The street has a low point at the start, rising to a high point in the middle and then down again to a low point.

Answer

Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike.

76 days is two-and-a-half months so is some time.

I am more convinced that it would be good if the date of erection of such plaques were included.

This was a plain concrete structure.

It was always plain concrete finish – as long as I can remember when walking the loop from Blackrock village along the old Rochestown Railway line, around the Mahon Estuary, and back along Castle Road.

But no longer.

Whether it was done to distract the marathon runners from any wind this weekend or to bring a smile to the many walking past, I don’t know but it definitely caused me to stop and look.

From the apparent fixings, I would have a suspicion that the wall feature is of recent vintage but maybe not.


I only spotted it recently and it did make me stop.

When I spotted the water service chamber cover with the celtic design on it, I thought that an opportunity had been missed.

Instead of all the statues and art on the by-passes and new roads of the country, would it not have been better to commission designs for covers for manholes and chambers in cities and towns.

The ‘cover’ art would have been able to have been appreciated close up by a larger population. It could even have told different stories as one walked along a particular route.

They could even have doubled up as plaques – what is recorded on walls could have been recorded on manhole covers.

Recently, I spotted this plaque on a house on the laneway.

I have no notion as to what ‘J R L’ refers.

It did set me thinking that 1754 is a long time for the house to be there. When I update the Cork Timeline, it will be one of the earlier entries.

Do you ever feel like Ireland has become the fifty-first state?

Do you think we have become such an instant society – people expecting immediate response to emails; people expecting others to be available at end of a mobile phone at all times.

Do you ever have days where you cannot get a run on a task with the phone or emails keep butting in.

…….

Do you remember when shops generally did not open on Sundays? There was no starvation, people just planned accordingly and enjoyed the day.

While waiting for McLaughlins to re-open after lunch recently, I was thinking that their decision to maintain their times and their work ethos is not at all bad and maybe everyone else got it wrong.

Or maybe it is just the day I was having…….

The former Thomas Crosbie Holdings building and former Allied Irish Bank building at corner of South Mall is on the market.

When passing the other day, I noted the ornate carved limestone panels at the top facing South Mall – Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Navigation. It was the prominence of Navigation that caused me to pause and consider. Obviously, it was much more important in 1865.

There are many other ornate carvings – maybe for future blogs. Interesting historical information is available  on Archiseek and National Inventory of Architectural Heritage

Sometimes we have to listen and act upon co-incidence.

I visited Killone Abbey over the bank holiday weekend. We were up at the in-laws and I took the dog for an early morning walk out and around Killone Abbey.

I had my camera with me and took a number of photographs for possible blog entries. The brain must have been clear and somewhat bright that morning, as there were a number of possibilities.

A few weeks ago, I was in Glanworth, Co. Cork and spotted the plaque on the wall of the GAA Clubhouse.

I thought that it was a good and respectful location for a plaque.

When I learnt that Kevin Quinn died while playing a match for the club, the location of the plaque became the most appropriate.

It makes one think of the use of the phrase – ‘He’d do anything for the jersey’ or ‘He’d die for the Club’………..

Mens – Boys – Ladies – Children

Putting an Irish expression into effect



With thanks for the photo to Conal Creedon  

I have recently been keeping an eye out for dated or old advertising signs that are still on display – some are on shops that have been closed down for a while.

I am not sure if it is the book Over the Counter by Clare Keogh started this idea or whether it sprouted from the photographs on Derelict Nation but I have been thinking that these are actually records of the little details of the past. Maybe some food that was liked but no longer exists – Golly Bar; Aztec bar. Maybe a publication – Cork Examiner; Irish Press. Or maybe just an advertising campaign of a certain time.

Regardless of the source, these adverts do result in stopping to remember.

I fully understand the need for sporting organisations to secure sponsorship revenue. But, I definitely do not favour changing the name of a stadium – it may need to change again when sponsor changes and in many cases the location predated the sponsorship agreement. Just as Christy Ring Park will always be Flower Lodge to me, also it will always be Lansdowne Road and not some insurance company.

One aspect of sponsorship that I had difficulty with was branding on the jersey. Again, it changes and so jersey is dated. As a fan, I may want to support the team but not necessarily the sponsor printed on it. I have generally of late worn non-sponsored jerseys when at matches. I remember when on holidays in Rome attending a Lazio match (wearing my Munster jersey) and being surprised that most took off their jerseys as they left the ground – for fashion reasons or for security reasons passing through Roma-supporter area, I am unsure.

I have vague recollection that Jimmy Hill’s Coventry City were one of the first First Division teams to have sponsorship on a jersey – Talbot Cars I think. I didn’t think it great back then either.

With the new sponsor on board for Cork GAA, The Evening Echo sticker of the old jersey is now just a record of a time in history.

Spotted these two plaques recently in Bishop Lucey Park.

Questions, questions, questions.

Was there a boxing club thereabouts that suggested the park as a location for the plaques?

Is it an Irish thing that we commemorate in a plaque that one was a contender? Surely everyone is a contender for everything but some are nearer the pinnacle than others.

Is it Pauls Street or Paul Street?

Am I being over cynical in thinking that a lot of plaques are erected to record the Lord mayor as much as anything else?

The collapse of a floor of the hotel was before my time and I had never heard of it.

What is more is that I probably would never heard about it if the sign was not erected.

We can receive our knowledge in many different ways.