Blog Archives - Reading the Signs

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Roy Keane Nutmegs The Lads In Farranree

26/1/2019

Kid, Stor????

'‘...
and behind this poky interior

a dismal view of the countryside,

and beyond

this dismal view of the countryside

and a little to the right

the Cathedral of Minsk,

and behind

the Cathedral of Minsk

Stalin

Laughing’

Vision At Knock – Gerry Murphy

I was well impressed when I spotted some stencil art this morning on a utility box at the corner of Popham’s Road and Farranferris Avenue.

The image of Roy Keane was the first of the pieces that I spotted heading up the hill, resulting in an immediate left, and stop. There are other stencil pieces but it is the boy Roy that has had me searching the web for this blog post this evening.

The photo on the left below is from Farranferris Avenue. It shows Roy holding the head of a raven in his right hand over his right eye.

The photo on the right is from the Crawford Art Gallery and shows Roy also holding the raven’s head in his right hand over his right eye. The original photograph was taken by Murdo Macleod and the homepage of his website shows the image hanging in the Crawford – bird in right hand.

There appears to be no issue but if you look really closely you might sense an image of Keano, laughing …..

Hanging Out In Blackpool

25/1/2019

I was pleasantly surprised in Blackpool yesterday.

With the ring road, it is not often that I am in Blackpool but I was yesterday. There were a couple of Street Art installations that brought a smile.

Enough of a reason for today’s blog.

De Valera’s Hole

23/1/2019

To most, this may look like an alcove in a store room – but it is much more famous than that.

Yesterday, I was delighted to respond to an invitation to attend the screening of The Irish Revolution at the Cork Opera House next week. The book remains on my desk at home – I doubt if I will ever get through all of it but it great just to open any page and read.

Responding to the invitation reminded me of a visit to the Cork Opera House a few months back where I was shown that blocked up opening in the middle of the back wall of the store room.

President Éamon de Valera opened the current Opera House in October 1965. In the lead-up to the night of the formal opening, an issue was discovered with the design – the stage and the auditorium were separated. Access to the stage was from the rear of the building. Access to the auditorium was from the front of the building.

How Dev was to go from his seat in the auditorium to make his address on the stage was solved by the forming of an opening in the wall that separated the auditorium side from the stage side.

In the intervening years, door access has been created, and the need to use this access route no longer exists. The access passageway has been blocked up but it remains known by the title it received over 50 years ago – De Valera’s Hole.

Beckett in Cabra

18/1/2019

I am in the process of getting my thousands of photographs catalogued and uploaded.

One of the groupings that I am working on is Street Art so I have been going through different photos over the past while.

On Tuesday, I spotted a beauty on Connaught Street in Cabra – absolutely lovely.

St. Ita & Players No. 6

17/1/2019

The twitter feed on Tuesday morning revealed that that day, 15th January, was the feast day of St. Ita.

That morning, I was to attend a meeting at the St. Ita’s Hospital complex in Portrane, north County Dublin. I have been told that St. Ita’s Hospital complex is that largest land bank owned by the H.S.E. in the state. Having been there a few times, that does not surprise.

I have been in Portrane over the past few years for meetings but the co-incidence of the feast date did resonate a bit and it rattled around my grey matter as a distraction.

The first time, I visited was three or four years ago. The building we were to work on had been vacated and partially cleared out. I spent a couple of hours, alone, walking around a large empty three storey former mental hospital making notes and getting to know the building. The only company were a few startled pigeons. Whether they were more startled than me, I am not sure

The closing of doors behind me did sound louder than normal. My ears were alert to any noise. I was glad to return the keys to the maintenance crew and hit the road for home. But I was luckier than the Architect. He carried out his initial inspection on a different day but was locked in with the message to give a call when ready to leave.

This was an early lesson in the quality of mobile reception. The last person spotted knocking on the windows trying to get out was not a patient, but an Architect who spent two hours longer than intended with some remnants of the previous use to keep him company.

I never asked if he took any mementoes from his trip. I did. The final clean out had not yet happened so I pocketed some old cigarette packets that lay on the floor. A reminder of the days when there was more than health warnings on the pack.

Driving home on Tuesday, I detoured through Phibsboro and Cabra. I decided to stop and photograph the replacement Liam Whelan Bridge – the plaque has been repositioned in the new concrete structure.

Turning back to the car, I noticed an old Players No. 6 ghostsign on the end wall of the building on Connaught St.

Players No. 6 was one of the boxes that I salvaged from St. Ita’s.

Too many co-incidences not to warrant a blog post.

How difficult is it to spell Cabra?

16/1/2019

Thirty three years ago, our student accommodation comprised the top half of a terraced house on the New Cabra Road.

My lasting memory is of how cold it was and of three of us using an opened out sleeping-bag for warmth on the couch watching television.

Yesterday, I parked very close to the old flat and was struck by the streetsigns – something that I never pondered in those student days.

I was first struck by the font – the ‘C’ in Cabra looked bigger than the other letters.
Then the other letters did not look as if they had been lined up correctly – the ‘R’ in ‘BÓTHAR’ and the first ‘A’ in ‘CABRAÍ’
Only then did I spot that the ‘Í’ at the end of ‘CABRAÍ’ was a painted addition – similar to Sidney Park and Cahercalla.
Logainm does suggest that ‘CABRAÍ’ is correct but the answers as to who and when the amendments were carried out is possibly a matter of local knowledge and a need-to-know basis.

Placenames in Skerries

15/1/2019

I have contributed a number of details of field and placenames to Meitheal Logainm – a crowd sourcing of names/nicknames of fields, crossroads and other features around the country.

Having spoken with a few older farmers, every field had a name, or even a number of names, but many names were lost with the selling of farms.

Falla an Chuain - Bay Wall - Skerries

Cúine Walker - Walker's Corner - Skerries

My brother-in-law’s father worked with Irish Sugar and told of a book that he had that he used when visiting farmers every year as to which fields would be given over to beet that year – the high field, Murphy’s acres…….

That book contained the names of very many fields. It was left behind him when he retired and he suspects that it was subsequently consigned to a skip – so much history and lore, lost.

Staying in Skerries overnight, I was delighted to spot that they have plaques erected to record the old names of corners – I only spotted two, my next visit will demand a more extensive walkabout for any more.

A Merc on the Wall

3/1/2019

Travelling along Ballinlough Road before Christmas, our 12 year old said that the mark of the car was on the wall.

I had to double back to have a look and there is an indentation of the Mercedes Benz logo on the plaster. There is absolutely no indication as to why, when or by whom.

I smiled at the observation powers of the twelve year old – the apple does not fall far from the tree, and all that…..

The Dove is Never Free

2/1/2019

I saw this mural on Sunday through the open gate to a car park and was immediately humming Leonard Cohen’s Anthem.

“The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I seem to hear them say
Do not dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack
A crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
Leonard Cohen

This mural is in a car park off Talbot St in Belfast. The gable end of the building accommodates the commemoration to the 1913 Lockout which was the street art uploaded on the first day of 2019. These are the Street Art photos uploaded for day 2 of 2019.

I was so impressed with the image, particularly the imagery on the feathers of the arrow

Enjoy the art – and the humming.

Eating the Elephant

1/1/2019

Summerhill, Cork

Limerick

Bruff, Co. Limerick

It is nearly six years since I started photographing and recording many of the different things that are on display in the public realm.

It started with Grottos; Republican Memorials; Roadside Memorials and Postboxes.

This list extended to Old Ads; Ghostsigns; Street Art; Wheel Guards and Jostle Stones; and, IHS tiles. Added to that would be old covers and gratings, bootscrapers ; and, even hoppers. And that does not end the list.

The task of creating a list/database of each of the items; uploading the photographs; and, plotting on a Google Map became more daunting and off-putting the larger the list.

DOT has a lovely expression – ‘There is only one way to eat an elephant – one bite at a time’.

I have adopted that for now and hope to update one Roadside Memorial; one Ghostsign; one Postbox; and, one piece of Street Art each day – starting today. The other groupings may need to wait until 2020.

I was never one for resolutions so this is not a resolution – just a means of eating my way to the end.

O'Connell St., Dublin

Co. Waterford

Birr, Co. Offaly