other – RoI

Brendan Francis Behan

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“Brendan Francis Behan (1923-1964) was an Irish poet, story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He was also an Irish Republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army. His works include The Borstal Boy, The Quare Fellow and The Hostage. He would regularly meet with friends in the Harbour Lights Bar, now known as Harkins, The Harbour Bar. It was there he had his last drink in March 1964 before suffering a heart attack. An IRA guard of honour escorted his coffin during a funeral that one newspaper described as “The biggest funeral since those of Michael Collins and Charles Stewart Parnell.”

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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08371 X08372 Echlin Street, Dublin

400 Days

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Debenhams went into administration on April 9th, 2020 and immediately announced the closure of their stores in the Republic, with the loss of 1,200+ jobs. Workers went on strike for their union-negotiated redundancy, picketing both the front and rear entrances of stores to prevent the removal of stock by liquidators. The strike ended after 406 days when workers voted to accept an (Irish) government re-training scheme of 3m euro (Irish Times); the company was liquidated and all stores closed, including those in the north. The poster shown is on the ILAC centre in central Dublin.

A book on the strike – Tales From The Debenhams Picket Line – is now available.

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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Ulster Tourist

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In 1777 Viscount Enniskillen built Bundoran Lodge as a summer home (now called Homefield House) and set a trend that made Bundoran town one of Ireland’s top resorts. To accommodate the increase in tourism, hotels sprung up, including the 1830 Ulster Tourist House. The building still stands, but has long since ceased to function as a hotel.

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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Heart That Loves Is Always Young

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A small piece of street art from Pimlico, Dublin, posted for Valentine’s Day.

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Pyrrhic Victory

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In the Táın, Queen Medb invades Ulster (opposed single-handedly by Cú Chulaınn) to take the Brown Bull (Donn Cuaılnge) in order that her wealth matches that of her husband, Aılıll, who has a prize bull called Fınnbhennach (the White-Horned). When she returns with the bull, the two bulls fight and kill each other. (So, … mission accomplished?)

The mosaic shown above is a detail from Desmond Kinney’s 1974 mosaic mural off Nassau Street in Dublin. For more images and explanation, see Richard Marsh.

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Yes And No

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Voters in the Republic go to the polls tomorrow (Friday May 25th) to vote on a referendum to replace Article 40.3.3 which guarantees the right to life of the unborn. If replaced, legislation allowing abortion up to 12 weeks would be introduced for debate. The two images today are from Earl Street and College Green in Dublin city centre. The case of Savita Halappanavar (used by the “yes” campaign in the image above) is described in Never Again.

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04955 X04954 in britain 90% of babies diagnosed with down syndrome are aborted dignity compassion health in england one in five babies are aborted

Somebody’s Child

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Dublin Councillor Mannix Flynn’s installation Somebody’s Child lists the names of 796 children deemed illegitimate and buried without funeral rites by “a cruel Catholic state” in St Mary’s Mother And Baby Centre in Tuam, Galway (Dublin Live | Mannix Flynn).

The work was launched in November 2015. It was set ablaze in January of this year and restored in July with the addition of a call for the disbandment of the Artane Boys Band, the public face of what was the Artane Industrial School which closed in 1969 in advance of the Kennedy Report into abuses carried out by the Christian Brothers. For more on this dispute, see Dublin Inquirer.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Victoria Regina

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Cast-iron post-boxes were made by W. T. Allen of London from 1886 onwards (Victoria died in 1901). This one, which is still in use by An Post, is at Collins Barracks in Dublin. The Royal Barracks (as they were then called) were built in 1702 and handed over to the Free State in 1922 and renamed; they are now a museum (WP).

For (modern) green post-boxes in Belfast, see Letters Only and Accomplishments Have No Colour.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Give Them A Lift

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“Please “support” our bra appeal: the ladies in Ghana spend long hours working in the fields unsupported. Please donate your unwanted bras & help give them a lift. Many thanks.”

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Lookout

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2014-03-27 LouthStained+

This stained glass window from Ravensdale Chapel just across the border in Louth depicts the story in Luke’s gospel (19:1-10) in which the tax-collector Zacchaeus, small of stature, climbs up the sycamore tree in order to see Jesus pass by. The chapel, shown below, is itself shaped like a lighthouse.

Previously: stained glass in Belfast City Hall and in An Cultúrlann.

14 03 27 LouthChurch

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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