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Archive for 2010

“An alert, handsome dark foreign looking young fellow with a marked London accent”

Posted in Dublin History, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 17, 2010| 6 Comments »

(Update May 2012: I will be presenting my work on Arthur ‘Neal’ Wicks on May 26 at the 7th annual bookfair)

 

This is how Charles Saurin (Irish Volunteer 1914 – 16 and Officer IRA 1917-21) described an individual called ‘Neale’, an English socialist who was stationed with Saurin in the Hotel Metropole during Easter Week. Neale, who saw action in Fairview on Easter Monday and the Vitriol Works on Tuesday, was to be fatally wounded on the Thursday during the evacuation of the GPO.

However, you won’t find his name on many of the Easter Week rolls of honour and you certainly won’t find any plaques dedicated to him in the city.

The Hotel Metropole after the Rising.

For approximately two years I’ve been trying to research the life of this character who I think grew up in Norwich nd was involved in a hotel strike in London in 1913. I believe that his real name was Arthur Wicks and that he was known to by his comrades as Neal/Neale. The many variations of his name and the fact that he was commonly known by a nickname has been a considerable obstacle in trying to research his early life.

By this stage, I’ve completely exhausted all secondary sources. I’ve managed to collate a lot of information on his movements in Easter Week and a little bit on his early life. My next objectives are to cross reference the 1916 Witness Statements for references of Neale, try to access British state archives to see if he was under any sort of surveillience during his trade union activity in London in 1913 and go through the English left publications of the period to see if there were any mentions of him during his time in London or to mark his death in 1916.

With study, work and everything else it’s been hard to find time to research the life of this elusive individual, let’s just hope I’ll have something written by 2016.

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Terminal.

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , on April 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

Pretty unbelievable really. You come that far. You get cars on the roads, iPhones in the kids hands, you manage to keep drinks cold and keep rooms warm, and yet ash can keep millions from the air. Ash. The same ash from ye olde times, you know…big bangs and dinosaurs.

As my younger brother, Luke, pointed out earlier on, with all this one can’t help but be reminded of a certain song from the late American folk singer, Malvina Reynolds. The Little Mouse.

A little mouse got into the wires
At the central clearing house in Buenos Aires.
One little mouse short circuited the computers,
Says a press dispatch from Reuters….

You can have a national public sector strike and get a letter in the post, hop onto a Dublin Bus or go shopping around town. Volcanic ash from Iceland but, that’ll ruin your weekend.

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The Rags- Uniforms and Neckties

Posted in Music, tagged , on April 16, 2010| 3 Comments »

Perhaps a tad ‘NSFW’. If you’re too old to know what that means, never mind.

Firstly, before the song. They had me at this. It’s WB Yeats, if he was a Sega Mega Drive character.

That’s the cover of A National Light, coming in May from Dublin band The Rags.

I stumbled across this band on another website, you know the one. One friend posts it, another friend shares it, and the cycle continues.

Anyway, do I know anything about their music? Hmm, nothing beyond what I’ve seen in the video above, and the few tracks I’ve played over on their MySpace (remember that?). But christ, what a video. Yeah yeah, so it’s loaded with a load of randomers off the internet, this is true.

Look a bit closer but, and there’s a bit of Dublin in there. I’ve spotted two popular nightclubs and a familiar face or three. A couple of internet memes chucked in, a few eejits with guitars, big gangs of lads kicking seven shades out of each other (and that could well be from outside a Dublin Derby, if you believe the papers) and all I’m not really getting is Hitler. Suppose, when you’ve everything else in your music video……

The song is very catchy, it’s been in my head all day. I really like the sound of this one, and the fact it’s clearly a Dublin band from the vocals (Nothing like that ‘Never been to London’ indie-band accent) , not to mention how strong the lyrics are. On the back of this and the other songs I’ve heard on their site, I look forward to hearing more. There seems to be a slew of EPs and Singles out there already, before pixely-faced Yeats hits the shelves.

They’ll be in Whelans on the 29th of May, in a post-exam world.

“Our time was never really well invested
Or thoughtfully spent, keeping abreast of the rent
And when I walk home, it’s usually alone
That way I won’t lower the tone”

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Yer only happy, on Grant Payment day

Posted in Football Articles, tagged , , , , , , , on April 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

Low lie the fields of Belfield Bowl
Where once we watched the great college play
Evan McMillian is our captain
We have dreams and songs to sing
Of the glory round the fields of Belfield Bowl…

I recently wrote a brief bit on the new UCD noisey fans section (they don’t seem to like the term Ultras), who I noticed down at Richmond Park (Who, to their credit, kept singing at 3 goals down. “3 nil, and you still won’t sing…”, coming from Block B)

“Fair play to the lads behind it, as if you can get something like that off the ground at Belfield, you can probably do it anywhere. That’s not having a go at UCD AFC as a team, but it’s probably fair to say if you’re in UCD and a League of Ireland fan- you went there with a team in your life already. Shels, Bohs, Pats, Rovers and a few more to boot, the city is carved up nicely. If you haven’t fallen for a side by the time you go to college, it’s unlikely you’ll become a diehard out of the blue”

Belfield 2011?

Anyway, The University Observer, the official paper of the UCD student body, has just carried out this fantastic interview with the lads behind the new group.

“It’s a bunch of lads having a bit of craic,” he began, musingly. “We’ve always gone to League of Ireland games but not really to support one team. We just said this year we’re going to take on a team and reckoned UCD would be the team with the least fans. So we decided we’d be their fans.”

Some business savvy individual at UCD AFC sorted the lads out with Season Tickets and since then they’ve been attracting a few new individuals, joining with them on match nights. This really is a success story in my own opinion, bringing a bit of life to the game at Belfield.

My only criticism of the lads? Far too nice. Coming to Inchicore and not going beyond a round of ‘Same old Patricks, always cheating’. Whatever about the ‘junkie’ abuse from other Dublin clubs, or the abuse we return- the game is nothing without it. Get stuck in lads. Tax robbing bastards owe us nothing else.

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Get Innocuous

Posted in Events, Music, tagged , , , , on April 15, 2010| 2 Comments »

If you’re getting along to LCD Soundsystem next Tuesday (you lucky git) be sure to swing up to this one in The Button Factory afterwards.

It is in times of severe recession when charities need money most, but of course many of us don’t have the money to give. The fact that the doortax from this DJ set is going to the homeless makes it a very worthwhile cause, and for broke youngsters it’s nice to be able to dance like a fool and do your bit. It doesn’t take a genius to notice a major increase in the amount of homeless people on the streets of Dublin in the last year or so.

“all proceeds go to the ‘They Are Us’ project in aid of the homeless in Dublin”

Tickets can be picked up at The Good Bits, All City Records, or over on tickets.ie

Now, have a song. All 10 minutes of the Soulwax remix of Get Innocuous. God, I love this.

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Clarke’s Dublin

Posted in Dublin History, tagged , , , , on April 15, 2010| 4 Comments »

In 1897 J.J. Clarke left Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, to study medicine at the Royal University, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin. He was a keen amateur photographer and the pictures here were all taken between 1897 and 1904. What is most remarkable for the time is his almost journalistic eye for catching people in candid shots rather than photographing formal poses or streetscapes. He died unmarried at the age of 82, and 300 original prints or glass negatives survived to be donated to the archive by his nephew, Brian Clarke.

You can view the whole collection here .

Can you work out what modern watering hole the women are walking past in the last photo?

Man with umbrella standing at the junction of Nassau Street, Grafton Street and Suffolk Street. Hamilton, Long and Co., Apothecaries, No. 107 Grafton Street in background.

Men walking outside cigar shop on Grafton Street. Two men in foreground, walking past No. 67 Grafton Street, R. G. Lewers, ladies outfiting and baby linen warehouse, and No. 66, Tobacconists.

Car driving past the Shelbourne Hotel, St. Stephen

Man in top hat strolling on Earlsfort Terrace. Building in the background is possibly no 1A or No. 1 Earlsfort Terrace. The spire of the Magdalen Asylum and Church on Leeson Street is visible in the background.

Two women, both wearing hats, one wearing fur collar, walking outside Nos. 94 & 95 Grafton St., Edmond Johnson Limited Jewellers.

Woman walking past stationery shop, O

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The Cast Of Cheers

Posted in Music, tagged , , on April 14, 2010| 2 Comments »

I’ll do anything other than write essays at the minute. With four or five of the dreaded things at my front door ringing the doorbell, I’ve disconnected the thing and set the phone calendar back a few days. Not really, but I’m not far off.

Anyway, yesterday during one of my ‘breaks’ from Microsoft Word I finally got around to checking out a Dublin band I’ve wanted to give a listen to for a long time now, The Cast Of Cheers. Not even the term ‘Robot Rock’ was putting me off. I’ll pop into town and buy the album I figured.

The.Album.Is.Bloody.Free

Write ups like this one, from Nialler9, convinced me it was worth the right click/save.

“The album is a fully-formed 33-minute blast of post-punk, looping post-rock, tightly-wound songs with echoes of touchstones like Battles, Foals and Death From Above 1979”

You can download the entire thing here
Goose, which has been in my head all day, is the stand out track for me. For those of you who don’t like clicking external links because you haven’t read all the great, great content below this post, I’ve embedded it below here. Give it a play, and then do the right thing and fill your MP3 player.


Still, even after playing that a good five times, I’d be lying if I claimed to have a clue what Robot Rock is.

If I get those damn essays out of the way,
28th April – Whelans – with Crystal Antlers.
looks just a bit appealing.

Antlers being second only to Swing, and not Castles- in the Crystal Department.

Do you see what I've done there?

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A hidden historical gem: The British Army and Irish Volunteers graves at Dr. Steeven’s Hospital, and a well timed auction.

Posted in Dublin History, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2010| 13 Comments »

The Hospital today...

...and as it would have looked at the time.

Images of graves below.

Seven men, two members of the Irish Volunteers and five British Army soldiers, are buried side by side in what is literally the back garden of Dr. Steeven’s Hospital.

This is not a graveyard, but as stated above quite literally a garden. The two graves could not be physicially closer, or more symbolically diffferent, than they are.

Of the British Army men, almost all belong to Irish Regiments.

The names of the men are provided in the images below underneath their respective headstones. Of the rebel casualties, one belonged to the Fingal Battalion and one to the 4th Battalion Dublin Brigade. The Fingal Battalion, or ‘North Dublin Battalion’, for the most part fought with Thomas Ashe during the insurrection. His burial here shows that sometimes people ended up in random locations owing to their time of arrival or other commitments, or simply due to the need for reinforcements in parts of the city. The 4th Battalion are associated with the action at the South Dublin Union where they served under Éamonn Ceannt. His Battalion is said to have numbered around 120 men. Volunteer Sean Owens, who belonged to that Battalion, was twenty four years old at the time of the insurrection, and from the Coombe area of Dublin.Interesting information regarding the fight leading to his death can be found in Uncommon Valour by Paul O’ Brien, published by Mercier Press. He is said to have been killed less than two hours into the taking of the South Dublin Union, and is therefore one of the earliest casualties of the Republican side.

Volunteer Peter Wilson, a Swords native, was shot after the surrender of the Mendicity Institution. This group of Volunteers were to hold the position for a number of hours, but managed to hold out until Wednesday. Despite emerging under a white flag, Wilson was shot and killed. He was 40 years old at the time.

By pure chance, the 1916 service medal of Volunteer Owens is currently listed in an upcoming auction at Whytes auction house in Dublin City. It is valued, amazingly, at €15,000 to €20,000.

Lot 165, its description reads:

“1916 Rising Service Medal to Private John Owens, B Company, 4th Battalion, killed in action, South Dublin Union, 24 April. €15,000- €20,000”

The medal of one of our Volunteers below

This amazing photograph below from the gravesite at Steeven’s Hospital is included in the lot, and more information is available here at invaluable.com

Photo of a memorial service in the hospital grounds, from the Irish Press September 1935

Notice that one of the British Army men buried here is a Lancer who died on the 24th of April, 1916. Lancers came under fire on the first day of the rebellion from the Four Courts Garrison and, more famously, the rebel headquarters at the General Post Office. Other Lancers are buried in Grangegorman Cemetery today, where one grave notes that the man was “Killed during the Irish Rebellion”

Three of the men buried here belonged to the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, which was based at Richmond Barracks, under Lt.Col R L Owens. Their strength at the time of the insurrection was 18 officers and 385 other ranks.

Ceannt photographed with Irish Volunteers

A grave holding two Irish Volunteers sits right next to one holding five British Army soldiers (Four from Irish Regiments)

Easter lillies on the grave of the two Irish Volunteers

We had to rub the British Army headstone down with a wet cloth to be able to read the text, which I think you can see clearly below.

The headstone to the British Army casualties

G.W Barnett
Sherwood Foresters
27th April 1916

O. Bentley
5th Lancers
24th April 1916

M. Carr
3rd Bn. Royal Irish Regiment
24th April 1916

J. Duffy
3rd Bn. Royal Irish Regiment
24th April 1916

T.Treacy
3rd Bn. Royal Irish Regiment
24th April 1916

The text of the Volunteers gravestone. Notice the 'Oglaidh na hÉireann' logo.

Vol. Sean Owens
4th Batt. Dublin Brigade

Vol. Peter Wilson
Fingal Brigade

Want to visit the graves? Dr. Steeven’s Hospital is the building right across the way from Heuston Station.

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In Handel’s Day (April 13, 2010)

Posted in Events, tagged , , , , , , , on April 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Click to visit official website.

On April 13th 1742, Handel’s Messiah, one of the most famous musical pieces in the world, was first performed on Fishamble Street in Temple Bar. We will commemorate this with a fun and uplifting outdoor event Messiah on the Street, as well as a range of highlights including an extra special performance of A Global Hallelujah by three national schools in Dublin. We are also very excited to be able to expand this year’s programme to include traditional Irish music; as well as offering dance workshops and an outdoor Movie on the Square. .

Some highlights:

10am: Handel & Dublin in 1742 – Talk By Professor Barra Boydell

What did Handel encounter when he visited Dublin?
Professor Barra Boydell, music historian and expert presents a fascinating talk about the life, times and music of Handel in 18th century Dublin.

Venue: The New Theatre, 43 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Tickets: FREE – No booking required just come along.

11am: Let’s Walk & Talk: Handel’s Dublin—Then & Now

Historical walking tour with Pat Liddy.

A walk around some of the Dublin streets that still echo with the sounds of George Friderich Handel’s visit in 1742/3 and finishing in Fishamble Street to hear the annual performance of excerpts from his Messiah.

Meeting Point: Wolfe Tone Park, Mary Street, Dublin 1 (beside Jervis Shopping Centre)
Tickets: FREE – No Booking required, just come along!

The full programme of events can be viewed

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ADW

Posted in Events, tagged , , , , on April 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This looks interesting. From Thursday through to Sunday, there will be an exhibition of the stencil work of the artist ADW in town, at The Back Loft Gallery.

At first, I didn’t connect the name with anyone in particular, but after a brief look at the website I went “oh! Yer man!”. The broke leprauchan with his pockets stretched, the Gardaí arresting Monopoly Man, Brian Cowen with his “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge” signboard, all great images.

And so it begins! My new show will be opening on the 15th of April at the very stylish Back Loft Gallery. There will be an opening reception on Thursday the 15th of April 6pm-8pm and all are welcome. Then daily viewings from Friday the 16th until Sunday the 18th, 1-7pm and Sunday until 5pm

Despite currently getting to terms with a serious mountain of essays, I hope I can swing into this on Sunday.

Sadly, in Dublin, this kind of stuff rarely lasts too long and the shite nobody wants or needs to know about Anto and his girlfriend stays up on the wall forever. No justice.

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Mos Def to Sean O Riada, Belfield to Brooklyn

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

That time of the year again, when the Irish Film Institute roll out their annual Stranger Than Fiction festival. “Four days of documentaries that promise to entertain, inform and inspire” You can check out the complete line up over on the official IFI website, here.

Among the latest in the IFI Archive screenings, I am very, very excited about The Irish or the Memory of a People. Commissioned by French broadcaster ORFT3 in the early 1970s, this one was filmed at the height of the folk and trad revival in this country. It features performances from the likes of The Dubliners, Tony MacMahon, Willie Clancy and even Planxty. The Planxty footage was recorded at UCD Belfield campus, so bad jumpers and beards can be expected from the student folkies. The documentary features footage from inside Dublin trad and folk haunts like the Pipers Club, but indeed is much broader in scope than just the capital city.

The film will be shown on the 18th April (a Sunday) at 12.15

I’m also really excited by this one, which is getting its International Premiere in Dublin. I’m sure it will appeal to our own jaycarax and other fans of subcultures like it. From the time I heard ESG and Talking Heads in the trailer to when I read that Debbie Harry of Blondie fame is narrating the documentary, I’ve been on a google quest over this one.

“In the late 1970s New York City was teetering on the edge of total chaos. A failed economy, crime and en masse housing corruption gave way to a city in crisis. Yet, as is often the case, out of the economic and social strife that held the city hostage, a family of homegrown cultures that would forever change the world began to emerge and thrive”

This one will be shown on Friday the 16th April, with a 18.45 start. The producer, Michael Holman, will be on hand for a Q&A session afterwards.

Two very different documentaries.
Two very different cultures.

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Ahernia

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , , , , on April 10, 2010| 2 Comments »

My thanks to my friend Emma for the snap, this is why we have camera phones.

Notice the book to the left? You couldn’t make it up. Snapped in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, West Dublin.

“Well Bertie pronouncing himself as a socialist wasn’t a surprise to me because funny enough, I believe Bertie Ahern is one of the few socialists in Dáil Eireann, and would have said that many many years ago”
-Charlie McCreevy

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