Totally Dublin 129

JUNE 2015 / FREE / TOTALLYDUBLiN.iE

IT'S PADDY'S DAY Anxiety and ambiguity with Paddy Hanna

TOTALLY DUBLIN

#129

with BLOOMSDAY AONRÚ BLACKOUT YOUNG WONDER

Composed by BILL WHELAN

Produced by MOYA DOHERTY

DUBLIN

2 3 J U N E - 30 AUG TICKETMASTER: 0818 719 300 W W W.T I C K E T M A S T E R . I E GAIETY BOX OFFICE: 0818 719 388

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Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6311500 dublin.cervantes.es cendub@cervantes.es

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The Punnet

The Exchequer

Frite Haus

The Punnet is a health food shop that offers customers a comprehensive range of healthy lunches, snacks and products difficult to find anywhere else nationwide – and if they don’t have what you ‘re looking for simply ask and they will find it for you! The Punnet’s range of detox programs are also second to none, Read more online…

Since opening our doors in October 2009, The Exchequer has gone from strength to strength.

Awards for Best Gastropub in Ireland 2010 and Best Cocktail Experience 2012 and 2013, along with listings in Bridgestone’s 100 Best Restaurants in Ireland guides in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and Read more online…

Frite Haus serves wonderful authentic Belgian fries & sausages with an Irish twist and a growing range of craft beers and ciders in the heart of Dublin 2. We have put a great deal of thought in to our menu, from gourmet burgers, our triple cooked house made potato chips(frites), craft sauces and house made Read more online…

Mexico to Rome

Clement & Pekoe

Zaragoza

Situated in the creative hub of Sth William Street, Clement & Pekoe is your local Coffee House in the heart of the city. Pop by for a morning fix or an evening wind-down and watch the world-go-by in the neighbourhood. Choose from a large array of ever-changing loose leaf teas, and their seasonal coffee offering. Read more online…

The Spanish city of Zaragoza is any food lover’s idea of paradise.

Zaragoza have taken some local delicacies along with some of Spain’s authentic specialties to create a unique dining experience…. seasoned with a generous helping of the homegrown hospitality they are famous for. So come down, sit Read more online…

Set right in the heart of Temple Bar, across from the legendary Temple Bar Pub is the restaurant, Mexico to Rome, the Bandito’s Grill House. They serve up wonderful mouth watering Mexican dishes with a bit of a twist and there are also tasty European and Italian dishes available. On the menu are: Read more online…

– Learn more about us at totallydublin.ie

ely Wine Bar

Johnnie Fox’s

Base Speciality Coffee

Since 1999, the iconic ely wine bar has paved the way for engaging, rewarding and fantastic value wines in Dublin. Not only characterised by its extensive list of 100 wines by the glass, 400 by the bottle, it’s also loved for its melt-in-the-mouth organic beef, organic pork and “Craggy Island” lamb – sourced through ely’s Read more online…

Johnnie Fox’s Pub is situated in the heart of the Dublin Mountains and it is a pub that simply “has it all”! A living museum of Irish tradition, live entertainment nightly from top ballad bands, food served daily from their a la carte menu which starts at 12:30 through until 9:30pm. The full range of menus are available Read more online…

Base has won over the coffee lovers of Ballsbridge. With their House Blend and rotational Single Origin, there’s always something new to try here. They use the very best coffee sourced internationally from Dublin roasters 3fe.

You can also grab a Base signature wood fired sandwich or salad or cake from Read more online…

Table Six

Linked Finance

ely Bar & Brasserie

Table Six is a modern European bistro situated in the heart of Templeogue Village. They take their inspiration for dishes from around the Mediterranean coast, and put a new twist on some excellent classic dishes uses the best local ingredients and changing the menu seasonally. Table Six always has a quaint Read more online…

Linked Finance offer trustworthy small businesses a new viable alternative to borrowing from the banks. Real people like you can lend small amounts to great Irish businesses at very attractive interest rates. The Banks get bypassed, the wheels keep turning and everyone wins! Person to Person (P2P) lending Read more online…

Located in an architecturally stunning 1821 converted wine warehouse, it’s not just the unique décor or waterside terrace that led to The Sunday Business Post awarding ely bar & brasserie “Best Wine Bar in Ireland 2014”. Combine their extensive wine, craft beer and cocktail list with locally sourced, organic where Read more online…

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Totally Dublin

JUNE 2015 / FREE / TOTALLYDUBLiN.iE

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Publisher and Advertising

issue 129 a night to remember Saturday night in Dublin, after the result of the referendum on marriage equality had rung out a resounding Yes, was a night to behold. It was both raucous and good-natured, wild and kind. It wasn’t sponsored by a drinks company or a global telecom corporation, or fuelled by a sense of obligation or tradition. Instead, it was an outpouring that felt genuine, a worthwhile celebration of self.

Despite the pre-match nerves in the week leading up to the referendum(s), on Friday morning in the polling stations, there was a palpable feeling that the Yes campaign’s work would be successful, and by Friday night, there was a sense of waiting for a storm to break, like the air was tingling with anticipation.

A hearty congratulations to Yes Equality, all those who joined in the campaign, and all those who contributed to the huge turnout and resounding victory. It was definitively a very special moment, the euphoria of which might not ever be replicated, but should not be easily forgotten.

- Ian Lamont

8 Nice Gaff Dutch Billy

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To movie stars homes

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18 Garb

Children! Future!

22 Paddy Hanna

Never really found the tapes

28 Bloomsday

Ineluctable modalities

32 Aonrú Isolation

36 Blackout Dark music

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IT'S PADDY'S DAY Anxiety and ambiguity with Paddy Hanna

TOTALLY DUBLIN

#129

with BLOOMSDAY AONRÚ BLACKOUT YOUNG WONDER

Cover photo: Paddy Hanna, photographed by Dorje de Burgh

Contributors

Killian Broderick Ruairí Casey Gearóid Carvill Dorje de Burgh Leo Devlin Kieran Kilgallon Luke Maxwell Stephen McCabe Greg McElherron Aoife McElwain Cian McKiernan Jocelyn Murray Boyne Martina Murray Andrew Nuding Aisling O’Gara Julia O’Mahony Anna-Grace Scullion Eoin Tierney Mònica Tomàs Danny Wilson

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6

NICE GAFF words Gearóid Carvill photos Sean Breithaupt

SOUTH STUDIOS 27/28 New Row South, Dublin 8 At numbers 27 and 28 on New Row South in Blackpitts sits an old calp limestone, brick and slate warehouse currently home to South Studios.

Over a dozen companies are currently based here, from a variety of fields including fashion, design and photography, creating a small ecosystem of collaborative endeavour. A former distillery, tannery, warehouse, creative studio and now – maybe – soon to be apartments, much of the history of the Blackpitts and Dublin’s industrial and architectural evolution can be told through this building and its environs.

The Poddle, historically Dublin’s freshwater source, flows beneath the building’s car park and down the back of the east side of New Row South towards St. Patricks Cathedral (originally ‘St Patrick’s de Insula’, a church on an island within the river). At the end of New Row South on Francis Street, the Franciscans had a Friary from 1233 until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1541. The lands transferred to W. Brabazon, the Earl of Meath, whose ancestors in 1674 were given charter to establish markets in the area leading to the establishment of New Market Square. Closer by, on Fumbally Lane, archaeologists excavated mediaeval timber-lined pits associated with tannery use, from where the Blackpitts area gets its name.

New Row South was laid out in 1756, and in the early 19th century (1836) John Busby built the building now at 27/28 as an extension to the existing distillery. The building’s outdoor car park is contained in the ground floor of a four-storey shell of another of Busby’s babes – you can still see his initials ’JB’ on the rooftop water tank of the adjoining building on Fumbally Lane.

The name of the lane is derived from the Huguenot surname Fombily who set out the lane in 1720. French Huguenots, Dutch and Flemish Protestants fled their respective countries from persecution for their nonCatholic beliefs, bringing both skills and capital. They also brought the Dutch Billy, a 17th century gable-fronted construction style, that became common throughout the city. At the time the historical photo was taken (circa 1880) the buildings were possibly as much as 200 years old. The gables have been heavily modified and the windows recessed into the walls (an ordnance resulting from the Great Fire of London). The new fashion was for the Georgian style, and its popularity resulted in the remodelling of virtually every Dutch Billy. It’s confounding to think that from being a style that characterised the built landscape of the city from around 1670 to 1800, not one Billy remains.

The distillery ultimately became a tannery some time after 1883 – exactly when is now uncertain – but certainly by time Joyce wrote Ulysses. He obliquely references number 27/28 when characterising Fumbally Lane where the prostitutes hung out by the smell of ‘the Tanyard’ run by Kelly, Dunne & Co.: ‘Buss her, wap in rogues run lingo, for, O, my dimber wapping dell! A shefiend’s whiteness under her rancid rags. Fumbally’s lane that night: the tanyard smells.’

Number 27/28 – South Studios as we call it – is a ten-bayed, three-storey structure with a steel trussed and slated roof. At the ground floor, two large vaulted gateways have been in-filled, one by the ESB for a sub-station (always sensitive to our heritage). The complex, as a maltster and distillery must have employed hundreds of people. There’s presumably the remains of an old granite flagged floor in our ground level studio. Maybe we should do a bit of archaeology ourselves, they might have left some booze behind!

Approaching its 180th birthday, the building is to be remade again, as she’s due to come on the market with full planning permission for luxury apartments with ‘all the trimmings’. I wonder what Fombily, Busby et al would make of it. Being entrepreneurial folk I’d imagine they’d be tickled by the idea of sub-dividing a tannery into a home for the wealthy.

In this context our eight-year occupation of the building seems almost insignificant. Yet, in our tenure, we have seen the area navigate a recession, the establishment of the first Dublin distilleries in over a hundred years and actual new markets in Newmarket, continuing a tradition legally established in 1674 by charter to the Earl of Meath. Where do we go from here? While you watch this space, we’ll be looking for ours.

Gearóid Carvill is a partner at abgc Architecture and Design, Tankcollective and cofounder of the Dublin Honey Project and has been based in 27/28 New Row South since July 2007.

8

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ROADMAP words Ian Lamont

RHA Annual Exhibition

Póg Mo Goal

One of fixtures of the Irish art calendar – a fixture so old it well precedes our own Republic – the 185th Annual Exhibition will run throughout June and July at the Royal Hibernian Academy on Ely Place. The Annual Exhibition takes over all of the stunning galleries of the RHA with an extremely broad range of works both in terms of the media used and the levels of experience, and even celebrity, involved. As such, the Annual Exhibition will feature the first Dublin display of work of Tracy Emin, as well as heretofore unknown artists and architects, all judged for entry by the RHA’s curatorial team. It’s free to enter and always a good way to spend a lunch hour or a weekend afternoon.

Póg Mo Goal launched last year as the project of Kie Carew (no relation of towering Norwegian striker John, we assume) which brings together insightful writing about the beautiful game, very much in opposition to the game’s natural proclivity to antagonism and bragging amongst its fans. They tied this philosophical approach with some lovely illustrations (from the likes of Dan Leydon) and photography. The second edition, due out this summer includes contributions from Donal Fallon (of the ever excellent Come Here To Me blog), as well examinations of shirt number design, Robbie Keane conquering the States and the eternal consideration from Johnny Hynes of LFC magazine of whether winning is all that matters, or does how you do it count?

Call into the Royal Irish Academy at 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2.

Copies can be ordered from pogmogoal.com for €6. There’s also a launch party on Friday 5th June in The Back Page in Phibsborough.

Dear Christy The Little Museum of Dublin, at 15 St. Stephen’s Green, is hosting Dear Christy, an exhibition on Christy Brown. The exhibition, which began last month and runs until the start of August, includes an extensive personal archive including unpublished writings, letters, artefacts and childhood possessions, all stemming from the purchase of the collection at auction in London last year jointly by the National Library of Ireland and the Little Museum itself. Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Brown in My Left Foot is almost as famous as the writer himself in some ways, so this excellent exhibition is another discovery route to find out more about this extraordinary Dub.

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Street Feast Street Feast returns for its sixth edition on Sunday 14th June. The idea behind Street Feast is to get people out and breaking bread with their neighbours and their community. It’s a national celebration and there’s planned to be over 200 different feasts around the country, but there’s still time to register and represent your ’hood.

The format couldn’t be simpler – it’s pot luck.

So dust off that recipe for Chicken Surprise and get registered at streetfeast.ie for all the info.

Italia ’90 Night The focus of April’s One City One Book campaign on the Barrytown Trilogy and Happenings’ screening of The Van in Dalymount Park has really put World Cup ’90 nostalgia back in the thoughts of many, but realistically, at Totally Dublin we rarely stop thinking about the greatest period in Irish football history. On Saturday 20th June – just a day short of the 25th anniversary of Ireland’s heroic 1-1 draw with the Dutch in that tournament – a night of remembrance of sporting summers past takes place at the Back Page in Phibsborough, with match screenings, footie talks (upstairs), pennos for pints, retro jerseys and sticker albums was well as the usual Back Page array of craft beers and delicious Big Blue Bus style pizzas. The nation holds its breath!

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ROADMAP words Ian Lamont

Howth Midsummer Literary Arts Festival A new literary festival joins the fray this summer with the inaugural Howth Midsummer Literary Festival, which takes place on Friday 5th to Sunday 7th June in the Luytens Library in Howth Castle. For debutants, they have brought a strikingly strong line-up, with five ‘in conversation’ events as the main attraction. Speakers at these include Richard Ford and Michael Cunningham, as well as Irish authors John Banville, Roddy Doyle and Anne Enwright. Meanwhile there’ll also be a focus on children’s literature taking place at the nearby Burrow National School.

For more see www.howthliteraryfestival.com

Glitch Running through the first week of June, Glitch is the digital arts festival at Rua Red in Tallaght.

It includes a workshop from featured artist David Stalling running on Saturday 6th June entitled ‘Sound as a Medium’. The workshop focuses on introducing the fundamentals of exploring sound – recording, editing and manipulating the everyday sonic occurrences.

Seeing as practically every person these days is equipped with a recording studio and portable recording device in their computer and phone, there’s far less stopping interested people getting their hands digitally dirty so to speak. The workshop costs €15 and runs from 10am to 4pm.

For the full Glitch line-up see ruared.ie

Cavern

Baggot Street Upper has really upped (sigh) its game recently, not only with the opening of health-conscious café Cocu, but now with the arrival of Cavern, a wine-bar that is the offspring of the excellently fancy offlicense Baggot Street Wines. There’s seating downstairs as well as a heated garden, with a selection of fancy artisanal nibbles on the menu, and wine – which is BYO, from Baggot Street Wines’ selection – and opens in early June, just in time for all those two weeks of sunshine we’ll call a summer. With the emergence of Green Man Wines (in Terenure) and Probus Wines (tucked between Trinity College and Merrion Square), Michael McDowell’s wine-bar utopia looks like it might come to pass after-all.

Drop in at 18 Baggot Street Upper, check out cavernbaggotst.com or follow their social media channels @cavernbaggotst.

12

25 ROYAL HIBERNIAN WAY, D2 | SHOP ONLINE: TIGHTSDEPT.COM

LOOKING FORWARD

ROADMAP words Ian Lamont

2ha There is no man in Ireland as interested in – or perhaps we should say obsessed with – the plight and meaning of the suburb as Michael Hayes.

Hayes (along with designer Rory Bradley) is the driving force behind 2ha (a play on ‘tuatha’ for those looking puzzledly at it) which is a limited run magazine that explores the idea of suburbia in connection with various themes. Having successfully completed a recent Fund:it campaign, they are set to launch their 2015 program, including four new issues on themes of failure, power, boundary and mapping. This will launch at the end of the summer when they’ll be running a series of talks, which will be attempting to present a ‘live magazine’, which means there’ll be beer and pizza.

Check out 2ha.ie for the all the announcements.

homefromhome

Tom on Brussels Block T Fifth Birthday!

While there was sad recent news that Block T have discontinued the public exhibition space on the ground floor of their Smithfield headquarters, there’s also good news in that they’re going to be continuing to coordinate events off-site, including the Ensemble Assembly concerts, at a variety of locations around Dublin. One of the big ones on the menu is their own fifth birthday, for which they’ll be taking over the Tivoli for the whole day of Saturday 4th July, entitled Sensorium. Amongst the helping hands on board curating the event will be Nialler9, Ensemble and Archetype, with music, art installations, photobooths and screen-printing while the carpark of the Tiv will be chocked full of food vendors. Watch out for more coverage in July’s issue.

In what ways is Brussels more class and/or more grim than Dublin?

In terms of class-ness, I'd have to say the internationalism. I can walk down the street and be as likely to hear any language in the world as English, French or Dutch. I regularly meet people from all over the world and share ideas and experiences with them. I'm regularly challenged in my world-view, and either become better at defending it or reconsidering it.

As for grim-ness, I would have to say the amount of tension. The Belgians dislike that the EU immigrant community drives up rents, doesn't pay Belgian taxes and doesn't integrate very well. There is tension between the other immigrant communities and the Belgians. Then there's tension between these communities and the EU-community and it often manifests in sexism and sexual violence. Add to this the hostility towards EU policy right now and the regular demonstrations, and you know what? Sometimes it's a little stressful to live here!

What would you bring back from each place?

From Brussels, I would bring back the spirit of innovation and optimism for change that exists in the international parts of the city. I regularly

14

meet human rights advocates, civic innovators, technology geeks, and policy nerds and they all want to change their particular corner of the world no matter how the odds are stacked against them.

There are unique aspects of the Irish psyche I feel Europe could benefit from – a nice turn of phrase, a healthy scepticism, a refreshing selfdepreciation and a resilience in the face of terrible circumstance. Also, I never really appreciated how hilarious we are until I left.

As someone who has a particular interest in politics, has it been difficult to be away from the country during a time of massive political importance?

It’s tough as I’ve essentially been told that because I came to Brussels, exercising my freedom of movement granted to me under European treaties, I have had my vote removed. If I want to vote I have to pay a couple of hundred quid, and after 18 months I can't vote at all. It's even worse for people who have had no choice but to move for economic circumstance. I'm thankful I can afford to fly back until my 18 months are up. It's increasingly frustrating to watch politicians at home bumbling about the topic of an emigrant vote and seeing nothing concrete done.

Enjoy the Waterford Crystal Factory Experience.

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DESIGN words Lauren Kavanagh

Hoods up Louisa Jane is a designer who’s just returned to Ireland after a stint abroad, and both the hood and necklace pictured are her own creations. The hood is based on the traditional headscarf, both in form and functionality. She also make collars, scarves and bags and is working on a clothing collection too, as well as doing DJ gigs. We managed to chat to this busy bee for a few minutes about moving back to Ireland and her next steps from here.

You’ve recently moved back to Ireland, where have you been?

I was based in Fayetteville, Arkansas for 14 months assisting Maser and running my own brand. Amongst my other travels in that time were stints in Berlin, Las Vegas, Sydney and Hawaii.

What’s your background in design?

I did a diploma in fashion design initially after leaving school and then I did a course in fashion buying and merchandising. I worked in retail display for a number of years and then decided to do a night course in fashion design in The Grafton Academy in February 2012 and it was after that I started my little business.

How was it running your brand from the States?

Do you think that being at home in familiar surroundings will make it easier in terms of getting yourself out there?

It was a great experience running my brand in the U.S., and I think my designs were received well out there. I still had lots of orders being shipped to Dublin, so it was great knowing that I still had a presence at home. I don’t think being back in Dublin will necessarily make it any easier – I think in this day and age you can run a business like mine from anywhere – but I have lots of great creative contacts, and know more people here in Ireland, so that’s an advantage.

Find her on Instagram @louisajanedesign

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Inspirational invitationals With wedding season in full effect from this part of the year on in – and loads of impending weddings on the horizon thanks to the vote for equality – it’s always nice to receive an invite that is not only beautiful but personal too. Step up Kitty Moss, who creates magical invitations to suit the couple that she is designing for.

No two invitations are the same and Kitty will paint ‘your pets, your favourite songs, where you met, everything and anything that means something to you.’ Not only that, she will design maps, table names, seating plans and RSVP cards too.

You can view her work and make contact with the lovely Kitty at her site tilldawndear.com

Tún up for what Architectural and design studio Tún have very deservedly won the RHA Arthur Gibney prize, for their piece Immutable Objects. Currently on show as part of the RHA’s annual exhibition, the piece focusses on the fundamental principles of architecture – mass, scale and weight. It is comprised of nine keystone-shaped blocks, stacked in a rough pyramid shape. Rose Bonner of Tún says of the piece, ‘We thought about the collaborative nature of architecture, requiring many hands to both conceive it and construct it. This often distinguishes it from other art forms. The piece manifests this reality. [It was] designed through discussion, it is made from blocks that cannot be lifted by one person, its construction is a collaborative effort, requiring three to four people to assemble it.’

You can see the work along with the rest of the exhibition at the RHA until August 9th. rhagallery.ie tun.ie

17

GARB

Alice Langton

words Honor Fitzsimons photos Jocelyn Murray Boyne

FRESH OUT OF THE BLOCKS In a special feature for Totally Dublin, we take a rare glimpse behind the scenes at NCAD’s hallowed fashion department to speak with some of the freshest creative minds in Irish fashion. We selected four promising students to talk us through their collections and aspirations in the final weeks before this year’s hotly anticipated degree show.

What was your inspiration for your final collection?

For my thesis I was writing all about the importance of craft and purpose in community, and started looking into Irish craft. I get a lot of enjoyment out of making, not just the fashion aspect, the materials are really the main purpose. I’ve used Foxford Woollen Mills fabric, they’re based in Mayo and are one of the oldest woollen mills in Ireland. A lot of it is about the blankets and basket weaving, using the materials to find out what they can do as opposed to designing it first, so they are the main driving force. I was also looking into a lot of different traditional costumes from around the world, and it’s sort of my selection on those.

I think that a lot of fashion at the moment is moving at such a fast pace. I wanted to make articles or artefacts that can be kept and are timeless. I’ve chosen the materials because I think they look like things that you would want to keep, so I made the collection to be like that as well – not age specific and not trend driven.

It’s all about minding the original materials.

How did you come to fashion design?

I’ve always loved making. I have more of a 3D mind, so it was always going to be some form of art and design, but I really enjoy fashion because you can bring together so many different elements – the textures, the fabrics and that it always has to work on the body.

How have you found your final year?

It’s been tough! I’ve found it really difficult actually, but I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been the biggest challenge I’ve had so far. The most difficult part is just trusting your own instincts, making decisions and being accountable for them. Before we just had small projects, and it was about just getting to the next one, but now it’s more about what you want to get across to people and your image.

Do you know what you want to do next?

I’d love to do the masters at the Royal College of Art in London, I’ve heard that they’re really about, and encouraging of, craft processes so that would be great. I don’t think I want to go straight into a masters though, I think I’d like to take a year or two out to just come up with my own stuff, and take a bit of space without so much pressure.

Blueprint Talks A talk series prese nte d by Indig o & Cloth X Making Sp a c e surrounding the curious and cre a ti ve throughou t the ye ar of Irish design 2015

9 E s s e x S t r e e t , Te m p l e B a r, D u b l i n 2 | i n d i g o a n d c l o t h . c o m · m a k i n g s p a c e . i e

Adam Henderson What are the ideas and processes behind your final collection?

My two loves are fashion and art history, so a lot of my inspiration would come from history and the past. I went to an exhibition in Collins Barracks, it was an Irish military exhibition, and they honed in on the ladies of the Easter Rising, the Cumann na mBan. Everything seemed to be more personal with them, they made their own uniforms, and that got me really interested in this subject. I was looking at the uniforms and the difference between the masculine and the feminine, the juxtaposition of the uniform that was for war but was made in the home, and handmade, and that’s very feminine. I spent days in the archive in Kilmainham Gaol, and the way that I feel about it is, it’s almost like I’ve met these women, as they had the uniforms, pictures, letters, artefacts. It went far more personal and that’s where I wanted it to go.

In terms of the collection, when I was experimenting with the masculine/feminine juxtaposition. I started buying up men’s tailored jackets from charity shops, in keeping with the military theme. I put them on the stand and stood back to see what natural shape they took and then began to deconstruct them. Another key part of the collection is my research on Irish lace.

Ireland was the biggest manufactured or lace around that time. It’s also interesting because it’s industrial but it’s made in the home. What I wanted to do was to re-create some of the old patterns in a modern way, so I sampled with hand cutting, transfer printing and finally decided on laser cutting. I’m using a motif from a lace crochet pattern from a company that was based in Youghal, and have played around with repeating it, and with its scale. I’m also playing around with colour, inspired by WWII medals, dying fabric and painting stripes to make it a bit softer and more eclectic.

How are you finding your final year at NCAD? It’s been brilliant, I really enjoyed it. It’s been stressful, but it’s taught me a lot – over my three years here NCAD has taught me to work hard doing something that I love. This year has been different, in previous years you were alluding to a finished piece but now you have to make the finished piece, so the bits that I love like the sampling and the exploration, has to get shortened down in order to get the finished product done on time, but I suppose that’s how the industry works. It’s strange, I literally have not had a weekend off in ages, but I’m enjoying it so I feel really lucky to have found that.

What are your plans after graduation?

I’m going to take a trip to New York for a couple weeks and then in September I’ll be moving to London where I’m going to be starting an internship at River Island. It’s a three month contract that I was awarded for winning the River Island project that we do here in final year – hopefully they want to keep me for longer than three months! I’m really excited just to get started working in industry and doing this for real.

Daniel Roden Could you tell us about your concept for the collection?

It all started with Cruella De Vil and the concept drawings for her by Mark Davis. What really drew me to them was the organic volume, but that was obviously achieved in fur and I didn’t really want to go down that route. Fur in that way is archaic. It’s heavy, and it’s not young, so I decided to go down a different route in trying to get volume. My research process compartmentalised the elements in my collection, so that was shape, and then I started to look further into haute couture. I found out this weird thing – that green is a taboo colour. I got fixated on that, how can green be bad luck? It’s only a colour, but in haute couture they take this superstition really seriously and there are seamstresses that refuse to sew up green clothes! I’ve always been drawn to all of the different colours of green you see in nature, so I started exploring green in its own right.

First I started through dying different shades

of green, and gathering lots of green fabrics, and then I broke them down into different tones, where I then focused on a forest or bottle green colour. Within the confines of that tone I began to experiment with texture, also I came across a picture of a Frank Gehry sculpture stuck in amongst all of these vines, all this green with a mad architectural sculpture, so that led me to the weave textile which has a lot of structure and deliberate ‘unweaving’, leading on to the more organic elements like the feathers.

Did you do any work placements during your studies?

I did, I interned with Philip Treacy for the summer last year and I think that’s where my attraction to feathers started, because in his studio its floor-to-ceiling feathers, and then he has a whole other room downstairs that is just wall-to-wall feathers. One of my jobs as an intern was that I was to do stock take, so I had to go through all of the feathers! But I suppose that opened up learning about all different types of feathers, and what was great was that I got the supplier’s contacts.

They are a great company to work with, as you’re going straight to the source, and I’ve been working with them dying rooster feathers different shades of green to match the fabric, and then we developed them into a braid in order to make the feathers easier to apply. So in a way, my collection began back when I was interning.

Ailbhe Doyle Take us through your collection.

My final collection started off with the concept of the smart phone being an extension of yourself. I wanted to create a space between the body and the garment, to highlight the connection/ disconnection of technology with the person, as with our generation we are constantly connected to wires. I started looking at our ‘online persona’ and who we are in reality, whether it’s Instagram or whatever part of cyberspace. That led me on to wanting to create structures that sat off the body.

I started by fusing different fabrics together to actually physically break the space. I went on to develop ‘hanging’ garments, where I placed a Styrofoam block up in behind the garments and pattern cut around that, then I began ‘hanging’ fabric – Comme des Garçons was a huge influence here. I constantly draped on the stand to play with shape, then would take it off the stand and place the pattern down flat, sew it up, and then alter that shape again. I’ve been experimenting with elastics, using suspension to see how I can get the garment to keep it off the body and rely on its own construction.

What materials did you use?

I was originally using the fused material, but it was getting kind of lumpy so I moved on to a fused neoprene, which is not a classic draping fabric so it was interesting to use stiff fabric for drape. I decided to go for black and white because it has a timeless quality to it and it related to my research in terms of a technodigital age.

Rains @ Indigo & Cloth

indigoandcloth.com

Have you interned anywhere?

Last year I worked for a digital marketing company, where they developed a fashion app called Get The Look. It was interesting because I got to see a different side of the fashion industry, but to be honest I couldn’t wait to get back after the summer to get more involved in the creative side! I do find the digital aspect fascinating as it’s so immersive, right down to the selling of a garment on your phone, which I find quite personal, and I supposed it has fed into what I’m working on here.

9 Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

words Ian Lamont photos Dorje de Burgh

Join the army!

Chaos and crooning with one of Ireland’s best songwriters.

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“Ambiguity is often a very good thing. You trust the audience to make their own conclusions.”

Anxiety and ambiguity pervade the music of Paddy Hanna and also Paddy Hanna himself.

Throughout the course of our chat, he studiously avoids eye contact and makes several references to feeling ill-at-ease, alienated and terrified in various situations. But at the same time, like his songs, his chatter is full of wry observations and humour, and an awareness of the tropes of his artform. He even picked the Central Hotel’s Library Bar to meet up, given its reputation as the classic interview spot, and, of course, as we sit down, MayKay is across the room talking a fellow hack through Fight Like Apes’ long-awaited comeback.

As a part of the Popical Island collective, he’s made a clutch of albums fronting Grand Pocket Orchestra, described by themselves as ‘art pop messers’ and by this esteemed publication as ‘Dublin’s foremost toy pop micro symphony’.

But since early last year, with the release of the excellent Leafy Stiletto – which got our top shout for the Choice Prize earlier this year, though unfortunately it went unrecognised and failed to make the eventual shortlist – Paddy’s solo career has been the focus of his work.

‘With Grand Pocket Orchestra, it was all about anarchy, it was all about not giving a toss about what microphones you were going to use, not giving a toss about how you were going to rehearse. For one song we’d just take some microphones and go to someone’s gaff and just go bash-bash-bash and there’s your song. For Leafy Stiletto, I was determined to prove, at least to myself, that I could make a record that was coherent and structured. I guess when they made records in the ’70s before people could afford demoing equipment, they had to learn and rehearse ad nauseum and then of course they’d record in the studio and be up to their

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gills in cocaine but they still knew the songs inside out. Bands in the ’70s have that groove to them, and I guess I wanted to get that groove.

So that’s what we did, we rehearsed ad nauseum and did it all live – except for the vocals – and drank beer as we did it. We know it inside out.

I think for the most part we got that ‘looseygoosey-but-clearly-they-know-what-they-dosey’ vibe.’

Like most Dublin musicians, Hanna’s career has been necessarily DIY, but with the release of his new single Austria last month on Trout Records, and just back from a whistlestop tour of the UK, there’s a sense that Hanna is building something that will get the attention it deserves, despite how awkward it might make him feel.

‘To me a studio is a completely alien place. I don’t know where I’ll put my hands when I’m in a studio. I’m afraid I’ll knock something over, or someone will think, “Who’s this asshole and how did he get into my fancy pants studio?”’

‘It’s the fear isn’t it? The idea that you’re stepping up in some small way is terrifying.

Especially since everything I’ve ever done in my close to ten years of making music has been through finding gear, assembling it in a way that both produces and records music… I have been, for better or worse, a DIY guy. Would I live and die by the DIY sword? I think it’s just the way it’s had to be, and by virtue of that I’ve been considered a DIY folk. Like in The Holy Grail, you know, when they couldn’t afford horses so they used coconuts and made a joke of it… not that I’m saying we’re a joke, mind you.’ [Laughs] I ask him if the change to Trout is symbolic, and what difference it’s made to have some external support: ‘Well if I paraphrase Morrissey, “Trout Blood, Popical Heart”! Popical Island is a collective more so than a label, so

I’m very much part of both, both in my musical development and where I am now. The music is still very Popical, it’s still two and half minute pop songs, but it’s a little bit more polished now, so it’s a little bit more Trout-y.’

‘Conor who runs the label, and who’s also in Spies, is a very savvy dude. He does it all himself, and is a very business-minded chap, whereas folks like myself aren’t remotely business-minded. He’s the hand that grabs the scruff of your neck and says, “Right young man, you’re going to put out a record!” As someone who’s insecure at the best of times, it’s good to have someone like that around.’

Hanna is, he hopes, at the start of new album cycle of which Austria and its B-side Camaraderie are the first flushes, and for which he has already assembled a bunch of material ahead of another single release this autumn on Trout. But at the same time, the fiscal realities of being a musician in Ireland are stark: ‘It’s all about economics – finding the time and resources to put out a record.’ Austria itself has a feel of being a step along the road from Leafy Stiletto. That record captured warmth, familiarity and immediacy – you could almost sense the kitchens and living rooms it was recorded in – as well as Hanna’s trademark bleak humour, whereas Austria, and its accompanying video, seem painted on a bigger canvas. At one point, he points out that people have made regular comparisons to Richard Hawley (‘I know him but I’m not a scholar’), and it feels apt.

Of the brilliant Austria, with its inscrutable imagery, crooned delivery and lolloping, martial drums, Hanna is typically bashful: ‘It’s probably the most straightforward song I think I’ve ever written. My girlfriend, she came in one day wearing a dress, and she had just put her hair in curls, and with the combination of the dress and hair she looked like an old-fashioned person.

She also had mentioned that she wanted to go to Austria in wintertime, she thought it would be really romantic. Like, in a town like Sölden, we could find a log cabin. The combination of that romantic notion, with her period dress got me thinking as I played the guitar. And I started singing in that voice, it felt to me almost like the mid-way song of a tragic musical, like “We’re gonna make it someday!” You know the outcome of the musical isn’t necessarily positive, but for this flickering moment you think, they might just make it. So that’s why it has a bittersweet tinge to it in terms of the vocal delivery.

I wanted you to think, like, this guy – he’s not singing with the greatest deal of confidence – is he honest? Does he really mean what he’s going to say? Or is he trying to reassure someone. It’s part of the journey of the song, we don’t really know.’

This kind of warped theatricality is echoed in the video by Second Frame. ‘I wanted the main portion of it to be me standing with a guitar gyrating in faux-sexuality. We talked about it back and forth, and they came up with adding this tech-noir, Terminator element, this very red, like a Winding Refn movie, where this mysterious man was sat there smoking cigarettes and drinking rice wine and watching me perform.

And again it has this ambiguity: why is he watching this guy? Why is this guy performing in this nightclub.’

“For years, anxiety was a “I make no apologies whatsoever for propagandising. terrible dark People say I vulgarised it, but quilt that Ulysses is a vulgar novel!”

- Senator David Norris encased me, but now I’ve made it my ally”

IT’S REALLY CRUCIAL TO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A NATION TO MAINTAIN THESE OUTPOSTS.

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‘My own interpretation, from watching it, is that it’s as close a representation of the perpetual hell that being a solo musician often can be. You know sometimes you play a show and it feels like you’re dancing to one person in a sleazy nightclub, like you’ve as much dignity as a truck-stop stripper. That’s what it feels like to me. You might interpret it otherwise. Ambiguity is often a very good thing. For me, some of my favourite artists are those who don’t answer questions, like William Friedkin – none of his movies ever answers questions. You trust the audience to make their own conclusions.’

But despite that feeling of growth and progression, the folks around Hanna have remained pretty constant. On Austria, as on Leafy Stiletto and much of GPO’s records, he has been surrounded by Popical Island stalwarts Bobby Aherne (on bass, main gig: No Monster Club), Mark Chester (producer, guitarist, main gig: Ginnels) and Enda Canavan (on drums). In a fashion typical of the Popical Island collective they’re pretty much all in each other’s bands, where each of them has honed their ability to write songs, craft records and push their limits.

‘Bobby is more anarchic than I’ll ever be. It’s more like you unlearn being around that guy!

Mark is a real asset in terms of helping me write song, in terms of the producer, he’s the one that pushes the buttons and, for the most part, does the “maybe we should extend this chorus” or “maybe we should add an extra bar in here” part. I would say that as a producer and as a colleague, if you want to call it that, he’s the most important asset I’ve personally had as a songwriter. He’ll also bust my chops as much as anyone else, but when it comes to working he’s quite professional. Especially when you have that insecurity thing of being like, “this isn’t work, why should I treat it like work, I’m not getting paid!”

Have things changed even since the success – albeit primarily critical rather than commercial – of Leafy Stiletto, I ask: ‘Sure, it’s improved, the confidence level has gone up, but the insecurities are still there. But I don’t want to ever lose them, because the second you lose them, you become a Las Vegas entertainer.’ Hanna announces lines like this so deadpan you have to remind yourself that it’s bitten through with black humour. ‘You need to be in constant terror, at least for my money,’ he winks, ‘I think terror is a good thing... it keeps you on your toes.’

But that confidence, hidden well as it may be, is definitely taking hold, and encouraged by those around him. ‘It’s about not being afraid to present a song to somebody. Or not being afraid to work on a song for a while and not chuck it out the window and be like, “Well this is obviously crap!” A trust in one’s abilities, in spite of certain nagging voices that might say otherwise.

For years, anxiety was a terrible dark quilt that encased me, but now I’ve grabbed it and tamed it and put a chain around its neck and made it my ally… like the dragons in Games of Thrones.’

Austria is out now on Trout Records and from paddyhanna.bandcamp.com. Paddy Hanna plays Bello Bar on Saturday 13th June, and Another Love Story at Killyon House on the weekend on Friday 21st August.

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Mark Chester on Paddy We’ve a pretty unique working method between us to be honest. Paddy is simultaneously very specific and incredibly vague about what the finished song should end up like, often using what may seem at first to be very strange comparisons to make a point. For example, when we were mixing the first (incredibly loud, fast and cheapsounding) Grand Pocket Orchestra album, he kept bringing up Lambchop’s sedate piano-led album Is A Woman as a reference point. This ended up making sense, although I can’t explain how. He is also defiantly technologically inept, and his demos are demos in the truest sense of the word, usually recorded into his phone or ancient 4-track.

I’m not at all sure where his songs come from, although occasionally I’ll recognise a snippet of conversation from years ago, or, in one case, a relaxed drunken evening between the two of us, re-tooled into what seemed like a delightful romantic date. All these things along with his combination of absolute honesty and social awkwardness are the reasons I enjoy working with him and why I rate his songwriting so highly.

Bobby Aherne on Paddy The first time I ever saw Paddy was in the POD venue in 2007, skat-singing and orally assaulting a harmonica whilst flailing about like a nutjob (search for ‘Grand Pocket Orchestra Bang’ on YouTube). It was inspiring for me to learn that he was also from the otherwise boring, leafy suburb of Castleknock, albeit the posh part. A couple of years later, he phoned me – on St. Paddy’s Day, fittingly – to invite me to join his aforementioned orchestra, who were by then my favourite Irish band.

We’ve since taught each other a lot, but we’ve learnt nothing. Although he no longer moves like he’s playing the skiing game on Nintendo Wii, he still writes damn good songs – as well as blasting a mean harmonica, in a considerably more relaxed manner. Some people call him Ol’ Padge, but to me, he will always be The Window Pest.

‘Sure, that was the day I made a man out of Jim.’

words Julia O’Mahony colour photos Killian Broderick

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discussing June 16th 1904. She’d stood him up once before, but finally on that date, took him up on his offer, and the pair walked out along the beach near Sandymount.

So important were the events that occurred that day to a young James Joyce, that he would later commemorate them by choosing it as the date for the entire plot of Ulysses to unfold – proclaimed by some Joyceans as the best wedding present of the 20th century, though perhaps not for Nora, who like so many, only made it through the first 20 pages.

For Joyce, marking the June 16th began as a testament to his love for Nora, but since then it has emerged in a wealth of guises. In Dublin, there’s been a slow laying down of Bloomsday traditions, where follow in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom has provided the order of the day for many. It’s perhaps strange that so many Dubliners are acutely aware of a book that comparatively few of them have read, and the crowd the day draws in is suitably diverse, from scholars seeking to re-enact the day as accurately as possible, to pub-crawlers who aren’t likely to keep quite as wary an eye on their watches.

Then there are those it passes by entirely, give or take noticing an unexpected crush of people in boaters trying to get into Davy Byrne’s, or perhaps managing stumble across an open air breakfast.

For the purposes of this article, I met with some of its keenest celebrants: Senator David Norris played a key part in the day’s revival, while Mark Traynor, Director of the James Joyce Centre, has the job of co-ordinating and sustaining a whole series of activities to commemorate the day – both on its anniversary, and throughout the year. At a weekly reading group hosted in the Centre, I met members of the James Joyce Institute, now on their third reading of the ceaselessly daunting Finnegans Wake. Everyone I meet opens with a similar story: first encounters with Joyce’s work rarely run smoothly. But as Norris tells me, after that disappointing first introduction to Joyce (as a young boy, disappearing up a tree with his uncle’s copy of Dubliners, and some of his cigars too, and returning bitterly disappointed and perhaps a little queasy) there was something that kept niggling at him to return to the works.

Traynor tells a similar story, and acknowledges that the thing that sustained him following those first few failed attempts at conquering Ulysses were the depictions of places that he recognised and streets that he walked through himself. The joy of Bloomsday for many, then, is to be found in locating those events within time and space, though some might still wonder as to why the celebration of a fictitious day might be of any merit. ‘I think because it’s an organic thing,’ Traynor tells me. ‘If the Centre didn’t exist as sort of the main organiser, I still think it would be celebrated, though I find it difficult to make a value judgement on it. For me, I find it really curious and interesting that it’s possible even for a small group of people to celebrate the work of one man’s imagination.’

Joyce himself placed a huge importance on dates. His notebooks betray that he was acknowledging Bloomsday, if only to himself, in the early 1920s. The first recorded celebration, held just outside Versailles in 1929, started as a rather grand affair, but took a suitably raucous turn, with Joyce and Samuel Beckett losing all

“I find it really interesting that it’s possible even for a small group of people to celebrate the work of one man’s imagination.”

- Mark Traynor

sense of themselves entirely. It culminated with Beckett disappearing for three days, after being abandoned in a loo by a furious charabanc driver, who refused to stop again so that he and Joyce could pick up more drink. It seems in keeping that the first Bloomsday celebrated in Ireland would result in a similar set of escapades. A well-intentioned group of literary types got together to celebrate its jubilee – Patrick Kavanagh, Anthony Cronin and Flann O’Brien among them – hoping to recreate the key events of the plot, in their actual locations, though a few drinks had already been taken before they got going in earnest. Miraculously footage of the day survives, though the team seem to be lagging even around the earlier chapters at Sandymount Strand. Unsurprisingly they abandoned all hope of completing the route by the time they got to The Bailey on Duke Street.

David Norris is incredibly grateful to that generation, who he feels passed the baton so graciously and generously on to him. In the ’60s, he had taken to reciting Joyce on Sandymount Strand himself and often drew in small crowds.

He donned what he describes as his ‘one fashion statement and moment as Versace’ – a Bloomsday costume, now synonymous with the day. The joy, Norris says, was in performing sections of text in the location where Joyce actually envisaged the events taking place. As for the costume? ‘It doesn’t occur anywhere in Joyce!’ he says with glee. Instead, it was pieced together using photos of the author holidaying in Cornwall, and his description of the ensembles of his own characters. This blend of fact and fiction is entirely in keeping with Joyce’s ethos throughout Ulysses.

Those recitations on the beach gave way to a one-man show that took Norris around the

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world. He knew that the work intimidated people, but had discovered for himself that read aloud, the text comes to life; that, like music, it requires as much practise as an instrument, and then can be performed. He’s delighted that today, Bloomsday plays out as something close to Dublin’s own Mardi Gras. ‘I make no apologies whatsoever for propagandising. People say I vulgarised it, but Ulysses is a vulgar novel!

When they talk about me vulgarising it, if you mean vulgus – the ordinary people – and making it accessible to them, then yes! It’s not to be kept just for the academics. With Bloomsday, people dress up in character, they go to a certain length to find out what they wore – they read bits of the book, and though they may not read the whole thing, it’s the sort of insidious book that stays with you and draws you back in.’

Norris’ championing of Joyce is not to be understated. It was he who convinced the perhaps oxymoronically named Cultural Committee of Dublin Corporation that he could re-roof the mansion on North Great George’s Street. It now houses The James Joyce Centre, and was saved from being pulled down with the profits of the previous year’s Symposium that Norris had hosted in Dublin. The committee were reluctant to hand it over, and he had to assure one particularly concerned member that he’d keep his ‘fringe activities’ behind the door of his own home, leaving number 35 free to be exclusively polluted by Joyce.

Even Norris admits the link between the house and Ulysses is a loose one. The former owner of the house appears as a minor character only a few times in the text, but Norris tells me he thinks that he thinks ‘Joyce would be delighted with the idea that his works produced the energy to save this street – a street that he

knew so well’. I ask him whether there’s a danger that we’re creating something of a literary theme park for ourselves but he responds that if we didn’t have the theme park, we’d have nothing at all. With the Bloomsday celebrations, ‘it’s more than just fantasy and lemon soap, there’s always some little grain of reality in it. But tourism is tourism and you have to let the money go where it falls.’

At the Joyce Centre, Mark Traynor tells me his thinking on the day has evolved. Joyce was hyper-aware of the politics of how he’d be presented and used in the world, and was happy to cultivate a myth around himself. ‘But today, the reality is that he’s an iconic figure, and people are going to do with this image of Joyce as they will. So long as the work is fluid enough, and can sustain itself, then people will keep returning to it, regardless of how crass or simplistic the celebration of it becomes and you can’t stop or censor that. I think that people will genuinely only spend money or time on things that they consider authentic… I’m not sure any kind of money grab can sustain itself in the same way that the text can.’

Balancing an intellectual appreciation of the work, and the keen sense of fun and jollity that the day inspires, no longer poses a challenge.

The day is broad enough that it can encompass a scholarly element alongside ‘more simple events where people just want to dress up in Edwardian garb and eat a sausage’. The need for a diverse celebration of the day is echoed at the Reading Group: ‘There’s flamboyancy, of course – this is Joyce after all – but always too, something of more substance there, for those looking for it,’ they tell me.

This Bloomsday, like those have gone before, offers that diversity. Stephen Fry and David Norris will be in discussion with one another in the O’Reilly Theatre, there’s a pub crawl, a range of walking tours, readings, recitals, music – the Centre starts planning a year in advance. Fry had been top of the agenda for a long time, the epitome of the type of guest that the Centre would love to host. ‘We decided to ask him, not so much in the sense of it being a gig for him, but more a case of, “Would you not like to spend Bloomsday in Dublin? We’ll show you a good time, and all you have to do is chat about a book that we know you’re really passionate about”,’ cites Traynor. Norris tells me the pair get on well, and that Fry is astonishingly knowledgeable about Joyce, enough that when they filmed a programme in Dublin a few years ago, Norris came off as positively demure. ‘He’d say, “Do tell me David, isn’t this where such and such…”, and I had to sort of simper along,’ recites Norris, his Fry impression down to a tee.

Top of the bill, it’s sure to bring in the crowds.

‘The audience you get on Bloomsday is very different from say, the people that trudge out to the centre on a cold December night to listen to a obscure Joyce scholar talking about some even more obscure aspect of Finnegans Wake,’ says Traynor, who is well rehearsed in having to cater for both groups. Year round, the Centre offers free and low-cost events, from lectures and walking tours to a Jools Holland evening and interview series with Irish authors called Feast of Epiphanies. Last year, they hosted a temporary exhibition of photographs from a shoot by the American fashion photographer Lee Miller, who came to the city in 1947 to capture Joyce’s Dublin. It brought in a new audience for the Centre, and more Irish accents than usual were

BLOOMSDAY QUICK PICKS Feast of the Epiphanies: Reinvigorating Joyce Thursday 11 June | James Joyce Centre, 35 North Great George’s Street, D1 A selection of curated food and interviews with Irish authors in a modern version of the literary salon.

Joycean Pub Crawl Friday 12 June, 6pm | James Joyce Centre Follow in the footsteps of Joyce and his characters and make your way around some of Dublin’s oldest and most familiar pubs.

“I make no apologies whatsoever for propagandising.

People say I vulgarised it, but Ulysses is a vulgar novel!”

- Senator David Norris

heard amongst the visitors, as Dubliners came to see buildings they’d known growing up or had they lived in as children.

That’s at the heart of what the Centre is trying to do, ‘find unique points of entry into Joyce for people,’ Traynor acknowledges. ‘It’s not a case of us saying Joyce is this really important Irish figure, and you must read him and be proud of him. It’s more about saying that Joyce created a universe, and if you have an interest in this city, or music, or in political culture from the late 19th century or if you’ve an interest in, I don’t know – pornography – there’s an avenue in from there.’

For the Centre, finding new ways to cultivate that point of entry into Joyce, whatever it may be, remains central to the fun of Bloomsday, binding up our own narrative with that of Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and the other characters of Ulysses. Though it’s easy to feel self-conscious on a walking tour of your own city, it’s this embodiment of the text in the sites around us that makes the day so magnetic. In a society so keen to commemorate the passing of historic events, there’s a certain magic in celebrating a fictional one that remains so meticulously anchored in our local geography.

Do those in boaters, buying soap or sandwiches really attach any significance to their actions?

And if not, does it matter? On Bloomsday, whether we realise it or not, we really celebrate Joyce’s unrelenting will to commemorate his love for Nora Barnacle – crucially and unshakeably immortalised within Bloom’s Dublin. But as Norris reminds me, ‘More than anything else, it’s fun, and why not! It’s important to enjoy life and to have festivals, and to celebrate an artist with the breadth of vision of Joyce, who had so many lessons for us all.’

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North Great George’s Street Street Party!

Sunday 14 June, 1pm | Happenings Bizarre Bloomsday Brunch Sunday 14 June, 1pm | North Great Georges Street Kicking off with The Happenings Bizarre Bloomsday Brunch, and followed by the Street Party at 3pm, North Great George’s Street, will be full of Joycean jollity, with fun and games, theatre and music.

An Evening with Susan Howe Sunday 14 June, 6pm | Belvedere House Celebrated poet and author Susan Howe will read and discuss her work and influences.

Bloomsday Readings Tuesday 16 June, 3pm | Meeting House Square Panti will lead an audience in songs, readings and performances, from Irish actors, politicians and musicians, at this free and unticketed event.

Bloomsday Conversation Tuesday 16 June, 8pm | O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College Stephen Fry and Senator Norris go tête-atête over the works and life of the big man himself.

Bloomsday After Party Tuesday 16 June, 9pm | Pantibar After the readings, it’s straight off to Pantibar, where there’ll be music and performances from 9pm. Edwardian garb encouraged!

IT’S REALLY CRUCIAL TO THE PSYCHOLOGY And Beyond: A NATION The OF James Joyce Institute of IrelandTO Reading Group MAINTAIN Tuesdays at 7.30pm | James THESE Joyce Centre The perfect place to get closer to Joyce’s OUTPOSTS. works – the group are currently reading and discussing Finnegans Wake, offering trips and lectures to further contextualise the book.

Go to jamesjoyce.ie for more events on Bloomsday and throughout the year

ANOTHER ISLAND LIFE

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In our January issue, we ran a piece entitled ‘This Island Life’ by Rachel Donnelly and Al Higgins that took an extended look at the ongoing challenges to life and self-sustainability on the islands of Inishbofin and Inishturk, and the clashes between a traditional mode of survival and contemporary logistical and legislative realities. Coincidentally, producer Jason Gaffney of Lost Productions and director Dominic De Vere had been exploring similar material in a very different medium. Set around the Cape Clear Island off the South West coast of County Cork, Aonrú is a lyrically shot, 30 minute short film that explores the landscape and the voices of another island life that echoes many of the themes explored in these pages some months back. We spoke with Jason and Dominic about Aonrú’s genesis and where the story they found will be taken. words Ian Lamont

What is your background as a filmmaker Jason?

Jason: Although Aonrú is my debut as a filmmaker I have been working on features and shorts, as junior producer, since 2010. While I was working in the UK, I worked on Round Ireland with a Fridge and Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, while I completed my MA in Film Studies at Kingston University, London. I also worked on numerous shorts and music videos produced at Camberwell Studios and Channel 5. It was through this work that I developed my skills and experience producing. Rather than rush into my first project I wanted to ensure I knew the process and industry inside-out. Then in 2012 I gave the green light for Aonrú which I have been working on since then.

Are Lost Productions and Jason Gaffney one and the same or are there a few of you working together regularly?

J: Lost Productions was established in 2013 by myself through the development and production of Aonrú. However, the company is currently managed by myself and my partner Niamh Fairley. Based on positive feedback we’ve gotten, we’ve plans to expand the company towards producing film content in Ireland. It’s an exciting time to be part of the business.

Does Cape Clear Island face the same challenges as Inishbofin and Inishturk that were discussed the ‘This Island Life’ article that we published in January, where the people are at an uncertain point over the viability of their self-sustainability?

J: Yes it does. The island’s decline in industry and population reflects the trend along the Irish coast including what is being experienced on Inishbofin and Inishturk. That particular article referenced Inishshark, Inishbofin’s nearest neighbour, that became depopulated in 1961 and now serves as a ghostly reminder of the dangers that could impact all islands, including Cape Clear. The people see themselves as being isolated from contemporary Ireland and marginalised in terms of financial support, employment and sustainable initiatives that would guarantee their future. The island is now fully dependent on farming and tourism. However these industries alone will prove challenging in guaranteeing a sustainable and long term future for the islands inhabitants. You need to remember: Cape Clear is their home. It’s where they were born and raised. It’s where their parents and ancestors were born and raised. The challenges they face are real and alarming. No-one should be forced to leave their home but, unless the situation changes, life on Cape Clear will become unsustainable.

The film avoids too much specificity with reference to legislative problems – more hints at ‘them against the world’ setting.

Is their situation terminal or is there some hope? One of the voices mentions the cyclicality of the problem, the boom and bust.

J: The reason the film is not specific lies more with the style used by Dominic as a filmmaker.

This was a conscious decision that forces the audience to investigate what is happening on screen rather than be led through words and explanation.

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As discussed previously tourism is a major source of income for many of the islanders, and this is an area where hope exists. The problem right now is that the harbour is not developed enough to allow visiting boats or yachts berth for a long period of time. This means that tourists coming from the sea cannot stay on Cape Clear. The underdeveloped harbour also prevents a larger number of people investing in the fishing industry and therefore gaining a living from the surrounding seas. The reference to cyclicality is pertinent. In the late 18th century the island experienced huge loss of life through famine, while local industries have always struggled due to their geographic location, and children must leave the island for secondary education – yet the community endures. The people of the island have experienced loss, struggle and uncertainty and yet they remain hopeful. With Aonrú we wanted to portray their resolve.

You’ve worked with some well-known names (including Annie Atkins) on the project – how did that come about? How many people worked on it altogether?

J: I worked with the Irish Film and Television Network for two years following my return to Dublin. My role involved organising industry events and liaising regularly with industry professionals working in film, so that’s where I established a strong network of contacts that served me well in terms of generating advice, finance, support and awareness. While in IFTN, I interviewed Annie Atkins for a profile article on the website. Since then I have been a great admirer of her work and ensured we kept in touch in the hope that we could someday work together. In the post-production phase I decided to set up a meeting with Annie so that we could discuss the project and she was instantly captured by the subject matter and the importance

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of communicating this story to a wider audience. Annie is an extremely inventive and passionate individual and has done an amazing job at translating the style, form and ‘feel’ of Aonrú to the graphic design of the film poster. I wasn’t surprised when Annie won the Oscar for Grand Budapest Hotel and believe she will win many more awards in the future.

Sound recording on the film was carried out

by Danny Crowley who has worked with Steve McQueen and is currently on Game of Thrones, and then our sound edit was engineered by Leon O’Neill who is a regular with RTÉ and came highly recommended (with good reason) by many producers I know.

Most important of all was Dominic de Vere.

Dom is an award-winning director in the UK whose work is well known for its distinctive style and craft. Dom is a visionary and has the rare ability to elevate the most mundane setting to something truly unique. I consider myself blessed to have worked with Dom on Aonrú as I believe it’s a matter of time before I can no longer afford his talent! Each member of the production brought experience, expertise and class. However Dom had the job of blending these elements together to tell the story in an engaging and striking way. He exceeded his role and created a gorgeous film.

The common strand that kept everyone’s work so in-tune was a genuine love for the story while, as producer, I provided complete creative freedom so everyone could express themselves.

IT’S REALLY CRUCIAL TO THE PSYCHOLOGY The press release suggest this is a very OF A documentary, NATION TO unconventional and the trailer itself is quite abstract and less linTHESE ear,MAINTAIN moving from the underwater shots to (what I assume are) aerial drone shots.

What influenced OUTPOSTS. the style of the documentary?

Dominic: The biggest influence on the style of the film was probably technology, especially in terms of the footage from the trailer. Our main camera was a Canon C300 but we also had a Sony DSLR for time-lapse footage, a GoPro for

When we started this project it was with the aim of ensuring the islanders’ collective voices were heard by as many people as possible.

– Jason

the underwater scenes and a drone carrying a small digital camera for the aerial photography, and very fortunately on the day of the basking shark arriving in the harbour. Alongside the digital footage we managed to get hold of some archive material, shot back in the ’50s and ’60s on the island. This technological mix allowed us to edit the film from an interesting ‘soup’ of footage. I was very keen for the film to jump between the different styles that these cameras enables one to do.

Beyond the influence of technology, the films I had been watching prior to leaving the UK were by Jean Rouch, Peter Mettler and James Benning and whilst I can only dream of making films as engaging as those made by these filmmakers, their influence in terms of pacing, camera and voiceover comes through fairly strongly.

My background is experimental film rather than documentary, this is probably the strongest influence on the film itself and why it might not be seen as conventional when considering ‘traditional’ documentary filmmaking.

explained that the fishing industry has been decimated due to a number of factors including; the costs of fuel, EU regulations, competition with foreign imports and mass emigration from the island. The sincerity and anguish with which Conor explained his situation forced me to forget the other projects and to focus on getting this story to a wider audience. That is how Aonrú was created.

How did you come to this project and to investigating the life and the fishing culture of Cape Clear Island? Did you find Conor O’Drisceoil before you started making the film, or did his ‘starring role’ just emerge as you spoke with him?

D: Jason had been down to Cape Clear quite a few times before we arrived to shoot so he knew Conor fairly well. The initial idea had been to film Conor at sea for a few days but with his boat being damaged by the winter storms we couldn’t do this. During our first couple of days on the island, Conor was packing up his fishing gear to sell, it seemed a rather appropriate image for the film so we documented this process.

J: When I returned from the UK I was offered an array of independent projects to produce, so, in order to give these projects the time and consideration they deserved, I decided to take a weekend vacation on Cape Clear Island. While staying on the island I was introduced to Conor O’Drisceoil who informed me that he was the last remaining fisherman on the island. He

What other future projects are you working on?

J: I am delighted to say that we have received contact from many filmmakers throughout the country with scripts and ideas for future projects. With Aonrú’s festival run set to last until the end of the year, we’ll take our time in considering what is next. However, I will be working alongside Dom on The Making of Napoleon, which is a documentary based on St Helena, a British Overseas Territory, about Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon.

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What plans do you have for the film?

When will it be screened in Dublin?

J: When we started this project it was with the aim of ensuring the islanders’ collective voices were heard by as many people as possible. So I’ll be promoting the film on the worldwide festival circuit from May 2015 for about six to eight months with screenings at festivals throughout North America, Europe, the UK and Ireland.

The film will premiere over here in the Irish Film Institute on Saturday 27th June, which will play host to the film’s stakeholders, Irish media as well as industry professionals.

Aonrú premieres in Dublin at the IFI on Saturday 27th June. For more information on Jason and Dominic’s various projects, see facebook.com/AonruDoc and themakingofnapoleon.co.uk

TURN OFF

THE BRIGHT LIGHTS 36

words Danny Wilson photo David Cullinan Kirkos Ensemble, made up of some of the country’s most promising young musicians and headed up by composers Sebastian Adams and Robert Coleman, are one of the most exciting propositions on the Irish contemporary classical scene. Their ongoing Blackout series, which began in May with a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, is a collection of multi-sensory concerts performed in total darkness. Accompanying each performance is a meal made up of elements intended to enhance the experience of listening to their expertly selected pieces. The second concert in the series will showcase a collection of new pieces by Irish composers written in response to the central piece, Steve Reich’s Different Trains.

The title of Reich’s piece refers to the trains used to transport European Jews during the Holocaust at the same time that he, then a young American Jew, crossed his continent, from New York to Los Angeles, between his separated parents. It features an array of sampled voices describing these journeys as well as other concréte sounds – trains, sirens – against a typically strident Reich arrangement.

We sat down with the men behind the series to talk about the thematic strands that run through all the shows and the importance of presentation in contemporary classical music.

Could you tell me a little about how Kirkos came to be?

Robert: I guess Sebastian is the founder. Three years ago, I was in first year in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Sebastian was in second year and he had the idea to get a concert going of new music being produced there and played by students of the academy. We grouped together a lot of the composers in the academy and anyone that was interested in getting a concert together. Kirkos was born out of that.

Was there an impetus to go out on your own as a response to the feeling that there was a space for a greater focus on contemporary music?

Sebastian: Yeah. There was a teacher-led ensemble in the Academy at the time. What always happens when teachers try to organise students though is the students feel that it’s work, so, it was hard for them to get anything done because of that and they got a bit fed up of it. I’d been thinking for a while that there were too few opportunities for people to get their work played in concert, in the Academy or elsewhere.

R: I suppose as a young composer what you always want is to see your work performed, so the more opportunities to do that the better. The only way you can really grow as a composer is to hear your own work. People talk so much about pieces that they’ve never had performed and they just sit in the drawer.

S: It doesn’t really feel like a piece until it’s performed in a way.

R: Yeah, it doesn’t feel like it’s lived properly. It’s still in the infant stages. Nothing has reached maturity until it’s been played for an audience.

How did the Blackout series come about?

S: Well it’s kind of a multi-stage idea in that one of the very first concerts we did was a prototype for the Blackout gigs, which came about through a conversation I had with the violinist Colm O’Brien, he had the initial idea. We were in Belgium and we’d both been drinking exceedingly strong Belgian beers so I’ve no idea which bits I came up with, if any! We managed to make that happen within a few weeks of the idea. We performed the Messiaen piece from Blackout #1 at that.

Do you think it’s easier to win people over to music they might otherwise have little engagement with when you present it in a different way like this?

S: Absolutely. The audience we got at the first Blackout was completely not a ‘contemporary classical music’ audience, which is great. The music we’re performing is so emotionally rich and full of things that people who aren’t familiar with classical music can easily engage with. All those elements can be better accentuated in a non-traditional environment.

“The music we’re performing is so

What is the thematic line between the pieces being performed?

S: Well both pieces are kind of a comment on WWII, but the interesting thing is that there are similarities but also big differences in terms of perspective.

The Messiaen piece was written during the war when he was being held in a prison camp.

Despite that obviously being a horrendous experience, the piece is hopeful, he was certain God was going to get him out of it and that’s the main message of that piece. Even though it’s incredibly dark music it’s never hopeless.

R: It’s always got a certain glimmer of faith or hope.

S: Exactly. Though it never really gives you a redemptive moment, so to speak, it’s almost implied through the piece. Then the Reich piece is more backwards looking. It’s written after the fact by somebody who knows he was lucky not to have been in that situation. In the vocal samples used you hear people who have gone through the Holocaust and even though the music is lighter the subject matter is much less hopeful. Then the third piece, which is something I’m composing now, is musically darker, like the Messiaen.

emotionally rich

and full of things that people who aren’t familiar with classical

music can easily engage with.”

- Sebastian

To what extent did these other pieces inform the compositional process of your work?

S: Oh, hugely. We had the other two pieces set in stone since last June and I only started working on my piece two or three months ago, having thought about it for the previous nine months. Stylistically, it has a lot of the Messiaen in it, which is uncharacteristic for my music. I’m very much seeing the three concerts as a cohesive form, the dark first part, then the lighter middle and then another dark part to end it.

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It must be an interesting experience, writing a piece almost as a response to the pre-existing pieces it’ll be viewed alongside.

S: Yeah, it is interesting. I decided very early on that I wanted to make it almost impossible to play the piece outside the context of the Blackout series. There’s going to be a lot of things in there that will only really make sense in the context of the concert and then in the wider context of the concert series, which is interesting... and probably foolhardy!

R: That all feeds into our central idea of making each performance, or series of performances, special in their own right.

So how did you settle on the pieces you chose?

R: Different Trains was definitely a piece we wanted to do for a while and once we thought of the Blackout concept, it fitted. Then we started thinking of other pieces that fitted with that, so the Messiaen was obviously a good one.

S: Then we couldn’t think of anything for a while until I was like ‘Hang on a minute, nobody’s playing any of my pieces!’ [Laughs].

Also, as part of the concert we also have new pieces in response to the larger ones. So for the Messiaen we had four pieces by Irish composers who had all written them with that central piece in mind, which worked out great. They were a brilliant, complimentary set and really set things up nicely for the Messiaen work. Obviously, that approach doesn’t work for a new, unheard central piece, so we programmed pieces that work within the broader theme of the series and then those pieces inform my writing, and everything is really threaded together.

It’s really fascinating that all the pieces throughout the performances are in conversation with one another. Where does the food element fit in?

S: The food is a vital part of what we’re trying to do. Ideally, the music and the food should enhance one another. People are suggested to eat different parts of the food at different times.

Vania Ling, one of the people we’re working with on the food side of things, had been reading up on this Cambridge research about how certain foods can be enhanced by various musical motifs. For example, high violins enhance sweet tastes, or that cello sounds make bitter tastes more pronounced. Basically, she thought of foods that would match each movement of the Messiaen and between her and Kevin Powell, who runs Gruel Guerrilla, they started thinking about foods that grow in the dark, as an abstract link to the whole theme of the series.

Vania was also exploring scents that work with the music. Another way that these ideas tie together is that Messiaen had synaesthesia, he heard everything in colour.

R: We’re trying to nod towards that blurring of the lines between senses.

Kirkos Blackout #2, presented by Ensemble Music and featuring performances of Steve Reich’s Different Trains and food from Kevin Powell and Vania Ling, takes place on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th of June at the Royal Irish Academy Music at 10pm each evening, tickets costing €25.

SANDFORD ROAD

Mary, Mary, quite contrary

Photographer Andrew Nuding Stylist Kieran Kilgallon

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Jumper €43, River Island, Trousers €100, Ted Baker at Arnotts, Chain €14, Topman cover shot: Knit sweater €39.50, COS

White cotton tee, Hache, Havana Striped shirt, A Kind of Guise, Nowhere Elizabethan shirt worn underneath, The Costume Mill

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Cotton top, Isabel Marant, Costume Cotton skirt and top tied around waist, Isabel Marant, Brown Thomas Belt, COS Gloves, Paula Rowan

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White tee, Matthew Miller, Nowhere Floral embroidered top and skirt, Simone Rocha, Havana White leather belt, COS

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Photography: Gerry Balfe Smyth assisted by Ian McDevitt & Niamh O’Reilly Styling: Sarah Flanagan Hair: Kate Crowley at Kazumi Make Up: Aushra Lauren

White tee, CĂŠdric Charlier, Costume Black skirt, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Brown Thomas Sneakers, COS

Models: Distinct Model Management

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← Grandad collar shirt – €25 High-waisted jeans – €30 Suspenders all from Tola Vintage Docs – €125 from walkshoes.ie ↗ Grandad collar – €25 Harrington Jacket – €45 High-waisted Jeans – €30 all from Tola Vintage

Jacket, Isabel Marant, Costume Puffa jacket worn as skirt, Moncler, Brown Thomas Ruffled Elizabethan shirt, The Costume Mill

Bomber jacket, JW Anderson, Brown Thomas Navy suede skirt, Topshop Elizabethan shirt worn underneath, The Costume Mill

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Photographer Andrew Nuding andrewnuding.com Stylist Kieran Kilgallon kierankilgallon.com Model Avice at Morgan The Agency

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

BARFLY words Oisín Murphy-Hall photos Killian Broderick

‘I bet they won’t show the football. I bet there’ll be olives instead.’ Anton is full of foreboding as we struggle up Winetavern Street in the lashing rain on a Saturday afternoon in early May. We’re here to check out the newest addition to Dublin’s craft beer pub scene, a market which ironically up to now has been characterised by a real lack of variety, two-bit novelty brews that never get ordered more than once and the gravy-scented spectre of the maligned gastrobar.

The Beer Market is divided into three distinct areas: its small ground floor seating area, the bar and more communal counter on the mezzanine level, and an airier room upstairs, with un-fixed tables and chairs and a nice view of the junction of Thomas and High Streets. Decoration is minimal — all low-key wood and unobtrusive lighting — with the implicit suggestion, along with the absence of a television, that aesthetics and sport and everything else are taking a back seat to the real star of the show.

You can only order one thing in this place, and that’s beer. Not only that, but every single one of their 20 beer taps are on rotation. There’s no fixed drinks selection, or guarantee as to what you might find there on any given day. The taps are changed on the fly as well: in the three or so hours that we spend there on a quiet afternoon, employees dust off and re-chalk at least as many of their blackboard menu inserts, hung neatly above the bar. The selection can be a bit daunting, not helped by the fact that the information on each individual sign is limited to brewery, title, ABV% and price, and omitting variety (pils, stout, IPA, etc.), by which most people would be inclined to select their beer. The bar staff are knowledgeable and eager to hand out tasters of each beer on offer, though one can imagine the conversational, trial-and-error approach to ordering becoming less attractive and more anxiety-inducing the busier the place becomes. The

BUY AND SELL The Beer Market

The Beer Market 13 High Street, D8 w: galwaybaybrewery. com/beermarket t: 01 244 4917

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American party at the next table have no such qualms, sampling a wide variety before coming to their choices, suggesting that one gets out of the process what one is willing to put in, and that these differences may be at least in part culturally determined. The all-beer, all-rotation bar is new to Dublin though, so give us time.

As for the beer itself, Anton and I start with a Sierra Nevada Narwhal stout (330ml, 10.4%, €6.50) and a Naparbier IPA (330ml, 6.7%, €4.30) respectively. ‘I ordered it ’cause it’s ten per cent,’ he explains while taking a sip. ‘It tastes fucking sick though.’ He offers me some, and there is a sort of sickly, fennelly taste to it that probably needs to be acquired. ‘All that stuff about “acquired taste” is bollocks,’ he says. The Naparbier is a more successful order: creamy, vanilla-tasting and just a little bit hoppy. It would be difficult to tire of drinking it and, on this menu, it represents pretty decent value. (Most beer is served as standard in a 330ml flute glass, though pints are also available.)

Next I order a Birra del Borgo Hoppycat black IPA (330ml, 5.8%, €6.50), a fruity and bitter beer which is not as hoppy as its name suggests, and without the sort of alkaline taste I was expecting.

It is a distinctly heavier drink than the Naparbier though, and am happy to share it. Anton orders a Brewdog Jackhammer IPA (330ml, 5.4%, €5.25) which ‘tastes like drowning’. It is acrid and rough and probably the worst beer ordered that day.

‘All IPA tastes the same,’ he points out.

After much deliberation, Anton chooses a Beavertown Gamma Ray (‘You order it for me’) IPA (330ml, 5.4% €5.25) which proves to be a hit. A good, all-round IPA that ticks every box while retaining a little bit of bite. I go for a Beer’d Collossus (330ml, 7.4%, €5.75) which has a smooth, rounded flavour and is the easiest thing to drink we order all evening. A bowl of olives (€3) keeps things ticking over nicely, meanwhile.

All in all, a unique, admirable and well-executed idea for a Dublin bar, and easily the best craft beer location in the city.

‘That was actually alright,’ Anton says as we leg it down Thomas Street to catch the United match. ‘The small glasses make you look like a prick though.’

BARFLY words Danny Wilson photo Killian Broderick

Greatness is so often built on omission. The notes that aren’t being played can make the finished piece all the sweeter. In the case of McCloskey’s, it’s tat on the walls, wishy-washy hairdresser house soundtracks, or any bending to the transient cultural whims of the LovinDublin gang that have been left by the wayside. In a bar scene where the quality of an establishment is judged by the array of €6-plus pints on offer, McCloskey’s is an outlier. It’s a haven of suburban traditionalism. Genuine, sometimes surly, profoundly unglamorous traditionalism. A standard-bearer for those kicking against the pricks who exalt gimmickry and tourist pandering, blarney bonhomie as the true hallmarks of a ‘real’ Irish pub.

McCloskey’s is a public house, not a public house party. The sort of place where one leafs through a mangled, stout blotched paperback, or solemnly absorb every nuance of some televised snooker, transmitting ‘same again’ to the gentleman manning the taps simply through a glacially paced nod of the head. You could probably bring a dog in with you but it’s not like they encourage it or anything. On my last visit, a pair of middle aged women attentively watched Fair City slap-bang in the middle of the action, gasping and muttering to each other in response to Sisyphean struggles of the Carrigstown populace. Chalkboards dotted around the bar advertise toasties, chips and coleslaw for six quid.

Coleslaw, not ruby slaw, not an emulsified egg and shredded cabbage medley, just coleslaw. It almost goes without saying that the Guinness is, of course, exemplary.

The real ace up McCloskey’s frayed sleeve, and the only reason I can quell my selfish misgiving about affording others a glimpse into this two-part poured oasis, is its genuinely colossal size. Seating is, and I can’t stress this enough, never an issue. There’s enough space here to house untold masses, more stools than grains of sand on Dollymount strand. The gargantuan body of the pub is matched by it’s ample hind quarters; boasting both a covered and heated smoking area and an airy, fern-lined beer gar-

SAME AGAIN McCloskey’s

den. If some sort of abstract notion of a buzz is what you’re after, or you’re in pursuit of the next hot spot, then you should look elsewhere.

What we have here is a sweet release from the stifling ‘are we having fun yet?’ mentality that has subverted all too many a local’s position as a vital third space. McCloskey’s, baby, I love you. Don’t ever change.

McCloskey’s 83 Morehampton Rd, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 t: 01 6684345

STEP INSIDE THE HOME OF

JAMESON BOOK YOUR TOUR AT JAMESONWHISKEY.COM

DRINK words The Corkscrew Team Greg McElherron

Tasting Not long ago, most wine available in Ireland came from five regions in France – Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Loire and Champagne – which meant that choosing wine was a relatively simple thing to do. We now have wines from over 30 different countries, and countless regions, districts, communes and vineyards. Half of the wine is labelled by grape variety and half by place of origin, so choosing a wine and being sure of what you might get can sometimes seem a bit of a minefield. We hope to help you become more familiar with different regions and grape varieties alike so that you can remember what you like, why you like it and so you can be more sure about what you might buy in the future.

Learning about wine takes a three-pronged attack: education, tasting and recording what you experience.

After time, recording becomes memorising and education can become a little like topping-up on wine facts.

Tasting remains the key to whole thing as it is our only direct point of contact with the wine and is a uniquely personal way of learning. Once learnt it is an invaluable tool.

The tongue is a complex organ and as part of the sensory system is closely linked to the nose; between them, we are able to detect and recognise myriad flavours and scents, hints and nuances; and because no human body is the same as another, the meaning of flavours is very personal so in wine terms there may be no exact ‘right answer’!

That said a systematic approach to tasting is used at professional levels and proves a very useful technique to learn, and though it may appear a little school-book-ish at first, it becomes a natural part of wine tasting after a very short space of time.

Intensity – wishy washy, knock you out, medium Bubbles – fine, light, large, persistent Flavours – herbal, vegetal, floral, mineral, animal…

Alcohol level – high, medium, low Length – short, medium, long Conclusions Quality – is it good, or good enough, excellent or poor Balanced – alcohol/body, flavours/acidity Price – what is its worth?

Maturity – is it ready, past it, perfect, will it keep and for how long The Corkscrew is at 4 Chatham Street, Dublin 2. www.thecorkscrew.ie Appearance Clarity – clear, opaque, cloudy Intensity – light, medium, bright, dull Colour – white, yellow, gold, ruby, tawny, brown Other points – legs, viscosity, tartrate crystals Nose Cleanliness – clean, dusty, off, corked Intensity – light, evasive, medium, intense, overpowering Development – young, youthful, developing, aged Aromas – grass, vanilla, blackcurrant, honey, melons…

Palate Sweetness – dry, off-dry, medium, sweet Acidity – crisp, supporting, aggressive, refreshing Tannin – low, medium, high, drying, harsh, unripe, fine-grained Body – medium, full, light

Eight Degrees Sunburnt Irish Red Ale 5% ABV When I wrote my first beer review for Totally Dublin back in March 2012, the beer I chose was Howling Gale Ale from a relatively new outfit called the Eight Degrees Brewing Co. At the time, I wrote that great intentions don’t always equal great beer but in the case of Eight Degrees they over-delivered. A lot has happened for these two Irish-based Antipodeans since then, and their beers have been receiving both critical acclaim and strong sales, especially in the Irish market.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Cam and Scott, and memories of how their very first commercial batch turned out to be undrinkable and had to be poured down the drain still cause a pang of regret and give some insight into the kind of set-backs that craft brewers experience. On the upside, Eight Degrees picked up a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup in 2014 for their Amber-Ella Ale, a feat which was all the more impressive given that they had taken on the cream of the US craft brewing scene with a beer style that is to the States what stout is to Ireland. Having picked up this prestigious award, they braced themselves for an avalanche of overseas inquiries but this failed to materialise which again was a lesson learned. Instead the guys have continued to develop export markets in a more discerning manner and their beers are now available in eleven global markets including most recently Australia where

they will officially launch at Good Beer Week a particularly significant event for Cam as he gets to showcase his brews in his hometown of Melbourne.

These days the majority of craft beers are all about the hops, and although hops certainly deserve to be celebrated, Sunburnt Irish Red Ale is testament to what can be achieved by putting a careful combination of malts front and centre. Sunburnt Irish Red Ale has a complex malt build with no less than six malts at play and a fair amount of caramel and Crystal malt (which produce a crystalline sugar structure in the grain’s hull during malting) as well as some roasted barley which combine to deliver those delicious toasty, toffee notes. Pouring a very deep, ruby red with a sweet malt aroma, Sunburnt Irish Red Ale delivers an intriguing burst of sweet and off-sweet notes that remind me of the slightly burnt caramel flavour you get on a toffee apple. The combination of New Zealand and Australian hops really manifest themselves on the finish which is long-lasting yet subtle.

Water is a key ingredient in beer and the guys have struck gold with a local water supply from the Galtee mountains which delivers just the right amount of minerals to augment the flavours and bring balance to their beers. According to Cam and Scott, Sunburnt Irish works a treat with roast pork, lamb burgers or venison stew and they should know! GMcE

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riviera

riviera

D U B L IN The Rainbow Run

The first of its kind in Ireland, the Rainbow Run takes place on Saturday 20th June 2015. This unique run takes place on Dún Laoghaire’s west pier and involves participants of all abilities and ages being doused from head to toe with coloured powder paint while they run, jog or walk along a 5km route. Participants are encouraged to cool off afterwards while braving the Rainbow Slide – a custom built slippery slide leading into the Irish Sea. The Rainbow Run takes place on Sunday 20th June. Tickets and further details are available on their website rainbowrun.ie

Dún Laoghaire Irish Youth Dance Festival

In addition to performances on the stage of the Pavilion Theatre this summer the Irish Youth Dance Festival (IYDF) will be taking dance to the streets of Dún Laoghaire for the first time, offering audiences the opportunity to see up-and-coming young Irish dance talent perform alongside their counterparts from the US. Featuring dancers aged from 12 to 25, the 2015 programme showcases dancers, choreographers and companies from across Ireland. The festival also includes a dance residency by Mexican-American choreographer Toni Bravo in collaboration with Dance Ireland, and a photographic exhibition

by Irish artist Sharon Murphy.

For more see paviliontheatre.ie

Bloomsday at the Pavillion

The Pavilion in Dún Laoghaire celebrates Bloomsday with Ulysses and The Dead, two very special screenings based on the work of writer James Joyce. Described as ‘a rare experience’ by the New York Daily News, the 1967 Oscar nominated Ulysses is based on the iconic novel set in Dublin on June 16th 1904. The second film, The Dead, is based on a short story from Joyce’s Dubliners, which was faithfully adapted for screen in 1987 by director John Huston. Its all-star cast features outstanding performances from Angelica Huston and Donal McCann. Both films are showing at Pavilion Theatre Dún Laoghaire on Tuesday 16th June.

Tickets and further details are available at paviliontheatre.ie Nick Nickolaou and Shona Leahy, photo: Karla Holden

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D Dalkey UBL IN Dalkey Book Festival

Salman Rushdie rates Dalkey Book Festival as ‘the best little festival in the world’. The brainchild of Sian Smyth and David McWilliams, the festival is all of five years old this year and its unique, intimate charm is enhanced hugely by the likelihood of casually bumping into some of the world’s greatest writers. Highlights of this year’s programme include a series of events to mark Yeats Day, Martina Devlin in conversation with Lia Mills and ‘What Are They Good For?’ a discussion on the merits of economists.

Dalkey Book Festival runs from June 11th – 14th For further details see dalkeybookfestival.org

Blackrock Dublin Animation Film Festival 2015

Dublin Animation Film Festival 2015 celebrates its fifth anniversary this year.

Entries are now being accepted for this year’s festival, which takes place in the autumn. Entrants are encouraged to read the rules carefully as some changes have been made to the categories and criteria for eligible films.

The 2015 Dublin Animation Film Festival takes place on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October.

The closing date for submissions is Tuesday 30th June. Entry forms and copies of the rules can be downloaded at dublinanimationfilmfestival.com

Salman Rushdie and David McWilliams

Monkstown Supper Club at the Purty Loft

Reminiscent of the cabaret days of old, The Supper Club takes place at the Purty Loft on Friday and Saturday nights. Combining great food and entertainment, doors open at 7.30pm with dinner orders taken at 8pm sharp. June highlights include tributes to Rod Stewart, Shirley Bassey and Billie Holiday while fans of Madness, the Rat Pack and Fleetwood Mac are also catered for. Stella Bass and Band play on June 12th. Entertainment starts at 10pm with admission from 9.30pm for those who wish to forgo the supper.

For further details see purtykitchen.com

Blackrock Market

Summer’s here at last and where better to while away sunny weekends than browsing through the wares at one of the city’s most established markets? With over 30 stalls featuring everything from ceramic art to handmade flower baskets, crafts and fashion wares Blackrock Market is guaranteed to have something to appeal to even the most casual browser.

Blackrock Market, 19a Main Street, Blackrock is open every Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holiday Mondays 11am – 5.30pm

Hansel & Gretel at the Lambert Puppet Theatre

Aardman Animations at DAFF 2014

The Purty Kitchen

Home to Ireland’s oldest puppet company, the Lambert Puppet Theatre is Ireland’s only purpose-built puppet theatre and has been on the go since 1972 when it was founded by Eugene Lambert and his family. The theatre presents family performances most weekends of the year and June sees the return of old favourites Hansel & Gretel.

Hansel & Gretel runs at 3.30pm each Saturday afternoon in June. For further information and tickets see lambertpuppettheatre.ie

NEWS, REVIEWS, LISTINGS, MUSIC, ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, FASHION, STREET STYLE, EATING OUT, EATING IN, NIGHTLIFE, DAYLIFE, HETERO AND GAYLIFE, FILM, THEATRE, PARKS, SHOPS, PUBS, CLUBS AND HAPPY DUBS, WHAT’S ON, WHAT’S GOOD, WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?

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D UBL IN

Bray

The Secret Garden

A Midsummer Nights Dream, Killrudddery House & Gardens

It’s midsummer, that most magical of nights when fairies are abroad and nothing is as it seems. Witness the fallout as Oberon, King of the Fairies, quarrels with his Queen Titania and real life becomes unexpectedly entangled with the supernatural. Quantum Theatre’s production of Shakepeare’s beloved comedy takes place in the ancient outdoor Sylvan Theatre in the gardens of Killruddery House on Saturday June 20th. Pack a picnic or avail of a BBQ selection from Killruddery tearooms.

For tickets and further details see kilruddery.com. Suitable garb for the Irish summer is strongly advised!

In My Element at Signal Arts Centre

After The Fall by Mairead O’Neill Laher

Whether in Kerry or Cape Town the artist Mairead O’Neill Laher is drawn back to the same evocative elements in the landscape over and over again. Her focus is the constant conflict between land and sea with the flow and movement of the paint a vital component in her search for something transcendent.

In My Element by artist Mairead O’Neill Laher runs from 8th to 21st June at the Signal Arts Centre Bray. A reception to mark the opening will take place on Friday 12th June 7-9pm. For further details see signalartscentre.ie

The Secret Garden, Powerscourt Townhouse & Gardens

The open-air garden theatre season is the perfect way to capture the essence of summer. This month catch Chapterhouse Theatre’s presentation of the enchanting tale of The Secret Garden at Powerscourt Gardens as young Mary Lennox embarks on a journey of discovery. The tale unfolds through music and song, as unexpected friends and an array of specially designed puppet creatures help Mary unlock the mystery of the secret garden.

The Secret Garden 2.30pm Sunday 28th June Powerscourt Gardens, Enniskerry. For tickets and further details see mermaidartscentre.ie

An Evening with Voices of Bray Community Choir

Enjoy hit songs from the likes of Abba, Adele, Glenn Miller, Simon and Garfunkel, U2 and many more as Voices of Bray Community Choir returns to Mermaid Arts Centre with a brand new programme of popular music. If last year’s performance is anything to go by an exciting and uplifting evening is guaranteed. All proceeds from these three concerts go to support local charity Sunbeam House Services.

An Evening with Voices of Bray Community Choir takes place 18th to 20th June at the Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray and tickets are available through mermaidartscentre.ie

Voices of Bray

The Dublin Pub Guide PREMIUM & CRAFT BEERS

FRITEHAUS

the twelfth lock

Fritehaus

THE PORTERHOUSE central

Frites Haus, 87 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2

45-47 Nassau Street, Dublin 2

T: 087 050 5964

tel: 01 677 4180

www.frite-haus.com

www.porterhousebrewco.com

@fritehaus1

Fb: Porterhouse-Brewing-Company

Frite Haus offers a growing range of craft beers with wonderful authentic Belgian fries and sausages with an Irish twist in the heart of Dublin 2. They have put a great deal of thought in to their menu, from triple cooked house made potato chips, craft sauces and house made condiments, to their locally sourced artisan butcher sausages. Great ingredients, expertly prepared and served in a relaxed Belgian style ‘Chip Shop’ restaurant.

REGULARS McDaids 3 Harry Street, Dublin 2 01 679 4395 McDaids is, if we’re honest, the kind of place where you’d call yourself lucky if you’ve nabbed a seat early in the night. Its much cosier, shoulderto-shoulder affair where an unbeatable Guinness is only a quick shuffle away and commenting on overheard banter is de rigeur. The perfect place for whiling a night away righting the world’s wrongs with a few close friends or quiet pint in Brendan Behan’s memory.

@Porterhousebars The Porterhouse in Temple Bar opened in 1996 as Dublin’s first microbrewery. Brewing three stouts, three lagers and three ales in the tiny brewery created much demand for the brews and lead to the growth of the craft beer market.

Seasonal beers are available alongside their regular ten drauaght beers they brew, namely Plain Porter which won a gold medal twice for the best stout in the world!

cocktails and spirits

4 Dame Lane

Mint Bar at The Westin Dublin

This funky venue, known for its edgy attitude, is spread over 2 floors, and is located bang in the middle of Dublin city centre, 2 minute walk from Trinity College.

4 Dame Lane attracts friendly and fun people for cocktails, dancing and events.

Friday and Saturday has some of Dublin’s best DJ’s, pumping indie, electro and pop. A great place for drinks, cocktails and music. Open seven-nights-a-week.

The Westin Hotel has recently reopened its refurbished Mint Bar. With completely revamped interiors and a redesigned cocktail and food menu, the new Mint Bar evokes the glamour and style of the historic building’s 1920s heyday. Classic leather seating and stylish wooden furnishings complement the original stone walls and unique vaulted ceilings of the former bank, whilst warm lighting helps create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere, while the Onyx bar provides a stunning centrepiece. To do justice to these striking interiors, The Mint Bar’s renowned team of expert mixologists have developed an innovative and exciting drinks and cocktail menu combining familiar and updated classics with signature creations, while keeping the new food menu simple and seasonal.

The Westin Dublin, College Green, Westmoreland St, D2

4 Dame Lane, Dublin 2 0 1 6790291 4damelane.ie

Generator Hostel Smithfield Square, Dublin 7 01 901 0222 www.generatorhostels.com/Dublin-Hostel Generator hails a return to the proud tradition of innkeeping; providing lodging, food and of course, drinks. A relaxed venue where you can enjoy a selection of craft beers, the trusted classics or something more suited to a backpacker’s budget. Expect to meet guests from all over the world as they stop over in the fair city. It provides a perfect opportunity to practice your rusty Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or German. Situated in the everpresent yet up and coming Smithfield Square, right on the Luas tracks, Generator is a refreshingly different interface beween Dublin and her visitors.

Brasserie le Pont

Bellucci’s

KAFKA

diep le shaker

26 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2

Sweepstakes Centre, 22-30 Merrion Road, Dublin 4

236 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6

55 Pembroke Lane off Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2

01-6694600

01 668 9422

01 4977057

01 6611829

@brasserielepon1

www.bellucci.ie

Located in the hear of Georgian Dublin where Fitzwilliam Place meets Leeson Street, Brasserie le Pont serves classic French cuisine in a stylish and elegant setting. A vibrant and fuss-free atmosphere has characterised this popular restaurant where you can enjoy a drink at their beautiful wine bar or on the heated terrace. Meanwhile the restaurant is the perfect place for business lunches, pre-theatre suppers, romantic meals or just casual get-togethers.

Brasserie le Pont also offers private dining rooms and live jazz sessions at the weekends.

Located in Dublin’s exclusive Ballsbridge area, Bellucci’s is situated close to many of Dublins top hotels, across from the famous RDS venue and a short walk from the Aviva Stadium. The restaurant is also close to both the American and British Embassies and is ideal for business lunches, pre and post-event suppers. The casual atmosphere coupled with great Italian food and service set the scene for a cosy romantic meal. The large outdoor area is ideal for al fresco dining or enjoying one of the something from the extensive cocktail menu.

leshaker@diep.net Kafka offers affordable, wholesome, and well-made brasserie fare at a reassuringly reasonable cost.

The sparse, minimal décor goes hand in hand with the delicious diner-style food; free of pretence and fuss. A varied but not overstretched menu touches enough bases to cover most tastes offering up anything from bangers and mash to porcini mushroom risotto. While their prices are easy on the pocket, Kafka cuts no corners with quality of their food.

www.diep.net Celebrating 15 years in business with its award winning cuisine, delicious cocktails and addictive atmosphere, Diep has again received the Thai Select Premium certification for the highest standards in cooking and service. The cocktails surprise with both classics and unique Diep cocktails such as the Shirt & Thai. Live music Friday and Saturday nights from Cat Burglars, Mob Fandango and Jamie Nanci. Lunches Tuesday to Saturday with a new dim sum selection.

Dinner Tuesday to Saturday with a value menu available 5-7pm.

The 101 Talbot

The Box Tree Restaurant

100-102 Talbot St, Dublin 1 t: 01-8745011 www.talbot101.ie

Stepaside Village, Dublin 18 01-2052025 www.theboxtree.ie info@theboxtree.ie

The 101 Talbot is one of Dublin’s best-loved restaurants, thanks to excellent modern cooking and vivacious service. It boasts great food, friendly staff, buzzing atmosphere and a full bar licence. The 101 is highly acclaimed and recommended in many guides. Their food is creative and contemporary, with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences, while using fresh local ingredients. Popular with Dublin’s artistic and literary set, and conveniently close to the Abbey and Gate theatres, the restaurant is a very central venue to start or end an evening in the city centre.

The Box Tree Restaurant is at the heart of Stepaside’s vibrant, village community. There’s a commitment to providing a relaxed and intimate dining experience of high standards, where everyone is welcomed as a friend. The Box Tree chefs offer a modern take on Irish food, with dishes inspired by the local surroundings. They are competitively priced so that people can pop in often, without having to worry about the cost.

Stanley’s Restaurant and Wine Bar

KC Peaches Wine Cave

7, St. Andrews Street , Dublin 2 // t: 01-4853273 //

www.kcpeaches.com

@stanleysd2

01 6336872

FB: Stanley’s Restaurant & Wine // www.stanley-

@kcpeaches

srestaurant.ie

28-29 Nassau St, Dublin 2

Umi Falafel

Stanley’s Restaurant and Wine Bar is located in the heart of Dublin, a short walk from College Green on St Andrews Street. They pride themselves on pairing modern Irish cuisine with an inspiring and unconventional wine list. Chef/proprietor Stephen McArdle has created a unique space across three floors, a modern ground floor wine bar, an intimately classic dining room, and private dining room to cater for all occasions.

13 Dame Street, Dublin 2 // 01 670 68 66 // umifalafel.ie // @UmiFalafel Umi Falafel want to share with you their passion for the freshest and most authentic falafel in Dublin. Their falafel are prepared fresh daily at their location on Dame Street with an old family recipe – ‘Umi’ is the Arabic word for mother after all. Umi Falafel is a fantastic eatery for vegetarians and vegans, as they serve mouthwatering salads, delicious Lebanese favourites such as hummus and baba ghanoush, as well as their favourites, the Palestinian or Lebanese falafel sandwiches served with a choice of salad and dips for a wholesome meal.

Open 12pm-10pm daily.

KC Peaches Wine Cave is a true hidden gem located under Dublin’s busiest café on Nassau St. Outstanding chef Ralph Utto continues the philosophy of KC Peaches by designing tasty sharing plates offering seasonal, all natural, additive free and locally sourced wholefood. The wine selection follows the ‘nourishment by nature’ message, allowing you to choose from only the best but affordable natural, biodynamic and organic wines. The Wine Cave is Dublin’s best kept secret on the verge of being discovered as the ‘place to be’ in the capital.

TueSat 5.30pmlate with live music every Saturday.

Vikings Steakhouse

Punjabi By Nature

COPPINGER ROW

Table Six

2nd Floor (Bram Stoker Hotel), 225 Clontarf Road, Dublin 3 01 853 2000 info@vikingssteakhouse.com www.vikingssteakhouse.com www.facebook.com/vikingssteakhouseclontarf

15 Ranelagh Avenue,

Coppinger Row, South William Street, Dublin 2

Templeogue Road, Templeogue, Dublin 6W

Dublin 6

01 6729884

01 4905628

www.punjabibynature.ie

www.coppingerrow.com

reservations@tablesix.ie

t: 01-4960808 Nestled away in the middle of Ranelagh Village, food connoisseurs can find a comfortable Indian restaurant unlike any other in Dublin. Punjabi By Nature offers a unique experience that reflects traditional Indian home cooking. Head chef Kaur’s family has long been rooted in a tradition of home cooking and quality food, with Kaur learning her techniques by watching her mother, father, and other members of her family cook. Taste the difference for yourself.

Coppinger Row, named for the lane off South William Street where the restaurant is located is in the heart of the city centre’s shopping district and is known for it’s Mediterranean cuisine, it’s relaxed, funky chic and also it’s cocktails. The menu relies on simple values of quality taste and seasonal change to keep the dishes fresh and appropriate. Between the food and ambience, Coppinger Row is an ideal spot in which to start a night out in the city centre.

Vikings Steakhouse, on the seafront in Clontarf, offers a wide range of juicy steaks (côte de bœuf and steak on the stone are specialities) along with seafood, chicken and vegetarian options. Super starters, healthy salads and a wide range of expertly made cocktails available, along with craft beers and an excellent wine list. Great value, friendly and professional service awaits you. Vikings Steakhouse... because steak does matter!

tablesix.ie / fb.com/TableSixDublin @TableSixDublin Table Six is a modern European bistro situated in the heart of Templeogue Village. They take their inspiration for dishes from around the Mediterranean coast, and put a new twist on some excellent classic dishes uses the best local ingredients and changing the menu seasonally. Table Six always has a quaint buzzing atmosphere in their dining room, which is brightly decorated with pieces of artwork created from cutlery.

outdoor seating

vegetarian

kid-friendly

full bar

wi-fi

booking recommended

red luas line

green luas line

ely bar & brasserie

CAFFE ITALIANO

The Kitchen Restaurant

The Brasserie at The Marker

Chq, IFSC, Dublin 1

7 Crow Street - Bazzar Galley, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

3 Anne Street South

Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2

www.elywinebar.com

www.caffeitaliano.ie

eat@thekitchen.ie

01-6875104

elybrasserie@elywinebar.com

01 5511206

01 677 4205

bookyourtable@themarker.ie

thekitchen.ie

@themarkerhotel A refreshing addition to the Grand Canal restaurant scene, The Brasserie starts with its stunning interior.

Comfortable modern, minimal furniture, including the legendary Panton chair, the spectacular grey marble table, and private booths and banquette seating, creating the right amount of privacy for intimate dining. In Ireland, the traditional way of cooking is simple dishes, built around one great ingredient. The Brasserie is no different. From succulent rare breed pork or prime dry-aged beef, The Brasserie stays true to Irish roots. For a unique night out visit The Marker Brasserie for one of Dublin’s best dining experiences.

@elywinebars 01 672 0010 ely bar & brasserie, awarded ‘Wine Bar of the Year’ 2014 & 2015 by The Sunday Business Post and ‘Best Wine Experience’ 2014 by Food & Wine magazine, is in a beautifully restored 200 year old tobacco and wine warehouse. Great wines, beers, cocktails and ‘food terroir’ all delivered with passion, make this one of the most unique and atmospheric dining experiences in the country. Check out their sun-trap water-side terrace this summer.

Right in the centre of Temple Bar you’ll find one of Dublin’s best kept secrets, the haven that is Caffe Italiano. The philosophy here is fresh food seven days a week using the best ingredients at affordable prices. All the food and wine comes directly from Italy, from cheese and cured meat boards to lamb cutlets with Black Forest sauce, they believe in doing things the traditional way to capture truly authentic flavours. There’s live music at weekends making this one of the capital’s hotspots, whether it’s for a coffee, a refreshing beer, a chilled glass of wine or a memorable dinner.

www.facebook.com/thekitchendub The goal at The Kitchen, is to deliver an innovative menu, a great selection of wines and Irish craft beers, in fun and stylish surroundings, at an affordable cost. Their Head Chef, Vincent Blake, takes pride in preparing dishes which are made from a selection of nutritious, healthy, and well balanced ingredients.

The Kitchen’s style of food is influenced by many world cuisines. The secret to their food having such great flavour is their use of fresh herbs, and a delicate balance of spices

SALAMANCA

ELY WINE BAR

St.Andrew’s Street,Dublin 2 // 01 6774799 // info@

22 Ely Place, Dublin 2

salamanca.ie // www.Salamanca.ie //

01 676 8986

facebook.com/salamancatapas // @SalamancaTapas Salamanca brings the taste of Spain to downtown Dublin, providing a wide range of quality Spanish tapas and wines. Their aim is to whisk you from the mundane to the Mediterranean with every mouthful. Located on St Andrews Street, right beside the relocated Molly Malone, just off Grafton Street.

Taste the sunshine and sea in the tapas on offer on the menu, such as Jamon Iberico, fried calamares and Prawns in Olive oil, also found in the signature dish, Paella de Pollo There are great lunch and early Bird offers, seven days a week. Also try their Cava & Tapas Platter nights which run from Sunday through to Wednesday. Check it out and transport yourself to Spain, without the check in!

elyplace@elywinebar.com

Asador

Johnnie Fox’s Pub

1 Victoria House, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 // t: 01

Glencullen, Co Dublin 01 29555647 info@jfp.ie www.jfp.ie

www.elywinebar.com @elywinebars Since 1999 ely wine bar has been at the forefront, being the first to truly deliver great wines by the glass. Today ely continues to be the leader in sourcing great wines, 500 in total. Awarded Best Wine Experience 2014 by Food & Wine, Best Wine Bars 2014 & 2015 by Sunday Business Post and 100 Best Restaurants 2015 by the McKenna’s Guide this is a place were you can enjoy prime organic beef and pork from their own farm and match it to wines from all over the world. Brilliant for bar bites too!

2545353 // www.asador.ie / fb.com/Asador reception@asador.ie // @AsadorDublin Situated on the corner of Haddington Road and Percy Place, just a stone’s throw from Baggot Street Bridge in the heart of D4, Asador is known as a true barbecue restaurant where the best of Irish fish, shellfish, and of course steaks are cooked over fires of oak, apple woods and charcoal. It’s an authentic barbecue experience where the open kitchen allows guests to watch the chefs work the bespoke 7 foot ‘asado’. Go for the great flavours you get from cooking this way, stay for the craft beers and cocktails.

Zaragoza South William St // 01 6794020 // info@zaragoza.com // @zaragozadublin // fb.com/zaragozadublin Zaragoza restaurant is slap bang on buzzy South William St, Dublin’s hotspot for nightlife. The restaurant takes its name and culinary inspiration from the Spanish City and is a true food lover’s paradise. Treat yourself to a unique dining experience, as local delicacies are married together with authentic Spanish flavours. There is an enticingly extensive menu with Tapas and larger dishes. Choose from tantalizing charcoal tuna, tempura cod and a myriad of other dishes. You can also go for a cold platter and pair it with one of the delicious wines available. Explore, eat and enjoy!

le bon crubeen

Hard Rock Café Dublin

82 Talbot Street, Dublin 1 // www.leboncrubeen.ie //

12 Fleet Street Temple Bar, Dublin 2 t: 01-6717777

@LeBonCrubeen // 01 7040126 This award-winning brasserie in the north of Dublin city centre is well known for delivering some of the best value for money in the city. The menu delivers a grassroots experience, sourcing ingredients from the very finest Irish producers delivering consistent quality. The pre-theatre menu is hugely popular with diners visiting the nearby Abbey or Gate theatres while a diversity of offerings mean vegetarians, coeliacs and those looking for low calorie options are also catered for. Shortlisted as finalist in 2012 of the Irish Restaurant Awards’ Best Casual Dining Restaurant.

If you’re looking for fantastic food and live entertainment in a unique, laid back environment, Hard Rock Café Dublin is the place for you. Located just a few blocks from the Liffey in famous and vibrant Temple Bar, a pedestrian friendly area of Dublin featuring cobblestone streets, wide sidewalks, and plenty of attractions. Hard Rock is a great central stop off point which serves fantastic food with a smile.

Try their legendary burgers with a delicious cocktail or beer to wash it down. Have a rocking day!

One of Ireland’s oldest traditional pubs is just half an hour’s drive outside of Dublin. Located astride a mountain in Glencullen, it’s also the highest pub in Ireland. A great destination for locals and tourists alike, transporting visitors to bygone times with trad music performed every night and during the daytime on weekends. All the produce this green isle is famous for features on the menu: oysters, mussels, crab claws, seafood platters, steak and lamb, as well as vegetarian dishes. The Hooley Show features live music, Irish dancers and a memorable four course meal. Johnnie Fox’s should be on everyone’s bucket list.

TGI Friday’s

The Revolution

Fleet Street, 19/20 Fleet Street, D2, t: 01-6728975.

Stephen’s Green, D2, t: 01-4781233.

Blanchardstown S.C., D15, t: 01-8225990.

Dundrum Shopping Centre, D14, t: 01-2987299.

Airside Retail Park, Swords, Co. Dublin, t: 01-8408525 w: www.fridays.ie

10 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6

TGI Friday’s is your number one authentic American style restaurant that makes every day feel like Friday.

It’s the home of the famous Jack Daniel’s sauce, grill and glaze making their burgers, chicken wings and steaks some of the best tasting dishes in Dublin.

TGI have a fantastic selection of drinks to relax and enjoy with friends including an exciting new cocktail menu, great value lunch deals and a hard to beat two-course menu. #InHereItsAlwaysFriday

t: (01) 492.6890 w: www.therevolution.ie @rathgarcraft The Revolution specialises in artisan stone baked pizza and craft beers. Located just south of the city in Rathgar, they offer creative styles of food including pizzas, steak and tacos, a vast selection of both local and international craft beers, and an array of quality wines by the glass. Their friendly staff will go the extra mile to make your time at The Revolution unforgettable. All their bread and pizza dough are made inhouse daily, and their ingredients are sourced locally when available. At The Revolution, it’s all about good food, good beer, and good people.

Kinara Kitchen

Upstairs@57

The Port House Pintxo

17 Ranelagh Village, Dublin 6 // @kinarakitchen //

56/57 Lower Clanbrassil St, Dublin 8

12 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

01 4060066 // kinarakitchen.ie

01-5320279

01 6728950

57theheadline.ie

www.porthouse.ie/pintxos

Located above 57 The Headline Bar on Clanbrassil Street Dublin 8. Upstairs@57 offers a food menu which is varied and influenced by the seasons. The eclectic wine list has been chosen carefully to offer great choice, and to compliment the food offering.

Upstairs@57 also has a full bar which boasts 24 Irish Craft Beer taps and a premium Irish Whiskey List. If you look for comfort and quality when dining, look no further.

The Port House Pintxo in Temple Bar serves an array of authentic Spanish Tapas and Pintxos plus a wide and varied selection of wines from Spain, Portugal and the Basque Region. With an impressive garden terrace overlooking Meeting House Square the soft candle light creates a romantic and relaxed atmosphere. Does not take bookings

Kinara Kitchen, featured in the Michelin Guide 2015, is the award winning Pakistani restaurant serving tantalising traditional food, paired with delicious cocktails and wines. Offering a great value lunch with ethnic naan wraps and thali style meals, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and open 7-nights for dinner, with early bird available Monday - Thursday for €21.95 per person for 3 courses. Above Kinara Kitchen is Upstairs Bar & Roof Terrace. The award winning vintage-themed ‘secret’ cocktail bar is perfect for brunch or aperitifs in the sun. Call to find out about their cocktails classes and booking highly recommended.

Kokoro Sushi Bento

Mao

19 Lower Liffey Street, D1, 01-8728787

2 Chatham Row, Dublin 2 t: 01-6704899 w: mymao.ie

51 South William Street, D2, 01-5470658 Unit N, Liffey Trust Centre, D1, 01-5474390 FB: @Kokoro Sushi Bento

Kokoro Sushi Bento takes pride in preparing not only the freshest, but most affordable sushi Dublin has to offer, freshly-made every day. Home to Ireland’s only pick ‘n’ mix sushi bar, at Kokoro you can enjoy delicious Japanese hot food favourites such as Katsu Curry or Yaki Soba. In using premium ingredients, together with highly trained staff, Kokoro has forged a reputation as Dublin’s finest independent sushi restaurant.

You can visit Mao in Chatham Row (or their locations in Dun Laoghaire, Dundrum, Balinteer or Stillorgan) to enjoy the extensive Asian menu full of tempting, traditionally prepared dishes. Savour the flavour with delicious curries or try a shared platter to get the full Thai experience, not forgetting their famous Mao Classic dishes. If you fancy making a night of it, why not sip up a low calorie, classic or dessert cocktail or two. Mao are an official Leinster Rugby food partner, so why not try one of their healthy dishes as chosen by Leinster Rugby’s nutritionist. #MadAboutMao. Prepare to tuk-in! Lunch menu: 12-4pm Mon to Fri; Early Bird menu: 4-7pm daily; à la carte menu: from 12pm daily

mexico to rome

The Green Hen

23, East Essex St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

33 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2

01 6772727

01 6707238

www.mexicotorome.com

thegreenhen.ie

w: kokorosushibento.com

facebook.com/mexico2rome // @MexicotoRome Across from the Temple Bar Pub, is Mexico to Rome, the Bandito’s Grill House. They serve up wonderful mouth-watering Mexican dishes with a twist with tasty European and Italian dishes available. On the menu are sizzling fajitas, burritos, tacos, chilli con carne, steak, fish, pasta dishes and their famous Tex-Mex baby back ribs with Southern Comfort BBQ sauce. The extensive menu suits big and small groups. All cocktails are €5 and there is a great Early Bird (starter and main for €13.50) and a Lunch Special (starter, main and a glass of wine for €9.95).

Well worth a visit!

Il Posto 10 Saint Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 t: 01 679 4769 w: www.ilpostorestaurant.com Situated on Dublin’s landmark St. Stephen’s Green, Il Posto has been cooking delicious contemporary and traditional Italian Mediterranean dishes using the best local and international produce since 2003. A firm favourite for business lunches, romantic dinners, pre-theatre meals and great nights out. Il Posto offers an intimate and elegant setting, an informal relaxed atmosphere and sumptuous food, all served with a generous helping of warm hospitality.

Located in the heart of the city on Exchequer St., The Green Hen specialises in classic French cuisine with an Irish twist. It is known for its gallic décor, an extensive drinks list of wines, bottled beers, draughts and of course its legendary cocktails. Open 7 days a week, you can try the three-course early bird for €22 from 5.30-7pm from Thursday to Sunday. Delicious food, a lively atmosphere, personable staff and a unique quaintness set this restaurant apart from the rest.

Yamamori Izakaya

Marcel’s Restaurant

coda eatery

Viva

13 South Great George’s Street, Dublin

1 Saint Mary’s Road

The Gibson Hotel, Point Village, Dublin 1

27 South Richmond Street, Dublin 2

016458001

Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

01 681 5000

t: 01 424 4043

www.yamamori.ie

01 660 2367

thegibsonhotel.ie

w: www.vivaespanatapas.com

Yamamori Izakaya is located in what was originally Ireland’s very first café on South George’s Street. The mix of old Irish architecture, oriental decor and soulful tunes set the scene. Downstairs is the Japanesestyle drinking house, serving small Japanese tapas dishes (‘Japas’), the famous Izakaya cocktails, and plenty of Japanese whiskys, beers and sake. Walls adorned with 1940s beer ads, movie posters and black and white movies provide a visceral back drop to compliment the eclectic mix of tunes from Dublin’s favourite DJs.

Marcel’s is the new restaurant on St Mary’s road in the location of the former Expresso Bar. It is the sister restaurant of the Green Hen. There is much change in the decor, which is very attractive with inviting sit-all-day orange dining chairs. The menu is quite simple, yet appealing. However the food delivers with great, clean flavours. Open all week for both lunch and dinner, it is well worth a visit.

It’s the final studio album by rock giants, Led Zeppelin and it serves pretty legendary food too! At Coda Eatery the ingredients speak for themselves.

Their menu offers a wide range of meats for example; dry aged rump, sirloin, rib eye and flat iron which are cooked over burning lava rock at a high temperature to create a charred and smoked finish.

They’ve kept things simple serving these prime cuts with well prepared sauces and seasonal sides.

Situated near the canal in Portobello, Viva brings a slice of Spain to Dublin. This Family run restaurant is filled with Latin colour and a vibrant bohemian atmosphere. Serving authentic Spanish tapas from our extensive menu and a delicious selection of Spanish wines, Cava and Cava cocktails, Spanish coffees, a good range of teas and real Spanish hot chocolate. Viva places an emphasis on flavour and wholesome homemade dishes, delicious seafood and paella made to order in a warm, relaxed casual dining space making it the perfect place to share a great meal for any occasion with friends.

LUCA DE MARZIO FROM CAFFÈ ITALIANO What represents real Italian food for you? What’s important in the cuisine and the cooking?

Good question! From my experience, the main thing to have authentic Italian food is the ingredients. I’ll never get tired of saying it – it is the fresh ingredients first, and then the passion for what you do – the love in the plate. I mean, in here in Caffè Italiano, it would be easier to buy the bread frozen, defrost and sell it, buy ravioli pre-packaged, but we don’t do that. Every morning we bake the bread, prepare ravioli, prepare tagliatelli, and also now lately we do pastry – that’s my new passion – everything is made in here, fresh and that’s important. Also it’s good for the cost, because the cost is better now we make it here.

thing in a restaurant is the start and the end. Bread is important, and at the end coffee needs to be good. If you get them right, that’s usually a good sign.

So the benefits are not only the taste, but also the value?

Yes, I used to spend €400 on bread, and we don’t charge for bread. We have our own bread, it’s unique, and if people like it, they know they can only get it here.

They always say, the most important

Tell us about your own background. Where does your passion for food come from?

My first job was as a waiter, aged 17, in Rome. It was a nice job, not so stressful, always in contact with the customers, so better than sitting in an office! Then I went to London, to Barcelona and then to Ireland, mostly working in hotels. I was in the Westbury for six years. I always liked hospitality and always had the idea

And what’s on the menu?

For lunch, since we started here four years ago, we were just a small coffee shop and we didn’t have the restaurant upstairs, so we were doing panini and sometimes lasagne and fresh pasta, I didn’t want to change that too much. We keep it very simple with a set menu for €9.90 and on that we do cod as a main course, we do pork scallopini, we do pasta, and a nice starter like a bruschetta, or salad. It’s small money but that’s where we started and we didn’t want to increase the price. I’m not sure people around Temple Bar would spend more than €10 per day for lunch, and we have people returning every day so we’re happy with that. The people that come every day like the specials. They don’t check the menu that much, they just ask ‘what’s cooking today Luca?’ – and every morning, depending on how I feel, whatever comes in my mind, I just cook it!

to open something for myself but had no clue what or how, it seemed impossible, until one girl was selling this place, which was really small at the time and I said, OK, lets try it. It sounds crazy, but the investment was less than €2,000. I just repainted the walls and started to sell coffee and paninis [Laughs]. Obviously it wasn’t successful right away, but in two years I saw some profits and understood what was special about my place, and I started fresh handmade pasta and importing Italian ingredients fresh every day. Later we got the wine licence, then we started to work with aperitivo, spritz and now we do a party every month. Every time, more and more people come. It scares me [laughs]... last time there more than 300 people! I never stop, we’re always coming up with something new.

Caffè Italiano, Crow Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, 01-5511206

The Dublin Dining Guide Best Delivery •

Delivers Wine

•

Delivers Beer

Saba To Go

KANUM THAI

13 Rathgar Road, Rathmines, D6, t: 01-4060200

Rathgar 01 4062080 Ballsbridge 01

Based on the award winning Saba restaurant on Clarendon Street, Saba To Go do Thai and Vietnamese food at high quality for fast paced life.

All their meals are freshly cooked on a daily basis with highest quality ingredients with a mixture of locally sourced produce and key ingredients imported from Fair Trade producers in Thailand and Vietnam to give the real authentic east Asian taste.

Delivery as far as: Donnybrook, Churchtown, Rathfarnham & Sundrive

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Email booking

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Phone booking

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Just Eat

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Vegetarian

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Coeliac

The Mango Tree

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Gluten Free

- 51 Main Street, Rathfarnham, D14, t: 01-4442222 - Sarsfield House, Chapel Hill, Lucan, Co. Dublin, t: 01-6280000 - Meridian Point, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, t: 01-2874488

6608616.

Twitter -- @kanumthai Kanum Thai is an Irish owned authentic Thai food and noodle bar, which also provides take away or delivery to your home. Kanum uses only Irish meats and there is no MSG used in their food preparation. All of the food is cooked to order and is low in fat. Kanum pride themselves on giving their customers restaurant quality food at takeaway prices. Eat in, Takeaway or Home/Office deliveries from Noon until late 7 days a week.

The Mango Tree is all about authentic Thai flavours, spearheaded by Head Chef Nipaporn, trained by her mother, herself a successful Thai food chef in Thailand and Sweden, Chef Nipaporn has brought he skills acquired around the world to The Mango Tree. With branches in Rathfarnham, Lucan and Greystones, the Mango Tree covers huge areas of both sides of the city. Favourites include traditional Thai dishes such as Pad Thai and Green Curry.

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Areas: Dublin 2,4,6,6w,8,12,14,16 and parts of 24.

Deliver wine. Beer for eat in only.

Available Vegetarian, Low Carb and Ceoliac Friendly options.

Orders by phone, online at www.kanum.ie or through their APP( “kanum thai dublin”, avail-

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able on APP store and Google play)

Base Wood Fired Pizza

Mao At Home

Pizza Republic

Terenure t: 01 440 4800 M –F: 16:00-23:00 - S– Sun: 13:00-23:00 Ballsbridge t: 01 440 5100 M-F: 08:00-23:00, S-Sun: 12:00-23:00 Twitter- @basewfp w- www.basewfp.com e: info@basewfp.com

Ballinteer: 01 296 8702 Donnybrook: 01 207 1660 Stillorgan: 01 278 4370 Tallaght: 01 458 50 20 Dundrum: 01 296 2802

Quality food, delivered! Pizza Republic have taken their favourite features of Italian and American style pizzas and perfected the Pizza Republic style, crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, the way pizza should be. They guarantee fresh, delicious food, collected or delivered! Everything on their menu is of the highest quality and freshly prepared daily. They’ve created a mouthwatering menu full of choice including vegetarian options. Order online for collection or delivery from www.pizzarepublic.ie

Base stands for honest, handmade, contemporary pizza. Base founder, Shane Crilly’s, wanted to improve the standard of pizza he could find in Dublin, and to create a pizza that he would be happy eating himself. They only use fresh ingredients, handcrafted every day. They never use anything that is frozen or pre-packaged. Base strives to honour the heritage of traditional pizza, follow them on their journey of creating pizza with real integrity.

Ballsbridge to Ballsbridge, UCD Bellfield, Clonskeagh, Booterstown, Ringsend, Irishtown, Donnybrook, Iveagh Gardens, South Dublin City Centre.

Terenure to Terenure, Rathfarnham, Darty, Ranelagh, Knocklyon, Templeogue Rathgar, Kimmage, Ballyboden, Churchtown, Portabello, Walkinstown.

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Mao restaurants have been the top Asian restaurant chain in Dublin for over 20 years and now are delighted to deliver their extensive range of Asian and Thai cuisine direct to you. Just order online, over the phone or walk in and take away to experience top quality dishes, from mild or spicy curries, fragrant wok specials to the popular Mao Classics! The Mao At Home chefs are passionate about using only the finest fresh ingredients to create our authentic, healthy and virtually low fat dishes. As an official Leinster Rugby food partner why not try one of their healthy dishes as chosen by Leinster Rugby’s nutritionist. #MadAboutMao Prepare to tuk-in! www.mymao.ie

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Leeson Street delivers to South City Centre, Trinity College, Grand Canal Dock, Temple Bar, Portobello, Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar, Harold’s Cross, Milltown, Clonskeagh, Belfield UCD, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Sandymount, Ringsend, Irishtown t: 01 660 3367 Sun-Thurs: 12:00-23:00 Fri-Sat: 12:00-01:00 Dublin 18 delivers to Cornelscourt, Cabinteely, Carrickmines, Foxrock, Deansgrange, Leopardstown, Ballyogan, Stepaside, Kilternan, Sandyford, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Stillorgan, Goatstown, Blackrock, Mount Merrion t: 01 207 0000 Mon-Thurs: 16:00-23:00 Fri-Sat: 12:00-0:00 Sun: 12:00-23:00

Persian Cuisine

14-15 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 - 01 677 3595 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 - 01 400 5006 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 Delivery Number 01 4005700

Persian Cuisine

Welcome to Zaytoon, the home of

14-15 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 - 01 677 3595amazing Persian Cuisine. Our food Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 might be fast, but we provide you, our 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 - 01 400 5006 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 customers, with truly nutritious and Delivery Number 01 4005700 quality meals.

Persian Cuisine

Request online for a Zaytoon discount card and you could enjoy instant 10% discounts on all our Welcome to Zaytoon, the home of meals.

amazing Persian Cuisine. Our food Great delivered your door Persian Food datestoback many might be fast, but we provide you, ourFood within our delivery from 18:00centuries and is zone, culturally customers, with truly nutritious and 24:00. information please basedFor on further the freshest 14-15 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 - 01 677 3595 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin quality 1 meals. check: www.zaytoon.ie ingredients in season.

44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 - 01 400 5006 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 Delivery Number 01 4005700 Request online for a Zaytoon Our food is rich and varied. We use spices such as saffron and discount card and you could enjoy Enjoy our special offers: instant 10% discounts on all ourfresh corriander.

For Taxi Drivers free chips and meals.

Visit us and try our delicious softdrink with every dish ALL DAYfreshly prepared Kebabs.

Welcome to Zaytoon, the home of EVERY DAY! Great Food delivered your door Persian Food datestoback many amazing Persian Cuisine. Our food within our delivery from 18:00centuries and is zone, culturally Lunch special from Mon-Fri 12pmmight be fast, but we provide you, our breast of chicken, fresh salmon 24:00. information please basedFor on further the freshest 15pm Free chips and softdrink with customers, with truly nutritious and or vegetarian, all served with check: www.zaytoon.ie ingredients in season. ervey dish! quality meals. freshly baked bread.

Our food is rich and varied. We Request online for a Zaytoon use spices such as saffron and discount card and you could enjoy Enjoy our special offers: opening hours: fresh corriander. hours: Mon-Thurs, Sun 12pm–4.30am instant 10% discounts on all Opening our opening hours: Sun -and Thurs: 12pm - 4am For Taxi Drivers free chips meals.

12pm open end Visit us and try ourFri delicious - Sat:DAY12pm - 4.30am softdrink with every dish ALL prepared Kebabs.

Great Food delivered your door Persian Food datestoback many freshly EVERY DAY!

Killiney delivers to Killiney, Dalkey, Glenageary, Glasthule, Sandycove, Dun Laoghaire, Sallynoggin, Deansgrange, Kill of the Grange, Monkstown, Monkstown Farm, Ballybrack, Cherrywood, Loughlinstown, Shankill t: 01 235 0099 Mon-Thurs: 16:00-23:00 Fri-Sat: 12:00-01:00 Sun: 12:00-23:00 Twitter- @PizzaRep Facebook- PizzaRepublicIreland Instagram- pizzarepublic w- www.pizzarepublic.ie e- hello@pizzarepublic.ie

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Established in January 2000 Zaytoon restaurants have two branches in 14/15 Parliament street and 44/45 lower Camden street.

They are casual diners offering delicious kebabs served with freshly made naan bread which is cooked in a traditional Persian clay oven. Often referred to as having the best kebabs in Ireland.

Here at Zaytoon we pride ourselves on sourcing and providing the highest quality products. All our meat and poultry are Irish and fully traceable.

By day Zaytoon is full of tourists and business people, by night it’s packed to the gills with midnight revellers jostling to get one of our famous kebabs!

Persian Cuisine

14-15 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 - 01 677 3595 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 1 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 - 01 400 5006 44/45 Lr. Camden St., Dublin 2 Delivery Number 01 4005700

• Fri-Sat 12pm–5am

Welcome to Zaytoon, the home of amazing Persian Cuisine. Our food might be fast, but we provide you, our customers, with truly nutritious and

NEAL MAGEE FROM 101 TALBOT You’re 25 years in business, how has the restaurant and the street and the area changed in that time?

At the start the restaurant was more geared towards students and theatre types – the very start is a bit before my time, but I did work with the previous owner as well. It was geared towards a very arty crowd. Whereas now, I think, we’re a bit more mainstream. We still have a big theatre crowd but much less of the students. I suppose the clientele has got a bit older and grown with the restaurant. Talbot Street has improved even in the 14 years I’ve been here.

There’s not as many empty shops as there used to be. We’ve a few more restaurants around for sure, so the eating side of the street even in the last five or six years has improved.

Are you doing anything to mark the 25th year? It’s quite a landmark.

We’re looking to do something around September on a Sunday night when we’d normally be closed, to maybe invite some

regular customers and some old customers back, the previous owners and a couple of other people.

Tell us about the cuisine and about your own background.

I started here around 14 years ago as the head chef. When I started there was a big emphasis on vegetarians and vegans. While we always have two or three choices for vegetarians and vegans, we wouldn’t concentrate on it as much anymore. We do a lot more meat and fish than we had done previously. We’ve upped the level of the food over time. Myself, I’d like a lot of game. it’s not the season for it now, but we do quite a bit of game in the winter. We change obviously with the seasons, but I also try to change the menu every three or four weeks. Seasonality is very important.

I was trained in classical French cooking, but I wouldn’t describe us as classical French cooking. We’d use some classical methods of cooking too, but I also like Middle Eastern and African food, so if you look at our menus, there is a bit of a mix. I wouldn’t call it one style.

What about yourself, where did you begin in food?

I worked in a lot of places – I worked in the Gresham for a couple of years, a year in Shanahan’s as a sous chef, a couple of years in La Stampa as a sous chef, I spent a year in Australia working in a few French bistros, I spent a year in Glasgow working in Brasserie 66 and then myself and my wife – who co-runs the restaurant

with me – came back, and we’ve been here since. I was here for about six years as head chef when the previous owners told us they were selling up, we said, ‘sure, why not?’

If you haven’t been to 101 Talbot before, what should you expect?

We’re very casual. It’s a big mix of people. There’s people in shirts and ties and there’s people in shorts and t-shirts. It’s all about the food really. We’re not about stuffiness. We want people to be relaxed, there’s no dress code or anything like that. We pride ourselves on good service, but we wouldn’t be obtrusive. Good food, good produce, served well and done well for a competitive price.

You’ve started lunches now too?

We started it a little while ago. I feel like it’s a great offering.

There are a lot of our dinner dishes but at a much more competitive price. Then there things like a venison burger, a lamb tagine and soups and large salads. Again, it’s not just one style. Because we change the menu every three to four weeks, and because there’s three or four other chefs in the kitchen there’s lots of ideas coming from every angle. It’s ever changing, and there’s one or two specials every lunchtime.

101 Talbot, 101/102 Talbot Street, Dublin 1, 01-8745011

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

GASTRO words Aoife McElwain photos Killian Broderick

Remember that Buddha Bag shop on Millennium Walkway? Bread and Bones opened in that very unit in April of this year. On the surface, this casual eatery is along the same lines of places that have been flooding the casual dining market in the last few years, like Meat Wagon and Pitt Bros. It’s got the walls made from palettes, the waiters who are definitely musicians in their real lives and the main course price tags that never get very far away from €10.

Bread and Bones have thankfully moved their menu beyond the proliferation of pulled pork and slaw, and are instead catching up with the more internationally current trend of Asianinfluenced street food by way of ramen, bao (steamed buns) and kimchi.

‘A lot of our inspiration has come from restaurants such as Momofuku in New York, Banh Mi Boys in Toronto, Bone Daddies and Flesh and Buns in London, and Uncle in St Kilda, Melbourne,’ says Jack Fox, who co-owns Bread and Bones with Duncan MacDonald. Their head chef Modh Fadhil Kasmuid (known in the kitchen as Caat) is from Malaysia, so they’ve pooled their knowledge to bring a bit of bao to Dublin.

The staff are great. It’s truly a gift to pull off friendly, familiar service with sincerity. Our server Ciara has mastered this art, and I’m not even sure she knows it. She looks after us in a beautifully effortless way throughout the evening. About halfway through our main course, she takes over from the dude who is unobtrusively singing covers in the corner to strum a few songs herself. It’s a cliché that all waiters are artists waiting to be discovered but with Ciara this might actually be true. Hopefully Bread and Bones can hang on to her a bit longer, at least until my next visit.

The menu is split between three neat sections;

ing with slow-cooked flavour, but the longer the beef sits in the broth, the oilier the ramen becomes. ‘Our ramen is made in tonkotsu style,’ Fox explains, ‘which is very popular in Japan because of its high fat content. Similarly, Bone Daddies in London makes their ramen in this style and offers a side of extra fat, should customers want it! It’s not to all Western tastes, but it’s something we’re trying to find a balance with, so that it can be enjoyed by everyone.’ At €10, it’s great value per bowl.

What I’ll be returning to Bread and Bones for are the bao; steamed buns conveniently sliced like fluffy, sticky pitta pockets, served in a bamboo basket. It’s perfect for sharing, but you won’t want to. You can choose a choice of six fillings, from chicken, beef, crispy fried tofu (starting at €12) to Silverhill duck (the most expensive at €16). We go for the confit duck leg, which appears intact and on the bone. It’s been treated very well in the kitchen, its moist flesh protected by a deliciously crispy skin. We tear it to pieces ourselves and stuff it into our warm, steamed buns, topping with the accompanying hoisin sauce (just the right amount of sweetness), thin rounds of pickled beetroot and a salad of coriander, cucumber and chillis.

I appreciate the effort to source and name Irish suppliers such as Silverhill duck and Murphy’s ice-cream. For dessert, a Murphy’s brown bread ice-cream affogato (€3.50) is a little over-shadowed by our pineapple mess (€5.50), a tropical take on the fruit, cream and meringue favourite. Here, they’ve roasted the pineapple in cinnamon, star anise and chilli caramel and laced the cream with tarragon for an aniseed kick. It works for us.

Our bill, which includes two bottles of the Australian craft beer Little Creatures (€5.50 per bottle), and two non-alcoholic Brewdog Nanny State (a complexly flavoured revelation in alcohol-free beer drinking at €4 a bottle), comes to €65.

I’d love to see those little creases in the food ironed out in the coming months; they might well be serving the best bao in Dublin but so far they have no competition. I want to see a cleaner ramen and more flavours generally.

Move over BBQ, the bao has landed.

BAO WOW WOW Bread and Bones

Bread and Bones Unit 7, Millennium Walkway, D1 t: 085 2152408 w: breadandbones.ie

bites, bones and baos. From the bites, we order pork croquettes (€5) and kimchi fries (€5). The panko-crusted pork croquettes from the bites section work well as an appetiser, though the ratio of spud to pork is off for me – they need more pork. The kimchi fries are slim chips topped with a heap of house-made kimchi and a squirt of garlic mayo. I love kimchi and I want these fries to blow me away but I’m left underwhelmed – there’s no marriage of flavours to make this transcend your typical bowl of fries.

It’s good, but I want it to be awesome, and it doesn’t quite get there for me.

From the bones, I choose the braised beef ramen (€10) over a selection of pork, chicken, tofu and spicy seafood. The ramen broth is pleasingly subtle, and the braised beef is ooz-

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PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

GASTRO words Aoife McElwain photos Naomi Gaffey

I’m scoffing nachos while Talib Kweli’s Get By blares from the stereo. It’s loud but its volume is absolutely appropriate; it’s Friday night and every table in the house is brimming with people ready to go out on the town. The servers are almost dancing as they bring out plates of tacos and I can’t help but get carried away by the buzz and the beats. I’m in the ground floor dining room of Odessa off Dame Lane. But this isn’t Odessa anymore; it’s Taco Taco.

Odessa’s brunch used to buzz like this. I was disappointed to note the decline in Odessa’s food offering in the last couple of years. It felt like it was being left behind while newer, shinier food businesses popped up around it. This stagnation, and perhaps the residual effect of once being a members-only club, saw Odessa in the regrettable position at the beginning of this year of having to go into interim examinership, with debts that apparently mounted up to €1 million.

It was announced a few months ago that Dublin’s latest pop-up was to take roost in their ground-floor dining room, and the Odessa restaurant was to move upstairs with a new chef (Troy Maguire), business as usual. Taco Taco, spearheaded by chef Temple Garner (of San Lorenzo’s) and restaurant promoter Anthony Remedy (formerly of Bite and San Lorenzo’s).

Garner is one of my favourite Irish chefs. I still don’t think his Dame Street Mermaid Café brunch has been adequately replaced, not even by his ‘brunch of champions’ at San Lorenzo’s (a restaurant I still prefer at dinnertime). The flavours at Taco Taco have Garner’s stamp all over them. They’re powerful without being gratuitous, with an unfussy attention to detail that sees ingredients reach their full potential.

Prices are high but the portions are huge. We share a giant plate of Super Nachos (€14.95) to start; each element is bang on, from the smoky chilli con carne, to the creamy guacamole, to the melted cheddar and salty nachos.

I struggle to finish my shrimp popcorn taco (€18.95), which saddens me deeply as it is thoroughly tasty. The shrimp itself bursts with the flavour that one hopes for in a shrimp: sweet

ROLL UP, ROLL UP Taco Taco

and succulent, coated in a batter that remains crispy throughout. My date’s Chinese Five Spice Duck Taco (€16.95) doesn’t disappoint either.

It’s dark in colour, sticky with sauce and full of flavour. In fact, flavour comes at us from every direction at Taco Taco; there’s no opportunity for great taste that’s been left uncovered.

Poutine is a Canadian speciality of fried potatoes covered in cheese and gravy, which should (and can) be disgusting. Taco Taco have done this dish justice; it’s a joyously weird marriage of carbs and umami in one messy side dish (economically priced at €3.50). A side order of kimchi (€2) is the only thing that underwhelms. It’s a little weak on tanginess and it’s grated, which leaves me missing the crunch of chunky, fermented cabbage.

We’re left with just about enough room for a shared bowl of ice cream with hundreds and thousands (€6.50). Service is fast and friendly, with the girls being a little friendlier than the boys, it must be said. Our bill, which includes a Mesquite Old Fashioned (€11), a brunch sour (€11.50), a non-alcoholic Peachy Keen (€4), a homemade lemonade (€3) and an Americano (€2.85), comes to a total of €95.20.

For me, Taco Taco is leading the way in the current line-up of new spots to eat in Dublin.

Let’s hope it’s here to stay.

Taco Taco Open for dinner and weekend brunch, no reservations 14 Dame Court, D2 t: 083-4499584 w: tacotacodublin.com

Over 50 craft beers: for every season, occasion, event or excuse. ely bar & brasserie, IFSC, Dublin 1. www.elywinebar.com

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BITESIZE

Image: The Tasty Other

Image: Lionel Andia

words Martina Murray

1. To Drink Dublin Gin & Tonic Fest Summer’s here and Great Irish Beverages have decided that June is gin’s time to shine. The Dublin Gin & Tonic Fest puts the spotlight firmly on three of Ireland’s best – Dingle Gin from Munster, Shortcross Gin from Ulster and seasonal gin from Glendalough Distillery.

Each uses their own distinct blend of local Irish botanicals, resulting in a unique taste of Ireland from three different provinces. Festival-goers can sample the results and compare flavours at various city centre venues from June 22nd to 27th.

See greatirishbeverages.com for more.

2. To Visit Le Pays Basque En Fête Transport yourself to the Basque Country for one very special evening as the Alliance Française hosts a celebration of the culture and traditions of Le Pays Basque.

Enjoy food, wine tasting and a concert of local music set against a backdrop of images so vivid you’ll feel as if you’re actually deep in the southwest of France. Admission is free but booking is essential

by Monday 15th June at rsvp@alliance-francaise.ie. Le Pays Basque En Fête takes place on Friday 19th June from 6.30pm at the Alliance Française Dublin, 1 Kildare Street, Dublin 2

3. To Eat Taste of Dublin The ultimate foodie festival takes place in the Iveagh Gardens over four days this month as Taste of Dublin celebrates its tenth birthday.

The festival features cookery schools and demonstrations from chefs such as Rachel Allen, Nevan Maguire (pictured), Michel Roux Jr. and Monica Galetti. Guests can also avail of some great food from Dublin’s longest established eateries, as well as from those brave new kids on the block just starting to make an impact on Dublin’s dining scene. Taste of Dublin runs from 11th to 14th June.

For tickets and further details visit dublin.tastefestivals.com

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4. To Try The Unicorn by Fiorentina, Merrion Row Dublin 2 The iconic Unicorn Restaurant has been seducing Dublin’s taste buds for more years than we care to remember, and judging by its lipsmacking new menu that love affair looks set to continue.

Recently re-launched as The Unicorn by Fiorentina, restaurateur Kristan Burness and chef Denis Massey have come up with some mouthwatering Italian delights, including a sumptuous risotto featuring fried oysters, Prosecco and chives. The signature dish is Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a 32oz, 40-day dry-aged T-bone for two.

We’re promised some mellifluous wines to match, all of which can be enjoyed alfresco throughout the summer on the charming outdoor terrace. Bellissimo!

5. To Read Food Blog: The Tasty Other The Tasty Other is a Londonbased food blog through which Amaryllis Aphrodite documents her own relationship with food and ingredients, one dish and ingredient at a time. Compiled in the aftermath of hours spent ingredient shopping, discovering markets, preparing meals and eating with friends, this colourful blog celebrates the backgrounds and traditions of the writer and those she encounters, while remaining open to everything new that the city has to offer.

Containing some interesting observations on London’s various populations and cultures, this blog is a fascinating read. thetastyother.com

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10 Terenure Rd East, Rathgar, Dublin 6 01 492-6890 // www.therevolution.ie facebook.com/therevolutionrathgar // @rathgarcraft // instagram: therevolutionrathgar

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George's Street Arcade is Europe and Ireland's oldest shopping centre and is located in the heart of Dublin city centre less than 5 minutes walk from Grafton Street and Temple Bar. In this enclosed Victorian market you can enjoy boutique shops and stalls ranging from trendy clothing, jewellery, funky music, collectable items, souvenirs and much more along with wonderful dining and food options. Come and savour this w o n d e r f u l a r c a d e wh i c h h as b e e n s e r v i n g D u bl i n s i n c e 1 8 8 1!

What you will find when you visit ...

Bubblicity Bubble tea shop Little Macs Food stall Lolly & Cooks Gourmet food products & soaps Pieminister Pies Simon's Place Restaurant & Coffee Shop The Market Bar Pub & Restaurant

And a wide range of ...

Clothes Accessories Jewellery Antiques & Collectibles Artists Florists Health Food Hairdessers Music Books Arts & Crafts Gifts Vintage W W W. G E O R G E S S T R E E TA RC A D E . C O M

A taste of Pakistan at the award winning

Kinara Kitchen U P S TA I R S B A R & R O O F T E R R AC E

Check out our cocktails by Paul Lambert, Bar Manager

No. 17 Ranelagh Village, Dublin 6 T: 01 406 0066 @upstairsKK Email: upstairs@kinarakitchen.ie www.kinarakitchen.ie Sister Restaurant of Kinara, Clontarf and Kajjal, Malahide.

SOUNDBITE words Martina Murray photos Killian Broderick

Based in the United Arts Club in Dublin, Bia Beatha is a unique monthly Irish supper club devoted to the rich mythology and culture surrounding Irish food. Each month guests are treated to a delicious three-course meal with wine, live music and a fascinating talk on the history of Irish food by Irish culinary historian Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire. The venture is the brainchild of Rachel Flynn and we caught up with her recently to find out more.

Tell us a little about your career so far.

In my 20s I started working in Africa as a social researcher and then went on to become a project manager managing big healthcare projects and conflict assessments. While I was doing that, I was living in London and travelling six months a year. I’ve always loved food and I guess once you’ve learned how to manage projects you can apply those skills to anything, so even though working in the food sector is totally new for me, I feel like Bia Beatha is the sum of lots of my experience working and travelling in different parts of the world.

What was the inspiration behind Bia Beatha?

When I was working as a social researcher one of the first things we always used to do when we went into communities was to eat with them, because you learn so much about a society’s culture by seeing what their food habits are. So when I was away with my Mum in Berlin last year we found ourselves looking for somewhere to go for authentic German food, but nobody could recommend anywhere to us that wasn’t a German beer hall for tourists. We were kind of surprised, but thinking about it we realised it was probably hard to find an authentic Irish food experience in Dublin too. It was then that I started thinking about doing an event focused around celebrating Irish food.

The evening is hosted, isn’t it?

Yeah, there’s very much an emphasis on Irish hospitality and I thought it was important to include a culinary historian who could talk about the history of Irish food. With Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire it was like I’d put all the ingredients for my perfect speaker into a pot and he popped out. He’s a great storyteller and a ballad singer as well as coming from an academic background so he’s able to incorporate poetry and song and weave all these different components into the night.

Bia Beatha has been described as ‘a journey of discovery into Irish cuisine’ – what’s a typical event like?

The format is very relaxed. We usually have a welcome cocktail on arrival and once people are seated Máirtín gives a quick overview of the menu, drawing out the traditional components as a way to open up into the conversation about Irish food. So the evening flows with Máirtín talking between courses and after he speaks there’s usually this split second silence followed

FEED ME UP Rachel Flynn, Bia Beatha

I was looking for about three months and a lot of places were saying no. In Dublin there’s still some reluctance to use spaces for something other than their primary purpose. A couple of the galleries that I went to said they would have liked to do it but they could lose their arts council funding, which seemed very bureaucratic to me.

What else is in the works?

We’d love to do food events and launches where we’d incorporate the ingredients of the food product and tailor the talk around that company or product. We’re looking at doing some of the food festivals a little bit further down the line and hoping to work with Fáilte Ireland as part of their push on Irish food tourism.

We’re also hoping to use other spaces as well and we’ve done an event with Kevin Powell of Gruel Guerrilla in his Temple Bar apartment for AirBnB super-hosts that was a bit edgier. I really think it would be an amazing thing to do something for a Christmas party. It takes the emphasis off getting drunk and instead provides this really nice, sociable cultural experience.

by a rise in conversation as people talk about what he’s told them. It’s very nice, people really enjoy it and there’s also a post-dinner musical performance. By the end of every event people have made new friends and they’re hugging and exchanging contact details.

Tell us about the food.

The food is really central and I always work with the chef, Anthony O’Grady, to come up with a menu that’s a little bit unusual. We have an amazing supplier called the Wild Irish Foragers and Preservers who do cordials made from hawthorn berry and elderberry which we use with Prosecco as part of the welcome cocktail. When we did the St. Patrick’s Festival, we worked with Guinness, and with that event we used malted shortcake in the dessert and we had things like barley risotto, so it’s about using traditional Irish ingredients, but in new and contemporary ways that you mightn’t necessarily have seen before.

Was it easy to set up?

Initially, the biggest challenge was finding a space because there weren’t that many options out there. Now we’re based in a really beautiful Georgian building, the United Arts Club, which is a members club for artists that’s very central and has loads of character. Before that,

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Bia Beatha takes place at the United Arts Club 3 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2. For details of future events see biabeatha.net

Have you been surprised by how well it’s taken off?

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the reaction.

You can tell you’ve got a good idea when people are saying, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ We did our first event at the end of October last year and it really seems to have hit a chord. I think, during the Celtic Tiger years, we were very eager to be seen as cosmopolitan and international and that kind of blew up in our faces, so now we’re seeing a return to the more traditional. Irish people often tell me as they leave at the end of the night that they have this renewed sense of pride in our mythology and culinary history. I love that.

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Ingredients (Serves 4) 900g of Cod 4 eggs 60mls of good quality Irish rapeseed oil 1 cup of basil leaves 1/2 cup of mint leaves 1 cup of parsley 2 heaped tablespoons of capers 4 drained anchovy fillets 1 minced clove of garlic 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

MAKE IT YOURSELF Roast Cod with Soft-boiled Egg and Salsa Glas

Method Finely chop the garlic, capers, herbs and anchovies and put them into a bowl.

Add the vinegar and then stir the rapeseed oil in slowly until you achieve the desired consistency.

Season with black pepper and sea salt to your taste Preheat the oven to 200c.

Place the fish in a shallow roasting pan and put a generous tablespoon of the salsa on each piece.

Roast for 18-20 minutes.

Serve with soft-boiled egg (everyone has their preferred method!) and some uncooked salsa.

Recipe and photo: Rachel Flynn

“I love this recipe because it’s so versatile - serve it with toasted sourdough for brunch, with mash or colcannon potato cake for a hearty winter dinner or with a green salad for something more summery.

The salsa glas is a salsa verde made with Irish grown herbs and you can either make it in a blender or chop it by hand depending on what consistency you prefer. I like it chunky so do it by hand.”

Welcome to Zaragoza, where you’ll find deliciously fresh Mediterranean tapas served with the warmest Irish welcome.

A contemporary fusion of modern, authentic cuisine presented in a convivial atmosphere, Zaragoza is not just a place, it’s a destination.

South William Street, Dublin 2 Ph: 01 6794020 Opening hours: Monday - Sunday - 12noon - Midnight (last orders 11pm)

We Animate Public Space With Meaning Instant Cultural Events in Dublin, Limerick & Cork

We take advantage of good weather and instant communication to gather hundreds of happy people at a moment’s notice. Sign up to get notifications at www.happenings.ie

Upcoming Events Open-Air Cinema in parks across Dublin

The Bizarre Bloomsday Brunch North Great Georges St

All summer

Sunday 14th June

Open-Air Music Fitzwilliam Sq & Merrion Sq

Another Love Story Killyon Manor

All summer

21st - 23rd August

Open-Air Yoga Dartmouth Sq

Whippersnappenings Kids days in parks

Weekly

Sundays throughout the summer

www.happenings.ie

TOTALLYCAFÉ

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Gourmet Coffee

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Filter Coffee

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Wifi

• • Treats

Lunch

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Dinner

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Outdoor Area

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CAFÉ OF THE MONTH 147 Deli Dublin Barista School

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Roasted Brown

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Sasha House Petite

If you’re looking for more from coffee, The Dublin Barista School is the place. A dedicated training centre, offering two-hour lessons in espresso basics or an intensive threeday course to earn their Qualified Barista Award. Dublin Barista School is also the place to pick up any coffee accoutrements, whether you want to weigh it, grind it or pour it. As well as offering the knowledge and the gear, they serve up incredible value take-out coffee which they roast themselves (everything is €2), or even a filter coffee which they source their beans from The Barn, a Berlinbased roastery. Open Mon-Sun 9am-4pm

Roasted Brown quickly established itself as one of Dublin’s top coffee spots and one of Temple Bar’s nicest hangouts.

Baristas Ferg Brown and Rob Lewis serve beautiful coffee using a variety of beans and brew methods. But it doesn’t stop with coffee, Roast Brown’s food is all prepared on site; gourmet sandwiches, organic soups and delicious sweet treats. They also serve a top notch brunch on weekends and have recently begun roasting their own beans too.

Talk about not even knowing what you were missing until it is right in front of you! The latest addition to the Dublin cafe scene is the wonderful and quirky Sasha House Petite – a micro-roastery, French/Slavic pastry bar that will entice even the most diligent of dieters with the mouthwatering “signature desserts” and breakfast menus. Sasha House Petite’s specialties – from the Sacher Torte to the Pork Belly Bread – are delightfully refined and fresh; and if you’d rather go for some specialty coffee, you’ll be able to choose from a selection of several aromas and tastes, carefully picked and micro-roasted in house.

19a South Anne Street, Dublin 2. t: 01-6778756 w: dublinbaristaschool.ie @dubbaristasch

Proprietor/Head Barista: Ferg Brown Curved Street, Temple Bar, D2 @RoastedBrown

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147 Deli is a small independent delicatessen that is passionate about local, seasonal ingredients and great coffee, located in the heart of Chinatown on Parnell Streett beside North Great Georges Street.

Everything is cooked and prepared on-site which includes smoking their own meats and fish for their mouthwatering sandwiches and salads. The menu includes sandwiches, soups, salads and freshly made juices with weekly specials. Great decor, friendly staff, good music and big in the game when it comes to sandwiches.

147 Parnell Street, Dublin 1 t: 01 872 8481 w: facebook.com/147deliparnell @147cafe

Drury Street Car Park, Drury Street, Dublin 2 www.shpetite.ie t: (01) 672 9570 @SashaHouseDub

Clement & Pekoe

Il Fornaio

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Simon’s Place

Clement & Pekoe is your local coffee house in the heart of the city. Pop by for a morning fix or an evening winddown and watch the world go by on South William St. Choose from an array of loose leaf teas and seasonal coffee from select roasters. The owners, Simon and Dairine, are on hand to advise on how to enjoy tea or coffee at home too. Clement & Pekoe are now also open in Temple Bar, housed in the contemporary surroundings of Indigo & Cloth on East Essex St.

Nearly one year ago this cosy café opened in College Green to offer Dubliners an authentic Italian experience of really good artisan coffee and Italian premium quality food and products. The cakes and biscotti display in the window captures the eyes of every gourmet passing by, and the scent of panini and pizza (freshly baked everyday) invite you for a tasty lunch. The perfect place to buy the finest cured and cooked meats and cheese.

Open Mon-Fri 7.30am-7pm. Sat: 10am-7pm. Sun 11am-7pm.

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The Bird Cage Bakery

An arty Bohemian café long established on George’s St, Simon’s place attracts an eclectic mix of students, musicians and working stiffs.

Heart-warming lunches of old-school doorstep sandwiches and home-made soups will always keep winter at bay. Try the cinnamon buns !

Warm, cosy and friendly, The Birdcage Bakery stands out at its Harcourt location as one of the area’s finest cafes.

With inviting, comfortable décor, the friendly staff offer a selection of homemade pastries, desserts, cakes and bitesized treats all made from scratch daily. The savoury lunch menu is enjoyed all week long and offers an original take on classics such as meatballs and smokey bacon & cabbage among others. With top quality coffee, freshly roasted from the kiosk, enjoy one house blend and one single origin on offer daily, alongside a selection of teas from Clement & Pekoe. Open Mon-Fri 7.30am-3.30pm

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50 South William St, D2 and Indigo & Cloth, 9 Essex St East, D2 www.clementandpekoe.com @ClementandPekoe

15 College Green, Dublin 2 t: (01) 6718960 facebook.com/ilfornaiocaffe

22 S Great George’s St, Dublin 2 Tel ; 016797821 www.facebook.com/simonsplacecafe

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21 Harcourt Rd, Dublin 2 t: 01 405 4890 w: facebook.com/BirdcageBakery

TOTALLYCAFÉ

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Gourmet Coffee

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Filter Coffee

• • Tea

Wifi

• • Treats

Lunch

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Dinner

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Outdoor Area

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Wheelchair access

Mexico K Chido

Base Coffee

With their funky vintage Citroen HY and friendly staff Mexico K Chido serve up delicious, authentic Mexican street food in an unconventional location! Parked in the entrance of Fegans Foodservice warehouse, K Chido creates a comfy (heated!) space with cushioned upcycled pallet furniture. Gustavo’s home-made marinades and salsas make it truly Mexican, firing out traditional classics such as pulled pork tacos, nachos and tortas weekdays, and transforming into a Mexican Bruncheria on weekends, offering a chilled atmosphere with your huevos rancheros. Freshly ground Ariosa coffee rounds off a perfect café experience. Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat & Sun 11am-6pm

Base has won over the coffee lovers of Ballsbridge.

With their House Blend and rotational Single Origin, there’s always something new to try here. They use the very best coffee sourced internationally from Dublin roasters 3fe. You can also grab a Base signature wood fired sandwich or salad or cake from Dublin micro bakery, Wildflour to make it the perfect working lunch hour.

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Head barista - Kieran O’Driscoll 18 Merrion Road, Ballsbridge t: 01 440 5100 @basewfp

18 Chancery St, Dublin 7 Email: kchidomexico@gmail.com @kchidomexico Facebook: Mexico K Chido

Hansel & Gretel Bakery & Patisserie From Trinity College to Baggot Street you’ll notice breadcrumb trails leading to Hansel and Gretel Bakery on Clare Street. Located just beside the National Gallery, this little bakery is the perfect spot to grab something to enjoy in Merrion Square. The freshly baked pastries (especially the almond croissants) and coffee from Ariosa make a great combo to start the morning, especially with the local office crowd. Everything is handmade from scratch with the ingredients sourced from small local producers, from their breads to their pastries to their delicious cakes.

20 Clare Street, Dublin 2 w: facebook.com/HanselandGretelBakeryPatisserie t: 01-5547292

Doughboys

SPILL THE BEANS DIEGO NEGRISOLO AT THE BIRDCAGE How long has the Birdcage been open and how did it get started?

The Birdcage has been open for one and a half years, but before moving into retail, myself and my business partner, Maurizio – he’s the pastry chef behind the operation – we were both working in Dublin and decided to go out on our own and open up Opera Patisserie, which is the wholesale side which started three years ago.

I moved to Dublin 10 years ago and I wanted to set up as a graphic designer but then food drew me back! I find it a challenging world, but creativity gets applied three-dimensionally.

You’re working with colours, with displays and with flavours as well.

Can you tell me about the pastries that you do.

Everything we bake is baked from scratch, we don’t use any powders or any enzymes. It’s pretty focused at Birdcage, and in our bakery, on the sweet side of things. We’re both Italians, but we didn’t want to limit our baking to just the Italian traditions, so being in Ireland, we traced back a few recipes from here, we also look at the French baking, and then of course, we’re Italian, so that influence comes out eventually!

Tell us about the difference between the wholesale and retail sides of it.

For the wholesale side, the company is called Opera Patisserie. It’s from the name of a cake that we both like very much. The word also means something like ‘work’, but also ‘masterpiece’ – like the work of a lifetime. So when we

finally moved into the retail side, to open a café, we wanted something a little bit more informal, and also to play around a little with the things that it might have been difficult to sell through the wholesale side.

And what other food do you do?

We do sandwiches, we do calzoni – we tried to come up with some ideas for lunches that were quick and nice. A calzone is a folded pizza, that comes out of the oven piping hot and it gets brushed with extra virgin olive oil and it gets moist, it’s beautiful! It’s not messy, it’s perfect for lunch. We also bake ciabatta bread, but we wanted to go a little bit different on the fillings, so we do a meatball sandwich with sautéed leeks and mozzarella, one with a Toulouse sausage with goat’s cheese. We also make soups and salads on the side. The competition when we moved in was very tough, it’s a very busy area and the quality is most of the time outstanding. But nonetheless, we knew that we could match that quality and in a way we’ve found our niche.

Can you tell me about the coffee, is it the traditional, darker Italian style?

Not at all! We came in contact three years ago with Brian Kenny who runs the Kiosk in Ballsbridge and inside the kiosk he has a roastery called Silverskin Coffee Roasters and he’s roasting very, very good coffee. I would go to him every day nearly, and every time there was a new single-origin espresso, he basically taught me about it and how to drink coffee. So

A well-made sandwich is a wonderful thing and not easy to find, unless you’re talking about Doughboys.

This bustling counter-service sandwich and coffee shop serves up delicious breakfast, lunch and coffee.

All sandwiches are made fresh in-house with popular favourites such as meatball marinara and porchetta on the menu. There's Cloud Picker Coffee to fill your cup in the morning and freshly made lemonades at lunchtime. And not to forget their brekkie sandwiches – with smoked streaky bacon or breakfast sausage, poached egg and American cheese on a Arun brioche bun – a fine way to start the day!

Charlotte Way, Dublin 2 t: 01-4022000 w: fb.com/DoughboysDublin Twitter: @DoughboysDublin

The Punnet Food Emporium

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The Punnet is a health food shop that offers customers a comprehensive range of healthy lunches, snacks and products difficult to find anywhere else nationwide – and if they don't have what you’re looking for, simply ask and they will find it for you! The Punnet's range of detox programs are also second to none, with 3/5 day fruit and veg or veg only juice cleanses and 5 day salad plans that take care of your food concerns for the week while all the nutrients and goodness take care of you.

The Punnet is the only place in Ireland to offer such a service dedicating itself to fresh, quality food and juices and rich flavourful coffee including the 'Bulletproof'.

94/95 Lower Mount Street pfedublin@gmail.com www.thepunnet.ie @punnethealth

Berlin D2

•••••••• Located at the back of the Powerscourt Town House, Berlin D2 is a new cafe that is saying a big “Hallo” to Dublin’s city centre since it opened earlier this year. Serving Ariosa coffee, Berlin D2 has a relaxed vibe in the style of the city from which it takes its name. Also on the menu are a selection of sweet treats, and a some accoutrements straight out of the German capital: a DJ booth playing crisp electronica, Sunday markets, morning yoga classes, ping-pong competitions and an fledgling bookshop with art and photography books and magazines. Recently they’ve added a beer license (serving predominantly German beers) with Fischers Helles and Guinness on draft as well as an evening menu with schnitzel, bratwurst and marinated chicken.

Coppinger Row, Dublin 2 fb.com/homeofthebear t: 01 6779352

Cafe @indigoandcloth

•••••• we leave the sugar out, this is not the bitter side of the Italian roasting, this is purer, and I fell in love with it. He supplies us with a blend which is very well balanced, and also a single-origin on a monthly basis, which obviously depends on the seasons on the beans.

Is there anything new coming up?

We have a €3 deal on any coffee and any pastry in the morning, because it’s a bit easier for us because we bake all the pastries ourselves.

The Birdcage, 21 Harcourt Road, Dublin 2 www. facebook.com/BirdcageBakery

The newly opened Cafe is a collaboration with our good friends Clement & Pekoe. It sits on our ground floor and has seating for 6 to 8 people. You can grab a perch in the window or at the larger community table, enjoy the surrounds or grab something to read.

Serving Climpson & Sons beans as our House Blend, choose from an ever changing filter menu, loose tea and some delicious cakes too. We hope you like it as much as we do. Open Mon–Sat 10am–6pm & Sun 12 – 5pm 9 Essex St East, Dublin 2 www.indigoandcloth.com/cafe www.clementandpekoe.com @indigoandcloth t: 01 670 6403

Café Gray

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The Bretzel Bakery

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Busy Bean Cafe

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Minetta

Café Gray opened its second outlet on Dawson Street and is attracting a lot of interest. Owned by Robert Gray, it serves legendary 3fe coffee, loose leaf teas from Clement & Pekoe as well as cold pressed juice from Sprout Food for non-coffee drinkers. Their food offering is based on the best Irish artisan producers and the sandwiches, soup and salad are some of the best in town and the prices are very keen compared to the chains. Go before the crowds do!

A Dublin institution according to some, The Bretzel Bakery first began baking in Lennox Street in Portobello in 1870. It has recently expanded to include a café, offering not only freshly baked, hand-made bread, buns, cakes and confectionary, but a range of freshly made sandwiches and bagels on its signature loaves, not to mention they’ve a good strong cup of coffee or freshly brewed tea. With warm and inviting decor and friendly staff, the café is well worth a visit to beautiful Portobello – even if it has been a long time coming! Mon-Fri 8am6pm, Sat/Sun 9am-4pm

Located on Molesworth Street, Busy Bean Café is a very welcoming home from home. Amongst the favourites on offer is an array of fresh baked scones and breads, homemade soups, daily carvery sandwiches, pasta dishes, salads and a plethora of gourmet signature sandwiches. Simply put, their philosophy is to serve real food and real coffee at a real price where you will always be made welcome. Busy Bean Cafe also offers catering for offices and events. Open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm and Sat 9am-5pm.

This is no ordinary deli. Despite its size, it serves up the best handmade Italian style pizza, pressed sourdough sandwiches, wholefood salads, take-home meals and deli pots for miles. The two sisters make everything in-house daily, with a few well-considered exceptions from chosen suppliers: Tartine sourdoughs, Sprout cold-pressed juices, Nick’s Coffee’s espresso blend, and treats from Bakelicious. Their signature ‘pressed sandwich’ is Doran’s Devilled Crab with Gruyère – it must be sampled to be believed! Currently a daytime haunt for the growing numbers of Minetta junkies, but soon opening 3 nights a week from the beginning of June for pizza and BYOB.

63 Dawson St. FB @cafegraydublin @cafegraydublin

1A Lennox Street, Portobello, D8 t: 01-4759445 w: fb.com/the-bretzel-bakery

37 Molesworth St, Dublin 2 t: 01-6789793 w: facebook.com/BusyBeanCafe

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1 Sutton Cross, Sutton, D13 t: 01-8396344 w: www.minetta.ie Twitter: @minettadeli

Wall & Keogh Tea Lounge

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KC Peaches

Grove Road Café

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Science Gallery Café

Wall and Keogh is the original. It’s the tea company that made loose leaf tea important again, with a location to enjoy your cuppa in that compares to no other. They have a full café attached and all the baked goods are homemade. Just go see for yourself, it’s wholesale & retail tea of the highest grade.

A New York-style loft newly established on Dame Street, KC Peaches is the ultimate hangout for tourists, students and working professionals. Serving natural, wholesomely enhanced all-day dining options, you leave the cafe feeling truly nourished by nature. Unlike anywhere else in Dublin, their hot and cold buffet options are delicious, convenient and affordable. With everything priced per plate size you can pile high on that wholesome goodness but make sure to leave room for their famous cheesecake brownie. The philosophy is simple: ‘Eat well, live well.’ Mon 8am-8pm, Tue-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 11am-6pm

Grove Road is the latest addition to the flourishing Dublin speciality café scene and is apparently the new place to be seen in Dublin 6! It boasts a bright and inviting space with a rugged yet contemporary interior, and sweeping panoramic views of the canal. At Grove Road they are very proud of many things: their consistently great coffee which is supplied by Roasted Brown in Temple Bar and their fresh delicious food and treats to name but a couple. It has also been said that they have the friendliest staff the city has to offer!

Mon-Fri 7.30am-6pm. Brunch Sat 9am-4pm.

Set in the super-cool surroundings of Science Gallery, Science Gallery Café is one of the city’s most interesting meeting places. This bright, contemporary space is home to an enthusiastic team serving up fresh food and great coffee. In fact, café owner Peter is so passionate about coffee that he decided to roast his own, and Science Gallery became the first place in Dublin to serve the amazing Cloud Picker Coffee, handroasted here in Dublin City Centre. You can also choose from a great menu that includes everything from Peter’s Mum’s Beef Goulash Stew to the student takeaway soup-sambo-fruit combo deals (for only €5!)

45 Richmond Street South, Portobello, Dublin 6 t: 01-4759052 @wallandkeoghtea

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54 Dame St., D2 t: 01-6455307 @kcpeaches

LATTÉ ART WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Dave Regan, barista at Vice Coffee Inc. in the Twisted Pepper on Abbey Street is competing this month, representing Ireland at the World Latte Art Championships in in Gothenberg, Sweden on June 16th to 18th, with about 40 other international baristas

the bud of the flower, the free-pours would be the blossom, and the design lattes would be the full bloom. They correlate with each other, and each one would open up more in the cup. They liked the idea of it so we’re keeping the concept and making it more complex for the Worlds.

What is latte art and what difference does it make when I pick up a cup of coffee?

I think latte art shows that the barista cares, and it’s a nice way of crowning off a drink. Once the milk is steamed properly, there should be latte art – it shows that process has been done correctly.

Do you have a chance of winning?

Hopefully a really good chance. We scored really well here for the finals and have got some good feedback from people around here. A friend of mine from Spain, who came third in the Worlds, I’ve been training with him too, so hopefully it all pays off!

Does it alter the taste?

No, it doesn’t alter the taste but good milk texture will enable you to do good latte art. It depends on how much the milk and coffee are combined. You’ll see some baristas who’ll just pour blobs of milk on top of the coffee, and that will alter the taste. But the way that we do it at Vice, we incorporate the whole thing and it’s nice and simple latte art.

How much training goes into it, given that you’re representing Ireland?

It’s a lot of training – it’s five nights a week! Niall Wynn from Coffee Angel is helping me out with it, he’s coaching me. It’s good to have him, he’s definitely pushing me to do more. We’re trying to up the level again from what we did before at qualifying, so higher points, cleaner designs, more detailed, and adding more to the cup.

Is there a specific design that you’re using?

What we did for the finals was the lifecycle of a Birds of Paradise flower. You have to do two macchiatos, two free-pour lattes and two designer lattes. The macchiatos would be at

1 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6 www.groveroadcafe.ie t: (01) 5446639 @GroveRoadCafe

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PRINT words Ruairí Casey Eoin Tierney Mònica Tomàs

Words Without Music: A Memoir Philip Glass [Faber and Faber]

God Help the Child Toni Morrison [Knopf]

In her first novel, 1970’s The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison explores the maelstrom of societal forces that converge in a father’s rape of his own child. She returns to the subject of child abuse in God Help the Child, in which such cruelty seems to hide around every corner – in playgrounds, sunny afternoons, and even the alley behind one’s home. The far-reaching tendrils of abuse, subtle and pernicious, cause Morrison’s characters to be suspended in perpetual childishness. This is perhaps most manifest in the character of Bride, an arrestingly beautiful businesswoman whose ‘blue-black’ skin earned her perpetual coldness from her lighter-skinned mother, Sweetness. As a child, Bride misbehaves with hopes of receiving a slap or any other morsel of her mother’s touch; as an adult, she resorts to shallow relationships and casual sex for approval. When she meets Booker the tide seems to change – but only until his abandonment has her turning back into ‘a scared little black girl’, embodying, in her transformation, Sweetness’ admonition that ‘what you do to children matters’.

Bride’s gradual regression to a pre-pubescent body is one of several quasi-fantastical plot elements, the rest of which can be rather literally heavy-handed. The structural and symbolic violence of Bride’s world is physically enacted against her: her face is bashed in by a vengeful parolee, her leg is broken, and her skin scarred and bruised and stripped away. Coupled with the novel’s full dose of rape, murder, and freak accidents (fires, car crashes), the story can read somewhat like a soap opera at times. However, it is precisely Morrison’s willingness to tread the unstable territories of prolonged tragedy that sets her apart.

Her unflinching exploration of what happens to a spirit beaten down from childhood by the heinous forces of racism and violence, couched in the beautifully evocative language she is known for, makes this continuum of calamities a compelling, and oddly uplifting, read. MT

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Words Without Music follows Glass from a childhood in Baltimore to travels around India and Tibet, washing up in New York, where Glass held down any number of jobs, being unable to compose full-time until he was 41. Music students will get a lot out of Words, with descriptions of how Glass mastered counterpoint in Paris, pushed minimalism to breaking point in Music in Twelve Parts, and grappled with his first opera in Einstein on the Beach. But the memoir borrows too much from Glass’s minimalist style by omitting large chunks of biography. Glass’s famous rift with rival composer Steve Reich is left out, and his two ex-wives and last two kids get nary a mention. Perhaps this reflects Glass’ single-mindedness in art at the expense of the personal.

Words is no substitute for Glass’ grand symphonic works, which in their mantra-like use of repetition, achieve a kind of transcendental state in the listener that must be in line with the meditation Glass himself practices.

As the title suggests, Glass is someone who keenly feels the limitations of words, counting Beckett and Ginsberg among past collaborators. Maybe this is why the book comes packaged with a disc of Glass’ Etudes. ET

Times Ages in a Hurry Antonio Tabucchi [Archipelago Books]

If the past is a foreign country, then the present must be equally different for those unsuited to it. In Time Ages in a Hurry, the late Italian author Antonio Tabucchi presents us with nine stories of characters who have survived the tumults of 20th century Europe, only to find themselves lost in the present.

‘Between Generals’ follows a Hungarian soldier who spends decades imprisoned for opposing the Soviet Union’s 1956 occupation and finds himself playing chess in a Manhattan McDonald’s; while in ‘The Dead at the Table’, a former intelligence agent tracks an imaginary target, but is unable to navigate the tourist-thronged Berlin by himself.

For Tabucchi, ideals age poorly. They are made redundant or simply forgotten. The retired soldier of ‘Clouds’ urges a young girl to be careful about ideals, and spends his time interpreting the caprices of cloud formations on the sea’s horizon. Like the breaking clouds, Tabucchi’s style is fluid and airy.

Dialogue, narrative and dream all interweave as characters glide between memory and reality. These casualties of changing ideas, politics and geography cling to what remains fixed – to the dead, nature and their equally lost contemporaries. Contemplative and without affection, these stories would be well accompanied by a wistful gaze out a window – an enjoyable memento mori on a warm summer day which will soon fade into all the others. RC

PRINT words Gill Moore Aisling O’Gara Anna-Grace Scullion

A Decent Ride Irvine Welsh [Jonathan Cape]

The Nearest Thing to Life James Wood [Jonathan Cape]

The celebrated literary critic James Wood has written a short book celebrating literature and criticism. This fact is perhaps unsurprising, and indeed much of the content is unsurprising to those familiar with Wood’s work. The Nearest Thing to Life meanders eloquently through Wood’s personal connection with the written word, refracted through memories of his religious boarding school childhood and his literary and critical growth and influences. Wood’s classical, liberal humanist approach prevails throughout. His references are wide-ranging but generally canonical, and his approach is unabashedly – occasionally oldfashionedly – Modernist in its mystical invocations of literary communion and divine power. There is little here to truly rouse, rile or otherwise provoke a reader, and at times the work seems tame in comparison to Wood’s sharp essay treatments of specific literary figures, works or movements.

And yet, the book charms. Rather than dazzling with novelty, Wood scrutinises devastatingly simple ideas. He does the work of the novelist in making his reader examine these concepts anew through gorgeously accomplished, apt language. For instance, the importance of true-seeming detail in fiction – Henry James’ solidity of specification, Erich Auerbach’s mimesis – is wound into a compelling theory of ‘serious noticing’ peppered with striking evocations and examples of those ‘bits of life sticking out of the frieze of form’. Wood also extends these concepts to new contexts. The final section of this book constitutes a truly earnest attempt to understand literary spectrums of privilege and exclusion from the perspective of a man deeply invested in the literary canon, but also in exploring new and international writing.

This may be because Wood understands what is at stake in our choices around the written word. Perhaps the book’s most obvious yet resonant thesis is simply the following: ‘It seemed’, to the young Wood, ‘that literary evaluation… could not be separated from the general messiness of being alive’. GM

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The issue with reviewing Bukowski-ish novels of this kind is that things can quickly devolve into identity politics whereby any negative sentiment on the part of the reviewer is deemed due to being middle class/female/snobbish/prudish, etc. And indeed the publisher’s copy clarifies that, although ‘misogynist’, the central character is ‘oddly [...] decent’ – a kind of proleptic self-awareness which will defang the aforementioned variety of detractors.

In any case, perhaps due to my identity and perhaps due to a range of factors enumerated below, I thought A Decent Ride was generally crap.

To begin with, Welsh is an incredibly repetitive writer. The oddly decent character has corkscrew curls which are mentioned almost as frequently as female genitalia, although admittedly in less colourful terms. His characters’ monomaniacal focus on their respective interests – usually sex, booze, drugs; frequently a combination thereof – reads like a lad mag-turnedfiction. There is also the Scottish phoneticisation (‘Ah’m back tae Gorgie n check in at The Pub Wi Nae Name’), which I personally find irritating beyond all measure. Add to this the constant and smug commentary on the Scottish national character, which pontification is deeply uninteresting to a non-Scot, and possibly indeed to other Scots, and you have a book which is essentially just more of the same Trainspotting material, plus 20 years of age and minus 20 years of relevancy. AOG

Pond Claire-Louise Bennett [The Stinging Fly]

Pond is a defiant book. It is ostensibly a collection of short stories, with a strong but intangible sense of unity throughout; yet it is impossible to pin down any kind of linear plot or setting. It could almost be read as a novel, with longer pieces interspersed with short, poetic fragments, but the gaps in Pond are perhaps its most important feature.

The central character of the stories is an eccentric, semi-reclusive, elegant woman, who is starkly aware of her lack of roots. She rents a cottage converted from an outhouse, leaves her windows and doors open, and enjoys the image of dirt beneath her fingernails as an indication that she grows things. She knows she has no sense of belonging to where she lives, coupled with minimal awareness, and possibly a fear, of the goings-on beyond her immediate environment. At the same time, she meditates at length on blurry memories, relationships and objects of interest. She is an unusually unreliable but equally intriguing narrator, softened and lit up by Bennett’s supremely skilful prose.

In the fashion of Jean Rhys and Maeve Brennan, Bennett has a keen eye for beauty in the midst of loneliness, and there is incredible beauty here. AGS

ARTSDESK words Aidan Wall

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Polythene, Paint, and Plastic Plant Life In her first solo show on Irish soil, Karla Black brings her nimble style of on-site installation work to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Karla Black focuses on translating studio-based material experiments into site-specific, gallerybased installations. The Scottish artist’s sculptural practice, for which she received a Turner Prize nomination in 2011, is concerned with the basic physicality of materials: from standard artmaking supplies such as pigment and plaster to cosmetic items like lip-liner and concealer. Her practice involves an iterative process of personally installing, adapting, and re-working sculptures in the gallery space itself, which in this case spans a long corridor and four connected rooms in IMMA’s South East Wing galleries.

Black’s work – ranging from plaster-cast tree trunks to polythene wraiths – is convincingly made, but the awkward curatorial decisions made regarding its installation ultimately lead to an underwhelming experience overall.

Prospects, a new work consisting of the aforementioned plaster-cast tree trunks erected one metre apart in a long cuboid row of soil is installed in the corridor. Sprouting out of this geometric earth, the 20 plaster columns each feature a cellophane canopy. The piece is made using pencil, lip liner, eyeliner pencil, and concealer, though the most prominent aspect of the work is its unreserved use of loosely applied spray-paint. Painted patches of colour lie sporadically along the soil’s surface; the bumps and crevices of the mud and pebbles become more flattened out by these spray-painted segments.

Resembling small plots of grass and flowers, the colours resemble a videogame texture map laid across this polygonal slab of dirt, as though it had been generated into the museum as one would a row of blocks in Minecraft.

Black uses an array of pale hues in the painted plaster tree trunks and canopies. Sky blue, faint yellow, olive green, and pink rows of spraypaint line each stump. The clustered splatterings of paint run along the trunks and up into the surrounding cellophane canopies, each connected by vine-like reams of clear sellotape.

The interesting aspects of the work – its materials and construction – are compromised by its cramped installation in the corridor of IMMA’s South East Wing. In a situation where the slightest brushing past would cause a shockwave of rustling cellophane, the audience is imposed upon by the fragility and closeness of the work, yet it feels less like a considered decision made by the curator or the artist, but instead an unfortunate side effect of the limited space it was installed in. It is hard to

get a proper impression of the work as it exists in these tight surroundings. In contrast to the room-based works which function quite well as a series in succession, Prospects is difficult to comprehend due to its inadequate and awkward positioning.

Sidestepping Prospects leads you into a connected series of four rooms. The first room holds Likeness, a sculptural installation made from a polythene sheet, powder paint, plaster powder and thread. In Likeness, Black begins to introduce the subtle vocabulary of her materialbased sculptural interventions. Covered in a near invisible powder residue like a used dustcover, the polythene sheet’s form is dictated by the threads suspending it in place; parts of the sheet are tied into knotty clumps.

In the second room To Hand builds upon these ideas, introducing new colours and more complex forms of knotting into a similarly levitated polythene sheet sculpture. The first glints of colour emerge in some attached sleeves of polythene that are tied onto the larger sheet like bunting; the subdued reds, greens, yellows, and violets hum faintly in unison. In the eerie ambience of the gallery’s murmuring airconditioning system, the piece hangs desolately at the centre of the room; it stirs only in the air displaced by my approach.

Being the smallest of the three polythene apparitions, Until’s structure is bodily, like some ominous levitating abdomen. Its centrally located knots are clotted up, while the overlapping material intertwines intestinally. Like the works in the preceding rooms, Until is also hung at eye level, but is less strictly aligned with the room’s centre (a subtle change which is surprisingly affecting). Perhaps the most worked piece in the show, its forms and shapes are intricate, but there is an underlying simplicity to Black’s incomprehensible method of binding and reattaching. The cluttered shapes in Until appear puzzling in a playful way like the absentminded clusters of knots you tie when you know you won’t need to undo them.

In contrast with Black’s purely abstract polythene works in the preceding rooms, the fourth room offers three hung objects which each resemble cheerful groups of cloud against a blue sky, interspersed by flesh coloured globs.

Additional, Missed Window, and Fed are all

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Opposite: Karla Black, Installation view, Until, 2015, polythene, powder paint, plaster powder, thread, 64 x 55 x 44 cm. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne. ©Karla Black, Photo: ©Denis Mortell.

Above: Karla Black, Installation view, To Hand, 2015, polythene, powder paint, plaster powder, thread, 125 x 74 x 40 cm. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne. ©Karla Black, Photo: ©Denis Mortell.

made from two connected pieces of sugar paper stuffed with cotton and painted with oil and body paints. Hanging from the ceiling by thin arms of glistening ribbon, each haphazardly constructed cloud-bag bursts at the seams with bulging cotton that spills out and around the edges. Though these light-hearted works are full of character they are tonally awkward in the context of the show. Elsewhere in the show there is playful work, but it is a form of playfulness that stems from the objects’ making; this contrasts with the outwardly bright and fluffy pieces in the fourth room which are playful in their blue-sky representations, but not in their physical making.

The installation of Black’s work in the south east wing of IMMA is peculiar. The work installed in each room appears to function sequentially (as well as in reverse order due to the single entrance/exit), yet the viewer is required to step past the hallway work in order to access it. The coherence of the room’s installations are undermined by the ill-fitted nature of Prospects in the parallel corridor. As Black’s first solo show in Ireland, it’s worth seeing, but her experimental site-specific practice relies on well-suited surrounds, and the space provided in IMMA’s South East Wing is not the most ideal space for this kind of work.

GAMES words Leo Devlin Aidan Wall

LIKE A Ridley

BOSS

Metroid series – Various platforms

A perennial player over the last 30-odd years of Metroid games, Ridley has maybe the greatest claim on being protagonist Samus Aran’s archnemesis. Despite the lizardly appearance and fire-breathing attacks, his dastardly motivations seem more complex than you may expect from a ten foot high monster. Indeed, evil as he may be, all through Samus’ exceedingly lonely adventures, he might just be the closest thing she has to a true friend. Aww, come in for a big, sharp hug.

Montage of Hex Catan

Kosmos games

What does it take for a game to become an all-time favourite?

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, The Settlers of Catan (recently rebranded, for whatever reason, as simply Catan) has broken free from the relative niche of designer board games and seemingly rises in popularity with each passing year. ‘Why?’ is the most obvious question. It’s not particularly cheap, at least in comparison to a chess or Scrabble set. And, while no Twilight Imperium, it’s considerably more complex than the likes of Uno. Maybe it’s all just the result of a lucky dice roll.

Whatever the reason, Catan’s crossover appeal is now firmly entrenched, even as it still provides casual players with a frisson of pure geekery every time it’s pulled out. Certainly, one facet of its enduring ability to engage is its surprising open-endedness.

The narrative of the game centres around the expansion of players’ settlements, but the route to victory can be found off the path of pure construction.

Players can certainly choose to treat Catan as a sort of areacontrol game, spreading the tendrils of their budding colony as far as possible in an effort to hoover up ever more natural resources, snowballing their expansionist capabilities. But less conflict-oriented players can, especially in games with fewer participants, treat it as a sort of competitive solitaire experience, avoiding encroachment into others’ territory, opening up trade ports that let them take advantage of a monopoly on lumber or wool. Still other players can turn the dining-room table into a trading floor, with offers and counter-offers for rarer goods dictating the course of the game. And this is all to ignore the myriad expansion sets there are for the game, bringing in city building and archipelagos of settlements, among other things.

The interoperability of these rules and tactics, chopping and changing as circumstances necessitate, certainly helps to keep games pacy, especially as the running time starts to rival a languid Monopoly session. Maybe it’s this blank-slate nature that keeps Catan going strong. Like the titular island, it’s sort of an untouched landscape (the awkwardly native-seeming robber character that roams the island aside) that lets each player bring a piece of themselves into the game. Of course, this only makes it all the more galling when your mum crushes your meticulously developed economy into the ground. LD

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Axiom Verge Playstation 4, PC

When Axiom Verge first boots up, you might need to double check what’s between your palms to ensure you’re not holding a Super Nintendo controller. In the context of an overpopulated indie-game sphere that increasingly relies on nostalgia driven aesthetics, the excellent quality of the 16-bit music and tightly drawn pixel art is immediately reassuring: this is going to be much more than a simple throwback.

Axiom Verge goes all-in with its channelling of ’90s gaming, to the extent that some of the dialogue seems purposely mistranslated, as many Japanese games ended up being upon reaching Western shores. This witty decision goes far beyond the usual level of consideration afforded by modern games borrowing this style.

In the grand tradition of Metroid and Castlevania, Axiom Verge is a two-dimensional platformer which centres on boss encounters and

gated exploration. Unlocking new equipment gives you the opportunity to access new areas which were originally out of reach. While being well versed in its source material, Axiom Verge succeeds at subverting most of the mechanics a seasoned Metroid fan might expect.

Considering that such subversion and mastery of the Metroidvania style hasn’t happened since Daisuke Amaya solely developed the 2004 classic Cave Story, it’s fitting that Axiom Verge is similarly the creation of one individual. In Axiom Verge, developer Tom Happ has made a reassuringly familiar yet often surprising work which stands confidently in the genre’s lineage. It is a healthy reminder that games of this kind are still fun and compelling; if you’re feeling a bad taste in your mouth from Konami’s recent 3D Castlevania exploits, let Axiom Verge act as a glorious mouthwash. AW

FILM REVIEWS words Luke Maxwell Stephen McCabe Oisín Murphy-Hall

Tomorrowland Director: Brad Bird Talent: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie, Raffey Cassidy Release Date: 22nd May Tomorrowland is a parallel dimension that was created at the beginning of the 20th century so that humanity’s intellectual elite could be given the freedom to pursue their visions without the restraints imposed on them by quotidian existence. In the mean time, their invention of a future-predicting probability machine seems to have made the apocalypse of the real world an inevitability, insofar as people are given to submit credulously to its readings.

However, when Casey (Robertson) defies humankind’s form, asking instead ‘How can we fix it?’, all certainty is thrown into doubt. Will the evil Nix (Laurie) relinquish his control over Tomorrowland, and thus the future of the real world for which he feels only contempt?

At its best, the film preaches, Al Gore-like, a wishy-washy, pragmatic, entrepreneurial, sleeves-rolled-up reformism as a solution to the the world’s problems, cloaking its conservatism in the language of dreams and hope rather than with sincerity as their material opposite. This has always been Disney’s ideological project; in Tomorrowland it just stinks more strongly than before. At its worst, it eventually reasserts as utopia the conditions it had initially set up as evil. The problem, it turns out, is not the existence of a parallel fascist dimension that excludes based on reactionary notions of worth and use-function, but rather the way in which Nix had been running it: that is, without a smile and a can-do attitude.

In the film’s happy ending, Tomorrowland is not destroyed, and the barrier between it and the real world remains exclusionary as before, open only to those plucky children willing to dream the stultified dreams of the ruling class, selected from above. Ultimately and crucially, however, Brad Bird struggles to make the fantasy appealing on any level. Tomorrowland is nostalgic for the World’s Fair, American entrepreneurialism and NASA’s Space Program.

It is a vision of the future that looks backwards to the worst of the detritus of its past, one that is difficult to share. OMH

San Andreas Director: Brad Peyton Talent: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Paul Giamatti Release Date: 28th May Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is ace fire department helicopter pilot Ray. When massive earthquakes rock the California coastline, Ray goes above and beyond the call of duty to save those closest to him: his ex-wife Emma and daughter Blake.

San Andreas won’t win any screenwriting awards but the family drama at the centre of this disaster film is resonant enough to prop up its flimsy spectacle. It’s surprising when a film that sees so many buildings collapse and has the earth opening up to swallow people and cities whole fails to excite or terrify. At the end of the film survivors look out at the Golden Gate Bridge, an American flag blows in the wind, the music swells and we hear talk of rebuilding. The only people we truly feel for are the CG artists and model-makers who’ll have to replicate San Francisco again for this time next year when The Rock saves it from a swarm of maneating bees. LM

The Tribe

Man Up

Director: Miroslav Slaboshpitsky Talent: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich Release Date: 15th May

Director: Ben Palmer Talent: Lake Bell, Simon Pegg, Ophelia Lovibond, Rory Kinnear Release Date: 29th May

Set in a bleak, run-down institutional school, The Tribe sees its adolescent students engage in prostitution, burglary, ultra-violence and extortion to make a quick buck, inside and out of the confines of its walls. It’s the sort of film that, for its amorality and graphic content, will be eagerly watched and passed around by hormonal teenagers in the real world, in the vein of an Irréversible or Aftermath. It’s also entirely in sign language, without any subtitles.

For the sign language illiterate, the experience is engrossing. You have to work out what’s going on in any given scene through observation, context and deduction, a process as natural as it is rewarding. Everything takes place against a backdrop of eerie silence, without any musical soundtrack, as the humming of lights, clanking of pipes and whirring of engines creates a banal but somehow heightened sense of foreboding. An unusual and often quite disturbing film. OMH

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Hanging a romantic comedy around the weird and nebbish figure of Simon Pegg was never going to be a good idea, but there’s still a significant population of sexually regressed bougie dullards living in townhouses in London (and people who want to be like them) with an appetite for sub-Richard Curtis ephemera, and someone had to star in this, so here we are. Man Up is, in fact, more centred around relatably klutzy and unlucky-in-love thirty-something Nancy (Bell) who, through a fortunate misunderstanding, ends up on the wrong blind date with Jack (Pegg), a motor-mouthed divorcé to whom she playfully maintains the pretence that she is someone else until realising that she actually has feelings for him. But can they be honest with one another? Neither Bell nor Pegg are magnetic onscreen presences, making it hard to care either way, while the narrative advances with the slow and predictable purpose of damp on drywall, or the creeping, aesthetically bankrupt gentrification that is the setting of this very English, very passable romance.OMH

Mad Max: Fury Road

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Director: George Miller Talent: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie HuntingtonWhiteley Release Date: 14th May

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour Talent: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marnò Release Date: 22nd May

A sun-beaten dystopia in which humanity has totally degenerated, culture has given way to barbarism and a physically grotesque upper class rule supreme, the 2015 Cannes Film Festival was the site of the official premiere of George Miller’s fourth Mad Max film after a hiatus of 30 years.

What’s changed with the franchise in the mean time? Not a great deal, in this Stagecoach-style, precious cargo-ferrying, action/chase sequenceas-film that will be familiar in particular to fans of Road Warrior, the second, best and perhaps only good instalment in the series. Gone is the B-movie, gonzo feel of the original three, replaced by a muddy, Riddick-esque, bad-aesthetics-writ-inIMAX sensibility that unfortunately works against its own presumably intended seediness. The posttraumatic flashback hallucinations Max (Hardy) suffers are clunky and misjudged, while the film’s vaunted feminism amounts to a disingenuous, G.I. Jane-brand fascism that suggests merely a more benevolent character to class oppression as a narrative solution to its patriarchal antagonists.

Joyless, committee-engineered and -mandated proletarian screen entertainment at its most cynical. OMH

“I was a cop searching for a righteous cause...”

– Mad Max himself. Radical, man!

After making a much deserved splash at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night finally reaches Irish shores. Billed as an Iranian romantic vampire western, writerdirector Ana Lily Amirpour has passionately created a film that is achingly cool but still has many layers buried within. Shot in stark black and white, Amirpour sets the film in the fictional town of Bad City, a ghost town where vampire the Girl (Vand) roams the streets at night, looking for blood and despicable men who are full of it. A key factor to Amirpour’s success with this film is in her use of music throughout. A scene between the Girl and potential love-interest Arash features White Lies’ song Death and beautifully uses it to express affection between the two. Amirpour has created a gorgeous fever dream of a film that will reward on repeated viewings. SMcC

The Connection (La French)

Top Five

Poltergeist

Director: Cédric Jimenez Talent: Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lelouche, Céline Sallette, Mélanie Doutey Release Date: 29th May

Director: Chris Rock Talent: Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Gabrielle Union, J.B. Smoove Release Date: 15th May

Director: Gil Kenan Talent: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, Jane Adams Release Date: 22nd May

Jean Dujardin plays Pierre Michel, an ambitious police magistrate with aims of taking down the notorious La French, a heroin-smuggling racket headed up by a M. Zampa (Lelouche), a man who looks extremely like him and whose influence, as Pierre learns, extends far beyond the local underworld. In many ways, and as the title suggests, this is the French side to the American story that was William Friedkin’s The French Connection. However, Jimenez’ film lacks the poise, cynicism, conviction and sensibilities both aesthetic and moral of the 1971 classic.

Extraneous narratives distract rather than illuminate, while the film’s emotional core – the family lives of the two men – is dealt with so cursorily as to completely bewilder when it kicks into full melodramatic gear in its final sequence. An unfortunate waste of a great soundtrack (Al Wilson’s The Snake is a particular highlight) and a wonderful wardrobe. OMH

Funnyman Andre Allen (Rock) ditches crowdpleasing comedy for slave rebellion documentaries, leaving fans and an inquisitive journalist (Dawson) to ask, ‘why?’

The temptation with a film like Top Five, that’s written by, directed by and starring Chris Rock, is to read a lot of Rock’s own life into the narrative.

His recent work in the Grown Ups franchise does strike a similar note to this film’s Hammy the Bear, but this is where the real world comparisons end.

Instead, the film is best viewed as a showcase of influences. We have the obvious Woody Allen homage in the title character and the not-quitebut-almost May-December relationship at the film’s core, while Spike Lee and Rock’s long-time friend and collaborator Louis C.K. also leaves an impression on the film’s style and dialogue.

Despite its lead character leaving laughter behind, Top Five is largely funny and sometimes hysterical, exploring fame in a way that is personal without feeling indulgent. Audiences can also look forward to Jerry Seinfeld making it rain in a strip club. LM

Sinister forces from beyond-the-grave haunt the Bowen family home in this reboot of the Poltergeist franchise.

The powers that be at Fox have taken a sensible approach in updating Poltergeist. There’s enough of the old film here to ease you into the new setting and characters, and enough fresh ideas to justify the new one’s existence as well. The best holdover from the original film is the tight focus on family melodrama: we see the parents Eric (Rockwell) and Amy (DeWitt) struggle with their three children (who have their own sets of problems) and we get a good sense of the love that binds this family, one which helps them overcome insurmountable and hellish odds.

Poltergeist does a fine job of imitating and augmenting its source material, avoiding the Rob Zombie pitfall of going full gorno and missing the point of what made the original film scary or enjoyable in the first place. LM

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SOUND words Cian McKiernan photo Sarah Doyle

The prodigies After receiving rave reviews for their EP, Show Your Teeth, and topping the Hype Machine charts with single To You, Cork duo Young Wonder are set to release their debut album, Birth, on local label Feel Good Lost. Totally Dublin caught up with one half of the band, producer Ian Ring, who told us about the upcoming album.

I was interested in the recording process yourself and Rachel [Koeman, the other half of Young Wonder] use. Do you make the beats and she writes the lyrics? Or how does it work?

We really worked on our songs a lot on this album and there was a lot more mixing work on it. The process was the same as we used with the EPs, but there was a lot more back and forth.

So I would come up with a demo beat and send it to Rachel and she would send it back, then I would send her some vocal ideas and we would keep going back and forth. Then when we had the song almost ready, I’d come in and give it some vocals and work on the song more. So it was a very back and forth thing, which I think is the way a lot of music is being made in the world today. Everything is shared over the internet because it’s so easy.

Rather than physically moving it back and forth.

Yeah, because some people are more creative in their own space. The second you’re told to sit down and write something that’s great right now, it becomes hard to do! So I think it’s good that you’re able to work that way because you can have your own space and think about what you really want to do with it.

You were saying you sent vocal tracks back and forth so obviously you both work on them but are the lyrics a joint effort as well?

Rachel writes 90% of the lyrics. I helped out with some of the lyrics on this album, like on St. Verena and Sweet Dreaming, and some of the singles I had worked on previously, but I usually just leave Rachel to do the lyrics because she has a certain style of writing.

Which I was going to comment on.

There are certainly some dark lyrics on the album, especially the single Sweet Dreaming (‘Break my bones for/I try and break my bones for you’) which are at odds with the music and melody which is quite joyful and uplifting.

That’s true and Sweet Dreaming is the most poppy song on the album. We like pop music, but there’s good pop music and bad pop music and we were just trying to create pop music that doesn’t sell out in a way. Like, I’m not just going to drop a big EDM crazy drop on it!

So it’s Young Wonder’s version of pop music?

Yeah we try to just stay true to our sound and the sounds that we use while creating a pop song because the main thing we didn’t want to do was scare off our fans from the EPs. I read an interview in which you said you came from a hip-hop background. How has that influenced you?

Well Stevie G, a Cork DJ, is one of my best friends and he put me on to a lot of hip-hop growing up, and I started making beats for some groups in the hip-hop scene. It was always a progression of learning because hip-hop is one of the more accessible ways to start making music because a lot of it is sample-based.

It’s really fun, and because I couldn’t write very well back then, it was just easy to sample some records and make something with them. That’s still with me, because if I’m ever stuck writing something that’s still where I would go. If I’m at the piano and I’m tearing my hair out over something, I’d go back and I’d sample something and build ideas around that and sometimes in the end the sample doesn’t even get used. I got that from the Neptunes, they used to do that.

They were huge for me growing up.

Is there any connection between your sound and growing up in Cork or are you completely separated from it?

I don’t know really. I mean what’s the Cork sound? Some people say we sound Icelandic or from the Netherlands. Rachel’s father is Dutch so she has a bit of that in her. But I wouldn’t think there’s a connection. I look more to ethnic sounds when I’m producing, a lot of Asian influences. I’d buy a lot of Asian records and would be influenced by that. Everyone thinks that sound on To You is an Irish bagpipe or something, but it’s an Indian instrument.

It’s funny because I’ve seen reviews in which your music is described as electronic dub-pop and electro-pop but you obviously take influences from various places.

How would you describe your music?

You know I had never even heard of electro-pop until somebody called us that! The one thing I do like is that people have all different names for it, because I think the best way to be is to have no genre of music, because you can get caught in a genre. You know, ‘These guys make house.

78

These guys make drum and bass’… I suppose our music is kind of poppy but I think it comes from a range of different influences. Me and Rachel don’t really listen to the same music at all.

Rachel grew up in choirs and I had my hip-hop, so we had different influences but we just seem to get on when we make music together.

What made you and Rachel decide to do the last track on the album, Táim Tuirseach, as gaeilge?

I’ll tell you honestly, Rachel came up with the idea and at the start I wasn’t sure of it. I didn’t think it would work right. We wanted the intro and the outro to be like a story on the album so it would start and end the same way. We wanted a bit of coherence to the album because we didn’t want any songs to be skippable. I’d rather people listen to the whole album rather than one big single. But anyway she was listening to sean nós singers and she laid a demo down and it sounded great, and we were thinking that we have such a beautiful heritage and our language is so nice and bands from other countries sing in their own languages. We should be proud of our heritage too and it’s a beautiful language. I did Irish in school and all that, but if my Irish teacher found out that out of all the people in our class I did a song in Irish she’d be very impressed!

So what’s next for Young Wonder? What are the plans for after the release of the album?

We’re writing already again. We’re going over to London next week and we’re working in the Red Bull Studios over there. We’re just interested to see how people take the album and how it gets received because we’ve found our sound. The EPs were just us testing and trying to find our sound but we feel like this album is ours. But you can never rest on your laurels. When you finish you have to keep working because the process is ongoing.

Young Wonder’s debut album, Birth, is out now from Feel Good Lost on limited edition white vinyl and digitally from youngwonder.me.

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AUDIO REVIEWS words Leo Devlin Daniel Gray Aidan Wall Danny Wilson

Warm Soda Symbolic Dream [Castle Face Records] Like a scene from a horror movie depicting a hand slowly edging towards a doorknob, you’ve seen it before, yet the thrill remains. There can be comfort in predictability, excitement in formula done right. Warm Soda are power poppers in the truest sense: crisp 4/4 drums remain almost unchanged throughout, guitar solos are telegraphed long in advance and it’s all immense fun. There are no left turns, but Warm Soda aren’t about maneuverability; to quote the lead single, they just wanna go fast. DW

Girlpool

Joanna Gruesome

Before the World Was Big [Wichita] Born of the once fertile LA weirdo scene surrounding DIY space The Smell, Girlpool have always traded in a singular, minimal sound comprising of guitar, bass and dual vocal harmony that is reminiscent of Beat Happening at their sparsest and most transcendent. On their debut full-length, Before the World Was Big, their approach has finally completed its gestation period. It delivers on the promise of their previous releases’ most striking moments and jettisons the duds that gave the impression of them being a better idea than band. In content, the record acts as pointedly modern meditation on indecision, loneliness and uncertainty about one’s own position in the world in spite of the didactic declarations on role and value we’re all subject to.

Peanut Butter [Slumberland Records] The kicker is that, despite their musical style, the harmony-obsessed musical approach consistently appeals to the value of togetherness. The sometimes morose, self-analytical, occasionally righteously indignant lyrical concerns are thoughtfully toyed with in their delivery. Each reference to the invariably troubled first person singular is delivered via two voices intertwined to make a sound exponentially more powerful than the sum of its parts. A genuinely moving, sing-a-long, treatise on the value of friendship. DW

The legacies of punk and twee pop’s best acts are most often untied knots. The frantic innovation of acts like Suburban Lawns, The Germs and Talulah Gosh propelled them beyond their capability to evolve in new directions. Thankfully, we have revisionist bands like Joanna Gruesome with pins out to stitch these threads together. Are JG irksome, precious and kinda basic? You know it. But there’s a vitality here that makes you want to badge their shitty band name onto your bomber jacket. DG

Like this? Try These: Beat Happening – You Turn Me On Heavens to Betsy – Calculated Diet Cig – Over Easy

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THE DRAWING STUDIO 20/05/2014 16:29

Mikal Cronin

Elvis Depressedly

Jenny Hval

MCIII [Merge Records]

New Alhambra [Orchid Tapes]

Apocalypse, Girl [Sacred Bones]

Definitely a talented constructor of melodic indie-rock, Mikal Cronin is nonetheless capable of smothering his own sound, when he clearly just wants to build it up. His experimentation with orchestral arrangements begins promisingly on Turn Around, but soon the tumult of strings, horns, bristling bass and soaring guitar solos suggests more is less, with clarity often sacrificed in the name of empty bombast. The aptly titled closer Circle does bring Cronin back to his (relatively) unadorned best – ramp-downs rarely feel so exhilarating. LD

‘Could you ease up on me?’ coos main man Matthew Lee Cothran. It’s a plea that appeals to knowingly brittle, jaded aesthetic of his work.

Fuller than previous outings, it still bears the sonic hallmarks of label Orchid Tapes, a deep seated, adolescent despair running through an outwardly sunny appearance. It’s the audio equivalent of a forced smile; well-meaning insincerity motivated by desire to not be burdensome. Lovely? Sure.

But perhaps making more noise would do Mr. Depressedly some good. DW

The title has it: this is end-of-the-world stuff. Not of the fire-and-brimstone variety, though. Hval’s apocalypse is mostly an interior one, though it does bleed out in fears over the commodification of sexuality. ‘I don’t think it’s about submission/It’s about holding and being held’, she sings, though she may mean ‘held’ more in the judicial sense of the word. While provocative, she still shows a pop sensibility. On standout That Battle is Over, you’ll find yourself toe-tapping along to the death rattle of human dignity. LD

Juan Wauters

Blanck Mass

Holly Herndon

Who Me? [Captured Tracks]

Dumb Flesh [Sacred Bones]

Platform [4AD]

Juan Wauters, much like his most pronounced influence, Jonathan Richman, trades in a brand of profound juvenilia. The title alone, signposts Wauters coy, ‘aw shucks’ persona, and each song wisps past in a sweetly oblivious, non-committal fashion, like Wauters would trot out these rough gems whether anyone was paying attention or not.

His goofball charm never undercuts the record’s sincere reflections though, it’s just waiting for those who are un-jaded enough to engage the requisite receptors. DW

Sensory neuropathy – the equivalent of blindness for the sense of touch – is so rare a phenomenon as to render it almost unimaginable. Dumb Flesh is, perhaps, a coming to terms with how that lived experience might be. Here, Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power grabs instinctually at broken wires and bent circuits with bare hands to create collages of neural white noise, some analgesic oblivion. Music to lose your synapses to. DG

Combining catchy hooks with collaged syllabic arrangements, Platform is built on the strong foundation of Herndon’s unique vocal style: partopera, part-Gregorian chant (and part-Enya).

Glistening above crisp hi-hats and subterranean bass, Herndon consistently manipulates her voice into melodies that switch between abstract composition and pop excellence at a moment’s notice.

Managing to sound both timeless and of the present, Herndon is confidently doing what all great artists attempt to do: look towards the future while being critically aware of the past. AW

YES, I DO !

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AUDIO REVIEWS words Tom Cahill Ian Lamont Cian McKiernan

Hot Chip Why Make Sense?

[Domino] You know that thing where the singer mentions an instrument in a song (say, ‘the guitar’) and then that instrument appears? On the second track here, Love Is The Future, Alexis Taylor not only does that but also calls to ‘roll off the high-end’ at which point a low-pass filter pull down across everything except Taylor’s vocal. Later on – in the same track – there’s an impromptu double bass solo and a rap verse from Posdnuos from De La Soul, before a Green Gartside string arrangement adorns the outro.

Elsewhere, Huarache Lights, another hook-laden mid-tempo jam, is sung from the point of view of the stage: ‘I know every single we play tonight/Will make the people bathe in the light’ before breaking down into a Kraftwerkian refrain ‘Replace us with the things that do the job better’. This switches from Taylor’s unprocessed vocals into a heavily-treated vocoderised version, teasing the human/machine and performative/automated dichotomy the band teeters between. As veterans, and successful ones at at that, Hot Chip make this all seem remarkably easy, and remarkably selfaware, with the key element, Taylor’s voice, balancing finely between detached and soulful.

The standards by which a veteran band’s albums are judged are generally miles different from a novice act, or a local act, such is the importance of novelty. To borrow classic rock terminology, where LCD Soundsystem went for a spectacular burn out, Hot Chip are going for a long fade away. Which is to say, Why Make Sense? fits so seamlessly into the Hot Chip canon that it seems likely that it won’t accrue the plaudits that this effortlessly excellent record deserves. IL Like this? Try these: Junior Boys - It’s All True Róisín Murphy - Hairless Toys Matthew Dear - Asa Breed

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Young Wonder Birth [Feel Good Lost] Young Wonder’s chopped drum beats, samples from far-flung influences and dream-like vocals make for a compelling sonic front. From the twinkling keys that signal the beginning of opener Salt of the Earth to the climax of the final track Táim Tuirseach, the Cork duo throw everything into a debut album that encompasses aspects of electro, pop and dub with some Asian traditional instrumentation thrown in for good measure. Amazingly, the vast majority of it sticks. CMcK

Ben Williams Coming of Age [Concord Jazz] Anybody who wins the Thelonius Monk Institute International Jazz Competition aged 24 deserves our attention. After touring with Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock, Ben Williams has now released his second record, aged 30. Already an experienced acoustic and electric bassist and composer, throw renowned trumpeter Christian Scott and vibraphonist Stefon Harris into the mix and you’ve got yourself a must-have record. What he does with Smells Like Teen Spirit is magical. So, whaddya waitin’ for?! TC

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listings Body&Soul Friday 19 - Sunday 21 June | Ballinlough Castle, Co. Meath | from ₏139.50 One of Ireland’s best festivals, Body&Soul mixes a top quality musical line-up, including Dan Deacon, Super Furry Animals, Flight Facilities, MMOTHS and Cloud Castle Lake with food, performance art and magical ephemera that will have you dancing night away in the forest or a walled garden or some magical tent on the longest days of the year. For more info and tickets, see www.bodyandsoul.ie

LIVE GIGS Thursday 4 June Alistair McKay (Dick Diver) + Cian Nugent & the Cosmos Bello Bar 8pm, €10 Hermitage Green Whelan’s 8pm, €17 Friday 5 June Wyvern Lingo Whelan’s 8pm, €15 Twin Kranes The Grand Social 8pm, €TBC Sunday 6 June Lord Huron Whelan’s 8pm, SOLD OUT Overbite, Disguise, Obstacle + Cyborgs & Androids Tenterhooks 8pm, €TBC Ross Breen The Workman’s Club 8pm, €10 Tankcsapda The Button Factory 7.30pm, €25/35 Sunday 7 June Ash Whelans 8pm, €20 (SOLD OUT) Monday 8 June The Gaslight Anthem Olympia Theatre from €29.50 Tuesday 9 June Sylvan Esso Whelan’s 8pm, €15 Thursday 11 June Andy Irvine Whelan’s 8pm, €20 Soak Pepper Canister Church, 7pm, €17 Friday 12 June

Television The Academy 7pm, €32 The Last Waltz Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, €22.90 Interskalactic Whelan’s 8pm, €8 Finbar Furey Vicar Street 7.30pm, €35 Ted Christopher / Tartan Specials / Tam Coyle The Button Factory 7.30pm, € Stanley Odd The Grand Social 8pm, Free Saturday 13 June Waxahatchee The Button Factory 7.30pm, €14.50 Columbia Mills Whelan’s 8pm, €12.50 Amanda Palmer The Academy 7pm, €28 Columbia Mills Whelans 8pm, €12.50 Tartan Specials / Ted Christopher The Grand Social 8pm, €10 Sunday 14 June Martin Carthy Whelan’s 8pm, €18 Rory Gallagher A 20th Anniversary Vicar Street 7.30pm, €25 A Modern Musical Interpretation of James Joyce’s Ulysses The Workman’s Club 8:30, €8 Bracia Figo Fagot The Button Factory 7.30pm, €27

Red Hurley The Pavilion Theatre 8pm, €29.50 Corrosion of Conformity The Academy 7pm, €25 Monday 15 June Antemasque Whelan’s 8pm, €20.50 Tuesday 16 June Circuit des Yeux Upstairs in Whelans 8pm, €13 Black Stone Cherry The Academy 7pm, €20.40 John Statz The Workman’s Club 8pm, €8 Wednesday 17 June Beck Royal Hospital Kilmainham, 6pm, €57.50 Thursday 18 June Mogwai Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, €28 Friday 19 June And So I Watch You From Afar Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, €22 Frank Fairfield The Grand Social 8pm, €TBC Black Grape The Academy 7pm, €30 Saturday 20 June The Go! Team Whelan’s 8pm, €22 Fleetwood Mac 3Arena 6.30pm, from €55 The Script Croke Park 6.30pm, from €45 Idina Menzel

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre 7pm, €44.05-€76 Peter Doran The Sugar Club 8pm, €TBC Tuesday 23 June Ron Sexsmith Whelan’s 8pm, €25 The Who 3Arena 6.30pm, €69.50 Wednesday 24 June Counting Crows Royal Hospital Kilmainham 6pm, €49.50 Tony Visconti and Woody Woodmansey Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, from €28 Seamus Fogarty The Workman’s Club - The Vintage Room 8pm, €8 Céilí Tradition Arts Collective The Grand Social 8pm, €8 Thursday 25 June Ben Reel (Album Launch) Whelan’s 8pm, €10 I Draw Slow Whelan’s 8pm, €15 The Christians The Button Factory 7.30pm, €22.50 Friday 26 June Mastodon Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, from €28.00 Not Squares - Album Launch The Grand Social 11.30pm, €10 Kodaline Royal Hospital Kilmainham 6pm, €39.05 DJ Nature / ‘Paris is Burning’ screening

The Sugar Club 9pm, €12 Saturday 27 June Gemma Hayes Whelans 8pm, €26 Scala and Kolacny Brothers Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, from €32.50 Manu Chao Royal Hospital Kilmainham 6pm, €27.90 Attention Bébé The Button Factory 7.30pm, €12.50/€10 Sunday 28 June Athrú Upstairs in Whelan’s 8pm, €10 Electric Eel Shock The Workman’s Club 8pm, €12 Monday 29 June Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour 3Arena 6.30pm, €81-€106 Tuesday 30 June Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour 3Arena 6.30pm, €81-€106 Michael Cera & Alden Penner Vicar Street 7.30pm, €14 Moved from The Workman’s Club Chris Slade (AC/DC) Drum Clinic Whelan’s 6:30pm, VIP €180 + b f Wednesday 1 July AC/DC Aviva Stadium 6pm, from €87.50 (SOLD OUT) Bill Laurance Project The Sugar Club 6.30pm, €17.50 Part of Beck’s Rhythm Series Thursday 2 July Hiatus Kaiyote The Sugar Club 7.30pm, €17.50

Part of Beck’s Rhythm Series Paloma Faith Iveagh Gardens 6pm, €45 Wednesday 3 July Taylor McFerrin & Marcus Gilmore The Sugar Club 10.30pm, €12.50 Part of Beck’s Rhythm Series Avicii Marlay Park 6pm, €49.65 Saturday 4 July Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde The Sugar Club 8pm, €17.50 Part of Beck’s Rhythm Series The Frames - 25th Anniversary Show Iveagh Gardens 6pm, €40 (SOLD OUT) Neil Diamond 3Arena 6.30pm, €65.45 - €99.50 Paolo Nutini Marlay Park 6.30pm, €49.65 Forq Whelan’s 8pm, €18 Resurrection Ireland (Stone Roses tribute) The Workman’s Club 8pm, €10 Sunday 5 July Neil Diamond 3Arena 6.30pm, €65.45 - €99.50 The Frames - 25th Anniversary Show Iveagh Gardens 6pm, €40 (SOLD OUT)

Waxahatchee Saturday 13 June | Button Factory | 7.30pm, €14.50 Katie Crutchfield, as Waxahatchee, makes music that is beautifully simple and full of echoes of a ‘90s indie rock songwriters from the deep, rich tones of her distorted guitar to the homemade feel of her double tracked vocals. But Waxahatchee’s not just some nostalgia trip, as Crutchfield has proved herself a powerfully intimate songwriter over the course of three albums under her stage name, as well as with Birmingham (Alabama) punks P.S. Eliot. Her most recent release, Ivy Tripp, is a fine continuation of that tradition.

JAZZ SUNDAY Jazz Brunch Kilkenny Rest. Kilkenny Shop, Nassau St. D2 11am, Free Jazz Brunch Hugo’s, Merrion Row, D2 1.15pm, Free Stella Bass Qrt. Cafe en Seine, Dawson St. D2 2pm, Free Jazz Session JJ Smyths, Aungier St. D2 June 7 Louis Stewart Qrt. June 14 Terry Smith (UK) & Hugh Buckley Qrt. June 21 Tbc June 28 Tbc 5pm, €10 Jazz & Tapas Zaragoza, South William St. D2 June 7 Olesya Zdorovetska June 14 Linzi McKeon June 21 Lisa Jameson June 28 Lizanne Kennedy 6pm, Free Stella Bass Quintet Searsons, Upper Baggot St. 6pm, Free MONDAY Hot House Big Band Mercantile, Dame St. 8.45pm, €5 Essential Big Band Grainger’s, Malahide Rd. 9.30pm, €5 TUESDAY Jazz/Swing Night The Grand Social, D1 7pm, €10 Phoenix Big Band Tara Towers Hotel, D4 9pm, Free Tom Harte Quintet Leeson Lounge, Upr Leeson St. 9pm, Free Jazz Session International Bar, Wicklow St. 9.30pm, €5 WEDNESDAY Jazz Session (1st Weds of the Month) The House, 4 Main St. Howth, Co.Dublin 7.30pm, Free THURSDAY Jazz Session JJ Smyths, Aungier St. D2 June 4 DIT Jazz Masters Oct. June 11 Eric Reed (Piano) US June 18 Things We Like June 25 Colette Cassidy 9pm, €15/10 Jazz Session

CLASSICAL International Bar, Wicklow St. 9.30pm, €5 FRIDAY Jazz/Swing Band Mint Bar, Westin Hotel 10pm, Free Jazz session Morrison Hotel, Lwr. Ormond Quay, D1 9pm, Free SATURDAY Jazz Session Paris Wine Bar, 1 Frenchman’s Ln. D1 8pm, Free Jazz Supper Club The Workshop Bar, 10 Georges quay, D2 8.30pm, €37.00 Bookings 087 2878755 ONE OFF Saturday 6 June Bobby Wellins, Miquel Gorodi & Phil Ware Trio JJ Smyths, Aungier St. D2 9pm, €15 Sunday 7 June Louis Stewart Qrt. JJ Smyths, Aungier St. D2 4.30pm, €10 Friday 12 June Stella Bass Quintet Purty Kitchen, Monkstown 7.30pm, €33/€10 Friday 19 June Emilie Conway Qrt. John Field Rm. NCH 1.05pm, €18/€16 Friday 19 June Listen at Wellington www.listen.ie The Wellington, Baggot St. Bridge, D4 7pm, €10/€5 Truly DiVine & Josh Johnston Arthur’s Pub, Thomas St. D8 8pm, €10 Saturday 20 June The Session Jazz Quintet (New Orleans) 25 Mountjoy Sq. D1 7.30pm, €15 Friday 26 June Nigel Mooney with Hugh Buckley & Jim Mullan (UK) JJ Smyths, Aungier St. D2 9pm, €15 Saturday 27 June Nigel Mooney with Hugh Buckley & Jim Mullan (UK) JJ Smyths, Aungier St. D2 9pm, €15 6pm, €40 (SOLD OUT)

Nils Frahm Wednesday 17 June | National Concert Hall | 8pm, €27 Berlin-based pianist and composer Nils Frahm performs as part of the Perspectives 2015 programme, which has also seen visits from Philip Glass and the Radiophonic Workshop recently. The fine acoustics of the Concert Hall are just the place to witness the manic keyboard virtuosity of Frahm, whose music combines fiendish technique with technical wizardry, knocking together loops and tape-dub rhythms while spinning endless arpeggios from whatever spare limb he can find.

Wednesday 3 June Bach Mass in B Minor NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €15-30 Kaleidoscope Night Odessa Club 8.30pm, €12.50 Thursday 4 June RTÉ Concert Orchestra: Sondheim at 85 NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €15-39.50 Friday 5 June Vienna Rivals: Beethoven and Reicha NCH, John Field Room 1.05pm, €12/10 Tara Erraught Opera Gala NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €15-47 with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Saturday 6 June 30 Years; ‘Glory Glory Hallelujah!’

NCH, Main Auditorium 7.30pm, €20 Sunday 7 June 30 Years; ‘Glory Glory Hallelujah!’

NCH, Main Auditorium 7.30pm, €20 Monday 8 June 30 Years; ‘Glory Glory Hallelujah!’

NCH, Main Auditorium 7.30pm, €20 Tuesday 9 June Summer Lunchtime Series NCH, Main Auditorium 1.05pm, €12 with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Colin Currie Group Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College 8pm, €23/18 KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Waltons World Masters - Le Trio Joubran NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €16-34 Wednesday 10 June Baiba and Lauma Skride Royal College of Physicians of Ireland 8pm, €20-50 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Hibernian Orchestra Summer Gala Concert NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €20/15 Thursday 11 June Escher Quartet National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin 8pm, €20-30

As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Thursday 11 June Essential Classics NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €12-38 Thursday 11 June John Edwards / Paul G Smyth Duo NCH, Kevin Barry Room 8.30pm, €15 Friday 12 June Popular Arias and Songs NCH, John Field Room 1.05pm, €15/12 Hugh Tinney, Michael d’Arcy and Christopher Marwood Killruddery House, Bray 8pm, €35-50 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses RTÉ NSO Summer Evening Series NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €12-35 Blackout #2 Royal Irish Academy of Music 10.30pm, €20/25 Kirkos Ensemble perform Steve Reich’s Different Trains Saturday 13 June Armida Quartet City Assembly House 12pm, €12 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Ensemble Marsyas Castletown House 8pm, €20-50 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Blackout #2 Royal Irish Academy of Music 10.30pm, €20/25 Kirkos Ensemble perform Steve Reich’s Different Trains Sunday 14 June Robin Tritschler with Friends NCH, John Field Room 3pm, €20/15 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Soundweave Dublin Writers Museum 6pm, €10 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Lynda Lee, William Dowdall, Simon Aspell and Andreja Malir Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle 8.30pm, €12 As part of KBC Great Music in Irish Houses Tuesday 16 June RTÉ NSO Summer Lunchtime

Series NCH, Main Auditorium 1.05pm, €12 Nora Barnacle NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €20-25 A New Work By Shaun Davey and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill featuring Rita Connolly Wednesday 17 June Perspectives 2015: Nils Frahm NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €27 Thursday 18 June Brendan Shine and his Musicians NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €20-37.50 The 50th Anniversary Concert Friday 19 June “Waltz for Molly” : Emilie Conway NCH, John Field Room 1.05pm, €18/16 RTÉ NSO Summer Evening Series NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €12-35 Saturday 20 June RTÉ Concert Orchestra: Brigadoon NCH, Main Auditorium 3pm & 8pm, €15-45 Monday 22 June Waltons New School of Music Student Concert NCH, John Field Room 7.30pm, €10/5 Tuesday 23 June RTÉ NSO Summer Lunchtime Series NCH, Main Auditorium 1.05pm, €12 Wednesday 24 June RTÉ Concert Orchestra Signature Series: Piotr Beczala NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €20-45 Friday 26 June From Opera to George Gershwin NCH, John Field Room 1.05pm, €16/14 RTÉ NSO Summer Evening Series NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €12-35 Tuesday 30 June RTÉ NSO Summer Lunchtime Series NCH, Main Auditorium 1.05pm, €12 Wednesday 1 July Anne O’Byrne and Friends NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €20-35 Thursday 2 July ESB Live 2015: Ladysmith Black Mambazo

NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €45-50 Friday 3 July From Broadway to Hollywood NCH, John Field Room 1.05pm, €16/14 RTÉ NSO: Summer Evening Series NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €12-35 Saturday 4 July GuitaRIAM NCH, John Field Room 1.05pm, €15/13 Fiesta Mexicana NCH, Main Auditorium 8pm, €20-25 The Folkloric Ballet of the University of Guadalajara

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COMEDY

Wicked Wolf Comedy Night Wicked Wolf, Blackrock 8pm, €5 Every second Tuesday The Comedy Improv The International 9pm, €5 Every Monday Talk Talk Panel Show The International 9pm, €5 Every Tuesday The Comedy Cellar The International 9pm, €8 Every Wednesday International Comedy Club The International 8.30pm, €10 Thursdays, Fridays & Sundays 7.30pm & 10.15pm, €10 each Each Saturday Battle of the Axe The Ha’penny Bridge Inn 8pm, €5 with flyer Capital Comedy Club Chaplins Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays Doors 8.15pm €10 (students €5 Thursdays), €3 Tuesdays The Comedy Crunch The Stag’s Head 7pm, free event Each Sunday & Monday ONE OFFS Thursday 4 – Sunday 7 June Alan Carr Olympia Theatre 7.30pm, €33.50 Thursday 4 – Friday 5 June Tommy Tiernan Out of the Whirlwind Vicar Street 7.30pm, €35 Saturday 13 June Laugh Out Loud for Temple St. Children’s Hospital Vicar Street 7.30pm, €21 17–20 & 24–27 June Dara O’Briain: Crowd Tickler Vicar Street 7.30pm, €30 Thursday 18 June Funny Women Competition 2015 Chaplin’s Comedy Club 8pm, €TBC

FESTIVALS Beck’s Rhythm Series Thursday 2 - Saturday 4 July | The Sugar Club | Various Taking place at the start of July is the Beck’s Rhythm series which sees a run of gigs at The Sugar Club featuring acts of a certain ilk that are exploring the space between jazz, funk, prog and hip-hop. First up is Hiatus Kaiyote (pictured) on July 2nd, followed swiftly by Taylor McFerrin (Bobby’s youngfella) with Marcus Gilmore on Friday 3rd July and Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde on Saturday 4th, all of which should be sweet music to the ears of Choice Cuts fans.

Summer Rising at IMMA At the sumptuous IMMA grounds in Kilmainham, Summer Rising is a series of art happenings, music, performances and food events.

The summer exhibitions include Stan Douglas and Etel Adnan, while Garden Rising features workshops, artist talks and family friendly events, with a big Summer Party taking place on Saturday 6 June. For more see www.imma.ie 4–14 June Howth Midsummer Literary and Arts Festival Based in the historic Luyten’s Library in Howth Castle, this new literary festival will be based around three different strands: literary, cultural heritage and children literature. Highlights include conversations with Richard Ford, Anne Enright, Roddy Doyle and John Banville. For more see www.

howthliteraryfestival.com 5–7 June Taste of Dublin Festival Taking place in the Iveagh Gardens, the Taste of Dublin Festival celebrates its 10th birthday this year. There is a wide range of local restaurants taking including Brioche, East Side Tavern, Marcels, The Chop House and many more. For more see dublin.tastefestivals.com 11–14 June Zurich Dalkey Book Festival Set deep in South County Dublin, this literary festival features contributions from Oisí˜McGann, Fintan O’Toole, Amanda Palmer, Gabriel Byrne and even South Dublin’s favourite son himself, Ross O’Carroll-Kelly. For more see www.dalkeybookfestival.org.

11–14 June Boulders Live at Leopardstown The Music and Racing Festival events kick off this June with Paddy Casey and run through to mid August when The Human League and The Stunning will play Leopardstown Race Course. For more see www. leopardstown.com.

11 June onwards Bloomsday Festival The annual celebration of the day Leopold Bloom spent mooching around this fair city in Ulysses features a gamut of events connected with Joyce and his literary connections to Dublin. Walking tours, pub crawls, high tea, music, poetry a big Bloomsday brunch and a headlining event in PantiBar with Stephen Fry and Senator David Norris are all part of the line-up. For more www. bloomsdayfestival.ie.

11–16 June Dublin Garden Festival Taking place in Christ Church Cathedral’s ground, the Dublin Garden Festival returns for a second edition featuring Helen Dillon and Diarmuid Gavin discussing various horticultural treats. For more see www.dublingardenfestival.ie 19–21 June PhotoIreland Festival A celebration of photographic arts hosted by PhotoIreland runs throughout the month of July based primarily around The Gallery of Photography Ireland in Meeting House Square and The Library Project in Temple Bar. For more see www.photoireland.com.org 1 July–31 July Body&Soul One of Ireland’s best festivals, Body&Soul mixes a top quality musical line-up, including Dan Deacon, Super Furry Animals, Flight Facilities, MMOTHS and Cloud Castle Lake with food, performance art and magical ephemera that will have you dancing night away in the forest on the longest days of the year at Ballinlough Castle, Co. Meath. For more see www. bodyandsoul.ie 19–21 June

POKER

Fitzwilliam Casino & Card Club Monday 8:30pm: €75 + €5 No Limit Freezeout.

Tuesday 8:30pm: €50 + €5 No Limit Double Chance Freezeout.

Wednesday 8:30pm: €20 + €5 Hold’em Multirebuy.

7:30pm: Satellite Tournament.

Thursday 8pm: €45 + €5 + €10 Scalp No Limit Freezeout.

9:30pm: €30 + €5 Pot Limit Omaha Triple Chance.

Thursday End of Month €250 + €20 Freezeout.

Friday 8:30pm: €70 + €5 No Limit, Double Chance.

Saturday 8pm: €100 + €10 Deepstack No Limit Freezeout.

9pm: €20 + €5 No Limit Freezeout.

Sunday 8:30pm: €50 + €5 No Limit Freezeout. www.fitzwilliamcardclub.com

KIDS

Thursday 4 – Friday 5 June Colour!: My Name Is Gold The Ark 10.15am & 12.15pm, €5/student Painting workshop for children Monday 9 – Friday 12 June Colour! Rhapsodies in Blues The Ark 10.15am & 12.15pm, €5/student Painting workshop for children Tuesday 16 – Friday 19 June Colour!: The Master’s Apprentice The Ark 10.15am & 12.15pm, €5/student Painting workshop for children Saturday 6 June CPD for Teachers: Colour in the Classroom The Ark 10.30am, €20/18 Workshop for primary teachers

Collective purchasing on behalf of SMEs

CLUBBING Mondays Soul, Funk and Disco with Upbeat Generation Industry Club and Venue, 11.30pm Sound Mondays Turk’s Head, Parliament St Indie rock, garage and post-punk 11pm, free Dice Sessions Dice Bar, Smithfield DJ Alley King Kong Club The Village, Wexford St, 9pm, free The Industry Night Break For The Border, Stephens Street Pool competition, karaoke and DJ DJ Ken Halfod Buskers, Temple Bar Chart pop, indie rock, rock, 10pm Lounge Lizards Solas Bar, Wexford St Soul music, 8pm, free Thank God It’s Monday Ri Ra, Georges St Electro, indie and big beat 11pm, free Simon S Fitzsimons, Temple Bar 11pm, €5 Floor fillers Language Exchange Ireland DTwo, 6.30pm Like speed-dating, but for learning languages Tuesday We Love Tuesday Ri Ra, Georges St Martin McCann’s eclecticism 11pm, free C U Next Tuesday Indie, pop, hip hop hipsterdom Lost Society, Sth William St, 11pm, €6 Ronan M Fitzsimons, Temple Bar 11pm, €5 Lost Tuesdays Deep House The Pint, Free Admission, 8pm Wednesday FUSED! Ri Ra, Georges St 80s and electro, 11pm, free Fubar!

The Globe, Georges St 11pm, free Dirty Disco Dtwo, Harcourt St Chart pop Wednesdays at Dandelion Dandelion, Stephen’s Green Student night Moonstompin’ Grand Social, Liffey St Ska and reggae 8pm, free Bruce Willis Lost Society, Sth William St 10.30pm, €10 Dance music for students Somewhere?

Workman’s, Wellington Quay Free before 11 Indie and dance Simon S Fitzsimons, 11pm, €5 Thursday Decades Club M, Bloom’s Hotel, Temple Bar FM 104’s Adrian Kennedy plays classics Free before midnight LITTLE big Party Ri Ra, Georges St

Soul, indie and rock ‘n’ roll 11pm, free Mischief Break For The Border, Stephen St 11pm, €8 After Work Baggot Inn, Baggot St Quiz night with band and DJ from 11pm, 8pm, free Take Back Thursdays Industry Bar and Venue, Temple Bar 10pm Blasphemy The Village, Wexford St, 11pm Get Loose, Get Loose Mercantile, Dame St Indie, Britpop and alternative 10.30pm Push Workman’s, Wellington Quay Soul, funk, disco and house Phantom Anthems Workman’s, Wellington Quay Rock, indie rock, other rock Weed and Seven Deadly Skins Turks Head, Parliament St 11pm, free, Live reggae Loaded Grand Social, Liffey St 8pm, free Indie and alternative Zebra Whelan’s, 11pm, Free Bands and DJs show their stripes Poison: Rock, Metal, Mosh & Beer Pong The Hub, €4/7, 10.30pm Flashed Techno / House / Hiphop / Reggae / RnB €5, 10pm Friday My House Buck’s Townhouse, Leeson St With special guests Ladies Night Baggot Inn, Baggot St Cocktail masterclasses from 7 7pm, free Club M Friday Club M, Bloom’s Hotel, Temple Bar DJ Dexy on the decks We Love Fridays Dandelion, Stephen’s Green DJ Robbie Dunbar Friday Night At Vanilla Vanilla Nightclub, D4 Chart-topping hits, 11pm Car Wash Sin, Temple Bar Retro disco 9pm, free before 11 Friday @ Alchemy Alchemy Nightclub, Temple Bar Chart floor-fillers, 11pm Living Room Lost Society, Sth William St Moves from 7, music from 10 7pm, free WV Fridays Wright Venue, Swords €10, 11pm Irish DJs Resident DJ Café en Seine, Dawson St, 11pm, free War Andrew’s Lane, 10pm, €8 Pop for students and hipsters Darren C Fitzsimons, 11pm, €10 Chart hits Babalonia Little Green Café

Samba, reggae and mestizo, 9pm, free Saturday Simple Sublime Saturdays Club M, Bloom’s Hotel, Temple Bar Chart pop, dance and r’n’b Free before 11.30 Saturday @ Alchemy Alchemy Nightclub, Temple Bar Chart floor-fillers 11pm Dandelion Saturdays Dandelion, Stephen’s Green Two floors of summer sound Space: The Vinyl Frontier Ri Ra, George’s St Intergalactic funk, electro and indie 11pm, free Saturday Night SKKY Buck’s Townhouse, Leeson St Signature night Indietronic Grand Social, Liffey St Electro and indie, 8pm, free Propaganda The Academy, 11pm, €10 New and classic indie Saturday Night at Vanilla Vanilla Nightclub, D4, 11pm Andy Preston’s latest pop and rock Sports Saturday Baggot Inn, Baggot St Sports from 3pm, DJ til late, 3pm, free Sugar Club Saturdays Sugar Club, Leeson St, 11pm Hidden Agenda Button Factory, Temple Bar, 11pm International techno and house Djs The Best Suite 4 Dame Lane Suck My Deck The Village, Georges St, 11pm High Voltage Foggy Dew, Temple Bar, 10pm Bounce Sin, Temple Bar R’n’b and chart, 9pm, €10 Gossip Andrew’s Lane Indie, electro and pop, 11pm Workman’s Indie Residents Workman’s, Wellington Quay New and classic indie, 11pm, free BW Rocks Wright Venue Over 21s, neat dress, €10, 11pm A Jam Named Saturday Anseo, Camden St Lex Woo and friends, 7pm, free Reggae Hits the Pint Reggae, ska, Rocksteady The Pint, Free, 9pm The 33 Club Thomas House Last Saturday of each month, authentic ‘Harlem’ funk and soul night 9pm, free Sunday The Burning Effigies Turks Head, Parliament St Real funk and soul Sundays at Sin Sin, Temple Bar Tribal and electro house 9pm, €10 Well Enough Alone Dice Bar, Smithfield Bluegrass The Beat Suite 4 Dame Lane Indie, electro and pop 10pm, free Mass with Sister Lisa Marie Workman’s, Wellington Quay

SUMMER 2015

www.buttonfactory.ie www.sense-live-music.com

80s classics and hip hop, 10pm, free Saucy Sundays Grand Social, Liffey St Live music, 4.30pm, free Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady Foggy Dew, Temple Bar, 7.30pm, free Darren C Fitzsimons, 11pm, €5 Saturday @ Alchemy Alchemy Nightclub, Temple Bar Chart floor-fillers, 11pm ONE-OFFS Friday 5 June Sense - Slow Magic Live Button Factory 11pm, €10 Weathertop’s 2nd Birthday with Special Guest Kris Wadsworth The Pint 9pm, €6/8/10 Saturday 6 June Pogo: Bodytonic & Hidden Agenda present Late Nite Tuff Guy & Young Marco The Twisted Pepper 10.30pm, €15 Friday 12 June Mud: Bodytonic & R19 present Tini & Enzo Siragusa The Twisted Pepper 10.30pm, €16/14 Pyg presents Psychemagik Pygmalion 9pm, €5/10 Saturday 13 June Debut at Mutate presents UVB Plus Guests TBA – Dublin 10pm, €10/12 The Building Society presents Lee Foss Hangar 10pm, €15/18/22.50 Pogo: Bodytonic present Andrew Weatherall The Twisted Pepper 10.30pm, €12/10 Sense - Ø Button Factory 11pm, €10 Thursday 18 June Scavenger with Second Storey & DJ Paypal The Grand Social 11pm, €5/8/10 Friday 19 June Pyg presents John Daly Pygmalion 10pm, €5/10 Friday 26 June MUD: Bodytonic & Bedlam present Mumdance The Twisted Pepper 10.30pm, €12/10 Saturday 4 July Pogo: Bodytonic present X-Press 2 The Twisted Pepper 10.30pm, €14/12 Sense - Agents Of Time - Live Button Factory 11pm, €10

Andrew Weatherall from Paris Saturday 13 June | Twisted Pepper Dmitri | 10.30pm, €12/10 A veteran DJ, producer and remixer, Andrew Weatherall returns to Twisted Pepper only a matter of months after his last excellent night out here. Known for his Primal Scream associations and his Junior Boys Own label, Weatherall has always been a musical explorer, moving from Madchester’s heady days through British techno and working with Warp records.

June 5th - Slow Magic [Live] June 6th - Local Line Up June 13th - PHASE [3HR Set] July 4th - Agents of Time [Live] July 11th - Joran Van Pol [Minus] July 18th - Bodhi [AV Show] July 25th - Third Son & Several Definitions August 8th - Mak & Pasteman August 15th - Eli & Fur August 22nd - SPECIAL GUEST August 29th - SPECIAL GUEST

An Evening with

Sogyal Rinpoche Author of ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’ Thursday June 18th 2015

RDS Concert Hall

7pm (Doors open 6pm)

Merrion Road

Tickets

Ballsbridge Dublin 4

€22.50 via

Profound Peace, Free from Complexity — Looking Inwardly at our True Nature Sogyal Rinpoche has a remarkable gift for presenting meditation and the essence of Tibetan Buddhism in a way that is both authentic and profoundly relevant to the modern mind.

People around the world have remarked on the power his teachings have to reveal a glimpse of the innermost nature of mind and bring lasting transformation and confidence in facing the challenges of daily life.

For further enquiries: www.rigpa.ie Rigpa Dublin

info@rigpa.ie

Rigpa Dublin

(01) 670 3358

Collective purchasing on behalf of SMEs

THEATRE Abbey Theatre Monsters, Dinosaurs, Ghosts A tense and darkly funny play that takes a fearless look at why men go to war.

Thursday 4 – Saturday 27 June, 7.30pm (matinees 2.30pm Sat), €20/17 The Shadow of a Gunman Donal Davoren struggles over his poetry as he battles to find peace in a busy Dublin tenement. Outside, Ireland descends into a vicious guerrilla war.

Friday 12 June – Saturday 1 August, 7.30pm (matinees 2.30pm Sat), €13-22 Gate Theatre The Gigli Concert Irish playwright Tom Murphy is produced on the stage of The Gate for the first time in his career. A fiercely satirical and beautifully craft play about the endurance of human spirit.

Until Saturday 27 June, 7.30pm (matinees 2.30pm), €25 A Month in the Country Brian Friel’s version of Ivan Turgenev’s tale of the cruel inequality of love that mingles tragedy and comedy, laughter and tears.

Previews Thursday 2 July, opens Tuesday 7 July, 7.30pm, €25 Gaiety Theatre One Night In Istanbul Relive Liverpool’s phenomenal win of a fifth European Cup and the dramatic events of the final in Istanbul.

Tuesday 2 – Saturday 6 June, 7.30pm, €22.65/27.65 June Rodgers: In The Merry Month of June Vaudevillian comedy and music Monday 15 – Saturday 20 June, 7.30pm, €22.65-33.20 Riverdance 20 Returns The 20th anniversary of Riverdance, the show full of dancing and music based on Irish traditional styles.

Tuesday 23 June – Sunday 30 August, 7.30pm, €20-50 Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Carousel The famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical featuring the rousing You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Wednesday 10 June - Saturday 13 June, 7.30pm (matinees Sat 2.30pm), €25-55 Mamma Mia Smash hit musical based on the songs of ABBA. Tuesday 23 June - Wednesday 1 July, 7.30pm (matinees Sat 2.30pm), €45-60 The Producers This Broadway classic is a a riotous mix of eccentric characters and show stopping songs.

Monday 6 July - Saturday 11 July, 7.30pm (matinees Sat 2.30pm), €30-55 Pavilion Theatre Dun Laoghaire The Way Back Home Children’s theatre telling the tale of a

boy who discovers an airplane in his closet and flies to outer space.

Friday 5 June (4pm) & Saturday 6 June (12pm, 2pm), €8/6 Down and Out in Paris and London A dramatisation of George Orwell’s novel about poverty in the 1920s.

Saturday 6 June, 8pm, €16/14 The God Box, A Daughter’s Story One-woman play based on the best-selling memoir or charismatic story-teller Mary Lou Quinlan.

Wednesday 17 June, 8pm, €20/16 What Would Ma Say An hilarious play based on the book of the same name, centred on Kathleen Doyle reminiscences about Dublin.

Thursday 18 June, 8pm, €15 My Fair Ladies Des Keogh fulfils a lifelong ambition by playing Shaw on stage in a play about the literary giant’s life.

Wednesday 1 July - Saturday 4 July, 8pm, €20/18 Mill Theatre Dundrum Silent A one man show written and performed by Pat Kinevane based on a man who has lost everything.

Thursday 11 June, 8pm, €16/14 Underneath A black comedy about those who live on the fringes, written and performed

by Pat Kinevane.

Friday 12 June, 8pm, €16/14 Joyce’s Wake The Umbrella Theatre company present a new play based on Joyce’s life in Paris from 1922 to 1940.

Tuesday 16 June, 8pm, €12 The God Of Carnage Yasmin Reza’s play is a modern, edgy drama about two sets of parents moralising over a playground scuffle.

Thursday 18 - Saturday 20 June, 8pm, €18/15 Guests of a Nation The Balally Players’ adaptation of Frank O’Connor’s short story about his time as an IRA member during The Troubles.

Friday 3 & Saturday 4 July, 8.15pm, €12/10 Civic Theatre Tallaght Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs The magical fairytale starring Joe Conlan as the Dame.

Wednesday 3 - Sunday 7 June, 7.30pm (matinee 3pm Sat & Sun), €15 Goodbye to Marie Children visit their dying mother to say their goodbyes in this drama flecked with moments of comedy.

Wednesday 3 - Saturday 6 June, 8.15pm, €15/12 Al Porter is Yours A new show from Ireland’s ascendant king of camp.

Thursday 11 June, 8pm, €18/15 Life is a Song - Sing It Got2Dance Stage School present a show from their singing students Sunday 14 June, 7.30pm, €8

Express Yourself: Dance Express Yourself Upstage School of Dance present their dance show full of classics and new hits.

Sunday 14 June, 3pm & 7pm, €12 The Way Back Home Children’s theatre telling the tale of a boy who discovers an airplane in his closet and flies to outer space.

Tuesday 16 June, 10am & 12pm, €7 Songs from the Swans at Coole A new song cycle of WB Yeats’ poetry composed by Michael Scott Wednesday 17 June, 8pm, €20 My Fair Ladies Des Keogh fulfils a lifelong ambition by playing Shaw on stage in a play about the literary giant’s life.

Friday 26 & Saturday 27 June, 8pm, €20/16 Thy Will Be Done Beezneez return with a production of Michael Carey’s play about two brothers who haven’t spoken for 40 years.

Friday 3 & Saturday 4 July, 8pm, €20/16 axis: Ballymun Beldance Showcase 2015 Beldance Irish Dancing School perform their 2015 showcase.

Thursday 25 & Friday 26 June, 7.30pm, €10 Draíocht Puss in Boots Children’s tale brought to life by Patrick Lynch from CBeebies.

Friday 5 June (10am, 12pm) & Saturday 6 June (2pm, 4pm), €7/5 Charolais A won woman playing that featured at 2014 Tiger Dublin Fringe, written and performed by Noni Stapleton Thursday 11 June, 8pm, €16/12 Songs from the Swans at Coole A new song cycle of WB Yeats’ poetry composed by Michael Scott Tuesday 16 June, 8pm, €20/18 Stage zone on Stage 2015 Showcase performance from Stagezone Theatre School Saturday 20 - Sunday 21 June, 2pm & 7.30pm, €17/15 The Matchmaker Michael Scott’s iconic production of the John B. Keane hit comedy.

Friday 26 June, 8pm, €18/14 Punch Lion Kids Comedy Club A family friendly stand-up show – for little kids and big kids Saturday 4 July, 2pm & 4pm, €7/5 Mermaid Arts Centre Lakers A demonstration of Lakers’ hip-hop dance and rhythmic gymnastics ahead The 2015 Special Olympics and a play about an Olympics competitor.

Thursday 11 (8pm) & Friday 12 June (1.30pm & 8pm) Encorps Annual showcase performance from Encorps Stage School Sunday 14 July, 3pm, €12 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (offsite at Kilruddery House, Bray)

Shakespeare’s popular play is produced in the spectacular grounds of Kilruddery House by Quantum Theatre with BBQ before and after.

Saturday 20 June, 7.30pm, €15/13 The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny (off site at Kilruddery House, Bray) Well known children’s theatre produced by Quantum Theatre in the grounds of Kilruddery House.

Sunday 21 June, 3pm, €10/9 Dramtech present Alladin Students of Dramtech perform the magical tales of Aladdin.

Saturday 27 June, 3pm, €15/12 Stagebratz 2015 Showcase performance from the students at Stagebratz Starz Academy, Sunday 28 June, 1pm & 6pm, €12 The Secret Garden (offsite at Powerscourt Gardens) A girl is taken on a magical journey of discovery, presented by Chapterhouse Theatre Company in the grounds of Powerscourt Gardens.

Sunday 28 June, 2.30pm, €18/16.50 The New Theatre Maureen Is Home!

Maureen takes passive aggressiveness hand in hand with friendship and love, and fills her bedroom with dark beautiful humour. Enter her world of madness.

Until Sunday 6 June, 7.30pm, €15/12 The Arbitration A dream play Sunday 6 June, 2pm, Free (donations welcome) Saints and Sinners Mouth on Fire and The New Theatre present three plays by WB Yeats Monday 8 - Sunday 20 June, 7.30pm, €15/12 If Walls Could Talk Ballyfermot Youthreach present a tale of love, lies and laughter in the life of a group of teens setting out on the road to stardom.

Monday 29 June - Friday 3 July, 7.30pm, €TBC Risk Everything Risk Everything A thriller-cum-dysfunctionalfamily drama by George F. Walker and Whirligig Theatre Company Monday 6 - Saturday 18 July, 7.30pm, €15/12

The Gigli Concert Until Wednesday 27 June | The Gate Theatre | 7.30pm (matinees 2.30pm Sat), €25-35 Part of a series title ‘Great Living Playwrights’ which sees some giants of Irish literary heritage working directly with the gate. First up is The Gigli Concert

by Tom Murphy, the first time one of his plays has been produced at The Gate Theatre. The Gigli Concert is a satire about a ‘dynamitologist’ torn between two women and the bottle. Directing is David Grindley who has won acclaim on Broadway who will be working closely throughout the production with Murphy himself. The next in the series follows in July with Brian Friel and his version of Turgenev’s A Month In The Country.

Free Hot Drinks for Over 65’s (Please Bring ID)

Nick’s Coffee Company 20 Ranelagh Road, Dublin 6 (Opposite the Luas) NOTE Size taken from your option files for branding - please blow up as necessary this is not to scale.

Summer opening hours: 7am-9pm Mon-Sat, Sunday 7:30am-9pm Bank Holidays 8am-9pm

A wonder-workshopping, super-soldering, creative-crafting space for all ages.

Contact us at: info@makeshop.ie makeshop.ie facebook.com/WeAreMakeshop twitter.com/WeAreMakeshop MAKESHOP Trinity College Dublin Lincoln Place Dublin 2 Mon–Fri: 11:00 –18:00 Sat: 10:00 – 18:00

Collective purchasing on behalf of SMEs

ART Chester Beatty Library Dublin Castle, D2 Seven Treasures: Japanese Cloisonné Enamels from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London The art of cloisonné enameling became one of Japan’s most successful forms of manufacture after its renaissance around 1940. It reached a peak of artistic and technological sophistication between 1880 and 1910, a period reggered to as the ‘Golden Age’.

This exhibition of over 100 objects, combining a gift of superb Japanese enamels from Edwin Davies CBE with the V&A’s historical collection, presents a rounded picture of one of Japan’s most exquisite art forms.

March 14 – June 14 Cross Gallery 59 Francis Street, D8 Hannah Brown May 7 – May 30 Draoicht Gallery The Blanchardstown Centre, Blanchardstown, D15 Sally-Anne Kelly, Upon Becoming Aware of our Self Sally-Anne’s work is based around the various projections of the self that are presented by a subject and how this can be reflected in the different faces and lives of a site or location.

She is interested in exploring the trace people leave behind them in a space and what story this can tell.

Her work is an exploration into the discarding of identity, the instability and interchangeability of the self and the curated subject; the different versions of a person that they choose to share with different people in different platforms or situations. Through several methods of mold making, casting and making copies of the subject she creates objects that are based on the subject themselves in a variety of different materials. A copy of a copy, or a version of a version, something that is made from the original, but

in the process of making becomes forever altered.

May 8 – July 11 Helen MacMahon, Profero The work in Profero is the result of a fascination with the phenomena of light, movement, perception and space. They are the result of observation and they function to reveal the artificial ecosystem that exists between the viewer and these intangible elements. They co-exist in a state of continual flux, changes occurring in one facet having a perceptible impact on the others. The pieces are experimental in nature and this exploratory process is as important as the finished piece.

May 8 – July 11 Douglas Hyde Gallery Nassau Street, D2 Sam Keogh Crucial to Sam Keogh’s new installation is The Croghan Man, one of a number of 2,000 year old ‘bog bodies’ unearthed from Irish wetlands in recent years. A photograph of the flattened figure is reproduced at a large scale on the Gallery floor. The folds of leathery skin are lifted and propped open by sculptures, casts and found objects to reveal collages of a multitude of images. Abjection, preservation and the link between violence and representation are central themes in this exhibition. However, the permanence of an enduring artwork is contradicted by Keogh’s use of crude materials and demotic craftsmanship.

May 22 – July 22 Wooden Ships This is an exhibition of small found objects. The fragments on display in this exhibition are old and modest in appearance, yet their origins span the world and its history. They include shards of painted wood from a Chinese warrior’s ancient tomb, a mediaeval pilgrim’s badge, a 17th century leather sole from a child’s

shoe, and a Tibetan thokcha amulet that is thought to be made from the remnants of a meteorite.

Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh lane Parnell Square, D1 Declan Clarke, Wreckage in May Artist and filmmaker Declan Clarke will present an installation consiting of a trilogy of films produced between 2013 and 2015. The three films reflect upon the impact of industrialisation and modernism in Europe.

April 30 – September 13 Green on Red Gallery Park Lane, Spencer Dock, D1 Light Falls Liadin Cooke, Marcia Hafif, Mark Joyce, Sofie Loscher, Scott Lyall and Bridget Riley. Light Falls is an exhibition of paintings and sculpture. The works, which hail from different geographical contexts, express a shared attentiveness to the physical properties and enigmatic effects of light.

May 15 – June 11 Irish Museum of Modern Art Military Road, D8 Gerda Frömel, A Retrospective This exhibition will be the first contemporary retrospective of Gerda Frömel, an artist who was born in Czechoslovakia in 1931 as the daughter of German parents but who moved to Ireland in 1956. An incredibly well regarded artist during her lifetime, her work is no longer well known and has not been on exhibition since a 1976 retrospective at the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin the year after her untimely death. This exhibition seeks to bring new work to light and to reinstate Frömel as a modern Irish master.

April 10 – July 5 Diogo Pimentão This will be the first Irish solo exhibition of Portuguese artist Diogo Pimentão. Timed to coincide with Gerda Frömel, Diogo’s practice seeks

Summer Rising at IMMA Thursday 4 - Sunday 14 | Irish Museum of Modern Art | Various At the sumptuous grounds of the Kilmainham Hospital, Summer Rising debuted last year and was a tremendous success for IMMA, and happily it returns with a series of art happenings, music, performances and food events. The summer exhibitions at IMMA at the time include Stan Douglas and Etel Adnan, while Garden Rising runs from Saturday 6th with food workshops, artist talks and family-friendly activities. On the evening of the 6th, the Summer Party (€15) takes place with music curated by Peter Maybury of Threadpulls and food from Michelle Darmody of Cake Cafe and artist Fiona Halinan, as well as ‘In the Silence of the Night’, a series of performances curated by Mary Cremin.

to open the horizon of the drawing and its conventions to other dimensions, other processes and other tools.

April 10 – July 5 IMMA Collection: Fragments This exhibition borrows its title from Philosopher Walter Benjamin’s comparison of the work of translation to re-assembling fragments of a broken vase – the individual fragments must come together, but need not be like each other. This could also be taken as an allegory for exhibition making, or collecting.

April 24 – July 26 Karla Black Karla Black is regarded as one of the pioneering contemporary artists of her generation. Experimenting with ways to float material, form and colour at eye level remains a constant preoccupation in Black’s work. This preoccupation will form a key thread in the exhibition at IMMA, which will present Black’s extraordinary creative output through a series of new works tailored for the spaces here, revealing the artist’s free, experimental way of working combined with a careful aesthetic judgement.

May 1 – July 26 Kerlin Gallery South Anne Street, D2 Samuel Laurence Cunnane Created within the last seven months across various locations, including Portugal, Germany and Ireland, the photographs exhibited are part of an ongoing body of work dedicated to the idea of witnessing. Working with 35mm film, Laurence Cunnane aims “to distill moments from the march of everyday life into a montage rich with complexity and beauty”. His photographs observe passing details with an immense sensitivity to the minute, the overlooked, even the banal.

May 22 – June 20 Mother’s Tankstation 41-43 Watling Street, D8

Noel McKenna May 27 – July 4 The National Gallery of Ireland Clare Street, D2 Sean Scully at the National Gallery of Ireland This exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland charts the two decades, the 1980s and 1990s and shows paintings from that period with works, principally multi-part photographic sequences, made over the past decade.

May 9 – September 20 From the Archives: The Story of the National Gallery of Ireland To celebrate the 151st anniversary of its official opening, the National Gallery is showing a variety of items from its archives. The exhibition will feature documents that have been integral to the gallery’s development, including historical records, registers, publications, photographs, correspondence and architectural plans.

January 30 – June 30 Oliver Sears Gallery 29 Molesworth Street, D2 Jeff Schneider & Nest Design Oliver Sears Gallery is pleased to announce the gallery debut exhibitions of Jeff Schneider and Nest Design.

For this exhibition they have brought together a collection of tables and chairs in their signature style of highly polished and transparent lacquers.

May 21 – June 25 Project Arts Centre East Essex Street, Temple Bar, D2 Riddle of the Burial Grounds Lara Almarcegui, Rossella Biscotti , Simon Boudvin, Matthew Buckingham, Mariana Castillo Deball, Dorothy Cross,Regina de Miguel , Harun Farocki , Peter Galison & Robb Moss, Stéphane Béna Hanly, Tracy Hanna, Mikhail Karikis & Uriel Orlow, Nicholas Mangan, Tejal Shah.

This exhibition puzzles over signs, forms and communication, to grapple with one of the most profound inter-

ests inherent to contemporary art – the meaning and language of forms.

June 11 – August 1 The Royal Hibernian Academy Ely Place, D2 185th Annual Exhibition The RHA Annual exhibition, now in its 185th year, is the most ambitious public event in the Academy’s calendar. Ireland’s largest open submission exhibition includes painting, sculpture, print, photography, drawing and architectural models and it brings together the works of RHA members, invited artists and artists selected from open submission.

May 25 – August 8 Temple Bar Gallery and Studios Temple Bar, D2 Aoibheann Greenan, DMC; (Dunmurry May-Day Conspiracy) A solo exhibition in which Aoibheann Greenan exhibits a full-scale inhabitable diorama in the gallery.

This pseudo-recreation simulates the ceremonial ground of a fictional secret society called the Draoithe Dún Muirígh (the Druids of Dunmurry) and imagines a new folklore around the Delorean car manufacturing plant in Dunmurry, Co. Antrim.

April 17 – June 20

BEST OF… JUNE

BEST STORE

BEST MEAL IN TOWN

BEST BREAKFAST

TOLA VINTAGE

Mao, Chatham Row

Bobo’s

Tola Vintage is not your typical vintage shop, it’s a lifestyle boutique filled with a selection of treats and one-offs from the U.S, Italy, UK & Amsterdam that are unavailable anywhere else in Ireland.

Famed for their smart re-works and stylish twists on retro pieces, Tola Vintage was recently voted number one vintage store in Dublin by LovinDublin. Come and check out the new Summer collection now in store and online.

Treat your taste buds to delicious Asian food and sip up Low Calorie, Classic and Dessert Cocktails shaken to perfection while listening to funky tunes pumping by firstclass DJ’s from Musicmaker Dublin. This is the scene you’ll find Friday and Saturday nights at Mao Chatham Row. Savour the flavour with mouth-watering curries, a shared platter, or a Mao classic for the full Thai experience. Then sip a CosMAOpolitan, Ginger Dragon or Toblerone to tame the flames! As an official Leinster Rugby food partner check out healthy dishes as chosen by Leinster Rugby’s nutritionist, just look for the little blue rugby balls on the menu. Call your besties, pick the perfect outfit, pack your selfie stick then drop in for a night you won’t forget.

Mao, 2 Chatham Row, Dublin 2 01 670 4899

Bobo’s are a neighbourhood diner. Who aim to provide an Irish take on high-end fast food, delivering mouth-watering burgers made from top quality prime young heifer meat.Their all day breakfasts have recently been getting rave reviews, from Full Irish, to the French Toast, Bobo’s is definitely worth a visit to start the day.The food is fresh, locally sourced, served in generous portions, and freshly cooked to order - all in a fun friendly atmosphere, with a large dollop of nostalgia thrown in.

10 Fownes St Upper, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

BEST INTERNATIONAL BAR

BEST WINE AND CHEESE PAIRING

GENERATOR

kc peaches

Great grub, drink specials and a packed events schedule combine with a captive audience of tourists to give one of the best international bars in the city. Located just off the Luas Redline in the exciting Smithfield District, this bar is a winner for those looking to practice “speaking foreign”.

An ever-changing crowd guarantees a unique experience every time. Don’t miss out on the burger, rumoured to be among the best in the city.

The Wine Cave at KC Peaches has a strong passion for wine which shows through their extensive yet affordable selection. Many of their wines are certified organic or biodynamic, sourced from responsible producers. Each Thursday they celebrate a region, work with suppliers Sheridan’s Cheese Mongers to allow you to experience the best cheese and wine pairing in Dublin. Their most recent event ‘A taste of Italy’ showcased fresh and delicate Prosecco, floral Pinot Grigio, ripe and dark Sangiovese and vibrant Barolo paired with gran kinara, Gorgonzola cremoso, pecorino toscano and taleggio cheese. This is a weekly event priced at €18 per person.

Smithfield Market Fair, Generator Hostel Dublin, Smithfield Square, Smithfield, Dublin 7

The Wine Cave 28-29 Nassau St. @winecavekcp

50-51 Dame St, Dublin 2 | ph: 01 672 2025 22 Wexford St, Dublin 2 | ph: 01 400 5750 info@bobos.ie

BEST OF… JUNE

BEST CRAFT BEER SELECTION

BEST THEATRE EVENT

BEST TOUR OUTSIDE DUBLIN

Fresh The Good Food Market

Saints & Sinners at The New Theatre

Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre

Dublin-based supermarket group Fresh has been quietly building up a fantastic range of craft beers. With four city centre locations at Grand Canal Dock, Smithfield, Camden Street and the IFSC, they have become a destination stop for beer lovers with broad tastes. They have a host of beers from Ireland, Germany, America, Asia, Italy, Belgium, England and Scotland to name just a few places, and they’re very much on the pulse of what’s trending, as well as having a 6 for the price of 5 on at the moment.

Situated right in the heart of Ireland, there is an incredible experience that has been waiting for you since 1829.Take a trip to the beautifully restored home of Tullamore D.E.W. and immerse yourself in the history and magic that lies inside the walls of this 19th century bonded warehouse, where their whiskey making tradition began. Enjoy a guided tour which blends audiovisual and traditional storytelling and put your new knowledge to the test with your very own Tullamore D.E.W. personal tasting session. Glasses Up!

Grand Canal Square Smithfield Camden St Mayor St, IFSC

International Award winning theatre-company Mouth on Fire, presents three plays for the 150th anniversary of WB Yeats. Donncha Crowley, Micheál Ó Gruagáin and Ros na Rún’s Macdara Ó Fátharta feature in the Irish language World Premiere of An Cat agus an Ghealach, translated

by Gabriel Rosenstock. The Pot of Broth starring The Lir graduate Rory Corcoran, Neill Fleming and Deborah Wiseman. Along with Purgatory, a verse play, one of Yeats’s last works. Multi-instrumentalist Dara Yeates will create a musical score to weave all three together. Directed by Cathal Quinn. Produced by Melissa Nolan.

Mon 8th – Sat 20th June 2015 7.30pm €10/12/15 www.thenewtheatre.com 01 670 3361

BEST FIESTA

BEST YOGA

BEST DELI

E Day. A Fiesta in Spanish!

YOGALOFT

Minetta

E Day is a party to celebrate that we all speak Spanish (or are making our best efforts to do so!) A perfect and fun time to experience the cultural wealth of all Hispanic countries. Instituto Cervantes Dublin organizes an unusual open day that includes our popular Spanish omelet contest, the no-less-expected food fair ‘Paladar latino’, express free lessons for the brave ones, the always successful sevillanas workshop, a book bazar and guided visits to the evoking exhibition ‘Roots in the Wind’.

Introducing Yogaloft.ie, a shared yoga space in the heart of Temple Bar.The space offers a variety of styles and teachers in a warm space with a laid back atmosphere. Each teacher offers their own unique interpretation of how to embrace a sustainable practice on the mat.This modest space offers an oasis of calm in the heart of Dublin city centre

This is no ordinary deli. Despite its size, it serves up the best handmade Italian style pizza, pressed sourdough sandwiches, wholefood salads, take-home meals and deli pots for miles.

The two sisters make everything in-house daily, with a few well-considered exceptions from chosen suppliers:Tartine sourdoughs, Sprout cold-pressed juices, Nick’s Coffee’s espresso blend, and treats from Bakelicious.Their signature ‘pressed sandwich’ is Doran’s Devilled Crab with Gruyere – it must be sampled to be believed! Currently a daytime haunt for the growing numbers of Minetta junkies, but soon opening 3 nights a week from the beginning of June for pizza and BYOB 1 Sutton Cross, Sutton, D13 t: 01-8396344 w: www.minetta.ie Twitter: @minettadeli

Instituto Cervantes Dublin Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2 Tel: 01-631-1517

Yoga Loft Temple Bar 8 Cecilia Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Email: keith@yogaloft.ie Phone: 0879534043

Bury Quay, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

057 9325015 www.tullamoredewvisitorcentre.com

WEEKLY

UPCOMING AT

LIVE GIG

THE GRAND SOCIAL

DJ

SUNDAYS

SUNDAYS

MONDAYS

Jazz Jam

Live Music Sessions at 6-11pm. every Sunday.

8 Live Acts, Huge Beer Garden, Pizzas, Drinks Promotions + More!

8PM, FREE, THE BALLROOM

Plus

THURSDAYS

it’s

E 6PM, FREE, THE 35 Lower Liffey St. LOFT www.thegrandsocial.ie FRE FRI

8PM, FREE, THE BALLROOM

email: saucysundays@gmail.com www.facebook.com/saucy.sundays

THUR

See

20

GS SAUCYS_MAIN.indd 1

29/05/2014 10:40

26

Every Monday

The Ballroom. Doors: 8pm. Adm: FREE

(Drums, double bass, amps & keyboard provided: no cymbals)

FEB

www.thegrandsocial.ie SAT

14 FEB

THIS IS HOW WE FLY 8PM

W/ LEO DREZDEN/ HAÚER/ THE AMBER MAN & ACTIVITIES

SAT

21 FEB

SAT

THE RATTLING KIND

FEB

BEAN SPASMS

for full listings

MAKINGS ALBUM LAUNCH 8PM

8PM, FREE, THE BALLROOM

8PM

8PM, FREE

FRI

14

20

FEB

FEB

8PM

WHITE COLLAR BOY VALENTINES BALL W/SHIPS DJ SET

SAT

28 FEB

11PM, FREE

FEB

21 FEB

11PM, FREE

4

MAR

(MELODIC) 11PM

27

11PM

SAT

WED

ALEX NIGGEMANN

FRI

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM FINAL SHOW SCREENING

LAY-FAR

(GROOVEMENT SOUL) 11PM, FREE

35 Lr Liffey St, Dublin 1. Ph: 01 874 0090.

SAT

28 FEB

NOEL GALLAGHER AFTERSHOW

10.30PM

WOO YORK

11PM

FRI

6

MAR

See www.thegrandsocial.ie for full listings.

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