Another POV

Our destinations today were the Arbour Hill gravesite of the executed rebel leaders and the reportedly excellent Rising exhibit at the General Post Office, downtown. 

Arbour Hill is a relatively small cemetery which sits in the shadow of a state prison, next to Collins Barracks. The grounds are grassy and ringed with trees with a broad concrete memorial in the center. Into the back wall is carved the Poblacht.

Leaving Arbour Hill, we discovered that line waits for both the Collins Barracks and GPO exhibitions were pretty long so we decided instead to view the nearby Sinn Fein-sponsored Rising exhibit at the Ambassador Theatre. Not sponsored by the government, the SF production is not free (15 euros each), but it is very well done. Even more emphasis is given to the important roles played by women in preparations for the rebellion and in the fighting and extended aftermath.

    The Ambassador, on Upper O'Connell

    Personal and day-by-day accounts

Done at the Ambassador we made a short hike up to the Garden of Remembrance dedicated "to all who gave their lives for the cause of Irish freedom" and then bought a pub lunch at Parnell's Heritage before catching the Lias and DART back to the Clayton. 

    Garden of Remembrance

    Parnell's Heritage

Tomorrow is our last day in Dublin. On Saturday morning we catch a RyanAir flight to Edinburgh.

F.A. or, On the Way to Grandmother's House

And we don't mean Football Association! 😄

Seriously, don't go to Ireland at Eastertime unless you love crowds and closed shops. We've had fun here so far, but four of our first six days have been affected by these issues. Of course, we came here to help remember and celebrate the Easter Rising, and that we have done. Easter Tuesday saw a huge football "friendly" at nearby Aviva Stadium and big crowds on all public transport. But Easter Wednesday? Younger school children are apparently out this whole week in force. And we had decided to go see the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Museum at Croke Park, an older and larger stadium than Aviva. Mistake? Read on....

    Train at Connelly Station

We took the DART from Sandymount to Connelly Station and then "mounted shank's mare" (set out walking) to Croke Park, about a mile away. Directed to look for something called Five Lamps on Amiens St., we ambled down the street. We must have looked confused because the typical Irish intervention happened: "Whatch lookin' for, love?" Learning our destination, our travel angel said, "Oh, Five Lamps is it? Did you know the Nazis bombed that spot in WWII?" (It turns out this is a true story. Check it out online.) 

The next leg of our route took us into Drumcondra, the area of Dublin where Kate's grandmother lived for a while, apparently until 1914 when her mother yanked her across the sea to the hinterlands of Canada.

Soon we found Croke Park...and discovered that we were on the exact opposite  from where we wanted to be. A mile further on we found the GAA Museum entrance...and were nearly turned away as we were childless (Kate threatened to "borrow" some family's kid just long enough to get past the gate gargoyle). Happily we found a less extreme solution by paying for the 3:00 tour. 

     Croke Park

Croke Park is the third largest stadium in Europe, holding 82,000 people. And it fills for the annual All-Ireland Gaelic Football and Hurling matches. The huge natural grass pitch (145 x 90 meters) can easily hold two football (American: soccer) fields. Three full-time and ten part-time groundskeepers maintain the pitch, which is mowed daily in summer using hand-powered push mowers (3 keepers x 4 hours each.) When weather prevents sufficient sunlight, the grass gets additional light from huge rolling sunlamps. Forty-five pipes run underneath the pitch to carry hot water to prevent the grass from freezing and to drain off rainwater.

     Croke Park pitch and the old concrete Hill 16 Stands, named in honor of the Easter Rising

It may seem odd that the GAA, which is based at Croke Park was entwined with the Easter Rising. The rebel leaders had recognized years before 1916 that traditional Irish sports would help to rekindle an Irish identity in the population. Established in 1884, the GAA attracted many young men and women to both sports and Irish nationalism. Many GAA members joined the IRB and fought in the Rising and the later War of Independence. The organization later helped build reconciliation between athletes and others on both sides of the later Irish Civil War.

In 1920, enraged British soldiers entered the stadium during a practice match and, firing at the players and into the stands, killed 13 onlookers and Michael Hogan, captain of the Tipperary GAA team. In a memorial to the 1916 Rising, one section of stadium stands is called Hill 16. Another section of stands bears Hogan's name.

     GAA symbol 

We left Páirc an Chrócaigh heading east and two blocks later we stood in front of 253 Clonliffe Road, the small brick townhouse where Kate's grandmother lived until ~1914. Drumcondra, it turns out, was a hotbed of radical activity in the years leading up to 1916. 

Tomorrow's goals are to visit Arbour Hill and the GPO. Goodnight all!

Liberty Hall, Four Courts, and Dublin Castle

Today we logged another five mile walk starting from Tara Station downtown, which was closed over the Easter weekend. Just across the river from the DART station, at Liberty Hall it appeared that another political rally was in progress. (We haven't previously mentioned the rally and march by the IRS--Irish Republican Soldiers group-- that we watched on Thursday.) 

Gardai surrounded today's event and when we finally got there it turned out to be a street side broadcast of an official event inside Liberty Hall. Ireland's Uachtarán (President) Michael Higgins spoke at length (after all, he *is* a politician) about James Connoly and the role of the Irish Citizen Army in the 1916 Rising. His theme was the unfulfilled promises of the Irish Republic and the need to continue to press for equality for all classes.

    Uachtarán Michael Higgins

Next we hopped a westbound Abbey Street Luas to Four Courts, Ireland's main court building and the site of fighting during 1916 and in the Irish Civil War that followed in 1922. The rotunda of Four Courts has a very nice group of posters detailing events and individuals of the 1916 period. Of particular interest were the details of women who formed a signifant portion of the rebels. Over 300 women fought or served right alongside their male counterparts.

    Dublin Castle, inner courtyard

Across the Liffey from Four Courts are Dublin Castle and Dublin City Hall. We found a wonderful exhibit in the basement of City Hall that includes an original printed copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic (the Poblacht) read by Patrick Pearse outside the GPO at the outset of the Rising. Also on display is a flag made by Countess Constance Markiewicz (currently property of the English Queen and on loan back to Ireland.)

    Countess Markiewicz

We Made the Cover!

Bear Flag to the Fore!

Yes, Kate made the cover of the Irish Independent March 28 edition! By accident we found ourselves near the center of the O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey for Sunday's big parade. That small section of the parade route was located at the foot of O'Connell Street Lower, the location of the famed General Post Office (GPO) which on Sunday hosted all the dignitaries and viewing stands. We'll have more to say about the parade itself later this week, but for now...there we were right on the cover of the morning paper, The Irish Independent. True, you would have to use a magnifying glass to find us but just visible in the photo is Kate's California flag, waving over the crowd. We'll be selling autographed copies of that photo upon return. (Got to defray our Guinness charges some way.) ;^D

Easter Monday

In Ireland Easter Monday is a "bank holiday," and families get out and have fun together. Half the population of Dublin must have turned out today for the many activities that took place throughout the city. The central parks, St. Stephens Green and Merrion Square, were filled to the brim with dozens of activities. Demonstrations of many old crafts included felting, basketry, lacemaking, pottery, ceramics, and others. Antique steam engines blew their whistles. Many people dressed in "period" costume, some forming a wedding procession circa 1916. All sorts of bands roared out their music. Children played...with everything, as kids do. And everybody ate.

Ireland, still a land of books!

Following the fair we dropped by Conradh na Ghaeilge, An Siopa Leabhar, a Gaelic language bookstore near St. Stephens Green. Kate found a jigsaw puzzle of Ireland with all the names in Gaelic, Mike bought a neat Irish/English dictionary for kids (his current Gaeilge level) and we picked up some nice posters celebrating the events of '16 and a few other books. 

"Asterix" in Irish!

Later, on the way to Pearse Station to catch the DART out of town we stumbled upon Hodges Figgis, "Ireland's Oldest Bookstore, est. 1768" and picked up several more items. Hey, it's a bookstore! Who can resist?

What's next?

The first four days of this voyage have required coping with a transportation strike, venue closures, and huge holiday crowds. We're hoping that navigation will be easier starting tomorrow. We want to visit several more Rising-related sites including Dublin Castle, the seat of British power in Ireland for centuries; Kilmanhaim Gaol, where the insurgent leaders were held before their summary execution; Arbour Hill, where Britain buried the executed in a mass grave; and Patrick Pearse's St. Enda's school where teachers and students practiced Irish language, sports, and customs.

For Ireland Dear

(Saturday 3/26 PM)

Ireland, located just over 50 miles off the coast of England, was occupied and its native population oppressed by Britain for 800 years. By 1915 Britain had garrisoned 20,000 soldiers in 300 barracks throughout the island nation. On Easter Monday 1916 a small handful of Irish rose up in arms to throw off that oppression and win their nation's freedom. 

The Poblacht na hEireann

The republican leadership crafted the Poblacht na hEireann (Proclamation of the Irish 

Republic) as Ireland's Declaration of Independence:

"We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty...."

The Poblacht was a visionary document, declaring:

"The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past."

The Poblacht also set the framework for the establishment of a government:

"Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National 

Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the sufferages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and miitary affairs of the Republic in trust for the people."

Collins Barracks exhibition

Today we visited an exhibition of the Rising at Collins Barracks (formerly the British Royal Barracks) in downtown Dublin, that began with a reading of the Proclamation. We were moved by the passion, selflessness, and devotion to the cause of Irish freedom shown by the writings and history of the people who sacrificed themselves to this cause. On a Monday morning in April several hundred men and women, mostly of the middle and professional classes, walked away from their comfortable homes and daily routines to launch a movement for Irish freedom and dignity. Many understood that failure was likely but they did it anyway. And for their sacrifice, when failure did inevitably come, they faced the anger and derision of the rest of Dublin's population. That anger would change, though, as England began its brutal executions of the Rising's leaders.

God Save Ireland

God save Ireland, cried the heroes,

God save Ireland cried they all,

Whether on the scaffold high

Or the battlefield we die,

Oh, what matter when, for Ireland dear we fall.

A Cultural Divide

(Friday 3/25 PM)

All museums, government buildings, pubs, and many shops were indeed closed for Good Friday, today. So we wandered the streets of Dublin to see what we could find. Here are a few pictures we took.

View of the Liffey, a "tidal river," toward Temple Bar

The tallest building in Dublin

 

Ulysses plaque set into the O'Connell Street bridge

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in Irish

Post History

In a multimedia outreach to educate folks about the Rising, Ireland's An Post agency has painted a few of its postboxes at historic locations a bright red and provided a text link to YouTube recreations of events that took place nearby in 1916. Try this text message out for yourself! Just don't get in the way of gunfire.

Directions from Tourist Information

Trying to figure out public transit routes to Collins Barracks where several historic exhibits are available, we stopped at Tourist Information. Mike politely asked, "How do we get to Collins Barracks?" The clerk stared back blankly, saying "Where?" After several attempts he finally said, "Oh, Collins Barracks?" Really, friends, my English accent isn't *that* bad. 

No Sharing, No Waste

Desperate for something to drink, we entered a shopping center at the south end of Grafton Street (where is Bewleys when you need it?) and took the escalator to the fourth (really third) floor. In a beautiful but empty glass-ceilinged Chinese cafe we found plastic bottles of lemon-flavored iced tea. The table next to us displayed this unusual sign. Does it make any sense to you?

Coal to Newcastle, Alcohol to Avoca

Today being Good Friday and all perhaps football fans can be forgiven for bringing their own beer to the game. We ran into these two young gentleman on the Sandymount Station DART platform as we returned from our downtown adventures. What's funny? Well, between them they must have dropped every single can of the two half-cases of beer they were carrying, at least twice, and then dripped beer all the way up the road to Avoca Stadium. Best of luck, fellas! 

And What is the Room Name?

Walking Merrion Road ("embassy row") yesterday we were impressed that nearly every home had its own name. With all the road closures about Dublin we decided to eat at the hotel tonight and ended up in a very snug corner of the Clayton's bar (a perfect spot from which to watch tonight's football match of Ireland vs. Switzerland.) Young waiter Fergil came to the table to take our order and when we decided to charge dinner to our room he asked, "The name on the room?" Nonplussed, Kate stared back blankly, frantically thinking, "How the hell should I know, the name is not printed on the door." The penny dropped and she realized that Fergil meant, "What name is your room booked in?" The long pregnant pause must have had the waiter wondering where we'd found booze on Good Friday. 

The Masons of Merrion Road

(Thursday 3/24 PM}

Overseas travel is always a little grueling. This trip was better than most with a short layover between flights at Dulles in Washington D.C. We flew the Friendly Skies of United.

We arrived at DUB at 9:30 this morning. One big problem: our phones both refuse to make calls using our Vodaphone SIMs. Oh no! Not another trip to the Apple Store!! 😂 However, we can still do text messages, email, and WhatsApp so we'll just do that for now.

We're staying just south and east of downtown in an area called Ballsbridge, traditionally Dublin's "Embassy Row." In fact, the Chinese embassy is just across the street.

Our digs, the Clayton Hotel on Merrion Road, has the distinction of being the former British Embassy. However, the Brits had to abandon the place and build a new embassy (too ugly for a photo; envision a cement cellblock) next door because the building wasn't bomb-proof.

Strangely, the embassy/former girl's school/Clayton building is loaded with Masonic symbols...and in a ecumenical gesture, one prominent Star of David glass window high up on the front of the building.

Tomorrow, as luck would have it is Good Friday. And that means that many shops and ALL the pubs will be closed. Don't ever say there's no such thing as travel karma. Oh well, at least we'll be able to explore the public transit options--unless there's a strike (which is anticipated.) Sigh!

Halfway to Dublin

(Wednesday 3/23 9PM)

We're in Washington D.C. after a smooth flight from Lindbergh Field. Departure was from LF's new Terminal 2, which is very nice. After a very short layover here we board our United flight for Dublin, Ireland. Leave at 9:45PM; arrive 9:30AM. Where does the time go? ☘☘

A Terrible Beauty

Easter, 1916
by William Butler Yeats

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
….

Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
….

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.


Easter, 2016

It is said that an historic event’s centenary is the point at which that occurrence passes from living memory and becomes a construct of historical record, speculation, and myth.

Ireland enters its “decade of centenaries” this month starting with a remembrance of the Easter Rising of 1916. At that time a courageous band of Irish men and women in Dublin and in Cork challenged the right of England to continue its rule of Ireland.

The leaders of the rebellion in Dublin published the Poblacht na hEireann declaring, “IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.”

The Irish nation and its supporters from around the world are gathering in Dublin this Easter to remember and celebrate the sacrifices of 1916 which led, eventually, to Ireland’s freedom and independence from England. We will be there too, and we’ll post our experiences, thoughts, and photos right here. Won’t you join us?

We are also taking the advice of our dear friend, Jan, to throw caution to the wind so, who knows what deviltry we will find! Slainte!

Kate and Mike