For Whom the Bells Tolled

by Pat Poland

ISBN: 9781845889869

Published: 2010

Today, the sight of fire engines progressing through the streets of Cork on their way to yet another incident, is common-place. The people of Cork know that, in time of emergency, the fire service will answer their call for help with their state-of-the-art equipment and highly-trained members. But it was not always so. The settlement that evolved into the city of Cork has existed for almost 1,400 years, yet an official public fire service has been in place for less than one 10th of that time. In 1877, Cork Fire Brigade was established with just an officer and four men to serve a population in excess of 80,000. Previously, the Church of Ireland had provided fire engines (the ubiquitous "parish pumps") to serve local communities. This account reflects the socioeconomic and political mood across the period under review. By its very nature, any chronicle of fires and accidents is interwoven into the fabric of the story of the very city itself: few people, in the course of a lifetime,...