Firken Crane

Site
The building is on the site of a 1784 Dominican chapel which was in turn built on the site of Shandon Castle, a 16th century building which was, for a time, the seat of Tudor power in Munster. During the Williamite wars of the 1690’s, Cork was besieged and Shandon castle served as an artillery position for the Williamite forces. The castle was never rebuilt subsequent to the siege and was eventually demolished in 1750. Local tradition tells that stone from the castle was used in the building of nearby church of St Anne’s. The Butter Exchange acquired the building in 1852 and the Dominicans built a new church and priory in Pope’s Quay.

Original Usage
The Firkin Crane building was opened in August 1855, designed by Sir John Benson to meet the needs of the Butter Exchange. “Firkin” is a Danish word meaning quarter barrel, which represented 9 gallons or 80Ibs of butter. In former times the tarred firkins or casks were weighed on a balance known as a “Crane”, hence the name. Prior to the introduction of farmers co-operative creameries, farmers brought their butter to this area of the city to sell. Here it is graded, blended and sold on at the butter exchange building.

Commercial Usage
In 1871 a butter trading company is founded by James Daly. In 1885 the business locates from Ballyduff to the Shandon Street area of Cork City.

In 1921 Sir Eric Shackelton requested Daly’s butter to be taken on his expedition to the South Pole. Apparently the parchment wrapper design was ideal for such demanding conditions.
After the Butter Market closed in 1924, James Daly & Sons manufactured margarine in the building until the 1970’s.

In 1927 James Daly gifts a pedestrian bridge to the City of Cork. Still in use today and known as Daly’s bridge, (or The Shaky Bridge) it traverses the River Lee between Sundays Well and Fitzgerald’s Park.

The Second World War created a shortage of raw materials causing production to cease between 1941 and 1946. In 1979 production moves from Shandon Street to a purpose built factory in Churchfield on the north side of the city.

In 1989 the Daly family sells the business to Irish Sugar Ltd. which subsequently becomes Greencore Group plc. In 2001 the company is purchased from Greencore by it’s Managing Director Charlie Fleury.

2003 sees the completion of an extension to the Churchfield plant and the re-branding of retail and foodservice products under the Riva name. Products include own label products for Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Supervalu, Centra, Superquinn and Aldi. Also branded products such as FRYTEX, Summer meadow, Irish Cottage Garlic Butter, Marigold Margarine.

Current Usage
The deserted building was completely destroyed by fire on 6th July 1980. A group of businessmen under the Chairmanship of former Taoiseach Jack Lynch, restored the building as a home for the Cork-based Irish National Ballet, until that became defunct in 1992. Now houses a centre dedicated to dance.

Links with Jack Lynch
Jack Lynch was born at home in Bob & Jane’s Lane, Cork, on August 15, 1917, the fifth child of Dan Lynch and Nora nee O’Donoghue. In 1966, he became the first Corkman to hold the office of Taoiseach (Prime Minister). On 8th June 2005, the Lynch family home was officially opened as an artists’ residence. The three-bedroom terraced house is managed by the Firkin Crane to provide subsidised, self-catering accommodation for up to five visiting artists.

Sir John Benson (1811-62)
Originally from County Sligo, Benson was appointed surveyor to Cork City and County in 1851 and spent the remainder of his short career there. In 1852 he designed the buildings for the Irish Industrial Exhibition in Dublin and was knighted on the exhibition’s opening. But the major body of his work was in Cork. He designed the Athenaeum which later was the much-loved Opera House; as well as the Shandon Butter Market; the Central Markets on Princes Street (English Market); Berwick Fountain in Grand Parade, St. Patrick’s Bridge, St. Vincent’s Church in Sunday’s Well. Benson also helped in the remodelling of St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral.

Architectural style
Cork Examiner extract:
“It is completely circular, and has a diameter of about a hundred feet. By a most ingenious arrangement the entire rafters of the immense roof converge upon one large center pillar, like the ribs of an umbrella upon the handle, and thus instead of having the space, the great object, interfered with by numerous pillars, the whole support does not occupy the room of more than three or four feet. The roof meets in a circular ridge, and the rain falling on the inside descends into the center pillar, which is hollowed, and conveys it to the reservoir. Around the outer edge of the roof a chute runs, which conveys the water by several pipes into the same receptacle, and so preserves for the purposes of cleaning firkins, and the many other uses for which it was required. Amongst the many advantages of this ingenious arrangement, one not the least important is the saving of the walls from damp. The entire cost of the building has been about £1,500.”

Style is typically Greek Revival . It quotes features of the rotunda section of the Pantheon. The Pantheon (meaning “Every god”), originally built by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt in the early 2nd century AD. There are really two parts to the Pantheon, the circular part or rotunda and the portico. The portico was originally a part of a temple built by Agrippa, but was not put in its present place until some time after the great rotunda was built by Hadrian (117 A.D.). It is poorly joined to the main edifice.