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Archive for 2010

A Random Drop Inn: St. Olaf’s GAA Club (Sandyford)

Posted in Pubs, tagged , , , , , , on June 28, 2010| 3 Comments »

The decor is a bit plain and there’s only one TV in the pub (important during World Cup season) but at €2.50 for a pint of fosters (all day, every day) I was not one to complain. Especially as I’ve acquired a certain taste for Fosters after two years studying and working in Belfield.

It is I believe the cheapest pint in Dublin County. (Guiness stands at a very reasonable €3.80)

This is a picture of a pint of Fosters.

Situated behind the Kilmacud Luas Stop and accessible via Sandyford Industrial Estate, St. Olaf’s is your standard, essential GAA club which plays a vital part in the local community. (My circle of friends who play GAA are nearly equally divided up between Kilmacud Crokes, St. Olaf’s (Sandyford) and St. John’s Ballinter. I’m not one to pick sides.)

As the four of us walked in Thursday night, we had the whole bar to ourselves and settled down in our seats just as the Denmark – Japan game kicked off on the (one and only) television. Perfect timing. My old school mate DMurray got the first round. Four pints for a tenner. What a feeling. (He also bought a packet of King crisps, bacon fries and peanuts, opened them up and mixed them altogether. A dangerous and very salty mix)

The bar steadily filled up with a gangs of parents and kids arriving after a school play which was being held in the hall downstairs. Beer mats went flying, coke bottles knocked off tables and crisps crushed into the carpet as a crowd of toddlers ran riot through the pub.

Entrance to St. Olaf's GAA Club.

Another round later and with the final whistle blown in the game, we decided to have our own half time and went off to get some food (and some peace and quiet) The recently opened Pizza Hut in the ‘Beacon South Quarter’ five minutes away seemed happy to have our custom. (€10 for a 9″ pizza with two toppings, a side (garlic bread, chips or wedges), garlic & herb dip and a can). Tasty, cheap but hard to go back on the larger afterwards.

We arrived back into a much darker, much nicer child-free pub. A group of men in the corner played dominoes while three club members at another table were sorting out the monthly community lotto. DMurray spotted his dad having a quiet ones with some of his own friends at the bar. I see the barman, as he collects glasses from the floor, stop what he’s doing and have a conversation with an elderly female customer (Well how-are-ya getting on Mrs. Smith?). Its that kind of pub.

I may even try my luck at their next (monthly) Texas Hold ‘Em competition.

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James Connolly commemoration leaflet, 1942.

Posted in Dublin History, Politics, Social History, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2010| 1 Comment »

This is a nice find, from the Irish Municipal Employees’ Trade Union, 1942.

The back of the leaflet was clearly used in 1942 by someone dealing with union finances, as it is littered with figures and sums.

Union members are encouraged to attend a commemoration in memory of Connolly on May Day, and also to show up a demonstration on the 3rd of May, “…to participate along with other Trade Unions in procession, which will leave STEPHEN’S GREEN at 12.15 pm”

Of all places, it showed up recently in the books of the Dublin Fire Brigade Union, loaned to the DFB Museum. The things that show up in books eh?

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A Random Drop Inn: The Pavilion Bar, Trinity College Dublin

Posted in Pub Crawls, tagged , , , , on June 25, 2010| 3 Comments »

Bit busier than this these days.

A bit unlike any other pub I’ve visited over the course of this experiment, in that you’re normally out the door when you’re spotted with cans (not that Come Here To Me engage in that sort of carry-out carry on.) Here, they’re on sale, and students are lashing into the Bavaria like it’s going out of style. In this heat, I’m going for the Bulmers, so I’ll order a pint.

Steep enough. Our maybe it’s not, my own Student Union pub in Maynooth don’t sell cans, so the booze flows cheaply. I suppose they’re balancing the books here. Lesson learned, and I’ll transfer over to the cans with the masses of pretend TCD students from here on in.

The staff are friendly and have their wits about them, amazing owing to the mix of intense heat (by eh, ‘Irish standards’) and a line of students longer than any library will ever see.

Ernie O’ Malley wrote about Trinners in his excellent, highly entertaining ‘On Another Man’s Wound’

Trinity had been founded by Queen Elizabeth, and had been built and maintained mainly on confiscated Irish lands. Its tone had always been anti-Irish, arrogantly pro-British, and it had always linked itself to Dublin Castle. The students all wore their college ties, black and red, carried themselves with a swagger and seemed very pleased with life in general.

Harsh.

By pure chance, I end up in the company of a few friends on the green outside, and we sit in the sun, drinking away from the cricket pitch (Them’s the rules…) and discussing that very book.

There’s little you wouldn’t discuss out here, with the sun beating down on you and the booze cheap, it’s a perfect summer evening. Inside, ‘The Pav’ seems to have changed since my last visit, and it’s looking very well. The Sports Bar of the campus, the benches by the doors to the bar go quickly on a nice day. ‘The football’ was on the telly inside, fair enough with the whole Sports Bar thing really. The profits of the pub go back into the sports facilities apparently, meaning you really should buy your cans from the bar and not do a cheeky one. In fairness, it’s one of the only spots in Dublin you’ll get away with drinking cans.

Sit out in the sun , grab a can and watch The Topshop’s go by.

What would Ernie think of us?

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This is the best trip I’ve ever been on…

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 24, 2010| 3 Comments »

The Champions League; The most-watched sporting event worldwide, with an estimated 100 million viewers every year. To most football fans in Ireland, it means following the progress of an English or a Scottish team; generally one of those same six teams who appear every year with little variation. It means pubs in Dublin City Centre packed with replica jerseys and loud mouthed punters wearing them. It means people with no material allegiance crying meaningless tears for a team they’ve never seen live, and yet who they still refer to with a mythically inclusive “we.” (In my book, “supporting” doesn’t involve buying a jersey in Lifestyle sports and then sitting on your arse watching games on telly.) It means opposition like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, a long run in the competition and a feeling of unwarranted superiority for followers of the winners.

Sure wouldn't it look great in Dalymount Park

For the majority, it doesn’t set the heart racing at the thought of a trip to the town of Oswestery, in Shropshire, to take on a team once monnikered “Total Network Solutions” in the second round of the competition. Well, for those who follow glory with a British team it doesn’t. For me, as a fan of Bohemian FC, it means absolute unbridled joy, hope and living with the feeling that my chest is going to explode until the games, both home and away are over. For Bohs are set to take on Welsh Champions “The New Saints FC” on the 13th and 20th July, and I intend to be at both games. The New Saints, or TNS for short don’t exactly match up to the glamour of the Champions League. They’ve only been in existence for fifty odd years and play in a ground that seats 1,000. Their claim to fame is losing 6-0 on aggregate to Liverpool  in the same round of the competition five years ago, when Irish keeper Gerard Doherty played a blinder and Rafa Benitez claimed he was the best player on the pitch. But, this is still the Champions League, its Europe, and a level that most English Championship clubs, and never mind that, most Premiership clubs will ever again experience with the European monopoly held by a small elite. So for that I respect TNS.

Not exactly the Bernabeu, this is Park Hall, TNS' home

But whilst British teams get back page spreads in Irish papers, the role of League of Ireland teams in the competition is often relegated to bit parts and side columns. And yet there have been famous victories in Europe; Bohemians alone have beaten Rangers, Aberdeen, Kaiserslautern amongst others in various competitions. Games that will be talked about for years, some, like the Rangers game, for ever. But inevitably, with the victory and joy, such as that expressed after moments like Glen Crowes goal below comes defeat and pain. Saddness. Utter dejection and humiliation. It’s all very well for those who say from the outside “Ah well, sure they gave a good account of themselves.” These words do nothing to alleviate the grief.

Last year, Bohemians were seven minutes from knocking out Salzburg, a team bankrolled by Red Bull, who play in an ultra-modern 31,000 all seater stadium and who have International players earning in a week what the average Bohs player takes home in a year. And what follows is the true meaning of joy followed by dejection. Bohs went to Salzburg, and thanks to this save from Brian Murphy, and a cracking goal from Joe Ndo went home with heads held high and an away draw. And while I didn’t make that game, the scenes of adulation in the members bar in Dalymount Park will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ll be honest and say, yes, I cried.  The following week, Bohemians held on for 85 or so minutes, in which they had a couple of chances to put the game beyond Red Bull but (though some in the media said inevitably, I’d think otherwise) slipped up and a silly back pass meant Red Bull took away a 1-o lead and a passage to the next round. My feelings leaving the ground that night are hard to explain. I hadn’t felt that bad for years and haven’t felt that bad since. Truly heartbroken, in depths of despair, feeling pain, anguish, sorrow.

"That" goal by Salzburg. The author of this piece is just out of shot. Thankfully.

But, as they say, thats football, and hopefully this time around, results and luck might go our way. For winning this tie means at least another four games in Europe- Two in the Champions League third round, and if we fail in that attempt, a crack at the Europa cup in the final qualifiying round where we could be pitted against English or Scottish opposition. Where then will the allegiances of average Irish football fan lie? I’d like to think that a run in Europeans elite competition might do the league wonders but to be honest I’m sceptical. What I would like is for Dalymount to be packed to the rafters on Tuesday, 13th July, and should we pass through to the next round, have the same again. We’ll see.

For ticket details, keep tuned to http://www.bohemians.ie

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In The Sun.

Posted in Miscellaneous on June 24, 2010| 1 Comment »

Come In And Visit. If you saw my recent post, showing photographs of O’ Connell Street on the day after Lord Nelson said farewell, you’d notice this familiar shopfront in the background. In the reflection you can see The Happy Ring House, another great O’ Connell Street shopfront.

This guy is appearing all over Dublin.

See?

I love a badly named head-shop. Up In Smoke wins the day. This one is on Moore Street. The lad behind the counter could not have looked more bored.

Business, not quite as usual.

This is up at Parnell Square, by the bus-stop. It’s been there yonks. I always tell myself when I’m passing it, that today is gonna be a gud day.

How long until all these buildings vanish in the name of progress? Moore Street at 9pm, this day last week.

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Let’s all like TOTALLY bring this government down guys!

Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A gem of a ‘political’ leaflet discovered under the bed.

Picture this. It’s late 2008. Thousands of students on the street. The angry OAP’s are out for some argy bargy, and to save their Medical Cards. Red flags, black flags and a few red and black flags fly high. Ógra Shinn Féin X Branch and Labour Youth Y branch march. Speakers from the Union of Students in Ireland, as well as speakers from the trade union movement and Student Union’s around the country have made strong speeches calling for action to defeat the threat of third level fees.

Then, someone hands you this:

…and you just think: Jesus H. Christ, no wonder so many people hate students.

Ingenious on the part of the Purty Kitchen, and still my favourite leaflet from a student demonstration to date. Takes the old left wing tradition of a post-demonstration pint to the next level.

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The Atrix Singles

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2010| 17 Comments »

Great band. Great name. Great singles.

Their first The Moon Is Puce came out in 1979 on Mulligan Records. It was produced by Philip Chevron, then a member of The Radiators From Space and later of The Pogues. This is the first time that the B-Side Wendy’s In Amsterdam has been uploaded online.

In 1980, the band signed to DoubleDee Records. Their second single Treasure On The Wasteland was produced by Midge Ure. Again, this is the first time that the b-side of this single, Graphite Pile, has been uploaded online.

Lyrics, Treasure On The Wasteland.

Their first and only album, Procession, was released in 1981 on Scoff Records. The single Procession and the B-Side The 11th Hour was issued with it.

 

For more information on the band, check out their Irish Punk & New Wave Discography entry here.

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The grave of Vonolel, the famous and bemedalled horse.

Posted in Dublin History, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2010| 10 Comments »

Field-Marshal Earl Roberts on his Charger 'Vonolel', from the Tate Collection.

Many people walking the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham will pass a small grave without noticing, and yet this grave is perhaps the most unusual grave in Dublin itself. In the grounds of the Hospital, one finds the final resting place of ‘Vonolel’, twenty-nine years old on passing, but a veteran of conflict.

“When the Queen awarded medals to her officers and men who has taken part in the Afghan campaign and in the expedition to Kandahar, she did not forget Vonolel. Lord Roberts hung round the animals neck the Kabul medal, with four clasps, and the bronze Kandahar star. The gallant horse wore these medals on that day in June when the nation celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee”

So read The Irish Times of October 21, 1899.

Much more information on the horse can be gathered from an earlier piece however, dating from January of the same year, when Vonolel was still living. In it, it was noted that Vonolel had come to England “having been practically all over the world with his master”. He was described as “..a type of the highest class of Arab charger” and it was noted that “he traces his descent from the best blood of the desert” It was also noted that his medals were only worn on special occasions!

The grave of Vonolel, in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

It was 1877 when Vonolel was purchased from a horse dealer in Bombay, at the age of four. He was named after a great Lushai chief. He would become closely associated with Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, a man with family links to the city of Waterford. It is perhaps with the Battle of Kandahar, the last serious engagement of the Anglo-Afghan war, that Roberts (and by extension Vonolel) is most closely associated. For victory in the Battle of Kandahar, Roberts received the thanks of Parliament.

Vonolel was retired to the Curragh in Kildare, and his grave notes that he passed away while at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, in June 1899. Roberts was said to be heartbroken, and Vonolel was buried in the rose gardens of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. His military exploits are acknowledged, as is his character.

Included on the headstone are the lines:

There are men both good and wise
Who hold that in a future state
Dumb creatures we have cherished here below
Shall give us joyous greeting when
We pass the golden gate
Is it folly that I hope it may be so?

Why not stop by the grave of Vonolel the next time you find yourself in Kilmainham, and see for yourself what must surely be one of Dublin’s most unusual graves.

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A fruity link.

Posted in Dublin History, tagged , , , , , on June 21, 2010| 9 Comments »

What links this familiar ghost sign and my favourite street name in Dublin?

(Th)e Confectioner’s Hal(l), O'Connell Street. (Picture - Lisa Cassidy)

Lemons.

Or to be more precise, the Lemon family.

They were the proprietors of the above ‘The Confectioner’s Hall’, a beloved sweet shop for generations of Dubliners. Opening on that very spot in 1842, it only closed its doors in 1984. More on this history of the company can be read here, an excellent article on the Irish Architecture Forum blog by Lisa Cassidy.

One of my favourite street name in Dublin is Lemon Street, which is just off Grafton Street. It was named after Graham Lemon and his family who owned property in the area. (It certainly has a better ring to it than its previous name – Little Grafton Street).

So, what’s your favourite street name in Dublin?

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“Your boys took a hell of a beating!”

Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , , , on June 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

Spotted on the northside, right next to the Hendrons site.

This gem comes from Ladbrokes and their ‘Win a trip to the winning nation’ competition. Almost as bad as The Sun describing the World Cup group as “the best English group since The Beatles”.

Anyway, what are Ladbrokes playing at? North Korea will never let the competition winner in.

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A man of lofty character and of high ideals

Posted in Dublin History, Events, Social History, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

“He is a man of lofty character and of high ideals, and evokes in men of the most diverse opinion a common admiration of his chivalry and honour”
Irish Literature-Volume 7 (1904), taken from the entry on John O’ Leary

—

Recently, we posted a series of images and audio recordings from the launch of a plaque to the memory of the Connolly siblings of the Irish Citizen Army. That plaque was put in place by the excellent North Inner City Folklore Project.

Yesterday, another most welcome plaque was unveiled north of the Liffey, this time in Palmerston Place. The plaque marks the home of Tipperary born Fenian leader John O’ Leary, and acknowledges his role as editor of The Irish People newspaper.

“…O Donovan Rossa, O’ Leary, Luby and others long associated with separatism and republicanism were regularly to be found in or around the Irish People office. And the paper always made the most of the fact that the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States was not a secret organisation…”
– Taken from The Green Flag by Robert Kee

(more…)

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A Random Drop Inn: Porterhouse North

Posted in Pub Crawls, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

This graveyard hides a million secrets.
And the trees know more than they can tell.
The ghosts of the saints and scholars will haunt you
In Heaven and in Hell.

We’re fresh out of the brand new Museum at Glasnevin Cemetery, and much has been learned. It’s great, if you’re wondering.

The history of Glasnevin Cemetery is well known. It is, in popular Irish history, associated with many legends and great figures. Yet there is more to the place than that, there is also the history of ordinary people and communities. In fact, for all the talk of ‘The Liberator’, liberation struggles and more besides, it is perhaps the audio interviews with gravediggers who worked at the cemetery that was most captivating. Suitably enough, the interview was conducted over a pint in the Gravediggers pub next door.

I’d only done the excellent walking tour of the graveyard recently, and not having seen my mate in a while we decided a pint was in order. The timeless, tellyless (Publicans, take note) Gravediggers on the edge of the cemetery is one of my favourite boozers in Dublin, but you can’t ‘Randomly Drop Inn’ twice, now can you?

So, where to?

We settle for The Porterhouse. This decision is largely based on the reputation of their Chocolate Stout.

“No Chocolate Stout lads, not doing that anymore”

Hmm, bad start. I opt for the Plain (a pint of Plain, clever that) stout, and the mate goes for Oyster stout. Food is ordered, seats are taken, and we have a look around. The premises is large and spacious, the music not too loud (bit of Smokey Robinson going on…), and the food arrives quick. No food for me, but the reports were good. I’ve heard great things about the Irish Stew, but who am I to spend money when there’s dinner at home. Students, we’re like that.

The pint of Plain? Not quite your only man, but still a damn good light stout and I’m content. I’ve tried the Oyster stout before too and while it takes some getting used to, it’s a grower. As they’re quick and proud to tell you, these are award winners, and unlike in some Dublin pubs with the more famous stout on offer, you can rest assured each pint will be right here.

The smoking area is sizeable, but I’m not one to stand around smoking areas. It’s large, it’s covered and it’s heated. Three boxes ticked if you’re that way inclined. The staff are friendly and talkative, and seem to be engaged with what sound like regulars. My friend picks up on the menu in front of us, which boasts that “Our beer kills fascists”. Not entirely sure what they’re getting at there, but why the hell not.

The place is quiet enough, though it is 4.30 on a Wednesday. A few large screens around the place and the variety of both booze and grub makes me think this wouldn’t be a bad spot to catch a bit of the World Cup.

The Porterhouse, for what it does, isn’t too pricey. It’s worth a venture to any of the Dublin pubs to try something new, but be warned that the two city centre pubs are tourist hubs at the minute. A worthwhile visit, with a ‘we’ll only be 10 minutes’ trip turning into an hour out of nowhere.

On our way out, we pass a Christmas tree of beer bottles.

Bit late for that, or are they just early?

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