Come Here To Me!

The latest History Ireland is just out and on the shelves.

Some features of interest to Come Here To Me readers would include Séamus Nevin’s look at Georgian Ireland’s property bubble. It’s a fascinating look at an eighteenth century collapse with an errie resemblance to today. “Pre-Union, an acre of Dublin land typically fetched more than three times its London equivalent. By 1820,however, its value had halved.”

Brian Hanley has an interesting article looking at the response to the Bloody Sunday massacre in the south. This article looks at nationwide protest, but pays particular attention to the burning of the British embassy in the capital.

Joseph E.A Connell Jr continues his ‘Countdown to 2016’ feature, this time looking at the return of Thomas Clarke to Dublin following his release from Pentonville Prison.

I’ve enjoyed the contributions of Lar Joye, curator of military history at the National Museum of Ireland, to the magazine with regards to some of the artefacts in the museum’s collection. This issue sees him take a look at the uniform of Roger Casement’s Irish Brigade.

Personally, I’ve a review of The Men of Arlington in this issue, a wonderful documentary looking at Arlington House in Camden, home to generations of Irish migrants in London. It features alongside the usual reviews of telly, books and theatre but this issue marks the welcome arrival of ‘Radio Ear’, a look at recent historical content on the airwaves.

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A round up of Dublin related news stories for this week. (Might try to make this a weekly feature)

1. ‘Oriental enclave’ recommended for Dublin

Dereliction and urban blight which have dogged one of Dublin’s historic inner city areas could be reversed if an oriental quarter were developed on Parnell Street according to a report by the Dublin Civic Trust.

The report recommends restoration of the traditional 18th and 19th century facades, the removal of garish shopfronts and signage, new paving, lighting and trees on Parnell Street East and the creation of an off-street “oriental enclave” or village of restaurants and shops. – The Irish Times (13/10/11)

Marlboro Corner (Before)

Marlboro Corner (After)

2. Workman unearths 400-year-old skeleton (in Smithfield)

Nobody knows how he lived or died but yesterday — 400 years on — the remains of his skeleton were discovered. Against the backdrop of Dublin’s historic St Michan’s Church, the bones were found by a workman from the Smithfield Improvement Project As the excavation work intensified early yesterday morning the remains were discovered protruding under a metre and half of rubble.

Franc Myles, archaeologist with Dublin City Council, said: “This is a significant find. I believe the bones date from the 1600s because we also found nearby a type of pottery from Devon in England, which dates from that time. – The Irish Independent (15/10/11)

(Note: Second skeleton has been found)

Myles (and CHTM! commenter) in action. (c) Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

3. Students will march for Freeze in Fees

A mass demonstration organized by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is set to take place in Dublin next month, the College Tribune has learned.

The organization is launching a national “Freeze the Fees, Save the Grant” campaign in reaction to speculation that the registration fee may increase to €5,000 in December’s budget. The campaign will include a protest march in Dublin on Wednesday November 16th.

“November 16th should be a completely peaceful protest. USI and indeed students’ unions across the country will do whatever it take to ensure that education is protected in the budget” USI President Gary Redmond said. – The College Tribune (15/10/11)

Student demo, November 2010.

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Cheers to my friend Chris Bond for snapping this one and sending it in earlier, a great snap from one of the tourist information outlets just off Grafton Street. Retailing for a little bit more than it should be, this Ireland ‘jersey’ leaves a lot to be desired. A clear knock-off of the FAI official kit, if the crest isn’t bad enough check out the poor attempt at copying an Eircom logo.

Just like Eircom, I wouldn’t be buying shares in the crowd behind producing this one.

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It all began with the excellent ‘Shops Of Dublin’ image left on our Facebook page by Declan, a reader. The image, a mock-up of the ever-popular Dublin shopfronts poster which hangs of the wall of so many city centre boozers, highlights the fact that where family names once gazed down today you find a city of Spars,Centras and the like.

The image came from atoast2toast, where one finds an excellent explanation piece from the designer noting that “The Ireland of today is still marketed as the land of Joycean splendor and unique indigenous character, but as I sat in a pub looking at the assorted prefabricated tat on the wall, an old crumpled yellowed poster of the ‘shops of Dublin’ struck me as particularly out of time…….”

Sitting in The Stag’s Head yesterday, a conversation around the poster developed. Branno, an occasional commentator on the site here and in the past responsible for plenty of donated content, had a rather genius idea: Imagine someone in Carroll’s began printing the below, the adult shops of Dublin, flogging it to tourist and native publication alike.

It was too funny an idea not to have a go, and so, I give to you, Na Siopaí Salach. Enjoy.

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