Reading the Signs
  • Blog
  • Cork
    • Cork City >
      • Derelict Cork
      • Cork City Plaques >
        • Arts & Artists
        • Buildings with Dates >
          • Individual Buildings or Houses >
            • 1847 Blarney St School
            • 1854 Greenmount School
            • 1856 Kyrl's St
            • 1856 Ladyswell Brewery
            • 1860 Cornmarket Arch
            • 1860 Richmond Cottage
            • 1860 Roman St
            • 1864 Butter Market House
            • 1865 Waterworks Chimney
            • 1870 Maryville
            • 1870 St. Paul's Avenue
            • 1871 North Presentation
            • 1874 Courthouse Chambers
            • 1878 Distillery Chimney
            • 1881 Neptune House
            • 1883 Reardens
            • 1888 Waterworks
            • 1889 St. Luke's N.S.
            • 1890 Kennedy Quay
            • 1892 Cork Baptist Church
            • 1894 Jamesville
            • 1895 Courthouse
            • 1896 Dun Desmond
            • 1897 Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital
            • 1900 Lough Hall
            • 1902 Fitzgerald's Park
            • 1913 St. Joseph's N.S.
            • 1914 64 St. Patrick's St
            • 1925 1 Libertas Villas
            • 1926 Capwell P.O.
            • 1928 Castlegreine
            • 1928 College Stream House
            • 1958 Churchfield B.N.S.
            • 1968 Scouthut
            • 1971 Library
            • 1994 McHugh House
          • Developments & Multiple Buildings >
            • 1719 Skiddy's Almhouses
            • 1761 Tuckey St
            • 1766 Millerd Street
            • 1767 James St
            • 1782 Farrens St
            • 1785 Grenville Place
            • 1832 Montenotte Road
            • 1833 Rotunda Buildings
            • 1833 York Terrace
            • 1836 Millfield Cottages
            • 1836 Rockspring Terrace
            • 1837 St. Luke's Place
            • 1853 Eglinton Place
            • 1865 Langford Terrace
            • 1878 College View Terrace
            • 1880 Bellevue Terrace
            • 1880 Bloomfield Terrace
            • 1882 Friar St
            • 1882 St James's Place
            • 1883 Monarea Terrace
            • 1883 Walsh's Square
            • 1886 Madden's Buildings
            • 1889 Marina Villas
            • 1894 Wynneville
            • 1895 St. John's Terrace
            • 1896 Balmoral Terrace
            • 1897 Ophelia Terrace
            • 1898 Centenary Crescent
            • 1898 Tramore Villas
            • 1900 Corporation Buildings
            • 1903 O'Connor Ville
            • 1905 St. Vincent's Terrace
            • 1907 Millview Cottages
            • 1907 Rock View Terrace
            • 1908 Arthur Villas
            • 1915 Morton Villas
            • 1932 Ardfoyle Terrace
            • 1932 Elmgrove
            • 1934 St Joseph's
            • 1940 St Vincent's View
            • 1982 Ardfert
            • 1983 St. John's Square
            • 1994 Red Abbey Court
            • 1999 Adelaide Court
            • 2004 Alexandra Court
        • Cork City Commemorative Plaques
        • Fenian Plaques >
          • Plaques
      • Cork City Timeline
      • Eucharistic Tiles - Cork
      • Cork Wheelguards
      • Grottos in Cork City
      • War of Independence - People >
        • Terence MacSwiney
    • Co. Cork >
      • Grottos in Co Cork
      • Clonakilty Jungle City >
        • Barrister Bill
        • Children's Green Dream
        • Cloich na Coillte Tiger
        • Crocakilty
        • Dufair
        • Horny Bill
        • Make Us Safe (Lucy)
        • Old Mill Car Park
        • 8/9 Pearse St
        • 26/27 Pearse St
        • Precious Tears
        • Taidghín Tiger
        • Tara
        • Wolfe Tone Street Roundabout
  • Not Cork
    • Clare - Ennis YHS Tiles
    • Clare - Co. Clare YHS Tiles
    • Clare - Ennis Grottos
    • Clare - Grottos
    • Kerry - Civil War Memorials
    • Kerry - Grottos
    • Limerick - Civil War Memorials
    • Co. Limerick - YHS Tiles
    • Limerick - YHS Tiles
  • Not Munster
    • Dublin YHS Tiles
    • Co. Galway YHS Tiles
    • Galway City YHS Tiles
    • Co. Mayo YHS Tiles
    • Athlone YHS Tiles
  • Groupings
    • Famine Memorials
    • Irish Words
    • Old Ads
    • Post Boxes
    • Roadside Memorials
    • Ghostsigns
    • ESB Logo, etc
    • Street Art
    • People
  • Contact
Search the site

MIXED MESSAGES.

Using signs, advertisements and messages as the inspiration for observation and comment - enlightened and otherwise

BLOG

Lohan’s Pharmacy, Take A Bow – Actually Take Two

17/8/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
It was the mosaic that first caught my attention – a thing of beauty, especially in this plastic age.
 
The mosaic prompted a trip across the street to capture the mosaic.
 
And then I spotted the sign in the window that they were closed during lunchtime. Just like McLaughlin’s, they continue to trade – their regular customers are probably well aware of the opening hours. One little blow against the continuing global demand for immediate access and response.
 
I hope that the lunch was very tasty.

0 Comments

Birds, Nuns and Witches

30/1/2017

0 Comments

 
I took this photograph in May 2015 when I had a few hours to explore and try to expand my collection of IHS Tiles – a ongoing endeavour.

May 2015 was reasonably early in my relearning Irish education.

I had a recollection that ‘bean rialta’ was the Irish translation for nun that I had known and used.  When I saw the word ‘ealtanach’, it went on the mental ‘To Find Out More’ list but remained in the backwater of that list until this morning.
​

Picture
There were a few tweets about streetnames in Cork – their misnaming and such stories.

Then I spotted a tweet with an older streetsign for Nun’s Island and the same translation – ealtanach. ‘Ealtanach’ swiftly departed the depths of that To Do List and is now done – as much as I can, for now.

An amount of time searching the internet did result in quite a number of dead ends.
​
Teanglann.ie and pota-focal.ie both drew blanks in translations for ealtanach, ealtan and ealtanaigh.

Thinking it may be a surname, I went to sloinne.ie – another blank.

The online directory of Irish placenames is logainm.ie. Before it provided a clue, it gave some humorous distraction.
​
There are two Nuns’ Islands listed as being in Ireland. The other is in Lough Ree, north of Athlone. The Irish name for this island is Oileán na gCailleach Dubh. ‘Cailleach’ was in my Irish vocabulary, from another streetsign at Cahercalla in Ennis – the Fort of the Hag.
My translation of the Lough Ree Nuns’ Island would be Island of the Black Witches. Logainm plots a course from ‘the black hags island’ to ‘Island of the black nuns’.

Teanglann.ie does have an option for nun as ‘cailleach dhubh’ or ‘cailleach Mhuire’ .

Returning from that detour, I spotted that logainm.ie translates as Altanach and their notes for the Galway Nuns’ Island refer to altagnagh and altagneach. These provided some hits on the google lottery.

Coincidently, ‘Dubliners’ is my current reading material, resident in my inside pocket. Journey Westward by Frank Shovlin advises that it was the island of the flocking birds – to me, a lovelier name than Nuns’ Island.

Sean Spellissy’s book ‘The History of Galway’ has become a candidate for my shelf. It agrees with the ‘flocks’ of birds’ reference.

Tearma.ie does have ‘ealtaigh’ as the Irish translation for flock of birds.

This is close to but differs from streetsign ‘Ealtanach’ and logainm.ie’s ‘Altanach’.

The argument that the correct source is ‘flock of birds’ may well pass the test of ‘on the balance of probabilities’ but, I think not the test of ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’.

It remains on the ‘To Find Out More’ list.

​‘Though called Nuns’ Island after becoming home to the Poor Clare order in Galway, the original Gaelic name for this strip of land surrounded by the Corrib waters was Oileán Altanach, as indicated in Hardiman’s history of Galway and in today’s bilingual street signs. Oileán Altanach in translation ahs nothing to do with convent life but rather means ‘the island of flocking birds’.’

​Journey Westward: Joyce, Dubliners and the Literary Revival
​
Picture

​‘.. this area was still known as the Island of Altona, an anglicised variant on Oilean Ealtanach, the island of the flocks of birds. ... The southern part of Altenagh, in the Nuns Island, was mentioned in 1802; by 1807 the new town Goal was being ..’

Sean Spellissy – The History of Galway

​

UPDATE 2017.01.30 - 

The world of twitter has helped clarify, educate and improve my Irish.
​
Aonghus Ó hAlmhain advised that ‘ealtanach’ is listed on teanglann.ie as a variant of ‘ealtach’ translated as abounding in flocks (of birds); that the logainm notes also say ‘sin an áit ina mbeadh ealtaí éan’ – I translate as ‘That is the places in which there are flocks of birds’; and that eDIL dictionary confirms ‘caille, the base of ‘cailleach’ derives from veiled woman.

0 Comments

The Shally's House

8/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
I have never seen a plaque like this before.

This plaque is on the R360 in Co. Galway, a bit south of Williamstown.

As with many plaques, it gives an outline but does intrigue a bit as to the full story.


Why did the Shally family leave? Was it their choice or were they compelled by the Land Commission; or a landlord; or even for reasons of work? Did they own the house? If so, was it sold or does it remain in the family?

Why move to Tulsk in a neighbouring county?

Because of the unusual message on the plaque, to me it definitely asks more questions than it answers.


Picture
Picture
0 Comments

High Street Conundrum

6/12/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dunmore, Co. Galway
Logainm.ie has details on its website of the translation of 21 different High Street locations in 12 separate counties. All the translations are generally consistent – An tSráid Ard. One is An tSráid Mhór which has been subject of a different blog post.

There is a stray fada in Dunmanway and in Cork city but generally An tSráid Ard is what I have seen.

A few months back, we passed through Dunmore in Co. Galway and I had to stop to photograph their own High St.

At first, I thought it may be a trick of translation similar to
Listowel but neither ainm.ie or dúchas.ie have a record of a family name “Muchtar”.

Resorting to dictionaries
Foclóir.ie, Teaglann.ie  and Pota Focal all drew blanks – and not a suggestion as to an alternative.

My best guess, and completely without substantiation, is that it may have set out as ‘
Uachtar’ meaning ‘top’. However somewhere between the spoken word and the sign-maker, ‘Ua’ became ‘Mu’.

As for
the tuiseal ginideach, they would not be the first or last to not get their head around it – so did it start verbally as An tSráid Uachtair and end up as Sráid Muchtar?

Maybe a return visit is required…


0 Comments

Eamonn Kent, b. 21.09.1881

21/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
This morning’s update from Stair na hÉireann advised that Eamonn Kent was born on this day in 1881.

I thought I’d share this photograph of the plaque on the house in North Co. Galway.

Picture
Picture
0 Comments

LIKE SNOW THAT DOESN'T KNOW IF IT BELONGS TO THE EARTH OR THE AIR

15/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Another reminder of the extent of poetry and arts on public display in Galway.

This mural and poem is on a large gable wall facing the Newtownsmith car park – what was a very bland gable.

The return on investment for the painting of the wall and placing the words of the poem is huge in terms of (this) public appreciation.

Thinking of all the suitable bland and graffiti-marked locations in Cork does disappoint – personally and with the inactions of Cork City Council.


Picture
“HOME

I lived at the edge of the town
Like a streetlamp whose light bulb
no one ever replaces.
Cobwebs held the walls together,
and sweat our clasped hands.
I hid my teddy bear
in holes in crudely built stone walls
saving him from dreams.


Day and night I made the threshold come alive
returning like a bee that
always returns to the previous flower.
It was a time of peace when I left home:


the bitten apple was not bruised,
on the letter a stamp with an old abandoned house.


From birth I’ve migrated to quiet places
and voids have clung beneath me
li
ke snow that doesn’t know if it belongs
to the earth or to the air”


 Nikola Madzirov

 (Translated by Peggy Reid, Magdalena Horvat & Adam Reed)
0 Comments

Buy A Book

26/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Go on. Go on. Go on.

Get out and buy a book.

I have had these photographs for some time. I have had the inkling of a blog post rattling around for over a year.
CornflakeGirl’s post this morning prompted some action.

For me, there is a joy and elation in seeing a book that you have never seen before, are unlikely to see again, and so must buy there and then. The book can be new or secondhand. But it is that moment when I realise what I hold and must bring home.

Picture
Dingle

Read More
0 Comments

Galway - Less Beautiful Than She Is Today

13/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture

Angry Old Man - 3

The other day, I was reading on @ConalCreedon about the campaign for Galway to be European City of Culture in 2020.

It provided another excuse for one of their public poetry/writing– to follow on from the (
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – no) 7 previous entries hereabouts.

If only Cork had the balls to follow this creative lead – or maybe that is just more angry old me.


“A lovely day it was, the town
lying under a white canopy of cloud,
not a wind in all the air, but a
line of houses sheer and dim along
the river mingling with grey shadows;
and on the other bank there
were waste places difficult to account for,
ruins showing dimly through the soft
diffused light, like old castles, but Yeats said they were ruins of ancient mills, for
Galway had once been a prosperous town.

Maybe, my spirit answered,
but less beautiful than she is to-day.”

George Moore – Hail and Farewell
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Looking at You, Kid

10/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sheela-na-Gig or is it?
This was looking down on me on Henry Street, Galway recently.

Like Lavitt’s Quay in Cork, I suspect that it is a recent inclusion – rusted screw fixings and looks like the entire upper floor has been repointed.

Regardless, it adds interest to the streetscape and was welcomed by this observer.

Picture
0 Comments

A Decent Ride

2/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Driving home from Galway yesterday, I heard the end of an interview with Irvine Welsh about his new book.

An excuse, if one needed, for another of Galway’s excellent literary arts installations.

Picture
Picture
0 Comments

The night was gay with the moon's music

1/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
We stopped in Galway for a night on our way back home.

Every time there, I see new public poetry and extracts. There will be a few more over the coming days.

This podium was at the end of the pier as if addressing the city.

I continue to be more and more impressed.

Cork has so much catching up to do.

Picture
Picture
‘GALWAY

O the crossbones of Galway,
The hollow grey houses,
The rubbish and sewage,
The grass grown pier,
And the dredger grumbling
All night in the harbour:
The war came down on us here.
 

Salmon in the Corrib
Gently swaying
And the water combed out
Over the weir
And a hundred swans
Dreaming on the harbour.
The war came down on us here.
 

The night was gay
With the moon’s music
But Mars was angry
On the hills of Clare
And September dawned
Upon willows and ruins:
The war came down on us here.’
 

August – September 1939

Louis MacNeice
(1907 – 1963)
0 Comments

Church Street or Ashe Street

9/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
There are very many towns in Ireland with a Church St– Listowel’s is a bit unusual.

Logainm has various translations including Sráid na hEaglaise; Sráid an Teampaill; and Sráid na Cille.

We were in Listowel on Thursday after Kathleen’s funeral and I noted that the translation was Sráid an Ághasaigh – which appears to literally translate as Ashe St.

I do not know why this anomaly in translation exists but would like to think that it is similar to
Coburg Street in Cork – another on the To Find Out list.

I was in Corca Dhuibhne a few weeks back and stopped to take a photograph of the Ashe Memorial. Only a few days ago, I blogged about
Andy O’Sullivan who died on hunger strike and Thomas Ashe is said to be the first who died on hunger strike while campaigning for Irish freedom. All conspire to prompt today’s ramble.

From checking my photos of streetsigns, maybe Dingle might be in a similar situation to Listowel where Ashmount Terrace translates from Irish as Ashe Terrace.



Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Ashe Street - Tralee
Picture
Dingle - possibly better translates to English as Ashe Terrace

Read More
0 Comments

What's the Line

5/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Charleville, Co. Cork
According to logainm.ie,  there are 6 streets in Ireland called New Line – four translate as Bóthar Nua (literally New Road) and two as Líne Nua.

It advises that
all 20 New Road locations translate as Bóthar Nua.

I remember hearing Matty sung by Christy Moore years ago and assuming that The Curragh Line was a railway line. Recently I have learnt that the road out of Galway toward Headford is called the Curragh Line.

I have heard of line used for railway routes – the Bantry Line; the Cobh Line – but reference to road is new to me

It appears that line or líne may have been another word for road– another on the ‘To Find Out More’ list

Picture
Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim
“the house i’ve left is dead to me

to my rhymin and my poetry

all i’ve got is the beat of the stagger

as i’m headin down the curra line”

Matty – John Mulhearn

0 Comments

Walter Macken b.03.05.1915

4/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Walter Macken was born 100 years ago yesterday – with thanks to the daily update from Stair na hEireann for that piece of information.

I did
blog some months ago about not having read any book by Walter Macken. That was then.

‘Rain on the Wind’ was completed over six months ago. Like buildings needing a few years to see if they age well and blend well with their surroundings, books also, I think, need time to mellow on the brain and find a comfortable spot.

This spot may be within reach or in some deep dark closet that is soon forgotten – most novels tend to end up in such a closet. Maybe this is because or as a result of my reading generally being of non-fiction.

‘Rain on the Wind’ was a welcome break from non-fiction. I can still picture the house, the boat and nearly-dead goose. The characters and their inter-relationships are still fresh –  the father-in-law who knew his place; the son who knew he was not favourite; the youth with difficulty in going beyond friendship; the long lasting school friendship – each were well captured as was the dying of a trade with introduction of technology.

It appeared to be written very much in an Irish English – as if I was reading expressions and manner of speaking almost directly translated. More descriptive. I enjoyed that.

I will never make it as a book reviewer.
There are very many better suited to that task. So do not expect to see too many blogs like this.

But that is no reason not to express what was very much enjoyed – so much so that a book of short stories (part-read) and his biography are on the book shelf next to me.

If you spot it on a bookshelf looking for a home, you could do a lot worse.


Picture
“But there were her father’s eyes. Hurt in them.

Friends’ eyes? Astonishment. Mockery. Incomprehension.

And here were the simple eyes of Mico. What?

‘I hope you’ll be happy’, said Mico.

‘You’re the first to say that, Mico,’ she said.

They both looked at the water.

In the lead-up to the upcoming Marriage Referendun, the church appear to be getting some criticism for interfering in state affairs, I have thought upon the passage when Mico is told of Jo’s life decision. Each to their own but much better expressed in the book

0 Comments

Grotto update

12/1/2015

5 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I need to find time to update the Grotto sections of the website – to add the photographs that I have come across in the past few months and also to update the listings.


Thanks to Eoin at
53 degrees for allowing me to add to his map. When you see the locations like that there are quite a number around.


These two, each  in the gables of adjoining houses, were spotted in Lisdoonvarna over the Christmas holidays. There is a similar type in
Clarecastle but I have yet to see such a location for a grotto outside County Clare.

Picture
Grotto Map
5 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    From Cork.

    Old enough to have more sense - theoretically at least.

    SUBSCRIBE

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture
    Unless otherwise specifically stated, all photographs and text are the property of www.readingthesigns.weebly.com - such work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence


    Tweets by @SignsTheReading

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Picture
    WRITE A LETTER

    Categories

    All
    Accuracy
    Arts
    Books
    Branding
    Cavan
    Cemeteries
    Clare
    Commemorate
    Cork
    Dated
    Donegal
    Dublin
    Economy
    England
    Fermanagh
    Gaeilge
    Galway
    Ghostsigns
    Graffiti
    Grammar
    Help
    Heritage
    Holland
    Humour
    Kerry
    Kildare
    Laois
    Leitrim
    Limerick
    London
    Longford
    Marketing
    Mayo
    Me
    Northern Ireland
    Offaly
    Old Ads
    Old Shops
    Other Blogs
    Plaque
    Politics
    Public
    Punctuation
    Religion
    Riddle
    Roscommon
    Scotland
    Sculpture
    Sligo
    Spelling
    Sport
    Stickers
    Street Art
    Submission
    Tipperary
    Tweets
    Waterford
    Westmeath
    Wild Atlantic Way

    Blogs I Read & Links

    Thought & Comment

    Head Rambles

    For the Fainthearted

    Bock The Robber

    Póló


    Rogha Gabriel

    Patrick Comerford

    Sentence First

    Felicity Hayes-McCoy

    140 characters is usually enough

    Johnny Fallon

    Sunny Spells
    
    That’s How The Light Gets In

    See That

    Tea and a Peach


    Buildings & Things Past

    Built Dublin

    Come Here To Me

    Holy Well


    vox hiberionacum

    Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland

    Liminal Entwinings

    53degrees

    Ciara Meehan

    The Irish Aesthete

    Líníocht


    Ireland in History Day By Day

    Archiseek

    Buildings of Ireland

    Irish War Memorials


    ReYndr

    Abandoned Ireland

    The Standing Stone

    Time Travel Ireland

    Stair na hÉireann

    Myles Dungan

    Archaeouplands

    Wide & Convenient Streets

    The Irish Story

    Enda O’Flaherty



    Cork

    Archive Magazine


    Our City, Our Town

    West Cork History

    Cork’s War of Independence

    Cork Historical Records


    Rebel Cork’s Fighting Story

    40 Shades of Life in Cork

    
    Roaringwater Journal





    Picture
    Picture
    Best Newcomer Blog
Proudly powered by Weebly