Cork City Council Waterworks Committee Minutes
TitleCork City Council Waterworks Committee Minutes
ReferenceCP/CO/WW/M
Date
1879-1929
Production date 1879 - 1929
Scope and ContentThe Waterworks Committee was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the city’s water supply, including the main City Waterworks on the Lee Road, and the connected system of resevoirs, pipes, and other facilities serving Cork’s citizens and businesses. While the present series of minutes begins in January 1879, the Waterworks Committee was already in existence, and minutes for the period 1867-78 are contained in General Committee minute books [CP/CO/GC/M]. These include annual reports on the city’s water supply. Prior to the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act, 1840, water supply was managed by the Cork Pipe Water Company, headed by a committee of trustees. The Waterworks Committee was also responsible for the city’s Fire Brigade service, which came into being in 1877.
The Waterworks Committee’s functions are described as being ‘All matters and accounts connected with the waterworks and water supply of the City, the Fire Brigade, its maintenance and management’. [CP/CO/WW/M/1, p52]
The committee met regularly, weekly or fortnightly. Periodically, meetings were held at the waterworks. In addition to councillor members, meetings were also attended by the City Engineer and the Resident (Waterworks) Engineer, with the Town Clerk, Secretary, and Treasurer often present. Meetings considered monthly accounts and reports of the City and Resident Engineers, requirements for the Fire Brigade, reports of fires attended, correspondence, references from Council or other committees, and matters arising. Reports on the city’s waterworks and supplies submitted by the resident engineer were often inserted in the minutes. Other important reports, eg on special projects or by consultant engineers, are also inserted. From October 1882, the Committee was required to make a quarterly report to Council. This included the Resident Engineer’s quarterly report, which made reference to the Fire Brigade. A quarterly statement for the Waterworks Fund is also given. From 1889 annual reports were also made. From 1896, the Fire Brigade Superintendent made a discrete annual report. Unfortunately, such reports are not always inserted in the minutes. City Analyst’s reports on water quality are often noted. [For ‘Order of Business’ at meetings, see CP/CO/WW/M/2]
The resident engineer reported to the committee and was responsible for the management of the waterworks and water supply, subject to the direction of the City Engineer. The committee periodically inspected the waterworks or aspects of water supply and made orders. It also played a role in setting water rates and in supporting the City Treasurer in collection of them.
The committee sometimes sat jointly with others, for instance with County Council representatives on deepening the channel under George IV Bridge in the late 1880s, with the Public Health Committee on pollution and other issues, and with Law and Finance on some legal matters. A Fire Brigade sub-committee seems to have met frequently, but minutes are only recorded for special meetings, eg, on foot of reference from Council. Other sub-committees, eg, on disciplinary or legal matters, also sometimes met.
The improvement and repair of the waterworks and supply systems gave rise to much consideration, reporting, and legal and other correspondence, and involved considerable expenditure. In adopting detailed regulations and charges in 1897, the committee sought particularly to address waste and misuse, which in the case of Cork, according to a Town Clerk’s report, was ‘notorious’. Supply to some parts of the city, especially north of St Luke’s, had to be cut off for hours during summer months owing to shortfalls and lack of pressure. The committee had long complained of waste by consumers, but the report notes several serious leaks recently discovered. A new system of inspection was put in place in 1913, with considerable progress being reported by 1915. Minutes from this time contain weekly reports by the City Engineer on staff employed, inspections conducted, and defects noticed, and reports by the Resident Engineer on consumption. New filtration and chlorination systems were explored in the 1920s. Minutes also refer to supply to rural areas outside the city boundary, including Blackrock, in the Cork Poor Law Union area, and to supply to charitable and public institutions, such as prisons and asylums.
Disputes between staff, particularly in the Fire Brigade, were frequent in the later part of the 19th century. By the mid-1890s, however, greater harmony seems to have prevailed, and many letters praising the brigade for prompt and courageous attendance at fires occur in the minutes. The employment of auxiliary firemen, the placing of fire extinguishers in police stations, and fire escapes at locations around the city, the building of a fire station and sub-stations, supplying and checking of hydrants, and improved telephone connections, all contributed to the development of the service. In this, Captain Alfred Hutson, Superintendent from 1891 to 1928, played a leading role. His duties came to include inspections under the Factories Act and recommending renewals of licences for the storage of petrol. Sadly, no minutes are recorded for the period immediately following the ‘Burning of Cork’ on the night of 11-12 December 1920, the Fire Brigade having played a leading role in responding to this calamity. No meetings may have been held owing to the destruction of City Hall. The Fire Brigade also provided an ambulance service, and attended at fires outside the city boundary as requested.
From November 1924 to March 1929, while the Corporation was dissolved, committee meetings were attended by the City Commissioner (later City Manager), with other officers sometimes attending. City Manager Monahan continued to attend meetings, without Councillors present, up to 14 November 1929, when the present series ends.
The series documents the development of water supply services in Cork city and surrounding areas, including the scientific modernisation of plant, responses to waste and quality issues, and growing domestic and commercial consumption. They also chart the growth of the Fire Brigade service, with annual reports, in particular, giving an overview of its work and its increasing functions, including ambulance services. The minutes shed much light on the history of these vital services, administered by Cork Corporation as key functions of local government.
The Waterworks Committee’s functions are described as being ‘All matters and accounts connected with the waterworks and water supply of the City, the Fire Brigade, its maintenance and management’. [CP/CO/WW/M/1, p52]
The committee met regularly, weekly or fortnightly. Periodically, meetings were held at the waterworks. In addition to councillor members, meetings were also attended by the City Engineer and the Resident (Waterworks) Engineer, with the Town Clerk, Secretary, and Treasurer often present. Meetings considered monthly accounts and reports of the City and Resident Engineers, requirements for the Fire Brigade, reports of fires attended, correspondence, references from Council or other committees, and matters arising. Reports on the city’s waterworks and supplies submitted by the resident engineer were often inserted in the minutes. Other important reports, eg on special projects or by consultant engineers, are also inserted. From October 1882, the Committee was required to make a quarterly report to Council. This included the Resident Engineer’s quarterly report, which made reference to the Fire Brigade. A quarterly statement for the Waterworks Fund is also given. From 1889 annual reports were also made. From 1896, the Fire Brigade Superintendent made a discrete annual report. Unfortunately, such reports are not always inserted in the minutes. City Analyst’s reports on water quality are often noted. [For ‘Order of Business’ at meetings, see CP/CO/WW/M/2]
The resident engineer reported to the committee and was responsible for the management of the waterworks and water supply, subject to the direction of the City Engineer. The committee periodically inspected the waterworks or aspects of water supply and made orders. It also played a role in setting water rates and in supporting the City Treasurer in collection of them.
The committee sometimes sat jointly with others, for instance with County Council representatives on deepening the channel under George IV Bridge in the late 1880s, with the Public Health Committee on pollution and other issues, and with Law and Finance on some legal matters. A Fire Brigade sub-committee seems to have met frequently, but minutes are only recorded for special meetings, eg, on foot of reference from Council. Other sub-committees, eg, on disciplinary or legal matters, also sometimes met.
The improvement and repair of the waterworks and supply systems gave rise to much consideration, reporting, and legal and other correspondence, and involved considerable expenditure. In adopting detailed regulations and charges in 1897, the committee sought particularly to address waste and misuse, which in the case of Cork, according to a Town Clerk’s report, was ‘notorious’. Supply to some parts of the city, especially north of St Luke’s, had to be cut off for hours during summer months owing to shortfalls and lack of pressure. The committee had long complained of waste by consumers, but the report notes several serious leaks recently discovered. A new system of inspection was put in place in 1913, with considerable progress being reported by 1915. Minutes from this time contain weekly reports by the City Engineer on staff employed, inspections conducted, and defects noticed, and reports by the Resident Engineer on consumption. New filtration and chlorination systems were explored in the 1920s. Minutes also refer to supply to rural areas outside the city boundary, including Blackrock, in the Cork Poor Law Union area, and to supply to charitable and public institutions, such as prisons and asylums.
Disputes between staff, particularly in the Fire Brigade, were frequent in the later part of the 19th century. By the mid-1890s, however, greater harmony seems to have prevailed, and many letters praising the brigade for prompt and courageous attendance at fires occur in the minutes. The employment of auxiliary firemen, the placing of fire extinguishers in police stations, and fire escapes at locations around the city, the building of a fire station and sub-stations, supplying and checking of hydrants, and improved telephone connections, all contributed to the development of the service. In this, Captain Alfred Hutson, Superintendent from 1891 to 1928, played a leading role. His duties came to include inspections under the Factories Act and recommending renewals of licences for the storage of petrol. Sadly, no minutes are recorded for the period immediately following the ‘Burning of Cork’ on the night of 11-12 December 1920, the Fire Brigade having played a leading role in responding to this calamity. No meetings may have been held owing to the destruction of City Hall. The Fire Brigade also provided an ambulance service, and attended at fires outside the city boundary as requested.
From November 1924 to March 1929, while the Corporation was dissolved, committee meetings were attended by the City Commissioner (later City Manager), with other officers sometimes attending. City Manager Monahan continued to attend meetings, without Councillors present, up to 14 November 1929, when the present series ends.
The series documents the development of water supply services in Cork city and surrounding areas, including the scientific modernisation of plant, responses to waste and quality issues, and growing domestic and commercial consumption. They also chart the growth of the Fire Brigade service, with annual reports, in particular, giving an overview of its work and its increasing functions, including ambulance services. The minutes shed much light on the history of these vital services, administered by Cork Corporation as key functions of local government.
Extent13 volumes
LanguageEnglish
Persons keywordCork City Council, Cork Corporation
AccessOpen by appointment to those holding a current readers' ticket
RightsSubject to Rules Governing Reproduction of Records
Levelseries
RepositoryCork City and County Archives