Page 18 - SISK NEWS JULY 2015

Office Focus

Cork

A history The Cork team has been at the centre of expertise and
development of our pharmaceutical specialist division,
John Sisk was a young plasterer, who married and led by Ger Dennehy, and we have worked for many
began in the building business in Cork in 1859, just 11 of the pharmaceutical companies, locally in Cork, and
years after Ireland’s worst crisis - the Great Famine then following our customers further afield throughout
of 1845–1849. While most of his early work is not Ireland, UK and Europe. Some of these projects such
recorded, one of his first major projects included the as the Vistakon contact lens manufacturing plant,
first building for the Cork Distilleries Company on Allergan’s Botox manufacturing plant in Westport and
Morrison’s island (1), just outside the old city walls. It Janssen’s Ebola vaccine facility in Leiden, Holland have
was constructed in 1868, at a time when the company been featured in recent newsletters.
was based at 4 Frenche’s Quay (2). However, when
John Sisk died in 1921 he had built no fewer than 30 Three hospitals are also among the top ten
churches, a number of large schools, libraries and employers in the city. In very recent years Sisk have
bank buildings. carried out major construction at Bon Secours
Hospital, which together with other publically funded
The company later established works opposite projects such as college work at Cork Institute of
Capwell station (3), and until recently, an old Sisk Technology, form the core of local work.
plaque was still on display here. However, the business
moved slightly out of town into its new offices that
it now occupies in the Sisk Business Development
Centre, close to Cork Airport. It still retains its name as
Capwell Works.

Centenary celebrations The Munster and Leinster Bank
opened in 1915 and the original
John Valentine Sisk, one of his sons, became a master bank plans
carpenter in his own right, but re-joined his father in
1907 to form the partnership we know today, John
Sisk & Son. It was this partnership that secured the
contract to build the Head Office of the Munster and
Leinster Bank in South Mall (4), in 1912 through to its
opening in 1915. That bank, now the AIB, celebrates
its centenary this year in a virtually unaltered form to
when it was built. It crystallises the qualities we still
strive to achieve today.

The building has a fine range of iconic columns
across the upper storeys of the façade, and has
a setback attic storey with balustrade. Inside the
banking hall it showcases exceptional plasterwork
features that were carried out by his brother Richard,
and the magnificent joinery made in the workshops of
Sisk and Sons.

Cork specialisms and expertise 2

Cork, now Ireland’s third largest city, has benefited Cork City Hall is one of the many impressive
from being located at the heart of industry in buildings built in 1932/33
the south of Ireland. Its main area of industry is
pharmaceuticals, with Pfizer Inc. and Johnson &
Johnson (J&J) subsidiaries, Depuy and Janssen,
being big employers in the region. Ireland is a leading
manufacturing base for Pfizer and the most famous
product that they manufacture is Viagra.

18 Sisk News | July 2015