Heritage Week, 15-23 August 2020
Join Meitheal Mara to mark this year’s Cork Heritage Open Day and Heritage Week.
We’re delighted to present three gorgeous events this year, in collaboration with local historian, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, and avid sailor, paddler and rower Jack O’Keeffe.
Learn all about the natural heritage the River Lee and Cork Harbour as well as the built heritage of Cork City with our two online events. Then gather the family for an exciting heritage treasure hunt and discover the history of Cork’s many bridges in a fun and playful way.
Saturday 15th of August, 13:00-13:40
THE RIVER LEE AND CORK CITY: STORIES FROM THE PAST
Cllr. Kieran McCarthy in collaboration with Meitheal Mara
Online on Zoom and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meithealmara/
Register for Zoom invite here: https://forms.gle/CSu6F3owzeXzpUZg8
This online talk looks at the Cork City’s amazing development on a swamp. The city is constructed on a shift-shaping landscape – sand and gravel, rushes and reeds, and the River Lee – a wetland knitted together to create a working port through the ages. It was a combination of native and outside influences, primarily people who shaped its changing townscape and society since its origins as a settlement. The city possesses a unique character derived from a combination of its plan, topography, built fabric and its location on the lowest crossing point of the river Lee as it meets the tidal estuary and the second largest natural harbour in the world.
Tuesday 18th of August, 20:00-20:40
BYWAYS OF CORK HARBOUR: HERITAGE TRAILS FOR SMALL BOATS & KAYAKS
Jack O’Keeffe in collaboration with Meitheal Mara
Online on Zoom and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meithealmara/
Register for Zoom invite here: https://forms.gle/CSu6F3owzeXzpUZg8
Cork Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world, with huge cruise and container ships calling to its busy port. However, the harbour is also a paradise for small boats, SUPs and kayaks, with a host of byways, or tributaries, leading into all the nooks and crannies of this magnificent Harbour. Avid sailor, rower and paddler, Jack O’Keeffe, has explored these heritage water trails over the past 25 years and knows them like the back of his hand. In this online talk he will guide you along the Owenabue River and Drakes Pool into Carrigaline; into Douglas, along the Glashaboy River into Glanmire; into Slatty water, through the Bellvelley Channel to the north of Great Island, and along the Ballynacurra River to Middleton and look at some wonders by Rostellan Aghada and Cobh.
Saturday 22nd of August, 13:00-13:30
BRIDGES OF CORK: HERITAGE TREASURE HUNT
Cllr Kieran McCarthy in collaboration with Meitheal Mara
Meet Cllr Kieran McCarthy at National Monument, Grand Parade, Cork, between 1pm-1.30pm, no booking required. Bring a pen.
Suitable for all ages, approx. 2hr walk, mixed footpaths on city’s quays.
On meeting Kieran, he will give you a self-guided walking and heritage treasure hunt trail to follow around the historic bridges of Cork City Centre island. Discover the city’s unique relationship with the River Lee.
On the way your task is to explore the built heritage around the bridges and unlock the answers to the Heritage Treasure Hunt. Those who get all the answers right will be in with a chance to win a copy of Kieran’s new book, Witness to Murder, The Tomás MacCurtain Inquest (with John O’Mahony, Irish Examiner, 2020).
