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The Wandering Minstrel Returns.
Seamus Ennis on the Pipers Corner, Marlborough Street. Seán O’Casey’s public house is no more. I always presumed it took its name from the playwright, who was something of a devout teetotaler, a habit...
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At last, a marker for Bang Bang.
In April 1846, the Dublin street performer Michael Moran passed away. Known as Zozimus, the ‘Blind Bard of the Liberties’ had spent years reciting poetry and verse on the streets of the capital, much...
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‘Gentlemen Only – Ladies Served in Lounge’
‘Gentlemen Only – Ladies Served in Lounge’ Following on from their excellent exhibition on Heffo’s Army and the phenomenon of Dublin’s 1970s GAA support, the Little Museum of Dublin is currently...
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“Over the Northside and I a chisler.”
Brendan Behan with Lucian Freud in 1952, the year this article was published. One of a series of images of the men captured by Daniel Farson. The Irish Digest magazine enjoyed great commercial success...
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On Grattan Bridge.
Like many Dubliners, I love the Grattan Bridge which connects Parliament Street to Capel Street. The bridge includes beautiful representations of the mythical hippocampus (half horse, half fish) in its...
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On monuments, memory and our own contested landscape.
The removal of Queen Victoria from Leinster House, 1948. As a historian with a particular interest in the areas of memory, commemoration and the role of monuments in society, I’ve had more than a...
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History Ireland Hedge Schools, Mindfield 2017.
Once again, the History Ireland Hedge School rolls into the Mindfield area of Electric Picnic this weekend, and once again I’m participating. We have two discussions lined up that hopefully will appeal...
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Bang Bang shoots the buses, with his golden key.
On Monday evening it pissed rain. This was a foregone conclusion, as an outdoor event had been organised. Despite the weather, they came in their droves to Phibsboro for a day to celebrate Lord Dudley,...
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Uinseann MacEoin: A Tireless Fighter For Dublin.
Since March of this year, I have been delighted to contribute to the Dublin Inquirer newspaper, an independent and very important news source for the capital. My monthly historical contribution is...
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When C.L.R James came to 1930s Dublin.
C.L.R James speaking in Trafalgar Square, London. (1935) Whether cricket or Marxism is your bag, C.L.R James is a towering figure in each world. They are, I concede, two worlds that tend not to meet....
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Merchants’ Arch Through Time.
R. Atkinson & Co, Irish poplin manufacturers (Image: National Library of Ireland) Like many Dubliners, I pass through Merchants’ Arch a few times a week, normally in a hurry somewhere. Connecting...
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The Sons of Dawn – Dublin’s “Midnight Crawlers”
In the early 1920s, a criminal street-gang from Dublin’s North Inner city named the ‘Sons of Dawn’ terrorised citizens and business-owners . Amidst the backdrop of a violent guerilla War of...
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“If The Bolsheviks Came To Ireland.”
Poster for Mansion House meeting referenced in below article, February 1918. The following article appeared in the 23 February 1918 edition of Irish Opinion: The Voice of Labour. Written in the...
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ASK III: A Night For One Family.
ASK is a monthly(ish) night in MVP, which aims to bring together people with eclectic music tastes and raise money for good causes in the process. It draws together people from this parish, Sunday...
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Burying Thomas Ashe: A Funeral Unlike Any Other.
Thomas Ashe The centenary of the funeral of Thomas Ashe occurs next week, a defining moment of a year in which the revolutionary forces continued to reorganise themselves after the Easter Rising. In...
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Come Here To Me! Volume 2 Has Arrived!
The second printed volume of CHTM! articles has just arrived on the shelves in all good bookshops. The book follows on from our first volume, which was described by The Sunday Times as “one of the most...
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A Dubliner encounters Che Guevara in Havana, 1959.
New commemorative stamp from An Post. Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, shot in Bolivia having been captured leading a small revolutionary force against the...
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Come for a walk through Bram Stoker’s Dublin (without leaving your seat)
A first edition copy of Dracula, 1897. Nothing is too small. I counsel you, put down in record even your doubts and surmises. Hereafter it may be of interest to you to see how true you guess. We learn...
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The Winter Garden Palace on St. Stephen’s Green
The Winter Garden Palace was situated on the corner of 106 St. Stephen’s Green West and 24 Cuffe Street for over 200 years. From the newspaper archives, it seems that the business was in operation from...
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There’s a club if you’d like to go: The Grove Social Club Disco.
Youth culture in Dublin is a reoccurring theme on the blog, from the Beat Clubs to the Teddy Boys. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of The Grove Social Club, an important local...
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