Outside the Fire Station, Anglesea Street
Talk at 1pm
The Firemen’s Rest is the smallest structure in the Cork Heritage Open Day programme.
It was commissioned by Cork Corporation (Cork City Council) in early 1892 and has borne witness to all of the historic occasions in Cork city, in particular, the burning of Cork in 1920 and every subsequent celebration and crisis of the city over the years. It was originally assembled for the Cork Fire Brigade, shared by them with the staff of the old tram company (1898-1930) and later, exclusively used by CIE (Bus Eireann) (1931- 2003).
On Monday the 9th of May 1892, the Firemen’s Rest began its life as a shelter for firefighters on duty at night. This modest shelter, known as the ‘Firemen’s Rest’ (the name is emblazoned along its roof on an iron scroll) was made by the famous ‘Saracen’ ironworks of Walter MacFarlane and Co, Glasgow, Scotland, who was also responsible for manufacturing the exquisite ironwork of King Mongkut’s Grand Palace in Thailand featured in the film “The King and I”.
The Firemen’s Rest’s unique heritage value lies in the fact that it is a very early example of the prefabricated building concept which is now commonly used in modern construction. It was also revolutionary in 1892 for another reason as it was one of first buildings in Cork to have a telephone.
The Firemen’s Rest has had many locations and was originally situated at the junction of Grand Parade/Great George’s Street (now Washington Street). In 1894 it was moved to Lavitt’s Quay, across from the Opera House, and, finally, in 1904, it was relocated adjacent to the Fr Mathew Statue at the northern end of St Patrick’s Street where it stayed until 2002
Beginning in 2020, the Firemen’s Rest was meticulously restored in commemoration of the burning of Cork (December 1920) under Cork City Council’s Decade of Centenary Programme and is now a fitting tribute to generations of Firefighters who protect and serve the city so well.
This building is available to view all day long but due to its size the inside will not be accessible but can be viewed through the windows!
Further information is available on: https://digital.corkpastandpresent.com
James O’Riordan, Leeside Forge will give a talk on history and the restoration of the Firemen’s Rest at 1pm. No booking required.