TRIBUTE TO ELLEN HUTCHINS

08/12/2023

Mad About Cork is a group of Volunteers in Cork City who are  positive changes in urban spaces through street art, guerrilla gardening, and much more.

Ellen Hutchins (1785–1815) was an early Irish botanist. She specialised in seaweeds, lichens, mosses and liverworts. She is known for finding many plants new to science, identifying hundreds of species, and for her botanical illustrations in contemporary publications. Many plants were named after her by botanists of the day.

Ellen Hutchins was from Ballylickey, where her family had a small estate at the head of Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland. She was born 17 March 1785 at Ballylickey House, the second youngest surviving child of her parents. Her father, Thomas, was a magistrate who died when Ellen was two years old, leaving his widow Elinor and six surviving children (from twenty-one). She was sent to school near Dublin, and while there, her health deteriorated, largely it appears through being underfed. Dr Whitley Stokes, a family friend, took her under his and his wife's care in his house in Harcourt Street, Dublin. She regained her appetite and health, and also followed Stokes advice to take up natural history as a healthy hobby. Following her improved health, she returned to her family home to care for her mother and her disabled brother Thomas.

However, her own health declined again and by late 1812 she was seriously ill. She and her mother moved to Bandon in 1813 to receive medical care. After her mother died there in 1814, she moved back to Ardnagashel House, close to Ballylickey, to be cared for by her brother Arthur and his wife Matilda. She died on 9 February 1815 and was buried in the old Bantry churchyard. Her grave was unmarked, but a plaque was erected in 2002 by the Hutchins family in their private family burial ground.  A public memorial was placed in the old Bantry (Garryvurcha) graveyard in 2015, the bicentenary of her death, by the National Committee for Commemorative Plaques in Science and Technology.

There are two Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridges in Cork and looking at many photographs online I have noticed that some people have incorrectly identified the bridges featured in their photographs. One bridge is the “Clontarf Bridge” and the other one is the “Brian Boru” bridge. 

The Clontarf and Brian Boru bridges are unique in the city’s history, built as they were to accommodate four different forms of transport namely; goods and passenger trains; vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic and finally to lift into an upright position to accommodate the passage of shipping.

Brian Boru Street was built in conjunction with Brian Boru bridge and for a number of years it was simply known as the New Street.

At this junction, great crowds often accompanied famous people, among them political leaders, in procession to or from Kent railway station. In 1903, King Edward 7th and Queen Alexandria passed by here following their visit to the Cork International Exhibition in Fitzgerald Park.

To the north-east lies Harrington Square, where the famous short-story writer Frank O’Connor lived.

LANGERLOAD

08/12/2023

TODAY'S WORD IS LANGERLOAD [LEARNING TO SPEAK CORKONIAN]

Today I came across the following statement: "Langerload is currently not in the top 100 on the Baby Names Popularity Charts in the USA"

A ‘langer’ is an annoying person; but to be ‘langers/langered’ is to be drunk. If you say “she’s a langer” it means that she is a very annoying, but if her husband  “was langered” means he was drunk. 

A langerload is a huge amount especially in the case of excessive drinking.

The painted box is on Father Mathew Quay ... and what was he famous for? Theobald Mathew (10 October 1790 – 8 December 1856)[1] was an Irish Catholic priest and teetotalist reformer, popularly known as Father Mathew.

Paint-A-Box, Street Art, William Murphy, Infomatique, Fotonique, Streets Of Cork, Corkonian, Langers, A Langer, Not A Baby Name, Father Mathew Quay,

PEACOCK IN MILLTOWN

16/10/2023

PEACOCK BY CONOR FITZPATRICK @FIZZDESIGNS [PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART IN MILLTOWN]

Peacock by Conor Fitzpatrick on Milltown Road near the Nine Arches Bridge and across the road from the famous Dropping Well Pub.

MACHA BY ACIDSTARZART

03/10/2023

MACHA BY ACIDSTARZART FROM BELFAST [PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART LOCATED IN STONEYBATTER DUBLIN 7]

This is the third example of paint-a-box street art produced by Acidstarzart for the Dublin Canvas 2023 programme.

"This artwork depicts the Goddess 'Macha' after whom Armagh is named. Morrigan sister Macha appeared out of the blue in the home of a struggling widower and began to live as his partner. After a few too many sups, her husband bragged about his ‘fairy wife’ at a banquet, claiming she could outrun the King’s horses, which enraged the King. Forced to take part in the race, a heavily pregnant Macha succumbed to the physical toll and met her end, but not before she cursed every Ulsterman in the stadium who had not come to her aid. This same curse is what would befall the Ulstermen in the Cattle Raid of Cooley, leading to Medb and Cú Chulainn's famous face off. Scroll back to see my depiction of Medb in my previous Dublin Canvas box. Armagh is named in honour of Macha and the colour palette of this box pays honour to that. The colours on the side are a nod to the Armagh GAA badge, and the background colour and Macha's dress were chosen with specific reference to Armagh."