Skibbereen Tidy Towns

Autumn/Winter newsletter – January 2020

by Skibbereen Tidy Towns

Since our newsletter has been quiet over the past number of months (emmm, 6 for anyone who’s counting) you would be forgiven for thinking that the Tidy Towns group has gone into hibernation. Truth is we have been incredibly busy over the autumn and winter months with literally no time to write other than short posts on our social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter. So, what have we been up to, we hear you ask? Well, here are some of the highlights thanks to a dedicated bunch of volunteers, partners and supporters:

In August, to celebrate National Heritage Week we participated in the annual ‘Caring for Lough Hyne’ litter pick in conjunction with our friends at Skibbereen Heritage Centre. This beautiful spot is a pride of place for locals and visitors alike and is regularly patrolled for litter. Keep up the good work folks, you know who you are.

During August and September we were delighted to showcase Skibbereen for the Bank of Ireland sponsored National Enterprise Town Awards. It was quite an experience since a diverse range of categories was included and we put on a good show for the judges and invited audience on 12 September. Thanks must go to the West Cork hotel for providing us with the conference room and refreshments, Thornhill Electrical for their generous support and Dave Long Coach Travel for the bus and driver to ferry the judges to selected locations around the town. Our guest presenters at the event enchanted the audience with a variety of experiences: Kevin Buckley from Spearline, Adrienne Harrington from the Ludgate Hub, Philip O’Regan from Skibbereen Heritage Centre and Edvinas Tolocka (more popularly known in Skibbereen as Eddie) from E-PC. A special mention also to John Field for acting as unofficial tour guide, Ann Davoren for the meeting room facility at the Uilinn West Cork Arts Centre for the wrap up session, and Roisín Dwyer for leading the video production effort for the event.

The big day in the annual Tidy Towns calendar arrived on 30 September when we travelled by invitation to the Helix in Dublin for the annual Tidy Towns national competition awards. This year we were joined en route by members of West Cork medal winning Tidy Towns groups from Rosscarbery, Lislevane, Timoleague and Kilbrittain with top of the range transport from Dave Long Coach Travel. It was a nail biting event (not the journey, Damien O’Driscoll looked after us very well) but the moment of truth came when Skibbereen was not called out on the list of bronze medal winners. After four bronze medals in a row could this be Skibbereen’s year for a silver medal? Yes, it finally was, and all the hard work by volunteers, CE scheme partners and supporters was rewarded. The silver medal, pictured here, was collected at an event hosted by the regional winners, Ennis Tidy Towns, in December.

October was largely spent reviewing the adjudicator’s report and identifying areas of opportunity to focus on for 2020. Examples include: a clean up of the graveyard at the bottom of Chapel Lane, surveying the wildlife in the newly established habitats (well, not new exactly but you get the idea), a survey of waste being sent to landfill, continuing our efforts to discourage use of herbicides by anyone engaged in this practice for the purposes of weedkilling. Watch out for more on these in the coming months.

Also from October, we participated in the SECAD led community training events that are on-going through Spring 2020. We are currently seeking your support for the future of your town by sharing your ideas through a survey. Please click here to access and it only takes 5 minutes to complete. The survey remains open until Thursday, 6 February, 2020.

Finally for October, Skibbereen Walks was awarded second place in the eco friendly category of the Muintir na Tire Pride in our Community awards for 2019. Derrine Dwyer, who earlier in the year did a skydive to raise funds for Skibbereen Tidy Towns, was on hand to attend the event in Ballincollig and accept the award.

Derrine Dwyer pictured in the centre of this group accepting the award

The November highlight was the 2019 Floral Display Awards prizegiving in the Eldon hotel, returning after a gap of many years. Prizes were awarded to 16 worthy recipients across 6 categories ably judged in the summer by our friends from Rosscarbery Tidy Towns:
– Best presented business
– Best business floral display
– Best presented private residence
– Best residential floral display
– Best residential estate
– Best residential street

Selection of prizewinners pictured with committee members at the Eldon hotel

At the organisation’s annual general meeting on 14 November Jerome Dwyer and Francis Hunt were reelected as Chair and PRO respectively. John Hamilton was elected as treasurer. Sandra Flynn and Susan Boland agreed to act as joint secretaries for the year ahead. Many thanks to the outgoing officers for their hardworking efforts in recent years.

Also in November, we received confirmation through our partners at Cork Nature Network of partial grant funding for a joint community biodiversity plan for Skibbereen. We are very excited about this project and the opportunity it affords with workshops on nature and biodiversity being planned for March. Have a look at the Wild about Ennis initiative for an idea of what it is all about and we’ll provide more updates on our social media channels during February.

Finally in November, we were delighted to partner with tríocha páistí as Gaelscoil Dr. Uí Shúilleabháin to pick litter from the nearby playground and courts. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.

To wrap up this newsletter, as the saying goes ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ here are just a few of our favourites across the period under review.

We would like to thank our many supporters, both individuals and organisations, for their generous financial donations during the year and we will continue to put these funds to good use for the benefit of townspeople and visitors alike.

For regular updates please subscribe to this newsletter and follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

If you are interested in becoming involved with Skibbereen Tidy Towns please contact us at 087-6220132 or by email at skibbereentidytowns@icloud.com.

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay

Midsummer newsletter – July 2019

by Skibbereen Tidy Towns

Midsummer has come and gone, the Tidy Towns national competition adjudicator has probably come and gone at this stage (we’ll find out in September!), St. Swithin’s day has just gone, and as the legend goes, if it rains on this day it will rain for 40 days. True enough, it did rain on Monday, 15 July, and at the time of writing (Sunday, 28 July) we haven’t had an entirely dry day in Skibbereen since!

As is the case with Tidy Towns groups we have been incredibly busy over the past few months and while we cannot summarise all the projects we’ve been working on since our April newsletter that focused on National Spring Clean Month here’s a look back at some major accomplishments thanks to a dedicated bunch of volunteers, partners and supporters:

Over a number of Saturday mornings starting in mid-April, the Mardyke Pollinator Corridor project plan was executed. Inspired by the garden of St. Patrick’s BNS in Skibbereen we built and installed a bug hotel in a wildlife oasis at the junction of Railway Road (the cutting) and Mardyke Street, partnered with Skibbereen Geriatric Society to plant a trio of pollinator friendly trees in the front garden of Mardyke Court and established the little park at the front of Coaction as a pollinator area. The competition category Nature & Biodiversity has been a key focus area for us this year and we hope to gain a little extra on last year’s mark in addition to providing such a wonderful resource to the community.
Just before the end of the school year for the summer holidays (and the Tidy Towns judging year at the end of May) we were fortunate enough to finalise another key wildlife project jointly with the 4th class boys (now 5th class) of St. Patrick’s. Over the winter we dried out seeds saved in the autumn from the silver birch beds along Mill Road adjacent to the children’s playground. These seeds were then sown by St. Patrick’s and nurtured in their geodome while Tidy Towns volunteers prepared a plot to develop as an ARK (Act of Restorative Kindness) at the Mill Road cul de sac.
In May we officially launched the HANNAH principles and distributed copies of the poster to all schools and businesses in the town to encourage sustainability in our daily habits to ‘do more with less’.
The annual Cork County Council Anti-Litter Challenge took place in May and June with ‘challenge’ being the key word. Between our volunteers and the Cork County Council staff we did our best but for the first two judging periods we could achieve no better than 5th place in our category. Cigarette butts in particular are a major problem and more needs to be done in this regard going forward (more bins is not necessarily the answer). The results of the third judging period are withheld until the winners are announced in September at an event in County Hall. Barring major catastrophe, our neighbours in Dunmanway look set to win and if we cannot do well ourselves we will be very happy if a West Cork town takes the crown.
In June we were delighted to have Donna, a volunteer with Cork Nature Network come and speak about biodiversity and wildlife at an open event in St. Patrick’s BNS followed by a stroll through the award winning garden. This event gave rise to an opportunity to partner with CNN on a grant application for a joint community biodiversity plan for Skibbereen. We are very excited about this project and are keeping our fingers crossed that our application will be successful. Have a look at the Wild about Ennis initiative for some ideas.
In July two of Skibbereen’s three roundabouts at Baltimore Road and Cork Road, got a makeover, with planting sponsored by Skibbereen Garden Centre and Lidl respectively. Special thanks also to Cian O’Brien who does a meticulous job at maintaining the grassed sections of the Cork Road and Schull Road roundabouts – check out his YouTube video here.
Southern Star, 27 July 2019

Also on a Saturday morning in July, while Jerome and Eileen were weeding and sweeping the kerbsides at Baltimore Road, an unscheduled opportunity for a chat with Jackie Keogh of the Southern Star resulted in a ‘say no to Roundup’ video. In our opinion, this video has ‘gone viral’ with five thousand views to date, and the interest by readers of the print version of the Star has prompted at least one letter to the editor!

Finally for this newsletter, as the saying goes ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ here are just a few of our favourites across recent months.

For regular updates please subscribe to this newsletter and follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

If you are interested in becoming involved with Skibbereen Tidy Towns please contact us at 087-6220132 or by email at skibbereentidytowns@icloud.com.

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay

Spotlight on… Arts Festival Murals 2018

Yes, we know it’s 2019 and Skibbereen Arts Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. Every year since its inception, the festival committee celebrates the arts in Skibbereen through a street art project. This street wall mural project completed in advance of the 2018 festival celebrates many of these heritage links and Skibbereen Tidy Towns was delighted to nominate this very special project for the Heritage award. We’ll have to wait until September for an announcement but in the meantime, with approval from Skibbereen Arts Festival (thanks Brendan!), thought we would post the details here for our readers to enjoy.

A lot of time was spent in choosing the walls that would suit the size and content of the historical figures. Considerable assistance from Skibbereen Heritage Centre provided the project with the necessary historical detail. A talented artist, also a native of Skibbereen, Jack Field, worked for over a week on the murals. Since their creation they have proved to be of immense interest to visitors, local people and schoolchildren.

Here are their stories…

Denis O’Sullivan (1868-1908) – Location: Town Hall

Denis O’Sullivan was born in San Francisco in 1868, the son of Skibbereen emigrants.

His father, Cornelius D. O’Sullivan, was born in Skibbereen in 1820. He emigrated to America in 1845, just on the eve of the Great Irish Famine. His mother, Mary Ann Sullivan, was also from Skibbereen.

Known as the ‘Singing Sullivan’, Denis became a world-renowned baritone and actor. In 1901, the ‘London Times’ pronounced him to be “one of the illustrious singers of the world.”

Denis O’Sullivan never forgot Skibbereen. At the height of his career, when he was filling many of the most famous Grand Old Opera Houses and theatres in Britain and America, he still found time to make his way to Skibbereen. For five consecutive years, the famous baritone and actor made his way ‘home’ and gave recitals at the Town Hall with the entire proceeds going to the local branch of the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Denis O’Sullivan was regarded as the foremost authority on Irish music in the world. He was the adjudicator of the Feis Coil, was vocalist, delegate and speaker to the Pan-Celtic congress in Dublin and was a delegate to the Irish national convention in1907.

In 1909 a bust of Denis O’Sullivan was added to the collection at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.

Dr Dan Donovan (1807-1877) – Location: Medical Centre

Dr Daniel Donovan – the Famine Doctor – did more than anyone else to help the poor people of Skibbereen and to highlight their pitiful suffering and destitution during the Great Irish Famine (1845-52).

Born in Rosscarbery in 1807, Dr Dan spent most of his medical career in Skibbereen.As medical officer in Glandore and Union Hall (1830 to 1839), Dr Donovan had all the resources of his medical expertise and resilience tested to the full during the cholera epidemic of 1832-34. The young doctor was not found wanting and his exertions on behalf of the local people were widely acknowledged.

However, it is for his extraordinary work on behalf of the wretched poor of the Skibbereen Union area during the Great Famine that he is best remembered.

Dr Dan was regarded as one of the most authentic and reliable commentators on the Famine and disease. His ‘Diary of a Dispensary Doctor’, which was published in ‘The Cork Southern Reporter’ in 1846 and 47 was quoted in other newspapers in Ireland, Britain and America. He also wrote in many of the top medical journals of the time.

The ‘Dublin Medical Press’ said of him:

“It was owing to his heroic and great exertions during the terrible crisis of 1847 that his name has become a household word for pure philanthropy and most earnest and unselfish devotion to the poor when famine and pestilence swept over Ireland. … All the resources of his intellect, all the energies of his mind were devoted with the most self-sacrificing zeal and courage, grappling with disease in its most dangerous type, and fighting bravely in the glorious cause of suffering humanity.”

Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa (1831-1915) – Location: Levis’ Quay

Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa was the most legendary member of the Fenian movement in Ireland in the second half of the 19th century. He the most valiant Fenian of them all, the man the English couldn’t subdue. Rossa held a very special place in the hearts and minds of nationalist Ireland.

Rossa was born in Rosscarbery in September 1831. Having had a very comfortable childhood, his life changed completely at the beginning of the Famine in 1845. In a short space of time he witnessed the three great evils of famine – his family was evicted from their property; his father died working on one of the infamous public works scheme, and his whole family emigrated to Philadelphia while he came to live with an aunt in Skibbereen.

Rossa lived in Skibbereen during the Famine and witnessed first-hand the horrors of disease and death on an enormous scale in the worst affected parts of Ireland.

In 1856, Rossa and other like-minded men founded one such organisation The Phoenix National and Literary Society in Skibbereen. Out of this spread the Fenian movement in Ireland.

Without a doubt, Patrick Pearse’s famous oration at Rossa’s funeral in Dublin on August 1, 1915, was a pivotal moment in the emergence of the new generation in the struggle for Irish independence and it helped to set in motion a series of events that led inexorably to the 1916 Rising and the subsequent War of Independence.

Mick McCarthy (1965-1998) – Location: Fields car park gable wall facing west

Mick McCarthy captained the O’Donovan Rossa GAA Club, Skibbereen, to county, Munster and All-Ireland senior football titles in 1992-93.

From the age of eight, when ‘Small Mick’ won his first SW championship medal, he lit up the Gaelic football fields in West Cork and beyond. He went on to win just about every honour there is in Gaelic football. Among his seven All-Ireland medals were three U21 All-Ireland titles with Cork and All-Ireland senior football championship titles in 1989 and 1990. He captained Cork in their 1993 All-Ireland defeat by Derry.

Mick’s proudest sporting achievements were undoubtedly captaining his beloved Rossas to county, Munster and All-Ireland senior football titles, leading by example all the way with some extraordinary individual displays in crucial games.

Mick was held in the highest regard and with the greatest respect by everyone, on and off the field, and his tragic and untimely death at such an early age in 1998 robbed his family and Skibbereen of one of the great sportsmen in the town’s history.

Agnes Mary Clerke (1842-1907) – Location: Fairfield car park gable wall facing west

Agnes Mary Clerke was born in Bridge Street, Skibbereen, on February 10, 1842. Agnes, and her sister Ellen, were home educated and were brought to an academic level which was unusual for women of that generation. They were taught modern languages and music by masters but were never sent to school. The family moved to Dublin in 1861 and they later lived in Florence and London.

Agnes was, from her childhood, interested in astronomy. She wrote several books on the subject and went on to become one of the leading chroniclers of astrophysics and astronomy throughout the latter part of the 19^th century.

Agnes made a tremendous impact on in the science of astronomy and cosmology and for a quarter of a century she was the leading commentator on astronomy and astrophysics in the English-speaking world.

Her most famous book, ‘A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century’, published in 1885, is still being reprinted. She wrote other important books, including ‘The System of the Stars’ (1890), and ‘Problems in Astrophysics’ (1903), and she also wrote 150 biographical entries in the original volumes of the ‘Dictionary of National Biography’.

The Clerke Crater on the moon, close to the eastern edge of the Sea of Tranquility, is named after Agnes.

Ellen Mary Clerke (1840-1906) – Location: Bridge Street

Ellen Mary Clerke was born in Bridge Street, Skibbereen, on September 26, 1840. Like her sister Agnes, Ellen never had any formal education, being educated at home by her parents and some tutors.

A brilliant litterateur, Ellen became an accomplished author and published works in several European languages. Probably her most famous work is ‘Fable and Song in Italy’. She was also a recognised scientific journalist, specialising in geography and anthropology. She won wide recognition for a major article on the Dock labourers strike of 1889.

Ellen joined the permanent staff of the influential Catholic weekly newspaper, ‘The Tablet’, in the mid-1880s, which she also helped to edit, and she was highly regarded as a commentator on Italian and German politics.

On astronomy, Ellen contributed occasionally to the ‘Observatory’ magazine and to the ‘Journal of the British Astronomical Association’.

Ellen also ventured into fiction and published a novel, ‘Flowers of Fire’.

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Featured image courtesy of http://www.skibbereenartsfestival.com

Spotlight on… Trees 2019

by Skibbereen Tidy Towns

National Tree Week 2019 has come and gone but in reality, every week in the season is Tree Week in Skibbereen and in the first of an occasional ‘Spotlight on…’ series of blog posts here are some of the season highlights.

The 9 whitebeam trees planted as part of the North Street car park riverside rejuvenation project last autumn are looking very well this spring and beautifully frame the view of the Ilen river that flows through the town.

The Appletown multi-year project continued with 8 varieties of apple trees with wonderful names such as ‘Allington Pippin’, ‘Greensleeves’ and ‘Peaswood Nonsuch’ planted in both private gardens and suitable public locations around the town. Appletown is the brainchild of Michael Burke, a teacher of horticulture, and the project originated in 2015 with the first planting of trees taking place in Rossa College (now the West Cork Campus of the College of Commerce). The building of the Geodome in the garden of St. Patrick’s BNS presented the opportunity to move the idea to a new level. Having planted 10 apple trees on school grounds, the child-centred nature of these plantings allowed for the distribution of additional trees to schoolchildren to plant in their home settings over the last two years. The total number of apple trees planted to date stands at 750 in Skibbereen town and the local hinterland (250 of these were planted this year). A flexible target number of 2022 trees by the year 2022 is very attainable as more locations are identified.

Tree Mend Us, Skibbereen, is an initiative championed by Des Ronan with a clear mission:

“Trees don’t care on whose land they grow, but they need people to help them sow; if you have land and would like a wood, comment on our (Facebook) page to get some help, you should!”

Skibbereen Rugby Club did exactly that and on a Saturday afternoon in February, 30 people spent a few hours planting 500 young trees at the marsh pitch alongside the Ilen river, including oak, birch, alder, hawthorn and rowan. At Lough Hyne, 20 saplings supplied by the Heritage Unit of Cork County Council were planted by 26 volunteers on Sunday, 7 April as National Tree Week drew to a close.

Elsewhere, the flood relief works have been continuing across the town resulting in a considerable expanse of concrete walls. It is therefore heartening to see 20 birch trees recently planted alongside the Caol stream in the car park to soften the hard landscaping. These are Himalayan birch and will grow to a height of 12 meters and spread of 8 meters with year round white bark. In other locations, over 120 trees have been planted that include lime, alder, birch, flowering cherry, Himalayan white birch and golden beech.

Across the road from the car park on Market Street, the new An Post distribution office is operational and includes some lovely landscaping with 8 trees of the species Mountain Ash. According to the Tree Council of Ireland “the scarlet berries will provide food for thrushes in the winter.” We very much look forward to seeing the trees develop.

Further along on the Baltimore road, Prenco recently planted 3 silver birch and 9 alder trees, principally to add some feature and character to a large open expanse of lawn.
According to John White, General Manager, “the types of tree were selected due to their suitability for poorly draining areas like we have in our lawn.” Nice work folks, in time these trees will become a lovely feature along this stretch of road.

In summary, during the 2018/2019 tree planting season, through all these initiatives, a total of 937 trees (plus a few more) have been planted. Based on this, almost every week in the season was Tree Week! Of course this is only the start, we are all only too aware of the importance of trees to the survival of the planet for future generations.

There is a suitable tree for every location and we urge the people of Skibbereen and its environs to keep an open mind with regards to tree planting in your neighbourhood. If you are a landowner and might be interested in planting suitable trees please get in touch, we’ll be happy to help.

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Featured image courtesy of https://treecouncil.ie