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Archive for 2010

A Sunny Day In Whelans

Posted in Events, Music, tagged , , on April 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Tuesday May 18th 2010
A Sunday Day In Glasgow/ Dum Dum Girls
Whelans- Tickets from tickets.ie

The Best Summer Ever- A Sunny Day In Glasgow

“Album closer “The Best Summer Ever” at last distills the band’s meteorological whorls into a psych-pop sunburst befitting its title” says Pitchfork. Translated,it’s just a bloody good tune, really.

If the blog has the look of a more history focused blog lately, due to the nature of many of my posts in particular, it’s more down to workloads than anything. A big massive pile of essays/assignments and other odds and ends (I know, smallest violin, right?) are keeping me within the walls of this fine West Dublin house. I don’t know if anything is happening in Dublin, it’s a 15 minute bus trip I can’t afford to make. Plenty of procrastination you can do in 15 minutes instead of sitting on a bus anyway.

Saying that, there are positives to spending all day at a computer. Who needs JStor or other academic resources (Like eh, Wikipedia) when you have Last.FM, the Hype Machine, and a never ending world of MP3 blogs. On occasion, I connect a name with a gig. As happened in the case of A Sunny Day In Glasgow.

Poor Glasgow, the ugly sister of Edinburgh really. Not that this band have anything to do with the city, being a Philadelphia project. Turns out I had some of their content sitting pretty in Windows Media Player already, most likely there from a ‘right click/save’ fest over the break, and on playing it went ‘ohhhh! That tune!’

One online account states that about a dozen people were there last time they played upstairs in Whelans, though this time, with the assistance of the much hyped Dum Dum Girls and all their internet popularity badges firmly pinned to their blazers, things should be different. While I never like the “what do they sound like?” question (We’ve already had ‘Robot Rock’ on here, what are people going to think ‘Shoegaze’ means…) I think Last.Fm is on the money with Asobi Seksu, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and their sort up there. Anyway, that’s why we embed music, isn’t it?

Whelans in May seems miles away. Now,If you’ll excuse me there’s a Word file with, quite literally, my name on it.

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Willie Bermingham,1942-1990.

Posted in Dublin History, Social History, tagged , , , on April 22, 2010| 3 Comments »

“Willie Bermingham described graphically the awful scene he encountered in that chalet on that bitter cold February day. A frail, old man, blind in one eye, lying dead on a wet bed with an old blanket gripped in his left hand, two cold rooms in that timber chalet, no fuel for the fire and no food in the press and he half naked, stiff in his death sentence, alone and in misery”

This piece is taken from the fantastic The Dublin Fire Brigade: A histoy of the Brigade, the Fires and the Emergencies by Tom Geraghty and Trevor Whitehead, recounting the time Willie was sent into a residence in 1977 as a routine part of his job. The residence was located at Charlemont Street.

Below the picture of Willie I have posted a wonderful and quite witty piece he wrote on himself, which always brings a smile to my face when I read that last line. I think it only right to allow characters of such magnitude to speak for themselves.

Don’t just think of him when a fire engine goes roaring past you on the street, but rather when you encounter an elderly neighbour in need of aid of any sort, including company.

Willie will be twenty years gone from us this Friday.
ALONE continues to work on behalf of the elderly people of Dublin.

“Willie Bermingham landed at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin 29th March, five years before the big snow of 1942.

One of a family of seven with a father -a farmer, merchant, dealer, turf cutter, scrap man or just a hard worker, and a mother- a great woman to milk cows, feed pigs, cut turf or feed the nation.

Educated at Goldenbridge, St Michael’s Inchicore, on the streets, in the bog and at the university of life itself. Married with 5 children from 17-5 years. Hobbies include hoarding junk and curios and foreign travel.

Joined the Dublin Fire Brigade in 1964 and spent a long time pushing for the pension. Favourite food, good old irish stew and lots of fish. For breakfast several mugs of tea at work. Also loves to eat lots of red tape to teach the bureaucrats a little manners.”

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Camden Place Letterbox

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , on April 22, 2010| 1 Comment »

Walking through Camden Place last Sunday I spotted this little gem.

A tiny letterbox.

That appears to be working condition (as the flap can still open).

Slotted in the middle of a huge grey wall.

Anyone know anything more about it?

(Apologies for the terrible image) Letterbox, Camden Place. Picture - JayCarax 18/04/10

Letterbox on right. Picture - JayCarax 18/04/10

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A lad of eighteen summers.

Posted in Dublin History, Music, tagged , , on April 21, 2010| 3 Comments »

An unusual and very rare one, from Leonard Cohen in Dublin 1972.

Perhaps even more unusual than a recent rendition of the song ‘Kevin Barry’ posted here, by Paul Robeson.

Update: Since this post, we’ve ran a piece on Kevin and his fellow UCD student Frank Flood, both executed during the War of Independence.

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Well it’s more believable than Snakes on a Plane…

Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on April 21, 2010| 3 Comments »

Three years ago, rumours surfaced that Samuel L. Jackson, one of the coolest men on the planet (Snakes on a Plane aside) was a lifelong fan of Bohemian FC.
The information initially came from a paragraph on his Wikipedia entry which read:
Jackson is an avid basketball fan, and especially enjoys the Harlem Globetrotters and the Toronto Raptors. Jackson is a lifelong fan of Eircom League soccer side, Bohemian F.C, and he can often be seen at home games at Dalymount Park with his family. He is well-known and respected among the club’s staff and fans.
Within a week, there was a media frenzy; The Biography channel took this information as fact and mentioned it on an hour long special dedicated to the Pulp Fiction actor. Irish radio picked up on it fairly quickly and ran competitions with questions like “Where do Bohemian FC play?” The Sun featured a half page article and a photo-shopped picture of Jackson wearing a Bohs hat and scarf. Even the Teflon Taoiseach got in on the act and piped up that he’d be attending the next Bohs game. A Bohs spokesperson was forced to admit they were unaware of any link at the time. (Rumours abound that Shamrock Rovers were set to announce Danny Glover as a lifelong fan were never confirmed. )

A Scouser? Don't make me laugh...

But others were not so quick to believe. The statement disappeared from Wikipedia, and with Jackson set to appear on The Late Late show, an intrepid Bohs fan made contact with one of the researchers on the show and asked about bringing the subject up. The response was:
” The audience, least of all Samuel L. Jackson, wouldn’t know who or what Bohs is.”
As Johnny Logan has proved several times (see here and here) since then without need of prompting, this statement is complete rubbish. A letter appeared in The Irish Independent saying Jackson could not be a Bohs fan, as he had never been seen in the stands at the home of Irish football, Dalymount Park. One sharp Bohs fan living in Belgium retorted with:
“He can still claim to be a Bohs fan in the same way thousands of Irish people claim to be fans of British clubs like Manchester United, Celtic or Liverpoool, and yet have never set foot in Old Trafford, Parkhead or Anfield. Maybe Samuel watched Bohs in an Irish bar in downtown Washington  decided that makes him a “fan”. “
It’s been a long time coming but maybe heres the proof that the naysayers need; A poster on www.thebohs.com provided us with a picture this week that closes the argument once and for all- Samuel L Jackson is indeed a Bohs man. (Or if he wasn’t, he certainly is now!)

Proof at last that Samuel L. Jackson is a Bohs man. Photo credit LA Bohs.

(A big shout out to all at thebohs.com for the info for this piece!)

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“You can’t buy our History”

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Social History, tagged , , , , , , on April 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Football chants surrounding certain teams histories have been bantered back and forth on this island and elsewhere over the last couple of years given the influx of investment into the game by money grabbing swines. Liverpool chant at Chelsea “You can’t buy our history,” and we all laugh at Shamrock Rovers for swapping theirs for shiny new accomodation in Tallaght.

But there is a little bit of history at least for sale at Whytes Auctioneers this week (viewing in their galleries at at 38 Molesworth Street; auction at the Freemasons’ Hall, Molesworth Street; Viewing is Tuesday to Thursday 20-22 April, 10am-6pm and Friday 23 April (day of sale), 10am-4pm.) On sale is a varied selection of League of Ireland memorabilia including this:

1929-30 Irish Free State Football League Winners gold medal to Bohemians FC

 The above medal is estimated to reach between €5-700 at the auction; And rightly so. The twenties was a “Golden” era for the team; Two years before this, the Bohs team, captained by the great Harry Cannon, had swept the boards and won every trophy available.

Also going at the auction are a wide selection of programmes from both League of Ireland and International games including this gem:

1946 (21 April) Football Association of Ireland Cup Final Drumcondra v. Shamrock Rovers programme

Definitely worth heading along to if you have an interest in all things football related. All details are at the Whytes website linked above. And if anybody feels generous enough to pick up the Bohs medal and pass it onto myself, feel free. It’d be going to a good home.

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Controversial elephant on Abbey Street.

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , on April 20, 2010| 4 Comments »

Spotted by Jim Scully. Photo taken by hxci, April 20 2010.

Spotted by Jim Scully. Photo taken by hxci, April 20 2010.

Spotted by Jim Scully. Photo taken by hxci, April 20 2010.

Our friend Jim Scully spotted this and sent it on. Hxci reckons that it went up over the weekend as it certainly wasn’t there on Friday. (Edit – It seems it’s been there since at least Thursday)

It seems to be an anti – government street art piece that is making a crude reference to the recent Polish plane crash that killed 96 people including the president

Banksy it ain’t.

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Little John and Dublin

Posted in Dublin History, Social History, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2010| 2 Comments »

Robin Hood and Little John
Walkin’ through the forest
Laughin’ back and forth
At what the other’ne has to say

With the upcoming release of Robin Hood (May, 2010) starring Robin Crowe, it’s fitting to look at the enduring but surprisingly little researched local legend that suggests that Little John of Robin Hood fame visited Dublin in the 12th century.

The first reference I could find comes from Richard Stanihurst who wrote in in 1577 that:

“In the yeere one thousand one hundred foure score and nine … little John was faine to flee the realme by sailing into Ireland, where he sojornied for a few daies in Dublin. The citizens being done to understand the wandering outcast to be an excellent archer, requestd him hartilie to trie how far he could at randon; who yeelding to their behest, stood on the bridge of Dublin, and shot at the mole hill, leving behind him a monument, rather by his posteritie to be woondered than possiblie by anie man living to be counterscored” (1)

Joseph Cooper’s Walker’s Historical Memories of the Irish Bards (1786) fleshes out the story:

“According to tradition, Little John (who followed his master to this country) shot an arrow from the old bridge to the present site of St. Michan’s Church, a distance of about 11 score and seven yards, but poor Little John’s great practical skill in archery could not save him from an ignominious fate; as it appears from the records of the Southwell family, he was publicly executed for robbery on Arbour Hill.” (2)

The “old bridge” mentioned is the Father Matthew Bridge which has been there in one shape or another for over 1,000 years. A very interesting article on the history of this bridge by Frank Hopskins, which mentions the Little John legend, can be read here.

Father Matthew Bridge where Little John allegely shot an arrow all the way to Oxmanstwon.

The Dublin University magazine (1857) suggests that “after the dissolution of the band in Sherwood forest … (Little John) while jouring for a few days in Dublin exibited to the citizens by shooting an arrow from the Old Bridge to a distant hillock on the northern side of the city, thence styled in after time ‘Little John’s shot'” (3)

The historical memoirs of the city of Armagh (1819) mentions in passing that “Little John … had visited Dublin about the year 1188 and had shot an arrow from Dublin – Bridge to the little hill in Oxmantown” (4)

The wonderfully named Pat Chat wrote in the Irish Times in 1882 that “Little John … exihbited feats of archery … (but) was then hanged at Arbour Hill for robbery” (5)

Earliest known image of Little John.

D.H.W in his article entitled ‘Little John in Ireland: An Exile from Sherwood” (1928) proposes that Little John and his followers “lived in the woods outside Dublin, round Arbour Hill” and reiterated the the tale that “he was caught in Dublin … (and) was publicly executed on Arbour Hill”. (6)

Like most of things concerning Robin Hood, little can be backed up by historical evidence. For example, Little John is reputed to be buried in a churchyard in the village of Hathersage, Derbyshire. A modern tombstone marks the supposed location of his grave, which lies under an old yew tree.

However, I much prefer the version that he was hanged at Arbour Hill and is buried a few feet below Connolly.

–

Footnotes:

(1) Richard Stanihurst cited in Jeffery L. Singman, Robin Hood: the shaping of the legend, (Westport, 1998), p. 27

(2) Joseph Cooper, Walker’s Historical Memories of the Irish Bards, cited in James Collin’s, Life In Old Dublin (Dublin, 1913), p. 53

(3) Dublin University Magazine (Vol. 50), (Dublin, 1857), p. 108

(4) James Stuart, The historical memoirs of the city of Armagh, (Newry,1819), p. 201

(5) Pat Chat, The Irish Times, Saturday, May 20, 1882, p. 1

(6) D.W.H, The Irish Times, Friday, June 22, 1928, p. 4

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Rip Her To Shreds

Posted in Events, Music, tagged , on April 19, 2010| 1 Comment »

Blondie- Out In The Streets (The Shangri La’s)

I’ve seen Blondie 2.0.

Is it the same? I don’t know to be honest, but it’s damn good. Leonard Cohen 2.0 is probably better than Vintage Leonard Cohen owing to a clean lifestyle , The Pogues 2.0 can still stand which is a success in itself, and a whole host of other 2.0’s, ranging from Roxy Music to Moving Hearts, haven’t disappointed the public too much.

I’m not exactly in a hurry to part with money at the moment (Pity the poor student) but a return from Blondie may change that. I can remember the first time I played Parallel Lines, and it’s been up the top of the pile since. That album has Picture This, Hanging On The Telephone and Heart Of Glass for starters.

Fair enough, The Hunter sucked (and sucked bad) but by the 1990s all was well again. Actually, thinking about it, maybe the Blondie 2.0 comment is a bit out of order, as I’m actually pretty fond of No Exit.

I can remember a painful trip to Ryan Tubridy on the couch during one of their last visits over, which was nearly as bad as listening to The Hunter, and only saved by a brief set at the end of the show. Saying that, I don’t think I’ve ever rushed into the room when I’ve heard the old dear yelling “that band you like are on the telly”. It’s normally Wikipedia researched nonsense.

There is something to be said for gigs like Blondie, The Specials and their sort when your Mam and Dad get an excuse to get their own Harrington Jackets out from under the stairs, but even if it’s not the 1970s, it’s worth a trip to tick another one off the list.

Blondie at Vicar Street
€49.20 22 June.

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Off to Ringsend in the Sun…

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Reviews, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

Someone on The Bohs forum recently posted a link to a nostalgia packed Panini Italia ’90 sticker album that brought memories flooding back. Co-incidentally, last Saturday, I managed to get my hands on an absolutely meticulous Euro ’88 era Ireland jersey for the princely sum of €1.60. Searching on-line, I found the very same jersey retailing here at £140 of your finest British pounds. Will I be flogging my jersey on? Not a chance. Where, might you ask though, did I find such a bargain? Well, Shelbourne Dog track oddly enough…

I picked this up for a bargain €1.60!

On alternating Sundays, Shelbourne Park and Harolds Cross play host to carboot sales. I hadn’t been to a boot sale for years and forgot that the general idea was to get there as early as possible.  Both of these bootsales open their gates at 8.30 in the morning, but following a busy day/ night on Saturday and a late breakfast on Sunday, we made in there at half two and unforunately most of the stalls were gone home or off to the beach to sun themselves.  Details of when and where the bootsales take place can be found here.

Bootsales; And the characters that run them. from Flickr

I played witness to some great conversations here, a couple of grannies delving into a box of religious memorabilia and muttering to each other “Jaysis, look, theres a lovely St. Francis Scapular.” (A scapular is like a set of felt religious dog-tags.) and “Lovely, three mass cards for a fiver.” Oddly enough this stall was run by a couple of young lads, not what you’d be expecting.

Anyways, a great day under the shadow of the magnificent new Lansdowne Road Stadium (I absolutely refuse to call it the Aviva; anyone who does, deserves a clatter on the back of the head,) on the best day of the year so far, along with the Ireland jersey, I picked up a St. Pauli shirt and a Dubliners 7″ with “Surrounded  by Water” on one side and “Dublin in the Green” on the other side. With a bit of shamelessness on my part, and the stallholder asking for a fiver, I told him I’d give him two quid for it. And he accepted. Good buzz! I’ll be heading along to the Harolds Cross one next week, I’ll let ye know how I get on!

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They’ve got some neck

Posted in Miscellaneous on April 18, 2010| 1 Comment »

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while now, you might remember I posted up a picture of a Labour Party poster back in February that was basically rotting away on a pole in Palmerstown for a good seven months after the local election. Right at the bus stop, every day looking down on the commuters like a bad reminder of summer.

Strolling through town last weekend, I noticed this one at the Elverys up by Stephens Green, a relic of Lisbon 2.0 in October 2009. Nothing bugs me more than political parties and well funded campaign groups being quick enough to get up a ladder (or pay for someone else to get up a ladder) and then sometimes taking literally months to get back up the thing.

Not too much editing you can do to a Giraffe, but “whos yer granny” won the day last time out:

The offer made in an earlier post of €25 for a mint condition Royston Brady poster still stands.

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The Great Escape – Nurse Linda Kearns

Posted in Dublin History, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 17, 2010| 5 Comments »

Shortly after escaping. Mae Burke, Eithne Coyle and Linda Kearns, Carlow 1921. Notice that they are standing on the Union Jack flag.

It’s been a good week for me as far as documentaries go. Along with the fantastic Seamus Ennis effort from RTE linked to below, TG4 has been on the ball too, with Ealú, a brilliant effort revolving around Nurse Linda Kearns.

Link to documentary online, at TG4 Beo.

Only two days into the 1916 Rising, Nurse Kearns set up a temporary hospital at North Great George’s Street. This hospital was designed to provide medical aid to both British and Irish wounded. This temporary hospital was closed by military orders. Linda was to become a more active part of the republican movement after the Rising.

Interesting information on her activity on behalf of the IRA can be found in Sinead McCoole’s No Ordinary Women. Linda was never a member of Cumann na mBan for example, though did provide lectures to the women of the movement, as Doctor Kathleen Lynn had before the insurrection. The nursing home Linda ran in Gardiner Place also functioned as a sort of hiding spot for republican men on the run.

Cal McCarthy’s excellent study of Cumann na mBan (Cumann na mBan and the Irish Revolution) quotes the report of the Sligo County Inspector following the arrest of Linda Kearns in November 1920.

“On 20-11-20 a police and military patrol stopped a motor car driven by nurse Belinda Kearns of 29 Gardiner Palace Dublin and found therein ten service rifles, four revolvers, 403 rounds of service rifle ammunition, 23 rounds of revolver ammunition and a quantity of equipment.”

Linda Kearns

The report went on to state that three male suspects were arrested in the motor car, and that crown intelligence ascertained that “…Miss Kearns has for the past two years been the medium of communication between Head Quarters IRA Dublin and County Sligo”

Linda did time in a number of Irish prisons before being sent to Walton Prison in Liverpool, where she went on hungerstrike. From here she was sent to Mountjoy Prison.

In The Jangle of the Keys, her highly regarded personal history of her time in a variety of British and Free State run Irish prisons, Margaret Buckley wrote at length about the 1921 escape from Mountjoy.

“Linda Kearns was largely responsible for the planning of the sensational Mountjoy escape, and entered with great glee into organising it”

A sympathetic wardress had seen to it that the girls were able to get their hands on a wax-mold of the key needed for their escape.

“It was Hallowe’en. Word was sent out; signals agreed on; and time and place fixed…”

The female prisoners were participating in a football match, Cork versus the Rest of Ireland. The Rest of Ireland won, but that was irrelevant. The prisoners created plenty of noise, and the four female prisoners plotting their escape seized the moment. Linda Kearns, Eithne Coyle, Mae Burke and Eileen Keogh made their move. Throwing a small perfume bottle over the wall at the agreed spot, a rope ladder was returned. Linda went first, due to ill-health, followed by Eileen Keogh, Mae Burke and lastly Eithne Coyle. Linda Kearns would find shelter at an IRA training camp in Carlow until the signing of the Anglo Irish Treaty.

Amazingly, Linda Kearns was to play a role in the Civil War too, ensuring she earned all her republican stripes! Having failed to gain entry to the Four Courts, she found herself in a variety of locations throughout Dublin tending to the wounded. When the focus of the battle in Dublin shifted entirely to O’ Connell Street, the stretch from the Hammond to the Gresham Hotel was occupied by something in the region of 100 republican combatants.

Margaret Ward noted in her study of the role of women in Irish nationalist history (Unmanageable Revolutionaries) that Cathal Brugha himself had to appeal strongly to the 30 women to leave, as the fight looked doomed. Three remained. Alongside Kathleen Barry and Muriel MacSwiney (The widow of Terence, The Lord Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike) was Linda Kearns.

Free State armoured car, photographed during the Civil War in Dublin.

Linda Kearns witnessed the wounding of Cathal Brugha, who had refused to surrender to the forces of the new state. She held his severed artery between her fingers as he was driven to hospital, but he would die two days later. Cumann na mBan activists stood guard over Brugha when his body lay in state.

Her story is an amazing one, and by no means ends there. Nor does it start on North Great George’s Street.

In his wonderful biography of Kevin Barry (Kevin Barry And His Time), Donal O’ Donovan wrote that “Linda Kearns of Sligo, a trained nurse, is one of those people who was in everything during the War of Independence and the Civil War, but has not yet got her due meed of praise”

This fantastic effort from TG4 is most worthy of your time, and finally sees to it that Linda Kearns gets some of the attention she deserves.

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