All About Cork: Cork county champions in the spotlight at Mayfield library

The November exhibition at Mayfield Library is ‘Cork County Champions’, curated by Danny O’Neill.

A former GAA referee, Mr O’Neill has compiled an extensive collection of photographs and news reports yielding a fascinating and comprehensive history of Cork county hurling and football championships.

If it’s not on the wall, it will be in the accompanying folders.

No team has been omitted, from the earliest times of both competitions.

Joining Mr O’Neill at the library recently for reminiscence were Denis Coughlan, Kevin Cummins, Sean O’Brien, Rory O’Brien, Donal Collins, and Jim Ryan.

Mr Coughlan won county hurling championships with Glen Rovers and county football championships with St Nicholas’ in the 1950s and 1960s. Topping those are his four senior All-Ireland medals, one for football in the 1973 victory against Galway and three for hurling in the thrilling series against Wexford and Kilkenny from 1976 to 1978.

Mr Cummins, a Blackrock stalwart, achieved All-Ireland schools success with Coláiste Chríost Rí and captained Cork’s winning hurling minors to All-Ireland glory in 1964. A schoolteacher and GAA historian in his own right, Mr Cummins recalled meeting the writer Frank O’Connor, after whom Mayfield Library is named.

Sean O’Brien won the Harty Cup with North Monastery in 1955. From there, as goalkeeper, he anchored the great Glen Rovers team of the 1950s. Sean won his first county championship with them against the Rockies in ’56 and was central to the three-in-a-row of 1958, ’59, and ’60.

Rory O’Brien is Sean’s son, and it is thanks to him that these great stars came together for Mr O’Neill’s exhibition and that the photos could be arranged. Rory is married to Mr Collins’ daughter.

Mr Collins, one of seven Castlehaven brothers, moved to Dublin in the early 1970s and played with Blackrock, winning his first title with them in 1973 against Glen Rovers.

Both men, Sean and Donal, became familiar with one another from marking each other during intense clashes. From that, a solid friendship grew, and marriage between their offspring.

Mr Ryan, another Chríost Rí boy, won two O’Callaghan Cup county medals with the school in the ’60s. 

Post-secondary, it was An Garda Síochána with whom he garnered winning Cork, Munster, and All-Ireland inter-firm championships. East Cork hurling success came by way of Watergrasshill, and football through its sister-club, Glenville. An author and sports knowledge specialist, Mr Ryan has been to six Olympic Games.

The exhibition is running this month at Mayfield Library, Old Youghal Rd, T23 E651.

Call for traffic survey

At the recent North East local area committee meeting, Cork city councillor Ted Tynan called for a traffic survey on the Old Youghal Road from the Frank O'Connor Library in Mayfield to Tinkers Cross junction.

“Traffic on this section of the Old Youghal Road has increased substantially in recent years, and the road is now extremely dangerous”, said me Tynan highlighting that there were schools in the locality.

Noel Murtagh, the council’s acting director of local area development and operations, said that he would add the area to the list of requests for traffic calming infrastructure, which is discussed by ward councillors annually and certain projects allocated funding.

“In the longer term, BusConnects proposes a suite of measures on Old Youghal Road including additional pedestrian crossings, signalised junctions and bus gates," he said. 

Youth services’ open evening

Foróige, St Joseph’s UBU-Mayfield and Mayfield St Joseph’s No Name Club are opening their doors on Friday, November 21, to welcome in the community to see what they can offer the young people of the area.

This initiative has been launched by the Department of Education and Youth in collaboration with ETB Youth Services as a way to showcase each club and project. People can join from 6pm to 8pm to see if they may be a good fit for these groups.

“We have many different opportunities to offer and it is a great way to develop new life skills, help young people find their voice and build their confidence, while creating so many wonderful memories,” said a spokesperson for the initiative. “Music, games, bingo, an art showcase, planting seeds, and more will happen on the evening, which takes place at the home of the two projects at St Joseph’s Community Centre, T23HK80.”

• For more information, contact Niall at 087 997 0951, Geraldine at 086 810 3632, or Tasha at 087 744 0975.

Mayfield CDP facilitates return to higher education

Lisa Murphy left school at age 13 with no Junior or Leaving Certificate, and now has three higher-education level-6 qualifications, thanks to her involvement with Mayfield CDP.

Liz O’Hallrahan, from Mayfield Community Development Project, encouraged Ms Murphy to go back to education.

“Liz has been the backbone of me, opening doors to MTU, UCC,” Ms Murphy told The Echo.

She said that a few years ago she never would have thought she would achieve these courses, and that in the last 12 months has got more involved with the community, giving her time as a volunteer.

Ms Murphy is the facilitator of the weekly Mayfield chit chat group, which is full most Tuesday mornings.

“Seeing people who live alone coming in for the cup of tea, the slice of cake and the singsong, knowing these people enjoy coming to the group, is an amazing feeling,” she said.

The late Mary Kelly, of Mayfield CDP, encouraged her to try her first course in the CDP centre, and she soon took part in many other classes there and at Mayfield Arts Centre, as well as activities like the walking group and singing for the brain. She said that Ann Cronin, at Mayfield CDP, and Deirdre Shanahan, at Newbury House, have also been a huge support to her.

“I met fantastic people in these groups, staff are so welcoming and helpful. Without all these people, especially the staff at Mayfield CDP, I wouldn’t have been able to change from the person I was three years ago. Now, I have all my higher-education modules, it’s amazing.”

Ms Murphy also thanked MTU Access programme staff member Christine Nolan for her help with returning to education, as well as Richard Forrest in Mayfield Library, local business owners John Keohane and Tom Higgins, and the Cow Bar, who support the chit chat group.

The group will be holding a special Christmas jumper morning in aid of Simon Community on Tuesday, December 9, from 11am to 12pm, with all welcome to attend.

The group meets every Tuesday morning and is open to anyone who wants to drop in for a cup of tea and to chat with other members of the community.

Courses in the centre are also open to everybody. All courses are held in the Mayfield CDP Community Resource Centre, no 328 Old Youghal Rd, and are funded by Cork ETB or Cork City Partnership CLG.

Defibrillator training will be held on Friday, November 14, from 9.30am to 2.30pm, and is an accredited course.

Other upcoming courses include beginners computers, starting Tuesday, November 11, from 10am to noon and running for six sessions: Social media, starting Tuesday, November 11, from 12.15pm to 1.45pm and running for three sessions, and an ECDL module in Microsoft Word, starting on Wednesday, November 12, from 9am to 3pm and running for five sessions.

If you are interested in any of these courses, contact Mayfield CALP on 021 4508562 or email mayfieldcalp1@outlook.com.