The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-10-10

Copyright, 1903. by John A. Black.)
The Statue"-which is Father Mat
theW's statue-in Patrick street neal
the bridge seems TO be the center OF
Cork. for almost all distances and di-
rections are reckoned from il. 1T Is
the second street past the statue. sir;
or keep on till you meet the statue
sir. are samples of the directions given
YOU by the ever-obliging Corkonian
Thus the name they wish to honor and
perpetuate gets into the every day life
of the people. which is worth consider
alton when we are erecting statues TO
our great men.
The name Cork. to me. whose an
cestors came from the other end of the
house. Donegal, once stood for all that
unfortunately divided the house against
itself. When / was a boy the Donegal
group which used to gather at my
fathers fireside, could talk calmly of
the "ould country" till they came to
Cork which always rolled the con-
Nersa'tion. And Corkonian was a brand
which. put upon a man, made him the
object of suspicion by the older people
and of curiosity mingled with fear
among the children. OF course, / had
discovered that the Donegal men saw
Cork and the Corkonian through a mist
Of prejudice of race and religion. which
distorted their vision; but the memory
of my boyhood conceptions of Cork was
the background against which / saw
the real Cork. For one who had once
stood gazing with mingled curiosity
and fear on a lone son of Cork in Amer
ica. to stand in Cork itself was no COM
mon experience. assure you.
Cork should be very humble for her
name came from the earth beneath"
which was once very swampy, corcach
IA marsh. But the old city has put
opt of sight all signs of her humble
origin. and rears her head as proudly
as if she stood on a rock. Much of the
pleasant waters Of the river Lee
goes down 10 Cork harbor with the tide
twice q day, leaving the famous river
in a pitiable plight as she creeps along
through the city between high stone
walls. befouled by sewage which the
soulless corporation. taking advantage
OF her humiliation. pours out on her
bosom.
ST. Finn Barr came to these parts in
the seventh century and meeting with
the favor OF the local chief he asked
for land on which TO build a church
10 pray to God for himself and all the
people"-Which was granted by the
chief and ST Finn Barr built his church
and founded school. which became so
notable that many students came from
all parts to attend it: and the hermit
ages built for the students TO live in
were the beginnings of thef city OF
Cork. The modern ST. Finn Barr's
cathedral stands ON the site of this
first church.
81. Anne's. which is Shandon church,
was made famous by Father Prout's
Bells OF Shandon
That sound so grand on
The pleasat waters
OF the river Lee"
The priest-poet lies buried in Shan
con Churchyard where now his beloved
bells fling round his tomb
Their magic spells
Nothing less than the devotion OF a
poet could have saved Shandon churcn
from obscurity, for the building itself
would not attract attention, except. per-
haps, by its oddities. Shandon proves
that you can't tell by looking at al
stceple what kind of bells are in it. for
Shandon bells hang in as unartistic a
tower as il was ever the lot of bells TO |
Toll sublime in
The tower is square: two sides are of |
dark and two of light stone, The great, |
gtded fish which occupies the place of |
Weather-vane on the steepls might be |
appropriate 10 a church named after |
st. Peter. who was a fisherman. but |
Why St. Anne is made to hold aloft over !
Cork this market sign, l am unable to |
guess.
This Shandon district is the poorest |
part of Cork. and suppose is the oldest |
part Of the present city. The streets !
are narrow and irregular; and running |
Off the wider streets are many allevs. |
which seem to be densely populated. /
but are too narrow for a horse and carr
to enter All about are dirty. ragged. |
bewling evidence that race suicide IS
not one of the sins of these Shandon
parish people. 1t was almost impos-
sible TO get a snap shot without q flock
Of curious children, and an old woman
Or two in the foreground. The only no.
1ceable buildings in this district. aside
rom the churches, are the butter mar
Ret and an odd-looking. round building
called The Crane" whose history or
use I was unable TO get, only that once
II was used for storing butter.
The old women who deal in second
hand garments do not allow store rent
TO eat up their small profits, for thev
spread their stock out on the nave
hent and do business without the aid
of show windows or other helps. ex-
aept the natural gift Of a glib tongue
which is quite sufficient in Ireland /
Most Of their stock seemed to have
passed the second hand stage and 10
be along well towards the fifth or sixth
hanC. iA'n