Throwback Thursday: Our fond memories of circus visits in Cork

Throwback Thursday reader Rick Davitt enjoyed our recent features on the showbands of the 1960s, and wrote of his own experiences back in those heady days.

“Ah, the great era of the showbands,” says Rick. “My memories are of the Dinosaurs dance night in the Arc in the 1960s, and the bands who played regularly there, particularly The Freshmen, with Billy Brown and Derek Dean.

“They created wonderful harmonies, covering a lot of Beach Boy hits. They also supported that famous Californian group on their Irish tour in 1967, and had lots of Top 20 hits in Ireland themselves.”

Indeed, there are photos in the Echo archives of The Freshmen, who were based in Antrim, on visits to Cork City Hall to meet Lord Mayor Pierse Wyse, and to the Beamish & Crawford brewery, in July of that very year, 1967.

Rick continues: “On quite another tack, I was listening recently to a beautiful song written by Stephen Sondheim and performed by Judy Collins, Send In The Clowns. It reminded me of the travelling circuses in the 1950s who used to set up their Big Top under Gilabbey Rock off Donovan’s Road near UCC.

“Duffy’s and Fossett’s were the two big Irish ones, although Chipperfields from the UK did visit Cork once or twice - they were really big.

“I can vividly remember the wonderful high- wire acts, the exotic animals (thankfully they are not used any more, I think), the unique smells, the candy floss, the ringmaster on stilts with his top hat, but most of all what we as kids loved, the clowns. Oh send in the clowns…”

Rick adds: “I also have vivid memories of The Rest in UCC on Sunday nights. The band who played most often there in the mid-1960s were The Fontana Showband. They had a very young lead guitarist, the wonderful Rory Gallagher. Little did we know at the time he would become (in my opinion) the greatest ever!”

Nice memories there, Rick. Yes, the circus was such an exciting glimpse of another world in those simpler days when few travelled far, and television had not really made its mark.

A trip to the circus on a Saturday afternoon, what could be better? Well, perhaps a crowded night in The Rest with The Fontana?

Meanwhile, Tim Cagney, a true Corkonian though now domiciled in Dublin, has also written to us about returning to the past, on this occasion to his schooldays.

“On September 16 , I attended a function at The Imperial Hotel, nothing less than the 60th reunion of the CBC Class of 1966 - yes, six decades since we all sat the Leaving Cert!” says Tim.

“Of an original three-class total of around 75, more than 30 stalwarts turned up, all looking remarkably hale and hearty, despite being closer to 80 than most of us would like to admit. We all renewed acquaintances and indulged in a most enjoyable evening of nostalgic banter.

“When all was done, I returned to another hostelry, on the Western Road, where my wife and I were staying. The following morning, at breakfast, I spied a clutch of swans on the river - two adults and four cygnets. A most fitting image, I thought, to mark a reminiscent visit to the city of my birth.”

Tim adds: “Regrettably, when we were leaving the hotel for a stroll into town (camera at the ready), the avians had disappeared. I had to content myself with purchasing a souvenir shopping-bag at the English Market. We then ambled down Oliver Plunkett Street, where we came upon the Winthrop Arcade - a most curious and venerable institution. I well remember going there as a child (or, more correctly, being brought by my mother).

“When it first opened - on March 11, 1926 - it claimed to have ‘a very attractive display of high-class goods, at moderate prices’. Today, it’s lined with tables, at which people sit, sipping coffee and munching on confections.

“Is the quirky design-style unique to Cork, I wonder? I’ve been to many places throughout the world and have never seen anything quite like it.”

Tim continues his city amble: “Our journey continued up-river, toward the North Gate Bridge, following the route of the infamous motorbike driving test I wrote about not long ago on Throwback Thursday.

“We walked by the Opera House and onward to the very decorous St Vincent’s Bridge (built in 1878) before swinging left to the Mercy Hospital. We then returned to our hotel via the Mardyke.

“On the way (on Mardyke Walk), I allowed myself a sneaky peek at a rather posh building (erected in 1985) which houses the academic hopefuls of a certain other prominent institute of learning, fearsome rugby-rivals to my own Alma Mater. The identity of such institute shall, of course, remain nameless!

“Ah yes,” says Tim, “a most pleasant stroll, full of old memories.

“Will the Class of 1966 meet again? I sincerely hope so. At that stage, it might well be 70 years since we left school - some of us might require identity badges! Personally, I’m quite looking forward to it.”

Tim also has memories of some of the city’s old hostelries.

“Your recent reminiscences on the lost pubs of Cork prompts me to mention one establishment, where I began my relationship with ‘the demon drink’,” recalls Tim.

“This was the Arch Bar, in Winthrop Street. I was introduced to the delights of Watney’s Red Barrel, which had a somewhat distinctive bitter taste. To get over this, I had the barman add a short measure of lime to it. Gradually, as I got used to it, I began drinking the concoction sans lime - I felt I had finally grown-up!

“Said barman was a gentleman of middle-age (well, I was 18 then, so he looked middle-aged to me), who displayed a sharp sense of humour. Whenever handing-out change, he always said ‘I thank you, sir’. A very faint bell, ringing in the deep recesses of my mind, suggests to me that his name was Jack.

“Sadly, the Arch no longer exists. After we finished our pints, a friend and I would repair to Maylor Street, where we enjoyed the tasty flavours of fish cake and chips, served by a certain Matt Kiely.”

Anybody else remember heading to Matt Kiely’s for fish and chips at the end of the evening? Or to any of the other establishments dotted around our fair city?

Katie O’Brien remembers one at the top of High Street where “you could get deep fried mushrooms in batter as well as the chips. The mushrooms were a new idea and very popular.”

And who can recall Pop’s legendary chip shop in Drawbridge Street, where queues stretched down to Emmet Place, and the savoury smoking helpings came wrapped up in old newspapers, so you could read while enjoying the treat?

Meanwhile, that mention of Watney’s Red Barrel plus a dash of lime reminds this writer of a local legend that a visiting English lad demanded a Beamish and lime in Kealy’s Bar on Faulkener’s Lane. Not only was such heresy refused, he was thrown out, if the story is to be believed! And one would think so too!

Remember when you could tell Beamish from Murphy’s, and both from that Dublin jackeen Guinness just by looking at the creamy head? The head on Beamish was always yellower, while Murphy’s was the colour of cream itself, and only Guinness was pure white. Were the tastes quite different too, back then? Let us know!

Gerard Coughlan feels so deeply about the great pubs of our city’s past that he was moved to write a poem about it, which he feels might resonate with a certain generation of Cork people (especially those who have noted how it has changed over the past 50 years.)

He asked that we publish it in full, and we are pleased so to do:

City Odyssey. [ Cork City, circa 1974 .]

The Light

Has gone out

In The Tusker Rock

And

The Innisfallen

Has sailed

From

The Custom-House Dock .

The Pig and Whistle

And

The Pelican Bar

Are

Misty Reminiscences

Peered at

From Afar .

Exciting , Delighting,

Strange Voyaging Times

When Don and Helen

Might

Set out for The Chimes.

Along the Meandering

Streets and Quays

They might bump into others

And opt for a pub

Where Old and Young

Commingled

Like Brothers.

No Generation-Gap

Or

Mute Rejection

But

Rounds of Ales,

Tall-Tales

And

Next Singer selection .

Outside,

The River flowed by

Sea-Destined

And indifferent

To any Anchor

Or Sextant

As it Has

For fifty years

Since

Don and Helen

Stepped Forth

Into a City

Glistening

Warmth, Opportunity

And

Rich, Social Exchange...

Not

This Vacuous Darkness;

Lofty Office-Tower

Emptying Car-Park

And a Pervading

Sense of Strange .

“Dedicated to Helen, Don and the sawdust - floored pubs; still singing in our hearts.”

That is a moving tribute, Gerard. Thank-you for sharing it with us. We have no doubt that many readers will nod as they read the familiar names of hostelries whose doors have now closed forever, but the memories of which will always live on.

Our recent mention of The Western Star brought a response from Tim Morley: “One of my relatives, Tim O D, was perhaps the man who chalked up the most visits to the Western Star, it was surely a star pub at the end of the ’50s. Tim was a gifted maths teacher, a very valuable quality. His nickname was ‘beetroot’... no comment on this except that it was evidence of his attachment to the Western Star.

“Our next door neighbour, a pupil of his who got a Honan scholarship (the premium school award for the Leaving Cert in Cork at that time) was certain evidence of Tim’s teaching qualities.

“Tim would every now and then pull out an envelope just bearing the simple address: Tim O D. Cork. Apparently, he was the raconteur supreme, hence his notoriety, and the letter, demonstrated his popularity. My next door neighbour told me he was the only man who could explain Einstein’s Relativity Theory to him.

“In those times, there was prolific use of the stick/leather in schools. Our Irish teacher (probably the best in Ireland) saw to it that I was best in the class at Irish. His method? He wrote up a short essay and pinned it up for us to copy it....with several deliberate grammar mistakes. For every mistake not spotted, the stick came out!”

Now, we have had a lot of queries as to where Joe Terry’s wonderful memoir, Ráiméising, dealing with his adventurous decade out of Ireland, can be bought, and are happy to provide the following information on outlets which stock it:

• Dan Donovan Store, Ballyshonin, Berrings, Co Cork, P12 R820.
• Maurice Healy’s, Newsagents & Post Office, Ballincollig, P31 PE03.
• Circle K Express (O’Leary’s), Tower, Blarney T23 HY50.
• Midleton Books, 103 Main St, Townparks, Midleton, P25 N795.

You can even get it from the famous Kenny’s Bookshop & Art Galleries, Liosbán Retail Park, Tuam Road, Galway, H91 N5P8 (for both over the counter and online sales, in case you want to send it to expat friends and relatives). We will surely have to include some more of Joe’s memories in future Throwback Thursdays.

In the meantime, isn’t it time the rest of you got on with doing likewise, and recording your memories of childhood? Do it now, and send them to us. Email jokerrigan1@gmail.com or leave a comment on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/echolivecork.