30 May 2022

Two local giants, Mahain and Binne, have evolved from old Irish folklore and taken their place as the new, modern giants of Cork harbour. The names, Mahain and Binne, were chosen by Crosshaven Boys’ National School and voted most popular, as part of a recent local schools competition ‘Name the Cranes’, by the Port of Cork Company. The names represent the two 50 metre cranes at the Cork Container Terminal (CCT), in Ringaskiddy. 

The Port of Cork Company (PoCC) launched the ‘Name the Cranes’ competition back in March, giving local primary school pupils the chance to name its new cranes at CCT in Ringaskiddy. Over 800 students across 12 local harbour community schools were involved. Following a number of creative suggestions, the top three schools names were chosen and put to a public vote on Facebook to choose the winning names. Mahain and Binne were a significant winner, leading with over half of the 1,000 votes.

The names chosen by Crosshaven Boys’ National School are based on a local story from 1892, told by Robert Day. A giant called ‘Mahain’ threw two stones from Monkstown - one landing in Ringaskiddy and the other in Crosshaven. Another giant called ‘Binne’, lived across the water in Currabinny and cast a stone into Crosshaven village where it came to rest on the foreshore near Crosshaven House.

The winning class of Crosshaven Boys’ N.S. will receive a very special guided boat trip around Cork Harbour, €1,000 worth of sport or art supplies and are invited to cut the ribbon at the Official Opening of CCT, later this year.  Runner up schools, Star of the Sea Passage West, who put forward the names ‘Ardú and Ísliu’ and Ringaskiddy National School who suggested ‘Rocky and Spike’, also received €1,000 worth of art supplies for their school. The names Mahain and Binne will be printed on each crane in the coming weeks.

Speaking on the new names, Business Development Support Manager, David Browne said, “We are delighted to have two very special names for the two giant cranes here at CCT. It is important to us to involve the local community and the up and coming generation in this new era for the Cork harbour community and wider region. Connecting local folklore with the cranes creates a lovely story, and the two 50 metre giants, Mahain and Binne, couldn't be more fitting names.”

The cranes are a landmark feature of the new CCT, which has been developed following an €86 million investment and recently became operational. CCT enables PoCC to deliver more efficient container handling facilities and will play a significant role in the economic growth of the region for many years to come.