Cork Nostalgia: Resilient Douglas will rise again as it has done before

Mon, 09 Sep, 2019 - 13:47

DOUGLAS is going through a challenging time at the moment, reeling from the shock of the recent fire in Douglas Village Shopping Centre.

South Union Hunt meet at the Fingerpost, Douglas, circa 1915.

There has been a huge outpouring of sympathy for small businesses, their staff, locals who shopped there and everyone else impacted by the closure of the centre.

Trams in Douglas village - early 20th century.

With much demolition and rebuilding to be done in the aftermath of the car park blaze, and no guarantees of when the centre will reopen, Douglas residents are also having to adjust to new ways to access much-needed services that were based in the centre — from the Post Office to the local library.

It has all come has a tremendous blow to the more than 25,000 residents of the area.

Aerial view of Douglas village in the late 1960s.

The Echo’s Rory Noonan, himself a Douglas native, summed it up earlier this week.

“Shocking, sad and unbelievable are just some of the words used to describe the happenings of last Saturday night,” Rory wrote. “You could add in lucky that no-one was injured or killed after the fire caught hold.

A consignment of wool destined for New York departs St. Patricks Wollen Mills, Douglas in 1929.

“It is another sad incident for the village, coming seven years or so after the floods destroyed many parts of it.”

Rory was writing as a call to action for everyone who can to get involved in helping the beleaguered residents and businesses.

But while locals are understandable worried in the short-term, as Rory said, Douglas has been through difficult times in the past and has proven its resilience over the years.

As a trawl through our picture archives show, the area has moved from being a rural townland to one of Cork’s main suburbs.

While the fields and hedgerows of the past have been replaced by housing businesses and busy streets, some landmarks remain.

The fingerpost roundabout, seen here as a meeting point for the South Union Hunt in 1915, remains in place to guide motorists.

The main Rochestown Road, linking Douglas and Passage West pictured in 1935.

St Patrick’s Woollen Mills, founded in 1882, is still a thriving economic centre in the area, although it has moved on from its original purpose as seen here in 1929.

So although these are dark days for the area and most particularly the affected workers and business owners, Douglas has proven itself resilient in the past and can be expected to soon rise and thrive once more.