A gem of a ‘political’ leaflet discovered under the bed.
Picture this. It’s late 2008. Thousands of students on the street. The angry OAP’s are out for some argy bargy, and to save their Medical Cards. Red flags, black flags and a few red and black flags fly high. Ógra Shinn Féin X Branch and Labour Youth Y branch march. Speakers from the Union of Students in Ireland, as well as speakers from the trade union movement and Student Union’s around the country have made strong speeches calling for action to defeat the threat of third level fees.
Then, someone hands you this:
…and you just think: Jesus H. Christ, no wonder so many people hate students.
Ingenious on the part of the Purty Kitchen, and still my favourite leaflet from a student demonstration to date. Takes the old left wing tradition of a post-demonstration pint to the next level.
Spotted on the northside, right next to the Hendrons site.
This gem comes from Ladbrokes and their ‘Win a trip to the winning nation’ competition. Almost as bad as The Sun describing the World Cup group as “the best English group since The Beatles”.
Anyway, what are Ladbrokes playing at? North Korea will never let the competition winner in.
DUBLIN — Ever since Thierry Henry’s unpunished handball helped deny Ireland its place on football’s grandest stage, Ireland has been awaiting its moment of retribution and is cheering every misstep as France stumbles to the brink of World Cup failure
The Dime Bar milkshake, what an idea. Straight from the heavens, from the A4 sketch-pad of God himself surely. Delicious and (probably not at all) nutritious, and a steal at €2.99. I’ve bought dodgy pints on Dame Street for more than that in the past, and this is a steal.
At first, I was quite dismissive of the idea of a ‘milkshake bar’ opening up in the centre of town, a novelty at best I thought. It was only when passing early on Monday (1pm is ‘early’ to me) that I ventured in for a look.
Ahead of me, a business man in a suit, or eh…a slick dressing mod. Behind me, an old lady and her Marks and Spencers bags. Behind her, a couple of kids spending a summer roaming around town I imagine. A varied bunch. The staff? As sweet as the milkshakes, and not daunted at all by the workload lining up before them.
Your man in front goes for the Oreo, I go for the Dime Bar, and the lady behind me opts for the Galaxy. A posh one obviously. To kill the time, I grab a leaflet.
After Eight
Aero Mint
Buourbon Biscuit
Jammie Dodger
Skittles (I’m as confused as you)
Jelly Tots
Weetabix
These are just the ones that caught my eye. I won’t be trying the Weetabix offer, granted- but Skittles or Starbursts? Tempting.
At €2.99 for a regular shake, or €3.50 for a large offering, it’s not breaking the bank. There’s a student discount too, which is always nice. The option of Soya milk and ice-cream is there for those of you who are into that lark.
The place is open until 11pm some nights according to their Facebook, meaning you’ve no excuse. I expect to be put on a drip soon.
“When Na Fianna were playing ‘Isles in the semi-finals, I came on as a substitute in the second half after playing earlier in the day for Rovers against Derry in the League”
The above is taken from a Jason Sherlock interview with the Irish Independent in October 1998.
Come Here To Me has friends in all circles, and this should appeal to some of our readers. The latest issue of Blue And Navy, the Dublin GAA fanzine, is available now. You’ll find it in Easons and from a newspaper vender or two on O’ Connell Street (the better option of course)
While the issue has a special focus on Jason Sherlock and his Dublin career, it also includes the usual commentary and great focus on Dublin GAA history and broader Dublin life.
If you’re one of our League of Ireland regulars, you may be wondering who this Jason Sherlock fella is. Well, it’s the same Jason Sherlock who did time in our League. Sherlock played for UCD AFC (spot those photos in the student bar) and then signed for Shamrock Rovers in August 1998. To most Dubs, outside the Friday Night Club, he is known mainly as the last link to that Dublin team of 1995.
It’s cheaper than a pint, and will last you longer. Pick one up, and support the fanzine. We need more independent publications like this across the board.
A pity really, as The Alamo is home to the deep friend ice-cream special. No, really. Apparently it’s lovely too.
This sign got me thinking about the average cost of a pint around the city. The Hop House, at €4, is probably the most reasonable you can expect in a Dublin city centre pub. I think we’ve only beaten that once or twice on pub crawls, with Neds coming to mind as being a bit cheaper. It’s also an early house. One nil.
Advertising a pint that’s dearer than the average pint in the city seems bizarre to me. This isn’t any worse a price than many other pubs, but it’s unusual to see it stuck in the window. The last pub I remember sticking the cost of a pint in the window was a J.D Wetherspoon in Derry, and they nearly pay you to drink.
So, drop in for the ice-cream, but stick to the tap water.
Last Thursday I took part in the excellent ‘Blogging The Humanities’ symposium organised by Pue’s Occurrences, the Irish history blog. The event took place in the beautiful and historic TRIAC (Trinity Irish Art Research Centre) building at Trinity College Dublin, on a day one can only describe as the stuff of Bord Fáilte advertisements.
A wide range of blogs and speakers participated, and I’d recommend having a quick glance over any of these sites which are unfamiliar to you.
Pue’s Occurences(A group history blog) Ireland After NAMA (A blog established after a symposium in NUI Maynooth, which provides fascinating analysis of the crisis) Some Blind Alleys(A literary blog with emphasis on creative writing) Irish Left Archive(It’s likely you’re familiar with the Irish Left Archive if you’re a regular reader of our own site. A website I’ve lost hours of my life too, and most worthy of your time) Sligo Model Weblog(The online presence of an art gallery in Sligo. I was very impressed by the use of audio-visual material when it comes to the gallery online) History Compass Exchange( “This is the companion community site to Wiley-Blackwell’s online review journal, History Compass.” Surprised I’d missed this one. ) UCD Academic Blogging(A site which aims to introduce more academics to the idea of blogging, highlighting the merits of the format and providing information on academic blogging)
Two recaps on the day worthy of note are those of Pue’s themselves and an excellent and well rounded summary of the day at Ireland After NAMA. The later in particular deals at considerable length with several of the issues which emerged on the day, such as the relationship between blogs and their readers, editorial policy, archiving and academic credibility.
Still the medium of choice for some!
Personally, I used my speaking time to not alone detail the background of our own blog but also to put emphasis on the importance of traditional means of communication to advance the medium of blogging in Ireland. My first introduction to Pue’s Occurrences for example was the result of a well placed A4 page in the National Archives. I’ve found that on Come Here To Me, between the comments received here on the blog itself and the engagement with the Facebook page, that our readership is not quite as varied as I would like. This seems to apply across the board in the blogging community, and we have to ask how we get older generations online for example. For blogs like ourselves, with an emphasis on social history, this is something we have to look at now, as we don’t have the time to sit back. With greater engagement and broader participation, we can move blogging in this country further in the right direction.
My sincere thanks to Pue’s for inviting Come Here To Me to partake in the day, and also for taking on the workload involved in organising such an event. On a personal level, it’s great to meet the people behind a few of my favourite blogs in the flesh, away from the protection of our computer screens. It is worth noting many of our other favourite blogs are listed in our collective links on the right of this website.
Jumping into the River Liffey has been a dangerous pastime for Dubliners for centuries. Some do it for kicks, others for bets and others just to cool down during hot summer days. A quick scan of The Irish Times archive showcases the long running (and often deadly) activity.
An Irish Times article from March 1890 relates the story of a Miss Marie Finny, “a professional swimmer” who was arrested just before she attempted to jump into the river off O’Connell Bridge. [1]
In 1909, a hotel porter called Hugh Bernard McGrath was rescued from the Liffey after he got into difficulty swimming after jumping from the eastern parapet of O’Connell Bridge. [2]
A “strange affair” was reported in 1932 which concerned an “unknown man” who was seen swimming in the liffey late one Monday evening. It was reported did not “take any notice” of two life buoys that were thrown towards him or a boat that passed. He soon got into difficulty and drowned. [3]
In 1939, a soldier named James Donlan (25) “disappeared” while swimming in the Liffey. It took a extensive search operation to find his body. [4]
The body of Michael Kinsella, 35, a labourer in the Guinness brewery was found in the Liffey in 1954. It was believed that he entered the river “to settle a wager”. [5]
There were also cases of young men drowning in the Liffey in August 1968, January 1977 and December 1986.
In 1994, a Scottish tourist drowned after trying to swim across the Liffey in the early hours of Saturday morning. [6]
As you can see from the youtube clips below, jumping into the Liffey is as popular as ever. (Come Here To Me! does not reccomend it.)
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1. Anon, Attempt to jump from O’Connell Bridge into the Liffey, The Irish Times Saturday, March 29, 1890
2. Anon, Rescue from the Liffey, The Irish Times, Saturday, July 10, 1909
3. Anon, Man Drowned In The Liffey, The Irish Times, Tuesday, January 19, 1932
4. Anon, Soldier Drowned In The Liffey, The Irish Times, Friday, August 18, 1939
5. Anon, Swimmers Body Taken From Liffey, The Irish Times, Monday, November 15, 1954
6. Anon, Tourist Dies Trying To Swim Liffey, The Irish Times, Monday, May 30, 1994
I’ll tell you what you did wrong love, you got involved with this ‘project’.
Nearly every day, I pop over to Graham Linehan for a looksie. Then, it’d be standard to pop www.dublinopinion.com into the address bar up the top of the browser. So, spotting this on both I knew it’d be good. There are no words really, I just felt the need to post it in case anyone else has missed the boat today.
Walking around the city, enjoying these rare days of sun.
F.C Sankt Pauli are a German soccer team, recently promoted to the Bundesliga, with an international following. The clubs supporters are widely respected for their dedication and passion. This sticker is at the Ha’penny Bridge traffic lights, along with other left-leaning football stickers. The team have a Dublin Supporters Club too. Dublin ist braun-weiss!
Right opposite the very fancy and all quite new IFSC, on the southside of the Liffey and opposite Matt Talbot himself, this Jesus Lives banner hangs. Good to know. Two or three doors down from the Project Arts Centre.
The Mendicity Insitution is one of the most interesting sites of the 1916 Easter Rising. Captain Seán Heuston was deployed to occupy the Mendicity Institution for a few hours on Easter Monday, owing to its locaton on the Liffey. They held out until Wednesday. Little remains of the site today.
Just off Pearse Street. We all remember ‘GRIFT’, the first ‘vandalism’ (bah!) I can remember noticing around the city.
I don’t own a single U2 album, or know the words to any of their songs beyond a chorus or two. I’ve never ventured down to Windmill Lane before, and now I wonder why it has taken me so long. If you can look beyond the ‘WE LOVE YOU BONO FROM JOE BLOGGS AND FAMILY, MILAN’ stuff, there is plenty of quality graffiti around here to be spotted and snapped. An ever changing art canvas in the city centre. Amazingly, the area also boasts some Celtic Tiger victims, in the form of empty retail premises where the owners hit the road and left everything behind. A spooky empty apartment block stands in the area too. baNAMA republic.
If it’s anything like the last few days, you should be sitting in Stephen’s Green at the minute. Don’t feed the rats with wings.
Seashell chipper today. Tragic, as apparently it was once the home of deep fried Curly Wurlys.
The title of this post was taken from The Rags- A National Light. A wonderful Dublin ‘indie’ band (whatever that term means anymore) who I’m really liking at the minute. Perfect ‘walking around Dublin’ music. Berryfield Drive even gets a mention! The album, the first I can remember since Sir Killalot to feature The Spike on the front of it, drops tomorrow. Go buy it.
Spotted in the window of Foleys Pub on Merrion Row. The pub is literally a stones-throw (Careful now, we might get there yet) from the Department of Finance and the Department of the Taoiseach.
Foleys is a cosy little pub worth a look, so often forgotten as Toners, Doheny and Nesbitts and O’ Donoghues all call this part of Dublin home too. I don’t know which type of T.D it attracts, but based on this one, I’d presume they’re in the opposition. A great piece of wit in the window, but as far as NAMA pie goes- I reckon we’ve enough to feed a few generations.
Any regular readers will know that we’ve been following the Maser/ Damien Dempsey project very closely; And on Sunday I came across my favourite piece from the project so far. Located between the Point and the Port Tunnel, and spanning close to fifty feet are the words “Greed is the knife and the scars run deep,” lyrics taken from one of my favourite Damo songs, Colony. Youtube it, the song sends shudders up my spine every time. The raw anger in his voice when he sings the line “But if you’ve any kind of mind, you’ll see that all of humankind are the children of this earth, and your hate for them will chew you up and spit you out” will forever be one of my favourite lyrics. Amazing. Just… Amazing.
We’ll continue to keep you posted with pictures of the pieces as we find them; Rumour has it a new one has gone up at the Bernard Shaw. Anyone who spots new ones, please give us a shout on here.
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 