Come Here To Me!

The Seahorses of Grattan Bridge. (Ci.)

Back in December we decided that the blog would make an attempt to fundraise for two worthy Dublin charities. We planned to do this in two ways. Firstly, we sold a limited edition print based on the cover of our recent book. For this, we owe huge thanks to Luke Fallon who designed the image, but we are also very much indebted to Mark and his team at Grehan Printers, who produced the top quality prints for the night.

This print was sold on the night of the booklaunch, and €400 was made which was then donated to the Simon Community. Simon do hugely important work for the homeless in Dublin, and against the backdrop of an awful winter were a very fitting charity.

—

In early January, we done something totally new and embarked on a Come Here To Me! Walking tour of Dublin. Over two days, we took over 50 readers of the blog on a tour of Dublin which looked at the offbeat side of the capitals history. We owe huge thanks to all who came on these tours, and personally I want to thank Ci and Sam who found themselves acting as tour guides for the first time, but who were both fantastic in the role. These tours raised €540, which has been donated to ALONE.

ALONE do vital work on behalf of the elderly in Dublin, and the charity was established by Dublin firefighter Willie Bermingham, a hero of mine and a man who embodied all that is good, decent and honest about Dublin and Dubliners. Willie penned his own epitaph before his death, in which he wrote that he:

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.”

Thanks to everyone who supported these two efforts, which raised €940 in total. We hope that in the future we can use Come Here To Me! again to fundraise for deserving Dublin causes, and we thank everyone for their continued support.