MAPPING OUT MALLOW’S VIBRANT HISTORY AND HERITAGE
FIELD CLUB INVITES PROPLE TO TAKE TAKE A WALK AROUND THE TOWN AND DISCOVER ITS PLACES AND CHARACTERS
THE Mallow Field Club has invited locals and visitors to immerse themselves in the towns rich and vibrant heritage by taking a leisurely stroll through the historic old town.
Last year the Field Club conducted two fascinating guided walks through the heart of the town, taking in many locations of historical and cultural importance to Mallow.
Unable to repeat the guided walks this summer due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the Club’s committee has produced a comprehensive map for people to use, containing more that 50 points of reference all within easy walking distance.
This week The Corkman again reproduces the map together with a brief summary outlining the importance of each of the sites along the way.
“We are inviting people to take a virtual stroll through the town of Mallow, beginning at the bridge over the River Blackwater. We hope that people will enjoy guiding themselves around our fascinating, historic town,” said Field Club chair Helen O’Connell.
“More comprehensive information on the major sites and historic personages can be consulted on laminated information sheets in Mallow Public Library by enquiring at its information desk,” she added.
29. Wm. O’Brien (1852 – 1928):
THIS was the birthplace of William O Brien.
Caretaking this building for its then owner at the time of William’s birth, on that owner’s return, his parents took him back to their house in Ballydaheen to rear him.
O’Brien was a leading nationalist, journalist and agrarian agitator and was an M.P. from 1883 until 1918.
He also founded the All for Ireland League and was a life-long friend of Canon Sheehan.
He died at his residence, Bellvue House, on the southside of Mallow in 1928.
30. St. Anne’s Church of Ireland & Graveyard:
THE present ruins are of a late 17th or early 18th century church.
There was a pre-Reformation Catholic parish church here since 1291. It passed to the Church of Ireland in the
late 16th century.
By 1817 it was thought to be beyond repair, but not before a planned attack by Irish rebels in the year 1799 after the failed 1798 rebellion.
Dates on the graveyard around the ruin indicate that it was the burial place for the town from the early 1700’s.
31. St James’ Church of Ireland:
CONSTRUCTION on a new Church of Ireland was begun in 1818 on land adjacent to St. Annes.
It was designed by the Pain Brothers and combined neo-gothic and neo -Tudor styles. The Church was opened in 1824.
It has many fine stained glass windows; two such windows are in the chancel and are by Catherine O Brien of the Tur Gloine studios. The baptismal font in which Thomas Davis was baptized in 1814 was transferred from St. Anne’s and is still in use today.
32. Sir Edward Sullivan:
SIR Edward Sullivan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was born here July 10th 1822.
He represented Mallow in Parliament 1865-1870. He was the father of Blessed John Sullivan SJ.
33. Sisters of Mercy:
THE story of the Sisters of Mercy in Mallow began here on October 13 1845, when they established a convent in premises next to St Mary’s Church.
From here they began visiting the sick and educating the young. They later moved to Bathview in 1850.
The building became a branch of the National Bank and is now part of the Credit Union.
34. St Mary’s Catholic Church:
BUILT in 1818 on land donated by Charles D. O. Jephson of Mallow Castle.
Originally it was a plain barn-like building with an earthen floor and was screened from the Main Street by a row of houses.
In 1900 the façade was enhanced with plans by the Dublin architect G.C. Ashlin, R.H.A., in the Lombardo Romanesque style.
Built in limestone and sandstone, two local stones, with bathstone used in the tympana over the doorways.
The contractor was John Sisk, Cork. The interior plasterwork, by the Orangee family of Italian craftsmen, consisted of a rib-vaulted ceiling and fluted columns.
Unfortunately, the ceiling could not be saved or replicated when a new roof was required for the church in 1996.
35. Famine Commemoration Stone:
AS you walk through the yard in front of St. Mary’s a tall stone on the left side commemorates the victims of the Great Famine.
The stone was erected in 1997.
36. Mallow’s First Post Office:
STILL to be seen, is a tiny annex with its entrance built up, abutting the first house west of St Mary’s Church.
This was part of the first Post Office in Mallow.
37. De la Cour’s Bank:
ROBERT De la Cour, of Bearforest, was senior partner of De la Cour’s Bank, Mallow, which existed from about 1800 to 1835.
It was the last provincial private bank in Ireland.
The origin of the family is treated by Gabriel Ogilvy in his Les Conquerants de l’Angleterre en 1066.
38. County Club:
THE County Club claims to have been established in 1760 and so is reputed to be the oldest in the country.
39. AIB Bank:
IT originally was a town house and later, when a branch of the Provincial Bank was established, its façade was enhanced with window architraves and the ground storey was given a fine limestone finish.
40. Chapel Lane:
THERE was a small, thatched Catholic chapel situated on a plot of ground to the north west of the present day Garda station before St. Mary’s Church was built.
41. Neo Classical Terrace: (Mallow Parish Centre and Parish Community Centre).
BUILT by James Jones, Attorney-atLaw on land purchased in1851.
In 1886 numbers 26, 27 & 28 were purchased by Mr. John Kepple, No. 26, the largest house, was the family home.
42. Bank of Ireland:
BUILT in 1875, this three storey building with its impressive façade of brick and limestone, was designed by Sandham Symes.
43. The First Church of Ireland Diocesan College:
THE college was established here in 1684.
Sir Richard Quain, famous Anatomist, and Physician to Queen Victoria, was educated here in the 1820s. Sometime after 1847 it fell into abeyance.
44. Mallow Military Barracks:
IN Emmet St. (formerly Barrack St.) the site of the only barracks captured by the IRA in the War of Independence.
On Sept, 28, 1920 while half the garrison were exercising their horses outside the town, volunteers and officers of Cork No 2 Brigade captured the barracks.
Within 20 minutes, 27 rifles, two machine guns and several thousand rounds of ammunition were captured.
Sergeant Gibbs, NCO, was shot dead during the raid.
45. Anthony Trollope:
THE English novelist lived here in the late 1840s while working as a Post Office Surveyor, and later as an Inspector.
During his time in Mallow he hunted with the Duhallows (Ireland’s second oldest Fox Hunt).
46. Victorian Post Box at Shortcastle Corner:
THIS is a rare surviving example of a post box bearing the “VR” monogram of Queen Victoria.
47. Shortcastle Church of Ireland Parochial School, Teacher’s Residence and Hall:
FORMERLY a parochial school which had an attendance of 70 children.
The school house, teacher’s residence, and parochial hall were erected in 1883, at a cost of £1,400.
The teacher’s house and the parochial hall are constructed of polygonal blocks of local limestone with concrete trims.
48. Site of Short Castle:
A CASTLE which existed here was destroyed by Irish forces in 1641.
49. The Wind that Shakes the Barley:
A SCENE from this film was shot here.
50. Site of last Church of Ireland Diocesan College:
IT was here Wm O’Brien received his secondary education. It is now a private residence.
51. Mary O’Malley:
BORN Mary Hickey July 28, 1918 at West End, Mallow, in the home of her grandmother, Margaret Lysaght.
The family was living in Youghal, but two months before she was born, her father, Daniel Hickey died, so her mother returned to Mallow until Mary was born.
Mary returned to Youghal and after completing her education, moved to
Dublin where she involved herself in theatrical and artistic circles. She married Dr. Pearse O’Malley from Belfast in 1947 and settled in Belfast.
In 1951 she formed the Lyric Players Theatre. Later the present state of the art Lyric Theatre was built on the banks of the Lagan.
She died in 2006 in Co. Wicklow, to where she and Pearse had retired.
52. Broadview House:
THIS building was occupied by a company of Blac and Tans for a while during the War of Independence.
While occupied by the Free State Army during the Civil War, Michael Collins called here on a tour of inspection two days before his death at Beal na mBlath, 22 August 1922.
53. Mallow Presbyterian Church:
IT functioned from 1848 until 1922.
The church was built about 1864 and the associated Manse built at the turn of the 20th century. The Rev. Robert Jeffrey, author of The Indian Mission of the Irish Presbyterian Church, was minister here.
54. Cleeves’ Condensed Milk Factory:
THE present- day Dairygold manufacturing site was originally occupied by the Cleeves’ Factory.
In reprisal for the shooting of Sergeant Gibbs earlier in the day (September, 28, 1920), British Military from Fermoy and Buttevant sacked the town late that night.
Several business premises were completely burnt.
The destruction to Cleeves factory was complete, resulting in unemployment for 250 workers.
55. Mallow College of Further Education:
THE College was built in modernist style in 1943 and operated as a Vocational School.
56. Mallow Railway Station:
A RAIL link from Dublin to Mallow opened on March 17th 1849, with the final line to Cork being completed in October of the same year.
The work on the construction of the railway provided much needed relief to local families during the Famine years.
The Mallow station became an important junction servicing connections to both Kerry and Waterford as well as being the chief route from north to south.
Hence Mallow was often referred to as the ‘Crossroads of Munster’.
57. North Cork County Council Offices:
THE building now known as Annabella House is occupied by Cork County Council and was formerly the Royal Hotel, which was built in Italianate Palazzo style.
In 1863 a Samuel H. Ward took a lease of a building in the course of construction on a seven acre site and this became the Royal Hotel.