St Francis Hall, 20 Sheares Street

St Francis Hall, 20 Sheares St has a long political history that was closely associated with the old IRA & the 1916 Rising.

Rory Gallagher played here with the Fontana showband and the Impact group in the 1960s. Many cork groups used the hall here to run their concerts. It would have been Alcohol free when Rory played there. A number of other famous personalities took the stage there in more recent times, including Boy George

Sheares Street was previously known as Nile Street before its name was changed to honour the Cork-born Sheares’ brothers, Henry (1753-1798) and John (1766-1798), members of the Society of United Irishmen who were executed following the 1798 Rebellion.

The St Francis Total Abstinence Society was founded in 1900 and had its premises at various locations until located at No. 20 Sheares Street and in 1915 it was leased to the Cork Volunteers.

The Cork Volunteers were formed on 13 December 1913 at Cork City Hall following a tumultuous meeting. Their original location following their establishment was at Fisher Street which was situated on a side street near St Patrick’s Bridge.

Following a split in the organisation the National Volunteers decided to fight with the British during World War 1 whilst the minority Irish Volunteers established the Volunteer Hall at 20 Sheares Street.

During the 1916 Easter Rebellion a serious stand-off occurred between their leader Thomas Mac Curtain and the 162 volunteers present and the British army at Sheares Street resulting in the Volunteers surrendering their weapons through the intervention of the Bishopand the Lord Mayor.

The hall was also used by the Cork Volunteer Pipe Band. In 1966, 34 survivors of the 163 who gathered there on Easter Sunday 1916 assembled for a 50th anniversary commemoration there.

Following the centenary commemoration in 2016 a plaque was unveiled on the building. The building is now an HSE medical centre.

You can Google St Francis Hall, 20 Sheares St and you will come across some interesting history of the building including it serving as the headquarters of the Pioneer Abstinence Association.

Thank you to Frank Sheehan and the HSE.