Daniel Corkery, a Thumbnail Sketch

by Cecily Lynch--

 

From my window seat in the Mayfield bus, I caught a glimpse of a new plaque tucked into a corner of a wall. I went to investigate. It was a portrait of Daniel Corkery, a writer, an academic and a nationalist, who was born in the vicinity of my own home in 1878.

Daniel Corkery was a teacher in St. Patrick’s national school for boys (I had attended the girls’ school) on Gardiner’s Hill, Cork. He counted among his pupils the sculptor Seamus Murphy and the writer Sean O’ Faoileain.

Daniel Corkery was the author of some very notable books, including ‘The Hidden Ireland’ and ‘A Munster Twilight’.

The main theme of those books was that the ancient culture of Ireland had been undermined and devalued by British rule. He urged people to remember the Gaelic culture and the richness of the 19^th century Gaelic poetry (which is often called the poetry of the ‘Dispossessd’) and which was almost forgotten. He lived in De Valera’s era and these writings were very relevant and valuable to the new Irish State, for they encouraged pride in our heritage.

He was appointed Professor of English at University College, Cork. He was a talented artist also and spent his summers sketching and painting in Inchigeela, a beautiful remote area near Gouganebarra, in West Cork.

On my way back from Mayfield, I spied another new plaque at Harrington’s Square. It was a sculpture in a very Irish style, commemorating Seamus Murphy, the famous Cork sculptor whose works adorn several public buildings in the city, including the Art Gallery, St. Joseph’s cemetery and Blackpool church.

We commemorate these creative men and treasure them, as they have preserved our Irish identity and culture in the face of the overpowering culture of the English speaking world.