Come Here To Me!

The Daniel O’Connell newsagents on the corner of Bachelors Walk and O’Connell Street is something we’ve touched on before. A real effort to make a quick quid on the tourists, it’s not hard to work out why it was given the name it boasts. It was once Elvery’s of course, and the Elvery’s advertisement in the laneway behind it is a great little throwback.

Something I always notice, but it seems passes a lot of people by, is the woodwork. The KP lettering has survived many coats of paint, and is something I always remember looking at as a kid at the traffic lights by O’Connell Bridge. There’s also Kapp and Peterson branding on the roof on the premises, which is visible from the O’Connell statue.

How many buildings in Dublin have fronts like this which give a bit of their history?

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This is a fascinating read. It’s a 1934 Communist Party of Ireland leaflet regarding the threat of fascism to Ireland, and looking at the international situation. I’ve had this scanned up for a few days but am tragically internetless so pardon the delay. It was part of a collection of leaflets gathered by the Gardaí at left wing demonstrations in the capital in the early 1930s. As ever, click to expand.

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These were discovered hiding in the attic recently, coming from the Watts Gunsmiths which used to be based at 18 Ormond Quay. I’m fascinated by the history of gunsmiths in Dublin, does anyone have a photograph of Watts they can share? Previously, I uploaded this company logo from the ‘compliments’ card of the shop.

Today, Watts is the adifferentkettleoffishaltogether art space at 18 Ormond Quay. We love to document the live of Dublin buildings, so a snap of Watts as it once appeared would be most welcome.

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The famous Jarrow Crusade of 1936.

I’ve just been on Liveline, which was a new experience.

I was approached to give a bit of historical context to the march on the capital by a group of South Kilkenny men who are completely fed up with how things have turned out for them and indeed all ordinary people in this state in recent times. Some of them are now unemployed, others have had to wave children off at the airport. In short, they decided to march onto the capital because in years to come none of them could stomach the idea of saying ‘we sat back and watched’.

In my brief time on air, I spoke about a 1953 march on the Dail, dealt with here before by Sam. In that piece, Sam wrote that

Jubilant scenes follow when the news is spread that the march will make its way down to the Dail, “the first time such a protest has been held at its gates”.

Now, taking your anger to the gates of the Dail is routine. Walking so far to do it however is not. It is an incredible act on the part of these men.

We are supposed to have come a long way from the doom and gloom of the 50’s and later the 80’s, but have we really? Tomorrow, those men will begin their march on the Dail, passing so many areas of historical importance. They will begin at Kilmainham Jail, where the leaders of the 1916 insurection were executed, and will pass the spot where Robert Emmet was hanged. Along the way too, Dublin Castle, for so long the fortified home of the British administration in Ireland. Yet a ‘free’ Ireland, appears to be one of great economic and social divisions and barriers, and a nation that could be described as on a life support machine.

Post independence, we know Dublin Castle as the place where Bertie Ahern went to justify(or talk away) his actions before a Tribunal. What a sad, sad reflection on our state.

I ended my brief time on air today by quoting a few lines from the great folk singer Liam Weldon, about how those who died for liberty “have died but for a dream.” We are living through extraordinary times to say the least, and I was delighted to be asked to show these men some historical spots in the capital on their way to the Dail. Like them, I just hope in decades to come I can say I didn’t sit at home through this incredible chapter of Irish history.

You’re more than welcome to join them, they will set out from Kilmainham Jail at 12 tomorrow.

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