The Onion Seller
The Onion Seller ~ Bronze
Sculptor ~ Séamus Murphy (1907-1975)
This is a monument to the women dealers in the Coal Quay, Cork City Open Market.
It was erected on February 27th 1986 and unveiled on February 28th 1986 by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Dan Wallace TD as a gift to the City of Cork to commemorate Cork 800 by Sunbeam Wolsey PLC.
Séamus Murphy was born at Greenhill, Burnfort, Mallow, Co Cork.
Today, like all the best Supermarkets I offer two for the price of one!
Theobald Wolfe Tone
1763-1798
Theobald Wolfe Tone ~ Bronze
Sculptor ~ Edward Delaney
As you approach St Stephen’s Green from the North East Corner A large sculpture of Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763 – 1798) stands guard today. Commonly known as Wolfe Tone, he was one of the founding members of the United Irishmen and is regarded as the father of Irish republicanism.
Cyclists resting at the feet of the father of Irish republicanism. I wonder what they are scheming?
When you walk round the stone pillars the other side tells a very different story:
Hungry Heart Famine memorial
~Edward Delaney
Hungry Heart Famine memorial ~ Bronze
Sculptor ~Edward Delaney
Hungry Heart: Edward Delaney‘s “Famine Memorial”
The two parts are all one sculpture and you can read more about them in this obituary for Edward Delaney from The Guardian in 2009
This eight-minute video on Dublin, Ireland’s St. Stephen’s Green and sculptor Edward Delaney’s “Famine Memorial” (1967) gives more information.
Back on August I featured the work of Edward Delaney, with his piece Four Angels.
The Three Fates
St. Stephens Green, Dublin
The Three Fates ~ Bronze
Sculptor ~ Professor Josef Wackerle
The fountain is situated near the Leeson Street entrance to St. Stephens Green, Dublin, Ireland. It consists of a group of three bronze figures – representing the Three Fates, who weave and measure the thread of man’s destiny.
The Three Fates
St. Stephens Green, Dublin
The statue was a gift offered by Roman Herzog, President of the Federal Republic of Germany at the time.
The Three Fates (3)
St. Stephens Green, Dublin
The engraving on the plaque is in German, Irish and English:
German: In Dankbarkeit für die Hilfe, die das irische Volk deutschen Kindern nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg gewährte
Irish: Le buíochas as an gcabhair a thug muintir na hÉireann do pháistí Gearmánacha tar éis an Dara Cogadh Domhanda
English: With gratitude for the help given to German children by the Irish people after World War II.
V ~ Viaduct
I have a couple of photos that I may well have shared in the past, but the viaduct the other day was far to close to the busy road I was travelling on. I didn’t want to risk my life or be a hazard to others, in the heavy traffic so kept on driving.
Viaduct carrying the train line from Belfast to Dublin
This photo was was taken in May 2010 through the car window as I was stopped in road works traffic. The work was nearing completion on the last stretch of motorway from Belfast to Dublin and cutting out the last of the bottlenecks on the journey.
Another stretch of the same railway line at the end of March 2013
Photo taken at the end of March 2013. This time it was mid morning and the traffic was light so I pulled over to the hard shoulder to take this shot. You can just about see Newry through the arches.
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland that straddles the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is 34 miles from Belfast and 67 miles from Dublin.
Moving on to Randalstown….
A 19th century viaduct built to extend the railway system in County Antrim.
This Charles Lanyon designed viaduct was built in 1856 to extend the railway from Randalstown to Cookstown. There are two levels the upper one was the train line and the lower the road from Randalstown to Antrim Town.
Approaching from the Main Street.
In 1830 Randalstown was described as ” chiefly one street extending for half a mile along the road from Toomebridge to Belfast..”
I once heard that the area was also called: a “potwalloping borough”, this meant that anyone who boiled a pot of yarn was entitled to vote…. I think they really earned that voting right!
Disused railway bridge, now a pathway leading to the Viaduct with the entrance to Shane’s Castle on the right.
In the late 1990’s the top of the viaduct and part of the railway track were converted into a walkway and cycle path leading from Station Road to New Street. This development provides views of Randalstown, the River Maine and the adjoining parkland of Shane’s Castle.
Entrance to Shane’s Castle, Randalstown
The entrance to the Shane’s castle Estate
By the end of the 19th century the town depended on an iron works and the Old Bleach Linen Company which was established here in 1864. All that remains now is the chimney of the mill which you can see in the photo above. At its peak in the 1930’s, the Old Bleach company employed over 1000 people. Its doors finally closed in 1980 and demolition began in 1994.
Damask table linen made in Ireland graced tables all over the world in a bygone era of elegance and leisure. I wonder how many of you across the globe have a family heirloom lurking in a drawer?
Four Angels Fountain ~ Bronze
Sculptor ~ Edward Delaney
The Four Angels Fountain at College Green, Dublin, Ireland, is a secondary piece to the Davis Memorial. The statue of Davis, was unveiled on College Green, Dublin, in 1966.
Designed by Edward Delaney and known locally as the ‘peeing angels’, the fountain in memory of Thomas Davis depicts trumpeting Heralds of the Four Provinces proclaiming one of Davis’s best-known poems A Nation Again. The surrounding tablets illustrate harrowing scenes from the Great Famine of the 1840s.
A Nation Once Again was first published in The Nation on 13 July 1844 and quickly became a rallying call for the growing Irish nationalist movement at that time.
This site was previously occupied by an equestrian statue of William III. That monument was blown up six times before being completely destroyed by a bomb in 1946. The wreck was taken to a corporation yard and the horses huge lead testicles were melted down and used to repair a pipe.
In the background is the Bank of Ireland formerly known as the Irish Parliament House, was the world’s first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house.
The fountain is a great favorite of students, who regularly ‘clean up’ the angels with the addition of dish washing liquid!
It was time for lunch. Not just any old lunch, but a catch up with Brian – He who gave me the handle Grannymar. Calendars were checked. Dates discussed, arranged, postponed and finally organised for the week before he returned to ‘La Heredia’. I knew I would be going to Dublin, so decided to travel a few days early and have our lunch there instead of Belfast.
I asked if he knew where the Hungry tree was, it was on my list to photograph.
He did. One thing led to another and before I knew it lunch became a day of adventure for me.
I was collected at 11 am and traveled in style to see the Hungry tree.
The hungry tree
The seat has been there so long, the tree has grown over the back of it.
Hungry tree from another angle
We then continued up the drive to the front door of our next port of call…
The Honorable Society of King’s Inns
The Honorable Society of King’s Inns is the oldest institution of legal education in Ireland. The Honorable Society of King’s Inns comprises benchers, barristers and students. The benchers include all the judges of the Supreme and High Courts and a number of elected barristers.
Gateway to my adventure
It was founded in 1541 during the reign of Henry VIII, who had passed the Act for confiscation of Religious Houses in 1539, and granted the Society the lands and properties on which the Four Courts now stand but which were then occupied by a Dominican monastery.
The Lobby
When the Four Courts were built in the 1790s, King’s Inns moved to Constitution Hill and the benchers commissioned James Gandon to design their present property, the headquarters of the Benchers and the School of Law. The primary focus of the school is the training of barristers.
Looking up from the window
In the Middle Ages, the need for apprentice lawyers to learn about common law led to the founding of hostels where they could live and study. The Inns of Court were places where the students were provided with accommodation, meals and tuition. Up to 1800 the buildings at Inns Quay provided all that was needed for practice at the bar. There were chambers where barristers lived and worked, a hall for eating and drinking, a library for research, a chapel for prayer and gardens for recreation. Things changed somewhat with the move to Constitution Hill. Chambers and a chapel were to have been built but the plans were never executed. However, many of the 17th century traditions remain or are co-mingled with 21st century developments.
The Dining Hall
The formal records of King’s Inns (the “Black Book”) date from 1607. Initially a voluntary society but by 1634 membership had become compulsory for barristers wishing to practise in the courts.
Nolumus Mutari
The fireplace in the dining hall with the King’s Inns seal. An open book and the motto Nolumus Mutari which is commonly translated as ‘we do not wish to be changed’. It should be read and understood as the determination by the bench and the bar that the law will be applied without fear or favour and will not bend to suit interests of those with power and influence.
Some of the paintings in the dining hall
After the Williamite wars of the 1690s catholics were effectively excluded from the legal profession by the penal laws. This exclusion lasted for a century until the Catholic Relief Act of 1792 when catholics were allowed to practise at the outer Bar.
The gong to announce dinner
King’s Inns did not possess a library until in 1787 but on the death of Mr. Justice Robinson, his law books (at that time valued at £700) were bought by the Society.
The reading room
The present library building was erected between 1826 and 1830, to a design by Frederick Darley. The Library has three stories over a basement and was originally seven bays wide. In 1892 an annexe was added at the north-west end.
View of the gallery
A Copyright Act of 1710 required that printers give a copy of each book published to various university libraries in England and Scotland. During the reign of George III, in a further Copyright Act (1801), the libraries of Trinity College, Dublin and of King’s Inns were added to the list. In 1836 the provisions of the act were withdrawn.
Detail of the plasterwork
The present library building was completed in 1830 and houses some 100,000 volumes including those which formed the original collection, purchased in 1787.
Not your usual light reading
Today the library contains over 110,000 volumes, about half of which have a legal content, the remainder being concerned with a wide variety of non-legal subjects.
well read weighty words
The general collection contains works on art, history, the classics, literature, biography and numerous other subjects. Of particular note are the books printed before 1501, parliamentary papers, Encumbered Estates Court Rentals, pamphlets and manuscripts.
Throwing light on the subject
While in the past the Society sought to create a comprehensive general library, the emphasis in recent years has been on developing the legal collection. The legal collection contains all of the Irish and most of the English textbooks along with statutes, reports of cases, digests and legal periodicals. European, Commonwealth and American Law are well represented and amongst the older legal material are fine collections of trials, Irish appeals to the House of Lords, nominate reports, Roman law and canon law.
I walked all the way down and. up again, but didn’t count them.
We went all the way down stairs to where we found bound copies of The Times from long before I or my parents were born.
Bound copies of The Times newspapers
I was privileged to be allowed into the inner sanctum of the bencher’s room. A place for the learned gentlemen to unwind and discuss the matters of the day.
Inner sanctum for the benchers
Some decorative details:
decorative ceiling detail
ceiling light
Ceiling rose
One surprise was a garderobe:
a garderobe
A modern soap dish, toilet roll & loo brush are evidence to the fact it was still in use today. I have to say I love the towel holder.
classy towel holder
That towel holder looks like a heavy door knocker. I like it!
The whole visit was a wonderful experience and I must say a special thanks to David, who with Brian made the visit so memorable.
Gallery 1
Gallery 2
gallery 3 Miscellaneous selection of photos:
We did go and have a late lunch at Aqua in Howth. The company, the food and the view were all fantastic. A pet day!
St. Anne’s Park is an estate of nearly 306 acres in the Clontarf/Raheny area, on the north side of Dublin. Brothers Arthur and Benjamin Lee Guinness (sons of Uncle Arthur, the man who gave us the black stuff!), built up and called the estate St. Anne’s after the Holy Well of the same name on the lands.
St Anne’s Park, Clontarf. Who would believe this was the site of a great battle in 1014?
In 1932 the estate was sold to Dublin Corporation and still remains in their hands.
In December 1943, the main residence of St. Anne’s “The Mansion” was gutted by a fire and the ruins demolished in 1968. In the meantime, just over 200 acres of the estate were developed for public housing with the central most attractive portion comprising about 270 acres retained as parkland.
The park is intensively used by the public through its 35 playing pitches, 18 hard-surfaced tennis courts, 4 Boules courts and a par-3 golf course. The park also has a remote-controlled model car track, and a dedicated ‘Dog Park’ beside the track, where dogs may be let off lead at all other times.
Each year, an annual Rose Festival is held in the Park on the 3rd weekend of July.
A modern addition. I have no details of the sculptor or title of the piece.
In the Central Nurseries, located behind the Clocktower Gardens, over 600,000 seasonal bedding plants are produced annually for the city’s parks. The wooden planters to be seen on the Liffey Boardwalk and elsewhere throughout the city, along with the tiered floral planters, are also produced & maintained within the Nursery.
Photo is the property of Dublin City Council.
The Red Stables designed by George Coppinger Ashlin, have been refurbished and now provide an Arts Centre, Restaurant & a Saturday Farmers Market.
On our way to the Farmer’s Market.
The avenue leading to the market.
This cut down tree stump fascinated me.
Another view of the cut down tree stump, remember the roots are still in the ground.
side view of the tree stump
…. and from the front:
Front view shows a seat!
Finally a well seasoned stump seat:
Click on any thumbnail in the gallery below for greater detail.
The Little Museum of Dublin can be found in a beautiful Georgian townhouse at No. 15 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin not far from Grafton Street. It is a non-profit company and depends on the generosity of the public to survive.
First floor at The Little Museum of Dublin courtesy of the museum.
It tells the story of Dublin in the 20th Century. Launched in April 2011 with a public appeal for historic objects with a connection to Dublin during that time. The response to that appeal reflects the generosity of the Irish public, as well as the vision of the patrons in Dublin City Council.
The ground floor covers Emigration to America
There are now over 5,000 artefacts in the collection, as well as three floors of exhibition space and a café in the basement. The goal is not to sell an ideology but simply to remember the past.
The story of three women
The Little Museum was recently described as “Dublin’s best museum experience” by the Irish Times and they have been nominated for the European Museum of the Year Awards.
Did you use an old Royal
The collection includes art, photography, advertising, letters, postcards, objects and ephemera relating to cultural, social and political life in Dublin between the years 1900 and 2000.
Finlater’s Bicycle for delivering the orders
The collection is mostly comprised of donations and loans from the people of Dublin. Somehow I had difficulty with taking photos, so much of the items were familiar from my young life.
Please note: the museum is on the first floor of a Georgian building. Assistance is available for visitors with wheelchairs.
The other day I wrote about trying as many of the modes of public transport available to me in Dublin.
Today I want to cover items 2 &18 from my ‘To Do’ list for 2013:
2. Take an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment trip.
18. “A Day In My Life” in photos.
Travelling by train was the mode of transport I chose.
Map of the main train lines from Dublin to stations across the land
Monday 22nd July, saw me up early and ready for the road good and early.
Where to choose?
I wanted a train with the opportunity to hop on and off or change direction.
I decided to take a train from the local Station in Adamstown and see how far I could comfortably travel in one day.
The adventure begins!
Leaving the house at 09:32 hrs, I walked to the train station. The next train to Portlaoise was due at 09:36 hrs
Thirteen minutes makes for an easy stroll to the station up ahead.
Thirteen minutes to reach the train station in the distance. That makes for an easy stroll. 😀
My ticket to Portlaoise
Although my Northern Ireland Senior Smart card is valid for all public transport in the Republic of Ireland. I need to get a train ticket for access to and from station platforms. It also records the journeys we take in order to charge Translink, the Northern Ireland transport system for our usage.
Here she comes!
The train on the right is the fast Inter City, My train is further back on the left hand track.
The wheels are turning.
The wheels are turning and we are on our way.
Into the wild.
The fields are well bleached by the sunshine of the past ten days.
View on the window across the carriage
View on the window across the carriage, I had it all to myself at that time of day. Anyone in a hurry went back to Dublin to catch the non stop Inter City train.
He didn’t get on board!
He did not get on the train, the next stop was the final destination for this train.
Portlaoise Station
Now to find my way into town, have a cup of coffee and do a little exploring.
Plastic people to make the street look busy!
Shop mannequins display the clothes sold in a nearby shop. Trees lined the street and were rather a nuisance. They must have dropped a wide circle of sap during the night. My shoes literally stuck to the pavement every time I passed a tree. I heard the locals complaining too. It was like walking on moist glue.
I felt I had traveled back in time about fifty years. Nothing really changed since I accompanied my father on journeys across the country all those years ago. Time to head back to the station and catch the next train to Cork on the south coast.
Cork City from the train
Not sure why this one was so ‘blue’ I blame the train window! 😉
Engine No 36
Engine No 36 is on Display at the entrance to Cork Kent Station. Built one hundred years before I was born, this old workhorse is looking well!
Busy St Patrick’s Street, Cork City
I took the bus to St Patrick Street, the main thoroughfare. It was buzzing and lively. I enjoyed my dander and kept going until I came to the end of the street.
Is that Shandon I see before me?
I wonder if that is the Tower of St Anne’s Church, Shandon? Do I hear the famous bells? There is one way to find out…
The River Lee, Cork
I crossed the river Lee and up some steps!
There are plenty of stepped alleyways to be found in Cork City.
I spoke to those two gentleman and they assured me the steps would lead me to the Shandon Bells. I took my time. It was a very long climb for knees that live in a bungalow!
Not far to go now
Once at the top I followed the directions i was given.
Nice car
Pity I didn’t meet this guy at the bottom of the hill. We spoke for a few minutes but a call to his phone brought word of a burglary at his home. He needed to rush off.
I finally found the tower.
I finally found the clock tower.
The clock was made in 1847 by James Mangan, a Cork clock maker. It was at the request of Cork Corporation who paid for it then and to this day still maintain it. The clock is known locally as “The Four Faced Liar” because in days gone by, the four faces seldom showed the same time.
The four dials are painted on the stone of the tower with each face having a diameter of 15 feet 7 inches. The roman numerals are 3 inches high, made of timber and guilded. The minute hand is seven foot three inches from centre to tip.
St Anne’s Church of Ireland, home to the Bells
Even more steps!
Wooden steps to lure us further up.
The wooden steps take us to where you can ring the famous bells.
visitors ringing the bells
This young family working the bell ropes had come all the way from Alaska. The ropes are numbered one to eight like the notes in a music scale. A book sits on a lectern with several simple recognizable tunes for people to play on the numbered ropes. The young girl was calling the numbers for her family to play. This time it was Happy Birthday and I discovered that they were playing it on the birthday of the little fellow in the middle.
I let the family go ahead of me
These steps needed thinking about – narrow very steep and with only a rope for help. It was a “Will I, won’t I” moment…
Rough flagged curve to the next level
Now you know my answer.
View from a narrow window
View from a narrow window looking at the North Cathedral.
still more steps
Look at how steep those steps are.
How time was & has changed
There are five barrels attached through pulleys to five weights which provide the power for driving the clock. Five is unusual as three are the norm. The clock ran for four days and had to be wound up by hand twice a week. The weights have now been disconnected and small electric motors are attached to the barrels, keeping the clock wound and running.
The 14 ft pendulum of the clock
The 14 foot pendulum of the clock hangs through the ceiling from the clock works on the floor above. It takes two seconds to swing from side to side. The total weight of the clock is in the region of five tonnes. I would not like the weight of that time on my arm! 😉
The clock bears an inscription:
The clock bears an inscription:
“Passenger measure your time for time is a measure of your being”
The eight bells were installed in 1752, a gift from Daniel Thresher. The played out across Shandon on 7th December for the marriage of Henry Harding and Catherine Dorman. They were being played as I passed, and although I was given ear protectors, I didn’t dally to try and photograph the moving clanging giants.
Each bell carries an inscription
The eight bells weigh a total of six tonnes and each one has an inscription. They were cast at Rudhalls foundry in Gloucester, England.
The final steps to the viewing gallery were a little precarious for me so I cried off made the sensible decision not to climb any higher. I still had to work out how I was going to unclimb all those steps.
If you are curious the view, professional photos and more history can be found here.
It was time to head back to the station if I wanted to make it home in time for dinner. The journey home was short, my head was buzzing with all I seen and the wonderful people I spoke to on my day of adventure.
I had a wonderful welcome waiting for me when I got off the train at Adamstown:
Welcome home
The LBC topic for Friday 26th July What you see out the window, was chosen by me long before my travels and the weather interrupted play. Little do you realise how busy I was, collecting evidence from one end of the country to the other.
Photos were gathered, sorted and ready to post when the internet connection ground down to a snail’s pace and at times disappeared altogether. Blame the weather!
Click on any one for the thumbnails to see the gallery.
Windows from my travels over the past three weeks. The stories will unfold over the days & weeks to come…
The last two views are my home ground and come from my archives.
Now it is time for me to catch up and have a squint through the windows of my fellow LBC members. I hope you have looked after them in my absence.
Grannymar 