Feirm Bawn - Chapter 1 - Ald. William Phair

A 9 acre site left off Spur Hill just up from Togher Cross has a history going back to the 17th Century. One family of a Nationalist leaning had ownership from the late 19th Century up to its sale in 1920. They were the Phairs of Gillabbey House near The Lough.

*Feirm Bawn in its glory days


INTRODUCTION

The land on which Feirm Bawn was situated ( in the Townland of Doughcloyne ) was once in the ownership of the Ronaynes in the 17th Century which then passed onto the Sarsfields in the 18th Century following a marriage as was the custom back then. The 9 acres of farmland comprised 3 fields which fronted onto Spur Hill and terminated to the rear at the Liberty Stream. Sandwiched in between Coventry House and Phillipine House , it was a desirable property. In the mid 19th Century  the Sarsfields had let it out to Philip Mulcahy who occupied 2 small cottages. He in turn sublet the 3 conjoined workmens cottages fronting the main road to John Riordan , Michael Murphy and John McCarthy. The combined value of the 2 cottages and 3 apartments at that time ( see below ) was £15.

 

 

 
Griffiths Valuations 1847 - 1864
Occupiers of Cottages and Apartments

Plot No.6 ( Feirm Bawn ) showing 3 fields
* Note : 2 Cottages and Apartments fronting onto road

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Ald. William Phair

Wm. Phair , owner of Feirm Bawn

At the turn of the 20th Century Ald. William Phair was listed as the owner of Feirm Bawn featuring in both the 1901 and 1911 Censuses. The properties in 1901 , small holdings built of stone and thatched were leased out to several families who mostly would have worked the farm for him. They were as follows : 

1901 Census showing Wm. Phair as Landlord
and current occupiers as shown below

Julia Long a 56 year old Widow who although could speak both Irish and English tellingly for the time could not read or write. Her daughter Ellie , 23 , was a domestic servant whilst her son Willie was an agricultural labourer ( which meant he worked on the farm ). 

Michael Connor , 50 , worked for the Railway , while his sons John , 18 and Patrick , 14 both worked as shop assistants. His daughter Maggie worked on the farm whilst the rest of his children attended school.

Daniel Donovan , 60 and his wife Norah , 48 both spoke Irish and English but could not read. Daniel's son Patrick , 20 ,  worked with him on the farm. 

Daniel Connor , 58 and his wife Margaret , 58 , both could read and write and both spoke Irish and English. His son Daniel , 17 , worked on the farm with him whilst his youngest son , John , 17 , went to school. 

Michael Kennedy , 72 and his wife , Norah , 70 could both speak Irish and English. Their son Patrick , 23 , worked on the farm. Interestingly , the family could not read or write. 

*By the time of the next Census in 1911 , given the transient nature of the working classes at the time , most save for Michael Connor had moved on.

William Phair himself lived at Gillabbey House on Connaught Avenue and had a bakery , provisions and mercantile store at 129 Bandon Road. This was located at the junction of Bandon Road , Lough Road and St. Finbarr's Road which is known as Phair's Cross. A point of reference is the famous Mok's pub directly across from it. The holding off Spur Hill would have provided him with milk , beef and pork for his business. Incidentally , he was also co-founder of the Cork Pipers Club in 1898 ( *World's oldest piper band ) which gave birth shortly after to the Brian Boru Pipe Band which held the distinction of being the first pipe band in Ireland to march in kilts!

Feirm Bawn 1880s
3 fields showing cottages in field next to Coventry House

Phairs - 1911 Census

Gillabbey House , Connaught Ave. off Bandon Road

Interestingly he and his wife Hannah spoke both English and Irish. Their nephew , Edmond Corcoran , a telephonist at the Cork G.P.O. lived with them. He was also a fluent Irish speaker. William died on 3rd March 1912. after his death , the bakery became the HQ of the 2nd Battalion of the First Cork Brigade during the War of Independence where arms and even wanted men were hidden.  In 1920 , Hannah his widow ( she would pass away on 1st August 1933 and is buried with her husband in Kilmurry Graveyard ) decided to off load the holding in Togher in 1920 and advertised it for sale.  The property came with a cattle shed , hay barn , piggery and stalls for 4 horses. It also had a boiler house and a 60 gallon tank. This caught the eye of a certain English woman and this is where Lady Harris ( article coming soon! ) comes in. 

Phairs gravestone , Kilmurry Graveyard

*1926 Census 
Hannah Phair's first and only appearance ( d.1933 )

** Following Hannah's death in 1933 , the business remained in family hands up to the 1960s. It was at the start of that decade that former members of G Company unveiled a placue in honour of their colleagues who had used the bakery as a H.Q. during the War of Independence.  To this day , whenever the Barrs win a County Final they parade from Togher up to the old bakery**

129 Bandon Road - former Phairs bakery
Phairs Cross

Unveiling of placue in 1960

Placue on Phairs house
129 Bandon Road

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*ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: 

Anne O'Regan Hernandes
rebelstreetscork1919-1923.blogspot.com
billhaneman.ie

“This work includes content from records of the 1926 Census of Ireland, made available by the National Archives of Ireland under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Please see further: [ https://nationalarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Reuse-of-Records-1926-Census.jpg ].”