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Archive for 2010

Thomas Farren (1880-1955)

Posted in Dublin History on October 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

An interesting character I came across while reading Liam Cahill’s ‘Forgotten Revolution: Limerick Soviet 1919’. Farren was one four trade union leaders who traveled to Dublin to offer their support. He is described as having ‘had taken part in the 1916 Rising and was one of a group of trade union leaders with nationalist sympathies who were arrested afterwards’ [1] In the June 1915 College Green by-election, he came bitterly close to beating John Nannetti of the Irish Parliamentary Party. [2]

I haven’t been able to find much more information on him. This Irish Times obituary is probably the best I’ll come across.

Does anyone know if he actually took part in the Rising and if so, where he fought?

Monday, March 28, 1955 (1/2)

Monday, March 28, 1955 (2/2)

—
[1] Liam Cahill, Forgotten revolution: Limerick Soviet 1919 : a threat to British power in Ireland (Dublin, 1990), p. 109

[2] Pádraig Yeates, Lockout: Dublin 1913 (Dublin, 2000), p, 575

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The Beautiful Game- Ballyfermot Late Night League.

Posted in Events, Football Articles, tagged , , , , on October 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Ballyfermot Late Night League is being run in conjunction with the BASE youth Centre at Kylemore Park on Thursday nights at the following times.

Times: 6pm to 7pm (12 to 13years old)
8pm to 10pm 14 to 17years old

If interested pleae contact The BASE Damien Finneran or FAIDCC Michael Moore on 087 9805772.

Late night soccer is once again taking off around the capital. Normally with the support of local youth groups and authorities, the games give young people something positive to do with their time, taking young people off street corners and uniting them around a love of the beautiful game. The social positives of late night football are obvious. Crime falls in areas where the games have taken off, and a recent report in the Sunday Tribune made for interesting reading.

“On an average Friday night before the soccer league was running, gardaí at Ballymun received an average of 89 call-outs to deal with anti-social behaviour. But since the league has been running, the average number of call-outs relating to youngsters has been just 44 – half the previous amount. “

League of Ireland clubs have given their support to the ventures, in fact it was through Saint Patrick’s Athletic I heard of the Ballyfermot league. Let’s hope it works out in the area, which is soccer mad to say the least.

The Late Night League (LNL) idea comes from the Football Assocation of Ireland, and so far has been a roaring success. They used to joke that getting good at football was one of the only ways to get out of working class Dublin, hopefully being good at football however will give kids a sense of pride in their own communities, not to mention create a bit of craic.

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Frank Harte- Singing Voices

Posted in Dublin History, Music, Social History, tagged , , on October 28, 2010| 4 Comments »

“Luke (Kelly) also opened our eyes to the working class songs from the north of England. Songs that we never knew existed before. The geordie songs. The songs of the miners….”

One of my biggest regrets of the summer just gone is missing the excellent Frank Harte Festival, a tribute to one of the cities greatest singers, the late Frank Harte. He was raised only a stones throw from me in Chapelizod. There, his father ran the public house ‘The Tap’. Frank, an architect by trade, was not alone an unrivalled singer but also a collector of songs.

“The thoughts of a song dying with a singer or lying in a book or a tape on a shelf gathering dust fills me with horror.” So wrote Frank in his introduction notes to his timeless ‘Songs of Dublin’ collection.

Singing Voices was a collection of five broadcasts Frank did for RTE. We’ve only stumbled across them here and they all make for excellent listening. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Songs of work and social protest – The Labouring Voice

Famine Songs – The Hungry Voice

Songs of the capital city – The Dublin Voice

Songs of Emigration – The Irish American Voice

Traditional singing styles in Ireland – The Singers’ Voices

They can be played over here, on the RTE site.

Also, here are two tunes from Frank I had uploaded months ago with the aim of sharing with you to promote the festival. The Shan Van Vocht is a song dealing with the 1798 rebellion, while Building Up And Tearing England Down is a well known song about Irish emigrants in England.

Shan Van Vocht by Frank Harte.

Building Up And Tearing England Down- Frank Harte

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Dusty books on dusty shelves.

Posted in Miscellaneous on October 27, 2010| 1 Comment »

Inspired by a post here yesterday on the upcoming Cor Klaasen exhibition from the Vintage Irish Book Covers blog, the younger brother has taken the initiative to upload some bookcovers from our own collection.

There are a rake more to follow. You can see the first few here.

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I had a dream last night

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Reviews, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 27, 2010| 1 Comment »

I had a dream last night. It went like this. Its a cold, dark Friday evening;  I am in Dalymount Park, on the steps of Block G in the Jodi Stand. With ten minutes to go in the League of Ireland’s last round of games, Shamrock Rovers are trailing 2 – 1 to Bray in the Carlisle Grounds and Twigg has just been sent off for dissent. Bohemians are drawing 1 – 1 with a scrappy Dundalk team here in the home of Irish Football when Paddy Madden is brought down twenty yards out from goal, right in front of us.  After some pushing and shoving, the wall is brought back the required ten yards. Killian Brennan takes four steps back, makes the run up, before gloriously dipping the ball over the wall and… well, I woke up.

The cruel things life does to you. Waking up mid- dream is one thing, but having a real life dream turn into a nightmare is another. Last week,  Bohs were on the pig’s back, (some might say literally,) needing two wins over an injury struck Galway side (who, despite their lowly position have caused us problems all year) and a Dundalk team we’ve beaten twice already this season (and, well, lost to once.) We all know what happened. Galway won 3 – 2 and dare I say it, the ramifications sent tremors down the spines of League of Ireland fans everywhere. It left Shamrock Rovers in pole position to win their first league title in 6, 066 days precisely. While on Friday’s performance, Bohs don’t deserve to win the League, that isn’t going to stop me wanting them to win it.

Pat Fenlon has chastised his players, saying he doesn’t want to see them until before this Friday’s showdown with Dundalk. Captain, Owen Heary has admitted that the team wasn’t up for the fight. Where were the battling qualities present for the unbeaten run stretching back ten games prior to Friday? Thats the question every Bohs fan is left asking. The possibility of an historic three-in-a-row has likely gone amiss. And yet they were still applauded off the field by the travelling support. Certainly not as a gesture of thanks for their performance over the previous ninety minutes. More a salute to the last three years; a goodbye and a thanks for the memories. They had better remember that this Friday if they’re going to finish this season with their heads held high.

We pray to the Spirit of Hunt to lead us to a miraculous three- in- a- row

I spoke in the build up to the Dublin Derby of 2010’s run- in being a battle of the bottlers, and while it makes for heartbreaking rather than heart racing football, that’s what it has become. Bohemians look set to part with, whether they can miraculously clinch the title or not,  a great period in their history. Three fantastic years, some heartbreaking moments aside, that will stick with me in the bleak times ahead. The squad of players that we have now will leave come season’s end, there’s no doubt about that. And with some of those players reported to be making a move to Tallaght Stadium, it will sicken me to see former players (and one in particular who has grafted for Bohs when others played like they couldn’t be bothered,) turn out in green and white next season.

Two League titles, Setanta Cup Champions (and by default, Champions of Ireland,) a League Cup and an FAI Cup in three years. People say we shouldn’t be looking to the past when the future is scarily unclear. What does it hold? In the short term, Pat Fenlon has said he will honour his contract, which ties him to the club until 2013. And while I would love to see the most successful League of Ireland manager of recent years to stay with the club, at his current rate, we just can’t afford him. He says he’ll field a team of kids next year if he has to, and maybe he’ll get the required out of them, hopefully so.

Pat Fenlon's Bohemians in a pre-season friendly against Drumcondra, 2011.

The days of players chasing big contracts around the League have thankfully come to an end; and while the circumstances that have led to this are unfortunate, at least it might bring some realism back to the LOI. Three years ago, there were players making more at Bohs than some players in the upper echelons of the English Championship. So who knows, a part- time Bohs next year may still be able to field a team, if only because players won’t be able to find a wage elsewhere. Bleak times, preceeded by an amazing past.

A bleak future, preceeded by an amazing past. Bohemian FC of 1907/08, from Storie di Calcio

All this talk of dreams and nightmares and the chance of victory, however remote, is still there. This Friday, come 21:35 or thereabouts will tell whether I’m a visionary, a lunatic for having hope or just an unwavering dreamer. To be honest, I couldn’t care less which if things go our way. Maybe I’m mad for holding onto the vague hope that we can do it. But isn’t it madness that drives most of us to follow this league of ours anyways?

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RTE to show Shamrock Rovers versus Bray Wanderers

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged on October 27, 2010| 2 Comments »

Airtricity League Premier Division leaders Shamrock Rovers’ clash with Bray Wanderers will be shown live on RTÉ television and to a worldwide audience on RTÉ.ie/sport.

If Rovers win the match, which will be screened on RTÉ Two and on RTÉ.ie, they will secure their first league win in 16 years, while a draw should also see them clinch the title.

Rivals Bohemians can only win the title if the Hoops are beaten by Bray, or if Rovers draw, the Gypsies will have to win by five goals.

Great news that should see half the LOI faithful glued to the couch. To the Bohemian F.C faithful, and the more cautious Hoop,I give you this. It can happen…..

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Cor Klaasen exhibition from the Vintage Irish Book Covers blog.

Posted in Events, tagged , , on October 26, 2010| 2 Comments »

One of the highlights of Culture Night for me was an excellent exhibition of vintage Irish bookcovers from Niall McCormack’s collection. In my own house we’ve an impressive enough collection of O’ Casey’s, O’ Faolain’s and O’ Flaherty’s, but nothing near the excellent collection McCormack has built up. I have been attempting to bully the younger brother into scanning some up online somewhere, and I hope he will soon.

Now, that culture night exhibition is being followed up with an exhibition on the work of Cor Klaasen.

“The Vintage Irish Book Covers blog are very proud to be presenting this exhibition of Cor Klaasen’s wonderful book and record cover designs. We have been looking through the Klaasen familys’ archive of Cor’s work and selecting the most interesting and striking pieces for inclusion in the show. The record sleeves alone will make this exhibition unmissable for anyone interested in graphic design, illustration and visual culture in general.”

Cor Klaasen (1926-1989) was a Dutch illustrator and designer, who became an Irish citizen early in the 1960s and worked here for O’Kennedy Brindley Advertising while also designing many excellent book and record covers. I knew nothing of him before hearing of this exhibition. There is a sizeable collection of his work on the exhibitions site here.

All details are on the poster above. The event takes place at adfferentkettleoffishaltogether, and this recent Come Here To Me post on the past life of the premises may interest a few of you.

'adifferentkettleoffishaltogether'

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Game On! Review

Posted in Events, Reviews, Uncategorized, tagged on October 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The Barbican Art Gallery in London had a real brain wave with this one. Like footage of Italia 90 or the times when you spent more time in the air than in the airport, people are nostalgic for classic video games to say the least. I actually still have a Sega Mega Drive upstairs, and next to it there is a Nintendo Gamecube. Her run didn’t last long, granted.

Game On! gives the visitor the chance to play dozens of classics at the top of O’ Connell Street, these ranging from Street Fighter to Donkey Kong and whichever ones made you an anti-social git as a child. Personally, it was a combination of Sonic and various sub par football games. I was skeptical of visiting this exhibition owing to the door-tax at first, but now it’s €5 an hour Monday to Thursday. An hour became two. Two nearly became three.

The first video game, the rubbishly titled Spacewar,features here. The game that led to the downfall of the western youth. Arcade games feature prominently here, but space is given also to consoles. Atari, Sega, Nintendo…… it’s difficult not to feel much older than you are. Video games change rapidly of course, and this is evident as you walk through the exhibition. Young kids literally laugh at games you thought were advanced in their day. When you get up to Halo you kinda see what they were laughing at. We’ve come a long way.

The complaints I heard were excellent. Saturn Bomberman is only 6 player , being among the better ones. Playing Pong on a big screen is priceless but, as is watching the new generation who started with FIFA 08 or something higher getting frustrated with the oldies. “Fuck this! I haven’t got the patience!” is heard on more than one occasion from people more familiar with Grand Theft Auto than the Sega Mega Drive.

The exhibition examines the contributions of various regions to video game culture, from the Japanese to the Americans. Looking at some of the leading developers from each region, you get hands on with some of the leading games from afar. All games are set to free mode (they’d want to be!) though sometimes you will end up waiting. Many of us are here to play the same games it seems.

Is it worth a visit? It is now. The price has dropped. It is worth a five Euro note. In fact, as I proved, it’s worth two. Near the end we’re shown examples of what may be ahead of us in terms of video gaming, and it makes you wonder if one day kids will laugh at Halo and the sort. No doubt they will.


Game On! runs at the Ambassador until January 30

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Too lazy for the library

Posted in Dublin History on October 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a couple of PDFs that I’ve recently stumbled across that might be of interest to our readers:

+  Seven Women of the Labour Movement 1916 by Sinéad McCoole

+  The Bureau of Military History 1913-1921 Index to Contributors by the Bureau of Military History

+  Symbolising the State — the iconography of O’Connell Street and environs after Independence (1922) by Yvonne Whelan (2001)

+  Dublin 1610 to 1756 by by Colm Lennon (2008)

+  The Bohemian Football Club: The Enduring Legacy of an Idle Youth by Ciarán Priestly (2010)

 

A scene taken from Colm Lennon's 'Dublin 1610 to 1756'

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A follow up to a post yesterday on the city under the city….

Posted in Dublin History, Miscellaneous on October 26, 2010| 1 Comment »

Yesterday we linked to a three-part History Channel documentary on the world underneath the city of Dublin. It reminded me of something I’d read along the way, so I rooted out a book. The excerpt below comes from Padraic O’ Farrell’s ‘The Ernie O’ Malley Story’ (Mercier,1983)

“Ernie received a note written by Rory O’ Connor in Mountjoy on 12 September. It told him of a tunnel leading to the Four Courts which could be used if they had left any important documents behind. One piece of folklore attached to that area of the city concerned a tunnel from there to Christchurch, built in the thirteenth century when a Dominican friary of St. Saviour occupied the Four Courts site. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, an army officer was accidentally locked in the tunnel which was used for storing ceremonial paraphernalia. He was soon documented as ‘missing, presumed dead’ until the next occasion demanding the opening of the tunnel. Near its entrance was discovered the skeleton of the officer and in the bones of his right hand was his sword. Lying about were the broken bone fragments of up to 250 rats that had attacked and had been beaten off by the mans sword before he himself was overcome.”

Excellent. Does anyone know any more about this tale?

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Bomb The Music Industry!

Posted in Events, Music, tagged , , on October 25, 2010| 1 Comment »

Ever since my cell phone, I never have a pen.
And I don’t speak in English, I speak in predictive text.
Ever since we got our cable, I never have anything to do…..

Feck sake. I can’t make this one as I will be in Glasgow Airport at the time.

I really enjoy the music of Bomb The Music Industry!, I’ve been to see frontman Jeff Rosenstock in the past, in what I remember to have been Greystones. BTMI! are a musical collective from New York who best fit into the punk/ska school. All their music is available online for free, over here. That sums up the bands DIY work ethic pretty well. They also try to ensure as many gigs as possible are All Ages. Unfortunately, the Dublin gig is not so.

The night before this gig, they play Katie Gallaghers in Bray with a 7pm start.

Bomb the Music Industry! plays a blend of several musical styles anchored onto ska and punk. They’re often compared to bands from previous waves of ska such as the Blue Meanies, Fishbone or Big D and the Kids Table that blended a range of influences and experimental effects onto the ska framework common in each band’s respective eras. Bomb the Music Industry! also share similarities with popular ska/punk and punk acts such as Catch-22 and Slapstick.

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Keeping It Peel.

Posted in Events, Music, tagged , , , on October 25, 2010| 2 Comments »

Football and Music is one of my favourite blogs, despite knowing absolutely nothing about football in the UK it seems to be a very similar passion to those of us who follow the League of Ireland. From Serious Drinking’s Love On The Terraces to the ever classic All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit, the site is a tribute to the connection between the beautiful game and music.

John Peel was a hero to many. The legendary DJ, who died in 2004, had everyone from Planxty to Atari Teenage Riot in for a ‘Peel Session’. Below, to mark the anniversary of his passing and as part of the excellent ‘Keeping It Peel’ idea from Football and Music, we bring you Fools Gold and Emerald from Dubliners Thin Lizzy, from a Peel Session in 1976.

Thin Lizzy- Fools Gold (Peel Session 76)

Thin Lizzy- Emerald (Peel Session 76)

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