She ain’t pretty, but she is tall.
Here are some photographs I took recently from the roof of Liberty Hall, the tallest building in the city centre. Earlier this week we had these images of Liberty Hall being demolished in the 1950s.
While postering with Reddy yesterday for next week’s Punky Reggae Party and Kaboogie! gig, I found myself going to the usual haunts (Simon’s Cafe, Cornucopia, All City etc..) but also to a few new locations. One of which was the Litton Lane Hostel on the quays, just down from O’Connell Bridge.
Two things stood out in their lovely common room.
The first was this painted mural above their fireplace, showcasing a ‘who’s who’ of 1980s and 1990s popular Irish rock music.
l-r: Christy Moore, Sinead O’Connor, Bob Geldof, Phil Lynott (RIP), Van Morrison, The Edge and Bono.
(c) Jay Carax
On another wall was a fascinating poster for the December 1991 gig listings for The Rock Garden (the former name for Eamon Doran’s, now called The Old Storehouse). Down in the left hand corner of the poster it says that the gigs will all be recorded by 2FM for future broadcasting.
(c) Jay Carax
Some of the names are recognisable – The Frames, The Cranberries, Ocean Colour Scene and The Golden Horde. Others not so much – The Blue Aeroplanes, Big Geraniums and The Ring. All in all it’s interesting to see which bands were popular and were getting gigs during that time.
There were a few other gig posters around the room too including one for James Brown in The Point in 1992. More music memrobillia than your average Dublin hostel it has to be said.
Why?
Well, it turns out that the Litton Lane Hostel Dublin was originally a recording studio (called aptly enough Litton Lane Rehearsal & Recording Studios) and played host to a number of Irish and international artists including Aslan, The Cranberries, David Bowie, Van Morrison, and U2. The hostel’s website has brief entries for Bowie and U2 about their visit to the studio.
Keeping with their roots, the hostels website also has links and information on upcoming gigs in The Twisted Pepper and The Workman’s Club while they themselves host regular gigs in their common room.
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Posted in Music | 6 Comments »
The Trinity Secondhand Booksale 2011 will be held in the Exam Hall from Thursday 10 March (opening 5.30pm)until Saturday 12 March (closing 2.00pm). Auction of rare books on Thursday evening.
Popped into this Thursday evening, a pretty heavy bag of books for a tenner is a good deal. There were some excellent books on offer for a quid or fifty cent a pop, and some great oddities in the mix too. Pop in for a look.
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Earlier on in town I spotted Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny hanging out at the Central Bank, which was covered up by crime scene tape. The message was a simple one: even after the elections (much fun as #ge11 was on Twitter) the banks run the show. The innovative protest was called by the 1% Network.
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Check them italics. From the New York Times online.
Change on Kildare Street means little on Wall Street.
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This is a great oddity, the 1924 fire insurance policy for the Masonic Hall on Molesworth Street. It’s the latest item in a long line of fascinating stuff my father has produced for Come Here To Me!
It’s interesting to note that the insurance policy was taking out with Sun. Sun had a long history in the city with regards fire prevention. They were one of the insurance companies who, before the establishment of a public fire service, offered protection to premises marked by a ‘firemark’. These were essentially emblems (usually of lead) which displayed a company logo and insurance number. Before the establishment of a public fire service, no premises was covered until a firemark was in place.
In his history of the Cork fire service, For Whom The Bells Tolled, Pat Poland noted that:
The firemark served a number of purposes: it marked the property so it was obvious to all that the building was covered by insurance, it acted as an advertisement for the insurance company, and it let firemen responding to a call in no doubt as to which particular building was insured with their office.
So while Dublin of course had a public fire service at the time this policy was taken out, the name ‘Sun’ had a long history in the fire prevention field in the capital. Notice the company logo on the right hand side of the policy, which states an establishment year of 1710.
The Masonic Hall on Molesworth Street had of course been involved in the Civil War only two years previous to this policy. The Irish Masonic Jewels website contains some information on the seizure of the building by anti-treatyite forces:
In April during the Civil war of 1922 Freemasons Hall was seized by Irregulars, along with the Kildare Street Club and held for a period of six weeks. No damage occurred at all and Colonel Claude Cane, the Deputy Grand Secretary at the time, paid tribute to the courtesy and consideration that he received from the Provisional Government during negotiations for the return of the building.
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Posted in Dublin History, Social History | 4 Comments »
Sunhil Sharpe in action at Planet Love.
Whether 400 strong in a Warehouse in Bluebell, rockin’ the night away in a Wicklow theatre or an intimate, basement gig just around the corner from Stephens Green, Dublin has been lucky in a recent while for after-hour club nights. Names like Medusa, SoundFactory, Warehouse Collective, Surge, Phobia have become talk of the town.
Nights don’t finish at 2:30am anymore, people see it as half-time.
Now, legendary Dublin promoters Subject are getting in on the game too and by god are they stepping it up.
/ The Science of Soul (Saturday March 12)
// 10pm – LATE. €12, BYOB.
/// Two Rooms (Techno+House/Disco)
//// Function 1 Rig
Taster of what to expect on the night?
Jon Hussey [Planet Dub]
“Jon is one of the longest serving true purveyors of techno in Ireland, running nights in the early days of Dublin’s dance scene, when techno to most people meant U96 or 2 Unlimited.” – 2FM
Michael McKenna [Keep Schtum]
Best known for being one half of the Keep Schtum production team, Michael has being DJing in Dublin since the early 1990s. He currently has residencies at ‘Beatdown Disco’ in The South William, ‘Miso Diso’ in Ukiyo and ‘Inside Out’ in The Exchequer.
Not forgetting Pat Hyland [NR:GEX], former resident DJ at Asylum and Sides, two of Dublin’s most infamous 90s Dance Clubs and Sunil Sharpe [Earwiggle] one of Ireland’s most celebrated underground Techno DJs.
As well as (!), Barry Redsetta [POGO], Louche [Nightflight] and Subject’s own Russ Parker and Austin Molloy [Subject/Galactic Beat Club].
I reckon it’ll be early bed for me on Friday. 😀
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Some more interesting images from the Corbis site, this time of Grafton Street and the St. Stephens Green area.
How odd does Grafton Street look with sidewalks.
Grafton Street (c. 1890). ©Sean Sexton Collection/CORBIS
The second shop from the left is J.M. Barnardo & Sons furriers. You can just about read their sign above their awning. The shop is still there to this day.
Very bottom of Grafton St., 19th c. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS
What strikes me is so little has changed to the overall environment, the only thing really being the tram lines.
Nassau Street, facing bottom of Grafton St, 1926. © E.O. Hoppé/CORBIS
So, it looks like there’s been a taxi rank of some description in that same spot for 140+ years!
St. Stephens Green (c. 1870). ©Sean Sexton Collection/CORBIS
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The 'floating picket' used during the dispute.
The MTL Port Strike in 2009 was an interesting one, as the dock workers did quite well in gathering local support and there was a strong community presence on all the marches and demonstrations at the time.
One of the most innovative forms of protest I can recall took place during this dispute, with the ‘floating picket’ of the workers used against the port.
Now, 18 months on, a 63 year old man involved in the dispute has been arrested and charged. Incredible.
Meanwhile, Sean Fitzpatrick walks his dog in peace.
Gerard Mc Donnell was one of the workers involved in the 2009 MTL Port Strike to save jobs and preserve working conditions in Dublin Port. After 8 long months of struggle a deal was brokered and the strike was ended. Gerard is 63 years old.
On 27th August 2009 there was a ‘floating picket’ involving a small number of boats in the harbour. Gerard was recently arrrested and charged in relation to this event. He is facing 3 serious charges under the maritime safety act with a fine of up to €250,000 hanging over his and his families head. He was arrested, handcuffed and thrown in a cell.
Dont let the State stamp on Gerard!
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DFallon recently uploaded a great document regarding the etymology of some Dublin place names and of a 1922 proposal to change some of them. One place name that skipped the Corpo’s attention in that report, and funnily enough ever since then (given that the name involved invokes little but hatred in most Irish people,) is “Cromwell’s Quarter’s,” an unmarked alleyway connecting Bow Lane and James’ Street.
Cromwell's Quarters, 1991. By Tom O'Connor Photography
You can just about make out the street sign in the top left of the photograph, but as you’ll see below, that wall no longer exists, and the street sign has disappeared with it; I’d love to know whose attic its in! Aptly enough, the lane was only renamed Cromwell’s Quarters sometime around 1892, having been recorded in places as “Murdering Lane” in the 18/1900s and “The Murdring Lane” before that, as far back as 1603. A bone of contention this one- whilst many Dublin historians call the haunted steps around St. Auden’s the Forty Steps, Cromwell’s Quarters can also go by the same name. Either way, its not somewhere I’d like to hang around at night…
20 Years later and not much has changed!
Any other references to the man Teflon Bertie once refused a meeting with British Foreign Minister Robin Cook because of in Dublin placenames? (Ahern was due to meet Cook in a room in which a portrait of Cromwell hung. He famously walked out and refused to return until the portrait of “that murdering bastard” had been removed.)
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Posted in Dublin History, Social History, Uncategorized | Tagged Cromwell, Cromwell's Quarters, dublin, Ireland, Maps, Place Name | 121 Comments »
The good people at Foggy Notions continue to bring some of the best to our shores. I’ve played the Dum Dum Girls to death recently, and loved The Guardian’s description of their music as “bubblegum pop put through a shredder.”
I’d lost hope in Sub Pop Records a while back, but I Will Be from the Dum Dum Girls restored some faith. A tip of the hat to the great girl bands of old and the original punk rockers, I look forward to this one. It’s the noisiest piece of girl-band revivalism out there at the minute!
Dum Dum Girls- I Will Be.
Dum Dum Girls- Jail La La.
Dum Dum Girls
Whelans
Fri 01 Apr 2011 19:30
€17.50 from tickets.ie
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What on earth is going on in this picture? Anyone want to hazard a guess?
Are they celebrating the Fourth of July?
Honouring Dev’s American roots?
Cheering on the Super Bowl??
Dublin, "Children Sitting in the Street". Date unknown. © Bettmann/CORBIS
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Posted in Dublin History, Photography | 13 Comments »
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