THE TOMB OF THE JEALOUS MAN AND WOMAN

My family is from the area but it was only a few years ago that I learned about the Tomb of the Jealous Man and Woman.

Newton Abbey is famous for the interesting 16th Century tomb of Sir Lucas Dillon and his wife, Lady Jayne Bathe. The two stone effigies on the tomb are separated by a sword of state. The tomb is known locally as 'The Tomb of the Jealous Man and Woman', it is believed that instead of signifying the sword of state, the sword actually represents Sir Lucas' displeasure at his wife for having had an affair, forever separating the two.

Locally it is believed that the tomb possesses a cure for warts and skin complaints. According to local custom all you need do is rub your wart with a  pin and then leave the pin on top of the tomb, as the pin rusts the wart withers and falls off. While I may not be convinced that the process produces positive results many people must believe that it does work as there is large number of pins on the tomb.

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ST. KEVIN’S CHURCH ON THE SOUTH CIRCULAR ROAD [THERE ARE TWO OTHER CHURCHES WITH THE SAME NAME NEARBY]

My understanding is that this church has been converted into apartments and office space.

St. Kevin has three churches in this area named after him so he must have been popular. This church is on Bloomfield Avenue and the South Circular Road.

The Church of Ireland built a fine Gothic church with red sandstone trim to designs by Sir Thomas Drew who also produced two alternate designs. The Irish Builder, mistakenly, described it as of “County Dublin granite, with dressings of Portland stone”.

St Kevin's Church, Harrington Street is the local Catholic church and it is still active.

St. Kevin's Church in St. Kevin's Park, Camden Row, dates back at least as far as the 13th century, and was dedicated to Kevin of Glendalough.

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STREET ART ON SYNGE STREET [OFF THE SOUTH CIRCULAR ROAD]

Synge Street is located in what once was the Jewish quarter of Dublin a part of the city steeped in history. It is claimed by some historians that the street was named after the Church of Ireland Bishop Edward Synge of Elphin who owned property in the area at the time of his death in 1762. The Bishop was a great-great-great granduncle of John Millington Synge, the famous Playboy of the Western World who wrote The Playboy of the Western World.

The famous Synge Street School, founded in 1864 by the Christian Brothers, has been based in the area ever since it was established.

MORE INFORMATION

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SAINT KEVINS CHURCH [HARRINGTON STREET IN DUBLIN]

For some reason I thought that Harrington Street was on the north side of the city but I was wrong.

This is the first time that I have been inside this church and I would suggest that it is worth a visit even if you are not religious.

St. Kevin's Church opened in Harrington St. in 1872 to serve the Roman Catholic parish of St. Kevin, which had been split from St. Catherine's in 1855. It was named after the nearby St. Kevin's church in Camden Row, which dated back to at least the 12th century, but which had become Protestant after the reformation.

In November 1903 a new organ was acquired and the grissille stained glass, the largest of its kind in Ireland, installed. The work was done by Earley and Company of nearby Camden St. Francis Hubert Earley, a sculptor of note, carved the St. Michael and St. Gabriel statues flanking the high altar at St. Kevin's.

The church is flanked by its Presbytery in Heytesbury Street and Synge Street CBS school in Synge St. Since 15 September 2007 it is the home of the Dublin Latin Mass Chaplaincy.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE WAS VERY SPECIAL 164 YEAR OLD STAINED GLASS WINDOW BY EARLEY AND COMPANY IN CAMDEN STREET [NOW OWNED BY JD WETHERSPOONS PUB CHAIN]

MORE CHURCHES IN DUBLIN

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THE ROBERT EMMET BRIDGE AND NEARBY [ THIS BRIDGE AT HAROLDS CROSS CLANBRASSIL BRIDGE]

Clanbrassil Bridge was rebuilt in 1935-36 and renamed to Emmet Bridge in honour of the 1803 rebellion leader Robert Emmet.

Up until recently there was a ‘Ghost Bike’ memorial located here but it has been removed. As I received a number of messages indicating that the bike had been returned I decided to visit to confirm if this was in fact true. The bad news is there was no sign of it. I have uploaded a photograph to prove that it is no longer there.

• PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GHOST BIKE
• ROBERT EMMET 
• RIVERS AND CANALS OF DUBLIN

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THE OSCAR WILDE INSTALLATION HAS BEEN RESTORED AND REPAIRED AND THE LAYOUT HAS BEEN CORRECTED [MERRION SQUARE DUBLIN]

The good news is that the restoration of the Oscar Wilde installation has been completed with the return of the two minor bronzes to their plinths. The stone plinths or pillars are covered in quotations from Wilde. One has a bronze figure of a pregnant naked woman kneeling on the top, while the other has a bronze male torso. My understanding is that they indicate Wilde's ambiguous sexuality and aesthetic sensibilities. The other bit of good news is that the orientation of the female nude has been corrected. NOTE: The female nude is Oscar’s wife [Constance Lloyd] who was six months pregnant when Oscar had his first homosexual encounter. Originally she was facing Oscar but someone tried to steal the bronze and when the authorities restored it they installed it facing the wrong direction and then the tour guides came up with stories to explain why she had turned her back on her husband. She is facing a different direction now but I am not 100% convinced that one could claim that she is now facing Oscar … maybe she should be on the other plinth. The great man reclines on a rock and is positioned so that he is looking at the last house on the north side of Merrion Square, the house where he once lived. The statue is made from stone of different colours - for example, Wilde's jacket is green stone with red stone cuffs.

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MIAMI SHOWBAND MEMORIAL [PARNELL SQUARE DUBLIN]

The Miami Showband were one of the most successful and popular showbands in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s. Led at first by singer Dickie Rock, and later by Fran O'Toole, they had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart. In 1975 during The Troubles, when returning from a performance in County Down, Northern Ireland, three members of the band, Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty, and Brian McCoy, were killed in what became known as the "Miami Showband massacre".

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THE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE [PARNELL SQUARE IN DUBLIN]

Over the last few years every time that I visited there has been construction ongoing which can be a bit annoying but one good thing that has resulted from this work is that they have installed a ramp and a lift to allow wheelchair access to all sections of the park.

Queen Elizabeth II laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance during her state visit in May 2011.

The Garden of Remembrance is a memorial garden in Dublin dedicated to the memory of "all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom". It is located in the northern fifth of the former Rotunda Gardens in Parnell Square, a Georgian square at the northern end of O'Connell Street. The garden, which I really like, is in the form of a sunken cruciform water-feature. The focal point is a statue of the Children of Lir by Oisín Kelly, symbolising rebirth and resurrection, added in 1971.


MANY MORE PHOTOGRAPHS ...

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I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THIS AS FINDLATER’S CHURCH [ABBEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PARNELL SQUARE DUBLIN]

Abbey Presbyterian Church is a church located at Parnell Square [was Rutland Square], Dublin. Designed by architect Andrew Heiton of Perth, Scotland, it is a decorated Gothic building, with a spire 180 feet high.


Described during constructed in The Building News: “A new Presbyterian church, in the Decorated Gothic style, is in course of erection, in Rutland-square, Dublin. The church, internally, is 90 ft. in length, and 50 ft. in breadth, and is divided on either side by two stone piers, which carry the roof timbers. The principal entrance is by the main doorway in tower, which leads to vestibule and passages. The octagon turret contains the stair leading to the small gallery which extends over one end of church. The division of the church into three bays or arches is marked externally by three gables in the side to North Frederick-street. These gables are pierced by richly traceried windows presenting a slightly novel arrangement. A vestry and session-house, with large rooms for congregational purposes, complete the design. This church, with its lofty spire, 180 ft. in height, together with its commanding position, will add to the architectural embellishments of the city. The architect is Mr. Heiton, of Perth, from whose designs the Presbyterian churches of Rathgar and Kingstown were also erected. All the works are being executed by Mr. Samuel Bolton, at the estimated cost of £10,110, under the superintendence of Mr. Leiper, the resident assistant of Mr. Heiton.”

Parnell Square is also home to the Garden of Remembrance, the national site commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising which led to the foundation of the Irish State. Parnell Square/Rutland Square has been the scene of many political events central to Irish history. Charles Stewart Parnell often stayed at Rutland Square, addressing meetings at the Rotunda. The Irish Volunteers were founded at the Rotunda on 25 November 1913. The Gaelic League or Conradh na Gaeilge, founded in 1893 by Douglas Hyde, were based in no. 25 from 1909, and it was at a meeting at no. 25 on 9 September 1914, presided over by Thomas J. Clarke, that members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and others resolved to bring about a rising against British Rule in Ireland before the end of the war.

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THE CHILDREN OF LIR BY OISIN KELLY [PARNELL SQUARE IN DUBLIN]

The Children of Lir was commissioned for the Garden of Remembrance which is located in Parnell Square. The Garden was designed by former Dublin City Architect Daithi P. Hanly, who commissioned Oisín Kelly to make a statue to commemorate Irish freedom fighters. The massive sculpture was unveiled on Easter Monday 1966.  The sculpture drew much criticism on the grounds that it was not appropriate that a subject from pagan legend such as the children of Lir should be installed in a public park in a Christian country. Back in the 1960s the sort of people who objected to Beatle haircuts object to every new public sculpture so it is not surprising that the ‘Children Of Lir’ attracted their displeasure.

A plaque next to the statue carries the words:

“In the darkness of despair we saw a vision.
We lit the light of hope and it was not
extinguished. In the desert of discouragement
we saw a vision. We planted the tree of
valour and it blossomed. In the winter of
bondage we saw a vision. We melted the
snow of lethargy and the river of resurrection
flowed from it. We sent our vision aswim
like a swan on the river. The vision became a
reality. Winter became summer. Bondage
became freedom and this we left to you as
our inheritance. O generations of freedom
remember us. The generations of the vision.”

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Battle of the Custom House - Memorial Road [By Yann Renard-Goule]

The Burning of the Custom House in Dublin took place on 25 May 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. The Custom House was the centre of Local Government in the British administration in Ireland. It was occupied and then burnt in an operation by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), involving over 100 volunteers. The action was a propaganda coup for the forces of the Irish Republic but was a military disaster for the IRA in the Irish capital. Five of its volunteers were killed (along with three civilians) and over 80 captured.

Yann Goulet (or Yann Renard-Goulet; 20 August 1914 – 22 August 1999) was a sculptor, Breton nationalist and war-time collaborationist with Nazi Germany who headed the Breton Bagadou Stourm militia. He later took Irish citizenship and became professor of sculpture at the Royal Hibernian Academy.

After the liberation of France, Goulet travelled with his wife and children to Ireland, and was sentenced to death as a Collaborationist by a French court in his absence. He acquired Irish citizenship in 1952 and became an art professor.

He was commissioned to create public works commemorating the IRA and other republicans, including the Custom House Memorial (Dublin), the East Mayo Brigade IRA Memorial, the Republican Memorial (Crossmaglen), and the Ballyseedy Memorial (Kerry). He exhibited regularly at the Royal Hibernian Academy, eventually becoming the RHA Professor of Sculpture. He was also made a member of Aosdána in 1982.





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THE SCHOOLHOUSE HOTEL NEAR MOUNT STREET BRIDGE

2-8 Northumberland Rd, Dublin 4, Ireland

NEARBY:
Howl At The Moon Nightclub
Lower Mount Street 
Cherry Picking Street Art

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BENJAMIN LEE GUINNESS - ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL

Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet (1 November 1798 – 19 May 1868) was an Irish brewer and philanthropist.




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ROWAN OR MOUNTAIN WITH LOTS OF BERRIES BUT NO LEAVES [LOCATED BESIDE MOUNT STREET BRIDGE]

If I have incorrectly identified this tree please let me know.

Rowan adds colour to woodland throughout Ireland, especially in the hills where it will grow at a high altitude even on rocky ground: its other common name is mountain ash.
The creamy flowers ripen into scarlet berries which colour early in the season and provide food for thrushes through the winter. A mistle thrush will defend a rowan tree or holly as its territory, not for nesting, but through the winter as its feeding territory.

Visit the Tree Register Of Ireland: treecouncil.ie/tree-register/

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CHERRY PICKING STREET ART IN DUBLIN

ROWAN OR MOUNTAIN WITH LOTS OF BERRIES BUT NO LEAVES [LOCATED BESIDE MOUNT STREET BRIDGE]

If I have incorrectly identified this tree please let me know.

Rowan adds colour to woodland throughout Ireland, especially in the hills where it will grow at a high altitude even on rocky ground: its other common name is mountain ash.

The creamy flowers ripen into scarlet berries which colour early in the season and provide food for thrushes through the winter. A mistle thrush will defend a rowan tree or holly as its territory, not for nesting, but through the winter as its feeding territory. 

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Éire Memorial (1974) By Jerome Connor (1874-1943) [Restored And Relocated]

In 1928 Jerome Connor became involved in a proposal to create a memorial to the Kerry poets, which was to commemorate four leading Gaelic poets of the 17th and 18th centuries at Killarney. He chose a  figure of Éire holding a harp seated on a rock, possibly inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem Old Ireland in Leaves of Grass (1861). The unstrung harp was based on the 1621 Cloyne harp in the National Museum. The work went as far as a full-scale replica in wax. Due to the limited funds available, Connor agreed to forego his artist’s fee and charge only the costs of production, indicative of a personal commitment to this project in his native country.

Despite its allegorical subject, it is a highly realistic piece of modelling but opponents of the scheme blocked payments in 1932 on the grounds that it was “pagan” and lacked religious symbolism – an instance of the narrow religious prejudices of the time. Payments to the sculptor ceased which precipitated his bankruptcy and subsequent poverty. The sculpture was not completed in his lifetime but was cast in 1974, funded by Downes bakery, and placed in Merrion Square, but without the planned pedestal and inscription.

Jerome Connor was a sculptor whose works are rooted, not in the Celtic Revival or Catholicism, but in the secular civic humanism of the USA. He celebrated the heroes of America’s past and subjects which resonated with the Irish-American community. His work in Ireland related to the struggle for independence and to national cultural ideals. Connor was a realist sculptor whose work was at its best when modelled from life as in the two  fishermen of his Lusitania Memorial, Cobh, Co. Cork. After a National Gallery retrospective in 1993, a local initiative saw the lane next to his studio just off Infirmary Road, Dublin 7, renamed ‘Jerome Connor Place’, and a plaque erected, bearing his friend Patrick Kavanagh’s obituary poem: “He sits in a corner of my memory With his short pipe, holding it by the bowl, And his sharp eye and his knotty fingers And his laughing soul Shining through the gaps of his crusty wall”

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BRENDAN BEHAN ON THE BANKS OF THE ROYAL CANAL

The Royal Canal was immortalised in verse by Brendan Behan in The Auld Triangle. A monument featuring Behan sitting on a bench was erected on the canal bank at Binn's Bridge in Drumcondra in 2004.

And the auld triangle went jingle jangle,
All along the banks of the Royal Canal.



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NEW STREET ART AND NEW TEAROOMS [HERBERT PARK DUBLIN]

A year or more has passed since I last visited Herbert Park in Ballsbridge and much has changed since then.

A friend told me that there was some street art that might be of interest to me. Early this morning I noticed that it was a beautiful day so I decided to visit Herbert Park but I went to the wrong section and could not find any street art so I decided to head home. I decided to take a short cut through the smaller section of the park, which I don’t normally, and then I discovered the new tearooms and decided to have a cop of coffee. I asked  one of the staff if they were aware of the street art and they said that they thought that it might be beside the playground and that is exactly where it was.

You can find more information at http://www.magdacwik.com
https://www.facebook.com/MagdaCwikArt/
https://www.facebook.com/KathrinaRupitArt/
https://www.facebook.com/iljinstencil/

The artwork is titled ’Herbert Habitat’ and it is located  is located at 'The Hive' Herbert Park, Dublin 4. The work was commissioned by Dublin City Council Parks and Biodiversity with artists sourced through Dublin Canvas.




Below is a Press Release relating to the new Tearooms:

“Dublin City Council announces the opening of its latest new Tearooms, located in the leafy surrounds of Herbert Park, Dublin 4. This is the latest addition to Dublin City Council’s Parks and Landscape Services initiative to refurbish older buildings in parks and transform them into more useable spaces for the public. The building in which the Tearooms are located was formerly a Pavilion in the park.

Councillor Dermot Lacey, on behalf of the Lord Mayor of Dublin Brendan Carr, will officially open the Tearooms at 11.00am on Monday 25th July 2016. Cllr Lacey says: “Herbert Park is very popular with locals and visitors alike and is one of the major parks in the south east area of the city. The new walkway that links the playground with the refurbished tearooms has created a real focal point and socialising space within the park. I congratulate Dublin City Council for this initiative as the tearooms will be a very popular addition to the park.”

Lolly and Cooks who operate the tearooms, were established in 2008. They are a family run business dedicated to creating and producing artisan food to the highest quality.
The Tearooms are open from 9.30am - 9pm 7 days a week (summertime opening hours).

The refurbishment works to the Pavilion included the removal of all internal walls, part of the roof, the erection of all new internal and gable walls complete with a new electrical and mechanical installation, thermal insulation and the provision of an external seating area. The tennis courts to the rear of the Pavilion were extended to include courts to accommodate doubles tennis. The tearooms include an indoor seating area, toilet facilities and an outdoor seating area with fixed tables and lightweight canopies. The Bowling Club has been refurbished with state of the art changing facilities.  The building has a heat recovery system and a recycling water facility. The Project Architects are SBA Architects and the main contractor is C and A Excavations.”

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GHOST BIKE - IN MEMORY OF ZU ZHANG WONG

UNFORTUNATELY THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN REMOVED

JUNE 14 2016: "A ghost bicycle in memory of a cyclist killed in 2009 beside the Robert Emmet Bridge at Harold’s Cross in Dublin was removed today under a council scheme to tackle abandoned bicycles."

A few days ago I read online that the ghost bike had been returned to its original location … I will check to see if this is true [December 14 2016]

http://irishcycle.com/2016/06/14/ghost-bike-removed-under-dublin-city-abandoned-bicycle-scheme/

On 14 January 2009 Paul / Zu Zhang Wong was killed in a road traffic collision with a heavy goods vehicle. Paul, a Chinese national living in Dublin, was cycling to work. He was cycling straight at the junction at Harold's Cross Bridge and was hit by the cement truck which was turning left. A Ghostbike was placed at the scene of the collision exactly one month later.

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SPECIAL OLYMPICS MEMORIAL BY JOHN BEHAN

Two stylised figures with the Olympic flame - the logo of the Special Olympics World Games Ireland 2003.

Special Olympics is an international organisation dedicated to providing sport opportunities for individuals with a learning disability.

In June 2003, the Special Olympics World Summer Games were held in Ireland.
This was the first time the Summer Games were held outside the United States. 160 delegations involving 7000 athletes and 3000 coaches from all over the world participated in 21 sports.


Team 2003 comprised individuals and families who volunteered their time, talents and skills to ensure the wonderful success of these Games. Each member of Team 2003 is recognised here.

Their legacy remains in the positive attitude throughout the island of Ireland towards individuals with a learning disability.






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James Clarence Mangan

James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan (1 May 1803, Dublin – 20 June 1849), was an Irish poet.

Mangan was the son of a former hedge school teacher who took over a grocery business and eventually became bankrupt.

Born in Dublin, he was educated at a Jesuit school where he learned the rudiments of Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian. He attended three different schools until the age of fifteen. Obliged to find a job in order to support his family, he became a lawyer's clerk, and was later an employee of the Ordnance Survey and an assistant in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.

Mangan was a lonely and often difficult man who suffered from mood swings, depression and irrational fears, and became a heavy drinker and opium user. His appearance grew eccentric, and he often wore a long cloak, green spectacles and a blond wig. In 1849, weakened by poverty, alcoholism and malnutrition, he succumbed to cholera aged only 46. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.


James Joyce wrote two essays on Mangan, and also used his name in his works, for instance in Araby in Dubliners. Joyce wrote that in Mangan's poetry "images interweave [their] soft, luminous scarves and words ring like brilliant mail, and whether the song is of Ireland or of Istambol it has the same refrain, a prayer that peace may come again to her who has lost peace, the moonwhite pearl of his soul".

WB Yeats considered Mangan one of the best Irish poets, along with Thomas Davis and Samuel Ferguson, claiming, "To the soul of Clarence Mangan was tied the burning ribbon of Genius."

His most famous poems include Dark Rosaleen, Siberia, Nameless One, A Vision of Connaught in the Thirteenth Century, The Funerals, To the Ruins of Donegal Castle, Pleasant Prospects for the Land-eaters and Woman of Three Cows. He also wrote a brief autobiography on the advice of his friend Charles Patrick Meehan, which ends mid-sentence. He must have been writing in the last months of his life, since he mentions his narrative poem of the Italian Gasparo Bandollo, which was published in the Dublin University Magazine in May 1849. A sensationally discovered continuation of this autobiography appeared in the Dublin journal Metre in 2001, but was later revealed to be a fake.

Among the contemporary Irish writers he has influenced are Thomas Kinsella, Michael Smith, James McCabe (author of the hoax autobiography) and David Wheatley, author of a sonnet sequence on Mangan. He is also cited by songwriter Shane MacGowan as an inspiration for both his work and his lifestyle. A 1979 novel by Northern Irish/Canadian novelist Brian Moore, The Mangan Inheritance, tells the story of (fictional) young American James Mangan traveling to Ireland to find whether he is descended from the poet.

Private papers of Mangan are held in the National Library of Ireland, the Royal Irish Academy, and the archives of Trinity College, Dublin.



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Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941),[b] sobriquet Gurudev,[c] was a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of the modern Indian subcontinent.



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Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (10 September 1831 – 29 June 1915) was an Irish Fenian leader and prominent member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. His life as an Irish Fenian is well documented but he is perhaps known best in death for the graveside oration given at his funeral by Pádraig Pearse.




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SPECIAL MEMORIAL TO VERONICA GUERIN

Tuesday 26 June 2001 was the fifth anniversary of the murder of the journalist, Veronica Guerin. To mark that anniversary a special memorial was unveiled in the grounds of Dublin Castle. 


The Sunday Independent reporter was killed on 26 June, 1996, when one of two men on a motorcycle shot her at close range as she waited in her car, at traffic lights on the Naas Road in Dublin.

Her death led to Ireland's largest criminal investigation resulting in over 150 arrests; a crackdown on organised-crime gangs and the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau.

In November 1998 Dublin drug dealer, Paul Ward, was convicted of Guerin's murder and sentenced to life in prison. Another man, Brian Meehan, was accused of driving the motorcycle and sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1999. John Gilligan, suspected of leading the gang responsible for her death, was also charged with murder but he was acquitted on that charge. However, Gilligan was sentenced to a total of 28 years by the Special Criminal Court for drug trafficking offences.




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JAMES JOYCE IN STEPHEN’S GREEN

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century.

Joyce is best known for Ulysses (1922), a landmark work in which the episodes of Homer's Odyssey are paralleled in an array of contrasting literary styles, perhaps most prominent among these the stream of consciousness technique he utilised. Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). His other writings include three books of poetry, a play, occasional journalism, and his published letters.

Joyce was born in 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin—about half a mile from his mother's birthplace in Terenure into a middle-class family on the way down. A brilliant student, he excelled at the Jesuit schools Clongowes and Belvedere, despite the chaotic family life imposed by his father's alcoholism and unpredictable finances. He went on to attend University College Dublin.


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IRISH NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL GARDENS

A formal visit to the Memorial Gardens on 18 May 2011 was one of the historic highlights of the Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland. The Queen and President Mary McAleese laid wreaths of poppy and laurel respectively to honour the dead.

The Irish National War Memorial Gardens is an Irish war memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin, dedicated "to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914–1918", out of over 300,000 Irishmen who served in all armies.

The Memorial Gardens also commemorate all other Irish men and women who at that time served, fought and died in Irish regiments of the Allied armies, the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African and United States armies in support of the Triple Entente's war effort against the Central Powers.

Although small commemorations took place for a few years from 1948, the political situation did not sanction that the Gardens be "officially" opened and dedicated, subsequent lack of staff also allowing the site to fall into neglect, decay and dilapidation during the 1970s and early 1980s, when it had become an open site for caravans and animals of the Irish Traveller community. In addition, sixty years of storms had left its mark. From the mid-1980s, restoration work to renew the park and gardens to their former splendour were undertaken by the Office of Public Works (OPW), co-funded by the National War Memorial Committee which is representative of Ireland, both north and south. 

On 10 September 1988 the restored Gardens were formally dedicated by representatives of the four main Churches in Ireland and opened to the public.

A state commemoration to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 2006, was attended by the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Members of the Oireachtas, leading representatives of all political parties in Ireland, the Diplomatic Corps of the Allies of World War I, delegates from Northern Ireland, representatives of the four main Churches, and solemnly accompanied by a Guard of Honour of the Irish Army and Army Band.

In the Republic of Ireland, the National Day of Commemoration which commemorates all Irish men and women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations, occurs on the Sunday nearest to 11 July.

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The Wellington Testimonial usually referred to as the Wellington Monument was built to commemorate the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Wellington, the British politician and general, also known as the 'Iron Duke', was born in either counties Meath or Dublin. Originally planned to be located in Merrion Square, it was built in the Phoenix Park after opposition from the square's residents.

The obelisk was designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke and the foundation stone was laid in 1817. However, in 1820 it ran out of construction funds and therefore remained unfinished until 18 June 1861 when it was opened to the public. There were also plans for a statue of Wellesley on horseback but the shortage of funds ruled that out.

Note: A testimonial is erected to a living person, as Wellington was when construction started.

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BATTLE OF MOUNT STREET BRIDGE

Some of the bloodiest fighting of the Easter 1916 rising took place during the Battle of Mount Street Bridge. An inexperienced British regiment, the Sherwood Foresters were involved in combat with a seventeen Irish rebels under the command of Lieutenant Mick Malone who would die in the battle. Over two days, the British troops engaged in a number of full frontal assaults against a well entrenched group of rebels.

The fighting at Mount Street resulted in almost two thirds of British casualties in Easter week. A total of four officers and 216 other ranks were killed or wounded during the engagement.

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DEMOLITIONDAVE - MEMORIAL TO DAVE DAVE CONWAY

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VIEW ALL PHOTOGRAPHS

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UPDATE: Recently I was contacted by Fidelma Conway, Dave’s sister and she provided me with some additional information. Sadly Dave, a father of 2, died at the age of 38 as the result of a motorbike accident. Dave was a Demolition Manager and worked on the LUAS construction project here in Dublin.

I have spent almost a year trying to find any information about this sculpture beside the Luas Tram Stop at Smithfield. A few days ago I had a breakthrough when I discovered by accident that James Gannon was the artist responsible.

After taking some photographs I asked number of people about this sculpture and not one person thought that it was anything other that a bench and no one had notice the tramlines embedded in the structure until I drew their attention to them.

James Gannon works with stone and bronze from his studios in Dublin and Roscommon. In 1991 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Granite Sculpture in the Irish Landscape Exhibit in EXPO'91 Osaka, Japan.

In 2004 James Gannon was commissioned by the Railway Procurement Agency to make a piece of sculpture for the plaza at Smithfield Luas stop. The brief was to create a sculpture that celebrated the life of one of their workers who died tragically at a young age.

The two circles represent the motorbike that Dave Conway rode. The lifting and peeling back of the surface to fit the tramline and the wrecking ball stopped represent the rail line which Dave worked on. 

It was decided to locate the piece back from the tramway and flank it with trees to create a place of rest and reflection in a busy city. I cannot remember seeing any trees.

At this stage I do not know much about Dave Conway “Demolition Dave” … maybe someone can help?

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TWO RESTAURANTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE [CAPEL STREET - THE BOLTON STREET END]

If you like Sushi you should give OHAYO SUSHI a try. ‘Hanoi Hanoi’ is now two restaurants and a third is soon to be added. It was the washing hanging out to dry in the top window that caught my attention.

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A NEW EXCITING PIZZA RESTAURANT KNOWN AS BOCO

I guarantee you that you will be surprised [in a very good way] if you visit this new restaurant in Dublin. Even if you are from the Southside you will be impressed and you will return again and again.

In case you are unaware there is now a cluster of really good restaurants in the area and most of them are new and different.

BoCo [Bolton Corner]
UPDATE: I made an error when I said that this is hosted by Bodkins. It is at the same address but it is an integrated restaurant and bar operating as BoCo.

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GRAND CANAL SQUARE AT NIGHT [GRAND CANAL DOCK AREA OF DUBLIN]

The Grand Canal Docks first opened in 1796. At the time they were the world's largest docks. They fell into decline within just a few decades, due mostly to disuse with the arrival of the railways. The landscape was overwhelmed by Dublin Gas Company's mountains of black coal, along with chemical factories, tar pits, bottle factories and iron foundries. However, bakers and millers maintained business along the southern edge of the inner basin.

By the 1960s, the Grand Canal Docks were almost completely derelict. By 1987, it was decided that Hanover Quay was too toxic to sell. Regeneration began in 1998, when Bord Gáis sold the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) the former gasworks site located in the area between Sir John Rogerson's Quay and Hanover Quay for €19 million. The DDDA spent €52 million decontaminating the land, even though the likely return was estimated at just €40 million. The decontamination took place under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency between 2002 and 2006. The process involved constructing an underground wall eight metres deep around the affected area and the contaminated land dug out and removed. By the time the decontamination was finished, an inflated property bubble and increased demand in the area (brought on, in part, by the decision by Google to set up its European headquarters nearby), allowed the authority to sell the land for €300 million. The DDDA injected some of its new wealth into the area's infrastructure including seers, street lighting, and civic spaces.

A number of significant developments have happened since involving the construction of millions worth of real estate, the arrival of several thousand new residents, and the establishment of what is now known as Silicon Docks.

Most of the buildings surrounding Grand Canal Square such as the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, The Marker Hotel, and HQ office development, were developed by McCauley Daye O’Connell Architects. Notable buildings in the Grand Canal Dock area include:

Alto Vetro -  The Alto Vetro apartment building was awarded the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland’s (RIAI) Silver Medal for Housing (2007-2008).It was built by the Montevetro developers Treasury Holdings.

Boland's Mill -  Boland's Mill was a functioning mill until 2001. The site, including older stone buildings and taller concrete silos, is now derelict. The site is currently undergoing a €150 million reconstruction to become Bolands Quay, accommodating new residences, commercial, retail, and civic spaces.

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre -  The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre is the largest theatre in Ireland. It designed by Polish-American architect Daniel Liebeskind. It was opened as the Grand Canal Theatre in 2010 but renamed in March 2012 as part of a paid naming rights agreement.


The Factory - The Factory houses Irish Film and Television Network studios, as well as rehearsal and recording studios where a number of U2's albums were recorded.

Google Docks - The Montevetro building completed in 2010 stands at a height of 67 metres and is currently the tallest commercial building in Dublin. It was sold to Google in January 2011 and subsequently renamed "Google Docks". In 2014, the Google Docks building was joined by an "iconic" curving three-pronged steel and transparent glass footbridge to Google's two office buildings across Barrow Street - Gordon House and Gasworks House. It has been named "Hyperlink".

The Marker Hotel - The Marker Hotel is one of only six of The Leading Hotels of the World in Ireland. It was designed in 2004 by Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus. It opened in 2013, and offers the city’s first rooftop terrace and bar.[

Millennium Tower - Millennium Tower is an apartment building located on the Grand Canal outer basin. At 63 metres in height, it was the tallest storied building in Dublin from 1998 - 2009. [I dislike it].

MORE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE AREA

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TOWN IS DEAD - ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF COMMERCIAL STREET ART [#NEWIRISHPLAYS]

TOWN IS DEAD.

From the writers of Alice in Funderland, Town is Dead is a play within music, an ode to Dublin and an exploration of how Ireland treats its people. It looks at the future of the city through the eyes of one older citizen.

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