Skibbereen & District Historical Society

The death took place on 13 February 2026 of Paddy Leahy, Ballincollig and formerly of Skibbereen. Paddy was a founding member of Skibbereen & District Historical Society and contributed generously to the Society over many years.

Paddy contributed several articles to the Society’s annual journal and helped to organise a number of outings for members. In all his dealings with the Society, Paddy was a very positive influence and was always encouraging. While Paddy was a quiet and an unassuming man, he was good company and was generous with his time and talents.

Paddy was a good community man and contributed generously to various organisations, including the Hill Walking Club, the Scouts in Skibbereen, Skibbereen Geriatric Society and Castlehaven GAA and parish.

Paddy was born in Waterford and moved to Skibbereen in the late 1970s to take up a position with Cork County Council. During his long career, Paddy held various senior engineering posts, both in the Western Division of Cork County Council and in Cork County Hall. On retirement, Paddy and Rosemary moved to Ballincollig to be closer to family.

Paddy Leahy is survived by his wife Rosemary, son Gary, daughter Susan and grandchildren. At a recent meeting of Skibbereen & District Historical Society, a vote of sympathy was extended to the Leahy family.

The time when West Cork was served by a network of railway lines, including a line to Skibbereen and Baltimore, and a light railway from Skibbereen to Schull, is frequently and fondly recalled. This summer the nostalgia for our railways was clearly on display when a large crowd attended the walking tour focused on local railways organised by the Skibbereen & District Historical Society for Heritage Week. Earlier in the year the society hosted a talk in Drimoleague by John C. Dwyer on the West Cork Railways and in 2023 we presented a talk on the same topic by Chris Larkin in Skibbereen. Both of these talks were very well attended. These three events are just part of ongoing projects undertaken by our Society to recall and preserve the history of the West Cork railways. Two of these projects had major milestones this week.

The first of these was the formal unveiling of the recently refurbished railway mural at the ‘Cutting’ in Skibbereen. This iconic image dates from 1994 and is the work of renowned local artist, the late Russell Barrett. Beloved by locals and visitors alike and known as one of Barrett’s finest works it depicts a train passing through the Cutting on its way to Baltimore. Over time, the weather had taken its toll and after 30 years the mural was in need of some care and attention. The new owners of Baby Hannah’s pub, John O’Driscoll and Ann Coakley, on whose gable the mural is located, were determined that it should be restored. They were aided in their efforts by Russell Barrett’s sister, Angela Muckley. They were also supported by local councillors, including Cllr. Joe Carroll, who at the time was Mayor of County Cork. It quickly became obvious that it would require specialised experts to complete the restoration and this work could not be completed without grant aid. When approached, Skibbereen and District Historical Society were delighted to become involved to co-ordinate the project and to manage the grant application process. Our committee member Adrian Healy took the lead in this work. Funding was secured from the Heritage Council Community Heritage Grant Scheme and from Cork County Council, through their Heritage Grant Scheme and Arts Programme. The Cork County Heritage Officer, Conor Nelligan, and County Conservation Officer, Emma Baume, were very helpful in this process.

With funding in place, a mural restoration specialist, Claudia Koch from Germany, was then contracted to do the work. During July, August and into September, Claudia and her assistant Susanne Keller worked on the restoration and the finished product is much admired. We are delighted that the mural which is an important part of the portfolio of the late Russell Barrett, is much loved by the people of Skibbereen and that poignantly recalls our railway heritage has been saved for all to appreciate. This would not have been possible without the efforts of the current owners of Baby Hannah’s, who on top of everything else provided Claudia and Susanne with free accommodation, the determination of Angela Muckley to see her brother’s work preserved and the generous funding received from the Heritage Council and Cork County Council. Our thanks and congratulations to all those involved.

The second project that was formally unveiled this week is the first of what  we intend will be a series of information boards that will recall Skibbereen’s railway heritage. The first board, located by the footpath at the Schull Road roundabout, close to the location of the site of the old railway station, is dedicated to the Schull and Skibbereen Tramway & Light Railway. That light railway operated from 1886 to 1947 and it is often recalled for its slow and unreliable service. On a more positive note, it also was responsible for the construction of the iconic 12-arch viaduct in Ballydehob and for aiding the development of the Mizen Peninsula. (For more information on this railway see https://skibbereenhistorical.ie/skibbereen-to-schull-tramway.) The work on the information board was headed by our secretary Niall O’Mahony and it was designed by local graphic designer Sophie Pentek. It was financed from the society’s own resources, a grant from Cork County Council’s Community Fund and by money we received from Access Credit Union Ltd.

It is our intention to erect two further boards, one dedicated to the main railway line into Skibbereen, which opened in 1877, and the second recalling the Baltimore extension line that was completed in 1893. If you have any information on our local railways or you believe you can help us in our continuing work then please contact our secretary  by email at secretary@skibbereenhistorical.ie.

The Skibbereen Historical Journal Vol. 21 (2025) was recently launched at the O’Donovan Rossa GAA Pavilion. The event was presided over by the chairperson of the Skibbereen & District Historical Society, John O’Neill, and the guest speaker was the manager of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre, Terri Kearney. Given that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre and the long association between our society and the centre, Terri was the ideal choice to perform the formal launch. In her talk Terri recalled stories from the early years of the society and the centre. She also spoke about the importance of having a local journal and how the information recorded in them is of use to researchers, locals and visitors alike.

The chairperson of the editorial committee, William Casey, also spoke. He thanked all those involved, including the other members of the editorial committee and the contributors – without whom there would be no journal. He paid tribute to two former contributors who had died in the past year, Gillian Boazman and Alan McCarthy. He then spoke about the articles in this year’s Journal. (See the video below for an overview of the articles.) The articles include:

The ruined church at Schull, Co. Cork, and its ship graffiti – Conleth Manning
Skibbereen Post Office – Adrian Healy
Daniel O’Connell’s Monster Meetings: an Introduction – Philip O’Regan
Mr. O’Connell in Skibbereen – Maura Cahalane
Hugh Lawton of Lake Marsh, Aughadown: Taking the field against O’Connell – William Casey
Twenty-five years of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre – Terri Kearney
The House on the Tunnel Road, Glengarriff – Ted Cadogan
‘Get Slate or Go Home’ – The Benduff Slate Quarry Disaster 1892 – Tony McCarthy
Turf-Cutting in Full Swing – Mary McCarthy
1925 The Irish Free State – the border, society and the economy – Donal Corcoran
Over the Bridge to Play: Aspects of Gabriel Rangers GAA Club – Eugene McSweeney
The First Mizen Bridge – Ross O’Donovan
William Thompson – Peter Somerville-Large
The Wood Wolfe Family, Skibbereen – Tracey Wood Wolfe

This year’s Journal is selling for €12 and is available in local shops in Skibbereen and throughout West Cork or it can be purchased online at https://tinyurl.com/SHJ-2025. 

Members of Skibbereen De La Salle Past Pupils’ Union is looking for your help to compile information on what will be essentially a memory map of Skibbereen town.

Following on the superb books, And Time Stood Still, Volumes 1 and 2, published in 2002 and 2008 respectively, Skibbereen De La Salle is preparing a third volume in the series, but with a slight difference this time around.

Volumes 1 and 2 of And Time Stood Still were predominantly photographic records of Skibbereen and the surrounding areas and are a wonderful record of a bygone era. For Volume 3, the members of the PPU are aiming to record the stories of the businesses, shopkeepers and tradespeople of the town.

Every premises in the town has a unique story to tell – the many trades that were conducted in the shop and the families who lived overhead. The past pupils’ union would like to record the stories before they are lost forever and, with the public’s collaboration, would like to create a dynamic, inclusive and multi-faceted story for the town and its tradespeople.

For instance, in 1932 there were 60 public houses in Skibbereen town. It is fairly easy to count how many pubs are in the town now and that represents an extraordinary social change in less than 100 years. Just where were all these pubs in Skibbereen?

Some properties have changed ownership and use very regularly. Others, like the Eldon Hotel, while the ownership has changed many times, the use has remained the same for generations. The Eldon Hotel opened in May 1885 by Frederick Peel Eldon Potter, a prominent businessman who is probably best remembered for being proprietor of the Skibbereen Eagle newspaper. The name ‘Eldon’ of course came from the fact that Eldon was a Potter family name.

Not so long ago there were five forges in Norrie Blue’s Boreen. Jack McCarthy and Mikey O’Mahony the last of blacksmiths operating in that porch that leads from Mardyke Street to Townshend Street and ’98 Street.

Members of St Fachtna’s De La Salle PPU who are involved in the project include Gerald O’Brien, president PPU, Jerome Geaney, Adrian Healy, Gerard Connolly, Denis O’Driscoll, Ann Bell, John Bell, John O’Driscoll, Reddy O’Regan, Eugene Daly, Caragh Bell, Donie Davis and Philip O’Regan.

If anyone has any information such as photographs, advertisements, bill heads, stories or notable events, they are encouraged to contact a member of the research team or email stfachtnasppu@gmail.com.

One of the best known personalities in the history of Skibbereen is Frederick Peel Eldon (Fred) Potter. For many years he was owner and editor of the Skibbereen Eagle newspaper, which was founded by the Potter family in 1857. An entrepreneur, he opened the Eldon Hotel in Skibbereen in 1885, ran his own auctioneering business and, apart from the Eagle, he was associated with a number of newspapers in Cork. In public life, on a number of occasions he was elected as an Independent to the Skibbereen Town Commission. Throughout his career he not only reported the news, but as a master self-publicist he often courted being in the news, and is best remembered for stating that as editor of the Eagle he was ‘keeping his eye on the Czar of Russia’.
But who was the real Fred Potter and are the stories about him true? An article in this year Skibbereen Historical Journal entitled ‘Fred Potter and the Skibbereen Eagle’ by the late Tim Cadogan answers these questions. As you would expect from the pen of Tim Cadogan, this is a detailed account of Potter’s life, examining both his public and private life, including his two marriages and the birth of his children.
The core of the article is about Potter’s stewardship of the Skibbereen Eagle newspaper. Some of the facts may surprise you. For example the newspaper went through numerous name changes and was never officially known as the Skibbereen Eagle – the closest it came to that name was the Skibbereen and West Carbery Eagle: or South-Western Advertiser, and for much of its life its official title was the Cork County Eagle and Munster Advertiser. The newspaper operated from a number of different premises in Skibbereen. At one stage its offices were in New Street, now Townshend Street. While there it printed its address as Eagle Street, Skibbereen. The Eagle is often remembered for having Loyalist sympathies. While its editorial line was always against physical force republicanism, for the most part it favoured constitutional nationalism and in the years before World War I it supported William O’Brien and his All for Ireland League – which was then the dominant force in Cork politics. Potter’s own political views were also complex and he saw himself as a champion of the urban labouring class.

Of interest to many will be the story of how Potter became associated with the phrase that he was ‘keeping his eye on the Czar of Russia’. An online search will tell you that he used this term in an editorial in 1898 and that this event went on to symbolise hubris in the newspaper industry. However, as with most of the facts associated with Fred Potter, this is far from the full story. The origins of the phrase date back before the Skibbereen Eagle and Potter initially became associated with it in the 1870s – by the 1890s he was using it as a way to draw attention to himself and thus sell newspapers. To discover the full facts you will need to get your hands on our 2024 Journal and read this interesting article.
Before we leave this subject, a quick few words about the author and how publishing this article came about. Tim Cadogan was a native of Aughadown parish and for many years he worked for the Cork County Library service, where his encyclopaedic knowledge and his willingness to help others benefitted many. Aways a good friend of our Society, he launched our first Journal in 2005 and we were saddened by his all too early death in 2014. Two years ago I was fortunate enough to receive some of Tim’s papers and among them I found the article on Fred Potter. He had originally written this for the Southern Star Centenary Edition in 1989, and an abridged version of it appeared in that publication. We are grateful to Tim’s family for their permission to print the article in full in our 2024 journal, a year that marks the tenth anniversary of his death.
Copies of the new Journal are on sale in Skibbereen and outlets throughout West Cork. See the video below for an overview of the articles in this year’s Journal. This volume, and a selection of back issues, can also be purchased online at https://coolim-books.sumupstore.com/search?search=shj

William Casey