Family silver donated to Cork Opera House

The great-granddaughter of the first manager of the Cork Opera House has donated to the theatre a treasured family artefact which he received in appreciation for his work there more than a century ago.

Tricia Murphy Black travelled from her Scottish home to present her great-grandfather James Scanlan’s 126-year-old silver salver to theatre management.

It was among a range of gifts, which included a dessert ware combination, which were given to him by “friends and admirers” when the theatre went into liquidation and his tenure ended in 1888.