Macroom native Joan extols beauty of the Lee Valley to Prince Charles
HOPES have been expressed by a Macroom business woman that Prince Charles might visit mid- Cork if he returns to Ireland, after she presented him with a book highlighting the attractions of the Lee Valley when he visited Cork city last week.
Joan Lucey, who owns Vibes and Scribes book and craft shop in Cork city, but is originally from Macroom, told of how she availed of her chance when meeting with Prince Charles in Cork City Hall to present him with a signed first edition of Robert Gibbings ‘Lovely is the Lee’.
“Robert Gibbings grew up in Cork, where his father was a Church of Ireland rector, first in Kinsale, but later in Carrigrohane,” she explained “He fought in World War I and lived in England and travelled as far as Tonga in the South Seas, but he returned to Ireland in the 1940s.
“He wrote ‘Lovely is the Lee’ in 1945, and it charts the journey of the Lee from Gougane Barra to the sea. He includes stories and folklore from the various areas that the river flows through, and he illustrated it himself with his own etchings, because he was a very talented wood carver.
“I knew Prince Charles is a passionate champion of the environment so I thought it would be nice to give him something about the natural environment here in Cork, and he seemed very interested when I told him about Robert Gibbings and the Lee Valley.”
It would be a huge boost to tourism in mid- Cork if Prince Charles were to visit the area if he returns to Ireland, as happened when his mother, Queen Elizabeth, visited the English Market in Cork city; the number of British visitors went up by 30 per cent, Ms Lucey said.
She revealed that she also presented Prince Charles with a box of naturally produced Irish wool as a memento of his visit as she was aware that he is the patron of the British Campaign for Wool; she thought he might appreciate the gift.
“He was very pleasant and very interested in hearing about how we are liaising with Irish farmers and using their fleece to produce 100 per cent Irish knitting wool. He said he would love to come back and see how that works,” she said.
Meanwhile, Macroom woman Patricia Looney, who works in Cork City Library, revealed that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, seemed very interested in libraries when she spoke to her during a civic reception for the royal couple at Cork City Hall.
“She said that libraries seemed to be in a much healthier state in Ireland than in the UK,” said Ms Looney. “She was very nice and chatted to a group of us from the library, the museum and the archives for a few minutes, and seemed quite interested in hearing about our work.”