Throwback Thursday: The day our ship was left high and dry in Cork

Throwback Thursday reader John O’Leary was delighted to see the great old photo of the CCYMS hall in Castle Street that featured here a couple of weeks ago.

“It brought back such vivid memories of the early 1970s,” said John.

“I was taught in Coláiste Chríost Rí by John O’ Shea (Johnno) who was involved in a drama group that put on plays in the CCYMS.

“If you put posters for these plays in local shops, you got yourself a free ticket to see the play.

“I remember being at one production, a double header featuring Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, and some other play that I can’t recall. To my shame, I must confess that I sneaked out of the hall during Krapp’s Last Tape, I hadn’t a clue what was going on and was nearly bored to death!”

We sympathise, John. Beckett can be hard to take, especially for a schoolboy.

But the grand old CCYMS featured in so many of our theatrical memories as one of the standard locations for putting on plays in the city, especially in those years ’twixt the Old and the New Opera House, when venues were at a premium.

Then, the Father Mathew Hall, the CCYMS, the AOH, and so many others, were kept busy. Students from UCC’s Dramat ran up and down those stairs nearly as often as they did at the rickety old Group Theatre on South Main Street, the proud possession of James N. Healy, and put on endless productions in each.

We would love to hear from others who remember frequenting both (as we recall, the Group actually had a bar, which made it more attractive to student actors, and compensated to some extent for the shaky staircase and the wobbly balustrades.)

Katie O’Brien remembers arriving there one evening for a UCC production of Faust, to find the entire (admittedly tiny) stage completely covered with scaffolding, right up to the flies.

“We just adapted – it seemed rather fun at the time,” she recalled. “We squirmed in and out of the poles, climbed higher, descended to make a point, and so on.

“At that time, it was very fashionable in places like London to stage Hamlet on a step-ladder, the Scottish tragedy in a basement, etc, so we thought we were right in the swing of things.

“Of course, in the Group you had no stage right exit, and anyone going off that way had to stand stock still until the curtain closed, so the scaffolding added an extra dimension to creative theatre!”

Reader Pat Kelly knows that area around the old CCYMS extremely well, and wrote to tell us so.

“On October 16 last, you showed a picture of the Cork Catholic Young Men’s Society building on Castle Street,” he said.

“The area is actually known as Paradise Place. Here there was in older times a tower called The Paradise, which much later became a civic building. This was eventually demolished, and much later the present building was built and the area became generally known as Paradise Place.

“I think you can still see the name plaque up on the wall if you do as I always tell people, and look up!”

Pat continued: “Later, people settled on the North Main street, and the whole area was walled.

“The old town of Cork had two parish churches. The one in South Main Street became the parish of Christchurch, and the parish on the North Main Street was the parish of Dungarvan. That’s a parish name that is not well known.

“I have tried to find the prints in my files, but with no luck so far. The City Library would have those prints on their files though.”

Pat adds: “There were several churches outside the walls too of course: the Franciscans on the North Mall, Dominicans on Our Lady of the Isles, Augustinians at the Red Abbey, and also on Gill abbey, Benedictines on Abbey Street, the Templars and the Hospitallers and others.

“I miss being able to wander around and discover those old hidden details of our city and its history, but I will never stop loving Cork. Take care, and keep encouraging older people’s memories. When we pass away, that knowledge will go with us.”

True for you, Pat. And take heed the rest of you. If you don’t record your own memories of times past, they are at risk of being forgotten forever. Get going right now!

Now – do you remember the same great Pat Kelly telling us of the time that the Hadrian Coast freighter grounded up in Raffeen Creek long ago?

His story, first published in Throwback Thursday in January, 2023, is here reprinted for convenience:

“I had been working for a while in Thompsons, on the confectionery side, but longed for the outdoors, fresh air and sunshine,” stated Pat.

“About 1958 or so, I was fortunate enough to be transfered to the bread vans, delivering, around Carrigaline, Currabinny, Ringaskiddy, Shanballagh, Raffeen, and Monkstown.

“On this particular day (in March, 1962), we were returning from our rounds, and coming towards Monkstown, when we saw a shocking sight. It was a cargo ship which had somehow missed the channel past Monkstown and Carrigaloe, and was sailing up Raffeen Creek, where the water was getting shallower and shallower!

“Local people saw the ship sailing past, and waved frantically to the crew to get back, but the crew thought that they were simply waving in welcome, and kept going.

“Of course eventually the ship got stuck in the mud - truly up the creek, without a paddle!”

A great story, Pat, and confirmed by several other readers on subsequent Thursdays.

Now, however, almost three years later, we were more than delighted to receive a letter from a reader in Co. Down, who was actually on that ship and remembers the occasion vividly (as one imagines you would!)

“Hi Jo. My name is Filson Bailie. I was looking through Throwback Thursday recently when I came across an article about the grounding of the ship Hadrian Coast,” he writes.

“At that time, I was a crew member or ‘deck hand,’ so I was actually there on board when the accident occurred.

“We had left the East India Dock in London on Wednesday, two days before, and called in to Dagenham to load as deck cargo three Fordson Major tractors. These were lashed down with wire ropes and bottle screws, etc.

“Then we set off for Cork on the Friday morning, arriving off the Cork coast only to find it shrouded in thick fog.

“After some time we made contact with the pilot boat, and, as the fog had lifted slightly, we entered Cobh harbour. The decision was then taken to go to anchor until the flood tide had started.

“After a few hours, the fog had lifted, so we set off for Penrose Quay. On the bridge wheelhouse were the pilot, the captain, and the first officer, as well as the helmsman, who I will call Big Pat.

“I was Big Pat’s watch mate, so I decided to remove some of the wire lashing on the tractors. During this task, I noticed some landmarks I hadn’t seen before, and thought that we seemed to be very close to the river’s edge.

“Then, out from behind a clump of trees and bushes, a lady appeared on a bicycle on the road running beside the river. She was pedalling as fast as she could, and shouting ‘Turn back! Turn back! Turn BACK!’

“But we didn’t turn back, and shortly after that we came to a halt with a shudder. There we stayed for the next 15 days…”

Well, Filson! No wonder you remember it all in such detail. One can imagine the consternation on board, the frantic signals, the discussions. Thank you so much for bringing up that vivid memory of the past.

And thank you also for entrusting us with your cherished newspaper cuttings, and your various seaman’s certificates. Those are reproduced here, but the originals are even now on their way back to you, for your own family records.

You’re a great man with a host of memories – do share more of them with us, won’t you?

It is always good to hear from regular readers who write in from elsewhere. It is pleasant to realise just how far Throwback Thursday spreads and how eagerly it is awaited, particularly now the articles appear weekly online at EchoLive.ie (search for the Nostalgia section of the website).

Over the past few years, we have had correspondence from England, France, Germany, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and more.

Anne Watt in London is a long-time fan of these pages.

“As always, I look forward to Throwback Thursday each week. A few of the recent reminiscences have really brought back memories from my schooldays!

“I clearly recall those sweet shops on MacCurtain Street; they were right next to where we alighted from the bus, so perfect for a quick pre-school visit!” recalled Anne.

“I well remember those CBC boys, loitering nonchalantly until the last possible minute!

“We St Angela’s girls still had that steep hill to climb, so a few acid drops kept us going. Nowadays, I can’t imagine why I liked those sour sweets!”

Oh but we all did, Anne! Acid drops, clove rock, Giftie penny toffee bars that you had to break against the corner of a wall, holding them cupped in your hand - they were all such familiar treats of our childhood.

Later, if we had enough pennies, we might progress to satin cushions, iced caramels, Savoy creams, or even the dizzy extravagance of a Fry’s Cream Bar.

But down at the basic level, acid drops gave the system just that kick it needed to face a long day of lessons.

“Like others of my vintage,” continues Anne, “I remember getting the bus on my own to the School of Music and home again while still at primary school. No-one thought anything of it then!

“Jean McClements’s memory of her solo European trip was something else, though! Her mum must have been very ‘cool’ indeed!”

Anne says: “I first travelled abroad alone at the somewhat more mature age of 19 - much to the chagrin of a rather over-protective Dad!

“Also, I remember Jean at St Angela’s. I too was in Mrs Griffin’s German class. Lovely to hear about former schoolfellows!

“Incidentally, when I studied German again as an adult, at evening classes here in London, I was surprised at how much I remembered from school - thanks to a very good teacher!”

Well that is good to hear, Anne. We did get a good grounding at our city schools. French was taught as a matter of course, German coming in rather later, while Latin was certainly on the curriculum at St Angela’s all the time.

As this writer recalls, you were supposed to have Latin to even get accepted at UCC. The most common remark you hear now is, ‘I could never see the point of learning Latin’, but in fact it does have a very useful role in later life, helping us to understand other European languages or even translate the technical names of plants and flowers.

However, we were taught how to sew a fine seam as well, which came in handy for making your own clothes in teenage days.

Did you learn Latin at school? Handwork? Or did you travel abroad at an early age? Tell us your memories. Email jokerrigan1@gmail.com or leave a message on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/echolivecork