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In 1917 thousands of American servicemen came to Ireland to participate in the First World War. The majority served in the U.S. Navy, located at bases around the country in Cork, Wexford, Dublin and Donegal. The bulk of them served in and around Cork Harbour, particularly in the vicinity of Queenstown/Cobh. Over the course of the next two years, many local Irish women met and married these sailors; St. Colman’s Cathedral in particular was the scene of a large number of ceremonies.
Who were these women, and what are their stories?

This exhibition is based on new research which has sought to identify some of these young women through an analysis of the passport applications they submitted when seeking to travel to America. Twenty of their passport portraits are presented here, together with what we have been able to uncover about their lives.

Portraits: Women of Cork and the U.S. Navy 1917—1919
New research by Damian Shiels
Mitchel Hall, Spike Island
29 September 2018—18 October 2019
Curated by Dorota Gubbins

Dr Damian Shiels

Archaeologist, Historian, Curator

“I specialise in bringing history and archaeology to public audiences. With over 20 years experience in heritage, I have worked across both the private and public sectors. Formerly a curator of the National Museum of Ireland, I have a particular expertise in public engagement, lecturing and writing. My specialist focus lies in conflict archaeology and the history of the Irish in America.”

The Good Room & Spike Island present

3 Nights On Spike

A series of concerts on Spike Island

The Good Room and Spike Island present ‘3 Nights on Spike’, an extraordinary series of concerts featuring some of the finest Irish musical talent on a unique island location.

This very special concert series is to take place this September on the historically significant and uniquely beautiful Spike Island in Cork harbour. Music promoters, The Good Room with support from Cork County Council and Fáilte Ireland are thrilled to unveil this extraordinary series of concerts with the stunning backdrop of Cork Harbour at one of County Cork’s most important heritage sites.

Set to take place from between Friday the 15th and Sunday 17th September, this three-day musical extravaganza promises to be an unforgettable experience for all attendees. With an opening performance from Susan O’Neill and Míde Houlihan and a wealth of fantastic Irish talent to follow including Yenkee, Jack O’Rourke, Gerron and special guests; it is sure to be an exceptional weekend of music.

The concert series aims to celebrate the power of music while highlighting the breathtaking beauty of Spike Island, situated by the enchanting coastal town of Cobh, Co Cork. Concert goers take a return voyage on the Spike Island ferry from Kennedy Pier in Cobh and will have the opportunity to experience the remarkable surroundings of the former monastic settlement and military prison.

Friday 15th September

Susan O’Neill & Míde Houlihan

6.15pm & 6.45pm Sailings
Tickets €35 + Booking Fee
*Ticket includes concert and the return boat trip from Cobh to Spike Island*

Susan has spent the last few years honing her craft as a solo performer. A songwriter of hidden depths, with a timeless voice that is equal parts balm and blowtorch, she is audacity personified, a free spirit; a real performer. As of now she is Ireland’s best kept secret, however with the release of ‘In The Game’ her collaboration album with Mick Flannery that has all changed.

‘In The Game’ saw Susan receive nominations for the Choice Music prize and the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards for ‘Album of the Year’, ‘Female Folk Artist’ of the Year, and take home the Best Original Folk Track award for the collaborative song ‘Chain Reaction’. Susan was also shortlisted for the ‘Vanda and Young’ Award for her song ‘These Are the Days’. The collaboration album ended up being the biggest selling Irish independent record of 2021.

Míde Houlihan is a Clonakilty bred singer songwriter, who has captured the hearts of many an Irish audience over the last number of years.

Yenkee is a Pop project formed from the lo-fi bedroom recordings of Cork artist Graham Cooney. Cooney started recording and producing his own music at the age of 15, using minimal equipment purchased with busking money. In early 2015 he released an EP “Adieu Adieu” under his own name. Shortly after, he was given a 70’s reel to reel tape machine as a gift and began using it to write.

He studied Music in University College of Cork for one whole month, before deciding to leave to concentrate on producing his own music from the comfy confines of his bedroom. In the following 8 months, Cooney wrote a collection of songs that would eventually become Yenkee. Inspired by artists such as Marvin Gaye, Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Pink, Yenkee’s sound was more Pop-oriented – with hooks, catchy melodies, and fun lyrics – all produced using the tasteful palettes of 60’s and 70’s rock. The tape machine he had been given ended up playing a massive part in the sound he was to create – groove-driven Pop coated in gentle tape hiss.

Cooney spent the bones of 2 years working on this sound, before releasing a slew of singles in 2018, to much acclaim. “Are You Alright?”, Yenkee’s first release, has garnered over 35,000 plays on Spotify and was selected in ThePointOfEverything’s top 5 songs of 2018. ‘Lander’, a hip-hop Kanye West inspired piece of auto-tuned Pop, was selected for Spotify’s ‘New Éire’ playlist, placing Yenkee among the top up and coming Irish bands.

Gerron is an Irish singer-songwriter making melancholic alt-pop which explores imagined storylines through complex arrangements characterised by rich harmonies and intricate rhythms. With the unavoidable inspiration of growing up homeschooled in a musical household, she first started composing instrumentals at the age of 8 bouncing from genre to genre for fun.

6.15pm & 6.45pm Sailings
Tickets €35 + Booking Fee
*Ticket includes concert and the return boat trip from Cobh to Spike Island*

Wild Place is Jack’s first release since 2019’s Ivory Towers and the first full album release since his acclaimed debut, Dreamcatcher, which entered the Irish Top 5. In the intervening years Jack has established himself as one of Ireland’s finest songsmiths and a live favourite. 

For the recording of Wild Place, during lockdown, Jack and his band based themselves in Triskel Christchurch in Cork and used the wonderful acoustics and Triskel’s grand piano to great effect. The results are probably Jack’s most endearing work to date – the songs emanating from a soulful and folk-inspired place. 

Jack first came to prominence with his ode to misunderstood youth and growing up gay, ‘Silence’, became a torch song for the Irish Marriage Equality Referendum and won the Nashville Songwriting Competition (judges included Tom Waits and Bill Withers). 

Chosen as a 2019 headliner for Other Voices, Jack was featured prominently in the television series (most recently part of the Home special in December, featuring himself. Loah, Villagers and Denise Chaila) and his collaboration, ‘New Day’ with electronic artist Kormac has nearly 500,000 views for its award winning music video. 

“Wild Place has songs of love and loss, beautiful misfits, nature and wilderness,” says Jack. “There’s freedom and rage in there too, alongside questions on race, friendship, a still-Covid world, giving the glad eye, my dreams and sea swimming. The piano and vocal are centre, but there are elements of folk, roots, blues, Americana and chamber music.” There’s also a song, ‘Strange Bird’ written about the last year and a half – a drone recording a town during lockdown and all we’ve lost and gained. It’s influenced hugely by John Prine – “When John Prine died during Covid, it was a Bowie or Cohen or Prince moment – I was heartbroken without knowing him personally – his lyrics and his style meant so much, and his songwriting always floored me. There’s a Steinbeck or Mark Twain quality – he says so much without being flowery.”

Jack teamed up with members of Crash Ensemble, Clare Sands, Hugh Dillon and Aisling Fitzpatrick to record Wild Place, with a live quality brought to the songs by Ber Quinn’s mixing. Jack’s long-standing drummer, David Ryan, produced the album, despite not using drums on any of the tracks and it was mastered in Canada by Philip Shaw (Feist and Bon Iver). 

The first four singles from Wild Place have received extensive airplay on the country’s airwaves and the tour has thus far, sold out venues across the country. A captivating live performer, Jack will bring the music of Wild Place to life doing what he loves best – seated at a piano with his band, and sharing some of his moving and sublime songs with his audience.

Jack is renowned for playing with special guests while on tour and this very unique concert on Spike island will be no different. His duets are legendary so who knows what great singers will join him on the night.

Nexus is an exhibition that reflects connection, collaboration and partnerships formed by the Education Unit in Cork Prison (Cork ETB).

The Kaleidoscope of painting and print integrated with mosaic, pyrography and match-work create a narrative symbolizing the essence of incarceration. Ceramics and textiles are interwoven to illustrate and combine the practice of observational research alongside craftsmanship. Visual Thinking strategies are employed throughout to encourage investigation through the creative process in partnership with UCC.

Nexus is inspired by kinship in the Education Unit giving agency to every student regardless of experience. This exhibition has been curated to feature a broad scope of work born from individual practice but united in synergy and collective.

VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES

Since 2017, there has been a creative synergy between University College Cork and the Education Unit, Cork Prison, (Cork ETB) fostering visual thinking strategies to disrupt power imbalances by promoting a convivial learning environment in the art studios.
We set up our conversations about art by asking our students: What do you see? How is it made? What questions would you ask of the work? These questions promote a student-centered approach to learning. The studio artworks are student responses to these questions. You can see visual thinking strategies played out in the two totem installations based on close reading by the students of two paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland in this exhibition:
“A Convent Garden, Brittany” by William John Leech, c.1913 and “Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid” by Johannes Vermeer, c.1670.

In “A Convent Garden, Brittany”, Leech’s painting reflects an interest in the religious devotion of the Breton community that Leech shared with many visiting artists. The students, in their response to Leech’s work, have specifically chosen to respond to the artist’s love of sunlight and floral patterns, culminating in the sculptural forms of the lilies as the termination of the totem.

In “Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid” a maidservant stares out of a window, her mistress writes a letter. In the foreground of the original painting on the floor, lie a red seal, a stick of sealing wax and an object which is probably a letter-writing manual, often used for personal correspondence at the time. The students, in their response to Vermeer, have chosen to respond to colour and the pattern of the tiled floor as distilled from the original illusionistic painting. The work of visual thinking strategies, aimed at encouraging students to question how to see with intention by looking closely at a work of art in order to respond to its affect on them, is orientated towards promotion of freedom of creative expression by student-inmates who reflect on their experiences of incarceration as a stage on their journey out of crime.

James G. R. Cronin,
University College Cork

To find out more about the 2022 ‘Story’ exhibition, visit: https://www.spikeislandcork.ie/exhibition-story/

Following on from the success of our inaugural event in 2022, the Spike Island Literary Festival makes a much-anticipated return from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th August 2023.

Dedicated to the popular theme of crime writing, the festival takes place on a unique island location with a dark history of four prisons over 400 years – the perfect setting for literary enthusiasts from book lovers to budding writers.

Engage with your favourite authors and discover what inspires them through author-led panel discussions, experience pop-up readings as some world-class writers recite their most famous works in unique locations, enjoy special performances or take the first steps to getting your own work published by meeting with a renowned literary agent.

This year’s programme features a stellar line-up of renowned authors such as Alice Bell, Sam Blake, Amanda Cassidy, Tadhg Coakley, Cónal Creedon, Amy Cronin, Catherine Ryan Howard, Arlene Hunt, Catherine Kirwin, Andrea Mara, Michelle McDonagh, Kitty Murphy.

There are many event formats to choose from during the festival:
Panel Interviews – In a series of panel discussions led by author Michelle Dunne, a number of Ireland and the UK’s foremost thriller writers will reveal their writing methods, inspirations and the process of developing unforgettable characters.
Author readings – Throughout the festival, pop-up readings by some of your favourite authors will take place in unique locations around the island, from dark tunnels to haunting prison cells.
Meet the Agent – Submit the first three chapters of your next work in advance and receive feedback and advice from the industry insiders.

In addition, visitors will enjoy a short guided tour on arrival with a focus on the darker tales from Spike Island’s storied past. Join us this August and immerse yourself in a world of suspense, mystery and intrigue as some of Ireland and the UK’s foremost authors descend on our historic island.

Sponsored by Cork County Council, Bella Vista Hotel, Commodore Hotel, Fota Island Resort, Titanic Bar and Grill, Trigon Hotels.

Programme of Events

18 AUGUST | FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Launch of Spike Island Literary Festival

Price per ticket: €26
Boat in: 1:30pm – Return: 4:30pm

Storytelling, music and song intertwine as two much-loved Cork writers – author Cónal Creedon and singer-songwriter John Spillane – come together for a very special performance to launch the 2023 Spike Island Literary Festival on Friday 18th August.

The longtime friends and collaborators have made significant contributions to the artistic and cultural heritage of Cork and their renowned works including Follow Your Nose and Princes Street resonates with audiences both locally and beyond.

Book Now

18 AUGUST | FRIDAY EVENING

“A Mind for Murder” (Panel)

Price per ticket: €26
Boat in: 5pm – Return: 8pm

Cork author Michelle Dunne will be joined by a panel of some of Ireland’s foremost thriller writers on Friday evening. Gain unique insights into what inspires authors Kitty Murphy, Arlene Hunt and Amy Cronin in what promises to be an intimate and conversational event which delves into the minds and writing methods of these acclaimed authors.

On arrival, visitors will enjoy a short guided tour with one of Spike Island’s expert storytellers followed by time to enjoy refreshments in the cafe prior to the event.

Book Now

19 AUGUST | SATURDAY AFTERNOON

“Fear Factor” (Panel)

Price per ticket: €26
Boat in: 12:30pm – Return: 4pm

Crime writers Amanda Cassidy, Andrea Mara and Alice Bell join forces in a panel discussion with Cork author Michelle Dunne to share insights into what inspired their most famous works.

On arrival, visitors will enjoy a short guided tour to the fort with one of Spike Island’s expert storytellers.

Book Now

Pop Up Readings

Throughout the day, authors such as Tadhg Coakley, Michelle McDonagh, Amy Cronin and Tom O’Neill will perform pop up readings in unique locations throughout the island. Hear segments from your favourite novels directly from the authors themselves in dark tunnels, eerie prison cells and more.

To purchase tickets for our reading events, please click here to book one of our regular sailings.

19 AUGUST | SATURDAY Evening

“Thriller Killer” (Panel)

Price per ticket: €26
Boat in: 5pm – Return: 7:30pm

Two of Ireland’s best-selling crime writers Catherine Ryan Howard and Sam Blake discuss the makings of a successful thriller and what inspired their own novels in a thought-provoking, intimate discussion.

On arrival, visitors will enjoy a short guided tour with one of Spike Island’s expert storytellers followed by time to enjoy refreshments in the cafe prior to the event.

Book Now

20 AUGUST | SUNDAY AFTERNOON

“Murder by the Book” (Panel)

Price per ticket: €26
Boat in: 12:30pm – Return: 4pm

Following the release of her debut novel, Michelle McDonagh is joined by seasoned authors Catherine Kirwan and Tadhg Coakley in what promises to be a fascinating conversation and discussion with Cork author Michelle Dunne.

On arrival, visitors will enjoy a short guided tour to the fort with one of Spike Island’s expert storytellers.

Book Now

Reading event – Kitty Murphy & Queen Mia Gold

Kitty Murphy, acclaimed author of the Dublin Drag Mystery Series, will perform a reading of one of her intriguing novels followed by a very special performance by one of Cork’s best-known drag queens, Portuguese-born Queen Mia Gold.

Pop Up Readings

Authors Alice Bell and Cónal Creedon will perform readings of their best-selling novels in unique locations on our historic island.

To purchase tickets for our reading events, please click here to book one of our regular sailings.

Meet the Agent Event

Looking for insider tips on getting your book published? In a rare opportunity, budding writers can meet with Nicky Lovick – Literary Agent with WGM Atlantic Talent & Literary Group on Sunday 20 August – to receive feedback and gain tips on how to make their work stand out from the crowd. Those interested in booking tickets for this event are invited to submit a synopsis and the first three chapters of their work on or before the 18th July to nicky.lovick@wgmatlanticgroup.com with “Spike Island Festival” in the subject line. In return they will get personalised feedback on the day as well as some written notes.

For booking details, please contact admin@spikeislandcork.ie

About the Artists

Alice Bell

Though Alice Bell grew up in the South West of England, she now lives in Cobh where, in addition to novel writing, she also works as deputy editor of Rock Paper Shotgun, a popular and respected PC Gaming website. In 2019 she was named one of the 100 most influential women in the UK games industry. Grave Expectations is her debut novel and was published in May 2023.

Sam Blake

Sam Blake is the No 1 bestselling author of the Cat Connolly Garda police trilogy (Bonnier), and thriller standalones Keep Your Eyes on Me and The Dark Room and Remember My Name (Corvus Books). Across her books she has been an Irish Times No 1 for 7 weeks, an Eason No 1 bestseller for 10 weeks, in the Irish top ten for 28 weeks and has outsold Graham Norton (briefly!) Both her first novel Little Bones and The Dark Room were shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year (2016 & 2021).
Originally from St. Albans in Hertfordshire, Sam has now lived at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland for more years than she lived in the UK.
www.samblakebooks.com

Amanda Cassidy

Amanda Cassidy is a freelance journalist, commissioning editor and former Sky News reporter. Shortlisted for the Irish Journalist of the Year Awards, and more recently the Headline Media writing awards, her features have clocked up over seven million readers. She’s a frequent contributor to national radio, print and television and holds a BA in French and Italian from Trinity College Dublin. When she’s not on a plane, you’ll find her in her cottage in Dublin where she lives with her husband and three young children. Breaking is Amanda’s first novel.
“The Returned”, Amanda’s second novel will be published in August.

Tadhg Coakley

Tadhg Coakley is from Mallow and lives in Cork city. His debut novel The First Sunday in September (2018) was shortlisted for the Mercier Press Fiction prize. Whatever It Takes was chosen as the 2020 Cork, One City One Book. Everything (a sports autobiography, which he co-wrote with its subject, Denis Coughlan) was picked as one of the 2020 sports books of the year in The Sunday Times, The Irish Examiner and The Irish Times. The Game: A Journey into the Heart of Sport (2022) was described by Donal Ryan as a ‘towering work’. Tadhg’s short stories, articles and essays have been widely published.

www.tadhgcoakley.ie

Cónal Creedon

Cónal Creedon is an award winning novelist, playwright and documentary filmmaker.
Cónal’s recently published book, Art Imitating Life Imitating Death, was presented at the centre of Irish Studies at Zurich University, James Joyce Federation in 2020. It was subsequently published by Florence University Press. His collection of Award winning short stories Pancho and Lefty Ride Again (2021) has been Awarded One City One Book Award 2020. It holds the record of being the most borrowed adult fiction book at Cork City Libraries 2022.
His novel, Begotten Not Made (2018), has achieved literary award recognition: Winner of the Eric Hoffer Award USA 2020, The Bronze Award New Generation Book Award USA 2020; Finalist in the Montaigne [Most Thought-Provoking Book] Award USA 2020. Finalist The IAN Book of the Year Award 2022, Nominated for the Dublin International Book Award 2020; Book of the Year Irish Examiner; Top Books of the Year – Liveline RTÉ Irish National Radio.
www.conalcreedon.com

Amy Cronin

Amy Jordan Cronin is a writer from Cork, Ireland. She lives by the sea with her husband and young children in Cork, Ireland. A former tutor at Munster Technological University, she worked in the Irish civil service for a number of years before pursuing her passion for writing crime fiction. She has published two thrillers, Blinding Lies and Twisted Truth with Poolbeg Press. The Dark Hours will be published by Harper Collins HQ in September 2024.

www.amycroninauthor.com

Michelle Dunne

Michelle Dunne is a writer from Cobh who has used some of her own experiences in the Irish Army and as a UN Peacekeeper to write her debut thriller, the first in the Lindsey Ryan series, While Nobody Is Watching which is currently in development for television. Her follow-up book, The Invisible was published in April 2022.
Michelle’s new thriller “GRACE” will be out in March 2024.

www.michelledunnebooks.com

Catherine Ryan Howard

Catherine Ryan Howard is an award-winning, internationally bestselling author from Cork. Her lockdown thriller, 56 Days, was named a thriller of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post, won the An Post Irish Crime Novel of the Year 2021 and is currently in development as a TV series with Atomic Monster/Amazon Studios. She has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel and the CWA’s John Creasey and Ian Fleming Daggers, and longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award 2023. She is published in 19 languages and a number of her titles have been optioned for screen. Her next thriller, The Trap, will publish in August.

catherineryanhoward.com

Arlene Hunt

Arlene Hunt is an Irish author, film and book reviewer . She has written fifteen novels, the latest of which, While She Sleeps, was published by Hachette in August 2023 and she is currently working on new crime fiction book. A long distance runner, when not writing Arlene can usually be found half way up a mountain with two German Shepherds for company.

arlenehunt.com

Catherine Kirwan

Catherine Kirwan grew up on a farm in the parish of Fews, County Waterford. She studied law at UCC and lives in Cork where she works as a solicitor. Her first novel, Darkest Truth, was chosen as Cork’s One City One Book by Cork City Libraries in 2019. Her current book, Cruel Deeds, is out now from Hachette Ireland.

Find out more at Penguin Books

Andrea Mara

Andrea Mara is a Sunday Times and Irish Times Top Ten bestselling author, who has been shortlisted for a number of awards, including Irish Crime Novel of the Year at the An Post Book Awards in 2022, 2021 and 2018.
Her novel All Her Fault was Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month, a top ten bestseller in the UK and in Ireland, and a Kindle Top 5 bestseller. It has sold over 100,000 copies and has been optioned for TV.
Hide And Seek, published in 2022, charted in the Irish Times bestseller list for five weeks. Her newest book, No One Saw A Thing,was published by Transworld/ Penguin Random House in May 2023. She lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband and three children, and also runs multi-award-winning
parent and lifestyle blog, OfficeMum.ie

Michelle McDonagh

Michelle has over 25 years experience as a journalist. She writes freelance for The Irish Times and a number of other publications. In the course of her career, she’s worked for all of the Irish national and tabloid papers covering news and courts, before switching solely to features and health, mainly for The Irish Times. Her debut novel There’s Something I Have To Tell You was published by Hachette in April 2023.

Tom O’Neill

Tom O’Neill is from Midleton, Co. Cork.
His first book, ‘The Battle of Clonmult’, was published by Nonsuch in 2006.
He co-wrote his second book, ‘The History of the 23 Infantry Battalion FCA, 1959 – 2005, with two fellow officers from the battalion. It was privately published in 2007.
Tom was a member of the team that produced the book, ‘A Great Sacrifice’, the definitive account of the Cork born individuals that lost their lives on military service, during the First World War. The book was published by Echo Publications (Cork) Ltd in 2010.
His book, ‘The Battle of Clonmult’ a revised edition, was published by The History Press in 2019.
His most recent book ‘Spike Island’s Republican Prisoners 1921’ was published by The History Press in 2021.
Tom has been involved on Spike Island since 1989. He worked on Spike with the Irish Prison Service in a managerial role from 1989 – 2010. He was the liaison officer for the Prison Service in the lead up to the handover of the island to Cork County Council in 2010. He joined Cork County Council in 2011 and was very much involved in the planning and development of the island into a tourist attraction. He is in a managerial role on Spike Island since 2011.

Kitty Murphy

Kitty Murphy lives with her husband, Roger, on the very westerly edge of Co. Clare, Ireland. She adores drag in all its forms and crime fiction in all its chilling splendour. Kitty is bi/queer. From a well-spent youth divided equally between the library and the LGBTQ+ scene, it was only a matter of time until both worlds collided in a flurry of fictional sequins.
Death in Heels, the first book in the Dublin Drag Mystery Series was published by Thomas & Mercer in 2022. The sequel, Death in the Dark, was released in 2023.

Queen Mia Gold

The queen of all queens, Mia Gold has gotten wind of the fact that Drag Queens are being bumped off in Kitty Murphy’s Dublin Drag Series (Death in Heels). Now she’s coming to Spike Island to confront the situation and to find out for herself, what exactly is going on and more importantly, what’s going to happen next!

John Spillane

Spike Island to light up Cork Harbour for 85th Birthday Celebrations & Commemorations.

At Spike Island, we’re celebrating our 85th birthday this year with our annual Family Fun Evening and Fireworks Display, marking the date when Spike Island was officially handed from Britain to Ireland in 1938. In honour of this momentous occasion, we’ll be celebrating our Independence Day with a spectacular fireworks display, musical performances and family fare on Saturday 8th July.

Visitors will board the ferry across the world’s second largest natural harbour, enjoy a guided tour on arrival, explore the fort’s amazing museums and exhibitions and walk the amazing island nature trails. On this special night, there will also be family entertainment, children’s activities,  pop-up musical performances, face painters and more.

To close the night, a fireworks display will launch 1300 fireworks into the sky over Cork Harbour, one for every inmate who died on the island in its three incarnations as a prison.

This year, to mark the 85th anniversary of the 1938 handover of the ‘Treaty Ports’ from Britain to Ireland, Spike Island is also hosting a new Handover Exhibition at Mitchel Hall featuring a newly added collection of original artefacts. Visitors will have the opportunity to view this exhibition telling the story of our independence on the evening of the celebrations event.

Boats depart from 5.15pm with earlier arrivals being first to exit after the event. The fireworks display will take place at approx 10pm.  Return boats from the island begin at 10.30pm and leave every 10 minutes (first in / first out, check ticket time for return boat) with the last return boat at 11.45pm approx.

To mark the 85^th anniversary of the 1938 handover of the ‘Treaty Ports’ from Britain to Ireland, Spike Island is hosting a new exhibition featuring a newly added collection of original artefacts which have been kindly donated to the museum by Fionnghuala Smith and her family. The collection features original documents, photographs and artefacts and will be displayed to the public for the very first time.

The collection tells the story of Daniel Cusack of Spike Island, a seaman who was employed by the [British] War Office. After the handover in 1938, Daniel was one of a small number of people who remained on the island after being offered employment by the Irish Department of Defence Fleet. One of the documents which is dated ’11^th July 1938′, appears to be one of the first official documents signed by the Irish authority at Spike Island.

Another unique artefact donated to the curatorial staff at Spike Island in 2017 is a personal eyewitness account of the handover written just minutes after the ceremony. To commemorate the 85^th anniversary this year, the Spike Island team have produced a special video based on the contents of this letter which gives visitors the opportunity to experience the excitement which surrounded Cobh and Cork Harbour on that momentous day.

The list of officers and enlisted men who arrived at Spike Island on 11 July 1938 is also on display courtesy of the Spike Island Volunteer Group.

The national flag, which is believed to be the actual Tricolour raised on the occasion of the 1938 Handover, is also exhibited. This original artefact was kindly donated to the museum by Mr Tom Kelly of Cobh in 2018.

Exhibition runs until 30 September 2023
Location: Mitchel Hall, Spike Island

The Taoiseach Éamon de Valera and other senior members of the Irish government at Spike Island.
Image courtesy: National Library of Ireland; kindly colourised by John Breslin, co-author of “Old Ireland in Colour” books.

Echoes of Isolation is a solo art exhibition by Sinéad Barrett which draws attention to the historical context of isolation on Spike Island, while also inviting reflection on the broader implications of isolation in contemporary society. The impact of isolation and displacement has become all too relevant, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ways in which it disrupted our lives and our sense of connection to others…
During the 1800s, Spike Island was used as a convict depot and prison. Many of the prisoners were subjected to solitary confinement and it is estimated that almost 1,200 convicts died on the island.

This exhibition shines a light on these forgotten voices, exploring the emotional and psychological impact of isolation. Speaking ahead of the launch of the exhibition, Sinéad said: “For the last six months, I have been doing a residency on Spike Island which has been hugely rewarding as well as educational and informative. I have loved spending time on the island wandering through the buildings and the different histories of the Fort and the island. For my residency, I concentrated on the 36 years from 1847-1883 when Spike Island was a convict depot and prison. This residency will culminate in a solo exhibition Echoes of Isolation”.

Exhibition runs from 2 June—31 August
Location: Punishment Block, Spike Island

Part of Cork Harbour Festival

Curated by Dorota Gubbins (Spike Island)

Sinéad Barrett

Sinéad Barrett is a Cork-based visual artist and Programme Coordinator with Sample-Studios. She divides her time between Cork and West Cork, painting from her surroundings environment. In 2014 she returned to education to study Fine Art, graduating from Crawford College of Art and Design in 2019. She was awarded the CIT Presidents Prize for outstanding studentship and she also received a Crawford College of Art and Design Graduate Residency and was awarded the Sample Studios Graduate Curatorial Residency Award 2019/2020. She is very active in her own artistic practice, having secured numerous exhibition opportunities since graduating and received an Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary in 2021. Her work is held in both public and private collections.

@sineadbarrettart