Before it was Fr Mathew Street it was known as Queen Street and ironically on this monarch's street was the cultural heartbeat of Cork's Republican movement.
No. 3 was the headquarters of the Gaelic League Cork city branch and it was called An Grianan.
An Grinan which is in a sad state these days.
This building bustled with activity during the revolutionary era. Terence MacSwiney held Irish language classes here and Cathal Brugha oversaw an inquiry here after the failed 1916 Rising on Leeside. That gathering of Republucan top brass was advertised as a Gaelic League Ceili just to put the authorities off the scent!
Daniel Corkery's Cork Dramatic Society produced plays at An Grianan, in between the lectures and dances held there. It was indeed a hive of activity!
From the 1921 Cork City Directory.
Down the street at number 19 was An Dun, another nucleus of the revolutionary movement which saw the likes of Na Fianna boys gather for lectures and drills.
Cork Fianna Officers
Advert from the 1921 Cork City Directory "Classes every evening at 5pm"
Countess Markievicz and Bulmer Hobson attended a large ceili at An Grianan following a Manchester Martyrs commemoration in 1915 while James Connolly delivered a lecture there to 30 people about street fighting a few months before the Easter Rising in 1916.
Account of Connolly's lecture at An Grianan.
Account from Fianna Captain Charles Meaney
Grave of Captain Meaney, St Finbarrs Cemetery.
As the War of Independence gathered steam from 1919 onwards the activities at No.3 Fr Mathew Street became more militarised as An Grianan turned into an important nucleus of the IRA, Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna. This also meant the building suffered from severe raids from the British authorities.
Witness statement from Peg Duggan Cumann na mBan.
A meeting at An Grianan inspired Tom Waters to set up an Irish Volunteers company in his hometown of Bantry. He would later serve with the Tipperary Brigade.
Grave of Tom Waters, St Finbarrs Cemetery.
An Grianan would host first aid classes and rifle practise while lectures on combat out weighed Irish language classes during the years of conflict.
Fr Mathew Street from South Mall, An Grianan just down the street on the left.
Account from Riobard Langford on activities held in An Grianan.
Grave of Riobard Langford at St. Finbarrs Cemetery.
The building is now in neglect but over 100 years ago it was the pulse of Rebel Cork.
Witness statement of George Hurley Na Fianna Eireann.
An Grianan in 2022.
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