Eventually, after a quick jaunt up the Royal Canal, I ended up in the Phoenix Park. Once there, I thought I’d have a look at Farmleigh House and see what all the fuss was about. However, on the approach road to Farmleigh, the heavens opened and it started to really rain. I took shelter in the trees at the back of the OSI. The ‘shower’ lasted a bit longer than five minutes and I started to worry that I’d be stranded for the evening!

In the end though, it all worked out. The rain started to penetrate the tree cover and drop on a little ‘meadow’ of nettles that were growing under the trees. It was like watching a silent dance. To my bored mind, it was quite rhythmic as individual raindrops dropped on different nettles seemingly every second. I couldn’t see the raindrops as they descended but, second by second, I’d see a different nettle shiver and shake as the raindrop energised it. It was captivating.

Sadly, due to bad light and the absence of a tripod, I couldn’t capture any decent images but I eventually got this photograph of a thornbush that was growing through the nettles.

You must know how I’m going to finish this post?

Every (rain) cloud has a silver lining! (although I didn’t get to see Farmleigh)

Today I was using a map to find a street in central Dublin. While perusing said map, I saw Upper Digges Street described in shorthand as ‘Digges St Up‘. I wonder if the OPW or the Roadworks Dept have a depot on the street – it would be rather fantastic if they did.

I had a friend who used to work on an assembly line for an electronics company. Part of her job was to ‘tick’ the QC box if the gadget passed the Quality checks. She did this hundreds of times a day. In an effort to brighten her day, she used to draw smilies instead of the tick. Inevitably, she got found out. The QC manager was shocked, and angry, and sacked her for abusing her position!!

It’s good that mapmakers and assembly line workers still retain a certain ‘ability’ to fight the tedium of their jobs. And so should the rest of us.

Which is a roundabout way of saying I need a holiday, or at least, some sunny weather!!

Had a lie-in this morning before going to the gym. I spent so long in the jacuzzi that I started to feel a bit sea-sick! But it was worth it because it’s so relaxing and calming. Then it was into town to do a bit of shopping. I got the bus into town since Dublin is such a nightmare for parking these days.

I pressed the button at the traffic lights to cross the road to get the bus stop. Normally there’s an interminable wait for the bus drivers to finish their tea and drive their buses. But today, the lights changed just in time to stop an approaching bus so I had an easy stroll to the bus. Once in town, I found another art of asbestos sticker on Fade street. It’s a bit blurry because I used my camera phone but it reads, I’ve lost my English-Japanese dictionary. Now finding it hard to buy cheap whiskey in Tokyo. If you find it mail me at…’

First stop was Conn’s Camera Shop to buy a new monopod for my camera. I’m really growing fond of the place because of the pleasant staff and the keen prices. And they always have what I want in stock (hello Berminghams!!). A short stroll brought me to the bookshop and, hallelujah, the new Lee Child (Jack Reacher) book, Bad Luck and Trouble, was in stock. I also bought Niall McCullough’s tome, ‘Dublin, an Urban History: The plan of the city‘. The latter one could be heavy going but there’s lots of pictures so that’s alright!

On the way home, I decided to do something vaguely healthy so I got off the bus a couple of stops before I needed to. The bright idea was to walk that little bit extra so I could call it exercise. Of course, that all went out the window when I spotted a man walking out of a shop with a 99 ice-cream. It’s a bit like admitting an addiction but I had to get an ice-cream as well. Ice-cream before noon – what would the neighbours say if they found out!

Once home, I bought new CD’s by Maria McKee and Wilco from CDwow.ie. I don’t know why anyone would buy music from High St shops anymore. They were €12 each on the internet. Some wag will surely point out that Maria McKee isn’t worth a penny but €12 is a big saving over the sticker price in shops.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an exhibition by Kilkenny-based William Watson in Dungarvan’s Old Market House Arts Centre and put a deposit on one of his paintings. He co-exhibited with his father (Tom) because William couldn’t come up with enough work in time for the exhibition. Artists are such a temperamental bunch. Still, I get to collect it this Friday and I hope I still like it!

Finally, I get to go to the pub tonight to watch a football match. Liverpool are playing in some final in Greece. I think they beat the same opponents in the same competition a couple of years ago and tonight is revenge-time. It was kinda funny when they won the last final because Liverpool could say they were European Champions (just like the English rugby team claiming to be the World Champions a few years ago) and, since then, they’ve lost loads of matches. Still, I get to go the pub, yippee!!

Seeing as how well my day has gone so far, I bought a lotto ticket because there’s a big jackpot tonight.

Today could end up being a very good day indeed! A very good day indeed.

Anyway, this is ‘Dev’ making his pitch around the time the treaty was negotiated. Goto my flickr site site to see some more photos of the other participants.

Street Pageant: “Michael Collins”. Nine days after the visit of De Valera to Dungarvan, Michael Collins “The Big Fellow” came to Town on the 26th March 1922 looking for support for the Treaty amid a volatile atmosphere in the Country at the height of the Civil War. Violent scenes culminating in a gunfight precipitating a hasty retreat. His speech was heckled throughout, leading to ugly and violent scenes in a deeply divided town ending in an affray. A feeling of foreboding and anxiety swept through the gathered throngs. This historic day is being re-enacted in full Military Costume together with the sound of Gunfire once again being re echoed around Grattan Square Later that year on August 22nd Michael Collins made his fateful visit to Béal na mBláth. Grant assisted by Waterford County Council’s Arts Grants Scheme 2007 (Le cabhair ó Scéim Deontais Ealaíon Chomhairle Chontae Phort Láirge 2007).

The actors didn’t use real bullets but the blanks (?) were really, really loud. It was a brilliant performance and I applaude all the actors involved.

Here’s the official 2007 programme. I hope to post some photo’s from the

Traditional Open Air Concert “Cúl Cheoil agus Cáirde” le Ceol, Rinnce agus Amhránaíocht

and

Shinty Hurling – Waterford v Fort William (Scottish Club Champions). See history in the making as Waterford Senior Hurling team take on the Shinty champions of Scotland “Fort William” in an exhibition match at Fraher Field kindly sponsored by “Saltan Properties”.

Feile na Deise

Liz Johnson is an English artist based in Co Westmeath. Her work is mainly on large canvases in acrylic, oil paint and mixed media. It fuses a combination of energy and colour using various mark making techniques and applications. She has a forthcoming solo exhibition at Mullingar Arts Centre in October 2006. This ‘Lakeshore, Bloomfield’ painting is acrylic on canvas and measures approx 120cm x 60cm. It looks really nice above my mantlepiece!!

Raymond Osborn is another English artist living in Ireland (Kilkenny?). His preferred medium is watercolour, which he likes for its unpredictability and the ‘happy accidents’ which occur in most paintings. This painting is smaller, maybe 70cm x 30cm. Because it’s mounted behind glass, I had to photograph it from an oblique angle. Otherwise you’d see my reflection in the picture and I don’t want to ruin your appreciation of the painting!!

A (brief) history of The Old Market House Arts Centre:
The building has a rich and varied history. The earliest reference to the courthouse is a deed of 1641. Originally used as a butter market, the building had an open arcade on the ground floor. As this area was the (then) town centre, the markets were held in front of the building and became known as ‘Market Place’ or ‘Market Street’. Shortly afterwards, it was used for public executions. Several prominents citizens and clery were executed and/or hung during the occupation of the town by Lord Inchiquin in 1642. Edmond Power was hanged in 1799 for his involvement with the United Irishmen. One of the internal rooms, Seomra de Paor, is named in his honour. In 1868 the building was purchased by Merry & Co Ltd (cf earlier blogs) as offices and stores for their grocery, wine and spirit businesses.

The building was reconstructed in 1984 and housed the Dungarvan Library and Museum. In 1996, it was re-used as an Arts Centre and was officially opened in 2000 as an Arts Centre by a Government Minister. 3 or 4 years for a Minister to make the looonng journey to open it – excellent public service!!

Thanks to The Old Market House Arts Centre for the information above.

Where u all going? Real life intruded when I got home. Dungarvan Bay generally is an important habitat for several species of migrating birds. One of my neighbours has racing pigeons, lots of them. He lets the pigeons out for a ‘stroll’ each evening and they usually go to the toilet on my car. Tonight, they had intruders and they take exception to intruders. The birds in this photo were chased off by one of his pigeons. What a bully! The pigeon, that is, not my neighbour.

I’m on bluetooth so the photos suck. I’ll put up the proper photos once I return to ‘civilisation’.

Update: Photos upgraded 13 August 2006

Newsnight on BBC2 apparently has a new female presenter. At a recent charity function, her strapless dress slipped a bit too low but it wasn’t, to use the jargon, a ‘nip-slip’. The tabloids went mad, published lots of photos, and got their ‘journalists’ to write ‘tut-tut’ pieces. Her response was sometime like, ‘I’m interviewing the Prime Minister this afternoon so grow up, you sad boys’. Now that’s feminism.

Anyway, got a burst of energy today. Managed to struggle down to the Dungarvan Old Market House Arts Centre and buy a Liz Armstrong painting. I’d bought a Raymond Osborn watercolour last week. I normally don’t buy watercolours but his paintings have a sureness of touch, and evoke a feeling of being there in the painting. I bought ‘Helvick Head‘. Helvick is a working fishing harbour in the Ring Gaeltacht (an Irish-speaking area). Ring has been ruined by overdevelopment. So much so that I was really shocked the last time I visited Ring. This painting will remind me of how it used to be. God, I’m getting old if I’m lamenting the past already (and I’m only 34). (Aside: Osborn’s manager is an ‘Ann Hill Osborn’, presumably his wife. You see, man and woman bringing different skill-sets to bear on their partnership).

I’d spent the last week trying to talk myself out of buying Armstrong’s ‘Lakeside, Bloomfield‘ painting. It’s rather expensive (by my wallet) but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. The painting is a simple set-up. She’s painted some riverside reeds on a midlands lake but she’s used a simple ‘brush’ to achieve a lot with a minimum of fuss. There’s a movement, or the sense of movement, in the painting. I feel as if a gust of wind could make the rushes start to quiver in the breeze.

I generally buy paintings that have a physical depth, a sense of movement, and/or a 3d feeling to them. Usually this means mixed-media. Have a look at Simone Walshe from Wexford and Leslie Whelan from the UK as examples of what I mean. You’ll have to google them, I’m afraid, as I can’t remember their website addresses. And, sorry to repeat myself, but I’m using a bluetooth connection at the moment so I can’t find the addresses for you.

Another burst of energy saw me put the key into my car and drive along the Coast Road from Dungarvan to Tramore. It’s, ahem, the coast road from Dungarvan to Tramore and you pass through several tiny villages on your way. There are lots of beaches to pause at and the views at pretty good as well. It’s a nice way to spend the afternoon. Generally speaking, each village has only one good cafe so there are options, of sorts. It may not be as spectacular as my recent visit to Cornwall/Devon. However, the roads in Cornwall were generally main roads so it was difficult/dangerous to stop outside of the official viewing areas and enjoy the vistas. With our feeble enforcement of traffic laws, and the fact that the coast road is the road less travelled (I haven’t read Peck’s book – just stuck that phrase in to annoy google), you can pretty much stop where you want (and to hell with other road-users!). I’ve driven this road before but made two new discoveries today – Fenor Bog and Kilfarrasy Beach.

Kilfarrasy Beach has two warning signs in the carpark. Beach cut off by incoming tide and Beware of falling rocks. Nice. Having said that, if you’ve no kids in tow, and would like some peace and quiet, it’s not bad. It’s definitely off the beaten track and not for swimming.

Fenor Bog was a major let-down. Since this sort of bog is so unusual in Ireland, it should be a major selling point of the ‘Coast Road‘, the ‘Copper Coast‘ and Waterford in general. Apologies again, put google ‘copper coast waterford‘ and you’ll get the background info. The site has frames so it’s not brilliant. The ‘ads’ in Annestown said to drive to Fenor Church and park at the church. The bog has its own car park but you only realise this after you get out of the car! In fairness, it wastes an extra 60 seconds of your life but it sets the tone for one’s visit to the bog.

My two major criticisms are:
(1) The first ‘information point’ says it’s set in 32 acres. Fine…but as you start walking on the pathway, there are no signposts. A healthy person like myself says, ‘oh no, I’ve got to walk over 32 acres and I’ve got to be in the pub/restaurant in two hours‘. An elderly person thinks, ‘oh shit, I’m going to die in a bog‘. Have a look at almost any tourist attraction in the UK and see what I mean. The owners really need to put up signs that say path A will take 30 mins, path B will take 1 hour and so on.
(2) In fairness, there is ‘enough’ info on the wildlife that lives in the bog. What about the flora (the plants)? To quote one of the information boards, ‘more than 100 plant species grow in Fenor bog’. HELLO!! Can I buy these endangered plants and grow them in my back garden? Money, Money, Money for the project’s continued ‘success’?

Don’t want to finish on a negative note so include this photo that I took on the way back to Dungarvan.

Another apology but someday, I will figure out how to wrap text around pictures!

Update: Photos upgraded 13 August 2006

The second thing that surprised me was that a Mrs Catherine Isadub lived in a house on Main Street in Villierstown, Co Waterford. She was listed as the main occupant of the house. She had two servants, no land, and she paid rent to the local Lord. I was quite chuffed that a female isadub was doing ‘her own thing‘ back then. Sadly, the male isadubs from then on were largely labourers and manual workers (but they could write!). It’s also noteworthy that she spelt Catherine with a ‘C’. It made me believe that the isadub’s were originally from the UK because of what I thought I knew about the history of the village. Furthermore, it’s family legend that my eldest uncle was the first to go to secondary/high school. The Christian Brothers taught a Catholic education through the Irish language. They didn’t know the Irish version of isadub’s surname so they made it up, allegedly.

I drove out to Villierstown today as I got lost yesterday when I tried to cycle there. I’m also quite sunburnt at the moment. Despite the constant application of aftersun to my limbs (calm down ladies), it’s not getting any better. I’m in an unusual situation in that I glow in the dark and in the light. During the day, my sunburnt limbs are bright red and cause passersby to don sunglasses in case they burn their retinas. At night, with my Irishman’s suntan, my white bits (torso and shoulders) emit an odd fluorescence. Forget reading by moonlight, I could probably read a book by holding it over my chest during nightime!

Anyway, I drove out to Villierstown not once, not twice, but three times. I got lost, you see. I’d been told it was out the Aglish road and, strictly speaking, it was. But only if you ignored the road signs. There were two ‘Villierstown’ signposts. The first one indicated Villierstown was 1km on the left fork of the road. Wrong. It was actually about 3km up the the left fork, turn left at an anonymous junction, travel 2km, then turn right. The second signpost was at this right turn in the road. Again Villierstown was 1km up the road. Wrong. After approx 2km, there was a crossroads, with no signage. So straight on. Eventually ended up in Clashmore (sigh) Villierstown was again 1km up the road. Anyway, eventually made it. It was sorta worth it as (a) I saw some sights along the way and (b) I got the lowdown on Villierstown.

I don’t want to say to much about the photos above other than to say (a) enjoy the view, and (b) make a comment about the Kiltera Ogham stones. On the (correct) way out to Villierston, The State (or the OPW) felt strongly enough about these stones to signpost(!!)/advertise them as 1/2 mile up a particular road. Mr OPW, please go the extra mile (or half mile?) and (a) make the road wide enough to take two cars, (b) have somewhere to park, (c) buy some land from the landowner so tourists* don’t have to walk across a private field with bulls in it.

* Tourists are ‘often’ foreigners from foreign cities who don’t understand our public/private land laws (and may get shot/haressed). Failing that, they may be urban dwellers who don’t know what a bull looks like and get gored/killed.

Finally made it to Villierstown!

Villierstown was built by John Villiers, 1st Earl of Grandison, son of Katherine Fitzgerald, heiress of Dromana, with the express purpose of establishing a linen weaving industry on his estate, with the navigable River Blackwater nearby. The building of the ‘independent’ village (with Protestant church) was complete by 1748. The village does not seem to have survived the famine. After the Famine, the original families had either returned to the North, emigrated or lost their Protestant identity by marriage into the local community. Some of the local villages get their name from this time/industry. A local village, Bleach, is named after, errm, the bleach used in the linen production while the local river, Clareen, may be named after the chlorine used in the bleaching process.

What’s kinda spooky is that, while isadub’s wider family are from the Munster region, they generally marry into families from the North. ‘North’ being above the Dublin-Galway line. Having said that, my brother has married into an Offaly family. A cousin has married a Cavan man and another is marrying a Louth woman in December. I think I’ll reserve further comment until I’ve had a chance to think about it some more. I wonder if it’s that pheremone thing again? Or do opposites attract?

Dromana Gate: A Hindu-Gothic gate lodge dating from circe 1830 is the only on of its kind in Ireland. Originally built of wood or paper mache made to greet the owner of Dromana Estate, Henry Villiers-Stuart and his wife, Theresia Pauline Ott of Vienna, on returning from their honeymoom in 1826. The couple were so enchanted with it that they had it reconstructed in more durable materials.

Villierstown Chapel: Finished in circa 1848. It is in the Queen Anne style and has a cruciform shape with 3 fine stained glass windows. It ceased to be solely Protestant in 1955 and is currently owned by a local trust who’s aims are to save it from deterioration, encourage occasional worship and enable it’s use as a community centre. The Irish president, Erskine Childers, visited in 1974 and dedicated the church to ecumenical use to kindle (not re-kindle) the spirit of reconciliation.

Again, apologies for the photos. I’m on a bluetooth connection at the moment but I will post proper photos once I’m back in ‘civilisation’.

Update: Photos upgraded 13 August 2006

One of the best restaurants in Ireland is situated in Dungarvan and it’s called The Tannery. I really like the inventive food and the atmosphere. Having said that, one of my (Dungarvan) neighbours works in the kitchens and I always double-check that the plates etc are clean. Don’t let that put you off visiting – it’s just my prejudice/sterotyping against my neighbour. Brought someone to dinner there the other night (had to wear trousers). She works in the local opticians. It’s called Aye Aye and I think it’s a great name for an optician’s shop in a maritime town. Food was great but dinner wasn’t. Sometimes beauty is only skin-deep, especially when you wear glasses. Still, plenty more fish in the sea. Boom Boom!!

The garden renovations continue. Did a lot of digging, weeding, sweating and swearing. Swearing at the gods that nobody has invented a specific poison against thornbushes. There were an awful lot of thornbushes when I cleared the garden first time. Nobody told me that they can regrow from the smallest bit of root. And they bloody well do. I’ve had to upgrade from tasteful gardener’s gloves to heavy duty rigger’s gloves. I’ve neglected the garden for a good while so some of the plants have died and the weeds have re-established themselves. The very first plant I bought, a Californian lilac, died so I had to chop it down. Sob, sob, it’s too early to think about replacing it. Some of my other shrubs needed a good deal of surgery. I also started on the third section of my garden. First step is to remove some very overgrown hedge. I even found a horse’s jaw. The previous owner kept horses and planted vegetables; although presumably not at the same time. The clearout is largely done now but it was a tough job. All the plants were intertwined with each other and with the wire fence between my neighbour and me. I bought the hedging plants (Grisellina, if you must know) today and I aim to plant them tomorrow. How does that credit card ad go? Cost to me €100 (stg£70) but happiness = 100%.

On a more sombre note, I wrote last Friday about a British co-worker who was 5 or 6 months pregnant and was expecting a baby girl. Sadly, she miscarried over the weekend. It was her first baby and I’m so sad for her. I spoke to her last Thursday and she said she and her Irish-born partner were searching for a suitably Irish name. I suggested Saoirse, which is Irish for ‘freedom‘. She probably went home Thursday night to tell her partner. It upsets me somewhat that I suggested the name ‘Freedom’ to her and then she suffered her tragic loss a day or two later. Would I do it again in a similar situation? Yes, I think I would. I shared some of her joy last Thursday and, maybe even added some more. Sometimes one can only live in the moment?

Update: Photos upgraded 13 August 2006

I don’t think I’ve fully relaxed yet and the mind is still ‘active’ and trying to think. Normally, when I visit Dungarvan, breakfast is usually eaten al fresco but I haven’t put the table together yet! I might schedule some activity for tomorrow, maybe. The second photo is the view from the patio. What’s a patio anyway? Mine is a lump of concrete with a council drain in the corner. You may be wondering about the lurid colour of the wall on the left. Yes, I do have terrible taste but, in my defence, it’s meant to match flowers of the shrubs on the right when they’re in bloom.

I’m probably going to stay here for two weeks so I should do some work. The garden is quite long, maybe 150 metres, and it slopes a fair bit from front to back. My original plan was to divide it into 3 or 4 spaces, with terracing where necessary. The first part is a traditional lawned garden (see above). The second part is more intimate and shaded. It’s really to give some privacy from the neighbours, and the wind and sun. It’s the best place to finish the day, either on your own with a book or in company with food and good wine. The third part may or may not be a vegetable/fruit garden and the final portion will be for wildlife. Having said that, the last bit will be for parking once the council start introducing disc parking on the road outside.

So, my main aims are:
(1) To install/build the steps down from the first to the middle garden. The main problem with this is that I don’t know how to do it!
(2) I’ve spent a considerable amount of time getting rid of the overgrown hedge and I would like to finish the clearance and replace it with decent, ‘middle-class‘ grisellina hedging. But the bloody thing keeps growing back. But the main problem with this is that I’ll have to build a small wall to stabilise the division between me and my neighour. And I don’t know how to do this! Ironically, my neighbour is a retired labourer but his hips are shot so he doesn’t want to do it.
(3) The last picture on the right should be a photo of my superior garden design skills. Unfortunately it’s not but, in my defence, they do say you learn from your mistakes. The three shrubs are called, I think, Californian Lilacs and their sub-species name (??) is something like Glasnevium. I’m from Glasnevin in Dublin so I thought it would be a clever addition to my country garden. The shrubs are meant to grow to 6ft & stop, to produce vivid blue flowers and attract wildlife like bees into the garden. Unfortunately, the three of them are three entirely different sub-sub species (or something). So the middle one has stopped growing, the one on the left grew to 6ft and died, while the one on the right looks like it’s not going to stop growing. And it’s flowers are miserable tiny little things.

And have they introduced wildlife into the garden? Yes, with unexpected results. I got double-glazing installed last year and it now looks like it wasn’t done properly. Wasps have discovered a hole underneath one of the windows and seem to be setting up home. Thank you Irish tradesmen. They’ll have to die. The wasps, I mean! Looks like the law of unintended consequences has struck again.

This is my sanctuary. It needs a bit of tidying now but it’s a delightful place to be at the end of the evening. A couple of small trees protect you from the sun and wind while a few plants provide the visual scenery. I’ve also planted a couple of plants that give the air a fragrant quality. I even have a Mexican something or other that smells like curry. Honest. Six people can sit here comfortably but, oops, the house can sleep eight. Oh well, you learn from your mistakes.

Still trouserless! I have to buy a new cooker tomorrow so I may have to wear trousers for that.