MR. DINH A NEW DINING EXPERIENCE [CAPEL STREET]

MR. DINH A NEW DINING EXPERIENCE [CAPEL STREET]

Be aware that this restaurant is at the Bolton Street end of Capel Street [where O’Hagan Design was based many years ago].

When it comes to eating out the choice in Dublin 1 and 2 is getting better by the day. I keep finding new restaurants every time I walk around the area.

I reviewed this restaurant on Capel Street at least twice since it first opened as Hanoi Hanoi. When it first opened I was very excited because it was a genuine Vietnamese restaurant rather than being a Chinese Restaurant that somehow morphed into being Vietnamese by virtue of doing nothing more than slightly changing the menu. Anyone that I invited to join me for a meal was more than impressed.

A while ago new management took over and they undertook many changes some of which were more successful than others and having learned from experience they shutdown for a week and then relaunched as Mr. Dinh and today was their first day.

They did a strange thing in that their core cuisine is now Hong Kong Chinese but they are also offering other Asian cuisines including Japanese and to a lesser extent Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese.

What I like is that they are not offering Fusion Asian which is frequently a bit of a con but rather they are offering Hong Kong style dining as you would expect if you were to visit Hong Kong.

In case you are not aware the excellent Hungry Mexican has relocated to Aston Quay but will not be open to the public until August. Also if you are a Pizza fan you must visit BoCo on Bolton Street.

Overflow by Linda Brunker [Corner Barrow Street/Upper Grand Canal Street]

Overflow by Linda Brunker [Corner Barrow Street/Upper Grand Canal Street]


The location is a bit bleak and the large flower-pots [planters] don’t help.

This sculpture was commissioned by Cosgrave Homes, who wanted a suitable piece for the entrance of their Pembroke Square complex. The 8 foot plus tall female figure is caste in bronze strips and was inspired by Patrick Kavanagh's canal bank walk.

MORE ABOUT LINDA BRUNKER

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http://www.fotonique.com/overflow-linda-brunker-corner-barrow-streetupper-grand-canal-street/

UNFURLING SCULPTURE BY ANNE McGILL [FLOATING ON THE LAKE AT FARMLEIGH]

'Unfurling' Sculpture by Anne McGill Farmleigh Lake


The good news is that I know who the artist is.

Towards the end of last year I had the good fortune to visit Anne’s studio in Clontarf and I was very impressed by the scope and quality of her work.

This floating sculpture is an unfurling fern frond in the pond. It was designed by Anne McGill a sculptor living in Dublin.

Anne has designed floating sculptures which have been exhibited in 'Sculpture in Context' at the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

Anne's work can be viewed at www.annemcgill.com

http://www.fotonique.com/unfurling-sculpture-anne-mcgill-floating-lake-farmleigh/

EXPERIENCE JAPAN FESTIVAL DAY 2017 [AT FARMLEIGH IN PHOENIX PARK]

EXPERIENCE JAPAN FESTIVAL DAY 2017 [AT FARMLEIGH IN PHOENIX PARK]


Today I joined many like-minded people in the beautiful surrounds of Farmleigh to celebrate Japanese and Japanese-Irish culture. Others brought their  friends, their family, their kids and many brought their dogs but I brought my camera.

Experience Japan is an entirely non-commercial, community organisation operated by volunteers. The annual Experience Japan festival in Farmleigh House and associated events are supported by the Office of Public Works, Dublin City Council and the Embassy of Japan. The Experience Japan organising committee are representatives of the Japanese and Irish-Japanese communities in Ireland.

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Christopher Thompson Memorial Fountain [Near The Entrance The The Royal Hotel in Bray]

Christopher Thompson Memorial Fountain [Near The Entrance The The Royal Hotel in Bray]

It has taken me about three years to get any information relating to this memorial fountain in Bray.

The fountain and obelisk at the Royal Hotel in Bay was erected, by public subscription, in memory of Dr Christopher Thompson, who died in 1876. I read somewhere that he was the only Medical Doctor in Ireland to have a monument such as this in their honour but I have photographed four others. [1] The Raheny Cross in memory of Marie Elizabeth Hayes, doctor and missionary [2] Thomas Thompson Memorial Fountain - Belfast [3] Memorial to Dr. William Ashford - located in Sandymount [4] Memorial To Dr. Issac William Usher of Dundrum. Note: I believe that Marie Hayes was the first woman in Ireland to qualify as a Doctor.

Dr. Thompson was born in Dublin in 1815 and joined the British Army, as a Doctor, and was assigned to the Light Infantry in Cobh [known as Queenstown at the time]. At some stage he was promoted and moved to the UK and later took up a position at Portsmouth general Hospital. In 1859 he returned to Ireland where had a house at Duncairn Terrace in Bray.

He was involved in fighting an outbreak of cholera in Bray in 1879 but he died towards the end of the year. He is buried in St. Paul’s graveyard across the road from the memorial.

I believe that his wife about nine years later and that she is buried in Mount Jerome cemetery which is in Harold’s Cross in Dublin. I will check this the next time I visit the cemetery but it strikes me as a bit odd that she was not buried with her husband.


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RELATED

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Memorial To Dr. Issac William Usher of Dundrum. The Raheny Cross in memory of Marie Elizabeth Hayes, doctor and missionary Thomas Thompson Memorial Fountain - Belfast Memorial to Dr. William Ashford - located in Sandymount

BELFAST BIKES THIRTY SIX PERCENT STOLEN OR VANDALISED [MY PHOTOGRAPHS MAY EXPLAIN WHY]

BELFAST BIKES THIRTY SIX PERCENT STOLEN OR VANDALISED [MY PHOTOGRAPHS MAY EXPLAIN WHY]

Today I read that over 36% of Belfast Bikes are stolen or vandalised on an ongoing basis and to be honest I am not at all surprised. [Note: This photograph as well as the others in the series dates back to May 2015]




When I first saw the bike hire scheme in Belfast I noted that the docking stations appeared to be of lower quality than other schemes that I had seen and it was obvious that it was badly managed. At the time my comments were not well received by a number of officials in Belfast. It was claimed that the scheme had only started and that I had been very selective in that I had only photographed the few stations that had problems.

Some 210 of the 576 bikes in the fleet have either been stolen or have had to be taken out of service due to vandalism, it has been reported Belfast Lord Mayor Brian Kingston. This is in sharp contrast to Dublin where the scheme does not suffer from the same levels of theft and vandalism. In fact theft and vandalism is not an issue for the DublinBikes network of 101 docking stations hosting 1,500 bicycles. When the scheme was established in Dublin almost everyone, including myself expected it to fail because of vandalism or other reasons so we were all surprised by its success and the lack of problems.


When I first photographed the Bike Rental scheme in Belfast in May 2015 I commented as follows:

Belfast City Council launched a new public bike share scheme on Monday 27 April 2015 as part of their Investment Programme. Coca-Cola Zero Belfast Bikes provides 300 public bikes at 30 bike docking stations in the city centre.

It is interesting to see how quickly the Public Bike scheme was established in Belfast. It took years to establish the DublinBike network in Dublin but it would appear that in Belfast they managed to set up their network in less than a year.

When I examined the bike-stations I could see how they did it. Comparing the docking-stations in Belfast with those in Dublin or Brussels it is obvious that the quality of the stations in Belfast is not nearly as high. The Belfast network does not appear to be as well managed as they have not allowed for the arrival of surplus bikes at stations and during my visit I noticed bikes locked to street-furniture and trees because the users could not return the bikes on completion of their journeys.

I am not claiming that one approach is better than the other but I much prefer the scheme in operation in Dublin. I have a feeling that the docking-stations in Belfast [ bolt down standard units] are not as vandal-proof or as flexible as those in operation in Dublin.

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SEAPOINT RAILWAY STATION

SEAPOINT RAILWAY STATION

The station opened on 1 July 1862 and was originally called Monkstown And Seapoint, though this was later changed to just, Seapoint. The ticket office is open between 05:45-00:50 AM, Monday to Friday.

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MORE INFORMATION AND PHOTOGRAPHS...

THE RIVER DARGLE FLOOD DEFENCE SCHEME [PHOTOGRAPHED APRIL 2017]

THE RIVER DARGLE FLOOD DEFENCE SCHEME [PHOTOGRAPHED APRIL 2017]


I had planned to visit Bray at least twice a year but I failed to maintain this schedule which is a pity but to be honest, with one exception, not much has changed since my last visit. The flood defence project is the exception because the is no doubting the fact that progress has been made since my last visit but considering that it started back in 2012 I am sure that many locals are less than impressed.

The River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme is one of the key capital investment projects by Wicklow County Council and the Office of Public Works (OPW) with an investment of €40 million.

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MEMORIAL TO TWO FIREMEN [ADELAIDE VILLAS IN BRAY COUNTY WICKLOW]

MEMORIAL TO TWO FIREMEN [ADELAIDE VILLAS IN BRAY COUNTY WICKLOW]


As the story is very complicated I will not discuss it in detail  but there is plenty of information available online.

The one advantage of a good tele-photo lens is that I often notice something that I may have missed. In this instance I was in Bray photographing the ongoing flood protection project and I decided to photograph what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse and while doing so I noticed what turned out to be a memorial to two firemen.

The firefighters who died were Brian Murray (46), a senior and experienced officer, and Mark O’Shaughnessy (25). The blaze broke out in a disused factory at Adelaide Villas in Bray County Wicklow. When the fire brigade arrived  at the scene they deployed a new fire fighting system known as CAFS (compressed air form system) for which they had not been adequately trained. Mr O’Shaughnessy had received no training at all in the system and Mr Murray had only attended a demonstration.




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BLACKROCK DOLMEN BY ROWAN GILLESPIE

BLACKROCK DOLMEN BY ROWAN GILLESPIE

The Blackrock Dolmen, by Rowan Gillespie, depicts three elegantly elongated figures holding up a large capstone to symbolise the essence of Blackrock. The figures – two male and one female – are of cast bronze, whilst the capstone is of lighter, resin bronze on fibreglass and is in the typical triangular form of a dolmen. Located at Temple Road in Blackrock, next to the Blackrock by-pass.


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