Dec 2017 jan 2018 news four

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December 2017 / January 2018

All I want for Christmas is…

Billy Bulfin. “A few days off.

Anything like! Contact with the aliens!”

Anna Pereira. “This Christmas I would like to be back home with my family in Portugal.”

Ester Nohemi. “I don’t know what to say! I want to go to Paris with my husband maybe.”

Gerard Murphy. “To spend it with my family.”

John Lane. “I just want to get through it. It is so commercialised. I’d like Christmas to be simple.”

Cynthia B. dos Santos. “My heart’s desire is to be home with family in Brazil.”

Emily Cross. “I just want to be with my friends and family and to be happy.”

Tess Bagely. “Oh God, that’s a big call! My heart’s desire is to be with my friends.”

Kathleen O’Neil. “My heart’s desire this Christmas would be a bed for everyone who is homeless, if not a house.”

Sofia Mendez. “I would like to be with my family and a new phone!”

Karina Gomez. “A Polaroid camera.”

Keith Garry. “With the homeless crisis, I wish for them all to be somewhere with a warm bed and food for the night.”

Nigely Masoud. “I want to go to Iceland with my husband and daughter on holiday.”

Chris Noonan.

“A promotion!”

Artwork: Lizzie Doran Images: Fr Ivan Tonge & JR@N4

Christmas events pages 4 and 28

IN THIS ISSUE…

Photo diary pages 20 and 21

Biography of Alfie Byrne page 24

Remembering two lost ships page 31

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NewsFour Newspaper is part of a DSP Community Employment Programme.

The Editor’s Corner

NewsFour

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Editor Beibhinn Byrne Web Editor Paul O’Rourke Journalists Paul Carton Jessica Ellis Paul O’Rourke Jennifer Reddin Kathrin Kobus Photographer JR@N4 Contributors Gavan Bergin Felix O’Regan Declan Hayden Lorraine Waters Crossword Gemma Byrne Design and Layout Eugene Carolan Ad Designer Lizzie Doran

Sandymount Community Services, 13A Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4.

Telephone: (01)6673317 E-mail: newsfour@gmail.com Website: www.newsfour.ie Opinions expressed in NewsFour do not necessarily represent the views of Sandymount Community Services.

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December 2017 / January 2018

NEWSFOUR AROUND THE WORLD

Pictured above are Pat Daly and Ray McCormack, D4 locals on a recent lads’ trip to Benidorm.

The Letterbox

n the immortal words of John Lennon, ‘And so this is Christmas / And what have you done?’ I’ve always found this a very powerful question that can resonate in a very private or a very public way. Either way, it invites a personal meditation that can only be answered deep down in your heart. Asking this reap and sow question when the fields are fallow and we celebrate (or commiserate) another year’s harvest is a worthwhile pursuit. It is during the resting phase we can survey and decide what we will sow, next, or again, as the case may be. And rest assured the seeds planted in the purity of emptiness grow better than all the rest. So think about it.

While the physical world may retreat this season, the world of the mind continues to bloom throughout. Some NewsFour seeds come to fruition in this issue are; a two page photo diary covering more events and featuring locals, and last issue’s call for local submissions sees more local authors’ books and a submissions page included. Lots of Christmas markets and listings are rounded up plus we have healthy winter recipes, history, exhibitions as well as the usual sports, news, development reports and features, profiles and tributes.

With this in mind we’d like to remind you to stay connected and watch out for one another – we don’t all love Christmas loneliness, depression, poverty and hardships of all natures can be starkly heightened at this time of year. So connect, include and be kind.

With the true spirit of the season, we would like to wish everyone a Cool Yule, a Happy Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful New Year. Yes, Peace is still a dream some of us have.

Resist the nonsense. Let’s make 2018 great!

See you on the other side.

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December 2017 / January 2018

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CHRISTMAS EVENTS

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December 2017 / January 2018

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n Paul

December 2017 / January 2018

NEWS / DOCKLANDS

Carton

magine your hometown being given a new name overnight.

Well if you are living within the four corners of Macken St, Lombard St, Cardiff Lane and Sir John Rogerson’s Quay you just have.

The new name for this almost perfect square is SOBO (South of Beckett and O Casey Bridges.) The name was conceived by property developers Hibernia Reit who acquired land inside the four corners last year which include the one acre 1 Windmill Lane site and 1 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.

They also have buildings in between in their portfolio. SOBO has its own website, which is managed by the real estate companies Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman and Wakefield.

They regard the ‘SOBO’ area as ‘where the docklands meet and the modern city begins.’ They also describe the area as having a ‘daylong buzz’ but surely this is about the vibrations coming from the mass construction in the area and not anything to do with feelings of excitement amongst its inhabitants?

The area is the home of Liffey Pearse FC and has the showrooms of businesses which include Mattress Mick and JP Motorcycles,

SOBO is here with local public houses being the Windjammer and the Lombard.

NewsFour inquired with developers Hibernia Reit on exactly what motivated the concept of SOBO. “It gives definition to the area and is something that local businesses, residents and landlords are using to help build public interest in coming to work, live or play. With excellent access to public transport facilities, and some of the most exciting new

developments in the city under construction, we think that over time SOBO will become an area people identify with as one of the most vibrant areas in the city,” said a spokesperson from Hibernia Reit.

With all this construction in process we asked the developers if they are considering the inhabitants in their plans, “We have supported local initiatives such as refurbishment of the home economics lab in CBS

Westland Row school; installation of traffic calming measures and a pedestrian crossing on Hanover Street East/Creighton Street and sponsorship of local youth projects including local sports teams.” confirmed the same spokesperson.

One of the major construction projects under their control at present, that is already attracting attention with its structure, is No.1 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. “1-6

Page 5 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay (to be known as 1 SJRQ) is the location for a new 115,000 square feet office development by Hibernia Reit that is expected to be completed by late summer 2018. 1SJRQ’s striking building façade combines a restored Dublin tramway entrance and two industrial era buildings with a stunning six storey Grade A purpose built office development.

The building has been designed by award winning architects Henry J Lyons to incorporate the charm of the period buildings with modern office space.

1SJRQ will form part of a quadrant of four offices owned by Hibernia Reit comprising: 1 Windmill Lane, 1 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, The Observatory, and Hanover Building (to be renamed 2 Windmill Lane.) “This area will be known as the Windmill Quarter.”

With all these offices and no sign of any relaxation or recreation facilities and with Dubliners’ penchant for nicknaming, the name SOBO may come to mean So-Boring and I’m sure the residents might have something to say about that.

Who knows? In 100 years time the ‘Sobolese’ might be asking for their own independence.

Pictured: Building at 1SJRQ.

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Reddin n Thursday, October 12, one objective set out in the Dublin Port Masterplan Review reached an important milestone when Dublin Port Company Chairperson, Lucy McCaffrey, and Chief Executive, Eamonn O’Reilly, invited Guests of Honour Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath and Honorary Admiral of Dublin Port Mícheál Mac Donncha, and An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, as well as representatives from communities surrounding the Port and DPC staff, to celebrate the official opening of the new Dublin Port Centre and maritime garden.

Speaking at the event, Eamonn O’Reilly reiterated the company’s promise to make the Port once again part of Dublin life and to “soften its boundaries to the city,” with greater public access, including extensive waterside cycle paths and walkways.

Mr O’Reilly said, “Dublin Port is delighted to begin this new chapter of port-city integration.

In recent years, the connection has waned somewhat, but this a new era for the Port. Rebuilding the connection between the Port and the city, which was so strong

DOCKLANDS

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December 2017 / January 2018

n Jennifer

Dublin Port Centre maritime garden opens

a century ago, is something which will be at the core of everything we do going forward.”

An Taoiseach, Mr. Leo Varadkar TD, who launched the first Masterplan Consultation Document in 2011, welcomed the opening of the Port. He recalled one of his favourite engagements as Minister for Transport was a 5.30am tour of the Port when “it’s at its busiest.” He does love his early mornings!

Praising DPC management and workers for their commitment to the capital and for their ongoing engagement with the community An Taoiseach said, “This new project will enhance port-city integration to the benefit of city dwellers and visitors. Dublin Port is at the heart of what is emerging as one of the most exciting neighbourhoods in the city, and the opening of this Port centre will add to the buzz and energy of this area, as well as providing locals with a host of new amenities to enjoy.”

Ardmhéara Mícheál Mac Donncha unveiled a stunning new

sculptural sphere, inspired by the spherical-shaped time ball that dropped daily on the top of the Ballast Office at O’Connell Bridge to signal Greenwich Mean Time to passing ships. The sphere reflects the surroundings of the Port Centre and provides a focal point at the plaza.

After the speeches, it was time to party. And what a party! DPC treated guests to a magical night, with a mouth-watering menu (which was catered by The Q Café Company Limited) a generous bar and top-class musical entertainment with Damien Dempsey, John Sheahan of The Dubliners, The Blades, Lisa O’Neill, Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Catherine Fitzgerald, many of whom were featured in Dublin Port’s 2016 album Starboard Home.

The garden is bound to become a special place with Dubliners and visitors to the city. Located behind remarkable, Cor-Ten steel pedestrian entrances (you can’t miss them) at Alexandra Road and East Wall Road, it combines contemporary and historical

themes, with beds of sea grasses surrounded by brightly coloured seating for reflection and relaxation, a perfect place to escape the bustle of town.

Crane 292, which NewsFour featured in the last issue, a restored Stothert and Pitt crane from the 1960s, towers over the plaza, reminding visitors of the port’s rich industrial past.

Also featured is a new sculpture by up-and-coming Irish artist Eimear Murphy titled The Drop.

The Port Centre and new maritime garden are easily accessed from the city centre. Take the Luas to the 3Arena on the Red Line. Walk straight ahead as far as Alexandra Road. Turn left and walk two to three minutes. It’s across the road.

Above: An Taoiseach Mr. Leo Varadkar TD, (left) with Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mícheál Mac Donncha, Lucy McCaffrey, Chairperson of Dublin Port Company and Eamonn O’Reilly, CEO, pictured after unveiling the new art installation sphere.

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December 2017 / January 2018

LOCAL EVENTS

Coddle: a winter warmer

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Paul Carton he annnual Government Budget and the mention of coddle for dinner almost seem to happen in synchronicity but unlike the budget, what’s simmering in your pot, if you’re a Ringsender, is the same every time.

There has been some debate online and in the press of recent times about which type of Dublin Coddle is the best: white or brown? To say it’s not appreciated outside Dublin would be an understatement, as quotes on west of

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Ireland Twitter accounts would attest.

Many, including the Limerick-based Rubberbandits, have called us Dubs lunatics for boiling sausages. Closer to home, Declan Byrne from the Dublin Dockers Preservation Society was quoted in the Dublin Inquirer saying that “in Ringsend the white coddle was nearly always the accepted standard.” And to irk a Ringsend Dock Worker you’d mention the brown coddle.

Whether it’s brown or white, coddle, the dish itself has the potential for greatness for anyone with a tight budget and less cookware to clean due to its one-pot cooking style, so whether you’re a student feeling the cold or a parent feeling the pinch of the budget the coddle is one to experiment with.

At the recent gala evening at the opening of the Port Centre on Alexandra Road, guests were treated to a serving of coddle by the QCafe catering company. Food on the day was highly praised so NewsFour got in touch with Torsten Schulz, Chef Manager at the QCafe to inquire what recipe he used. Our thanks go to Torsten, who supplied us with his recipe for White Coddle.

White Coddle 2 litres potato and leek soup 200g diced carrot 200g diced onion 200g smoked diced rashers 300g breakfast sausages “Basically just simmer everything for about 25 to 30 minutes and serve with the heel of white batch bread and butter and finish with fresh chopped parsley, says Torsten.”

You can decide whether brown coddle, which includes the addition of oxtail or white is better. Thankfully, the dreaded, soot infused, black coddle common in the time of the tenements, is no longer on the menu.

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Local festive wonder

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n the theme with keeping it local and keeping it special, the National Print Museum’s Winter Craft Fair returned again for its seventh year. From the 1st to the 3rd of December, the mezzanine level was transformed into a winter wonderland, with market stalls selling all sorts of unique gifts, from letterpress cards and fine art prints to jewellery and children’s toys, and much, much more.

This year’s participants included, amongst others: Bookbinder, Aoife Higgins, artist and printmaker, Ann Kavanagh, textile artist and designer, Geraldine Leonard, wood designer, Edward O’Keary of Saturday Workshop, letterpress printer, Mary Plunkett of The Belgrave Press, artist and printmaker, Nancy Previs and jewellery designer, Yvonne Ryan.

It was all very much in keeping with the museum’s function to collect, document, preserve, exhibit, interpret and make accessible the craft of printing and foster the associated skills of its craft in Ireland.

There were lots of Christmas-themed crafts for all the family and the lovely Press Café was on hand serving festive treats throughout the weekend, including mulled wine and mince pies, as well as a chance to print your own letterpress poster! Perfect for gifting whether for yourself or another.

Meanwhile, the Trinity College Singers provided the music, serenading the festive shoppers.

A special Christmas experience for us all and such a unique place and offerings right in the heart of the locality.

Entry is free of charge and this event takes place every year, so if you didn’t make it this year perhaps you can now put in your calendar for next. Nothing like planning ahead. Christmas always seems to be just around the corner. www.natioanlprintmuseum.ie Pictured: Works by Edward O’Keary (above) and Ann Kavanagh.

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n Jennifer

Reddin ne of Ringsend’s most endearing residents, Michael (Micko) O’Neill, passed away on October 29th. Micko was wellknown to everyone in the area and loved by most who met him, that is apart from sporting rivals, I’m sure.

Born in 1921, in Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, during his lifetime he witnessed a remarkable transformation both of Ireland and the wider world. He took change in his stride and would tell you himself, he had a wonderful life.

He was an intelligent man, who defined himself by things that he loved rather than things that displeased him. This made him great fun to be with. Time spent with Micko was a masterclass in how to be happy and live life to the max.

He was most passionate about his late wife Eileen (Nelly) and his daughter Mary, whom he adored. He was so proud of her, her son Ryan and her husband John.

After that, in no particular order, Micko loved theatre, film, singing, singers, songs, storytelling, any kind of sport, word games, current affairs, film stars of the 40’s 50’s and 60’s, newspapers, recalling the happy years he spent in the army, Shamrock Rovers FC., the Irish football team, and of course his beloved St Patrick’s Rowing Club.

As the club’s oldest member he was held in high esteem by his club mates, who became con-

PROFILE

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Let Me Call You Sweetheart

stant visitors when he moved to Ailsbury Nursing Home on Park Avenue. He could recall ‘The Paddy’s’ first regatta and its many triumphs and occasional disasters after that.

To mark his 90th birthday, a bench – with a fine view of the river – was installed in the grounds of the club. Club members formed a very impressive guard of honour at his funeral and did him proud in the green that he loved so much.

Right to the end, Micko read the newspapers cover to cover every day. He knew more than most about what was going on in the world and had strong opinions about the things that matter; “that bloody incinerator” was a particular topic that

would make his blood boil.

But he didn’t dwell on the negative things in life, choosing instead to be cheerful; playing his word games, supporting his teams and keeping up with their progress, and entertaining his many visitors and friends at the home.

He filled his days with singing, storytelling and with recollections of the good times he had in Dublin as it moved from the hardship endured after WW2, to a gradual upswing in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

That was when he loved to dress to the nines and go to the theatre or to a film with Nelly.

He most enjoyed when his favourite performers came to town for a premiere or a holiday and would go out of his way to see them as they came and went to their hotel or to the “picture house.” In his time he saw some

December 2017 / January 2018

of the greatest stars the world has ever known, including John Wayne, Judy Garland, James Cagney, Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, to name but a few.

You could say he came away with some of their showbiz style. A renowned singer who knew many songs, he didn’t have to be asked twice to perform. A particular favourite was Let Me Call You Sweetheart, a song he sang as if he meant every word of it.

When his beloved Nelly passed away in the same year that he retired from Irish Glass Bottle Factory, where he had worked for 35 years, Micko was heartbroken. He survived and eventually recovered by volunteering at St Patrick’s Church, where he soon became the priests’ right hand man, a role that he enjoyed for 15 years.

Following a fall and a long

spell in hospital, he moved into the Ailesbury Nursing Home, Sandymount, over three years ago. He was very happy there.

Mary saw him almost every day and anyone who spent time with the two of them will tell you, you could feel the love flow between them like a strong electric current. They would finish each other’s stories, jog each other’s memories and laugh uproariously at each other’s jokes. Mary spoke very movingly and amusingly at her father’s funeral, celebrating the unique person that he was and the love that they shared.

As his funeral mass ended, his good friend Fr. Ivan Tonge surprised the congregation by playing a recent recording of Micko singing Let Me Call You Sweetheart, a gesture that would have appealed to the consummate performer that he was. His voice may not have been as strong as it would once have been, but the sweetness was unmistakable.

When the song ended, there was a pause. In the silence that followed people no doubt recalled their own private memories of the wonderful, humorous man that they had known.

Until their reverie was interrupted by what can only be described as a perfect showbiz moment, with Micko huskily enquiring in his distinctive Dublin brogue “Well, did ye like that?”

We certainly did Micko, we certainly did!

Above: Micko poses outside St. Patrick’s Church, Ringsend.

Left: Micko and Nellie out on the town.

Images courtesy of Mary O’Neill.

The sales team from Just Property, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend are pictured above with a group from St Patrick’s Rowing Club, Ringsend, for whom they are sponsors.

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LOCAL EVENTS

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December 2017 / January 2018

Radio Snowflake returns!

t will snow this Christmas with Radio Snowflake back on the airwaves for all those seasonal songs and jangles.

As readers of NewsFour will know, Ireland’s original yuletide station has a proud Dublin 4 lineage. Having started out as pirate radio station broadcast-

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ing during Dublin 4 community week in the 80’s it became very popular and had the then novel idea of becoming a Christmas music station.

Its founder, Paul Reddy from Sandymount, describes how in its incipient days when it started community broadcasts these

weeks were massive events and the station gained great recognition and was a success with the locals.

“Everyone was tuned into Sandymount Radio to hear a running commentary or announcements of what would be happening the following day. Others were just standing patiently outside waiting to hear their request being played – your name being mentioned on the radio was pretty exciting stuff back then!

“In 1982 we decided it would be a great idea to launch Radio Snowflake which was a very good move.”

Now it returns annually and broadcasts from 1st of December to Christmas Day. David Baker who runs the station and who has been associated with the station since it started, says that after that period, “People have had enough of the Christmas tunes. It’s really for the build up and the festivities that’s in it until another year.”

Baker has carved out a career in radio in Ireland and the UK, having worked on stations like Q102, Spirit radio and more

Christmas Star

n Kathrin Kobus fter the first few frosty days of the beginning of Advent, December 3rd turned rather mild and instead of some snowflakes, a light drizzle welcomed pupils and parents on their way to the hall of Star of the Sea School in Sandymount.

Instead of the usual PE lessons that take place there, the hall was transformed for the day into a bazaar for homemade cupcakes, cookies, rice crispies and other Christmas sweets. Around 150-200, mostly, sky-blue boxes piled up one on top another in one end and sold readily.

The Parent Association was behind the fundraising effort. “It’s all for the school and so for our boys. They helped with making of the cakes and also donated the toys and books for it.” Said Erika Fagan, speaking for the parents.

It’s nearly time for the festive holiday break and a chance for Principal Kevin Munnelly to look back on the first third of the term, particularly the success of the literacy programme, introduced two years ago.

“We call it ‘Literacy Lift Off,’ and it did so again, at the beginning of the school year. It is aimed at the senior infants and first class to improve their reading and writing. They work

their way through it in small groups, only four or five pupils per teacher, go through different stations starting out from word work. We noticed how their skills and their joy in reading improved.”

Sports also plays an important part in the school life. Athletics with the autumnal crosscountry events and in the GAA department the list of achievement is long indeed.

In October, this year’s football team went to Croke Park to play and win the final in the Corn Chumann na nGael competition. This cup rests for now in the Principal’s office and it will get the school’s name added to the other engraved previous holders.

It is for these extra-curricular activities that the parents’ association engages in fundraisers like the Christmas Fair. There is a tremendous amount of effort put in and lots of exchanges both giving and taking in place all day.

Parents who carried in donations of cake boxes and bags also left later in the afternoon, having generously given, now carrying away different boxes and assortments of toys and other potential presents in their bags as they headed home.

Photo: Kathrin Kobus.

recently KFM. David has assembled a very talented bunch of presenters who give up their time every year to broadcast on Radio Snowflake and is promising a truly great range of music, not just the old favourites.

Charlie Sheehan who is also a D4 resident and really knows music says he is delighted to be back on air this Christmas. His love of good music is something that is consistent since he started in the 80’s. Charlie who worked with An Post can’t wait to take the mic.

Other parts of the schedule will be helmed by seasonal professional DJ and actor Liam Tuohy, better known to radio people as DJ Lee. You may have spotted him in his baker’s costume in Titanic alongside Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio.

But it’s not just a boys club of ‘Smashie and Nicey’ radio jocks. Thankfully, there’s a woman’s presence on air and what a presence. Presenter Daphne Mitchell is truly inspirational as she is currently battling bowel and stomach cancer and undergoing chemothera-

py treatment but despite this will be broadcasting on Radio Snowflake each day between 10 and 12 noon.

Over the last few years the station has supported some fantastic charities, Team Hope, The Shoebox Appeal, Samaritans Dublin and the Irish kidney Association, on each of these occasions all of the charities had their work and messages highlighted.

Radio Snowflake can be heard online at www.radiosnowflake.com and has its own dedicated app available from iTunes and google play stores (search radio snowflake). It can also be hooked up in the car to take the station on the move as you go about your errands or need some Christmas cheer on the commute. You can also live chat to the radio station during the programming by clicking on the live chat link at the website or by texting 083 1626754 www.facebook.com/radiosnowflake, www.twitter.com/radiosnowflake, www.radiosnowflake.com Image courtesy of David Baker.

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BHAKTI FESTIVAL

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New Age for Irishtown Gospel Hall

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n Paul O’Rourke he old Gospel Hall building on Irishtown Road, previously St. Matthew’s school, and used, up until recently, by the Abundant Grace Christian Assembly, hosted a very different type of event in October.

The neighbours are surely used to hearing diverse songs of praise emanate from the building’s ancient walls, but the Bhakti Festival brought with it a new type of congregation and a new type of singing.

The singing in question is called Kirtan, which involves call and response chanting, so the audience at

this particular church service, were very much involved in what was happening.

There was no priest, no preacher, no worship of any particular god, just people coming together to sing about peace, love and harmony.

One of the organisers and performers, Felicity Ananda, commented that their vision for the festival “is to offer a safe, transformative, and healing space, in conscious community, to connect to our hearts through our voice and to dive into the experience of singing as a way to relax the body and mind and nourish the Soul.”

If that sounds very hippy dippy, and all a bit Woodstock, don’t be put off. NewsFour were present on the day, right in the thick of it in fact, and we have to say we found the whole experience infectious, uplifting, and more than a little inspiring.

We asked Felicity what is so special about Kirtan and she provided this thought-provoking insight. “For me it’s an offering of deep gratitude to the One Great Spirit, God the Divine. As I dive into devotional mantras, I join the omnipresent stream of consciousness and prayers that has been flowing throughout infinity since time began. The practice of Kirtan helps me awaken my innermost self and offers a space to connect with, and unleash the potent healing vibrations of my heart, through my voice, which invokes my inner life force, my inner Guru.”

Songs performed on the day appear to have been borrowed from all religions and none, meaning that everyone felt welcome, nobody was excluded, and the focus seemed to be more on worshiping the individual, than some elusive entity in the sky.

There were chants in Irish and

Spanish, a short mantra that simply consisted of repeating the line “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”, a Jewish incantation about peace, and an old Celtic farewell blessing. And our favourite, at the same time wonderfully simple and mind crushingly complex, “I am in the light, the light is in me, I am the light.” Hang on a second, you mean I am the light?

No wonder they never taught us that in religion class!

But the real highlight of the day was a rendition of the simple yet effective, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.” We have no idea what it means, but boy did they raise the roof, and man did it feel good. And isn’t that the whole point?

Taking part in the event were

Felicity, founder of the first regular Kirtan practice in South Dublin, Chanting and Chai who host monthly musical collaborations at St. Francis Xavier Hall, Jack Harrison who combines Celtic and Kirtan traditions in a unique mix, and Yasia, who has been leading Come And Sing Your Heart Out Kirtan in Dublin for the past five years.

Money raised on the day went to support Epilepsy Ireland and Kolkata Sanved, which helps women recovering from sex trafficking.

Above: Chanting and Chai harmonise together.

Left: Yasia sings her heart out.

Pictures courtesy of Bhakti Festival organisers.

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MUSIC

Luke Kelly to be celebrated with two statues

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n Paul

Carton ublin legend Luke Kelly is set to be remembered on both sides of the Liffey for his contribution to Irish music.

The singer from the Docklands will have his statue, commissioned by Dublin City Council, placed in the Luke Kelly Park, a few metres from where he was born. That particular statue, made from travertine, has Luke in song, in a luminous red-orange-rust colour, which according to its sculptor Vera Klute, will be the focal point of the sculpture.

However, it has emerged that the Kelly family were initially dissatisfied with this piece, which explains the delay in its erection. While Vera was sculpting that piece for the Luke Kelly Park, a few hundred metres away sculptor John Coll was working on another Luke Kelly statue at his foundry in the Castleforbes Business Park off Sherriff Street.

Coll is responsible for the Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh statues on the north and south sides of the city respectively, and was commissioned to do this piece by graphic artist Gerry Hunt.

Both sculptors were unaware that each were sculpting a statue dedicated to Luke Kelly and under rules set out by the Dublin City Council, one statue per individual presented a difficult situation for the city’s arts office.

However, at a council meeting in July of this

year, City Arts Officer Ray Yeates said that both will be accepted and the one that was commissioned by DCC for Luke Kelly Park will go on as planned and the one donated by Gerry Hunt and sculpted by John Coll has yet to find a home.

There was also a third submission by Paul Daly, who sculpted the Phil Lynott statue, which depicted Luke standing with a banjo in his arms, but according to Daly it was not accepted.

NewsFour spoke with the Public Art Manager in Dublin City Council, Ruairí Ó Cuív, on the timelines set out for the two statues. “Vera Klute’s statue is a very brave and exciting project, but planning permission needs to be obtained and in total we are looking at about one year to eighteen months,” said Ó Cuív.

In regards to the statue sculpted by John Coll, Ó Cuív says the Kelly Family would like it in St Stephen’s Green, but this would mean approaching the Office of Public Works, because they have control over that area. Ó Cuív reckons that finding a suitable site worthy of Kelly and also building the plinth for it to be placed on will take approximately six months to a year. He went on to say that the Kelly family have gone on record to say that they are happy with both statues.

Photo courtesy John Coll of his Luke Kelly statue for Luke Kelly Park.

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Page 13

HISTORY

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December 2017 / January 2018

Jacob’s Tour – It’s a cracker!

n Paul O’Rourke

eptember and October saw an interesting exhibition on the history of Jacob’s biscuit factory in residence at Pearse Street library.

The tour was presented by curator Wendy Williams and kicked off with some details on how the famous Irish biscuiteers were formed back in 1850. Robert and William Jacob were brothers who inherited their father’s Waterford-based bakery business, which at the time was making bread, barm and ship biscuits (which were described as boringly hard and sugarless.)

The brothers took a sweet leap of faith and began branching out into the ‘fancy’ biscuit market, within one year producing fifteen different varieties, and soon after that, commenced exporting to the U.K. They also moved to Dublin and opened a premises on Bishop street, where the Dublin Institute of Technology now resides.

1880 saw a major setback, with a spectacular fire that destroyed the factory (apparently large quantities of flour can be explosive), but Jacob’s soon recovered and by the end of the century were exporting to such far-flung places as Athens, Calcutta, and the Philippines. In 1912 the brothers opened their

second factory in Liverpool, and by the 1920’s they were employing 3,000 workers, two thirds of whom were women.

1913 saw the Dublin operation affected by the Lockout strike of that year, with management having to bring in staff from the UK to fill roles vacated by striking workers. Jim Larkin referred to the Jacob’s board as slave drivers but they subsequently took him to court and won. Despite this vindication, staff were subjected to the indignity of interviewing to get their old jobs back when it was all over.

The factory also had a special role to play in the 1916 Rising (or should that be the self-rising!) when it was selected by Thomas McDonagh as a building of strategic importance, due to its substantial height.

With Jacob’s being a strong unionist firm, workers were encouraged to enlist in the British efforts during the First World War, 650 did and 57 died. But, as they say, war is a profitable business, and at its height, Jacob’s were exporting 1.2 million packets of biscuits to the front each week.

Other interesting wartime facts were the introduction of the USA assorted range to celebrate the entry of American troops into battle and the company’s donation of

one of their delivery trucks and driver to bolster the Red Cross fleet of ambulances.

Jacob’s, of course, were also famous for looking after their workers, something that began with one the brothers visiting the Heinz factory in Pittsburgh on a fact-finding mission. On his return, a swimming pool was built for the Dublin staff, a subsidised cafe was opened for men, and then women, and a doctor and dentist were provided on site with medicine available at reduced prices.

A sports ground was built in Dolphins Barn, in fact Jacobs’ football team helped form the League of Ireland and day trips proved especially popular, with the company leasing the Isle of Man ferry on a bank holiday Monday for the annual worker

and family outing.

Not surprisingly, Jacob’s became a much sought-after place to gain employment, with sometimes five generations of the same family plying their trade there.

By the 1930’s Jacob’s had over 300 lines of biscuits and over 4,000 workers. Among those workers was Florence O’Connor from Charlemont Street, who was employed at the biscuit factory from 1925 to 1935, having to leave when she got married. Her daughter, Ailish Byrne, was on the tour we attended, and fondly remembered that time in her house and especially the Jacobs’ Christmas pantomimes.

The next big event in the company’s timeline was the launch and relaunch of the one and only, Cream Cracker. Originally named the Wave Crest, the first incarnation of the flaky favourite was a flop, but then the recipe was changed, more fat was added, and hey presto, the Cream Cracker was born and catapulted into culinary cultdom.

1961 saw the launch of RTE, and with that Jacob’s spotted an opportunity to extend the reach of its brand. They sponsored the TV awards from 1962, a sponsorship that would continue for the next 38 years.

In 1968 the brand launched the

first teaser for their famous Fig Rolls campaign. An advert was taken out on the back page of national newspapers which simply read ‘Jim Figgerty come home, all is forgiven.’

This, of course, caused people to chatter and speculate as to who Jim Figgerty was and to where he had absconded. Prayers were said at mass, sightings were reported as far away as the Aran Islands, and Jacob’s themselves were getting up to 1,500 phone calls per day to their offices from curious customers.

Figgerty was, it was later revealed, the only man with the secret recipe revealing how to get the figs into the fig rolls. He was eventually captured by the mythical Figmes of Figeria and safely returned to the fig factory on Bishop Street.

The success of Jacob’s continues until this day, although it is perhaps not as influential as it once was in Irish society. Even so, people are still scratching their heads and wondering, just how do they the get those figs…

Above: Ailish Byrne, daughter of Jacob’s worker Florence O’Connor at the exhibition.

Left: Biscuit banners.

Photos by Paul O’Rourke.

www.newsfour.ie

December 2017 / January 2018

Keep calm and

❤ Christmas

W

n Jennifer

Reddin ith Christmas less than three weeks away, the quest to find perfect gifts is well underway.

Dublin City Centre is already heaving with stressed out shoppers clutching long lists and more than their own weight in shopping bags.

Offering a great alternative to the madness of Christmas on the high street, The Dublin Flea Christmas Market returns to The Point Square from December 7th-10th.

With over 140 stalls, the market offers an exclusive collection of up-and-coming Irish contemporary design, art, hand-made craft

and delicious foods alongside The Dublin Flea Market’s muchloved mix of antiques, vintage and retro collectibles.

Most of the goods on offer are not available in conventional shops, so it’s a great place to find something a bit special for the special people in your life.

A number of early-stage craft and creative entrepreneurs including Liadain Aiken Knitwear, Minnie & Molly Crochet, Kiki Moon (organic cotton baby blankets), We Give it A Whirl (ceramics and home decorations), Chocolatey Clare, and Mulholland Jewellery will join Flea Market favourites including Kirk Modern, Dando Design, Grand Grand

P

Reducing stress

n Paul

CHRISTMAS and Brookwood Pottery to offer savvy bargain-hunters a unique shopping experience.

In the food-court, you will find The Dublin Honey Project, Intelligent Tea (made from Irish and medicinal herbs), Scéal Bakery, Natasha’s Living Foods and Corleggy Cheese – all Irishbased businesses, producing Irish goods.

The market is organised by the same group that run the hugely popular Dublin Flea Market on the last Sunday of every month in Newmarket Square, a largely second-hand market, which been on the go for more than seven years.

The Dublin Flea Christmas Market is different. With the support of DCC and The Local Enterprise Office (LEO), organisers invite applications from creators, makers, designers and collectors from around the country who are producing or sourcing a range of high-quality goods.

As well as recognised names, the Christmas Flea Market serves as an incubator for up-and-coming designers, artists, craftspeople, organic food producers and small independent Irish businesses. To encourage people who are starting out, costs are kept to a minimum, making it low-risk for vendors and offering them a great opportunity to showcase their fabulous goods.

For customers, the market is a dream shopping experience.

Carton sychologist Jason O’Callaghan from the D4Clinic recently suggested, through the media, an innovative way of encouraging workers to give up smoking.

He informed the Irish public about a policy Japanese companies are adopting at the moment that allow non-smokers to take the equivalent time off that smokers get on their smoke breaks, which equates to roughly six days a year, according to Jason.

Obviously, the health benefits stand out with this idea, with extra time off and the reduction in toxic substances entering your body, but it’s easier said than done in this rat race, where stressors are part of our everyday life.

So NewsFour went to find out more about stress and what can we do to process it naturally, especially at this time of the year and at Christmas.

Jason: Stress is responsible for 75% of heart attacks and strokes.

So untreated it’s pretty serious.

Just because you can’t see stress compared to a physical injury does not mean it is any less serious.

Q: What can people do to reduce stress?

Jason: There are two types of stress, good stress (or eustress) this is when we get a little stressed to help us pass a test or doing physical exercise, have a new-born baby, a new job, but bad stress can be reduced by therapy, hypnosis, mindfulness, diet, exercise, talking to friends, sleep and other day to day things that make your day run smoother.

Q: How destructive is stress if it is not dealt with properly?

Q: What is the neuropathway of stress?

Photo courtesy O’Callaghan.

Jason: Stress is psychological but can cause somatic psychical effects. This is due to the brain kicking in your natural flight or fight responses, which is innate in our DNA and aims to protect us from psysical dangers. However, in modern society with daily stressors such as traffic, work and money issues, the fight or flight response gets confused and kicks in unnecessarily, causing physical damage to the mind and body.

of

Jason

Page 15 There’s lots to choose from and plenty of room to move around in the spacious Point Centre.

In the Hot Food Zone you can enjoy a pit-stop and some wonderful healthy food, such as Katie Sanderson’s Kimchi-topped Rice Bowls, the Pie Man’s renowned pies, Carinas Cakes from Capel Street and Fumbally falafel.

A wonderful aspect of the Christmas Market is that you get to ‘meet-the-maker.’ All the people who designed, sourced or produced the goods are there behind their own stalls. So as well as getting a unique gift, with a back story, you get to chat to the person responsible for producing it.

To get the best bargains and to beat the crowds, get there on

Thursday or Friday, but it’s a fun shopping experience and a lot less hassle than the City Centre no matter when you go.

The Dublin Flea Christmas Market takes place at The Point Square, just over the Eastlink Toll Bridge, beside the 3Arena a mere hop, skip and jump away from Dublin 4. It’s all indoors with free entry.

Opening Hours: 1pm-8pm Thursday 7th & Friday 8th December 2017.

11am-6pm Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th December 2017.

Contact: www.dublinchristmasflea.ie Photo on left by Allen Kiely Photography. Photo below by EDIT ELIAS PHOTOGRAPHY.

Page 16

SANTA IN SANDYMOUNT

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December 2017 / January 2018

Santa Claus came to the Green

L

n Jennifer

Reddin ong before Christmas, Santa Claus is already on his tours around the world and checking how the preparations are going for the important day in December.

And so he journeyed to Dublin and paid a passing visit to Sandymount on Saturday 18th November, where he had apparently lost one of his reindeer. “Yes, I was in Dublin Zoo first and now I came here to Sandymount and my reindeer got lost. It’s around here, somewhere, in Sandymount Green.” He told NewsFour and also the many children who passed him outside the Scarecrow flower shop.

There Fionnuala McAuley was busy putting together Christmas orders. “We will deliver our orders basically right up to Christmas Eve, 24th. “ Meanwhile Santa freely handed out little packets with his very special reindeer food and glitter.

“So, you sprinkle it outside your house or around the fireplace and when I come on Christmas Night on my sleigh, the reindeers and I will see it and know where to

leave the presents for you.”

At precisely 5.17pm, all five and a half thousand lights were

switched on for Raymond Byrne’s butcher shop. Local Carol singers from the Gospel Choir invited everybody to join in “Jingle bells” and other Christmas, wintery airs to get in the festive mood, mood.

A first ‘taste of’ was offered by samples of cookies, sausages and sweets from selection boxes, plus some mulled wine to ward off the cold.

Santa Claus was still busy, borrowing a scooter for a bit of exercise along the footpath to loosen his tight-fitting coat a bit for his later departure from Sandymount.

“I need to be able to squeeze back up the chimney. But I love Sandymount. I want to stay here for the night.”

Another guest didn’t plan to stay the night and was not even head-

ing out for the Aviva. Eoin Reddan came with his little daughter for the countdown to switch on the five and a half thousand lights around Byrne’s butcher shop.

“And then I will go straight back home. My wife just had a baby and that’s more important, right now.” The former Ireland international rugby player has been living in Sandymount since 2009 and one of his player jerseys is on display in the shop behind the counter.

NewsFour is sure that Santa and his missing reindeer got reunited and journeyed safely back to the North Pole after he could see the all shops and windows were decorated and illuminated for the big day in December and of course all the passers-by who were delighted to see him, even if he did cause a few traffic jams at the traffic lights.

Remember, anyone who hasn’t send her or his letter to Santa yet, can still do it. Letters to Santa can, of course, still be sent to: Santa Claus, North Pole with a €1 stamp on the envelope. Don’t forget your clearly written address, so Santa can send you a reply before Christmas Day. Top: Raymond Byrne of Byrne’s Butchers, Antoinette Carney from Tesco and Fionnuala McCauley of Scarecrow Flowers.

Below: The man himself!

Photos: JR@N4

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December 2017 / January 2018

Page 17

LOCAL AMENITIES

Page 18 and embracing the ever-changing Leisure Industry.”

New Facilities and Programmes We are launching a number of new facilities and programmes shortly including: • New Gym and Fitness Studios

S

PORTSCO is celebrating 38 years in business this year and is committed to supporting the local community with its wide range of excellent facilities.

Lorna Brady, C.E.O (above) stated: “SPORTSCO is extremely proud to have encouraged the local community in its quest for fit and healthy lifestyles over the years. We hope to continue this trend for many years to come and are committed to a policy of continuous improvement

Extended Gym area comprising of • Extended Free Weights section • Designated Functional Training zones • New Sled Track and equipment Studio development including • New Fitness Studios with extensive new class timetable • Completely refurbished Spinning Studio Please see advertisement on page 3 Les Mills Fitness Classes We are delighted to be launching the famous ‘Les Mills’ programmes from January 2018.

Les Mills are the world’s largest provider of choreographed exer-

cise-to-music classes.

These popular classes are fun, motivating and energetic, and get results.

Body Pump is being launched at the site in January and will be followed by two more amazing Les Mills classes during the year. So, watch this space Body Pump: The heavy-lifter of the Les Mills family, Body Pump is where it all began. Don’t be put off by the weights; this is an endurance-based class with 55 minutes covering ten different muscle groups. It’s a musical mixture of empowering classic songs and hard-hitting pop tracks.

The best part is seeing tangible progress as you load your weights up. Focusing on low weight loads and high repetition movements, you’ll burn fat, gain strength and quickly produce lean body muscle.

SPORTSCO Swim Academy SPORTSCO’S new Swim Academy guarantees an impeccable

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December 2017 / January 2018

quality of service. We understand that learning to swim is a vital life skill and we focus on delivering the very best in swim instruction. Low student numbers and highly qualified instructors ensure you and your child have a clear route on graduating to the next level. We have six different levels and can accommodate children from the ages of three and upwards.

SPORTSCO PROUD RECIPIENTS OF MAJOR QUALITY AWARDS EIQA Q Mark for Quality Management Systems SPORTSCO successfully achieved two major Quality recognition awards in 2017 and were nominated in the National Quality Awards. EIQA stated ‘SPORTSCO has continued to demonstrate role model performance in the opera-

tion and development of the facility.

Key results demonstrate positive and continuous improvement across all areas’.

Ireland Active White Flag Gold Award 2017 The White Flag National Quality Standard is the only Leisure Industry specific award for the Irish Leisure and Spa Industry. The standard is based on Safety, Hygiene and Maintenance and Customer Care.

SPORTSCO has once again excelled in all categories and retains its position as one of the leading leisure facilities in the country. C.E.O. Lorna Brady, M.Sc. (Mgmt.) stated “I am delighted with the latest results and extremely proud of the team here at SPORTSCO. We work very hard to provide the very best in leisure facilities and customer service to all our members and guests.”

For full details on SPORTSCO see our website http://sportsco.ie/ or call 01 6687022 Facebook/Instagram: SPORTSCORingsend Twitter: SPORTSCODublin

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December 2017 / January 2018

Champion of derring-do

D

ublin City Library and Archive launched their exhibition on December 1st to legendary footballer and manager Patrick O’Connell, with the official launch by Ardmhéara Mícheál Mac Donncha.

Patrick was born in Drumcondra, Dublin in 1887. He started his professional career with Belfast Celtic FC in 1908 and moved to Sheffield Wednesday FC in 1909.

During the British Home Championship of 1913/14 he captained the first Ireland team to beat England on English soil and also led the Irish to victory over Wales in Wrexham. In the final game against Scotland at Windsor Park, Patrick played the entire second half with a broken arm as Ireland clinched their first-ever football title.

Patrick moved from Sheffield Wednesday to Hull City where he spent two years before joining Manchester United in 1915 for a fee of over £1,000. He became the first Irishman to captain Manchester United a century ago.

Speaking at the launch of the exhibition, Ardmhéara Mícheál Mac Donncha said “The story of Patrick O’Connell is a fascinating one and I encourage all sports fans to visit this exhibi-

tion to gain an insight into his career – as captain of the first Irish team to win on English soil, the first Irishman to captain Manchester United and the man who saved the legendary Barcelona FC team from bankruptcy.

Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís.”

Well we would hope that the future produces people with such strength of character and sizeable heart again. Not only was he the first on two counts of historic captainship but he also displayed singular championship and drive.

In 1921 Patrick became manager of Ashington FC, a club made famous by the Charlton brothers Bobby and Jack. Soon afterwards he moved to Spain to become the manager of Racing Santander, where he went on to lead them to five regional titles between 1922 and 1929. He was involved in the formation of La Liga, the Spanish Football League Championship in 1928 and it was 1931 when Patrick became manager of Real Betis. One season later they became second division champions. In 1935 he led Real Betis to their one and only La Liga title in front of a capacity crowd of 7,000.

Following this win, Barcelona FC invited Patrick to become the manager and in his first season

SPORTING EXHIBITION

managing the club he led them to win the Catalan Championship and they were runners-up to Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup. During the Spanish Civil War, when Barcelona FC was on the brink of bankruptcy, a Catalan businessman who had emigrated to Mexico asked the club to tour the country in 1937. Patrick rounded up the players and staff and sailed to Mexico. They played six matches before carrying on to New York for four more exhibition games.

The tour cost the team most of their players, as only four travelled with O’Connell back to Barcelona, the rest either seeking asylum in Mexico or jumping out in France on the way back. The money made from the expedition saved Barcelona and although Patrick returned to Ire-

Page 19

land shortly afterwards he had ensured Barcelona’s future and his own enduring memory.

The exhibition includes Patrick’s Irish Cap from 1914, items from Sir Bobby Charlton, Kevin Moran, Paul McGrath, Bryan Robson and Norman Whiteside. Here is also an FC Barcelona shirt from 1936, signed items from Paolo Maldini and Andreas Iniesta and the FC Barcelona champions league winning team of 2015, with photos from the tour of Mexico and the

Empire cup won by Patrick in 1904, 1905 and 1906.

Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian said “Dublin City Library and Archive is pleased to host the Patrick O’Connell exhibition as part of our remit to collect and connect Dublin’s rich sporting heritage to Dubliners and to visitors to our city. Sport has played an intrinsic role in Dublin’s social and cultural identity and the Dublin City Sports Archive celebrates and preserves that identity. I encourage sports fans and history lovers alike to attend this free exhibition and learn more about Patrick O’Connell and the Sports Archive.”

The exhibition Patrick O’Connell – the man who saved FC Barcelona is on display in Dublin City Library and Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 until 20th December 2017. The exhibition has been curated by the Patrick O’Connell Memorial Fund and supported

by Dublin City Council. Free admission.

Above: Patrick (Don Patricio) O’Connell.

Photo courtesy of Dublin City Library archives.

Bath Pub Seniors’ Christmas Party The Ringer Boxing Club are currently recruiting coaches to join our dynamic team. Experience is an advantage but we welcome those without it also.

O

n Monday last the senior residents of Bath Avenue attended the Annual Christmas party hosted by the Bath Pub. Since the new owners, Brian and Stephen, took over the Bath Pub in 2012 they have provided a fun-filled night of food, entertainment and drinks for the senior residents.

The Seniors Night is a huge success. All thanks must go to the owners, the managers Brendan and Kevin, the staff and the local volunteers. It has now become an event that is much looked

So if you’d like to volunteer a few hours a week and be a part of something great, get your gloves on! forward to and talked about by the locals. The Bath Pub sponsors numerous amounts of local groups and charities. No request is too big or too small. The Bath Pub also sponsors Mr Tilly’s Christmas lights display.

Happy Christmas to all the staff at the Bath Pub and many thanks for your generosity.

Pictured, from left: June Hilliard with Elizabeth McGuinness, Mary Lawless and Grainne McGuinness.

Contact Jennifer on 086 367 2047

Page 20

PHOTO DIARY

www.newsfour.ie

December 2017 / January 2018

September 22nd… Culture Night Curraching

Culture on the river – East meets West

September 29th… Partying at the Port

The amazing Damien Dempsey plays up a storm with Crane 292 visible in the background

Colm Mac Con Iomaire of The Frames (left) in action with the band

October 21st… A Day to Remember at Cambridge FC

Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive Dublin Port Company enjoying the party

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December 2017 / January 2018

PHOTO DIARY

Page 21

November 18th… Santa comes to Sandymount

Helen Burke and Treasa McInerney enjoying the festivities

Naughty or nice? No question Santa will be calling to Ryan,Taylor and Kayla Rose this Christmas

Counting down the days till we meet again

Fionnuala McCauley having a giggle with Santa outside Scarecrow Flowers

Santa time is here hurrah!

November 18th… Rumble in Ringsend

A warrior awaits

Abbie Fitzpatrick (Coleman Combat) relishes a fantastic win

Direct hit!

Local hero Darragh Barry (Coleman Combat) wears his winning medal and the Mayor’s Chain of Office

Friends in the end

December 4th… Christmas Celebrations with the ladies of Bath Avenue

Nuala O’Brien

The ladies of Bath Avenue.

Joan O’Reilley with Breda Flynn

Urusla Groves, Angela Shannon, Sarah Curley and Ann Trehy Tom Sliney, Madge Bolger, Hugh & Bella Egan, Ann Sliney

Joe and Kay Barbazon with Rosalie Sunderland and Susan Daly

Maureen Bohan, Eileen Dalton, Helena McDermott

Page 22

F

Dublin Bay – City By The Sea

n Jennifer

Reddin ather and daughter team Seán and Niamh Kennedy present the splendour and diversity of Dublin Bay in all its glory in this wonderful new photographic collection.

Dublin Bay – City By The Sea features a cornucopia of images that capture the beauty of the bay and its environs; from Howth Head in the North to Dalkey Island in the South and all places in between.

Much of the scenery presented will be familiar to everyone who has lived in or visited the capital – landscapes and marks such as the sweep of Killiney Bay, the sunset skyline of Dublin Port, the Poolbeg Chimney stacks, the Bailey Lighthouse and Joyce’s Martello Tower.

Others offer surprise, with secret nooks and crannies and remarkable perspectives on every other page.

Seán is a well-known Dublin photographer who has a particular interest in street and landscape photography.

He has lived in Sandymount, since he moved there from his native Boyle in

BOOKS / ART

“I

December 2017 / January 2018

1984, which fostered his great appreciation for the beauty of Dublin Bay. His photographic work has attained international recognition from the Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique (EFIAP), a worldwide organisation representing photographic art. In 1993 he was elected Artist FIAP (AFIAP), and in 1997 he was awarded Excellence FIAP (EFIAP.) Seán has exhibited both nationally and internationally and has been an active member of the Dublin Camera Club since 1983 and is a past president.

Niamh grew up in Sandymount, with the iconic Poolbeg Chimneys as a backdrop and Sandymount Strand and its surrounds as her playground.

She is a keen walker and occasional cyclist and relished the opportunity to explore the Bay by both modes while writing the text for this project.

Dublin Bay: City By The Sea; Seán & Niamh Kennedy; O’Brien Press(Hardback) €24.99 available good bookshops everywhere.

Story of a lifetime

may be interpreting the Greek philosopher Socrates loosely when I say, ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ I believe there is a book to be written in everybody’s life.”

Francis Carty in his rambunctiously titled autobiography Bruises, Baws and Bastards which was launched last month certainly examines his. Noth-

www.newsfour.ie

ing is left out and it follows his circumstances, from when he was born up until today, without stint and is filled with random curiosities. A long time Sandymount resident the book has plenty of content featuring the area.

It covers the life and adventures of his long and winding road from a joy filled family childhood and school life in the lean and hungry Ireland of the 1950’s to his joining and then leaving of the seminary. This period is detailed with the stress and anxiety that taking the strict vows of poverty, obedience and chastity for seven years caused him. He then left and went into journalism, publishing and public relations. Obviously, it runs in the family, as his brother is Ciaran Carty the well known, though now retired, newspaper film reviewer, interviewer and author. Ink being as thick as blood, he was also correct and present at the launch. As the title suggests it is a quirky and highly personal tale that many will enjoy.

Bruises, Baws and Bastards; Glimpses into a Long Life Passing by Francis Xavier Carty available at Books On The Green / on-line orders to: www. eprint.ie or through fxcarty@eircom. net €18.00.

All the Red Ties Vol 1

S

ince its foundation in 1907, Scouting has contributed to the world in a bewildering variety of ways.

Across the world, former Scouts have walked on the moon, presided over the White House, occupied 10 Downing Street, had international music hits and led international aid work to eliminate poverty and inequalities in deprived communities.

All the Red Ties Volume 1 covers the

movement’s history, its founding in Ireland in 1927 from a bastion of the Catholic establishment through its evolution to an active force for progressive change today.

Its author Dermot Lacey is a lifelong scouting member and has served nearly fifty years in different capacities, both locally and nationally. The former Lord mayor of Dublin recalls in particular the rich history of Donnybrook Scout Group, detailing some of the famous and not so famous members and revisiting some of the highs and lows, including a legendary pipe band that played for a US president and a Pope.

It’s true impressiveness, however, is a place and community where friendships have been made, character has been developed and young people have been given chances they might never otherwise have had. The book captures many of the reasons that has seen the unit continue to grow and prosper and emphasises the role Scouting as a movement has to play for the future.

It is also a great local account of an aspect of the history of one of Dublin’s oldest and most diverse communities.

All The Red Ties Volume 1 by Dermot Lacey; Carrowmore Publishing, €15.00 Books On The Green.

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December 2017 / January 2018

The NewsFour Crossword Compiled by Gemma Byrne

Name:…………………………… Telephone:…………………

Address:…………………………………………………………

Prize of €25 book token. Post entries to NewsFour, 13A Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 (above Clyne’s Butchers) by 17th January 2018 The winner of our Oct/Nov 2017 crossword competition is Des Havelin, Drumcondra.

ACROSS: 1) Bing Crosby festive hit (5, 9) 8 & 30 across) Come, they told him (with his percussion instrument) (6, 7) (3) 10) Carry out (2) 12) Engine powered bike (10) 13) Bright star (4) 15) Wave that sounds like a Spanish hello (3) 17) Apple-shooting William? (4) 20) Den (4) 22) Mr Bennett – English playwright (4) 24) Popular hot beverage (3) 25) Duties (11) 28) Plural negatives (4) 29) Lake on the river Shannon (4) 30) See 8 across (6, 7, 3) 31) Go out on an arm or a leg? (4) 32) Kiss and put on some slap? (4-2) 33) Atop (4) 35) Makes a speech (6) 36) Save, perhaps your reputation (6) 39) New (3) 40) Produce moisture in mouth in anticipation of food (8) 41) Prize (6) DOWN: 1) Puddle-proof footwear (10, 5) 2) Ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (4) 3) Snakelike fish (4) 4) Flaky white fish (7) 5) A good one is charitable and helpful (9) 6) Farming (11) 7 & 23 down) Chunk of wood for burning at Christmas (4) (3) 9) Decay (3) 11) French Ferry port (6) 14) Team sport played indoors or on the beach (10) 16) Insurance company that sponsors Dublin GAA (3) 18) Trap (7) 19) Discordant mixture of sound (9) 21) Arm bone (6) 22) On the wing (8) 23) See 7 down (4) (3) 26) A ghost’s greeting (3) 27) Agency office worker that blows hot & cold? (4) 34) Name before marriage (3) 37) Full stop (3) 38) Chart (3)

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Artful discovery: Florence Vere O’Brien

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n Kathrin Kobus early fifty years ago, Veronica Rowe and Elinor Wiltshire had decided to gift the Archives of Trinity College with their inherited papers of their grandparents, Robin and Florence Vere O’Brien. The majority of these includes their correspondence with leading political and societal figures in Ireland and England from the late 19th century to the first three decades of the 20th century.

Amongst these are Florence O’Brien’s sketchbooks and her diaries.

One storage box, however, was left untouched and only recently discovered.

“We had taken this old box from the top shelf of the storage room.

There, we found these sketches, more than a thousand of them. The interesting thing is her diaries match these sketches. Wherever Florence travelled, she found time to do her sketches and later would water colour them,” said her granddaughter and member of the RDS, Veronica Rowe.

Their findings in that old, dusty box encompassed a timeframe from 1880-1915, spanning the end of the 19th century to the first year of the First World War. Sifting through the abundant material, she and her husband David came to the decision to compile a book, or as she simply stated, “It was easy, just to put this selection up and turn it into these magical pages.”

The result Irish Sketches of Florence Vere O’Brien was presented at the RDS during this year’s Dublin Book festival in November.

Florence Vere Foster was born in London 1854 and spent the first four years of her life in India, where her father had been posted as an officer of the British Empire. Following the death of her mother, she and her three siblings returned to England and were raised by their aunt and uncle.

She accompanied her uncle, whom she regarded as her step father, from the age of 14, on his journeys to the SOLUTIONS FOR OCT/ NOV CROSSWORD Across: (1) Trial and error; (8) Tom; (9) Abandonship; (11) Indiscreet; (13) Tsar; (15) Abnormal; (18) Utterly; (20) Juror; (21) Tee; (22) Komodo; (25) Talk; (27) Ye; (28) Out Of Sight; (30) Emu; (32) Giblets; (34) Slumber; (35) Transformations.

Down: (1) Tuttifrutti; (2) Immediately; (3) Loan Shark; (4) Dan; (5) Runt; (6) Rehash; (7) Superstructures; (10) Acronym; (12) Erred; (14) Raj; (16) Blowout; (17) Luigi; (19) Tea; (23) Opts; (24) Offal; (26) Keel; (29) Gab; (31) Mews; (32) Git; (33) Bra; (34) Sum.

continent. Her life path would lead her eventually to Ireland when her uncle became Chief Secretary here.

Due to her financial independence, She could pursue her philanthropic engagements and correspondence with various political figures of the outgoing Victorian era.

“She was a young lady, born in London. But she travelled to the continent, visiting Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy and Russia, before she met her future husband Robin O’Brien and settled with him in Ireland,” Bernie Brennan, President of the RDS pointed out in her speech at the official launch for the book.

Florence O’Brien had lived in Dublin for two years. After her marriage to Robert (Robin) O’Brien in 1883 they lived at Oldchurch in County Limerick, later in New Hall, County Clare

There she established the Clare Embroidery Society and also the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland, training young girls in lace making.

Irish lace work was shown at exhibitions at the Dublin RDS and worldwide trade fairs in Chicago in 1893 and St.Louis in 1904.

A few samples of her delicate lace work with her monogram were part of the display at the RDS Library, together with her original sketchbooks, in November. Now they are back in the family’s possession, though most probably not in that storage box again.

The Irish Sketches of Florence Vere O’Brien is published by Balinkelly Press and available now in Dublin bookshops.

Pictured above: Veronica and David Rowe with RDS President Bernie Brennan.

Photo by Kathrin Kobus

BOOKS

Page 24

www.newsfour.ie

December 2017 / January 2018

Alfred the Great: A Dublin Legend

B

n Beibhinn

Byrne yrne Does The Work, We Want Alfie, We Want Byrne, Make Sure of Alfie First.

These pedestrian but clear

slogans made quite clear what Alfie Byrne’s supporters wanted and express the collective feelings of Dubliners during his reign as “The Great Handshaker.”

The longest, successive Lord mayor of Dublin, he was elected to the office ten times, as well as having been a TD and a senator. For Alfie Byrne was that rare thing – a genuinely popular politician, while being a man of many parts.

From rags to riches and from tenacious politician to ultimate gentleman. His journey is fascinating and his personality complex.

The above slogans from his campaigns are one of many examples of archival details culled from meticulous research of documents and material by author Trevor White.

He had an advantage as the founder of The Little Museum of Dublin and custodian of the permanent exhibition housed there about Byrne, the family having donated his personal archive to it in 2012.

The ‘life and times’ of the book’s subtitle is pertinent, as the entertainingly titled chapters show (The BleedingHeart Racket – complete with George Bernard Shaw quote.)

They don’t just detail his life and rise to political fame but also the atmosphere and histo-

ry of the city and his inseparable, intrinsic relationship with it. (NewsFour readers will be especially interested in his Port connections amongst others.)

Pigs run up streets, the same streets characters like Zozimus and Bang, Bang roamed.

Shopkeepers are fairly wellto-do people and the tenement slums sit cheek and jowl with the grand buildings of O’Connell Street.

Byrne, who grows up amid the tumult of the city in times of great political and social change, stays close to it and its people and later as Mayor would still cycle through these streets. This is his success, his empathy with the poor and his friendliness which “only the bitterest of fanatics can withstand his friendliness; his friendliness is not mere show.”

His humble beginnings and being “ ‘an absolute nobody’ unlearned, not big business, ‘not political’” was to be his unique selling point.

White has a winning style with some terrific one-liners and insights, commenting entertainingly in places with

Four Sisters – four villages

T

n Kathrin Kobus he small volume The Little Book of Sandymount by local resident Kurt Kullmann was published in Spring this year. His follow up Four Sisters is a history, collection of anecdotes and stories about the four villages of Dublin’s Southeast: Ringsend, Irishtown, Sandymount and Merrion.

However, which is the oldest of the four villages?

Kurt Kullmann narrowed it down quickly to an either/or choice of Ringsend or Merrion, with arguments for both claims. The official launch of his book held at the Sandymount Hotel, was safely on middle ground.

Kullmann says, “I had finished the first manuscript [Rugbytown]. But it was difficult to find a publisher. The first one who read it just wanted changes. A lot of changes. again and again. So, in the end I brought my manuscript to the History Press and they liked and printed it.”

Four Sisters invites the reader to accompany the author on his comprehensive and impressive journey through the archives to discover a bit more about places they might pass by on a daily or even weekly basis.

It includes not just the main roads which meander from the city centre through the four villages, but also the small lanes. Long gone are the tram lines 1, 2 and 3 that crossed the old Victoria Bridge (now McMahon Bridge) with destinations of Ringsend or Sandymount.

Today, only buses no 1 and occasionally no 47 are the means of public transport.

Kurt Kullmann, however, preferred to take the pedestrian way. “What I did was simple. I walked around the area, all four villages. Most of the time I had my camera with me and it was just a thought, ‘maybe I’ll take a picture of this building. It looks interesting, and might not be around much longer.’ I asked around. That’s how it came about.”

The author explains confusions and connections regarding names and extensively researches histories as far back as the middle ages, where possible.

He collected the first mention of a trading fishery post which grew into Ringsend, also the windy and sandy place that (only in the middle of the last century) became the leafy village of Sandymount.

For Merrion, the author recalls the eventful history of the Coach and Horses Inn, which once existed opposite the Merrion Gates, dating back to the late 18th century, with stories about thoroughly polite highwaymen.

Remnants of the Inns building were incorporated into St.Mary’s grounds and today there is the Merrion Inn a little bit further north and on the other side of the road.

The dangers the Inn faces today are more in the line of fire damage and flooding than stand and deliver. But to find out about these and other little secrets you’ll have to read the book.

Four Sisters, History Press €16.00 available from Books on The Green.

pithy observations and the book is a pleasure to read as much for its narrative pace and writer’s eye as it is for the historical content and interesting biography of a character who seemed to be able to balance that most difficult of things; To please everyone while doing exactly as he pleased.

It is poignant too when his reign comes to a muchlamented end, one reporter spots him and is ‘horrified’ to see him ‘naked without his chain.’ Meanwhile, the chattering classes sent newspapers verse on the subject.

His last act showed his innate sense of decency when he astonished everyone with anointing a rival, widow Kathleen Clarke to the post. Thus he ensured his legacy as Alfred The Great, Dublin’s bestloved son, who knew how to make an entrance and an exit.

And a surprise awaits the reader: a whimsical coda that is a curiosity for them to ponder.

Alfie; The Life and Times of Alfie Byrne; Penguin Ireland; Hardback €22.99.

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December 2017 / January 2018

CULTURE CORNER

Page 25

Bluestone Christmas Lights Bluestone spray coloured lights Decorate the tall Christmas tree That crowns Grafton street where Stark shapes pierce the night sky.

On grey dark evenings shoppers Scurry in all directions, loaded With presents and designer bags As they prepare for celebrations.

The cold colour triggers pictures Of my father spraying lanky leaves In potato ridges and watching blue Showers cover over young stalks.

Under soil baby potatoes endured Frosty foggy nights, and digging In Autumn produced an abundance Of food that lasted a full year.

The atmosphere around takes me back To dinners full of floury flavours While I try to concentrate on shopping For my annual presents at Christmas.

From Walking On Snow; Swan Press 2010

Aviva Stadium

From Ringsend Bridge The Dublin mountains Hide behind a buckled tyre With a hollowed centre Or it could be a spacecraft Lonely, waiting to take flight.

From a distance the Aviva Stadium seems anchored on top of homes as it settles Into a low lying landscape near the Dodder river.

Through the budding trees At Grand Canal Bridge The glossy structure gleams Like frosted ice on a river.

Holding up to fifty thousand This bolted down Perspex Fills with boisterous fans For rugby or soccer games.

Between showers and hailstones Teams, muck up the green pitch and crowds cheer on the teams when points or goals are scored.

On other evenings, concerts Lift our spirits with music And song that drenches the air And we grow to love and admire This architectural building of light and space a modern work of art.

Agapanthus

All those bulky leaves Of agapanthus flowers Fill oatches in gardens The little blue ringlets Bunch together and hang Over the elegant willow Stem all Summer and into Autumn months, then The lovely shade of blue Begins to turn a greyish Colour, ringlets in place.

A few weeks later these Curls turn into blonde Heads, before the stem Weakens, begins to faint forward hitting the ground.

Mary Guckian Mary Guckian, pictured above, is a poet and writer. Her work has appeared in the Link, SouthLight, The Leitrim Guardian and other publications. Her work is included in the recent poetry collection Washing Windows to honour Eavan Boland alongside other women writers, as well as Bog Calendar for the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.

(Photo by Ross Waldron)

T

On The Day Before Christmas Eve

By Mary Guckian

he city was emptying on the day before Christmas Eve and most of the cars had left the intertwined streets around Ringsend. At the bus stop, cold air blowing down from the Canal Docks caused a draught between Boland’s Mills and the high rise apartments.

It was bitter and biting. A shower of sleet was about to hit the ground. A young girl appeared pushing a large old fashioned pram with a very young baby under layers of clothes. She was anxious to know what bus would take her to the Mater hospital and I explained that the number one bus would take her nearby. I said, “Your baby is very young to be out in the cold,” and she responded, “ The mother is very ill and she needs to see her baby.”

This put Christmas in perspective for me. There was no mobile phone for her to speak with her young friends and she looked worried. I wanted to help and suggested I would get her a taxi and pay for it. Suddenly a taxi appeared and I hailed it, the taximan pulled in but she said,” No, no, no.” An African man was driving it but I soon realised the old pram would not fit into a car so had to let him go. My No. 77 bus arrived and before I boarded it I put a twenty euro note in with the baby. I hoped it might get her credit for her mobile phone if she owned one. I spent a lot of Christmas time wondering what happened to this family and how little I was able to do to help the young girl who seemed loaded with worries when all around people were looking forward to a few days of joy with family and friends.

Page 26

CULINARY CORNER

www.newsfour.ie

December 2017 / January 2018

THE CULINARY CORNER

H

ere are some SuperNatural Christmas recipes and tips to make your food a sumptuous feast this year and keep you well over the Winter with easy seasonal dishes. First the celebrating and then the penance! But one that is still pleasurable. Come January, most of us want to eat a little less and a little better, but still want comfortingly nourishing dishes.

Healthy means balance and we hope to inspire you with ingredients for taste and health. Our biggest tip is to do a weekly shop full of fresh food and cupboard staples.

It’s a habit that can change your life.

In the run-up to Christmas, keep it real, local and truly special. Whether for essentials or one-off dishes like full turkeys and hams, we really urge you to go organic. It is worth the health, taste and you are worth it. A very happy Christmas and prosperous New Year to all!

This mince recipe is my favourite from The Blazing Salads 2 cookbook, deliciously fruity and without added sugar! The trick is a long cooking time, which slowly releases the fruits’ own sugar, as well as making the house smell divine and Christmassy.

Organic dried fruits avoid the excessive vegetable oil ‘regular’ stuff is plumped out with, ditto preservatives and colourings like caramel and sulphur dioxide and of course from the outset they are not grown with a toxic molotov of agrichemicals.

For the pastry, you can use a good un-bleached plain flour like Dove’s, but I really like to substitute spelt as it is so much easier to digest, stops the bloating and I find it wonderful for baking. You can use white or be a real health crank and make wholemeal pastry with added fibre and B vitamins that tastes just as good! If you need to go gluten-free Dove’s brand also do a good one. A splash of brandy, sherry or port in your mixture is entirely optional.

For the pastry (makes 12): 175g Wholemeal Spelt Flour Pinch of Sea Salt 85g Butter

For the mince (makes 12): 115g Raisins 115g Sultanas 100g Currants 55g Dates chopped 70g Apples diced up Juice of ½ Orange & peeled fresh rind Mixed Spice Cinnamon Nutmeg 1 tsp of Miso 1 tblsp of Chopped Walnuts 1 tblsp of Apple Concentrate 1) Sieve flour and salt into large bowl. Dice butter into cubes and add to bowl, rub together or if using mixer paddle until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add 2 tblsp of cold water and bring to dough. Wrap and chill for half hour in fridge. You can double this amount if you like enclosed pastry mince pies or you can make open ones with almond topping below.

2) Place all the ingredients (except the miso, apple concentrate and walnuts) into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix well, add just enough water to cover fruit. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover tightly and simmer for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Once cooked, stir in walnuts, apple concentrate and miso. The miso acts as a preservative (while being probiotic and good for you) Mince will keep refrigerated.

3) Roll out pastry. Cut disc with 9cm cookie cutter.

Press gently into a lightly-oiled muffin tray or muffin paper linings. Bake for 20 minutes. These will keep for two weeks in airtight container. They also freeze well.

4) To assemble. Place 125g ground almonds, add a drop or two natural almond essence and 300ml water blending until smooth. Set aside.

5) Spoon mince mixture into baked pastry cases, Add a layer of almond topping or seal on freshly cut out pastry lids and bake 180C for 20-30 minutes.

Come January, you’ll be craving something minimal; low fat and energising but filling and resonant with flavour. A good noodle soup is hard to beat. It is an inexpensive, easy, versatile, and healthy dish.

You can use a variety of noodles – spelt noodles, gluten free, traditional udon or soba noodles made with

buckwheat flour, which is a great blood purifier and balancer of blood sugar. You can decide to have it vegetarian or add chicken or beef lean protein. Fresh coriander or parsley or not. I love mushoroms but others do not.

Some seaweed flakes or nori sheets torn up and added, boost the mineral and vitamin content and add rich flavour and iodine for the thyroid. The oils mentioned below are safe to heat. Most vegetable oils are not. Especially cold pressed olive or sunflower. You should only ever heat oils that take a high smoke point.

Fresh / dried chilli Fresh / dried ginger Quality Sea Veg Sea Spice / Clearspring Nori Sheets 1 clove garlic crushed with flat of knife and chopped 2 Generous tblsp Clearspring barley/brown rice miso Tsp coconut oil / cap of peanut oil / avocado oil / macadamia oil Mix of vegetables such as pak choi, broccoli florets, carrots sticks, onion cut into quarters Condiments to serve toasted sesame oil, tamari/soy sauce or Braggs amino acids.

1) Cook noodles according to pack instructions. Drain and put to one side.

2) Heat oil in deep pot or pan and add chopped chilli, garlic, ginger. Freshly grated ginger can be squeezed so juice runs into pan then add gratings. If using dried chilli one finely chopped will be enough and tsp of powdered ginger.

3) Add hard vegetables first such as carrots and florets then onion and any green leaves such as pak choi or spinach and cook for approx 8-10 mins in total. If adding lean beef strips or chicken stir fry first then add at end of cooking time for veg or add pre-cooked. Stir all flavours together. Add the large tablespoons of miso to pan and pour boiled water from kettle over to make soup add seaweed and fresh herbs if using here, add noodles into soup, 2-3 drops sesame oil, Braggs or soy sauce, serve hot. Enjoy. www.supernatural.ie 114-116 St Andrew’s Resource Centre Pearse St. Every Saturday 9-3.30pm Photograph mince pie courtesy of Mermaid Photography.

Noodle soup Wikicommons.

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December 2017 / January 2018

Page 27

DCC NOTES

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C

www.newsfour.ie

December 2017 / January 2018

Christmas in D4 with Dublin City Council

n Declan

Hayden hristmas is coming and the goose is getting fat… Dublin City Council South East Area Community Section is working with all the villages in Dublin 4 in preparing to celebrate Christmas. Santa and his one horse open sleigh, The Snow Queen and Cuddles the Polar bear will visit each village for the lighting of the Christmas trees, bringing lots of fun for the good boys and girls.

Sandymount: Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association STTCA kicked off this year’s Christmas celebrations with their Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday December 1st at 5.30pm on Sandymount Green. The Deputy Lord Mayor Dermot Lacey joined Mayor of Sandymount Berna O’Gorman, St Matthew’s School Choir, Louise & Friends, Santa and his one horse open sleigh, The Snow Queen and Cuddles the Polar Bear as they switched on the tree lights for Christmas 2017.

St. John’s Church Sandymount will hold a Carols by Candlelight Service on Saturday 16th December at 4pm. This service will feature traditional Christmas music and readings. Admission is free and there will be a voluntary collection for Merchants Quay Ireland On St. Stephen’s Day Tuesday, 26th December ‘Come celebrate the Wren’. The Wren Boys Day will take place at noon in Sandymount Village. This is a family event, with traditional music, poetry and dance.

This has also been a successful year for STTCA gaining ten points in the National Tidy Towns competition and Sandymount Village won the Best Urban Village Award for the whole city. STTCA would also like to would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to all the individuals and businesses in the Village for their support during the Village Cleanup and Tidy Towns endeavours in 2017. Follow them on Facebook: Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association.

Donnybrook: Donnybrook Tidy Towns celebrated their Christmas community celebrations, lighting their tree on Sunday 3rd December at the main Plaza in Donnybrook. St.

Mary’s primary school choir, the Dublin ukulele people and Chris Wong entertained the crowds, while Deputy Lord Mayor Chris Andrews with the help of Santa turned on the lights on the tree.

Donnybrook Tidy towns would like to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to all the businesses in the Village for their support during the Village Cleanup and Tidy Towns endeavours in 2016. A very successful venture indeed, picking up more points in 2016. Plans are now underway to build on this success in 2017. Visit the website https://www.DonnybrookTidyTowns.ie for updates on our progress Ringsend and Irishtown: Ringsend and Irishtown also held their Christmas party on Sunday 3rd December at 2pm at the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre. The Christmas tree at St. Patrick’s Church Ringsend was lit on the same day with a traditional service.

There was lots of fun and games for all the family, with Santa and his friends arriving to start the festivities.

Weekly Activities: Every Wednesday at 2pm – Let’s Walk

and Talk in Spanish walking group, meeting at Kildare Place, Kildare Street.

Every Thursday at 2pm – Let’s Walk & Talk walking group, meeting at Sandymount Green Every Thursday from 3-5pm – Knitting Classes at Beech Hill Court, Donnybrook Every Friday at 11am – Let’s Walk and Talk in French walking group, meeting at Kildare Place, Kildare Street The above weekly activities will be taking a break over Christmas, so please check with each group for details.

All events free to come to and enjoy the fun for all the family.

such as medication. We are appealing to all communities to look out for each other – especially vulnerable people and some older people who may live alone, may have no family or relatives and who may be at risk of becoming ill or suffering from cold, malnourishment or poor medical care.

Please look out for your older and vulnerable neighbours this winter and make sure they have everything they need. This campaign is part of Dublin City Council’s commitment to an Age Friendly City Dublin City Council South East Area Community Development Section would like to thank most sincerely all the communities and neighbourhoods in our villages for all their hard work during 2017.

In a year where there were many memorials and events to mark the centenary along with great developments and enhancement in the flowering and greening of our village, a huge congratulations to you all.

We would like to wish you all a very Happy and peaceful Christmas and all the very best for the new year in 2018.

Pictured: Santa and the Good Fairy coming to Ringsend Community Centre with Lorraine and Barbara from RICC and Lord Mayor Of Ringsend Deke Rivers.

Older Persons Cold Weather initiative Dublin City Council’s Community Development Section, in association with ALONE, the Gardai and Dublin Fire Brigade are running a campaign that focuses on older and vulnerable people this winter time and are asking Dubliners to spare five minutes to check in on the elderly and vulnerable this winter.

The cold weather reminds us how difficult it can be for many people who are vulnerable, alone and isolated. It can be a very frightening experience to be without shelter, warmth, food or essential items

South East Area Community Development Team. Email: friendsofthesoutheast@dublincity.ie • Phone: 01 222 2243 • Website: www.dublincity.ie • Facebook: Dublin City Council

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A

December 2017 / January 2018

October t the South East Area Committee meeting in October, Cllr Dermot Lacey and Cllr Frank Kennedy raised the issue of traffic problems at Belmont Avenue to which the South East Area Manager (SEAM) Rose Kenny confirmed that there will be an engineer sent out to assess this for the hours of concern which are between 8am and 9am when kids are being dropped off for school.

Cllr Chris Andrews queried the council on the issue around safety at Sandymount Green. The SEAM says that traffic calming measures on the public thoroughfare outside the Green offer the best solution and that these may include pedestrian lights, zebra crossing, speed ramps for buses and placement of children crossing signage.

Cllr Frank Kennedy enquired about the shutting off of water to the residents in the Canon Mooney Gardens in Pembroke South Dock when they only received letters pertaining to the disruption that day. Cllr Kennedy wanted to know how Irish Water could have such little regard for people living in these buildings, especially those with disability, by not giving them ample time to make arrangements. SEAM said that the DCC Water Services who were operating on behalf of Irish Water did, in fact, drop off

COMMUNITY

DCC Notes Compiled by Paul Carton

those letters four days prior to the service disruption and have this on record.

Cllr Chris Andrews, on behalf of the residents in Bath Avenue, asked as to why waste trucks were using the road, even though it has a three ton weight limit restriction.

SEAM said that this limit can be waived where access is required.

This reply was further explained by a reply from the Thorntons recycling company who said that they have customers in that area and have to use that road to service them. Cllr Andrews wanted to know who was the owner of the triangular plot of land in front of the Irishtown House at 60 Irishtown Road. However, the DCC said that plot was not under their ownership and that there was no information with the land registry to its ownership either.

Cllr Chris Andrews requested a

speed signage on the Sean Moore Road due to its high volume of traffic but the SEAM said that all roads in the administrative area of DCC is 50km/hr unless signed and, therefore, if they were to put one up at Sean Moore it would lead to a proliferation of such signs in the city.

November At South East Area meeting in November, Cllr Paddy McCartan and Cllr Frank Kennedy put forward the motion to have a change in the system of parking currently in place at the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, which is causing havoc with emergency vehicles entering the hospital from Bloomfield Avenue. After reviewing the engineer’s report, the SEAM have decided that they will replace those pay and display signs with double yellow lines and move the pay and display area to the south side entrance of the hospital to facilitate emergency vehicle access.

Cllr Mannix Flynn put forward a motion on behalf on the South East Area Committee to reinstate the coordinators for SEA safety forum meetings and drug task force immediately, which they say were lost due to cuts a number of years ago. Cllr Flynn said the reason for the immediacy of this reinstatement is due to an upsurge in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity. The SEAM said that the former coordinator took the voluntary redundancy package in 2014, a condition of which was that the position would not be refilled.

Cllr Flynn put forward a motion on a matter for resolution in relation to a new management fee for tenants living in DCC houses to be charged. Cllr Flynn proposes that it would be both legal and democratic for tenants then to be on the management board of these apartment blocks. However the SEAM said that the only people to serve on management boards would be the owners and in this case that would be the Ap-

Page 29 proved Housing bodies (AHB).

Cllr Chris Andrews requested the SEAM to replace a tree standing approximately 100 feet high with its branches hanging over a number of houses at the rear of Ringsend Park. The reason for the request is from concerned residents after experiencing strong winds, with Storm Ophelia as one of note and have noticed the tree moving and creaking and are worried that if the tree or part thereof were to come down it could cause serious injury or even death and also damage to property. The SEAM said that the tree is a lime tree and considered to be in good condition and that no evidence of damage to the tree was noticed by inspection. The SEAM went on to say that the creaking was perhaps a cause of the number of crossing branches in the tree trunks and that the movement of a tree is used to strengthen its trunk. However the SEAM said that considering its age, species and its location, they will reduce its height by 15-20% with some of these ‘crossing branches’ to be removed or thinned to allow for ease of airflow within the tree crown. In addition the SEAM, said that this work will also allow a tree surgeon to do a more

detailed inspection and its work will be part of their 2018 tree works programme, however this is subject to funding.

Cllr Frank Kennedy asked for an update from the SEAM on the position of the applications for affordable housing scheme which is to arise on foot of the residential development at the Poolbeg West Strategic Development Zone (SDZ.) Cllr Kennedy was informed by the SEAM that the DCC have requested the Department of Housing and Planning and Local Government to bring forward a legislation to include affordable housing in developments. The planning scheme decided by the DCC on the 2nd of October promised 3,500 new homes, 900 of them being delivered as either social or affordable housing with a minimum of 350 to be delivered as social housing. The decision on whether this scheme will go ahead or whether any modifications to the plan are to be made is up to An Bord Pleanála, who say that decision will be made by the 21 February 2018, although they do say that date is subject to change.

Pictured: Crossed wires about crossed branches?

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December 2017 / January 2018

www.newsfour.ie

O

n Jennifer

December 2017 / January 2018

Reddin n Saturday the 30th of September, 2017, hundreds of people gathered at Custom House Quay, beside the Sean O’Casey Bridge, to commemorate the loss of the SS Hare and the SS Adela, two ships that have a strong historical association with Dublin Port and the Docklands area.

These two merchant ships were torpedoed by German submarines, U-62 and U-100, and lost in the Irish Sea during December 1917 at the height of World War One. Twelve lives were lost on the 14th of December 1917 when the SS Hare went down, including one woman crew member, Sarah Jane Arnott who was a stewardess. Eleven crew members survived.

Later that month, on the 27th of December, 23 merchant seamen drowned, or died from exposure, alongside 24 year old Christina Kavanagh, the only passenger on board, when the SS Adela succumbed to the same fate. Only the Captain, Michael Tyrrell, survived. It is thought that his long experience at sea and his strong build saved him.

One hundred years later, members of the Dockland communities, with the support of DCC and the Dublin Port Company, came together to remember the two ships and all who

HISTORY

Page 31

SS Hare and SS Adela remembered

sailed on them. The umbrella group formed for the project, the Adela-Hare Centenary Commemoration Committee, set out to remind the people of Dublin of the sacrifices made by brave members of the Mercantile Marine who put their lives at risk to bring cargoes back and forth across the Irish Sea at a time of conflict.

The event was officiated by Ardmhéara and Honorary Admiral of Dublin Port, Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha (The Lord Mayor of Dublin City).

He was joined by descend-

ants of the ships’ crews as well as members of the public and of the local historical and heritage societies who were responsible for the tribute. The Mayor of Holyhead, Anne Kennedy, the Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy, Josef Reichhardt, and representatives from DCC and DPC were also in attendance.

A commemorative plaque to the SS Hare was unveiled at the site, just outside the DCC office building, formerly the property of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.

Following the ceremony, guests crossed the Liffey to the Campshire Buildings on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, where a second commemorative plaque was unveiled to the SS Adela, close to the ship’s original berth.

In 1917 Ireland was totally dependent on the Merchant Marine to bring goods to and from the country. At the time, ships came further up river, so Dubliners were far more aware of Ireland as an island nation and of the city as Ireland’s premier port.

Both ships would have been a familiar sight on the quayside and many of the victims came from the close-knit seafaring

communities around the Port.

The SS Hare and her crew were particularly well-known and loved by the workers of the Capital. She was known as ‘Larkin’s food ship’ because she had played a critical role during the Great Lockout of 1913, when the Dublin Employers’ Federation, led by powerful businessman and newspaper owner William Martin Murphy, locked out up to 20,000 workers in an effort to stop them organising under Jim Larkin to demand better pay and working conditions.

Larkin went to the UK to rally support. As an act of solidarity with their Irish counterparts, the British Trade Union Congress organised a relief effort, gather-

ing food and other supplies for their striking comrades. As SS Hare made her way into the city, laden with donations, the striking workers and their starving families stood along the quayside to cheer the crew.

When the news of her loss and of the subsequent loss of the SS Adele reached the capital, it had a seismic effect on the city’s population, who rallied together to lend their support to the survivors and to the dependents of the crew members.

Substantial donations were raised by the ordinary people of Dublin, from all social classes and religious divides. The business community that had been served so well by the crews of these vessels gave generously too, with the Irish Cattle Traders and Stockowners Association contributing £1,100, which was considered to be a fortune at the time.

The fascinating history of the SS Hare and the SS Adela can be followed on Facebook with a page that has been set up in their memory. Events, talks and discussion all feature to commemorate the centenary year. https://www.facebook.com/adelahare1917/ Above: The large crowd which attended.

Bottom left: Ardmhéara and Honorary Admiral of Dublin Port, Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha with the Mayor of Holyhead, Anne Kennedy.

SS Hare courtesy of East Wall History Group Images: Patrick Hugh Lynch

Page 32

Money advice and Christmas

O

n Lorraine Waters

f all the costly events that happen in life, Christmas, like taxes, is most predictable – it comes every year, on the same date, making planning for it very possible.

Unfortunately, however, most people do not plan for it. We here at MABS see clients every year who have found Christmas to cost them well into the following year, which has knock-on effects, making it even harder to manage their money.

Household bills can mount up and for some paying back the cost of credit can cause a high amount of stress, not only on a family budget but also on their health. Therefore, it is important for us at MABS to promote a message and to state the importance of planning ahead.

The Cost of Christmas It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, which is why it’s so important that you take control of your finances when you can.

1. Make a list of what you need to buy for Christmas. Divide it into gifts, food, clothes and socialising.

2. Prioritise. If you had a limited amount of money, what could you cut from that list? Work your way through, numbering items in order of importance.

3. Try to estimate how much

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money you expect to spend on each of these items. What does it add up to?

4. If it’s a large figure, look at each item again. How can you reduce the cost?

5. What does it add up to now?

Is it a better figure?

6. Keep going with this until you get a number you can live with. It’s important to be honest with yourself.

7. This is the amount of money you have decided you need for Christmas.

8. If you have been able to put aside a few euros over the year to meet the cost of Christmas, well done. Will it be enough to cover the costs you planned for?

9. If you have not been able to put aside any money, or if you have not saved enough, then it’s a choice: Either you cut the amount you intend to spend again, until your savings can cover it, or you may decide to borrow it. Do not borrow from ruinous loan sharks or costly interest loans.

10. Do not build plans on the basis of a bonus or overtime payment, or any other payment you are not absolutely certain you will get. Only count the money you can rely on getting.

Smart shopping.

Try to get the best value you can when shopping for the gifts.

Look for offers in the shops,

BUDGETING

three for two deals and so on, but remember the value is only there if you actually need the three items. Stick to cash, you will spend less than using debit and credit cards.

Keep receipts in case something needs to be exchanged.

Work from a list to avoid unplanned, impulse shopping.

Leave the children at home.

Remember the shops only close for one or two days, so there is no need to stock up on food.

Borrowing If you really believe borrowing is your only option, then remember these points: Only borrow what you truly need and not one more cent.

Try to make sure you can pay back this loan before the middle of next year, if at all possible, otherwise it makes it difficult to save for next Christmas.

Find out what the weekly or monthly repayments are going to be and see how this will affect your budget next year – can you afford that amount, and still pay

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December 2017 / January 2018

your regular bills and expenses?

When looking for a loan, try to get the best value you can.

Generally, loans available from a money lender will cost you much more than a loan from the Credit Union or a Bank. Using a credit card is also a very expensive way of borrowing money.

Remember to read the terms and conditions of any credit application, make sure you understand what you are getting into.

Get advice before you sign.

Contact MABS before borrowing to see what options are available to you.

Before you borrow, look again at your list. Be honest. Is it worth it? Are you sure this is what you and your family need?

Cutting the cloth When we struggle all year round, with little cash to spare, we often feel we need to take a break at Christmas. We want our children and our loved ones to have the best. But that doesn’t always mean spending a fortune, particularly a fortune you

don’t have.

Be open with your family.

Even Santa has been hit by a recession! Talk to your friends and extended family. Do you need to exchange gifts at all? Or would you rather spend time together?

Almost no one has been left untouched by the recession.

Everyone has less money, be the one to bring up the subject in your circle. Suggest that this year is the year to bring back more basic values. Take the time to be with those you love and those you love will not want you to worry, and to struggle for six months to pay for the gifts they didn’t need.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM DUBLIN SOUTH EAST MABS Photo courtesy of Wikicommons.

Longest lasting gifts are things you can’t see

t really is true the best things are life are free. And certainly the most precious are definitely things we can’t

buy or tangibly hold in our hands, but they are the longest lasting, the stuff life is made of. Love, health, generosity, humour, genius, compassion, intimate exchanges, the feeling a movie or a song gives us, nature, helping others, sharing, including, wanting a better world, standing up for what’s right, for ourselves and one another, solidarity, community.

These ideas and heartfelt desires for more than just wanting more ‘stuff’ are the experi-

ences that give meaning to our lives and build the world we live in. We asked some of staff here what was their heart’s desire this Christmas and we got some great answers. Thought we’d share with you!

cuses are not tolerated, where politicians tell the truth, where homeless people have homes, where Shane Long scores a goal, and where Donald Trump admits he’s just feeling a bit insecure and needs a hug.”

Paul O’Rourke: Website Editor and Writer (left).

“I would like to visit a magical place for Christmas, a fantasy kingdom where Garda Commissioners’ phones can be found, where cut and paste ex-

Kathrin Kobus: Journalist and Reporter (right) “Sorry, I am not much of a Christmas person but love old movies. So I’ll do movie two Bogey (Humphrey Bogart) classics Casablanca

and We’re No Angels, a truly wonderful Christmas film, not too soppy, no Santa Claus or elf in sight.”

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December 2017 / January 2018

n Kathrin Kobus here’ll probably be no huge bells ringing, but for Aideen O’Connor, Manager of the Markiewicz and Irishtown Sports and Fitness centres, this December marks the first anniversary since the Markiewicz facility reopened.

Back in September 2015, a tenweek closure took place, initially to redo the changing rooms area.

“When I came in, the pool was already closed and I saw the scaffolding. I could see that it was a big challenge.” She remembers her first days at the beginning of 2016. It was only at the end of that year that business as usual returned.

The centre in Luke Street opposite the Dublin Fire Brigade consists of three main sections, the cardio/weightlifting, the studio and the pool. A new innovative fitness programme on the water proves a hit. “That’s our Floating Fit classes. It is a half hour highintensity training session for up to ten adults per group. The sessions go back-to-back, just the floats get handed over.”

Other offers include Aqua Classes, Pilates, one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer or various group activities.

Another first was this year’s Summer Camp for primary school children. “The children loved it, not just the gym and the pool, but we also took over to visit the fire brigade across the road. We are definitely putting it on again in 2018.”

Both facilities are run by Dublin City Council, two of six such centres the corporation has all over Dublin. Markiewicz is within easy reach for residents of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount. The final number 47 bus stop is practically outside the

SPORTS AND FITNESS

Floating to fitness

glass doors.

Markiewicz facility’s focus is the pool, in comparison the Irishtown gym incorporates the stadium, five astro pitches and the running track. It has been home for years to the Crusaders and during weekday evenings, the five-a side soccer teams. Pitches four and five are due to get a new ‘carpet’ and the track just got another facelift at the starting and finishing areas.

The tarmac has to be ready to host competitions like the Dublin Championships and school sports days from St. Patrick’s, Marian College, St. Michael’s, or St. Matthew’s next spring and summer.

Early morning hours see the Irishtown gym regularly used by pensioners like Michael Behan

from Ringsend, who says, “It’s nice to have this gym here. The staff are friendly. Now I am off cycling.” Cycling is on the spot with a view towards the rising sun over Irishtown.

Another customer this morning was Thomas Cullen, 65, from Irishtown, who usually comes three mornings during the week, who says, “I’ve come here for the last four years or so. I had a hip replacement a couple of years ago and the gym helps me to keep moving. Otherwise, I would just be sitting at home in front of the telly.”

That’s precisely what Aideen O’Connor hopes to achieve for all their customers: “I see our centre’s programmes as tools to promote physical fitness for eve-

rybody, so in the new year we will introduce a ‘Change for Life’ course at Irishtown Gym. It will be running over six weeks and is inspired partly by Operation Transformation.”

Page 33 One doesn’t need to join the specific programmes, the Centres are open for everybody who just wants to improve personal fitness, or general well-being. That means for some simply going for a casual ride on the bicycle machines, a session of rowing or a quiet swim followed by a trip to the sauna or steam room.

Last open day for this calendar year will be the 21st of December. On Friday the 22nd the doors close for staff training and reopen again in the new year.

However, if you feel the urge to go for a run before sitting down for turkey, ham, spuds, sprouts and the selection boxes, the traditional mile run goes ahead at Irishtown Stadium on the 25th between 10am-12pm.

Contact for opening hours, prices, offers for OAPs, students, passport for leisure are available at sports&fitness. m a r k i e v i c z @ d u b l i n c i t y. ie or sports&fitness. irishtown@dublincity.ie Clockwise from top: Fun in the pool.

Michael Behan on his bike.

Tom Cullen walks in the sun.

Photographs provided by the Markiewicz Centre

HEALTH AND SPORT

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A gym with a difference

“L

n Lizzie Doran

ose weight, feel great,” that’s the motto painted at the windows on the first floor of the Trinity Enterprise Building

at Grand Canal Dock. It’s Andy Kenny Fitness. This gym is different to other providers. You cannot stroll in and just get on a bike or rowing machine for a bit of work out.

Owner Andy Kenny and his staff solely cater for classes never larger than 10 people per group.

He is dedicated and committed to getting his customers into the proper mindset to achieve their fitness and/or weight loss goals.

Firstly, he wants you to sit down and discuss with him or a member of staff about your personal

plan. You’ll fill in a questionnaire when you join and answer some general questions about how you evaluate your physical and mental well-being and what you wish to achieve with the chosen course. At the end of the course the folder comes out again and the same task is repeated. As they say, repeat for emphasis.

The flagship programme is the Body Slim Project. He gives these classes himself, but has found another enticing way to build a relationship with his clients so that they feel comfort-

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December 2017 / January 2018

able and welcome from the first session onwards. A mentorship from previous and successful weight loss clients.

“I have some of the people who have completed the body programme go on to become gym ambassadors. It means they are here for newcomers, to encourage them to stick to their plans, to stick with their exercises but also the keep the food diary.”

Some do early morning sessions straight off when the gym opens at 6.30 before heading off to work.

Other classes are focused on boxing, weight-lifting and in a separate room the illusionary night cycle area programme.

Andy Kenny expects the big rush of potential new customers for the New Year when all those selection boxes have been cleared of their sweet contents.

The gym is closed only on Sundays. For further information go to www.andykennyfitness.ie Above and left, Andy Kenny and the gym in action.

Photos courtesy of Andy Kenny.

In remembrance: Stephen Lucey

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tephen Lucey died tragically on the 1st December 2016. He would have been 33 years of age on the 6th of May 2017. He attended Holly Park National School, leaving after 6th Class to go to 1st Year in Willow Park and then to Blackrock College, finishing as a boarder in the Castle in his final year.

After the Leaving Certificate he went to UCD to study Commerce and later to Griffith College to study Law. Stephen played mini-rugby in Blackrock College RFC from the age of six; he loved rugby, but it did not always love him back. It wasn’t unusual to see Stephen in a sling, in fact it was his favourite accessory.

Whether it was lining out for Blackrock, Monkstown, Sandymount touch or any of the many tag teams he played on, he would give 110%. On the 29th April 2017, the first annual tag tournament in honour of Stephen was held in Stradbrook, thanks to the Trojan work of Caroline Little, with the proceeds of over €10,000 being divided between Aware and Pieta House charities.

In January 2013 Stephen joined the staff of Shelbourne Pharmacy Ltd in Irishtown, Dublin 4 and became a Director in 2015. It is testament to his huge popularity with the customers of the pharmacy and the people of Irishtown and Ringsend that the attendance at his funeral, celebrated by Fr Tom Nash and Fr Ivan Tonge in St Patrick’s Church Ringsend, was the biggest the undertakers, Fanagans, had seen in that church.

As his great friend Gavin Little said, if you ever met Stephen it was pretty difficult not to gain a lifelong friend and seeing the

outpouring of messages on social media and listening to the many anecdotes at his passing, it was easy to see that everyone else had the same experience.

Messages came pouring in from around the world; it just goes to show the impact Stephen had on people.

He will be forever missed by his parents Paddy and Barbara, his loving sisters Sarah and Nicola, his partner Clare, his uncles and aunties, cousins, the extended family and the ‘Rock boys and numerous friends he had.

May he Rest In Peace.

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December 2017 / January 2018

Dodder Sea Scouts

SCOUTING NEWS

Page 35 three-course formal Christmas dinner with all the trimmings cooked by their leaders in the scout den.

4th Port Dodder Sea Scouts wish to thank everyone who supports Sea Scouting in the community, the various funding agencies, the volunteer leader team and their parents and families. We wish everyone a very happy Christmas.

A season of fun and activity

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embers of Dodder Sea Scouts have had an exciting Autumn-Winter season with plenty of activity on the land, but in typically Sea Scout fashion embracing marine life and history into their programme.

Some highlights were a 20K cycle hike, where the Sea Scouts took on a personal challenge encompassing road safety week, by cycling 20k starting from at their scout den in Derrynane Gardens, to Clontarf and Bull Island and onto the causeway towards Sutton. A picnic lunch was had in St Anne’s Park before travelling back to the scout den.

There was also a weekend camp on the Dodder bank and on the Saturday night as one of our photos shows; three particular Sea Scouts really earned and enjoyed their bowl of ice cream drizzled in smarties. What made this really special is that the girls had just finished cooking the dinner for everyone in the troop, and completed the wash-up and left the galley sparkling clean! Great satisfaction in a job well done and the spirit of service to others.

There were also visits to the Maritime Museum and an outing to the RNLI station. Members were also presented with a varie-

ty of badges which showed their personal progress throughout the season. The four parts of some of the awards covered the following categories; yourself, identifying one’s own identity, learning about scouting, the Scout Troop and Watch, which develops one’s role in the watch, taking part in a number of activities and taking on more responsibility.

Citizenship involves finding out about the environment and skills, ensuring members try a wide variety of adventure skills.

Adventure Skills badges were presented for camping, backwoods, paddling, rowing, and pioneering and some Special Interest badges were gained in community involvement, physical/recreation and adventure.

In November, members of the Troop proudly carried the flags of the shipping companies at the Annual Seaman’s Commemoration Ceremony at the memorial on City Quay. Sea Scouts will finish up their scouting year by making some decorations and crafts and presenting these as presents for some lucky family members, making Christmas cakes, ice skating, and having a

Clockwise from top: Reese, Eva and Orla enjoy dessert after cooking and washing up.

Eve, Reese, Isobel, Orla and Hannah in the Maritime Museum.

Left to right: Isobel, Hannah, Timea, Eve, Ruby, Orla, Reese and Hannah on 20k cycle.

Photographs courtesy of Geraldine Smith

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December 2017 / January 2018

Weaving Cambridge FC Memories

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n Kathrin Kobus

n entering the clubhouse an eye-catcher is the red Man United jersey embroidered with the time-frame 1974 – 2015 Joe Corcoran. He had begun as a coach with the Cambridge Boys and turned into longest serving scout for Manchester United for over 40 years.

His was but only one name recalled and focussed on a breezy Saturday on October 21st.

It was a day to share memories like those of referee Tommy Bolger. He passed away at a football match, but his tools of the trade are still in use. “Sharon [his daughter] came to me after his death. And even so she was still in tears, basically she brought me his little notebook and his whistle. I still use them.”

Said Tom Cullen, the next referee and Tommy’s successor, so to speak.

Around 50 relatives and friends of club members who had passed away through illness, age or by accident, came together to plant tree saplings in their memory along the fence opposite the en-

trance.

Inside the now-refurbished clubhouse, small groups recalled games and wins from years or decades ago. And while contemplating ups and downs for the club on and off the pitch, a question came up: Where is the picture with Mick McCarthy? He had been a guest of honour at the then-new clubhouse at its opening more than 15 years ago.

Now in the last couple of months, more renovations and improvements have taken place.

According to Eileen Lawless the outgoing secretary, “We spent the money, some of it on renovating the hallway, kitchen and rebuilding the changing rooms for the boys and girls, now with toilets and showers.”

Storm Brian had shown only his tail end after a morning lashing and had disappeared up North by the time Father Ivan Tonge gave his blessing outside.

“I congratulate every one of you here for the work that you do for the community. It is truly a vi-

brant club.“ For Eileen Lawless it was the last official function she and her fellow trustees attended. “We spent the money, a part of it, we wanted it done, and we’ve done it. We’ve spent €27,000 so far from the grant.”

However, the club had to selffinance the €30,000 needed for the portacabin next to the clubhouse. These are the spare changing rooms with toilets and shower for the visiting teams.

How the remainder of the

grant money will be spent is in the hand of the next generation at the club now. Eileen Lawless has handed over secretarial affairs after 45 years to Cormac Finn (32) “I think it will mainly go towards pitch maintenance, sports gear, kits and so on. We now have 14 teams from eight years upwards to minor level.”

They will need more kits to fit out more kids. A slight name change lies ahead as well, since it is no longer just the boys who play in a Cambridge Jersey.

There are now three girls’ teams playing. Maria Byrne and David Cassidy are in charge of the teenagers’ team, the under 14 girls.

“We have a full team now, so we can field a proper 11-player squad with subs. And we really needed the space, the new separate changing rooms and shower facilities. So it’s a great thing to have for the next season.”

The tree saplings are now in the ground and will hopefully prosper in the same way as the club, come Spring 2018.

Photo by JR@N4.

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SPORTS

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Railblazers launched

I

n Kenny Carroll

t has been a busy time as always in Railway Union. We are in the middle of the hockey season, with lots of matches and lots of progress in our teams.

Autumn was busy with play and gearing up the Winter season.

The Boys and Girls inter-provincial tournaments took place recently. Overall, Railway were represented by eight players in the different grades.

Eva Lavelle, Lucy Crowe, Martha McCready represented Leinster under-16 girls team who won the overall title. Jake Pillow and Shomik Chakraborty played for Leinster under-18 boys team, who won their tournament also.

Sophia Cole, Amy Elliot and Lelia O’Byrne were all part of the Leinster under-18 girls team.

Also, Rob Devlin was assistant

coach of the successful under-16 girls team. Many of the Railway players have progressed to Irish trials as a result of their performances.

A new team was added to our club this season with the launch of our special needs team, the Railblazers. We have already competed in two tournaments with other Para-hockey teams

the Three Rock Rockets and the Monkstown Strikers. Weekly training takes place on Thursdays at 5.30-6.30pm. New players are always welcome and will be made to feel very welcome.

The Railblazers have a dedicated team of volunteers and club stalwarts and along with their volunteer group, Margaret Shaw and Aoife McCarthy are the leaders

of the programme. Please contact RUrailblazers@gmail.com if you know a young person 10 years of age up who might be interested in playing.

On Saturday 4th November, we welcomed Portadown Hockey Club from Co. Armagh. We played them at under-11 boys, under-13 boys and mens’ 2nd team level (Irish Junior Cup match.)

We progressed through to the next round of the Irish junior Cup and the boys’ matches were high scoring and even contests.

Apart from great competition on the pitch, it was a chance for

our young players to meet and socialise with peers from another part of Ireland. Both clubs enjoyed the day so much we have pencilled in a return trip to Portadown in January.

eter after 7pm, because most of the players of the middle group of 1012 year olds headed off to the disco at the community centre, which offered a tempting alternative to kicking a football in nearly freezing temperatures. “There were not enough girls here tonight, so we played mixed teams.”

After the third and final round on December 1st, it won’t be all over, just yet. For the organising coordinator Jonathan Twomey, the real big occasion comes a week later.

“We’ll host the Dublin Finals here on Friday 8th. All the pitches

will be used, not just at the Stadium, but the whole park. Teams from all over Dublin will be coming to Ringsend that evening.”

That will mean 400 to 500 kids, teenagers from Dublin and surrounding counties will be down for the night, Dublin City Council will make sure nobody goes thirsty and hungry between 6.30 and 9.30pm on the day of the finals.

By Friday night at around 10pm the winners of trophies, medals and tickets for an upcoming Ireland game will be known.

Top left: The Railblazers.

Above: Shomik Chakraborty and Jake Pillow of Railway Union and Leinster Under 18 boys team.

Left: Railway and Portadown under 13 teams after their matches on 4th November.

Photographs courtesy of Railway Union.

Soccer in the Dark: Late Night League

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n Kathrin Kobus or the past three Friday evenings, around 50 kids and teenagers met up at 6pm at Irishtown Stadium for Soccer in the Dark, or as it is officially known, the “FAI-Garda Late Night Leagues.” Third party organisers are Dublin City Council with two sports officers based at Irishtown Stadium.

The astro-pitches were available for eight minutes of play per game and five-a-side football. There was no half time, and strangely, no referee necessary. “Ah, usually they keep track of the score themselves and get along without the whistleblowing. I just keep the time and lists for names and results. These tournaments take place all over Dublin. So I’ll have to check later how it went at the other venues in

Finglas, Tallaght or Balbriggan for example,” says Kenneth Brady, a referee from the FAI, looking after things on the first night, November 17th.

It is a competition but isn’t hugely focussed on strict rules and results. “They are all good lads coming here,” explained Jonathan Twomey, FAI Football Development Officer for the South Inner City in charge of the games. “The most important thing is, they have fun here and most of them like football and play or have played on club level. I know most of the lads anyway from club or the after-school programmes.”

He was happy with the numbers attending the events. Thanks to word of mouth, social media and advertising through clubs like Pearse Rangers and Cambridge

FC. “We had a great response beforehand, when we announced the dates for this year’s leagues. It’s a successful concept.”

The tournaments have been played in Dublin for nearly ten years. They were introduced in 2008 as a joint effort to engage young people in disadvantaged areas in meaningful activities and prevent or reduce anti-social behaviour.

Community Garda Anthony Kelly was there with his colleague on their bikes on the first Friday night. “We’ve been invited by Jonathan to come along and maybe talk to some of the older lads.

The long, dark winter evenings are now here. Events like this can give them another focus other than just hanging out and about.”

The second outing became qui-

Photo by Kathrin Kobus.

SPORTING HISTORY

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O

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Remembering Oscar Linkson

n Gavan

Bergin scar Linkson was born into a working family in Barnet, London in 1888.

His parents Robert and Rebecca had suffered the deaths of four children before Oscar was born.

When Oscar was three years old, his soldier brother died in Africa.

Oscar was a boy who loved playing football and wasn’t half bad at it. He left school at the age of fifteen to work with his Dad as a house painter. He kept on playing football and developed into a good player.

By the time he was nineteen, he was playing to a fairly high level in amateur football for his local team Barnet Alston FC. During the summer of 1908 he was spotted by talent scouts and signed up to Manchester United in time for the 1908/09 season.

He made his professional debut in the number 2 shirt as United’s left-back against Nottingham Forest on October 24th 1908 and had a good first season helping Manchester United win the club’s first FA Cup. The Manchester Athletic News praised Oscar as a “cool and steady player who kept his head very well indeed and had the makings of a fine back.”

Standing 5’10” tall and weighing 11 stone, Oscar was strong and quick with a powerful left foot and good defensive instincts. He looked set to have a long career ahead of him with Manchester United.

In his third season with the club they won the League and the FA Cup. But he was still only 22 and it was an era where a lot of young players found it difficult to break into the first team at big clubs.

Sure enough, Oscar found his qualities were not as highly valued as he might have hoped they would be.

But he stayed on in Manchester for five years always trying to win his place in the team. When he did play, he made a reputation as an honest battler with a tough streak. Once, he had his jaw broken just after the start of a game but stayed on the pitch to play until the final whistle, however, no matter what he did, it was not enough to get him a regular game with the first team.

Eventually, Oscar accepted that it was time to move to a club that appreciated him. He got lucky. He found that club when

he signed with Ringsend’s Shelbourne FC in August 1913. Oscar was 25, newly married with a young son, and was in fine fettle as he brought his small, young family across the sea to Dublin.

Shelbourne football club had recently moved into their new stadium on South Lotts Road and the team embarked on the 1913/14 season hoping to continue their good form of recent

seasons.

Oscar did his part to make sure that the team did just that.

They attained their highest finish for years in the Irish League, which was no mean feat, but the main event of the season came with Shelbourne’s defence of the Leinster Senior Cup. Shels had won their seventh Senior Cup by beating Bohemians 4-0 in the final at Dalymount

Park on St Patrick’s Day 1913.

It had been a particularly sweet victory, and no Ringsender wanted to let go of the trophy.

A year to the day later, Shelbourne were back in the Leinster Cup final, against St James’s Gate. It became an epic struggle, where willpower and defensive resolve rather than skill and attacking verve, were to the fore.

The final, played on 17th March ended nil-all and there was a replay one month later on April 18th. That replay finished in another scoreless draw even after extra time. A second replay was scheduled five days later.

Shelbourne, who had gone into the final as favourites, must have started to see their odds lengthen. But in that third game, Oscar and his defence held firm and made sure no opponent could get past them. They put in the hard and dirty defensive work that the situation required, and their forward players at last broke through at the business end and scored twice. Shelbourne won the game 2-0 and were Senior Cup Champions again.

In the 1914/15 season the main achievement for Shelbourne came in the Irish Gold Cup, a prestigious All-Ireland competition which had always been won by northern clubs. Shels had reached the final for the first time in 1914, but had lost to Lisburn Distillery. A year later they were back. This time, at the Solitude ground in Belfast on April 3rd 1915 they would face Linfield, one of the biggest, and most successful, high-profile clubs in Ireland.

Shels were definitely the underdogs going into the final, but they were by then an extremely good side and Oscar and the rest of the backline were absolutely steadfast and after a dogged ninety minutes they won the game 10 and the Gold Cup was coming south for the first time!

It was a fine, fine win and in the normal course of events, Oscar would have gone on to even more success and be remembered today as one of Shels’ great players. But in 1915 there was no normal course of events.

While Ireland’s footballers existed in the suspended reality of sport, the real world was in turmoil. The Great War was in its second year of bloody carnage.

Oscar could have stayed with his family in Ireland, safe from the war. Nobody forced him to join up, but perhaps his sense of duty meant that he couldn’t stand by while his friends and countrymen went off to fight.

Whatever the reason, shortly after the Gold Cup Final, Oscar returned to London and enlisted in the 1st Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. He was sent to France to be part of the great Somme Offensive. He went out, one lad amongst all the other young lads from London and Dublin and Cork and Glasgow and Cardiff.

And, on the eighth day of August 1916, one lad from London went out in the battle for Guillemont Station to do his bit, one Private Oscar Linkson went out and went missing in action, never to be seen again.

Left: Oscar Linkson when he played for Manchester United.

His mother, Rebecca, who had already lost four sons, refused to accept he had been killed on the Somme, believing he had run away to escape an unhappy marriage.

Photo courtesy Wikicommons.

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December 2017 / January 2018

Clanna Gael Fontenoy

SPORTS

Page 39

A very good year

T

n Felix O’Regan

he Club prides itself in being more than a GAA club in the community.

It’s a club of the community and for the community in every sense of the word.

The club’s facilities are regularly used for a wide range of community events and meetings as well as for sporting occasions.

It’s against this backdrop that the club’s Games Promotion Officer, Ciaran Pollock, recently joined with CanTeen Ireland to help out at their first Family Fun day, which took place in Sean Moore Park.

Each year, about 200 young people are diagnosed with cancer and CanTeen Ireland is there to provide support during what is a difficult time for them and their families. Donations for this non-Government organisation are always welcome – just text CANTEEN to 50300.

Cup victory for ladies team Our adult ladies footballers capped a very good year by winning the Division 2 Cup in late November. Before the final the team’s ability to score – and to score goals in particular – had already been well and truly demonstrated.

It was reflected in previous round matches but especially so in the victory they recorded against Clann Mhuire in a replay of their semi-final, where the final winning score line was 6-12 to 4-12.

The final against a fancied St

Maurs side was played in Sean Moore Park and it proved to be a pulsating affair that either team could have won right to the end.

But in the final, as before, Clanns were more clinical in taking their scoring chances and that’s what proved to be the vital difference in the end, with a winning score line of 3-7 to 0-13.

As the saying goes, it’s goals that win games!

This was a great all-round performance by the Clanns ladies; and, thanks to the commitment and skills shown by both sides, it was a demonstration of ladies football at its best. Great credit is due to the team mentors and managers, including Pat Kane, Clare O’Dea and Martin McDonald, as well as the players themselves.

U16 boys make their mark A very creditable mid-table, end-of-season position in a very competitive Division 2 league was achieved by our U16 footballers. Considering they were playing in the company of A teams from the likes of St Vincent’s, Whitehall Colmcille and Na Fianna as well as Naomh Mearnóg, Raheny, Thomas Davis and St Brigid’s, this was no mean achievement.

It was helped by a fine 213 to 2-10 win over Naomh Mearnóg in Ringsend Park in their last fixture of the season. In conditions that were perfect for football, both sides sought to attack

at every opportunity and it required a good defence and goalkeeping on both sides to keep the final score line from going even higher.

Northern experience for our U8s Our U8 footballers travelled north of the border to match their skills with some of the best from that region; and they did extremely well in reaching the semi-final of the Ian McKeown Memorial Tournament, which was hosted by the Newry Shamrocks club in Pairc Esler, Newry.

Victories against Rossa and Ballyholland were enough to qualify for the quarter final, which Clanns won after a tight contest, before going on to narrowly lose the semi-final by a single point. Although the boys were naturally disappointed, all 18 of them learned a great deal from the day and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves – not least thanks to the great hospitality shown by their hosts.

AGM report A well-attended Annual General Meeting in last November received a report from the Chairman, Bernard Barron, which highlighted successful action taken during the year across a range of priority areas including: coaching review and improvement; communications – internal and external; finance stabilisation and planning; development of strength and conditioning facilities; adult games development; juvenile age transition; and Strategic Development Zone engagement.

He paid special thanks to the Club’s Officers, Executive Committee members, team mentors and coaches and the host of other volunteers who helped to make the year a successful one. As for success on the playing field, he had this to say: “It is always pleasing to see team success and we particularly pay tribute to the boys U16 footballers (winners County B Championship), the girls U14B footballers (winners U14 Shield) and the ladies adult footballers (winners Division 2 Cup).”

Club Secretary, Brian Delany, picked up the Chairman’s references to significant team successes on the playing field and went on to recognise individual accomplishments, in particular at county level. “The number of players who have been representing Dublin during the year is in many ways a barometer of the club’s de-

velopment,” he stated.

The following officers were elected for the coming year: Frank White (President); Robin Booth (Vice President); Bernard Barron (Chairman); Jay Byrne (Vice Chairman); Brian Delany (Secretary); Suzanne Murray (Treasurer); Ann McLoughlin (Ass. Treasurer); Donal Murray (Registrar); Roger McGrath (Strategic Development) and Felix O’Regan (PRO).

Clockwise from top: Club Games Promotion Officer, Ciaran Pollock (centre), gets the fun underway at the CanTeen Ireland Family Fun day.

Ladies Cup-winning squad: Serena Hannon, Ever Kelly, Lisa Brick, Jenny Mannion, Marie Twomey, Rachel Byrne, Julianne Twomey, Kate McKenna, Ella Thirroueiz, Maria O’Dea, Rebecca McDonald, Lisa Curtin, Anne O’Donovan, Niamh Flood, Orla Flanagan, Shannon Fullam, Kate Benson and Claire Ryan.

U8 footballers and their mentors at Pairc Esler, Newry.

Club Officers for 2018, left to right: Brian Delany (Secretary), Bernard Barron (Chairman), Suzanne Murray (Treasurer) and Jay Byrne (Vice Chairman).

Photos courtesy of Michele O’Briain, Roger McGrath, Felix O’Regan.

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December 2017 / January 2018