Cork City councillors who voted against renaming Bishop Lucey Park have strongly criticised what they see as an attempt to rewrite history and erase an important figure in the city’s Catholic heritage.
Councillors voted 17-11 last week to begin a process that could see Bishop Lucey Park — named in honour of Bishop Cornelius Lucey in 1985 — stripped of his name. The proposal, led by Worker’s Party Cllr Ted Tynan and supported by Green Party and Social Democrats representatives, cited allegations of widespread clerical abuse during Bishop Lucey’s tenure as grounds for change.
However, councillors including Fianna Fáil’s Terry Shannon and Independent Cllr Albert Deasy voiced opposition.
Cllr Deasy said it is a form of “post-mortem show trial” reminiscent of tactics in oppressive regimes. “I believe it is wrong to judge Bishop Lucey for alleged failures without evidence of personal wrongdoing,” he said.
Cllr Deasy said the focus should be on present-day issues such as human trafficking and the exploitation of women, rather than retroactive condemnation. “I urge those supporting the renaming to address pressing issues like the trafficking and exploitation of women and girls in Cork’s brothels and massage parlours,” he said.
“I also find it contradictory that many of those supporting the condemnation of Bishop Lucey fail to protect women’s sports and spaces from the risks posed by biological males, while labelling those who defend women and children as ‘haters’. It is particularly ironic that these same proponents previously campaigned to remove the terms ‘woman’ and ‘mother’ from the Constitution as sexist, and struggle to define what a woman is,” Cllr Deasy added.
Cllr Terry Shannon warned that Ireland is becoming “a cold place for Christians and Catholics” and said the move risks discarding history. “There is an attempt now to rewrite history in this country,” he said. “Will we take Fr Mathew down off his statue? Will we rename St Patrick’s St, Pope’s Quay? Where will it end?”
Cllr Shannon acknowledged the failures of the Church but pointed to Bishop Lucey’s role in bringing the credit union movement to Cork and building new churches for growing communities. During his episcopacy from 1952 to 1980, Bishop Lucey oversaw the construction of 13 churches and established Cork’s diocesan mission to Peru.
The Diocese of Cork and Ross were contacted for comment but did not respond.
