Kieran Hurley : A Walk Across the Bridge
Dublin Core
Title
Kieran Hurley : A Walk Across the Bridge
Subject
Personal reflection
Description
Kieran Hurley from UCC 98.3 FM reminisces on journeys made over the Shakey Bridge and his personal connection to it.
Creator
Abigail Joffe
Publisher
Abigail Joffe
Date
June 2018
Contributor
Abigail Joffe
Kieran Hurley
Kieran Hurley
Rights
Creative Commons
Format
MP3 Audio file 4.2MB
Language
English
Type
Oral History / Reminsicence
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Abigail Joffe
Interviewee
Kieran Hurley UCC 98.3 FM
Location
The Shakey Bridge, Cork city
Transcription
Kieran Hurley : A Walk Across the Bridge
KH: I used to live in Sunday’s Well for years. I used to love walking across that bridge (sigh), I still do. I think everyone’s got a connection to it at some stage.
AJ: So you would have walked across it, like a few times a day?
KH: Yeah, I would, if I was gonna go home for lunch. Ahh, mostly in the mornings and it could be like half seven or eight in the morning and you’d see a fog or mist and eh there’s very few people around. It’s nice. You don’t really feel you’re connected to reality until you get to the Mardyke, then you feel the cars are around you and stuff.
AJ : Yeah there’s that sense of moving, cos there is something very significant about crossing over , isn’t there ?
KH: There’s something about being on water, moving over water, either on a boat … or a bridge. It makes you think about your position and where you are. Also, you’re a good height from the water, but the thing about it is you’re not completely disconnected like a bridge where you travel by car, where you don’t even know you are on a bridge sometimes. And the height, it’s not enough to terrify you, because a lot of the kids like you said, during the summer would jump off this, but it’s a good height, it’s a good challenge. I’d see a lot of kids when I was coming back and forth during the summertime, it’d be a rite of passage to be able to jump off the bridge and you’d see them kind of hanging onto the bridge but they’re outside and they’re being edged on by their friends to jump. It must be 20 feet easily I’d say.
AJ: Yeah . Any idea how deep the water is there?
KH: I couldn’t tell you, but it must be five or six feet anyways. I wouldn’t jump head first; a lot of people jump legs first and they kind of bomb in. I never seen anyone jump head first in because that would be unwise.
And then you see ‘em a week later and they’re on top of the rail and they’re jumping off and getting very brave, you know. But during the summer when the weather’s hot it’s a nice place to jump, there’s no real strong tides. Its relatively clean.
KH: I used to live in Sunday’s Well for years. I used to love walking across that bridge (sigh), I still do. I think everyone’s got a connection to it at some stage.
AJ: So you would have walked across it, like a few times a day?
KH: Yeah, I would, if I was gonna go home for lunch. Ahh, mostly in the mornings and it could be like half seven or eight in the morning and you’d see a fog or mist and eh there’s very few people around. It’s nice. You don’t really feel you’re connected to reality until you get to the Mardyke, then you feel the cars are around you and stuff.
AJ : Yeah there’s that sense of moving, cos there is something very significant about crossing over , isn’t there ?
KH: There’s something about being on water, moving over water, either on a boat … or a bridge. It makes you think about your position and where you are. Also, you’re a good height from the water, but the thing about it is you’re not completely disconnected like a bridge where you travel by car, where you don’t even know you are on a bridge sometimes. And the height, it’s not enough to terrify you, because a lot of the kids like you said, during the summer would jump off this, but it’s a good height, it’s a good challenge. I’d see a lot of kids when I was coming back and forth during the summertime, it’d be a rite of passage to be able to jump off the bridge and you’d see them kind of hanging onto the bridge but they’re outside and they’re being edged on by their friends to jump. It must be 20 feet easily I’d say.
AJ: Yeah . Any idea how deep the water is there?
KH: I couldn’t tell you, but it must be five or six feet anyways. I wouldn’t jump head first; a lot of people jump legs first and they kind of bomb in. I never seen anyone jump head first in because that would be unwise.
And then you see ‘em a week later and they’re on top of the rail and they’re jumping off and getting very brave, you know. But during the summer when the weather’s hot it’s a nice place to jump, there’s no real strong tides. Its relatively clean.
Original Format
Interview
Duration
00.02.14
Bit Rate/Frequency
320kbps
44,100 khz
44,100 khz
Collection
Citation
Abigail Joffe, “Kieran Hurley : A Walk Across the Bridge,” Shakey Bridge Sound Archive, accessed May 17, 2024, https://shakeystories.abigailjoffe.org/archive/items/show/19.