ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF A CIVIC RECEPTION BY FERMOY URBAN DISTRICT
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF A CIVIC RECEPTION BY FERMOY URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL ON SATURDAY 7 MARCH,
I’m really delighted to be here in Fermoy on my first visit in an official capacity, and I’m deeply honoured by the very warm welcome and kindness I have encountered since my arrival. I am particularly grateful for the very warm words of welcome from you, Chairman, which has been echoed by the other members of the Urban District Council this afternoon. Like many travelers to the South, I have been in Fermoy before, but I’m happy that on this occasion, I have been invited to be with you to experience some of the warm hospitality for which County Cork is so famous.
I know that in Irish terms, Fermoy is relatively young. But like most Irish towns too, its origins can be traced through lore and legend to the distant Celtic past of the great Irish clans, when it was known as the territory of Fear Muighe. And there are records of religious communities established in Fermoy which, again, continue the tradition of settlements based around monastic sites. But today, Fermoy has come along way from what Rev. William Adair said of it in the 1780’s – that it was “one of the meanest of the County . . . the place did not offer a single circumstance to arrest the eye of the traveller who drove through it without observation and scarcely remembered he had no met such a spot on the road”. I don’t think that the Rev. Adair would have been the UDC nominee on the Regional Tourist Board!
Fermoy progressed rapidly, as is evidenced by the account on another Rev. Gentleman, Rev. J. Hall, who said in 1807 that it was “a place rising fast into importance”. Since that time it has seen many changes in fortune as, indeed, have many other Irish towns. We know for example, that in 1832, when the Cholera Board was set up that the chief means of employment for the poor in the parish and district in the town were “a large flour mill, a brewery and a paper mill . . . and an extensive corn and butter store". Fermoy has enjoyed quite a stable employment position since then with modern hi-tech industries and now the headquarters of BUPA.
I think that in the sixtieth anniversary year of the Presidency - when Douglas Hyde was inaugurated as the first President of Ireland - I should mention the connection between Fermoy and Áras an Uachtaráin in Castlehyde House. Douglas Hyde is reputed to have spent part of his childhood at that house. Other notable people who have been associated with Fermoy include Dr. Croke, the Archbishop of Cashel who had such a profound influence on Irish sport, was the first President of St. Coleman’s College in Fermoy, and John Joyce, the father of James went to school in Fermoy.
The town’s unique location on the Blackwater River – where the bulk of the town is to one side and facing it – has given rise to the expression “all to one side like the town of Fermoy”. That unique river location has also spawned a thriving angling industry which sees many visitors coming to enjoy the fishing on the Balckwater here at Fermoy.
Fermoy is clearly a vibrant town, serving as a hub for the surrounding rich agricultural industry – and for the many fortunate people on their travels between Dublin and Cork and between Wexford and Killarney. It is also an important trading centre for the region and serves many people, both traveller and native as a focal point for tourism trade and recreation.
Finally, I would again to thank you for your very warm reception and to wish you well in the years ahead as we approach the new millenium in a spiti of hope – hope for a better Ireland – an Ireland of peace and tolerence that embraces all creeds and traditions.