An Irish Diary on Trams in Cork

There is a plan in place to reintroduce trams to Cork city in Ireland. The one line is planned to run from Ballincollig in the west of the city to Mahon Point in the east, with stops at MTU, CUH, UCC and Kent Station. Find out more about the new scheme here. 

Trams were last used as a means of public transport in Cork over 90 years ago. They ended in 1931 when buses took over as the main means of public transport in the city. I have just written a Diary about the story of Cork's trams in today's Irish Times. Read it here.

 

Colorised photograph of a tram in Douglas, Cork 1910. Image source.

 

Map of the 1898 electric tram scheme.

As I mentioned in my article, there were two tram schemes in Cork in the past. The first was horse-drawn and last for just a few short years. There is some information about it here together with photographs of the trams and horses. 

The second tram scheme was electric and ran for over 30 years. There is information about it here together with some photographs. 

You can watch the Mitchell and Kenyon film from 1902 showing a tram in Cork city here.

If you would like to find out more about the history of trams in Cork - there is a book on the topic called Tram Tracks Through Cork: An Illustrated History by Walter McGrath. 

RTÉ Brainstorm article on music at JFK's funeral

On the 60th anniversary of JFK's assassination in Dallas, Texas in November 1963, I have written a short article for the RTÉ Brainstorm website on how a Scottish military band played at his funeral. Read it here.

 

The band of the Scottish Black Watch regiment performing on the South Lawn of the White House, 13 November 1963. Image source.

JFK receiving the officer's dirk from the commander of the Black Watch regiment on the South Lawn of the White House on 13 November 1963. Image source.

 

Music was an important element of the funeral with classical music, military music (such as Taps) and religious hymns, being the predominant sounds that was heard in Washington D.C. on the day. You can find out more about the music that was heard on the day of the funeral here.

There is a recording of the visit of the Black Watch band to the White House on the website of the JFK Library. You can watch it here. It shows JFK welcoming the band on the White House lawn and making a speech before the assembled crowd of schoolchildren from local schools, at the end of which, he was presented with the officer's dirk by the regiment's commander. 

Reconstruction of Ieper - An Irishman's Diary

The Belgian city of Ieper (Ypres) was almost pounded to oblivion during the First World War. The Ypres salient (a salient is simply a bulge in the line that gives the defenders the advantage of being able to fire on those in the salient from three sides) was the scene of several battles during the War. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed and many towns in the region were destroyed. 

After the War, the Belgian authorities had to decide whether to rebuild Ieper more or less as it was or to take a new departure and start from a blank slate. They decided on the former approach and I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about the reconstruction of Ieper and some Irish connections to the city. Read it here.

 

Remains of the Cloth Hall, Ieper. Image source.

To understand the impact of the War on the citizens of Ieper, there is a very good article here by Pieter Trogh of the In Flanders Fields Museum. 

It is strange to walk around Ieper today in 2023 and see all the buildings that were built just 100 years ago in such an ancient place. As I mention in the newspaper article, many buildings contain markers showing the year of construction. There are some examples below and these markers serve as a reminder of the history of Ieper and what it endured during the War.

As mentioned in my newspaper article, the photographs taken by the Antony brothers (known as Antony d'Ypres) provide a great insight into what the town looked like before, during and after the War. The scale of destruction and the efforts that were put in to rebuilding are staggering. On that note, it is terribly sad to see modern day conflicts around the world killing and maiming people and laying waste to towns and cities in the same way that WW1 laid waste to Ieper.