Cobh

<h3>Club Members of the month. Ballymore/Cobh AC</h3>
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<h3>&nbsp;The Cubs (7-8yrs olds) nomination for Athlete of the Month in June is Charlie Cummins.</h3>
<p>After winning his heat &amp; quarter final at the Primary Schools Cork City Sports, Charlie went on to secure the title of County Champion when taking gold for St Joseph’s National School in the U7 60m final held at MTU.</p>
<p>A few days later he followed up with a number of impressive performances at the De Courcey AC Open Sports Day.</p>
<p>Gold medals in the U8 60m sprint &amp; U9 relay, Silver in the U9 300m and a Bronze in the U10 Long Jump highlighted a couple of good days sport for Charlie, who is already proving himself to be a gutsy competitor despite his tender years.</p>
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<h3>Heather Sillett</h3>
<p>Behind every great race is a great woman and our senior club member of the month for July is Heather Sillett, the driving force behind the SOS Cobh 10. Heather works tirelessly behind the scenes throughout the year not just the days and weeks coming up to the race. Heather’s ability to juggle Emails, phone calls, meetings, follow up meetings, chase, cajole, arm twist and network is matched by her infinite good will. She somehow manages to keep level headed and calm throughout these preparations to make the race a huge success. Heather is a great ambassador for the club and has forged strong links with many other clubs including most recently Kilcormac Killoughey AC who have made the Cobh 10 their annual away event. Well done Heather and thanks for all your work!</p>
<h3>Ballymore Community Association</h3>
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<p>Absolutely fabulous to have new seating areas in the village and many thanks to the great work of Olly, Paul, Des and Sean  for securing these.A very special word of thanks to Breda for her time spent ordering the seats, plus the new notice board, and storing them until erected.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Sirius</h3>
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<p>Layer by Layer invites young people from Cobh YMCA to collaborate with the artists Darn Thorn, Ciara Rodgers and Deirdre Breen to interrogate their connection to Cobh. This past Saturday, the group and their families, friends and teachers celebrated their graduation and launched a display and publication featuring their work (link in bio for a downloadable PDF). After a successful series of workshops with the artists over the last nine months, the group shared their work with the community, enabling the engagement with their vision of Cobh as well as the understanding of their creative skill set.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For Layer by Layer, participants explore architectural questions through the lens of lived experience, from sustainable design to urban planning, and investigate how Cobh’s personal circumstances, sense of place, know-how and communities are shaped in buildings and sites. A series of workshops guided the participants through the different stages of the project: excavating, listening, documenting, and writing.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Layer by Layer is curated by Lucia Taeubler, SIRIUS Curatorial Fellow.</p>
<p>The project is funded by Creative Ireland Cork County grant scheme.&nbsp;</p>
<p>July 11th marks 84 years to the day that Spike Island was handed from Britain to Ireland, in one of the most momentous occasions in Irish history.   40000 packed the town of Cobh to witness an event that lifted a nation, as Ireland grew just a little larger in size, but infinitely larger in stature.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Spike anniversary</h3>
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<p>Spike Island had been retained by the British as part of the terms of the Treaty in 1921.  Winston Churchill was part of the Treaty debating team and he had visited Cork Harbour in 1912, seeing for himself how vitally important the strategic location was.  British retention of the port, and two other 'Treaty ports' caused anger, but at the time this paled in comparison to the loss of six northern counties.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Spike island remained occupied by British troops for a further seventeen years, while the Irish State endured a difficult beginning after achieving Independence in 1922.  A bloody Civil War caused animosity, while a global and national depression in the 1930's caused hardship.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Economic woes were made worse by a trade war between Ireland and Britain over historic land repayments from Ireland to Britain.   But a resolution was reached, and in a subtle act of statecraft by Eamon DeValera, the Anglo-Irish agreement included the return of Spike Island and the Treaty ports.</p>
<p>Winston Churchill was incensed.  He thundered to Parliament;</p>
<p>"...On the face of it, we seem to give everything away and receive nothing in return... These ports are, in fact, the sentinel towers of the western approaches, by which the 45,000,000 people in this Island so enormously depend on foreign food for their daily bread".&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>This time, he would lose the argument, and control of the sentinel tower that is Spike Island.</p>
<p>The return of all the Treaty Ports was important, but the symbolism of the return of Spike Island was deeply powerful.  This was the island the British had fortified in unparalleled efforts to defend its Empire.  It was also the island they used to imprison a nation in the 19th century, and again during the Irish War of Independence in 1921.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The date set for the handover was July 11th 1938, an auspicious date as it was the day the Truce began in 1921.  Eamon DeValera was joined by TD's, Senators and senior IRA figures like Frank Aiken, Oscar Traynor, Kevin Boland, and former Spike Island Republican prisoner James Ryan, one of 1200 Republicans held on the island in 1921.  They waited until every single British troop had left before sailing to the island, to be met by Major Maher of the Irish Army and hundreds of Irish troops.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>At 8pm on July 11th, 1938, the Irish flag was raised over Spike Island, 159 years after the British had first occupied the island in 1779.  The military band played a soldiers song, the guns of Spike Island bellowed their salute, and 40000 in Cobh screamed at the top of their voices.  Fires were lit along Cork's coast and the tri-colour flown from Belfast to Baltimore.  Cobh did not sleep that night, with fireworks heralding the event and festivities through the evening.  A spectator recalled;</p>
<p>"we... ran in along through the gate (in Cobh) and just as we got in the Tricolour crept up the flagstaff in Spike Island.   And in all my life I never before felt anything like the sensation I got when that flag went up.  All the crowd (40,000 people in Cobh) roared as loud as their lungs could go, they jumped, clapped and waved their hats, even as I think of it, I could still break my heart crying.  I was grand".&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The day is remembered annually on Spike Island as our Independence day, with an evening celebration involving fireworks, special tours and family fun.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>You can read the full detail of the story including an extraordinary encounter between the British and Irish troops at this guest blog here - https://johncrottyauthor.com/the-1938-handover-of-spike-island-from-a-reluctant-britain-to-ireland/</p>
<h3>Thanks to Ballymore Community Association for this fab update-</h3>
<h3>“More great news for Ballymore Community.</h3>
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<p>When an idea becomes a reality.. thanks to Colm Damery,Cobh Tidy Towns Biodiversity Officer, and Robert O Sullivan BE,Cobh County Council.. as our suggestion of developing this stretch of road into a biodiversity educational plot has now come to life.Colm brought this idea to the attention of Secad/ Wildwork Partnership and it has now been chosen by them, for a brilliant biodiversity project, under the guidance of SECAD/Wild Work Ecologist Patrick McQuinn with the first of four two hour modules taking place yesterday. A very informative and enjoyable morning led by Patrick was had by all that attended and it is so fabulous to have more local community groups with great expertise come on board also as we are all working together with the same goal.Sincere gratitude once again to Colm Damery for setting this in motion and to all attendees from Cobh Tidy Towns, Cobh County Council,Cobh Enviromental Sustainability Group  and Ballymore Community Association.”👏👏🐝🌼</p>
<p>Cork County Council Wild Work SECAD Partnership CLG - SECAD Biodiversity Ireland</p>
<h3>Season 2021/2022 Springfield Ramblers</h3>
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<h3>What a Season!</h3>
<p>&nbsp;The 2021/2022 season saw an awful start from the Green &amp; White where an opening day defeat to Castleview which was followed up by a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Greenwood. However over the following 14 league games that proceeded, Springfield AFC Won 13 and Lost only 1 scoring 58 goals and conceding 13 with 8 clean sheets.  This was a phenomenal season and turnaround from a galvanised group of Cobh men that have been unlucky not to achieve greater success and silverware over the last two seasons due to untimely endings to both seasons as result of Covid-19.</p>
<p>The team were informed at the 11th hour of a League deciding final game of the season, of which the Cobh men won 5-2, that historic appeals by another club that had nothing to do with Springfield, were being reviewed.</p>
<p>A reflection of the direction the overall league has gone in the last few seasons, there was really no surprise that the well deserved League title that the team had earned on the pitch over 16 hard fought games was cruelly taken away, which really diluted the status of the winning trophy overall.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It was an awful way to conclude a season where it was by far the most dramatic and entertaining division in the league, which was evidenced by the topsy turvy final run in by the other title challengers. To show how truly remarkable the run in to the season end actually was it was the Cobh men who were the epitome of consistency with Springfield winning 10 games straight in 2022 to conclude their the season with Corkbeg winning just 2 games from their last 6 games played. Overall the record of actual games played on the pitch was still phenomenal:</p>
<p>- Springfield P16 W13 L3</p>
<p>- Corkbeg P13 W9 D1 L3 + Walkovers 3</p>
<p>However c’est la vie and the Cobh men achieved promotion to the AUL Premier League next season, where this success should not be understated.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The team celebrated the remarkable season with their end of season awards, kindly hosted by Cobh Ramblers FC where unsurprisingly Shane Geasley was awarded unanimous Players’ Player of the Season in addition to Club Golden Boot and AUL Golden Boot awards after a remarkable return of 22 League Goals. In addition, in what was due to be presented last season but was scuppered by Covid, the club were delighted to award the inaugural Pat Coakley Perpetual Award for outstanding dedication to the club to Pat’s close friend Hughie O’Reilly (2020/2021), with this seasons Pat Coakley Perpetual Award (2021/2022) awarded to club stalwart and current player Leon Keating. Leon’s dedication to the club over the past 10-15 years has been nothing short of remarkable, even when the club was on its knees, Leon’s unwavering assistance was invaluable. We were delighted that Pat Coakley’s sister was at hand to present the awards on her family’s behalf.</p>
<p>In addition ‘Best Newcomer’ was awarded to Domagoj Mickelsevic, who played a huge part in the change of fortunes this season and has become an extremely popular member of the squad both on and off the pitch!</p>
<p>Clubman of the Year was awarded to Steven Denehan.&nbsp;</p>
<p>There was special praise at the awards to our main sponsors Cobh Credit Union Ltd and to all individuals who provided match sponsorship throughout the season as well as Cobh 4 Football and the Stephen Ireland Astroturf facility that assisted the club immensely for both training and for being able to put points on the board during the Winter period and avoid a backlog of games toward the end of the season. Also the U18 team were represented and commended for achieving league success this season where we now look forward to integrating the squad into Senior level.</p>
<p>The current squad and management are extremely excited for the new season ahead and look forward to letting you know some of exciting local talent that have decided to join this ever growing club in it its 64th year as it tries to build on its recent success in the AUL Premier League!</p>
<h3>To be continued…..</h3>
<h3>Sirius</h3>
<h3>Fiona Kelly.  A Temporary Iteration</h3>
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<p>Fiona Kelly addresses themes of ecology and society. Her research into wilderness, matter, and geology considers the human exploration of landscape—understood as both a relationship with the natural world and an extractivist approach to natural resources. Her prints and sculptures depict various sites and/or take the form of specific natural elements. She produces her works with discarded materials—by-products of the built environment—that she forages and transforms. In this solo show, she engages with the esker, a distinctly Irish landform. The exhibition is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, the director of SIRIUS.</p>
<p>WORK</p>
<p>A Temporary Iteration combines sculpture, moving image, and sound. Nineteen 3D pieces replicate the shape of a scalenohedron, a crystal formed from calcite. The properties of calcite make it one of the most widely used of all minerals; it is employed as urban construction material, abrasive, agricultural soil treatment, pigment, pharmaceutical component, and more. It is the principal constituent of the Esker Riada.</p>
<p>&nbsp;The objects lie on the floor and on top of each other, arranged to simulate a terrain. Their various planes operate as projection screens, momentarily holding footage of dynamic landmasses; organic matter such as earth, grass, and flowers; a re-wilded quarry; and pseudo-mountains of raw and unprocessed waste at Gannon Eco. Complementing this are ambient sounds recorded inside waste storage warehouses; sounds of falling glass and matter from debris piles at Gannon Eco; and ambient sounds and birdsongs collected along the Esker Riada.</p>
<h3>Basketball</h3>
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<p>I think everyone who was present on Monday will agree that it was a fabulous day for our club.</p>
<p>First and foremost, we would like to thank our visiting American University, Birmingham Southern College from Alabama. We would especially like to thank coach Chris Graves and coach Zac Richards￼ for leading the camp and giving our players an opportunity to improve.￼</p>
<p>A special thank you to Tom O’Sullivan for liaising between BSC and our club￼. Thanks also to Richard Marshall of Cork Harbour Boat Hire for providing a tour of our beautiful harbour. Thanks also to The Tasty Corner for providing the refreshments needed during the day.￼</p>
<p>It goes without saying that an event like Monday needs meticulous planning and the support of many people to ensure that the event ran smoothly. Thank you to Aidan, Ailish, Cathy, Chloe, Dwayne, Eilish, John H, Rob, Shane and our coaches for their help in advance and during the day. It would be remiss of us not to give special thanks to Damien who was the driving force behind the whole experience. We were lucky to have someone like Damien leading the event and it was no coincidence that the day went better than we could have hoped for.&nbsp;</p>
<p>All in all, the day was an outstanding success. We wish Birmingham Southern College the best of luck on the remaining days of their Irish visit before they journey back to their sweet home Alabama where the skies are so blue. We even got the weather on Monday!</p>
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Cobh and great Island news July 6th

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