placenamesBlackpool
An Linn Dubh
Blackpool’s industrial history and the work of sculptor Séamus Murphy meet in the Church of the Annunciation, built during the 1940s.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Linn Dubh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Blackpool · English · main form
Place & story
Sunbeam comes to Millfield
William Dwyer moved his expanding Sunbeam Knitwear business from Cork's Butter Exchange to Blackpool in the winter of 1932. The Millfield premises had previously housed flax spinning and weaving. Seán Lemass, minister for industry and commerce, formally opened the new factory on 5 March 1933. Historian Kieran McCarthy's account, drawing on contemporary newspapers, places the enterprise within the Irish Free State's drive to encourage domestic manufacturing, including silk and artificial-silk hosiery. [2]
A church supported by industry
The Church of the Annunciation replaced the nineteenth-century Saint Nicholas's church on Great William O'Brien Street. Opened in 1945, it was designed by sculptor Séamus Murphy with architect E. P. O'Flynn, supported by Sunbeam's William Dwyer and his staff. Murphy designed its stonework, tabernacle and metal fittings; the Harry Clarke Studios supplied stained glass. Its tall entrance tower and island position give it a strong presence in Blackpool's streetscape, while its patronage connects religious architecture with local industry. [3]
Séamus Murphy’s Blackpool workshop
After training as a stone carver and studying in Paris in 1932–1933, Séamus Murphy established his own studio and stone yard in Blackpool. Over the following decades he carved memorials, religious figures and gravestones, becoming particularly known for his lettering and understanding of stone. His connection with Blackpool was the daily work of a practising craftsman, as well as the conspicuous commission of its church. His career links the district's yards and workshops with wider developments in Irish sculpture. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Cork
- Barony
- Cork
- Civil parish
- Saint Anne's, Shandon
- Coordinates
- 51.90831, -8.47957 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1166310 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Blackpool. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Making an Irish Free State City: Opening the Sunbeam Knitwear Company, 24 October 2024 · Kieran McCarthy, Cork Independent
- Church of the Annunciation, registration 20862036 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Séamus Murphy Lecture Theatre: biographical account · Munster Technological University Arts and Culture
- Church of the Annunciation, Blackpool, Cork illustration: based on a County Cork - Church of the Annunciation Church - 20220905124020 by Michael O'Sheil. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.