14 minute read
Dublin Dossier
Pat Keenan on happenings in and around the capital
Celebrating St James and the Camino in Ailesbury Road
Celebrating St James in the magnificent garden of the Spanish Ambassador to Ireland in Ailesbury Road, Dublin
An invitation to a garden party at the residence of the Spanish Ambassador on Ailesbury Road was hard to resist. It would be my gentle return to social mingling, just as I was beginning to get used to some of the carefree aspects of my anti-social way of living with Covid, a good place to re-engage, and at a suitably urbane level, sipping wine and chatting with the ambassador, no less.
We gathered the day before Spain would celebrate a special Sunday for the Camino de Santiago Holy Year - Xacobeo 2021. Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia, the westernmost region across the top of Spain facing the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic. About 730 miles due north in Dublin they would celebrate too, with a special mass in Saint James's Roman Catholic Church on James Street North.
This year the facade of the church was uniquely illuminated for the occasion. These Holy Years only happen on years when the feast of St.James falls on a Sunday. The next one will be in 2027. Because of the pandemic this Xacobeo holy year will be extended to include 2022. There is another Dublin connection. His Excellency Ildefonso Castro, the Spanish Ambassador was here with us in the leafy, sun dappled Dublin 4 garden hails from Galicia. He has been Ambassador here since 2018. No stranger here, having worked at the embassy previously for seven years at a different diplomatic level. Previously he has been in Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Paraguay and Sweden. The Saint James's Catholic Church link with Camino de Santiago dates back to medieval times. In 1220, St James’s Gate was the starting point for Irish pilgrims on their journey to the shrine of St James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. At that time Dublin was a walled city and the original St James’s Gate guarded the western entrance. It was demolished in 1734 but later gave its name to St. James's Gate Brewery of Guinness fame. St James’s Church keeps its pilgrimage link alive through the Camino Society of Ireland which is based there. The Camino Information Centre is manned by volunteers - all veteran pilgrimage completers. They offer information on the journey and issue the official Pilgrim Passport which will mark your route and will be duly stamped along the way. Visit their site at www.caminosociety.ie/
Then there is the fine house itself, now the residence of the Spanish Ambassador on Ailesbury Road. It was built for the Mitchells, the prominent Dublin wine merchants for over 200 years. William Mitchell came to Ireland from the North of England in the early 1800s and set up a bakery business in Fairview. They later moving to 10 Grafton Street, opening a tea/coffee and confectionery shop - a place where a gentile lady of the time might sit, little finger raised, sipping tea or...perhaps a discreet port served in a dainty teacup.
In 1220, St James’s Gate was the starting point for Irish pilgrims on their journey to the shrine of St James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. At that time Dublin was a walled city and the original St James’s Gate guarded the western entrance. It was demolished in 1734 but later gave its name to St. James's Gate Brewery of Guinness fame. until 2008 when they sold out and moved to the CHQ Building in the Irish Financial Services Centre.
Mitchells remains the only Irish wine company of its era to be still owned and run by the descendants of the founder. Remember when Grafton Street had so many tea/coffee shops ? Bewleys, Fullers, Robt.Roberts and Mitchells(they closed in the 1950s).
Dublin pizzeria in the top 20 in Europe
James Cirillo in Cirillo’s Pizzeria in Baggot Street Dublin - might even be better than Naples. They have been ranked in the Top 20 of Best European Pizzerias by the prestigious 50 Top Pizza online guide.
Where can you get a pizza made to traditional Vera Pizza Napoletana standards, San Marzano tomatoes, 00 flour dough - slow-proved for 30 hours, fresh mozzarella, and baked in an oak and ash wood fire oven? - and without shelling out for a trip to Naples, birthplace of the pizza. Cirillo’s in Baggot Street Dublin might even better than Naples. They have been ranked in the Top 20 of Best European Pizzerias by the prestigious 50 Top Pizza online guide. The judges said: ‘the atmosphere is more like that of a pub than a pizzeria, but there is no doubt about the product. The pizza is remarkably like the traditional Neapolitan pizza, well risen and, more importantly, well baked’. The full recipe is of course secret, known only to their head chief Daniele Accardo from Ancona. That's on Italy’s Adriatic coast almost 300 miles west of Naples, hey, nobody's perfect but maybe that's where the 'secret ingredient' comes from. Opened in 2016 by James Cirillo, his dad's Italian from Caserta a city just 20 miles north of Naples and mum's Irish, how could he go wrong? Checkout www.cirillos.ie/ Buon appetito!
Two Kerrymen who made their mark on Dublin and beyond..
In the early years of our independence there were vast fortunes to be made in building and running ballrooms here at home and across the water in war-torn Britain. Remarkably two of these future Irish millionaires, possibly billionaires, came from Kilflynn, near Lixnaw in Co Kerry, John J Byrne and Bill Fuller both went to the same national school, shared the same classroom, started as builders and both went on to make massive cash fortunes building and managing ballrooms and with all that began a lifelong rivalry.
John J Byrne began his fortunes with the Galtymore, his famous London ballroom in Cricklewood. The then Taoiseach Sean Lemass coaxed him back to Dublin to build much needed office blocks and apartments. He came back and transformed the Dublin skyline with O'Connell Bridge House, D'Olier House and Townsend House. Today his company The Carlisle Trust is one of the largest suppliers of private office space to the public sector in Dublin with buildings on Parnell Square, D'Olier Street, Townsend Street and Smithfield. The bulk of the shares in Carlisle are held by a Cayman Islands trust since the early 1970s.
Byrne developed a long friendship with Charles J Haughey who served as Taoiseach on three occasions during the years between 1979 and 1992 - some infer they were secret partners. During the 1960s and '70s Byrne had bought over 500 acres of green belt land stretching from the former Baldoyle Raceourse on the coast back toward Kinsealy, where Haughey lived at Abbeville, his historic abode on an estate of approximately 250 acres. Here I must declare a personal interest. I became involved in the Baldoyle Estuary Preservation Society efforts to oppose Byrnes plans. Byrne tried on several occasions during the ‘70s and ‘80s to get planning permission to build houses on these Baldoyle lands, ending in 1984 when his company Endcamp Ltd was refused permission to develop the lands by An Bord Pleanála. His solicitor John Gore-Grimes recalled that Byrne ‘became heartily sick of Baldoyle.’ He sold the lands. During these hearings lobbyist and PR practitioner Frank Dunlop alleged he bribed seven Dublin councillors to vote to rezone the Baldoyle lands, three of them are now dead and the other four receiving corrupt payments from Mr Dunlop. John J Byrne died at the age of 93 in Donnybrook.
The other, the more colourful of the two, Bill Fuller owned 26 ballrooms and a construction company employing over 3,000. His business interests stretched across Ireland, Britain and the United States. He also promoted concerts, Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Willie Nelson, and organised to get Irish showbands into Las Vegas. A friend who knew him told me that into his 80s he was 'panning for gold' in the Nevada desert, well he did own Eldorado Mining Inc.
In Dublin he owned and ran The Crystal Ballrooms, it later became McGonagles nightclub, the Old Shieling Hotel in Raheny and the Town and Country. In Camden Town London today the massive Electric Ballroom is still in the family www.electricballroom.co.uk/. Fuller based himself in Dublin for most of the 1960s and 1970s. During his Old Sheiling days he paid out court bail for many indicted IRA men. One of those was Anthony ‘Dutch’ Doherty who later confessed to the killing of three British soldiers, members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, lured to their deaths from a Belfast pub in a 'honey trap' sting. This admission subsequently was deemed inadmissible 'because it could not be guaranteed to have been given voluntarily'. He was bailsman again at the age of 84 in Las Vegas where he put up $300,000 bail for Sandy Murphy, a Cheetah's strip club dancer. She with her lover Rick Tabish were convicted of the murder of her boyfriend Ted Binion, owner of The Horseshoe casino. Fuller also paid her $150,000 legal fees. He died eight years later in Santa Monica, California.
John J Byrne began his fortunes with the Galtymore, his famous London ballroom in Cricklewood. The then Taoiseach Sean Lemass coaxed him back to Dublin to built much needed office blocks and apartments. He came back and transformed the Dublin skyline with O'Connell Bridge House, D'Olier House and Townsend House.
Griolladh..from Bray to Malahide
Jack Brennan and Jacob Long, owners of the Griolladh cheese food trucks The lockdown has had a sometimes inspirational impact on food retailing too. In a Malahide back garden two enterprising guys, both having worked in the hospitality industry for the over 14 years, worked on an old trailer converting it into the first ‘Griolladh’ grilled cheese food truck.
They now operate in six permanent locations across Dublin, with a staff of 40 and they plan more. To celebrate their first year, Jack Brennan and Jacob Long decided to give something back with a charity walk from Bray across the city to Malahide and managed to raise over €10,000 for Homeless People and the Capuchin Day Centre.
The perfect grilled cheese sandwich is at the heart of the success of Griolladh. Using the most suitable ingredients available, such as Tartine sourdough bread, the team cook and prep all the sandwich elements from scratch, including the meats, sauces and fillings. Griolladh now operate in Malahide at Moyvil Coast Road; Bray at Beachpark, The Strand; Carrickmines Retail Park; Eatyard at Crossguns and by the time you read this maybe at Phibsboro and Dundrum. Jacob says: ‘along the way we’ve popped up in more permanent locations such as The Globe, Hop House in Open Gate Brewery and Zanzibar Locke.’
Look after your bones this World Osteoporosis Day
Osteoporosis is often referred to as the silent disease as it affects the inside of the bone, while on the outside a person can look and feel perfectly fine. It causes bones to become fragile and break more easily. Women are most at risk from osteoporosis, especially those aged over 65. The effects of undiagnosed or untreated osteoporosis can be devastating, therefore the prevention and early detection of this disease is extremely important.
With World Osteoporosis Day taking place on 20th October, we got some advice from Dr Máire Finn who is encouraging women over 65 to prioritise their bone health.
“There are several risk factors that contribute to osteoporosis. Once there is an understanding of what these risk factors are, it makes it easier to identify if there is anything that can be changed to help contribute to healthier bones. Unfortunately, there are some factors that cannot be controlled but by focusing on those that are, there is a chance you could greatly reduce your risk of osteoporosis.” “Diet plays a major part in bone health. Calcium and vitamin D are essential parts of a diet for healthy bones. Eating a balanced diet, containing adequate calories, and incorporating items from all food groups, can help bone strength as well as overall health.”
“Exercise is also extremely important to ensure healthy bones, especially weight bearing exercises which can help with bone loss. If possible, undertake an assessment by a chartered physiotherapist, before undertaking any exercise programme. Go for a light walk, use the stairs rather than the lift or escalator. Dancing and other low-impact exercises are also good options provided you have good balance.”
Dr Máire Finn
Elizabeth Bishop knew loss and experienced it from an early age. Her father died when she was an infant, and her mother institutionalised when she was five. Later in her life, Elizabeth lost her spouse to suicide. If there was one thing she was familiar with, it was definitely the feeling of loss. In her poem ‘One Art’, she shares with us how she struggles with loss.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
The poem attempts to convince herself and us that all losses are the same in fact, some things like keys insist on being lost. All losses the poem urges should be treated as equal and manageable. We should ‘just’ get over grief in the same way we get over losing a pen or a watch. Alas, if only it were that simple….
Our response to loss is the whole point of the poem, how we rank losses against each other, a friendship, a future, which is more important? Loss is universal. Elizabeth Bishop simply wrote about what we all feel. When we grieve, we want to master the art of losing. It’s just not that easy. Elizabeth Bishop knew that as well as we do.
It is with this poem in mind Irish Hospice Foundation took inspiration for their biannual conference (this year completely online) Forum 2021; Are we the same? The art of losing and building back better.
Little did we know on that fateful day in March 2020 what was ahead of us? We did not know the losses we would face as individuals and as a society.
At Forum 2021 Irish Hospice Foundation will share the stories of people who worked through the pandemic. What did they learn? Where did we thrive? What can we do better? How can we use these lessons to help us build a new future? Forum 2021 will create a safe space for us to examine our relationship with dying, death and bereavement during its 2 days.
Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation’s Health Emergencies Programme, will open Forum 2021 and will share his reflections on the past eighteen months, what has he learned, what gives him hope and how the world can move forward into recovery.
Here is a quick look at what you can expect from this year’s event:
Day 1, Tuesday 5th October will look at the way we care for people at the end of life, what is new, what is innovative, and what every single one of us should know about understanding and planning for end of life.
Day 2, Wednesday 6th October, we concentrate on grief, bereavement, and coping with loss, and we will learn from those who are personally and professionally engaged in these matters.
Speakers will include. • Dr. Mike Ryan from the World Health Organisation. • TED Talker, BAFTA nominated author; Kevin Toolis. • Palliative Care Doctors and End-of-Life Coordinators. • The Bereaved Dad’s Breakfast Club. • Funeral Directors and Disrupters. • Geriatricians and advocates for older people. • Irish Hospice Foundation grief and bereavement experts, including Grief at Work, and the Bereavement Pyramid.
Dying, death and bereavement affect everyone. If you are professional or public, directly affected or curious, come spend some time in generous company to be better prepared (for what is as inevitable as the sunset.).
Irish Hospice Foundation’s expertise supports people at end of life, in grief and in their professional practice. We provide training, awareness, campaigning, and innovation. We work closely across Government and with services like the HSE and residential care centres to ensure that wherever you are, you deserve a good death.
DATES Tuesday October 5th and Wednesday October 6th Both days are online. Sessions run 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm. Opportunities for socialising and professional engagement run all day both days.
Irish Hospice Foundation has given Senior Times readers a special discount code to buy tickets at a discounted rate of E25 for the two days rather than E35, use this link to buy tickets today using Discount: SENIOR.
www.hospicefoundation.ie/forum
