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Pat Fitzpatrick (1957-2017) : An Appreciation
We were very sorry to hear the devastating news this morning that renowned Irish keyboard and piano player Pat ‘Fitzy’ Fitpatrick had passed away after a short illness aged 60. Katmandu, c. 1980. Fitzy...
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“The Indian St. Enda’s” and a bust in St. Stephen’s Green.
Within the railings of St. Stephen’s Green, the monuments dotted around the park commemorate suffragettes, socialists, poets and writers. Many of the people remembered are bound to the history of the...
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Champions Avenue and John ‘Spike’ McCormack
Within sight of O’Connell Street, a plaque adorns the wall of an innocuous red brick house that reads: ‘A tribute to the champion boxers and the people of the Sean McDermott Lr. Gardiner Street area...
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Dublin’s ‘Backstreet Abortionists’ (1930s – 1950s)
In a very grim way, Mamie Cadden (1891 -1959) found her way into the folklore of Dublin city. Dublin’s most infamous ‘backstreet abortionist’, her name was almost synonymous with evil in the city for a...
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‘Falling Asunder’ Rock Revue 1976
The brilliant resource ‘U2 & Dublin ’76 to ’80‘ published a photograph yesterday from the 1976 ‘Falling Asunder’ music tour which had never been digitised before. The Boomtown Rats, Cheap Thrills,...
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The faded Stars and Stripes of Capel Street.
159 Capel Street. When buildings are undergoing considerable work, signs of previous incarnations can appear. At 159 Capel Street, the name Walsh’s is once again visible over the shutters of the...
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Football For All.
Póg Mo Goal, the independent Irish football magazine and website, continues to go from strength to strength. To date, they have released three beautifully designed magazines, covering everything from...
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“A Dublin Jackeen is a fellow who does very little for a living, and wants to...
I’ve always been curious about the origins of the term ‘Jackeen’, which is leveled against Dubliners primarily in a sporting context today. A few weeks ago at the Division 1 final in Croke Park, a few...
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A reminder of Jacob’s on Bishop Street.
Jacob’s signage, Bishop Street. Today, the Dublin Institute of Technology (Aungier Street) and the National Archives of Ireland dominate Bishop Street, but the Dublin street was once home to Jacob’s,...
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Crampton Buildings and the Dublin Artisan Dwelling Company.
Crampton Buildings, Temple Bar. When we think of the Dublin Artisan Dwelling Company (DADC), Portobello and Stoneybatter come to mind first. In both places you’ll find rows of redbrick artisan cottages...
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In more aesthetically pleasing times.
1970s postcard of Liberty Hall. Higher than a county lark Can fly, a speck that sings, Sixteen-floored Liberty Hall Goes up through scaffoldings So wrote Austin Clarke in his poem ‘New Liberty Hall’,...
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Around The Table – an oral history of food in Dublin.
Late last year, and into 2017, I had the pleasure of working on a project entitled ‘Around The Table’, which was part of Dublin City Council’s National Neighborhood project. In different parts of the...
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An illustration of Captain Luke Ryan (1782).
Hibernian Magazine, May 1782. Reading Joe O’Shea’s excellent study Murder, Mutiny & Mayhem – The Blackest Hearted Villains From Irish History recently introduced me to Captain Luke Ryan, a...
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Snapshots from a centenary.
Enough time has passed to ponder on the 1916 centenary, though some would say we had enough of it all to last a lifetime. Luke Fallon, photographer and regular contributor to CHTM, took literally...
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Modern, yet very Gaelic: The New Ireland Assurance building, Dawson Street.
A building you could easily pass by without noticing properly, the New Ireland Assurance building on Dawson Street is quite an impressive piece of work when you step back to take a look at it, and...
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The Irish Revolution 1917-23 lecture series.
The bombardment of the Four Courts, 1922 (Image Credit: Dublin City Public Libraries, Birth of the Republic Collection) Over the following weeks, I’ll be giving a series of lectures in libraries in...
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ASK.
I am beyond delighted to play a few records at this night on Thursday in MVP, joined by friends from such distinct enterprises as Foggy Notions, Sunday Books and more besides. Once a month we hope to...
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Raiding for arms: Collinstown Aerodrome, 1919.
On 21 January 1919, the day that Sinn Féin’s elected parliamentarians met in Dublin and proclaimed themselves to be Dáil Éireann, the first shots of the War of Independence rang out in Soloheadbeg,...
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Phil Shanahan’s Monto Pub.
A plaque commemorating Phil Shanahan on The LAB Gallery, James Joyce Street. Located in the heart of Dublin’s ‘Monto’ red light district, Phil Shanahan’s public house was perhaps an unlikely rendezvous...
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ASK II (A fundraiser for the Gay Switchboard)
Last month, a number of friends (drawn from this parish, Sunday Books, Foggy Notions and more besides) launched ‘ASK’, a new monthly night which aims to bring together people with eclectic music tastes...
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