 Without the ampersand, I might have suspected Átha Cliath Gas Company, a bi-lingual possibility for early form of Dublin Gas Company. With the ampersand, I am clueless. And the internet has not provided the answer. Sometimes it is more rewarding when the puzzle beats google and lingers unsolved for a time. This iron cover was spotted a week back on Monck Place in Phibsboro. Inspiration as to meaning still awaited. 
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I think I am becoming a convert to the short novel. Chess was read in two sittings over Christmas and remains on the brain. It almost made it into my #7DayBookChallenge on Twitter This morning, as the lobster fisherman went about his business in Brandon Bay, Without Blood, all 87 short pages were enjoyed. I was not expecting to be thinking of Terence MacSwiney and enduring pain – but I was.
 The old expression of management types came to mind when I spotted some temporary signs in Clonakilty today. It may just be that there are no proof-readers in Clonakilty either …..  When out and about looking for even more pieces of Lost by ArtOfAsbestos, I spotted some strange and unusual stickers on poles, walls and traffic signs – possible strange just to me, as some were beyond my comprehension.
I would expect that it has nothing to do with The Glorious Revolution of the Twelfth of July. Cork have 7 All-Ireland Football Wins so it will take some time to get to 12. Any ideas?  My bookshelves are not absolutely full – but they are not far off.
At my current pace of reading, it is quite possible that I have more unread books than I will read in the remainder of my lifetime – without even considering library visits. It looks like full capacity may be approaching. Last weekend, we were in Ennis. This child’s sweetshop was actually Scéal Eile, Lahinch Bookshop and Bookstop Ennis. I was disappointed to see that Scéal Eile have removed a section of their older history books for online sales only. That was one of the joys of my irregular visits, and I am not yet a full convert to online book purchases. I cannot recall an impulsive unplanned online book purchase, preferring to touch and read which had led to many of those books as yet unread.  There have been quite a number of tweets today remembering Kevin O’Higgins who was killed on his way to Mass in Booterstown Avenue, Co. Dublin on this day in 1927 – Barry Sheppard including a cartoon of Gordon Brewster from the Evening Herald; This Day in Irish History; RTE Archives; Minister Charlie Flanagan; and, The Irish At War. Come Here to Me, and Stair na hEireann give information on the man and the assassination. All of this reminded me of the memorial which I spotted in Stradbally, Co. Laois last year. I was particularly taken with the inscription, ‘A Brave Father and Two Worthy Sons’. This was more significant when I read an Irish Times article today that Kevin O’Higgins father was murdered in 1923 by the I.R.A. in revenge for I.R.A. men executed by the Free State on direction of Kevin O’Higgins. 
 Very many thanks to KH for forwarding the photograph above which was taken at Barleycove, Co. Cork.
It may be that the collapse has already happened and one letter ‘l’ slipped away in the dune slide. Or maybe it is just a proofreading issue. Last week was the first time that I encountered Art Of Asbestos. Twitter suggests that the artwork has been in Dublin for at least the past year and had been around years ago. I don’t know when the sticker campaign started in Cork but they have had me smiling since the weekend. There are probably more that I have not yet seen. Art of Asbestos is on Instagram, with even more. If the humour is not to your liking, you could try the Bonnie Tyler ‘Lost’ version.  My Bucket List is not very long – possibly reflective of the reality that has been encountered, having learnt the lesson of not getting ones hopes up. A night on An Blascaod Mór, a trip to the Skellings, ascending Croagh Patrick and walking part of the Camino remain on the list – as do two places inspired by songs. Peter Gabriel’s So was probably the most played record during my later school days. Afternoons laying on the floor with the big padded headphones plugged into the three-in-one are fondly remembered. From an earlier album, Solsbury Hill has been a song to which I regularly return and a place to which I would like to spend an evening.
Cathedral by Crosby Stills & Nash had me intrigued by the above line, and I was not alone in wondering as to the birthday and the name of the soldier who died in 1799. Hugh Foulkes of the Royal Cheshire Militia died on February 2nd and appears in many websites explaining Graham Nash’s bad-trip that led to the lyrics. A tweet, similar to this, some time ago, showing the main altar only confirmed Winchester Cathedral’s position on the Bucket List. Today represents day 159 of 2019 and in an ongoing attempt to categorise my photographic collections. It is the day when I have tweeted the 159th Street Art installation, Post Box, Ghostsign, and Roadside Memorial. Today’s Roadside Memorial was from the N61 from Boyle to Roscommon town, erected to Gavin Lee. I had a Graham Nash-like moment when I came across this memorial, noting it was my birthday. "Fiche bliain ag fás. As the twenty years when it doesn’t matter whether I am here on not approaches ever more rapidly, today’s Roadside Memorial is another reminder of the motivational line in Shawshank Redemption – Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying.
 On 9th May, the head on Widerlings Lane was the Street Art that I tweeted in my on-going efforts to tweet one PostBox, Roadside Memorial, StreetArt work, and, Ghostsign every day for 2019 – a means to an end of sorting out and cataloguing all of the photographs that I have. I had assumed that the art was completed, but I was wrong. Yesterday, cycling on Popes Quay on my way to final evening of classes at U.C.C. for the term, I spotted that the art had been developed. There was Michael O’Riordan keeping an eye on passers-by.
The head appears to be from the photograph that accompanied the temporary memorial around the corner on Popes Quay a short while back, placed by Michael’s nephew Pat Cadogan. Eighty-three years ago, Michael O’Riordan left the North Mall and headed to Spain. Well done to MYO Café. Today’s StreetArt offering has been the updated version on Widerlings Lane.
 Just as one does not, most likely, appoint a builder on his ability, or inability, to spell the word ‘extension’, it is probable that in appointing someone to look after one’s garden, one does not care how he spells his trade.
‘Gardner’ has yet to make it into the Chambers Dictionary but has recently made an appearance on the streets of Cork.  ‘It wasn’t that I was ungrateful to America because America had been good to me, and still is, but even the very bird prefers the area where it was hatched’ Last July, heading for a weekend on the Dingle peninsula, I detoured at Cordal and took time-out, a few minutes of me-time in Kilmurry Cemetery. There, for the first time, I met with John O’Donoghue who had died 35 years earlier, about the time that I was receiving my Leaving Certificate results. I have seen many nicknames on headstones on my rambles through cemeteries. The term ‘The Yank’ struck. Maybe it was because I had not long finished the book by another returned Yank, Tomás Ó Cinnéide. Maybe it sparked a memory of the tales told of Kruger. As possibly the only returned emigrant in the area, use of ‘John O’Donoghue’ was likely to cause confusion in the area, whereas there was, most likely, just one ‘Yank’. This morning, I spotted a tweet about a recently released book by Sinéad Moynihan on the ‘Returned Yank’ that will probably be requested of my local library in the near future. It brought back that minute on two standing with John O’Donoghue on a lovely quiet Kerry morning.
 Ghostsign: Limerick - Was: ??? Many Lawn?? Now: O & F Café Limerick Lane (off Little Catherine Street) Photos Taken: 23/3/19 Google Streetview HERE Saturday was spent in Limerick where I spotted a few ghostsigns that will help my self-challenge of one ghostsign per day on twitter. I spotted this on a gable on Limerick Lane, off Little Catherine Street and have been unable to read what it was. I have included all my photos below so would be delighted to hear of suggestions. My guesses include: Last Line: ???AGOOS? Second Last Line: ??ANY LAWN The rest remain a mystery
Does a sign qualify as a ghostsign if the name does not change?  Cork City - Was McSweeney (painted sign) - Then McSweeney (plastic sign) Douglas Road Photos taken: 25/01/16 & 27/02/19  Today is Day 73 of 2019. I am 73 days through the filing and cataloguing of a number of groupings that I have been photographing for years. Since January 1, I have been tweeting one postbox; one item of street art; one roadside death memorial; and, one ghostsign. The filing and recording is definitely improved but there are still 292 days to go. At this stage, I fear that I will not have photographs for 365 ghostsigns in Cork city – presently at about 230. I may need to expand into some of the county towns to keep the run going for the year. Last week, I spotted a painted sign on a shop on the Douglas Road. The remains of the previous plastic sign had been removed to reveal an old painted sign. Cue, delight at another ghostsign for the catalogue. However, when I went to compare with an older photograph that I had, I noticed that the shop remained as McSweeney’s. Some may argue that a true ghostsign is a sign for a previous company/organisation that remains or is revealed when a new business operates. That has merit. It is an old sign for a business that had been hidden and now revealed, so as I am struggling to get 365 Cork ghostsigns, it is being counted as a ghostsign in these quarters. The builders are obviously in attendance so I am unsure as to how much longer the ghost will be free.
Pothole Reveals the Ghost of the old Blackrock Tram.
I received these two photographs this morning from KH. They are of a pothole on the Blackrock Road between Ashton School and the CRK0001A postbox a bit up the road. But this pothole proves to be a revelation. As if I was not photographing enough groupings, I have recently started photographing some old railways tracks that remain visible – maybe not for long with the developments in Docklands. So when a railway track is revealed as a ghost from under the tarmac, it was a double win. I travelled past on the way home from my Irish walk but the rain did not help my photographs. I will be back for more photos. When tracks were revealed when they were doing the plaza works in Blackrock Village, it was decided to incorporate them into the development. I suspect that the Blackrock tram track will be recovered and not exposed as an item of archaeology. |
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