Gerard Martin O’Brien traces a history of what is now the Glen River Park from its origins as a site of milling, and industry through to the 1980s, when it was donated to the people of Cork by Sir Basil Goulding. Whole generations of people used this space as an unofficial amenity area long before it became a park and the book reveals it’s now forgotten story. Here he is in conversation on the matter with Dave Macardle