New lord mayor of Cork Kieran McCarthy fulfils childhood dream

Historian, newspaper columnist and walking tour guide councillor Kieran McCarthy becomes Lord Mayor 

Kieran McCarthy was elected as lord mayor of Cork today. Picture: Jim Coughlan

The new lord mayor of Cork fulfilled a childhood dream on Friday following his election as the city’s first citizen.

Historian and Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy recalled how at the age of 11, he was already fascinated with the history of his native city, and with the office of the lord mayor.

That set him on a path which included the creation of his walking tours, writing almost 30 history books, his election to Cork City Council, and finally his election as lord mayor during the council's AGM on Friday, to succeed Fine Gael councillor Deirdre Forde.

He was proposed by Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon, and seconded by Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill. 

Mr Shannon said Mr McCarthy has made “a solid and considered contribution” to the work of the council, and is a champion of the arts, heritage and Cork culture.

Socialist Party councillor Brian McCarthy nominated Worker’s Party councillor Ted Tynan, to oppose what he called a “cosy right-line stitch-up", and Sinn Féin councillor Ken Collins nominated his party colleague, Mick Nugent.

But Mr McCarthy was elected with 23 votes — four for Nugent and three for Tynan.

Fittingly, he quoted an 1863 diary entry by William Burges, who wrote the words ‘Got Cork’ in his diary when he was told his design has been chosen for the city’s famous St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.

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He said: “And proudly I can write in my diary this evening, also, ‘Got Cork'.” 

His proud parents, Eleanor and John, his siblings, Aidan and Deirdre, and his partner, Marcelline Boneau, looked on.

Mr McCarthy said he plans to continue his popular city-centre walking tours during his mayoralty, and he announced a new ‘pet project’, called Voices of Cork, that will blend his interests in heritage, history and education, and give a voice to citizens.

Where it started

From Ballinlough, Mr McCarthy, 46, was first elected to Cork City Council in June 2009 to represent the south-east ward.

He is well-known for his weekly local history column, ‘Our City Our Town’, published in the Cork Independent, he has written almost 30 books on Cork, regional and Irish history, he has written history features for the Irish Examiner, and he established The Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project in 2003 which now runs annually in schools across the city, involving more than 1,000 students.

He also leads regular walking tours across the city, focusing on the landscape and built-heritage, and he runs a dedicated Cork Heritage website, corkheritage.ie.

In a speech heavy with symbolism, and sprinkled with quotes from Theo Dorgan, Éamon de Valera, and Tomas MacCurtain, Mr McCarthy spoke of the strong mix of “high emotion and a deep attachment” to the title of lord mayor of Cork.

He spoke of how as a child, he felt a deep connection to the city, and looked forward to the annual lord mayor school visits.

“I was someone who likened the lord mayor’s visit to a form of Christmas and that they had some sort of superpowers and that the medallion of the chain was an actual key to a rich box of stories and papers of my city,” he said.

“I was the teenager who pursued civic education projects of former lord mayors — someone who began to research and photograph the city, its buildings and public spaces, and someone who consumed history books written about the city.

“I became someone who has studied and written on the high and lows of Cork history across time encountering mayors and lord mayors like ghosts walking across my research of historic books and newspapers.

“A someone who created walking tours, a someone who wrote books on this historic city, and ultimately an epic voyage that has led me straight into this hallowed political gladiatorial space to meet and work with you good people.

So, what my 11-year-old self engaged with 35 years ago has brought me on a voyage of epic personal proportions where 'Got Cork' has a very high emotional value.” 

And he said there is much for the council to do.

“We need to keep adding to sustainable mobility plans; we need to keep enhancing the offering of the city centre; we need to make sure we keep creating new amenities, and we need to continue to make sure our communities are future proofed by weaving them with the sustainable development goals and the WHO Healthy Cities project,” he said.

“And then we need to sprinkle all those priorities with the energy and ambition that a second city brings or what I call Ireland’s southern capital and one gets an exciting future for our city by the Lee.”