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Skibbereen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Skibbereen (Irish: An Sciobairín), is a town in Ireland known as the capital of West Cork. The name "Skibbereen" (often shortened to "Skibb") means "little boat harbour". The river Ilen which runs through the town reaches the sea at Baltimore.
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Prior to 1600 most of the land belonged to the native McCarthy tribe - today McCarthy remains the town's most common surname.
At the height of the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849) in 1847 the body of an unnamed boy, taken for dead, was placed in a coffin in the Town Square and conveyed for burial to the Abbey Cemetery. As he was lowered into the pit, the youth regained consciousness and walked unaided from the grave. It is probable that some 8,000-10,000 Famine victims are buried in the Famine Burial Pits of Abbeystrewery Cemetery.
Skibbereen is also the name of a song about the Famine, and the impact it and the British Government had on the people of Ireland. The song, known as Dear Old Skibbereen, takes the form of a conversation between a father and a son, in which the son asks his father why he fled the land he loved so well. The father relates to his son how the famine ruined his farm in Skibbereen, and killed his wife. Unable to pay taxes,
- ...the landlord and the bailiff came to drive us all away.
- They set the roof on fire with their cursed English spleen,
- And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen.
In the final verse the son swears he will return to Skibbereen to take vengeance on the government that he holds accountable. A fine version can be found on the soundtrack to the PBS mini-series, "The Long Journey Home", performed by Sinead O'Connor. In the film Michael Collins the Collins character, played by Liam Neeson, sings the song.
The Skibbereen Eagle, a newspaper founded in 1857, became famous by declaring it was "keeping an eye on the Czar of Russia" over his expansionist designs on China. This newspaper was superseded by the Southern Star[1], founded in 1889, its first editor D.D. Sheehan, and included amongst its shareholders one Michael Collins.
The local name McCarthy family name was common however the most important local family was the O'Driscoll family in South West Cork. This family had the most status, however, its status suffered during the period afer the Battle of Kinsale in 1604.
- Nearest airport Cork International Airport
- Skibbereen GAA
- Skibbereen Golf Club
- Skibbereen Rugby Club
The local college St. Fachtna's was a finalist in 1982 and a winner in 1991 of the Hogan Cup (Gaelic football).
The town has a very musical tradition with many different music events each year. The town in the early 2000s held the fleadh ceoil competition, a traditional Irish music competition/circuit.
Nowadays, the youth of Skibbereen can enjoy a vast array of music in the town. One up and coming music venue is Club Dakota on Main Street. The nightclub has already held big acts such as Aslan, The Gypsy Kings, The Marshals, Republic of Loose, Jack L and Damien Dempsy. Other young local acts have also featured in some concerts in 2005 and 2006 with two concerts Battle of The Bands and Battle of The Band II. More recently charity concerts have been held in the local GAA pavilion with local bands such as The Horny Devils, The Martrys, Sunsetter and Remedy.