Knocknaheeney

Knocknaheeny or Knocknaheeney ( _ga. Cnoc na hAoine, "Friday's Hill" ) is a suburb of Cork located north of the River Lee on hills overlooking the city] . it is famous (locally) for its many colourful characters and unmistakably strong Cork accent. Knocknaheeny consists mainly of Council housing which are small, closely cropped, terraced houses and painted in different colours.

History

Knocknaheeny is the best gaf ever.!! and a relatively new community. Today some 4,500 people live in the area [Combat Poverty Agency http://www.combatpoverty.ie/publications/conferencepapers/2006_Health_SocialDeterminants.pdf] but less than a quarter of a century ago it consisted of rolling countryside bordering on the Gurranabraher, Churchfield and Farranree areas. Cattle grazed on what is now Harbour View Road and a Windmill stood on the site of Killala Gardens. Corkonians walked out the country for a stroll to Croppy Boy or along Nashs Boreen.

The older townlands were named after plants at the time for instance
* Knocknaheeny meant the Hill of the Rushes
* Knocknacullen meant the Hill of Holly
* Knockfree means the Hill of Heather
* Shanakiel means Old Wood or Foxes Wood

In 1862 Griffiths Land Valuation Survey reported that fifteen families formed the lands of Knocknaheeny, Knocknacullen. They paid rent to the Lord Cork. One family, Forrest, still farms land near to Clogheen. Having constructed the road system which serves the area the corporation had to name the terraces and avenues of modern Knocknaheeny.They decided to name the individual roads and streets after harbours and coastal areas around the country.

Many of the Knocknaheeny street names are named after parts of the Irish Coastline e.g.

* Courtown - Courtown Park & Courtown Drive
* Ardmore - Ardmore Avenue
* Killala - Killala Gardens
* Dunmanus - Dunamanus Gardens
* Cork Harbour - Harbour View Road
* Glandore - Glandore Park
* Foyle - Foyle Avenue
* Kilmore - Kilmore Road (upper & Lower)
* Killiney - Killiney Heights
* Fota - Fota Lawn
* Dunmore - Dunmore Gardens

Many of the houses in Knocknheeny were not built to habitable building standards and ran into neglect, however over the past few years Cork City Council have made efforts to improve this situation and the area seems to be going through a bit of a revitalisation. Development and improvement is now visible all over the area with a new Town Centre currently under construction on Harbour View Road. Residential areas are also popping up with housing now erected at the Reservoir (Rezza) stretching down to Nash's Boreen and the New affordable housing located on Hollyhill Lane and the Shanakiel Development at the top of the Blarney Road. [Cork Corporation Web Site http://www.corkcorp.ie/ourservices/communityenterprise/rapid/knocknaheenychurchfield/]

Knocknaheeny Schools

Primary School:

* St. Mary's on the Hill"' Boys National School / Girls National School

Secondary School:

* Terence MacSwiney Community College"' "(formerly Scoil mhic Shuibhne)"

Learning Institute:

* St. John's"' Northside Campus, Terence MacSwiney Community College, Knocknaheeny, Cork - Tel - 021 4255500

Sporting Knocknaheeny

Sporting activities in Knocknheeny are the ever popular GAA Sports of Hurling and Football.

St Vincents Hurling and Football club (Club colours: Green & White)

In 1943 St Vincents was founded to promote Gaelic games in the Blarney Street and Sundays Well and later expanded to encompass Knocknaheeny, Gurranabraher and Churchfield. The club has won numerous honours, in 1946 the club won the Junior Football County Final, in 1968 the intermediate hurling county title and a senior hurling league in 1972. Recent years has heralded great success at underage level with various teams winning honours at the premier and A grades. The highlight of this has been the winning of the Minor Premier County in 1998. These players would go on to join with members of other successful underage teams from the 90's to help the club win its first intermediate football title in 2006 and has ensured that the club retained Senior status for the first time since the 70's.

Soccer is also a big part of the community,

The local teams are

Knocknaheeny Celtic "(Club colours: Blue/White & Blue)" Club Ground: Kilmore Road, Knocknaheeney

Grattan United "(Club colours: Blue/White & Blue)" Club Ground: O’Neill Park, Knocknaheeney

Famous People from the Area

* Billy Clarke - Professional football player for Ipswich Town F.C."
* Patsy Freyne ex League of Ireland player for Cork City FC
* Mark Carroll - international athlete

Anti-social Behaviour In Knocknaheeny

Over the years Knocknaheeny has been subject to large amount of bad press which has painted the area and its inhabitants in a negative light. [Cork Examiner - http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2005/11/30/story129593492.asp]

Years of overcrowding and government neglect coupled with a downturn in the economy in the late 70s / mid 80s fueled acts of vandalism in the area and surroundings. Poverty and unemployment was rampant in the city and nowhere was that more obvious than in the Knocknaheeny area. The area quickly deteriorated and optimism soon turned to pessimism.

School leavers were faced with life on the dole, some lucky people got work locally but these were few and far between, others headed to Britain for work. Boredom set in and cars were stolen by so-called joyriders that would drive at excessive speeds along the Kilmore Road (aka The Back Road or The Opel Road). Gas and glue sniffing were acts that were common and many young people died during this awful time. In fact, nearly every family living in Knocknaheeny and its surroundings were affected by tragedy. Youths and adults alike turned to burglary to make ends meet, anti-social behavior was everywhere and no end seemed in sight.

Lone Parents Have High Hopes For Their Kids

Almost 50% of young, single mothers hope that their children will get a good education and a good job, despite the fact that the vast majority of these mothers had already left school before becoming pregnant, according to a new study. The study looked at young, single mothers in two communities, Knocknaheeny in Cork and Darndale in Dublin. It focused on women who became mothers when they were under the age of 18 and who are still only young adults. The study found that over 80% had already left school before becoming pregnant. It also found that the majority of lone parents were dependent on the state for their main source of income. According to the Minister for Children "Young, single mothers and lone parents in general are seen as a group particularly vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion. Lone parent families have a higher than average risk of poverty".

The study was commissioned by the Vincentian Partnership for Justice and was carried out by Dr Valerie Richardson from the Social Science Research Centre in UCD. [UCD Paper on Subject http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucd.ie%2Fssrc%2Fyoungmotherssum.doc&ei=7117SOXYEo6ujgGQn8jrDw&usg=AFQjCNEXc0igsRxOMTbL_qDSnaFdiwAVGg&sig2=eGmaVICRvi7vH7RCEG6QKw]

Apple Computer European base, Located in Knocknaheeny / Hollyhill is a big local employer for Cork and the area.

TV References and Media

"Joy in the Hood" is an Irish comedy series featuring Des Bishop. Aired in 2005 on Ireland's channel RTÉ Two as a part of its Monday-night comedy slot, it showed Bishop's antics as he traveled to impoverished areas of Ireland, such as Knocknaheeny in Cork, Ballymun in Dublin and Southill in Limerick to run comedy workshops and integrate into society in these places.

Popular saying: "You can take the boy out of Knocknaheeny, but you can't take Knocknaheeny out of the boy"

Popular saying: "So Roy, where the fuck is Knockmahenny" "("Knockmahenny", the only spelling error in Roy Keane's autobiography)"

References