Come Here To Me!

Trinity College Dublin (Robert French collection, NLI.)

The antics of Trinity College Dublin students have made it into the national media on many occasions, but recently I stumbled on a particularly boisterous day out in 1914, when students went on a rampage in the city, attacking both the Mansion House and the offices of the Women's Social and Political Union among other places. A wild day out ended with ten students arrested, the Civic flag of the Mansion House ripped to pieces and Countess Markievicz, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and others on the wrong side of student pranksters.

Trinity Monday was a traditional June day of debauchery in Dublin. On that day, scholarships were traditionally awarded to leading students through a formal ceremony that occurred on the steps of the Examinations Hall in the front square of the college. In 1914, crowds gathered here to hear the Vice Provost announce the newest Fellows, but the Irish Independent reported that "after the announcements had been made signs of some excitement became noticeable." The students made a rush for the gates of the college and towards the city, but were turned back by college authorities. Previous years had seen Trinity Monday descend into pranks and games on the streets of the city, and the college was hell-bent on preventing a repeat. It was reported however in the newspapers that there was a rush of hundreds of students for the Lincoln Place gates, with some emerging from over the railings of the university. From here, their day would take some amazing turns.

Shortly after midday, there were unexpected visitors at the offices of the Women's Social and Political Union on Clare Street. The Irish Independent reported that “a large number of the students arrived here” and that “a number of them bundled papers and banners together and threw them out of the window to a cheering crowd outside.” Not content with this, a political flag belonging to the movement was stolen, which was later carried triumphantly from the building.

Media coverage of the ‘escapades’ of the Trinity students (Irish Independent)

The real headline grabber of the day out was yet to come. Still clutching the stolen flag of the female political activists, the students made for the Mansion House, and rushed the building as a delivery was taking place.The day had taken a rather sinister turn just prior to this, with the students assault a cabman who refused to drive them to the Mansion House free of charge from outside the Kildare Street Club, and he later required hospitalisation. At the Mansion House, bizarre scenes followed.

The Irish Times reported that:

On a landing they found the municipal flag, which owing to the absence of the Lord Mayor from the city was not hoisted on the pole on the house-top. The students tore up the flag, and hoisted the ‘Suffragette’ flag upon the flagpole. For an hour this floated over the Mansion House.

Loud cheering and laughter was reported outside from the assembled students and curious Dubliners, but this was not to be the last of the days antics.

The students marched in the direction of Grafton Street, where the next victim was a bellman working at an auctioneers premises. It was noted that “his bell was commandeered and the man himself, despite his protests, was taken on the shoulders of a number of the students and a solemn procession, with the bell leading the way, was formed down to College Green.” The bellman was carried as far as the Theatre Royal Winter Gardens, where he was substituted for a large advertisement hoarding, of the music hall singer George Lashwood. The celebrated singer was performing at the theatre at the time, but for the students, the huge hoarding was destined for the River Liffey. The Irish Times reported that this huge hoarding was so heavy it took twelve students to carry it to O’Connell Bridge.

Above: A performance by George Lashwood.

The suffrage activists hadn’t had their final run-in with the students however. At Nelson’s Pillar, one student gave a sarcastic speech in which he said “Gentlemen, we are all in favour of votes for women, and we shall now proceed to the offices of the Suffragettes.” The second political offices of the day to be targeted was on Westmoreland Street, where among others Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and the Countess Markievicz were present. These offices were also ransacked, but the students were confronted and attacked by “a male sympathiser of the Suffragettes.” Most of the mob made for Amiens Street Train Station to welcome the Trinity Athletic team into the city, but the day was about to come to an abrupt end for the partying students, as the cabman who had been assaulted earlier in the day and a number of Suffragette activists arrived to identify the ringleaders of the gang under police protection. Ten students in total were arrested, and fines were handed out for the damage done to the Mansion House flag and the Suffragette offices. The college also took action against the students, with expulsions handed out to the participants.

An unprecedented and bizarre protest followed this, with Trinity students staging a mock ‘funeral’ the following week through Dublin, with the Irish Independent estimating that between 400 and 500 students from the college marched in Dublin in costume, and that “vigorous cheering” was indulged in at the Suffragette offices on Westmoreland Street. Escorting all this were donkey ‘cavalry’ riders, dressed in the costumes of clowns. The newspaper reported that “the whole parade was characterised by fun and merriment, and provided unlimited amusement to the spectators.” Yet I wonder just how amusing the female activists who had their offices trashed by these same students a week earlier found it.

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On 13 October 1970 Saor Eire member Liam Walsh, a welder and fitter by trade and father of four, was killed in a premature explosion when himself and another member Martin Casey were planting a device at a railway line at the rear of McKee army base off Blackhorse Avenue in Dublin.

Joining the Republican Movement in 1953, Walsh had been the commanding officer of the south Dublin unit of the IRA during the late 1950s and was interned for a time in the Curragh. He lived at 50 Tyrone Place, Inchicore and, at the time of his death, was awaiting trail on charge of taking part in an armed bank raid at Baltinglass in August 1969.

Liam Walsh in IRA uniform. Photograph belonged to the late Paddy Browne.

We have been passed on some photographs of his funeral by Barbara O’Reilly. The photographs belonged to the late Paddy Browne who can be seen in the third picture with beard carrying a flag at the front of the colour party .

The funeral took place on 17 October 1970 and was attended by over 3,000 people.

The cortege left from Inchicore, was diverted down O’Connell Street and marched all the way to Mount Jerome cemetery in Harold’s Cross.

Funeral of Liam Walsh (Saor Eire), 1970. Photos were in possession of the late Paddy Browne

Here is the cortege as it made its way down O’Connell Street. Note the two hands with revolvers.

The Irish Times (20 October 1970) described how after a piper played a lament:

Two men, dressed in black berets and anoraks, fired four rounds of ammunition into the air as a tribute to the dead man.

An estimated 50 gardai and a dozen special branch accompanied the cortege but no action was taken.

Funeral of Liam Walsh (Saor Eire), O’Connell St, 1970. Photos were in possession of the late Paddy Browne

Here is the colour party as it entered the cemetery. The Irish Times (19 October 1970) reported that an elderly man shouted ‘So long soldier!” as his coffin was being lowered.

Funeral of Liam Walsh (Saor Eire) arriving at Mount Jerome Cemetery, 1970. Photos were in possession of the late Paddy Browne

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Recently, I bought an old second-hand copy of And Nelson on his Pillar, a retrospective history of the Pillar that was published a decade on from the explosion in 1966.

From buying second-hand books over the years, I know that anything and everything can fall out of them. Old currency, bus passes, mass cards, match tickets and you name it. Still, I was surprised when I opened this book to see a picture of three kids on top of the monument, looking down over Dublin from the viewing platform! Not alone this, but the youngsters were named as Robert, Stephen and Russell. Taken in 1959, it’s highly likely they are still among us today, but they could be anywhere in the world.I’ve a hunch the kids might be English, owing to the fact that they refer to Nelson’s Column and not Nelson’s Pillar.

Click to expand and get a better view. Do us a favour and share this one around!

‘Robert, Stephen and Russell on top of Nelson’s Column, June 1959.”

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This Sunday, I’m happy to be taking part in a discussion at the History Festival of Ireland. This is the second year of the event, and it is taking place “amidst the ruins and walled gardens of Ducketts Grove in Co. Carlow.” There is a great line up of events for the weekend, with Saturday and Sunday both seeing discussions on everything from the Bronze Age to the 1913 Lockout. The full programme is available to read here.

The discussion I’m taking part in is on history in the 21st century, and I’m sharing the panel with people who I think are doing very interesting things as far as bringing history to a mainstream audience is concerned.

Sunday – 1.15pm A Future for Our Past: History in the 21st Century – Roisin Higgins (chair & author of ‘Transforming 1916′), Donal Fallon (co-founder of the Come Here to Me blog), Tommy Graham (founder of History Ireland magazine) and Neil Jackman (founder of Abarta Audioguides) on the way in which our understanding of history is being honed by technology.

The event is being organised by Turtle Bunbury, who also runs the brilliant Wistorical page on Facebook. It has posted a few Dublin gems in recent times, including a brilliant little tidbit on the 1911 Census Form of 1916 leader Seán Mac Diarmada.

Seán enjoyed filling out the census form in April 1911. Under “Marriage”, the 26-year-old remarked “Single, but not for long” and under “Disabilities” he wrote “heart-broken from being single”.

Under “Religion”, he entered “Náisiuntacht na h-Eireann”, meaning “The Nationhood of Ireland”. This was helpfully, but erroneously, translated by the enumerator as “Church of Ireland”.

At the time Seán was living at 15 Russell Place, Dublin…

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A cast of Jonathan Swift’s skull, at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (Credit:LIFE)

A rather unusual story from the history of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral involves the remains of Jonathan Swift and his companion Esther Johnson, popularly known as Stella. Today, a visitor to the cathedral will see the epitaph Swift himself wrote. While it is in Latin, it has been translated into English as follows:

Here is laid the Body
of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Sacred Theology,
Dean of this Cathedral Church,

where fierce Indignation
can no longer
injure the Heart.
Go forth, Voyager,
and copy, if you can,
this vigorous (to the best of his ability)
Champion of Liberty.

He died on the 19th Day of the Month of October,
A.D. 1745, in the 78th Year of his Age.

Among the exhibited items in the Cathedral today is a cast of the skull of Swift, but incredibly this cast dates to 1835, ninety years after the passing of the Dean. William Wilde, the father of none other than Oscar Wilde, would later detail the examinations upon the skull. Wilde was a prominent medical figure in Dublin, a leading eye and ear surgeon as well as author of several works on medicine. In his work The Closing Years of the Life of Dean Swift he described the exhuming of the body in 1835 in some detail.

A plaque to Wilde upon the family home at Merrion Square today.

By 1835, the magnificent Cathedral found itself in dire need of restoration and renovation owing to water damage, and Wilde notes in his study that the frequency of flooding in the River Poddle led to much injury to the cherished cathedral. Repairs to the Vaults led to the exposure of the coffins of Swift and Stella, and Wilde stresses in his study that the repairs were “the sole cause of these sacred relics being again exposed.”

Incredibly, these coffins were not alone moved but actually opened, and among those present was the anatomist Dr. John Houston, who described the remains of Swift by writing of how “the bones were all clean, and in a singularly perfect state of preservation. When first removed, they were nearly black, but on being dried they assumed a brownish colour.”

Not alone were the coffins of the dead opened, but the skulls of both Stella and Swift were removed from the Cathedral, for examination by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. As Wilde notes:

The British Association were, at that very time,meeting in Dublin, and the skulls of Swift and Stella were then removed, for the purpose of being phrenologicaly examined by the corps of phrenologists that used to follow in the wake of that learned body…

For those unfamiliar with the term, Phrenology can be described as “a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or module.”

Casts and drawings of the skulls survive from 1835, and a number of these drawings were used as illustrations in the work of William Wilde:

From Wilde’s study.

The observations made by one examiner of the skull seem quite humourous today, given the status of Swift as one of the greatest wits in Irish history:

On looking at Swift’s skull, the first thing that struck me was the extreme lowness of the forehead, those parts which the phrenologists have marked out as the organs of wit, casualty and comparison, being scarcely developed at all.

It has been noted that the skulls were ‘going the rounds’ at the time, becoming objects of great curiosity to Dubliners and visitors alike, and while the main examination of the skull was said to have occurred at the home of Sir Henry Marsh, Wilde notes in his study that “during the week or ten days which elapsed before they were returned….they were carried to most of the learned, as well as all the fashionable societies of Dublin.”

The manner in which the skulls were examined angered many at the time, and brought considerable criticism upon the then Dean of the Cathedral. Swift and Stella’s skulls were thankfully brought back to the cathedral. William Wilde’s study of the Dean is a very readable work available to read in full here, and particularly interesting is Wilde’s observation that a loose bone in Swift’s inner ear (Ménière’s disease) was responsible for much of his behaviour that was sometimes presented as insanity.

Wilde noted that:

… neither in his expression, nor the tone of his writing, nor from an examination of any of his acts, have we been able to discover a single symptom of insanity, nor aught but the effects of physical disease, and the natural wearing and decay of a mind such as Swift’s.

Today, a cast of Stella’s skull can be seen in Marsh’s Library, next to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, while Swift’s can be viewed at the cathedral.

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Many thanks to Mick Healy for sending these on.

‘Postcard views of Dublin’

O’Connell St

College Green

Parnell Monument

St. Stephen’s Green

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P.H Pearse, one of the signatories of the 1916 proclamation, executed for his role in the rebellion.

The afterlife of the Nelson Pillar on O’Connell Street is every bit as interesting as its lifespan, and from the late 1960s onwards various committees and campaign groups lobbied with the aim of placing a monument in the location where Nelson had stood. One reaccuring proposal was to replace Nelson with a monument to Patrick Pearse. Indeed, the idea of putting Pearse on top of the monument was even floating around before the destruction of the Pillar, with a motion calling for Nelson to be removed and replaced by the revolutionary leader brought before Dublin Corporation in August 1948.

In 1979, architect Yann Goulet brought forward a controversial model for a proposed Pearse monument to the City Council.

Architect Yann Goulet with his proposed monument to Patrick Pearse, photographed at City Hall in 1979.

Higher than the GPO, and containing over £150,000 worth of bronze, the proposal was ridiculed when brought towards the City Council, with Councillor Frank Sherwin stating “it should be thrown in the Liffey”, while Councillor Hanna Barlow described it as “the yoke”. The proposed 100-foot-high abstract monument did not enjoy significant support from any quarters, but it is was just one proposed monument in honour of Pearse for the site. An earlier proposal in the same year came from the Pearse Commemoration Committee, who proposed a much more traditional style monument, to be carried out by sculptor Gary Trimble. The Irish Independent newspaper totally opposed any monument to Pearse in an editorial which noted:

If anything is to replace the Pillar, it should be something which will bring people together, and not something which will caused divisiveness and bitterness, as the proposed Pearse statue is clearly destined to do.

There were wild scenes at one meeting to discuss a proposed Pearse monument, when Lord Mayor Paddy Belton condemned the Pearse Commemoration Committee as “a bunch of Provos”, insisting that members of Sinn Féin were to the fore of the campaign to honour Pearse on O’Connell Street. This was a hugely controversial remark, as the Pearse committee had come from a very broad spectrum of Irish society, including Gael Linn and other Irish language groups. Bord Fáilte also objected to any planned memorial to Pearse, a surprise blow to the campaign, on the grounds that “it may interfere with the view of the GPO which is the vocal point of O’Connell Street.”

Trimble’s proposed monument was comparable in size to the monument to Parnell, and would show Pearse reading from a book, surrounded by children:

Trimble’s proposed monument.

Various points of view on any proposed monument to Pearse were reported in the media, ranging from over-the-top praise (“The messiah of the nation’s revival” in the words of Frank Sherwin) to calls for a monument that would be inclusive of the other 1916 leaders. Tomas Mac Giolla for example noted that James Connolly should not be forgotten in any monument at the site. The Pearse pressure group continued to campaign for the placing of a monument to Pearse on O’Connell Street, even if the Pillar site itself was off-limits. Councillor Pat Carroll reportedly pondered if it would be possible “to take down one of the monuments in O’Connell Street, such as that of John Gray, which did not seem to be too important.” However with Gray’s leading role in establishing a clean water supply for much of Dublin, I’d argue today he is far from unimportant!

Today, James Connolly remains the only one of the seven signatories of the proclamation with a statue in Dublin city centre.

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There have been a small but not insignificant number of reactionary murders in Dublin and on the island of Ireland since the 1920s. I have tried to compile a list of these here. They are divided up into areas of anti-Semitism, homophobia and racism.

I have purposely not included murders in regard to nationality (Irish/English) or religion (Catholic/Protestant), as due to this island’s history, these are a completely different matter.

Obviously not all murders of ‘foreign nationals’ in Ireland can be considered ‘racist’. Those that have been included all had a racial element to them though.

Anti-Semitism:

31 October 1923: Bernard Goldberg, Dublin
Golderg (42), a Manchester jeweller and father of four, was shot on St Stephen’s Green after three men had stopped him and his brother Samuel and demanded their names.

The Weekly Irish Times, 3 November 1923.

14 November 1923: Emmanuel Kahn, Dublin
Dublin-born Kahn (24) of Lennox Street, was gunned down in Stamer Street in Portobello as he returned home after an evening playing cards. David Millar, who was with him in the Jewish Club in Harrington Street, was also shot in the shoulder but managed to stagger home.

The principal instigator of these two murders was Commandant James Patrick Conroy, who claimed to have resigned from the army in December 1924 because he disagreed with the policy of the then government. He fled to Mexico and then to the United States, along with with two other suspects, after the incidents. No-one was ever convicted. A curious footnote to the whole affair was found in remarks in the Dail in February 1934, when Fianna Fail finance minister Sean McEntee claimed that one of the killers was walking free, and was a member of the fascist-style Blueshirts organisation.

Sexuality:

3 June 1979: Anthony McCleave, Belfast
McLeave was murdered in one of the city’s best known ‘cruising areas’. He was found with his head rammed onto a spike on a protective bollard outside the fire station on Chichester Street. The RUC closed the case within twenty-four hours but was it reopened after a campaign by the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association (NIGRA) which was backed by the McCleave family. No-one was ever charged with his death.

8 September 1982: John Roche, Cork
Roche (29), a gay man, was murdered by Michael O’Connor in the Munster Hotel in Cork City. The victim, who worked in the hotel as a night porter, was found tied to a chair in one of the bedrooms. He had been stabbed in the chest with a 15cm (6″ ) knife. Repulsed by the victim’s alleged advances O’Connor stabbed Roche, telling him “Your gay days are over”. Michael O’Connor was found by a jury to be not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Evening Press, 11th May 1983. Credit – Irish Queer Archive

November 1982: Henry McLarnon, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
McLarnon (22), father of two, was murdered by Richard John Nicholl in Ballymena. In court, Nicholl said that McLarnon had lured him to the quarry where he had made a sexual advance. In response, he stabbed McLarnon with a work tool. There was controversy at the trial when Nicholl was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter and received a two-year suspended sentence. In 2002, Nicholl took his own life.

21 January 1982: Charles Self, Dublin
Self (33), a RTE set designer originally from Glasgow, was murdered in his flat on Brighton Avenue, Monkstown. He was found with knife wounds to his chest and neck. The investigation led to almost 1,500 gay men being questioned, photographed and fingerprinted at Pearse Street Garda Station. For many in the gay community, it felt like the police were more interested in compiling dossiers on gay men rather than solving the brutal murder. No-one was ever charged.

9 September 1983: Declan Flynn, Fairview Park, Dublin
Flynn (31), an Aer Rianta worker, was beaten to death by a group of five teenagers in a ‘gay-bashing’ incident in Fairview Park. The gang had been responsible for a spate of attacks on gay men in previous weeks and it emerged that they used the park to target members of the gay community. As Flynn lay dying, £4 from his pocket and his watch was stolen. In court, one of the teenagers admitted that “we were all part of the team to get rid of the queers from Fairview Park”. The five male teenagers were all released on a suspended manslaughter charge with Judge Sean Gannon saying “This could never be regarded as murder”.

Fairview Park Protest March photographed on Amiens Street by Derek Speirs, courtesy “Out For Ourselves” (Womens Community Press, 1986). Credit – Irish Queer Archives

7 February 1997: David J. Templeton, Belfast
Templeton (43) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland who was murdered after he was ‘outed’ as a gay man by the Sunday Life newspaper. Three men wearing balaclavas, believed to have been UVF members, entered his home in north Belfast and beat him with baseball bats with spikes driven through them. He died in hospital several weeks later.

(Note: Some websites list Darren Bradshaw, a gay men and RUC officer, murdered in 1997 by the INLA as a homophobic murder. However, it is probably fair to say that he was killed because of his occupation rather than his sexuality?)

7 September 2002: Ian Flanagan, Belfast
Flanagan (30), a civil servant, was battered with a wheel brace and stabbed with a kitchen knife in the grounds of Barnett’s Demesne park. His two killers ‘deliberately set out to target a member of the gay community’. Raymond Taylor was sentenced to 13 years and Trevor Peel was given 14 years.

3 December 2002: Aaron (Warren) McCauley, Belfast
McCauley (54), a nurse for over 30 years at Muckamore Abbey hospital, was lured and battered to death in a well-known ‘cruising’ spot. He was found in an alley just 30 yards from the Church Lane toilets and died two days later without regaining consciousness. The attack was believed to have been motivated by homophobia. His injuries consisted of a blow to the side of the head and another to the throat. Nobody was ever charged.

23 March 2008: Shaun Fitzpatrick, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
Fitzpatrick (32), a supermarket manager, was kicked to death after leaving Donaghy’s Bar by two homophobic Lithuanian men. The court heard that when Mr Fitzpatrick’s body was found, he had been beaten so savagely that paramedics thought he had been shot. The pair were sentenced to to life imprisonment.

5 February 2012: Andrew Lorimer, Lurgan, Co. Armagh
Lorimer (43), a former canoeing instructor and security guard, was kicked and beaten to death with a hammer in his own flat in Portlec Place. Three men were charged with the ‘homophobic murder’.

Race:

24 December 1982: Abousef Abdussalem Salim, Limerick
Salim (21), a Libyan trainee airplane pilot, was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver by a Limerick man who screamed ‘nigger’ and ‘bastard’ before the attack at a taxi rank on Thomas Street. The attacker was sentenced to five years penal servitude for manslaughter.

The Irish Independent, 3 February 1984.

24 June 1996: Simon Tang, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim
Tang (27), a Chinese businessman, was beaten and robbed as he left his takeaway business in Carrickfergus. Described by police as a ‘racist attack’, the father of two had his watch and the night’s takings stolen. He was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries. In 2002, two men were remanded in custody charged with the murder but they were later released. No-one has been convicted of the killing.

27 January January 2002: Zhao Liu Tao, Dublin
Tao (29), a Chinese student of English, was attacked by a five-member gang in Beaumont, on the northside of the city. The gang were reported as making racist taunts and a fracas followed. One of the youths struck Mr Zhao with a metal bar. He died three days later in Beaumont Hospital. An 18-year-old youth was sentenced to four years detention, the last two years were suspended because of the perpetrators age and the fact that he had no previous convictions.

29 August 2002: Leong Ly Min, Dublin
Min (50), who had been living in Dublin since 1979 after fleeing Vietnam, was assaulted in Temple Bar. He suffered head injuries and later died in hospital. Two men were charged in relation to this crime. At the time it was reported by the media that there might have been racist insults used during the attack.

Anti-Racist protest after murder of Leong Ly Min. Credit – An Phoblact

23 February 2010: Pawel Kalite and Marius Szwajkos, Dublin
Kalite (28) and Szwajkos (27), Polish nationals, were racially abused before being stabbed in the head with screwdrivers on Benbulben Road, Drimnagh. Two Dublin teenagers are currently serving mandatory life sentences.

2 April 2010: Toyosi Shittabey, Dublin
Shittabey (15), a talented footballer originally from Nigeria, died after being stabbed in Tyrrelstown, Dublin 15. A row with “racist undertones” began outside the house of Paul Barry at Mount Garrett Rise between Paul, his brother Michael and a group of black males and white females after one of the females asked Paul for a cigarette lighter and he had refused. Believing a phone was taken by the group, Mr Barry and his brother Paul went into his house to fetch a knife and then pursued them in a car. They encountered the group of teenagers at a roundabout in Tyrrelstown. Shittabey, known as “Toy”, urged his friends to walk away again but was stabbed in the heart by Paul Barry The two brothers were charged with murder. Paul Barry (40) committed suicide the day before the trial was due to begin. His brother Michael (26) was acquitted because it was his brother inflicted the stab wound. It transpired that Paul had been involved in another racist knife attack ten years previously.

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A contemporary illustration of a Royal visit to the slums of Dublin.

This above illustration from 1885 captures a rather surreal moment in the history of inner-city Dublin, when the slums of the city were visited by none other than the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Edward. He would later visit the poor of Dublin again on a Royal visit in 1903, although on that occasion he had risen to the role of King. His 1885 visit to Golden Lane attracted huge media attention at the time.

The visit of Prince Albert Edward in 1885 was not universally welcomed, and Dublin Corporation voted by 41 votes to 17 against participating in the official welcoming of the Prince to Dublin. Yet while Dublin Corporation were rather hostile to the visit on the whole, one individual who seized upon the presence of the Prince in Dublin was Sir Charles Cameron. Cameron held charge of the Public Health Department of Dublin Corporation for over a half century, and was a tireless campaigner for improved health standards in the city. Cameron accompanied the Prince on a visit to the slums at Golden Lane, ironically located very close to Dublin Castle.

This map from the late eighteenth century gives an idea of the proximity of Dublin Castle to Golden Lane. (Source: http://dublin1798.com/dublin15.htm)

In his memoirs, Charles Cameron discussed this visit to the slums, writing that:

I suggested to Earl Spencer, Lord Lieutenant at the time, that as the Prince of Wales had visited many model dwellings for the working classes, he ought to see some of the wretched dwellings in which the poor lived and which it was desirable should be replaced by healthy abodes. The proposal met with some opposition from the Prince’s entourage, but ultimately it was agreed that he would visit the slums, but strictly incognito. At 11 o’clock one morning, the Prince, the Duke of Clarence, and Sir Dighton Probyn left Dublin Castle in a plain carriage to visit, under my guidance, slums, and also the model dwellings erected at the expense of Sir Edward Cecil Guinness (now Viscount Iveagh). We went to Golden Lane, which was not far off.

Just as we stopped at a large tenement house a woman discharged into the channel course a quantity of water in which cabbage had been boiled and which contained fragments of leaves. In getting out of the carriage the Duke of Clarence unfortunately stepped into this fluid, slipped, and fell. He was much startled, and his coat and one glove were soiled. We wiped him with handkerchiefs, and Sir Dighton, a man of almost gigantic stature, took o:ff a light overcoat and invested the Duke with it. As the Duke was of moderate height, the coat reached nearly to his feet. On entering the large yard of the tenement house, a ragged boy familiarly took the Prince by the arm and enquired what he was looking for. The Prince took all this, including the Duke’s contretemps, with great good humour, and in visiting the rooms he left something behind him which delighted its recipients.

This visit is also referenced in King Edward VII, his life & reign; the record of a noble career, published first in 1910. There, it is noted that:

The heir to the British throne, accompanied by his heir, Prince Albert
Victor, was there among the dwellers in the slums of the Irish capital, unannounced, unguarded by soldiers or police, trusting himself, with a manly and well-merited confidence, to the people themselves. Readily recognized, he and his son were, at every step, attended by words of welcome and by ringing cheers from those who, apart from political agitation, are as warm-hearted and loyal as any people in the world.

In 1903, as King Edward VII, he once more visited the slums of the city, and it was noted that Lord Iveagh donated a sum of £50,000 to be distributed among the various Dublin hospitals, as a result of this visit and its impact. While these visits certainly attracted considerable media attention, the problem of slum housing in Dublin continued long into the days of Irish independence, and without famous visitors it went largely ignored.

Charles Cameron would become a Freeman of Dublin, an incredible honour to have bestowed among an employee of Dublin Corporation. Writing in his memoirs, published in the year of the Lockout, he noted that “I would like to bear testimony to the wonderful kindness which the poor show to those who are still poorer and more helpless than themselves.”

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Strange Passion, 31 May 2013

Three Irish Post Punk bands return to the stage this Friday after a 30 year hiatus following the release of critically acclaimed compilation Strange Passion in 2012.

The Grand Social, Dublin. Friday 31st May. Doors open 8pm. First band on at 8.30pm sharp. €12 entry.

Line up:

The SM Corporation(Irish rock entry)

Dublin electronic experimenters come electro-pop pioneers 1978-1987 made up of Tina O’Brien (vocals), Paul Wynne (Keyboards, Rhythms) and Steve Rapid (Keyboards, Noises)

SM Corporation, 1979.

Chant! Chant! Chant! (Irish Rock entry)

Dublin post punk legends (reminiscent of The Birthday Party and Gang Of Four) made up of Eoin Freeney (vocals), Robby Wogan (guitar), Larry Murphy (bass) and Paul Monahan (drums). Supported the The Fall in Cork & the infamous 4 BE 2’s charade in the Trinity JCR.

Chant! Chant! Chant!, 1980

Choice

Dundalk electronic pop band formed in 1980 with Brian McMahon (aka Dougie Devlin) on bass, Ciaran Vernon (aka CV) on synths, Noel McCabe on drums and Jaki McCarrick on vocals. With the departure of drummer, the band became a three-piece – with a drum machine.

Choice, early 1980s

For those interested, check out our previous post – Dublin Punk & New Wave singles timeline (1977 – 1983)

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Recently, we’ve featured a series of blog posts looking at the year 1913, which primarily have involved the Lockout and its effect on the city of Dublin. While browsing the archives, I stumbled across a very interesting article from November 1913 which was printed in The Irish Times, dealing with the ‘Dublin Volunteer Corps’, or ‘Dublin Volunteer Force’. This was an armed movement established by Dublin loyalists, following in the footsteps of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and about whom little has been written. The article claimed in its subheading that “over 2,000 men” were enrolled within this band of men, and noted that:

While Ulster is preparing to resist Home Rule by force if necessary, and is busy building up a great citizen army, the spirit of militarism that has gripped that province and fired the enthusiasm of its young manhood is also at work in Dublin.

Dubliner Edward Carson inspects the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in 1914.

The paper noted that “should a Home Rule Parliament be established in Dublin, this volunteer force is intended to be used in the preservation of the civil and religious liberties of Protestants in Dublin and the south.” It was noted that “company after company was formed, and drill instructors were appointed”, and that while membership was at first confined to members of the Orange Institution, due to an excess of applications it was decided to broaden the ranks, with “over 2,000 men already enrolled.”

It was claimed that the force would serve as a reserve of the Ulster Volunteers, and that:

should civil war break out in Ulster as a consequence of Home Rule, the leaders of the Dublin Volunteers have undertaken to hold in readiness a force of at least 2,000 men for service wherever required by the Commander-In-Chief of the Ulster Army.

Union flags can be seen on Grafton Street, in this photograph taken around the time of the last Royal Visit to a British Dublin, 1911.

The training of these men was reported to take place “at various centres in the city three nights of every week”, and that firing exercises and musket training featured. It was also claimed that similar training was happening in various locations outside of the city, in South County Dublin.

From that 1913 report, I wondered what else I could find online. A recent report in the Belfast Newsletter shined further light on this force, noting that:

IN June 1935, a Dublin Board of Works employee was among a group working at part of the Dublin GPO (General Post Office), the men having been assigned to remove presses from the cellar of the GPO Customs Parcels Section, located at 10 Parnell Square.

When several presses were removed however, some mortar appeared insecure, and when touched, collapsed. Upon further investigation the employee realised he had uncovered a large cavity several feet long. Within it, in perfectly dry conditions, lay a massive arms cache. He had discovered over 90 rifles and over 2000 rounds of ammunition.

This weapons were not in fact for Irish nationalists, but rather the new Dublin loyalist organisation. The Belfast Newsletter piece is a fascinating insight into the group, focusing on the role of Fowler Hall for Dublin Loyalists. Located at 10 Parnell Square, this was one of several Orange Halls in the city and a centre of activity for the organisation.

Interestingly, a 1964 article in The Irish Times claimed that these weapons were actually found during renovations in 1927, and claimed that at least one rifle was stamped “For God and Ulster.”

The arms from Fowlers Hall discussed in The Irish Times in 1964.

The Orange Order were forced from the Fowler Hall by the IRA at the time of the split of the organisation into Pro and Anti-Treaty wings, and in his Witness Statement to the Bureau of Military History republican Patrick J. Kelly noted that “During the period when Belfast refugees were pouring into Dublin the Dublin Brigade H/Q quartered the homeless in the Fowler Hall, Parnell Square, and supplied them with food.”

It’s certainly interesting to think about this band of Dublin loyalists, willing to take up arms against their fellow Irishmen. What else is known about this organisation?

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