THIS WEEK 21 YEARS AGO
The discovery of ancient archeological remains under a busy Fermoy street gripped the public conscience this week in 2000.
Builders found stone remnants, believed to be of a Cistercian Monastery, as they demolished Walsh’s Old Hardware store in the town. It immediately halted work at the site near the Fermoy Resource Centre on MacCurtain Street as archeologist were called in to examine the extraordinary find.
It was believed that the historic building was that of an abbey founded by Donal Mor O Briain in 1170 and could have helped historians to open a looking glass into the history of not just Fermoy, but the surrounding region. It was also believed that a large ancient graveyard was also in the area.
Sean Ó Murchu, Secretary of Fermoy Heritage Society, spoke of his group’s excitement at the discovery.
“It’s very important to the town and it would be nice to find out what period the find relates to.
“We certainly don’t wish to stop development at the site, we would simply like the find to be surveyed and recorded,” Sean said.
In Castletownroche the public were invited to visit the historic Mill which had undergone a massive renovation programme. Most of the work was completed through a FAS scheme and funded by Ballyhoura.
There had been a massive drive locally to find the cash to help the project and in reward for their interest in the plan, the public were given a tour of the near finished structure.
Much of the work was done inside the building and organisers believed that the locals who helped to fund the project did not get a chance to see the major progress made.
Two cowardly criminals ran away as they were confronted by gardai at Fermoy Golf Club. The men were in the process of breaking into the clubhouse when they were disturbed by a passing Garda patrol.
The incident happened in the early hours of the previous Friday morning when the two thieves, who were travelling in a stolen Mercedes Benz, had targeted the facility.
The gardai spotted the stolen car and tracked it to the club where they moved in and stopped the men in their tracks. As the gardai approached the men spotted them and fled in the high powered Merc towards Cork city where the stolen car was found abandoned a short time later by other gardai.
There were calls in the Dáil for funding for Nagle Rice Secondary School in Doneraile which was appealing for funding to build a much needed lunch room.
Deputy Paul Bradford had made the call to Michael Woods, the Minister for Education and Science, during a Dail debate.
The Minister said that the application for funding was under consideration and would be dealt with as quickly as possible. “This project is an urgent priority for the many students at Nagle Rice School,” he said.
There was a different weather issue in 2000 than the cold snap we are suffering now, as fire fighters dealt with a gorse fire near the Mountain Barracks.
Fire brigade personnel spent two hours at the scene before bringing the blaze under control. It was estimated that up to 30 acres were affected by the outbreak which was discovered by Coillte workers.
A combination of dry undergrowth and unseasonably good weather was believed to be the cause for the blaze.
Residents in the Uplands Estate in Fermoy had declared that they were going to get a wall built around their estate and the Council would pay for it.
The local group had led a campaign for two years as they said they needed the two metre tall structure to protect them from the potential of invasion from other newly built estates.
Their campaign had been partially successful with Cork County Council agreeing to build a 1.5 metre barrier around three quarters of the estate. But the residents were not happy when Cork County Council would only agree to place shrubs in the remaining portion of ground.
That caused Richie Flynn and other campaigning residents to protest and declare the Council’s agreement ‘unacceptable’.
“We’re entitled to a bit of privacy and can’t understand why this wall should stop short, just to please the passing public,” he declared.
In sport there was great interest in the Grandon’s Invitational Snooker Tournament as talented Wexford man Rodney Goggins took the honours. The event was organised by David Joyce and the trophy was presented by UDC chairwoman, Cllr Aileen Pyne.
Hill Celtic B were facing a challenging tie against the much favoured Knocknaheeny Celtic but the local team took an inspirational victory against the Cork city side.
The 2-1 score was a real happy moment for the players, with both scores from Johnny Dorgan which included a lengthy solo run to score.