Come Here To Me!

There’s been great controversy around Shelbourne’s defeat to Sheriff Y.C on Friday night in the F.A.I Cup, with some claiming the match was fixed. Certainly, discussions on some betting forums and the ‘tip’ which seems to have been passed on to many in the LOI community give some credibility to the claim, but did Sheriff just play their hearts out? Who knows. Reports from people at the match suggest a very lackluster effort from Shels in the second half. More questions than answers…

This footage comes from ShelsTV. Give it a look.

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The latest copy of Blue and Navy, the Dublin GAA fanzine, will be on sale around Croker this Sunday before the All Ireland semi which sees the capital take on Donegal.

As a League of Ireland fan, there was a period when picking up fanzines was a part of my match experience, from Inchicore to awaydays too. Sadly, that culture has more or less passed on from the domestic soccer league, and fanzines aren’t so common-place.

Blue and Navy is something I pick up on occasion from Easons. Its mix of history, opinion and humour make it a good read. The latest issue has plenty of history, with pieces on the GAA career of Harry Boland, a classic 1984 Evening Press piece on ‘How To Survive On Hill 16’, a look at the ever-changing jersey of the capital and more besides.

Below are the sales locations. Be sure to pick up a copy, we need more independent media like this produced by dedicated followers of the games we love.

Sales locations
(sellers around Croke Park)
Luke Kelly Bridge @ Clonliffe Road East entrance
Foster Terrace for Cusack entrance
Clonliffe Road/St.James Avenue for Cusack/Hill 16 entrance
Jones Road (@ Gills Pub) for Hogan entrance
Across from Quinns pub @ Clonliffe Road West entrance
On the Hill at bar at half time
(Pub sales)
The fanzine will also be on sale (behind the bar) in the following renowned establishments;
The Bridge Tavern, Summerhill Parade, Gaffneys, Fairview and Quinns, Drumcondra Road.

This Must Be The Place

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While Dublin rapper Lecs Luther has found himself doing rather well in recent days in cyberspace, I’ve been very taken with this effort from Dublin rapper CuCullen. I know Dublin hip hop is the Marmite of Come Here To Me, with some of you loving it and others the very opposite, but give ’em a play.

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The Dead Zoo, or the Natural History Museum, is undoubtedly one of my favourite museums in the city. It’s one I’ve always recommended to tourists for a look, and one you nearly force Irish people into when they tell you they haven’t visited.

The latest effort from Storymap Dublin shows the Dead Zoo in all her glory, with curator Nigel Monaghan discussing the place, its exhibits and wonders.

I thought the charm of the place really came across too in the recent ad for the City Of A Thousand Welcomes initiative, where tourists meet a native on their arrival in the city.

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Photo from Shed End Invincibles, credit to BillyG.

The title of this post is the attendance at Monday nights Dublin derby between Saint Patrick’s Athletic F.C and Bohs. Hardly groundbreaking (groundfilling?) and a worrying sign of the times perhaps. Dublin derbies should comfortably be attracting a minimum of 2,000, but there were a variety of factors up against this one.

With Manchester United on television that night, the game was always going to suffer, but questions have to be asked about Monday night kickabouts in general. A glance over the figures reveals much about the effect Monday night games has on attendances. What the solution is I don’t know, but perhaps clubs could ultimately make more money by attempting to sell tickets in packages with slight reductions. Many who paid in to see Pats and Drogheda on Friday night in Richmond were of course down on Monday, but some are, for economic reasons, picking and choosing games and two games in a weekend essentially is quite the hit to any families pocket.

On the pitch, great credit is due to a nine-man Bohemians holding out for a point, and nobody could say the game was a dull one. Filling seats with those willing to watch such encounters is the real task now for clubs.

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This is the second post of political punch cartoons on Ireland from 1920. The first one is here.

I came into posession of a good sized collection of originals recently and intend to scan them up here to the site. They deal with a wide range of issues, ranging from Sinn Féin to munitions strikes, Home Rule to policing in Ireland.

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Ah, the Mary Robinson Tapestry Rug on Dame Street.

We’ve all passed her on the way to work, or had a good look and wondered why in the name of god it exists.

With the Race for the Aras becoming (lets be perfectly honest about it) less and less interesting, along comes Facebook with ‘The Mary Robinson Tapestry Rug for Irish President’. The Dame Street beauty has already been photoshopped in all kinds of wonderful ways.

The group is over here.

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This, my friends, is a huge pity. That’s my plans for later today out the window anyway. The 11th hour indeed!

CANCELLATION NOTICE.

It is with the deepest regret that we The People’s Festival – Committee, Team & Crew must now inform the general public of the complete cancellation of our scheduled event in Dun Laoghaire (20th & 21st August 2011) in this the 11th Hour.

…We would like to state at this point that we ourselves take full responsibility for the oversights involved in the festivals planning which have led us to withdraw from the implementation of this festival.

There has been up until this point a phenomenal amount of support for this idea. Support of the kind which none here could possibly express our depth of gratitude. It is in the spirit of that support which we would humbly ask you, the people, to remain behind us, and with us, for a future event.

As we speak arrangements are being made for what can only be billed as an alternative and consolatory event in Dublin City instead, which it must be stated will not serve as a festival but rather a gathering of those involved up to this point and those who support and understand the spirit intended by the original concept. (**details of which will be issued separately)

It must be stated clearly and decidedly that there will be NO events relating to The People’s Festival happening in Dun Laoghaire over the course of either the 20th or 21st August 2011, in any of the venues previously posted including; The 40 Foot Bar & Grill, The Harbor Bar, Scotts Cafe Bar or any other.

Further explanation will be forthcoming, and notification will be made directly by our committee to all artists involved, volunteers and everyone else involved in any with this project.

Words cannot express the disappointment felt across the board of organisers and we can only hope that this development is received with sympathy and understanding.

We will endeavour to develop an adequate People’s Festival for introduction at a future time.

Wishing you all well, and many thanks.

The People’s Festival Team

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Dubliner Robbie Keane arrives in LA airport to the sounds of the the LA Galaxy ultras, the ACB. Notice the lad in the flat cap and Irish scarf, dedication.

Angel City Brigade

Interesting video of actions from the Angel City Brigade:

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Via the Viking Splash Tour Facebook, excellent.

An inspired solution was found in the invention and subsequent production of the DUKW by the General Motors Corporation in America. The DUKW was an amphibious vehicle that was more than capable of carrying soldiers and supplies into the European Theatre of World War II. DUKWs were designed to withstand driving onto beaches in 15 foot seas. In addition to carrying up to 30 troops or 2 1/2 tons of cargo DUKWs were used in other capacities. For example, machine guns could be added to the DUKW and it could then be used as a firing platform! It was this versatility that made the DUKW perfect for the planned Allied invasion of Europe, and on June 5/6 1944, the DUKW would enter into military history as the primary method of transport used by the armies involved in the Normandy landings. It was not just the invasion of Europe that the DUKW was confined to- they were also successfully used in Allied operations in the Pacific Theatre and Sicily.

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I came across this last night at The Abbey, having gone to see Translations. Excellent if you’re wondering. You’re running out of the on that one. The memorial seems to be a replacement to the plaque which was to be found at the Abbey for many years. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who knows just how long this memorial has been in place.

There are seven names to be found on the memorial, including Sean Connolly, the first casualty of the republican side during the uprising.

Undoubtedly, there are names missing from the memorial. Writing in the Dublin Historical Record in 1999, James Wren noted that: ‘Although Edward Keegan’s name does not appear on the Abbey Theatre’s 1916 plaque he was an early member of the National Players and as a Volunteer he fought in the 1916 Rising’.

Sean Connolly on the plaque is a character we’ve featured on Come Here To Me before, for example back in April of last year with the unveiling of a plaque on his family home.

Lady Gregory wrote of the talented actor following the rebellion in poem:

“O branch that withered without age!
Would we could see you where you’re missed
Step airy on the Abbey stage
Play there ‘The Revolutionist’
Or fill with laughter pit and stalls
With Bartley Fallon’s croak and cry
What led you to those castle walls?
We mourn you Sean Connolly”

A fascinating account of Arthur Shields time with the National Theatre can be found here, at the Abbey archives.

There are 1916 memorials to be found on occasion in the oddest of places, for example in the bar of Wynn’s Hotel where one finds a memorial marking the spot where Cumann na mBan were founded.

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