A friend recently linked me to the excellent (if not a bit pricey, seventy quid in a frame!?) ‘Keep Going Sure It’s Grand’ effort on sale from bigcartel.com over here. They look the business.
Here she is next to her WWII UK counterpart.
Anyone think there’s hope for my spin-off? A product of five minutes of boredom.
At least it’ll always be topical.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged Keep Calm and Carry On | 4 Comments »
I don’t like giving these guys publicity but it’s certainly interesting to note that the Irish 9/11 ‘Truth Movement’ finally has a public face.
Posted in Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »
There’s plenty out there in Blogland on the Hard Working Class Heroes festival which kicks off Thursday. barrygruff across the way has a pretty substantial preview of what to check out over here, and the festival site has the complete line-up.
Of much interest to me and cheap people all over the city however is the ‘HWCH and the City’ portion of the festival. It brings the place to life, with free gigs taking place at a number of locations from Thursday through to Saturday. These range from Oxfam shops to DIT. With this and the recent Culture Night, not to mention Heritage Week, you’d have to feel a bit spoiled for free days out.
The free list is over here, I’m hoping to pop in to see Windings on Friday, based on their excellent opening for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists recently, and I’d pity the fool who misses Grand Pocket Orchestra in Music Maker at 1 on Saturday.
Grand Pocket Orchestra – Basketballs by gpo1
If you’re all into like….paying money into stuff (which can be good too, in all seriousness the likes of HWCH deserves our support in the form of twenty euro notes and the kind, otherwise there wouldn’t be freebies now would there?), the one I’d get along to is Talulah Does The Hula in the Workman’s Club Friday. Great fun that stuff.
Posted in Events, Music | Tagged Hard Working Class Heroes | 2 Comments »
So there you have it. The morning after the night before. When I posted on Monday, I wasn’t in any great confidence about Bohs chances. I was hoping, praying for a result, a goal in off Ken Oman’s arse would have kept me happy. But what I got last night was Bohs playing their hearts out for ninety minutes and getting the result they, and the crowd, deserved. For those in Red and Black sang solid for the whole game, before and after too, creating arguably the best atmosphere in Dalymount Park this season; the Roar was back with vengeance. And while we wait and plead for Rovers to slip up against Sporting Fingal this weekend, the win last night was not only about the result; something that was amiss seems restored.
After the disaster that was TNS and the Champions League, the defeat to Galway and the drubbing to Rovers in Tallaght, a certain something had been lost between team and fans that seems to have been restored last night; that something being pride and passion. For there is such a thing as playing and losing admirably with a certain pride, that was not what Bohs were doing. They were losing miserably, to Galway. Who had nine men.
Oh Jayo, Jayo- You used to be a...
On the back of last nights victory though, can we say that the tides have turned? The run in for Bohs consists of St. Pats, Galway and Dundalk. Two of those teams we’ve struggled against badly this season. The run in for Rovers consists of Sporting Fingal, Bray and Drogheda. Now under normal circumstances, you would say that the league is a given for Rovers. But after capitulating to UCD last week, and last nights hammer blow from Bohemians suggests that its not wrapped up yet. Could Fingal do us a favour and turn Rovers over this weekend? Could Bohs still win the elusive three in a row? Its hard to know.
Has last nights performance come too late? Keegan and Cronin played like men possessed in the middle of the park, the Rovers middle three barely getting a sniff in, with the majority of their attacking play coming down the wings. Shelley and Oman (silly back pass aside) were solid at the back, and Powell was a constant threat with his storming forward runs. And Jason Byrne, what else do you say only he’s been Bohs only player to score against Rovers in over two years. And what a goal it was.
And while the night was spent on tenterhooks, the elation after the goal (where everyone suddenly found themselves eight steps away from where they started) and the final whistle, with the majority of the Jodi staying and waiting for the team to come out for the warm-down (in what was obviously a feel good exercise orchestrated by Nutsy,) the singing and chanting continuing apace while the players jogged up and down in front sections F&G, felt special. People were walking into the bar lightheaded and speechless. There were smiles on faces, of disbelief and joy. Smiles that said “We could win it yet. ”
I hope I'm not going to be kicking myself for this...
Three games to go. And while Bohs are relying on Rovers to bottle it again, if the team plays like they did last night, there will be no despair come the seasons end. Much of this season has been spent in pessimism, with horror stories about the Club’s finances and tales of striking players and unpaid bonusses. Win those games and those tales might be forgotten. Win those games and we may speak of Bohemians’ glorious 2010 battle for three- in- a- row for years to come.
Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized | Tagged Bohemians, Bohs, dublin, football, Football Derbies, League of Ireland | Leave a Comment »
An excellent choice of image too, showing the surrender by Padraig Pearse and Elizabeth O’ Farrell to British forces, represented by General Lowe and Major de Courcy-Wheeler, his staff officer.
As a youngster, one of the first books I read on Irish history was Tim Pat Coogan’s ‘Ireland In The Twentieth Century’. Here’s the cover. Look at the feet of Elizabeth O’ Farrell above, and then look at the bookcover.
Best of luck to all involved with the meeting, I look forward to attending.
Posted in Events | 4 Comments »
Dublin City Gates?
The large mock medieval castle gate and tower erected at the bridge echoed the more ancient gate to the walled city of Dublin. The 70 foot high tower made of wood, covered in canvas and painted to imitate the 16th century stonework of medieval Baggotrath Castle. A number of beefeaters in their tradition costumes flanked the gate and a stand was erected nearby to seat various dignitaries…
An image of the above gates can be seen below, as found here.
Leeson Gates, as from Chapters of Dublin
As you can see the two gates look very different- but the top one definitely looks like Leeson Street Bridge if you were heading towards town from the UCD direction. The visit of Queen Victoria to Dublin was a momentous one. An estimated 200, 000 lined the streets of Dublin and the occasion was marked by declaration of a public holiday. The Queen was presented with the keys of the city from the Lord Mayor and was given a rapturous welcome from the students of Trinity College as she passed by on her way to the Phoenix Park.
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If anyone could shed any light on the first gate, an e-mail to ci_murray@hotmail.com would be much obliged. Alternatively, you can comment on here.
Posted in Dublin History, Miscellaneous, Social History, Uncategorized | Tagged dublin | 1 Comment »
More fun from Dublin Google Street View.
Kudos to 'Bermo' for finding.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Leave a Comment »
A friend linked me to this story earlier on from breakingnews.ie. Work on the Metro means that the statues on O’Connell Street are going to be moved to Collins Barracks from next year.
“Tom Manning from the Railway Procurement Agency said it is hoped to have the statues back on O’Connell Street in 2016 for the 100th anniversary of 1916.”
One-hundred years on from the great strike of 1913, O’Connell Street could be without Big Jim? Interesting. Tour guides all over the city dread the day O’Connell himself is moved no doubt, though the arrival of a construction site on O’Connell Street once more means we can at least expect an Orange Order march.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Leave a Comment »
Spotted on the Pats site this morning. Fair play Stacey, there’s hope yet.
I’ve a friend who follows Bohs and was offered a sizeable bribe in terms of branded merchandise from a certain Pat ‘Saintsmania’ Dolan as a youth to transfer from one side to the other. Needless to say, he turned it down. Stacey on the otherhand….
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
El Classico. The Eternal Derby. The Old Firm. El Superclassico. In cities across the world, there is always one game that captures the imagination, the wits and emotions of the masses. From Rome to Liverpool, Glasgow to Buenos Aires, football fans wait tentatively for those days of the season where you meet your fiercest rivals; shaking in anticipation, that constantly nervous feeling grips at your every bone. Sometimes its pure fear, that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach- a dull ache that spreads into your chest the closer the time comes, culminating in chest pains and a dry throat on the day itself. Hoarse before the game even starts having spent the last couple of days yammering onto anyone who’ll listen, whether they have an interest or not, about the game in question. Drunk on the occasion, not on the pints you swallow before it, you know you’ve got just a couple of hours before you’re walking home with either your head in the clouds or the gutter.
Clash of the Titans
That feeling is with me now. For tomorrow night, in Dalymount Park, arguably the most important derby in recent memory is taking place. Shamrock Rovers sit at the top of the table, five points clear of Bohemians with four games to go. A win for Bohs tomorrow pegs that back to two points with three games to go. All to play for you might say. And to be honest, its mere luck that has Bohs in this position-where they have bottled it this season, Rovers have also. So for the last four games, it really is a case of who bottles it less, starting with tomorrow night. What used to be a stroll in the park, three points in the bag for Bohs game is now turning into a nightmare, if memory serves, Bohs haven’t beaten Rovers since the 2-0 victory at Dalymount in March last year- and that seems like an awful long time ago now. It should be a tight affair, Rovers losing Bayly and Murphy to red cards in Friday nights shock loss to UCD and Bohs losing Quigley for a stupid headbutt and O’Connor for a silly challenge outside the box during the dour draw with Bray.
We are Bohs!
To be honest, the nerves are at me already, and have been since Saturday morning. This game always sets the pulse racing for me, the amicable respect generally shown between League of Ireland fans goes out the window and it’s all out war for the evening. The Northside versus The Southside; The Clash of the Titans. Its an all ticket affair so if you’re on for it, get yourself to the bar in Dalyer tonight and pick one up; I can’t bloody wait. Never mind your Anfield or Stadio Olympico; theres nowhere I would rather be tomorrow night than Dalymount Park.
Come on Bohs.
Posted in Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized | Tagged Bohemian FC, Bohs, derby, Dublin Football, football, Shamrock Rovers | 7 Comments »
On December 22 1967, a group of schoolboys on their holidays began transmitting music and stories across the airwaves. The Irish Times noted that the transmissions had come from “somewhere south of the Liffey” and that the young boys had made two one hour broadcasts, at 8am and 12.30pm.
“…pop music programmes were interspersed with greetings from the announcer to school-friends. The transmissions also featured excerpts from the satirical magazine, Private Eye”
At 1.30, a young boy in fits of laughter told listeners that if they wanted to hear the news they had come to the wrong place and needed to turn to Radio Eireann.
The Department of Posts and Telegraphs didn’t see the funny side in this schoolboy prank. A spokesman warned the youngsters that they would track the schoolboys down. As far as I can see, the promised second day of broadcasting never came from Radio Jacqueline, and the boys probably went back to school in January with an excellent story to tell about how they made the national media through their DJ exploits.
A much more infamous station preceded Jacqueline, and that was Radio Juliet from Cork. A newspaper report into it in 1964 described it as the nations first “non-political pirate radio station”,and it was also the work of a small group of schoolchildren. They numbered a dozen or so. A spokesman for the group (in which the average age was 16) remarked that after a few days in operation over the summer holidays of ’64, it was becoming “too hot to handle” and it was time to wrap up operations. The boys had made a six shilling investment in the station, the cost of a transmitter which one of them built.
Amazingly, on the Cork station, the Irish language featured too.
“One third of the announcements were made in Irish, he said, and this was an ideal way of promoting the language”.
The late 1970s and early 1980s of course saw an explosion in pirate radio stations, not least in working class pockets of Dublin. In the summer of 1981 several Fianna Fail TDs and Ministers landed themselves in hot water for using pirate stations to advertise political message. Liam Lawlor used a Ballyfermot Pirate Station to thank the hugely popular Peace Corp youth group there for their efforts and a “great day” he’d enjoyed in their company.
What about Fine Gael?
“We’re using them in relation to our youth policy and Dublin plan” said Mr. Bill O’ Herlihy, the RTE sports commentator who is working in Fine Gael HQ.
Radio Dublin makes the news, '78.
Efforts to shut pirate stations across the capital frequently led to the courtroom. In 1978 “Captain” Eamonn Cooke of Radio Dublin was hit with a £35 fine for running a pirate station out of Sarsfield Terrace in Inchicore, the famous Radio Dublin. An Irish Independent report into the court case felt it important to note that “During the entire two hour case Mr. Cooke was accompanied by Radio Dublin disc jokey, blonde Sylvia McKenna, dressed in tight grey jeans and a sweater”. Good journalism that.
Posted in Dublin History, Music, Social History | 12 Comments »
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