Christmas Shopping 1920

14th Dec 2006

Christmas Shopping 1920
Don Leary

There's always some moany aunt or uncle who bangs on about how little they had at Christmas and that it's all money these days. True, Christmas has become more about Daft Dave and Harvey Norman than Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene but in an increasingly irreligious society it seems we must accept that Christmas is another cultural event being sucked from its Christian roots by the Celtic Tiger.

However, we cannot allow to go unnoticed, the gallant efforts of those brave Cork men of Christmas 1920 without whose brave efforts we would not have the freedom to drag bags of shopping out of brightly lit super-chic shops on Patrick Street in 2006. Ten years ago you might have thought Pana was a bit of a dive. Consider that just 86 years ago it was a pile of rubble.

Christmas shopping in Cork...1920

OH WOE TO ME!
When you shiver at the bitter icy gale whipping its way up the river as you cross Patrick's Bridge this Christmas remember that its not long since the Black and Tans accosted, searched and beat young local men who crossed it. Cold winds were the least of their worries.

It's not long since young Cork men were taken from their houses, stripped naked and made to sing 'God Save the King' or be shot dead on the street where they grew up. It's not long since being on a Cork street after 10pm or seen meeting with a group of more than six men at any time of the day could see you meet your maker.

Martial law crippled the 'troublesome commonwealth city' but because of the resolve of thousands of Corkonians Tom·s Mac Curtain's prophesy was eventually realised: "it is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer most who win".

THE BURNING OF CORK
On the night of December 11th 1920 wild British Auxillaries plundered the Rebel City in an orgy of co-ordinated arson and looting. Fire men were shot at, hose reels were cut and shops were ransacked while the city choked on the black smoke that ironically symbolised the death throes of foreign rule in Cork.

When the fires were put out 5 acres of the city centre had been levelled and 2000 Corkonians were unemployed. This was at a time not when things were just tough but at a time when things were toughest - especially with the lead up to Christmas and those cold winter months.

Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, Tesco, Halfords and other British retail giants now dominate Cork's streets. Their success and confidence in our city is, in part at least, testament to our ability to reconcile and put the past behind us.

However, December 1920 must receive at least a customary glance in the rear view mirrors of the SUVs that now represent our increasing need for retail therapy. Something that is in danger of becoming 'retail dependence' rather than the occasional spending spree.

Democratically elected Lord Mayor Tom·s Mac Curtain who was shot by crown forces in front of his wife and kids in 1920.

HUNGER STRIKES
Spare a second or two for the young Cork men who felt so strongly about the oppression of their friends, family and fellow Corkonians that they sacrificed themselves in those infamous hunger strikes of 1920.

People like Lord Mayor Terrence Mac Sweeney, Michael Fitzgerald and Joseph Murphy (aged just seventeen) were so devoted to the ideal of a Cork free of British tyranny that they starved themselves to death in the hope of bringing the attention of the world's media to the plight of our grandparents and great-grandparents in Cork.

In 2006 a seventeen year old wouldn't be prepared to delete his Bebo profile for a political cause, not to mind give up his life.

HONOUR
With this year's squabbling in City Hall about naming bridges, roads and airports after modern sporting heroes, it baulks the Peoples Republic of Cork to think that the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their city don't even make the shortlist.

Laying your life down for your people does not equate to putting your cruciate ligaments on the line for the All-Ireland, the Olympics or the Champions League. So if those heroes are not acknowledged by the state we must, like Rebels ourselves, go against their wishes and try to acknowledge these heroes regardless.

CHRISTMAS 1920
Instead of sharing gifts and good times with their families during Christmas 1920, many young Corkmen lay inside cold wooden coffins in freshly dug graves so we today, can "fight" each other at the bargain bins on Stephens Day and "battle" for parking in the grey multi storey structures that now stand in the place of the buildings burned to the ground that night.

When you're cursing never-ending traffic, impenetrable crowds and the strain of the Brown Thomas bags on your little fingers this Christmas, spare a moment for the Corkonians who went before you, upon whose martyrdom we now build our thriving city and county.

They are the Real Rebels.