Paper presentation at “Culture in Urban Space: Urban Form, Cultural Landscapes, Life in the City”, an Island Dynamics conference in Malmö, Sweden, 5-6 February 2020. The Sonic Histories of Cork City (SHOCC) Project is an interdisciplinary research project between members of the library’s Special Collections and the Department of Music, University College Cork, Ireland. The SHOCC Project explores relationships between sound, space and history. By using archival and historical sources the team investigates what locations in Cork City might have sounded like in the city’s past creating audio and virtual reality soundscapes. We explore how a city’s particular experiences contribute to that city’s sonic fingerprint: Cork’s history is intrinsically linked to its waterscapes and landscapes as ‘Cork’ is from the Irish ‘corcaigh’ meaning ‘marsh’. However, capturing a city’s sonic fingerprint is best completed as part of a community, therefore The SHOCC Project developed SoundCatcher, an online collection tool, so anyone may contribute to the city’s contemporary sonic histories. Through SoundCatcher and soundscape engagement we aim for people to learn about Cork City’s fascinating past and present, and also to encourage people to think critically about changing docklands, streets and buildings. In this presentation we will explore immersive environments considering cultural, social, economic, political, and historical factors to show how Cork City and its soundscapes have been altered in significant ways.

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Capturing A City’s Sonic Fingerprint: The Experiences of
the Sonic Histories of Cork City Project
Culture in Urban Space: Urban Form, Cultural Landscapes, Life in
the City | Island Dynamics | 6 February 2020
Elaine Harrington | Special Collections Librarian
John Hough | Senior Technical Officer
Charles Smith “A New Plan of the City of Cork,” 1750. UCC
Library.
“Cork’s Coat of Arms.” From
a postcard in John James
Collection, UCC Library.

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Cork

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A City’s Sonic Fingerprint
Wilkie's Cork City Directory, 1872.

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Cultural Soundscapes

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SHOCC Project and the Sources
Cork International Exhibition
Guide, MP457, UCC Library.
Postcards from John James
Collection, UCC Library.
Guy’s Cork Almanac & Directory, UCC Library.

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Cork - 1902
MacCurtain Street to Bridge Street to Patrick’s Bridge https://youtu.be/69f7e5YX8l4

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Re-Sounding Cork
https://youtu.be/69f7e5YX8l4MacCurtain Street to Bridge Street to Patrick’s Bridge

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Field Recording and Editing Workshops
Provide students with skills to create soundscapes
● Use of microphones and recording devices
● Get students listening to the environment
● Visit locations around the city
● Creative sound editing

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Sound Catcher - St Fin Barre’s Cathedral
https://shoccproject.wordpress.com/mapping-soundcatcher/ Postcard from John James
Collection, UCC Library.
Credit: A star called sun
https://twitter.com/torban69/
status/969947368794804225

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1902 - Cork International Exhibition
https://shoccproject.wordpress.com/soundscapes/fairgro
unds-and-concert-hall-cork-international-exhibition-1902/
Postcards from John James
Collection, UCC Library.

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SHOCC Project Connects
https://www.ucc.ie/en/registrar/theconnecte
duniversity/academicstrategy/curriculum

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Top Right: Aquatint ‘Cork from the Mardyke
Walk’ in Carr’s The Stranger in Ireland (1805).
Bottom Right: Postcard from John James
Collection, UCC Library.
https://shoccproject.wordpress.com/ mapping-soundcatcher/
A SHOCC Project for All Seasons

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Sound Walk at South Gate Bridge
Postcards from John James Collection, UCC Library.

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Museum of the City
Postcards from John James Collection, UCC Library.

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Immersive Experiences
Postcard from John James Collection, UCC Library.
https://www.theasys.io/viewer/nOHWRCIcEf96h5f13d8yFpdD4LHp6K/

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Acknowledgements
The Sonic Histories of Cork City (SHOCC) Project
● Dr Jillian Rogers, Assistant Professor of Musicology, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University;
(former Lecturer in Musicology, School of Music & Theatre, UCC).
All the students who completed MU 6031 and contributed to the SHOCC Project.
UCC
● Colette McKenna, Director of Library Services, UCC Library, UCC.
● Special Collections & Archives, UCC Library.
● Shawn Day, Lecturer in Digital Humanities, UCC.
● Dr James O’Sullivan, Lecturer in Digital Humanities, UCC.
Further Afield
● Jane Burns, Director of Athlone Institute of Technology Library, AIT.
● Dr Áine R. Mangaoang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Musicology, University of Oslo.

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Contact
Elaine Harrington
Special Collections Librarian
UCC Library
University College Cork
Cork
e.harrington@ucc.ie
John Hough
Senior Technical Officer
School of Music & Theatre
University College Cork
Cork
j.hough@ucc.ie
Sonic Histories of Cork City (SHOCC) Project
https://shoccproject.wordpress.com/