On 8 June 1973, five men were brought before District Justice Breathnach in Dublin District Court 6. They were all members of the Hare Krishna grouping. A Garda detective rose before the courts, and stated that:
They were walking down Grafton Street playing music and making a lot of noise. I had cautioned them on previous occasions not to play music to the annoyance of the inhabitants of the street….They were using cymbals and drums and bells. They were walking in single file but people had to walk in the roadway to avoid them.
Charged with obstructing traffic while playing instruments, the Judge asked if any of the five before him spoke English, only to hear that three came from Ireland. Angered by the presence of a cylindrical drum suspended from the neck of one the men, the Judge informed them that “I can warn you that you are lucky not to have been assaulted by a crowd. Any decent Irishman would object to this carry-on.” Going one further, he complained that “I’ve no jurisdiction to order a forfeiture of those things, bells and leaflets. If I had, I’d be fairly radical and confiscate those nonsensical things.” The five were fined seven pounds each and sent on their way, but outside there was more to come when The Irish Times reported a Garda as asking the five why they prayed the way they did. “You should pray in the church”, he told them, “and even then the priests don’t pray all day.”
A bad day for tolerance in Ireland then, a country clearly still adapting to the new presence on its streets, in the form of practising Hare Krishnas. Their first appearances in the Irish media seem to have been in 1971, though then it was their London equivalent who were being discussed, with the Inside London column of The Irish Times noting that “not that it could ever happen in Dublin: we already have our Jesus freaks.”
Essentially, The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is a faith group dating back to 1966. Its followers ” dedicate their thoughts and actions towards pleasing the Supreme Lord, Krishna”, and today it runs an impressive international network that includes over 50 schools and 90 restaurants, several of which are here in Dublin.
1973 saw the group the focus of huge media attention in Ireland. Not alone had the recent arrivals attracted the scorn of Gardaí and Judges, but there was huge general interest in their acquiring a premises, in the form of a bungalow overlooking Dublin Bay at Sutton. Following on from the remarks made by District Justice Breathnach, journalists flocked to the Hare Krishnas to hear their story, with Des Hickey from the Irish Independent writing that six men were living in the bungalow, or “temple” as they described it, able to live on £20 a week between them. He wrote that “After the chanting and praying and dancing, Narrahari brought me into a small room to show me rows of bottles of perfume he had made. They sell them in a Dublin market at weekends, with colourfully produced Krishna books.” Far from District Court 6, it seemed the people of Sutton were largely not bothered by their neighbours.
An Irish Press journalist visiting the home was introduced to Brendan, a young man from Drimnagh, who had become involved with the group though was not yet fully initiated. He may well have best captured the appeal of the group to young Dubliners at the time, noting that “I’ve been into a lot of things since I left school, you know? Things like Yoga, the Divine Light Mission, the hippies. I suppose I’ve been into a lot of isms”.
Rather unsurprisingly, the incredibly reactionary comments of the District Judge led to quite a lot of rather sympathetic coverage for the group, with a sort of eagerness to understand them in the media. The Irish Times followed several members from Dublin to Galway, on a “brief tour to towns and villages along the coat, preaching their antidote to the ills of modern life.” The group managed to get lost in the housing estates of Raheny first however, “looking for a laundry to collect some clean robes.”
Previously on the blog Sam has looked at the history of vegetarianism in Dublin. In a 1975 Irish Times article entitled ‘The Whole Vegetarian Thing’, Patrick Comerford quoted the owner of the Ormond Health Centre as saying the growth of organisations like the Hare Krishnas and the Divine Light Mission was contributing to a rise in demand for vegetarian produce in the city. Still, the group remained minuscule in Dublin with regards to numbers, and gradually media interest waned until the later half of the 1970s. Indeed, in 1975 the religious correspondent of the same newspaper asked “whatever happened to Hare Krishna?”
In 1978 a new premises was acquired at Belvedere Place, leading to a new media interest in the faith once more. This impressive premises, opened in what was a fine renovated Georgian House, gave some indication of the growth of the faith globally, and 50 to 60 people partook in the opening ceremony, with some travelling to Dublin for the occasion. No doubt in reference to the remarks made in 1973, The Irish Times asked “whether Dublin wants the knowledge which they claim they and their scriptures offer remains to be seen, but hopefully it has grown more tolerant since they were here before.” A follow-up article a year later would see the group claim that Ballymena in Antrim was “where they are received best” outside of Dublin, and the group claiming 30 full-time Irish devotees. The group welcomed the visit of the Pope in 1979, noting that “the essence of all religions is to develop love of God”.
Hmmm, having some sympathy for the prosecuting Guards, there is a first! I have had a couple of run-ins with the Hare’s recently blaring music from a stereo into the sleeping baby’s pram while waiting at pedestrian lights
They’re not the only ones. Some of our own would rattle your skeleton with the deep vibrations emanating from cars at traffic lights.
Find them creepy and cultish but I enjoy the food.
They made a memorable appearance on the The Late Late Show in 1979/80 where they shouted down an english woman who was also appearing on the show to promote her book about how to have a more satisfying sex life. The Hari’s said that sex was only for procreation and was to be abstained from otherwise. The Krishna doing the shouting was german and bombastic and very intolerant. Back in school on the monday our english teacher said that after the shock of their appearance wore off it was comforting to hear that what they were preaching in matters of sex was not much different from strict catholicism! There was low level shock in the Late Late audience when the woman promoting her book mentioned the word ‘orgasm’. Oh those were the days in Ireland!
In early 1981 I was standing on Grafton Street talking to Gavin Friday of the Virgin Prunes. This was in the days when he had an Eraserhead hairstyle. A bunch of Hari’s were giving out leaflets and one crossed over to say to him ‘I think your hair is really funny!’ Chanting, eating veggie food, shaving your head except for a little pigtail and dressing in orange robes doesn’t make someone more spiritual or look less unusual than a post punk.
My own experience of people who get involved in Krishna here in London back in the 80s/90s was they were likely to be ex drug users or people with low level mental health problems or who have come from abusive or insecure backgrounds or have personal issues related to their sexuality.
Wow a mixed bag of comments there – it’s a pity that nobody commenting saw the feature docu-movie – Hare Krishna, the mantra, the movement and the swami that made it all possible’ that aired at the Odeon cinema Point village last night. It would have given a historic view of the ISKCON movement development in the west and ancient historic religious roots that stem to pre-Christian times by several thousand years. You can still catch it in Belfast 23rd May at the Odeon or showing worldwide to capacity audiences for select screenings, check Demand films/hare Krishna movie for listings.
However to address some of the comments…there are always those who on the brink of euphoria when they finally find something meaningful in their lives to be a little over zealous in their approach but actually most religious preaching has an element of that – look at Christian missionary drives, Jehovah witnesses etc. and ISKCON has certainly had some over the years. Let me explain my perspective…from an inside point of view.
I am not drug addicted or anything addicted nor have I ever been. I had a Catholic education where any questioning of anything concerning religion was discouraged, punished and I was force fed those things that any inquiring mind would want to question. I sought answers from a young age – while still acting in life with all my friends/mates, playing in the playgrounds, going to discos etc I wasn’t dysfunctional in the sense portrayed in previous comments. I looked at other Christine groups, everything that was in Dublin at the time and I went on the family holidays etc.
I met the devotees first in 1974 and was not hugely impressed but read some literature, I was more taken by the chanting and eastern philosophical perspective where I could question. I continued my education and working life and my relationships, finally deciding to become a full-time member at the beginning of the 1980’s. I have continued my education, vegetarian lifestyle, and applying this practice to my third age. And while some friends and family members might argue to the contrary, I’m still not dysfunctional. In fact I’m an accomplished professional with academic achievements, children, grandchildren and many friends from all walks of life. I have chosen a path that suits me and will explain it to others interested. I will sing on the street when I want and don’t cause any more offence than anyone else singing in the streets. Possibly a lot less than those who are strewn intoxicated around the city after hours. I have compassion for the society that we have here in Ireland, the society that has been rocked by religious, state and social scandal. We have not been spared these as a microcosm of society but while the nostalgia is good, it would be nice to think we have moved beyond criticism without any foundation of knowledge
Just for the record, we are not sectarian, we seek a relationship with God and our movement is to preach. We are open to all to inquire and most of use are walking around in jeans, business suits and the clothes of daily life as we go about our business. We will dress ceremonially when it suits the occasion or our specific interest on any given day, or not as it suits us. What we preach is development of a Godly relationship between the individual and the Supreme, and a life of mindful engagement, compassion, peace, joy and harmony with nature – although we are striving for these. We do not support our lives by living on the lives of other living entities so we are vegetarian, quite a number of us vegan. We support a harmonious relationship with nature and the land. And we offer what we can to help others. We are just like anyone else in Dublin, living a life of self-chosen lifestyle, and we are here to stay.
On the other hand, my child was slapped by a ‘good Catholic’ when he was four when going into Eason’s in O’Connell Street and told to go back to his mother when I was tying my shoe lace – it left finger marks from a God fearing stranger on his young face. My children were persecuted in schools having no option for other education – so I took them back, taught them myself and two in turn teach other children in schools, one is a professional in his own field. All are wonderfully well balanced, some with children of their own. Bee-keepers, law enforcement, farming, teaching, mentoring, charity food distributing – all singing, all dancing – great craic, lovely people. My Hare Krishna grandchildren love sport, and helping others – packing mother’s day baskets from products that would have been dumped in land-fill. My kids have had all their teenage questions, their choice to their own lives and everything we could offer and I couldn’t be more proud of them. So what part of this is strange? The fact that as Irish people we were persecuted for trying to be religious, the attack of my son, the actual beating of devotees in Grafton Street in pre-permit busking days in Grafton Street, the dragging of devotees to court quoting religious grounds for intolerance – take your pick. I love being who I am and being a proud Hare Krishna devotee who on the best days is pretty well socially adjusted, hard working and loves nostalgia. But don’t be fooled, I don’t really think there’s a need to turn the comments into another ad hoc manner to show where we are still at in terms of tolerance and prejudices. But whatever rocks your boat, your life, your choice. Just try to remember the days where we made a blazing dash of colour in the open streets, there was a lot going on behind dark doors in our hard fought for, hard won land. Just saying….