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Niall McCormack, graphic designer.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on January 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

All of these designs are by the talented Niall McCormack. You may also recognise his work with U:MACK gig promorters. He has his own blog, a fascinating mix of vintage Irish book covers, old advertisement and cigarette cards.

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Bob Doyles ‘Brigadista!’ Interview

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 12, 2010| 1 Comment »

“When the Blueshirts –the Irish fascists- caught me on a demonstration through D’Olier Street I was surrounded by a crowd of them. They got me down a laneway off Dame Street and were hammering me. The Police came and they joined in and then arrested me, dragging me up to O’ Connell Bridge to an inspector who was sympathetic…

When I was with the inspector for a moment,he said, ‘Can you run?’

I said ‘Yes!’ and was across the bridge like a hare”
Bob Doyle in Marx Arthurs fantastic ‘Real Band Of Brothers’

Bob Doyle was an interesting, and very complex character.

In 1933, a mob besieged Connolly House in Dublin. Connolly House of course was the home of the Communist Party of Ireland, and the hysteria was religious by nature. On the 29th of March, this crowd proceeded to set fire to the building, with Gardaí estimating the crowd to be in the region of five to six thousand people. One of those people was a certain Mr. Bob Doyle.

Bob would later end up joining the Dublin IRA, and joining the International Brigades in Spain. Not an easy task mind, as to get there he endured quite the hard life. Learning that the last group to depart for Spain from Ireland were gone, he decided to “get there on his own steam”, staying in Salvation Army shelters like that in Great Peter Street, Westminster. He ended up getting a job as a kitchen porter (“like Ho Chi Minh” he observes, in Max Arthurs book!) and even spent time in Marseilles sleeping on park benches and later hoped a ship to Spain, making a jump for the jetty and pulling a runner as the captain of the shop shouted “POLICIA!” at the top of his lungs. Some journey before seeing a single rifle.

A fantastic obituary to Doyle in The Independent noted that

During the Notting Hill race riots of 1958, Doyle, who lived in the area, organised patrols to protect immigrant West Indians as well as a demonstration which he headed carrying a placard saying “No Little Rock Here”. He also drew regular Sunday crowds of up to 600 at Speakers’ Corner, where he would attract attention by setting fire to newspapers and saying “That’s what I think of the capitalist press”. Trips to Spain were an opportunity to distribute anti-Franco leaflets: he scattered them in Madrid among football crowds and on buses before making a swift getaway.

‘Brigadista’ is the title of not alone Doyles autobiography (A fantastic read in itself) but also a recorded interview with Bob. His last one, in fact. Recorded by Dublin Community Television (DCTV) , the conversation took place during Doyles last visit to Dublin (He spent his later years living in London) This interview is essential viewing. A one on one conversation with Trade Unionist Mick O’ Reily, Doyle discusses not alone Spain but also Dublin and London.

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You Can Now Find ‘Come Here To Me!’ on Facebook

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on January 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Get CHTM updates straight to your Facebook homepage

Find us here! Thanks for all your support to date.

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After the success of the Dublin County Night, Kildare rolls into town.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

“There will be a gig in The Button Factory on Jan 12th.with The O’Catháins, Frankie Lane,Noel Heavey, Davoc Rynne, Andy Rynne,Tom Tuohy,Ann Egan agus mise.The gig is part of the County Sessions and will feature songs and music from Kildare.It will be hosted by Luka Bloom”

-christymoore.com

The Button Factory in Dublin has been playing home to fantastic ‘county nights’ now since last year, with several counties including the capital down so far. Guests to date have included Matt Molloy of The Chieftains and ‘THAT pub’ fame and Colin Mac Con Iomaire.

Next Tuesday sees Kildare rise to the Dublin stage. The night, hosted by Luka Bloom, features the likes of Tom Touhy and Noel Heavy, along with the classic Christy Moore.

Tickets are €17.50 and available now from tickets.ie. The three of us from CHTM! made our way to the Dublin night last month and enjoyed every minute of it, so another trip may well be in order….

Doors: 8PM, Show: 9PM

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Time For Oscar Wilde Park?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.

The media is awash with reports that Archbishop Ryan Park in Dublin city centre is to be renamed. Situated in Merrion Square, opposite the Dail, the park features a good sized playground, Michael Collins bust, a fine collection of antique Dublin lampposts and most famously- a fantastic Oscar Wilde statue and art installation with some of his best pieces of wit featured.

The parks history is long and diverse to say the least. In the 19th century it served as a refuge for victims of the famine, but in the 1920s it fell into the hands of the church. Their aim was to build a cathedral on the site, but this never came about so the church (Or more specifically Archbishop Ryan) handed the park over to the city of Dublin in the 1970s.

Dublin councillers have voted to rename the park as “a gesture to all of those who suffered as a result of clerical abuse”.

Of course, Wilde isn’t the only option. George William Russell (The famous AE) and W.B Yeats both lived in Merrion Square. Still, perhaps the resident of Number 1 most deserves the accolade. What better way to show the modern worlds definition of “gross indecency” is far removed from that which made Wilde a ‘criminal’.

A FACEBOOK GROUP SUPPORTING THE MOVE HAS BEEN SET UP, CLICK HERE

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Johnny Logan, Ronnie Drew, Christy Moore, The Fureys and a rare 7″ Vinyl.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 25, 2009| 6 Comments »

D'ya Remember Jem? Will I Ever Forget (side b)

I’d very much like to welcome the Skytec vinyl player to the Fallon household. She’s a gem. You take a 7″ vinyl, give her a spin, and via Audacity – there it is. An MP3 file. Put the song in your pocket, put it on Youtube, do what you will- you have it now. Brilliant.

So this morning, the younger lad finds Santa left this thing. A few hours later, and I’ve already hijacked it.

The ‘Official Millenium Single‘, on 7″ vinyl, has been sitting in my room for some time now. My Dad built up a great collection of 7″ traditional vinyls, ranging from the likes of Planxty and Jim Page to one off oddities like ‘The Magnificent Seven’, a rushed out propaganda type tune about the seven prisioners who escaped from the Maidstone in Belfast. All these records offer interesting historical insight. What better place to start however, seeing as this is a “Dublin blog”, than with the Millenium Single of the capital, issued in 1988 by K-Tel.

The Official Millennium Anthem- Performed By The ‘Band Of Dubs’

The Record

Performers list:
Paddy Moloney (Chieftains)
Maire Ní Bhráionáin (Clannad)
Leslie Dowdall (In Tua Nua)
Maura O’ Connell
Mary Black
Finbar Furey
Johnny Logan
Jim McCann
Christy Moore
Paul Brady
Colm Wilkinson
Ronnie Drew
Shay Healy
Tony Kelly
The Dubliners
The Fureys/Davey Arthur

While Side A, a performence of ‘Molly Malone’ does nothing for me, Side B is absolutely fantastic. A spoken word performance from the late Ronnie Drew. Witty as ever, I recommend you give it a listen. It’s amazing this 7″ hasn’t found its way online before now.

And the day we went to the Phoenix Park
To look at the deer and sit in the grass.
And you held my hand and asked for a kiss
But I wouldn’t give in, cause I knew it was a mortal sin.
And then you said you loved me and promised a ring.
Do you remember Jem? Do I remember, will I ever forget?

SIDE A: Band Of Dubs- Molly Malone

SIDE B: Ronnie Drew- Jem

Of course, with a large enough collection of vinyl, the dad couldn’t originally be entirely sure of the backstory on this one. The back of the 7″ however notes that “All royalties from this single go to ALONE” ALONE is a “voluntary action group” that was founded by Dublin firefighter Willie Bermingham. By this logic, I presume it was through the job that this vinyl arrived in the household originally.

In the Dublin Fire Brigade museum you can find a great piece Willie wrote about himself hanging on the wall, which I’ve always considered one of the best examples of Dublin wit I’ve laid eyes on:

Joined the Dublin Fire Brigade in 1964 and spent a long time pushing for the pension. Favourite food, good old irish stew and lots of fish. For breakfast – several mugs of tea at work. Also loves to eat lots of red tape to teach the bureaucrats a little manners.

Classic. So anyway, give this 7″ a play. Side B in particular.

Lastly, if you have a copy of the complete album ‘Official Dublin Millenium Album: Dublin Songs’ issued by K-Tel (cat no. Dub1000) on vinyl, get in touch!

Now run off to Tower Records to nab yourself a Skytech 😉 Expect plenty more posts like this in the coming months.

ALONE still exists today and can be found online HERE

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A Merry Christmas From Come Here To Me

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on December 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

It doesn’t get much more Dublin that that, fantastic. Have a great Christmas and take care of yourselves, thanks for the support.

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Something you WON’T see in Dublin…

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Sorry Lads, I'm off to Glasgow.

While we might see a Carrolls or two close its doors in Dublin after Ireland failed to qualify for the World Cup (Every cloud and all that…) there is now plenty of excitement building over the planned friendly with Brazil in March.

Dublin won’t see a cent however, as todays Irish Independent states that Celtic Park is now one of the most likely venues for the friendly.

London (Emirates Stadium), Glasgow (Parkhead) and Manchester (Old Trafford or City of Manchester Stadium) are the more likely venues.

Arsenal’s ground is a front runner due to the fact that Brazil have played there before and also the FAI’s links to Arsenal through Liam Brady.

But there is a complication as the English FA have confirmed that England will play Egypt in a friendly in Wembley on Wednesday March 3rd.

Police would not be keen to allow two internationals go ahead in the same city on the same night so that would rule out the Emirates for Wednesday.

The same problem arises with Parkhead for that date as Scotland host the Czech Republic at Hampden on March 3rd, so if Parkhead is chosen for the Brazil game, it would have to go ahead on the Tuesday night.

The ‘Green Army’ will get to spend a few of the pennies in the South African jar then. With League of Ireland season tickets going for buttons by comparison, lets hope a few season ticket books find their way into the hands of broken hearted Ole Oles.

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The Plough And The Stars Returns To The Abbey

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

the Plough And The Stars


“The only censorship that is justified is the free censorship of popular opinion. The Ireland that remembers with tear-dimmed eyes all that Easter Week stands for, will not, and cannot, be silent in face of such a challenge.”

The above words, amazingly, come from none other than Hanna Sheehy Skeffington. A feminist, suffragete and left-wing nationalist. The subject of her comments is Sean O’ Caseys play, The Plough And The Stars. When we think of the riots the play kicked off, often its easy to imagine a ‘mob’ of religious and conservative nationalists. Sheehy-Skeffingtons opposition shows things were a little more complex.

If anyone has read O’ Caseys book on his time in the Citizen Army, The Story Of The Irish Citizen Army, they’ll know he never held back with his criticism of what he seen as the failures of the movement (Normally, of course, with biting satire and wit)

Sean O’ Casey famously put a motion forward within the movement calling on the Countess Markievicz to “sever her connection” with the nationalist movement if she was to remain active in the labour movement, which fell. After this, O’ Casey resigned his position was Honorary General Secretary.

The motion read:

“Seeing that Madame Markievicz was, through Cumann na mBan, attached to the Volunteers, and on intimate terms with many of the Volunteer leaders, and as the Volunteers’ Association was, in its methods and aims, inimical to the first interests of Labour, it could not be expected that Madame could retain the confidence of the Council; and that she be now asked to sever her connection with either the Volunteers or the Irish Citizen Army”

While many of you have likely seen the play before, its return to the Abbey is most welcome and this promises to be a fantastic production.

For me, the prize moment is always Jack singing Nora to his wife. Nobody has ever come near to the late Ronnie Drews fantastic rendition.

Look here, comrade, there’s no such thing as an Irishman, or an Englishman, or a German or a Turk; we’re all only human bein’s. Scientifically speakin’, it’s all a question of the accidental gatherin’ together of mollycewels an’ atoms

I’ll see you there!

The Plough And The Stars Opens At The Abbey On July 27th,2010
Sean O’ Caseys ‘The Story of the Irish Citizen Army’ can be read free online at Libcom.org

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So tonight we’re all off to the Button Factory…

Posted in Uncategorized on December 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Colm Mac Con Iomaire Headlines Tonight.

As jaycarax recently posted here, tonight sees Dublin take her rightful place centre stage at the Button Factory County Nights. While the beauty of such nights is always the surprise element (With Christy Moore dropping in for Tipp to perform the Galtee Mountain Boy), the line-up on paper is solid tonight.

Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Frames & Swell Season)
and friends

with the Góilín Singers
including
Luke Cheevers
Barry Gleeson
Jerry Reilly
Máire Ní Chróinín
and many more

The famous Góilín Singers Club is a Dublin institution. For anyone unfamiliar, here are two gems from the Frank Harte Festival 2009 where the club organised a walking tour of the Liberties and other historic Dublin areas.

The show starts at 9pm tonight, and guests are advised to arrive early.
For more information on the Góilín Club, pop over to http://www.goilin.com/

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Free Showings at the IFI From January, ‘Archive at Lunchtime’

Posted in Uncategorized on December 21, 2009| 4 Comments »

 

The Irish Film Institute have, understandably, built up an amazing archive of Dublin footage over the years.  Sometimes, like with the fantastic Irish Destiny (the 1926  homemade film  which premiered on Easter Sunday of that year) this footage can become DVD chart-topping stuff.  In most cases however, the footage isn’t quite as historically popular as Irish Destiny and interesting as it often is- it remains unseen by the masses.

From January 2010 however, the IFI will be showing some of their fantastic archival  footage at lunchtimes- and for free.  All the screenings are under 30 minutes long, and the first two deal with 1970s Dublin.  Produced by members of the Guinness Film Society, the films offer a unique insight into the Dublin of the period.

The first film, Cill Cheannaigh looks as odd as it does fascinating. Set in Cornelscourt Shopping Centre (Or eh….Dunnes Stores to be exact) the short documentary looks at and engages with the mix of families, teenagers and (or so the website tells me..) priests that pass through the aisles of the South Dublin branch. This was the first Dunnes.  Wow.

The second work, Liffey Faces, looks a bit more easy to work out.  Going from Kippure to Poolbeg, we get an insight into life on the liffey with everything from the Liffey Swim to the Islandbridge rowers featured. Like Cill Cheannaigh, this one was produced in 1970.

The films will screen at lunch time each week on Monday and Wednesday, and on one Saturday each month, with more info on www.irishfilm.ie

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Pub Crawl, December 2009 (Pubs 11-15)

Posted in Uncategorized on December 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The good old days...

The third monthly pub crawl takes place this Sunday, beginning at 16.30… Expect a report on Tuesday/ Wednesday!

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