Dutch influence in the urban landscape of Cork City pre-1800: Fact or myth?

The early years of the eighteenth century Irish port town, Cork saw an expansion of its city limits, an era of reconstruction both within and beyond the walls of its Medieval townscape and a reclamation of its marshlands to the east and west. New people, new ideas and the beginnings of new wealth infused the post Elizabethan character of the recently siege battered city. It also brought a desire for something different, something new, an opportunity to redefine the ambience and visual perception of the urban landscape and thereby make a statement about its intended cultural and social orientations. It brought an opportunity to re-imagine and model a new, continental style of place and surrounding environment.

Leisure and surveillance in Irish childhoods: A cross-class study of Cork city

This research provides an interpretive cross-class analysis of the leisure experience of children, aged between six and ten years, living in Cork city. This study focuses on the cultural dispositions underpinning parental decisions in relation to children’s leisure activities, with a particular emphasis on their child-surveillance practices. In this research, child-surveillance is defined as the adult monitoring of children by technological means, physical supervision, community supervision, or adult supervised activities (Nelson, 2010; Lareau, 2003; Fotel and Thomsen, 2004). This research adds significantly to understandings of Irish childhood by providing the first in-depth qualitative analysis of the surveillance of children’s leisure-time. Since the 1990s, international research on children has highlighted the increasingly structured nature of children’s leisure-time (Lareau, 2011; Valentine & McKendrick, 1997). Furthermore, research on child-surveillance has found an increase in the intensive supervision of children during their unstructured leisure-time (Nelson, 2010; Furedi, 2008; Fotel and Thomsen, 2004). This research bridges the gap between these two key bodies of literature, providing a more integrated overview of children’s experience of leisure in Ireland. Using Bourdieu’s (1992) model of habitus, field and capital, the dispositions that shape parents’ decisions about their children’s leisure time are interrogated. The holistic view of childhood adopted in this research echoes the ‘Whole Child Approach’ by analysing the child’s experience within a wider set of social relationships including family, school, and community. Underpinned by James and Prout’s (1990) paradigm on childhood, this study considers Irish children’s agency in negotiating with parents’ decisions regarding leisure-time. The data collated in this study enhances our understanding of the micro-interactions between parents and children and, the ability of the child to shape their own experience. Moreover, this is the first Irish sociological research to identify and discuss class distinctions in children’s agentic potential during leisure-time.

Time use, daily activities, and health-related quality of life of school-going late adolescents in Cork city and county: A cross-sectional study

Aim: This thesis examines a question posed by founding occupational scientist Dr. Elizabeth Yerxa (1993) – “what is the relationship between human engagement in a daily round of activity (such as work, play, rest and sleep) and the quality of life people experience including their healthfulness” (p. 3). Specifically, I consider Yerxa’s question in relation to the quotidian activities and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of late adolescents (aged 15 - 19 years) in Ireland. This research enquiry was informed by an occupational perspective of health and by population health, ecological, and positive youth development perspectives. Methods: This thesis is comprised of five studies. Two scoping literature reviews informed the direction of three empirical studies. In the latter, cross-sectional time use and HRQoL data were collected from a representative sample of 731 school-going late adolescents (response rate 52%) across 28 schools across Cork city and county (response rate 76%). In addition to socio-demographic data, time use data were collected using a standard time diary instrument while a nationally and internationally validated instrument, the KIDSCREEN-52, was used to measure HRQoL. Variable-centred and person-centred analyses were used. Results: The scoping reviews identified the lack of research on well populations or an adolescent age range within occupational therapy and occupational science; limited research testing the popular assumption that time use is related to overall well-being and quality of life; and the absence of studies that examined adolescent 24-hour time use and quality of life. Established international trends were mirrored in the findings of the examination of weekday and weekend time use. Aggregate-level, variable-centred analyses yielded some significant associations between HRQoL and individual activities, independent of school year, school location, family context, social class, nationality or diary day. The person-centred analysis of overall time use identified three male profiles (productive, high leisure and all-rounder) and two female profiles (higher study/lower leisure and moderate study/higher leisure). There was tentative support for the association between higher HRQoL and more balanced time use profiles. Conclusion: The findings of this thesis highlight the gendered nature of adolescent time use and HRQoL. Participation in daily activities, singly and in combination, appears to be associated with HRQoL. However, the nature of this relationship is complex. Individually and collectively, adolescents need to be educated and supported to create health through their everyday patterns of doing.

Characterization of urban aerosol in Cork city (Ireland) using aerosol mass spectrometry

Ambient wintertime background urban aerosol in Cork city, Ireland, was characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. During the three-week measurement study in 2009, 93% of the ca. 1 350 000 single particles characterized by an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TSI ATOFMS) were classified into five organic-rich particle types, internally mixed to different proportions with elemental carbon (EC), sulphate and nitrate, while the remaining 7% was predominantly inorganic in nature. Non-refractory PM1 aerosol was characterized using a High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS) and was also found to comprise organic aerosol as the most abundant species (62 %), followed by nitrate (15 %), sulphate (9 %) and ammonium (9 %), and chloride (5 %). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the HR-ToF-AMS organic matrix, and a five-factor solution was found to describe the variance in the data well. Specifically, "hydrocarbon-like" organic aerosol (HOA) comprised 20% of the mass, "low-volatility" oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) comprised 18 %, "biomass burning" organic aerosol (BBOA) comprised 23 %, non-wood solid-fuel combustion "peat and coal" organic aerosol (PCOA) comprised 21 %, and finally a species type characterized by primary m/z peaks at 41 and 55, similar to previously reported "cooking" organic aerosol (COA), but possessing different diurnal variations to what would be expected for cooking activities, contributed 18 %. Correlations between the different particle types obtained by the two aerosol mass spectrometers are also discussed. Despite wood, coal and peat being minor fuel types used for domestic space heating in urban areas, their relatively low combustion efficiencies result in a significant contribution to PM1 aerosol mass (44% and 28% of the total organic aerosol mass and non-refractory total PM1, respectively).Ambient wintertime background urban aerosol in Cork city, Ireland, was characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. During the three-week measurement study in 2009, 93% of the ca. 1 350 000 single particles characterized by an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TSI ATOFMS) were classified into five organic-rich particle types, internally mixed to different proportions with elemental carbon (EC), sulphate and nitrate, while the remaining 7% was predominantly inorganic in nature. Non-refractory PM1 aerosol was characterized using a High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS) and was also found to comprise organic aerosol as the most abundant species (62 %), followed by nitrate (15 %), sulphate (9 %) and ammonium (9 %), and chloride (5 %). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the HR-ToF-AMS organic matrix, and a five-factor solution was found to describe the variance in the data well. Specifically, "hydrocarbon-like" organic aerosol (HOA) comprised 20% of the mass, "low-volatility" oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) comprised 18 %, "biomass burning" organic aerosol (BBOA) comprised 23 %, non-wood solid-fuel combustion "peat and coal" organic aerosol (PCOA) comprised 21 %, and finally a species type characterized by primary m/z peaks at 41 and 55, similar to previously reported "cooking" organic aerosol (COA), but possessing different diurnal variations to what would be expected for cooking activities, contributed 18 %. Correlations between the different particle types obtained by the two aerosol mass spectrometers are also discussed. Despite wood, coal and peat being minor fuel types used for domestic space heating in urban areas, their relatively low combustion efficiencies result in a significant contribution to PM1 aerosol mass (44% and 28% of the total organic aerosol mass and non-refractory total PM1, respectively).

Hearing family carers: report on research undertaken with family carers in Cork

This report details the findings of research undertaken with family carers in Cork during 2007 – 2008. The research was undertaken to elicit the views and experiences of family carers, and in so doing, to gain insight into their perspectives on family caring and on associated support mechanisms. It is hoped that, thereafter, policy can draw on these observations. Three key themes emerged from the research itself. These are (i) the role and position of the family carer in society, (ii) the process of family caring itself and (iii) access to and knowledge of key support services. This report, then, draws attention to the extent and dynamics of family caring, as seen through the opinions and experiences of carers located in and nearby Cork city. It has the following format. In the first instance we turn our attention to a discussion of family caring in Ireland, and associated supports more generally. This includes a discussion on key issues arising in the general discourse around family caring in Ireland and internationally, in order to provide a context from which to locate the experiences of carers involved in this research study. Thereafter, we detail the methodology employed in this research study, which followed a method of research enquiry that values the input of participants from the early stages of research focus and design, and which incorporates qualitative and quantitative methods of enquiry. The research was conceptualised and developed in conjunction with The Carers Association, Cork in keeping with an approach to social research that attempts to link academic and activist/advocacy interests. Its aims were to identify issues that family carers in the locality considered important, with a view to contributing to local knowledge, providing a forum for ongoing research, and to informing policy developments on carers. The focus of the report then turns to profiling carers who participated in the research, examining the care they provide, and discussing support they receive from family, friends and neighbours – from informal sources. We then look to the access carers have to formal and public, community-based support services. We examine their experiences of, and concerns with regard to some of these key services, and look at ways that such issues might be addressed. The next section concentrates on financial supports, a range of which are available to carers, for instance, to supplement income and to assist with home renovations. We look at their uptake and issues arising, again with a view to understanding and addressing them from the perspectives of the service users. Finally, the report turns its attention to aspirations that carers have for themselves; in terms of their own personal, training, and employment options. The report concludes by drawing attention to key issues discussed throughout and makes a number of key recommendations, aimed at addressing the voiced opinions and experiences of carers that have emerged through the research.

Work, class and conflict: a comparative study of three Cork factories, incorporating oral testimony

This dissertation presents a comparative study of three factories in Cork Harbour area, Sunbeam Wolsey (1927-90), Irish Steel (1939-2001) and the Ford Marina Plant (1917-84). All three factories were significant industrial employers in both a domestic (Irish) and a local (Cork) context and are broadly representative of the Irish manufacturing industry that was developed under the policies of tariff protection introduced in the 1930s and gradually phased out between the late 1950s and the mid-1980s. Sunbeam Wolsey was a textile and clothing concern located on the north side of Cork City that possessed a borderline monopoly within its economic sector and was among the largest private employers of female labour in twentieth century Ireland. Irish Steel was the country’s only steel mill, located on Haulbowline island, a brief ferry-ride from the seaside town of Cobh, and was unusual in being one of the few manufacturing concerns operated as a nationalised industry under the auspices of the state. The Ford Marina plant predated the introduction of protectionism by more than a decade and began as the centre of the Ford empire’s tractor manufacturing business, before switching to the production of private motor vehicles for the Irish market in 1932. All three industries were closed or sold off when the state withdrew support, either in the form of tariff protection (Ford, Sunbeam) or direct funding (Irish Steel). While devoting much attention to the three firms, the central concern of this dissertation is not the companies themselves (though the economic history portion of the dissertation is substantial), but the workers they employed, examining the lives of these individuals both as members of the Irish working class, and, more specifically, as employees of the three factories under consideration. The project can be best described as a comparative factory study, comparing and contrasting the three workforces, focusing primarily on industrial relation and the experience of work. This dissertation utilises both documentary evidence and a significant quantity of oral testimony, breaking new ground by making the workplace the central focus of its investigation. The principal aims of the study are: 1. To document the lives of those who worked in these factories, capturing through oral testimony their subjective experiences of social class and factory life, as well as differences among narrators in terms of gender and status. In achieving this aim, the study will provide a broader social context for its detailed analysis of work and industrial relations in each firm. 2. To analyse the three workplaces and determine how and why each developed such distinct systems of industrial relations at the factory level, as well as to compare and contrast these systems. 3. To examine the nature of work in each factory and to determine how work and industrial relations in each firm developed over time, relating these changes both to internal and external factors. Additionally, the project will provide a comparative analysis of these changes.

Journeying to a journal

At a Council meeting of the newly-formed Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 17 November 1891, the Chairman /President, Revd R.A. Canon Sheehan, 'informed the meeting that Mr. Robert Day had been generous enough to place his valuable edition of Smith's History, with notes by Dr. Caulfield and Crofton Croker, at the disposal of the Society for publication'. At a subsequent meeting Wm Ringrose Atkins expressed the Society's thanks to W.A. Copinger 'who has kindly consented to edit Smith's Cork with Mr. Robert Day'. Thus began the work of rounding out close to two and a half centuries of antiquarian endeavour in Cork and of using its synthesis as a foundation for a new medium to record and communicate the social and cultural heritage of Cork city and county.

A study of the RF characteristics for wireless sensor deployment in building environment

In this paper, The radio Frequency (RF) Monitoring and Measurement of the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) located in Cork city will be monitored and analyzed in both the Zigbee (2.44 GHz) and the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM 433 MHz). The main objective of this survey is to confirm what the noise and interferences threat signals exist in these bands. It was agreed that the surveys would be carried out in 5 different rooms and areas that are candidates for the Wireless Sensors deployments. Based on the carried on study, A Zigbee standard Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) will be developed employing a number of motes for sensing number of signals like temperature, light and humidity beside the RSSI and battery voltage monitoring. Such system will be used later on to control and improve indoor building climate at reduced costs, remove the need for cabling and both installation and operational costs are significantly reduced.

Investigation of stress and burnout in Irish second-level teachers: A mixed-methods approach.

This study explores the experiences of stress and burnout in Irish second level teachers and examines the contribution of a number of individual, environmental and health factors in burnout development. As no such study has previously been carried out with this sample, a mixed-methods approach was adopted in order to comprehensively investigate the subject matter. Teaching has consistently been identified as a particularly stressful occupation and research investigating its development is of great importance in developing measures to address the problem. The first phase of study involved the use of focus groups conducted with a total of 20 second-level teachers from 11 different schools in the greater Cork city area. Findings suggest that teachers experience a variety of stressors – in class, in the staff room and outside of school. The second phase of study employed a survey to examine the factors associated with burnout. Analysis of 192 responses suggested that burnout results from a combination of demographic, personality, environmental and coping factors. Burnout was also found to be associated with a number of physical symptoms, particularly trouble sleeping and fatigue. Findings suggest that interventions designed to reduce burnout must reflect the complexity of the problem and its development. Based on the research findings, interventions that combine individual and organisational approaches should provide the optimal chance of effectively tackling burnout.

The treatment of landfill leachate using natural systems

Leachate may be defined as any liquid percolating through deposited waste and emitted from or contained within a landfill. If leachate migrates from a site it may pose a severe threat to the surrounding environment. Increasingly stringent environmental legislation both at European level and national level (Republic of Ireland) regarding the operation of landfill sites, control of associated emissions, as well as requirements for restoration and aftercare management (up to 30 years) has prompted research for this project into the design and development of a low cost, low maintenance, low technology trial system to treat landfill leachate at Kinsale Road Landfill Site, located on the outskirts of Cork city. A trial leachate treatment plant was constructed consisting of 14 separate treatment units (10 open top cylindrical cells [Ø 1.8 m x 2.0 high] and four reed beds [5.0m x 5.0m x 1.0m]) incorporating various alternative natural treatment processes including reed beds (vertical flow [VF] and horizontal flow [HF]), grass treatment planes, compost units, timber chip units, compost-timber chip units, stratified sand filters and willow treatment plots. High treatment efficiencies were achieved in units operating in sequence containing compost and timber chip media, vertical flow reed beds and grass treatment planes. Pollutant load removal rates of 99% for NH4, 84% for BOD5, 46% for COD, 63% for suspended solids, 94% for iron and 98% for manganese were recorded in the final effluent of successfully operated sequences at irrigation rates of 945 l/m2/day in the cylindrical cells and 96 l/m2/day in the VF reed beds and grass treatment planes. Almost total pathogen removal (E. coli) occurred in the final effluent of the same sequence. Denitrification rates of 37% were achieved for a limited period. A draft, up-scaled leachate treatment plant is presented, based on treatment performance of the trial plant.

Research into the potential of short interventions in promoting well-being among adolescents

The present research examines the issue of universal interventions designed to enhance wellbeing among a community-based adolescent population. The first phase saw a cross-sectional survey conducted among Transition Year students in 13 secondary schools in Cork city and county, Republic of Ireland, with a view towards identifying dimensions linked with wellbeing (operationalised as subjective happiness, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms) and which might prove effective in informing intervention approaches. Arising from this, mindfulness, gratitude, and cognitive-behavioural dimensions emerged as predictors of wellbeing, and short interventions (four sessions/four weeks) informed by each were conducted with participant groups in three secondary schools, one intervention in each school. Results from statistical analysis showed that the mindfulness and cognitive-behavioural interventions facilitated significant reductions in depressive symptoms among active condition participants at post-test, but that these benefits were not sustained over time, while no statistically significant changes were detected on subjective happiness and life satisfaction. The gratitude intervention was found to have had no effect on the three outcome variables. The findings are discussed in the context of theory and past research, while limitations, implications, and possible future directions are also addressed.

Survival analysis of adult tuberculosis disease

Background: We conducted a survival analysis of all the confirmed cases of Adult Tuberculosis (TB) patients treated in Cork-City, Ireland. The aim of this study was to estimate Survival time (ST), including median time of survival and to assess the association and impact of covariates (TB risk factors) to event status and ST. The outcome of the survival analysis is reported in this paper. Methods: We used a retrospective cohort study research design to review data of 647 bacteriologically confirmed TB patients from the medical record of two teaching hospitals. Mean age 49 years (Range 18–112). We collected information on potential risk factors of all confirmed cases of TB treated between 2008–2012. For the survival analysis, the outcome of interest was ‘treatment failure’ or ‘death’ (whichever came first). A univariate descriptive statistics analysis was conducted using a non- parametric procedure, Kaplan -Meier (KM) method to estimate overall survival (OS), while the Cox proportional hazard model was used for the multivariate analysis to determine possible association of predictor variables and to obtain adjusted hazard ratio. P value was set at <0.05, log likelihood ratio test at >0.10. Data were analysed using SPSS version 15.0. Results: There was no significant difference in the survival curves of male and female patients. (Log rank statistic = 0.194, df = 1, p = 0.66) and among different age group (Log rank statistic = 1.337, df = 3, p = 0.72). The mean overall survival (OS) was 209 days (95%CI: 92–346) while the median was 51 days (95% CI: 35.7–66). The mean ST for women was 385 days (95%CI: 76.6–694) and for men was 69 days (95%CI: 48.8–88.5). Multivariate Cox regression showed that patient who had history of drug misuse had 2.2 times hazard than those who do not have drug misuse. Smokers and alcohol drinkers had hazard of 1.8 while patients born in country of high endemicity (BICHE) had hazard of 6.3 and HIV co-infection hazard was 1.2. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in survival curves of male and female and among age group. Women had a higher ST compared to men. But men had a higher hazard rate compared to women. Anti-TNF, immunosuppressive medication and diabetes were found to be associated with longer ST, while alcohol, smoking, RICHE, BICHE was associated with shorter ST.

The Shawlies: A study of early neoliberal ‘gender-fication’. The Street Trading Act, 1926, modern gender-fication, and the implications for Cork’s women street traders

For centuries Cork’s Shawlies, working-class women, survived by trading on public streets. My study explores how the first Irish Free State government, and Cork’s local authority, limited the rights of poor women to earn by subsistence trading with The Street Trading Act, 1926. The government insisted this would regulate street trading. In practice it further marginalised the women economically and socially, containing them outside the privileged, commercial city centre. In Cork the legislation facilitated the gradual disappearance of the Shawlies amid entrenched social processes and relations, contingencies that allowed for the abuse of their rights in the service of amalgamated business interests. This study address the role of discourses in deepening this marginalisation. My theoretical framework is designed to demonstrate how a seemingly innocuous piece of legislation would, in practice, do this. I set out the concepts of ‘Thriving State’, ‘Prosperous State’, and state of ‘Best Intentions’ that uses gentrification to meet these goals. The existing knowledge on women in trade is then examined, highlighting the gaps in what is known about the Shawlies. Chapter 3 details the theory behind my genealogical method. The legislation, debate, and other data produced at the national level is then examined, before moving to the local data. Chapter 6 is devoted to the Shawlies, setting their stories in the larger context of the debates. An examination of studies of contemporary women street traders in poor nations follows, along with a brief history of the decline of street trading in New York city under gentrification. Points of convergence between that process and the one in Cork are identified, along with convergences between contemporary traders and the Shawlies. The conclusion sets out my methodological, theoretical and substantive discoveries, and comments on current nostalgic renderings of the Shawlies in Cork’s newly gentrified Corn Market Street.

Na marbhnaí do Shéamas Óg Mac Coitir (1689-1720)

Go príomha, is tráchtas é seo a dhéanann staidéar ar ghné de litríocht iar-chlasaiceach na Gaeilge. Baineann sé go háirithe leis an sraith chaointe nó marbhnaí i bhfoirm véarsaíochta a cumadh do Shéamas Óg Mac Coitir (1689-1720), duine uasal Caitliceach ó Charraig Tuathail, Co. Chorcaí, nuair a ciontaíodh é in éigniú Elizabeth Squibb, bean de Chumann na gCarad; nuair a cuireadh pionós an bháis air; agus nuair a crochadh é i gCathair Chorcaí an 7 Bealtaine, 1720. Ó thaobh na staire de, scrúdaítear Clann Choitir mar shampla de theaghlach nár cheil a ndílseacht do chúis pholaitiúil na Stíobhartach agus a sheas an fód go cróga faoi mar a bhí a ngreim polaitiúil á dhaingniú ag an gCinsealacht Phrotastúnach ó dheireadh an 17ú haois amach. Tagraítear do sheicteachas na sochaí comhaimseartha agus don teannas idir an pobal Caitliceach agus an pobal Protastúnach ag an am. Déantar scagadh ar an véarsaíocht mar fhoinse luachmhar do dhearcadh míshásta an mhóraimh Chaitlicigh ar struchtúr polaitiúil chontae Chorcaí (agus na hÉireann) i dtosach an 18ú haois. Is feiniméan liteartha an dlús véarsaíochta seo a bhaineann go háirithe le traidisiún liteartha Chorcaí. Tá na dánta curtha in eagar agus aistriúchán go Béarla curtha ar fáil: is é seo croí an tráchtais. Tá an t-eagrán bunaithe ar scrúdú cuimsitheach ar thraidisiún na lsí; pléitear modheolaíocht na heagarthóireachta. Déantar iarracht ar na dánta a shuíomh sa traidisiún casta liteartha sa tráchtaireacht tosaigh; sa chuid eile den bhfearas scoláiriúil, scrúdaítear ceisteanna a bhaineann le cúrsaí teanga, foclóra, meadarachta agus stíle. Tá innéacsanna agus liosta foinsí le fáil i ndeireadh an tráchtais.