead elms, the sculptures are the work of chainsaw artist Will Fogarty and are inspired by native Irish wildlife.

Heritage Week in the park begins on Saturday with a ‘Gunpowder Mill Walk and Talk’ with Tadhg O’Connor, meeting at the GAA entrance at 2pm. On Sunday, August 17, ‘Forest Bathing’ with Erin Geraghty will begin at 2pm by the tree sculptures in the main car park. On Monday, August 18, there will be a ‘Herb Walk and Talk’ at 3pm in the main car park.

Wednesday, August 20 will see a ‘Heritage Treasure Hunt’ with Ballincollig Scouts starting by the tree sculptures in the main car park at 6.30pm. Thursday, August 21 will begin with a morning ‘Tree Walk and Talk’ with Jack Casey and Ronan Nangle, starting at 10am by the tree sculptures in the main car park.

Thursday afternoon is a ‘Children’s Heritage Celebration’, kicking off at 2pm by the playground. It will feature the Teddy Bear’s Picnic, as well as a puppet show, a teddy bears’ hospital, and facepainting.

Friday, August 22 will also offer some fun for younger people, with a tour of a fairy trail starting by the tree sculptures in the main car park at 2pm. Fairy costumes appreciated, but not obligatory. On Saturday, August 23, at 11am, Ballincollig Tidy Towns will host, at their allotment in Innishmore, a talk on biodiversity and sustainability. At 2.30pm, starting by the tree sculptures, Rosemary MacDonald will host a one-hour ‘Bug Walk and Talk’.

The festival will wrap up on Sunday, August 24 in the picnic area by the Inniscarra Bridge, with a talk by Robert Devoy entitled ‘The River Lee from Source to Sea’ at 2pm, and Ceol Cois Laoi with Ballincollig Comhaltas at 3.30pm.

All Heritage Week events in the park are weather-dependent. Events are organised jointly by Ballincollig Heritage Festival and Cork City Council.

Ballincollig GAA Club weekly lottery jackpot now €15,400

The numbers drawn in the Ballincollig GAA Club lottery, on Thursday, August 7, were 10, 14, 31, and 35. There was no winner of the €15,200 jackpot, but there were three consolation prize winners for club supporters, with €100 going to Victoria Quigley, €50 to Sheila Barrett, and €50 to John A Leahy.

Ballincollig GAA Club has migrated its lottery to its club platform ClubZap. The new system mirrors the previous one and is played with 36 numbers, and all players with remaining credit have been moved across with their same numbers, plus their remaining credits.

See ballincolliggaa.clubzap.com. The jackpot for this week’s lottery draw is €15,400.