Some information on a wonderful walking tour of the Liberties this Monday, as part of the Liberties Festival 2010.
The area known to Dubliners as the Liberties is one with no shortage of history. It holds a special place in the hearts of the Dublin working class, being home to the Guinness Brewery which has provided employment to so many families in this city over the course of generations. The Liberties is also the spot where Robert Emmet was executed in 1803, yet it was to play a role in the rebellion of 1798 before that. The importance of the area in the history of insurrectionary Dublin does not stop with those early rebellions either.
The community has developed on the doorstep of the Guinness Brewery, a Dublin institution.
This area of Dublin is of interest to those of us particularly keen on the history of the 1916 Rising for example, with fierce fighting taking place at outposts like the South Dublin Union and the Mendicity Institute during the Rising. Like many parts of Dublin, this area is home to many plaques, and should be home to many more. It is the history of great events and great characters, but also a history of the mass body of community,for example in the street trading of the area. I, like many Dubliners, have family connections to the area through its Brewery and the Cornmarket Area.
This Monday, as part of the Liberties festival, historian Liz Gillis will be providing a Walking Tour of this fascinating area of Dublin.
The tour departs from Saint Catherine’s Church on Meath Street at 11AM.
It promises to be a most enjoyable tour, some of you may have encountered the host if you’ve visited Kilmainham Jail in recent times, where she works as a guide. Like Kilmainham, this area is central to our understanding of Dublin history. Liz is also an acknowledged expert in the period of Irish history we cover most on this site, the revolutionary years of the early twentieth century.
Here’s a brief scene from the wonderful ‘The Liberties’, available to view on Youtube from Areaman Productions. I always smile watching this.
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
the trolly confessions were great, there is an awful lot of light stuff on ChuChube, this is what makes it worwhile.
Working sady. A fascinating part of the city. Hopefully this tour will be done again down the line.
My mother was born in the Liberties, and they’re all like them trolly dollies. Triangle chocolate bars and red TK lemonade.
Dunno what David is on (above) but the tour was excellent. The next time you’re in the (Catholic) St. Catherine’s have a look out for Kevin Barry…
Trolly confessions is a reference to the embedded YouTube vid!
Glad to hear the tour was excellent, I ended up working today but wanted to plug it. An excellent guide can make a tour all the more interesting, and the Liberties has no shortage of history, especially 1798/1803 related.