Colm Creedon was a keen railway historian who had amassed a large collection of individual notebooks on the many railway networks that had existed around the county and further afield. This extensive archive of notebooks contains detailed information collected from the 1950s to the 1980s and are supplemented with photographs and newspaper clippings. The notebooks were donated to Cork County Library and form an important repository of the history of railways in Ireland.

This is a selection of items digitised by the Local Studies library and belonging to Clare McCutcheon. Ms McCutcheon’s father was a former headmaster of Bandon Grammar School and had a keen interest in the history of Bandon. 

The items relate to local government in Bandon in the nineteenth century. The majority deal with the adoption of the 1854 Town Improvement Act to Bandon, highlighting the main electors in the town and outlining parliamentary boundaries. 

The earliest surviving minute books from the then Bandon Town Commissioners date from April 1837. The minute books record the proceedings and meetings of the commissioners, decisions made, assessment of the financial situation and some details on elections. The minute books show a detailed history of Bandon, including times of upheaval during the Famine, Civil War and War of Independence.

When the town councils were abolished in 2014, the minute books were digitised by the town council and copies given to Cork County Library. The original minute books were lodged in Cork City and County Archives. 

The Wallis Estate & Millstreet: During the 19th century a large portion of the town of Millstreet came under the ownership of the Wallis Estate. In 1901 the estate was sold in the Land Judge’s Court. Included in this collection is an extract from ‘Notes on the History of Millstreet’ by Canon Michael Costello and Padraig Ó Maidín, published by Aubane Historical Society, outlining the background to the sale. Further documents outline the particulars of the sale and description of each of the 132 lots to be sold, including information on the tenants’ names, the yearly rent, the quantity of land and some further descriptions of the tenancy. The map marks each lot in the sale

James N. Healy 1916-1993 collected a vast history about castles around the county. His collection of hand-typed notes and photographs offers an interesting record of these historic sites. He also published an authoritative guide on castles called ‘The castles of County Cork: with 72- line drawings and 10 maps by the author’.

We have digitised books that form part of the Cork Historical Guides Series which provide an interesting source of information about the local history of many areas of Cork including Crosshaven, Haulbowline and Spike Island, Mallow, Youghal, Bandon and Kinsale.

The years leading up to and including the War of Independence were of immense historic change in Ireland. We have included information about this important period of Irish history in our digital collections. Some material includes digitised copies of historic tracts and pamphlets, postcards from 1916 and library exhibits detailing the historic events from the year 1917 to 1921.