NEW CORK DOCKLAND – Amharc Éireann: Eagrán 73

The Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, opened the new dockyard in Cork as construction began on a 15,000-ton ship, the biggest of its kind to be made in Ireland at this time.The 400-strong audience (which included Erskine Childers, Minister for Transport) looked on in excitement as the Bishop of Cloyne blessed the site and the Taoiseach pressed the button to allow the construction work to officially commence.

Cornelius Verolme, a Dutch man, was warmly congratulated; he bought the shipping yard from James Wheeler to assist in the development of the Irish shipping industry. It took over two years to build the yard and machinery and there was local pride in the fact that Irish craftsmen were building ships for Irish people. Under Verolme’s stewardship, 33 ships were built in the dockyard and over 1500 men were employed at peak production. The ship-building industry unfortunately collapsed in the early 1980s and the Verolme Dockyard closed down.

Produced by Gael Linn, Amharc Éireann (A View of Ireland) is Ireland’s longest-running indigenous newsreel series. It was distributed to cinemas throughout the country to  promote the Irish language. Between 1956 and 1964, 267 editions of the newsreel were produced for cinema exhibition.

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With kind permission of Gael Linn.