Firemount

louth | miscellaneous | press release

Wednesday February 09, 2005 16:44

by Sean Crudden - Greenore/Cooley Fisherman's Association

sean.crudden at iol dot ie

Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth.

042 9378310

"There Is No Common Land in Ireland"
A number of interesting topics were dealt with during the conduct of business at last night's meeting of Greenore/Cooley Fisherman's Association which took place in The Farm, Greenore.
At a special meeting of Greenore/Cooley Fisherman’s Association on Tuesday 8 February 2005 starting at 7.30 p.m sharp in The Farm, Greenore, the secretary - Sean Crudden - read an e-mail he had sent to The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on 14 January 2005 asking whether the district court had any jurisdiction on the waters of Carlingford Lough. When he pointed out that there had been no reply he was instructed by the meeting to forward the e-mail to Liz O’Donnell TD and to Leonard Hatrick, Chairperson of Ardee Town Council, to see if they separately or together could help to extract an answer from The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The secretary was also instructed by the meeting to write to Louth County Council asking it to review safety

Pat Hanlon

at the seaward side of the "new" promenade in Greenore. "Craft are likely to be carried on to the rocks exposed there and to be badly damaged at night in the event of south-east gales," the chairperson, Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes PhD OMA, warned.

Other issues discussed included safety and a project which is currently before GROUNDWORK - a cross-border development agency based in Belfast. The project if realised would involve an on-shore parking space for small craft and marine equipment + a landscaped picnic area. The development, the association hopes, will take place on an area of disowned land known as "The Cutting" adjacent to Greenore village and close to the shore.

An interesting discussion took place on the history of the occupation and "tenancies" on The Cutting which the chairman asserted was officially disowned in the late 19th century. Names mentioned were Woodneys, Lucy Woodney, Tom Goslin, Webster (who had a railway carriage on the cutting), Fergusons and Hanleys, Mick Hanley (who had a temporary shop on the cutting) and his wife Mary, John Patterson (who was the Woodneys’ heir). Pat Hanlon, treasurer of Greenore/Cooley Fisherman’s Association, recalled at the meeting that he often heard his own father saying that they (The Hanlons) had as much right to the cutting as anyone else. The chairperson said that all these huts were there until the 1970’s. Bulldozers came in from "The Ferry" on a bank holiday weekend in 1974 and changed the shape of the cutting - the chairman recalled. The chairman explained that the practice of disowning land was a device to escape paying rates. "There is no such thing as common land in Ireland," the chairman asserted. A field near the cutting belonging to Pat Hanlon is known as "Firemount."

The next meeting of Greenore/Cooley Fisherman’s Association was fixed for Tuesday 3 May 2005. in The Farm, Greenore, starting at 8.00 p.m. All members and prospective members are requested to attend.

Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes PhD OMA