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Old October 4th 04, 07:49 PM
KCarroll
 
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Default John Cahill Ei7V

Pages 10,11 Irish Examiner's Cork County supplement TUESDAY, AUGUST
17, 2004

Noel Magnier talks to an extraordinary man (John Cahill, callsign EI7V
) who has used his talents in many different ways

A John of all trades and surely a master of some

JOHN PATRICK CAHILL is by any standard an extraordinary man with an
extraordinary career portfolio across a considerable range of
projects, from designing to divining, cycling to computing and much
more.
This shy, but intense and self-deprecating genius continues to have a
zest for life which is truly inspirational for all ages.
The Strawberry Hill resident who designed and fabricated a life-saving
incubator for new-born and ill babies is reluctant to talk about lives
saved as a consequence. However, he does give a description of
designing a purpose built stainless steel unit, using a stretcher base
and rebuilding and securing all incubator elements to this, thus
eliminating the problem and dangerous task of transporting babies by
ambulance or even helicopter.
John Cahill, expressing being 'pleased' with the result, said the
project required little physical work hut a 'handy' bit of thought and
planning. This despite the fact his planning and skills meant safer
passage for the many babies transported annually by Cork Ambulance
services.
Born near Hazelwood, Mallow in north Cork to John and Hanna, he was
the eldest of five children. He went to the local national school in
the early years. He grew up playing handball, hurling and football and
he finished national school and went on to the Patrician Brothers
school in Mallow where his mother paid ten shillings entrance fee to
the technical department.
John made the round trip of ten miles, walking five days of the week
in all weathers.
His first working experience upon leaving school was with Thompson's
garage in Mallow. As a bound apprentice where, after five years he
qualified as an auto-electrician, the young Cahill had an avid
appetite for engineering, science and physics and displayed an early
aptitude for building dynamos and things electrical.
A move to Cork City in the early 1950s and time spent working as an
auto electrician in O'Shea's garage in the South Mall spurred his
ambition and when he quoted successfully for the installation of an
X-ray machine in St. Finbarr's hospital it was the beginning of an
association with the Southern Health Board which lasted for more than
three decades.
Self-employed, the volume and variety of his work gradually increased
specialising in maternity at hospitals from Clonmel to Bantry and Theo
Infirmary, Bon Secour Maternity in Cork and also the Eye, Ear and
Throat, attending to intensive care instrumentation in the Western
Road where the hospital was situated and known to generations of
Corkonians as the 'Iron Throat'. John's work also took him to
Erinville Hospital on the Mardyke of which he speaks with particular
affection.
Like a doctor, John was always on call to respond to any emergency of
which there were many throughout the 30-plus years he worked with the
then Cork Health Authority. Although John did not to University he
studied Engineering in both Mallow and the Crawford Technical schools
in Cork, as he says, "I was then, and still am to this day, a
perpetual student of technical detail."
When John took an interest in photography he studied every aspect with
the same zeal and forensic style and application he applied to his
engineering skills. He built a darkroom in a shed at the rear of his
house and began experimenting in quality monochrome (black and white)
photography.
As his interest grew he discovered from entering local and
international competitions that he had an aptitude for photography. He
joined the Cork Camera Club and soon won many awards for his work at
home and abroad. Soon he would become a renowned teacher of the art of
taking photos.
He also became a part-time professional photographer taking only
exclusive weddings (he won't mention names), as well as industrial and
medical photography exhibitions which required the highest degree of
skill.
His analytical mind took John to new horizons in colour processing.
Colour film had to be sent to England to be processed but through his
efforts in colour research he successfully conducted his own colour
processing, the first in Ireland to do so. Initially this meant a
special arrangement with Kodak in Dublin to procure specialised
chemicals and other material from America which was not otherwise
available in Ireland.
Pioneering colour photography processing was something John just took
in his stride and he was happy to pass on the details to his pupils
when he took up an offer as part-time teacher in the VEC in Scoil Eoin
Naofa in Cork where he taught for over two years.
In the interim Cahill produced the first ever wedding album in colour
in Ireland containing the then standard 8x10 pictures. He designed and
built a special processor to achieve this work.
Never one to rest on his laurels John, (through a mutual friend who
had an interest in greyhound racing) designed, built and installed a
timing system which is used at all dog tracks throughout Ireland since
the 1960s.
During that period, John was the first person, certainly in the
Strawberry Hill/Sundays Well area of Cork City to receive television
programmes by building a 'Yagi' antenna TV aerial which was capable of
receiving programmes from Wenvoe in Wales and neighbours and their
children would come to Strawberry Hill on Saturday mornings to view
children's programmes.
For recreation he took up cycling but John had to pedal that extra
mile and he became a founder member of the Blarney touring club and
was elected its first President. He and his fellow cyclists toured the
south of Ireland regular1y.
Not content with just any bicycle, John Cahill did the inevitable and
built his own bike from scratch, including the wheels, manufactured by
Dave Wood of the UK to John's very own specifications. Never one to do
things by half, he would soon number amongst his cycling friends two
of Ireland's greatest - Sean Kelly and Tour de France winner Stephen
Roche.
In 1993 John Cahill took part in a century cycle (100 miles) fund
raiser for cancer - proceeds went to the Mercy Hospital in Cork. He
also developed an interest in divining for water, missing persons and
lost property. Soon he would become a member of the Irish Society of
Diviners which was based in Dublin at the time.
John says that popular opinion had the hazel rod as an imperative to
successful divining but he claims an ordinary coat hanger could be
modified to do the job.
As a young man he became involved in radio and became an avid radio
ham. Soon he began to build his own transmitters and receivers from
junk parts brought in from England, mainly British Army government
surplus after World War II.
His radio equipment were capable of world-wide communication using AM
(amplitude modulation) which was also the same system used by Radio
Eireann when the station broadcast from the old Cork Jail in Sundays
Well, literally round the corner from John's home in Strawberry Hill.
The AM system was also used by Radio Eireann broadcasting from
Athlone.
John became proficient in Morse Code for Communicating and his call
sign was EI7V
John's interest in radio says began in 1954, has evolved dramatically
over the decades with computers playing a vital role and nowadays he
has a GPS positioning system) which he uses for mapping or positioning
routes on a car journey and also for waiting and calculating on spread
sheets and general computer use and to make 'life easier for myself.'
When asked, John Cahill would admit that his expertise in precision
engineering was the dominant force of his career and gave him most
satisfaction and acclaim. The inventor/designer who in a later era
would most certainly have gone to University, though he did pass up a
degree opportunity, a BE. when he refused a posting to Carlow Regional
Technical College having installed all the electronic equipment in the
new building.
Exhibiting his work to students in college he found most gratifying
and he states he never pursued degrees to validate his engineering
skills which came naturally.
Today John P Cahill takes life easier, at least by his previous
frenetic standards. For relaxation he plays the accordion and of
course he plays well and yes he repairs, modifies and builds the
accordion and attends céili music sessions and is a personal friend of
that great musician Donal Ring.
John Patrick Cahill may have his roots in Mallow but his heart is in
his beloved Strawberry Hill (where close by was born his friend, Ed
Walsh, Professor of the National University, Limerick).
John and his wife, Bridie have regular visits from their daughter,
Norma and granddaughters Avril, a medical research scientist in Cancer
and Lorraine, studying to be a solicitor.
When first approached for this interview, John Patrick Cahill averred,
"Nobody would be interested".
John got that one wrong. Just once.
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