Great Friday

 In my earlier post today I explained how Enid was staying in my house yesterday eve and today.

 

We had such a super day and did loads!

 

After breakfast we went for an hour long walk around my area - and where Enid used to live.  In fact we walked past her old house which was interesting to see. 

 

When we came back after our walk it was so nice and sunny, and as we were thirsty we sat outside the back listening to records and drinking oj.  As you can see in the bottom right of the pic we had the record player outside, but evey time the wind blew the record blew right off!  So we had to sit it just inside the back door, but we could still hear it.

 

Afterwards we watched a film which I had specifically invited Enid over to watch: Mary, the making of a Princess.  A fabulous (made for tv!!!!) true story film about the romance of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.  Theirs is a lovely story *sigh*

 

Afterwards we went over to the Towncentre where Enid got some great bargains in GAP which she was delighted with.

 

The towncentre had some "lovely" decorations up for the 1916 celebrations.

 

  

1916 Memorabilia Day

 Yesterday I attended an incredibly interesting and well organised event. 

 

In advance of our 1916 commemorative celebrations next year Fingal CC hosted a memorabilia day where people could bring any memorabilia they have related to a family member or other to be digitally recorded for historical posterity.

 

Below are some photos of me taking part in this process, plus the ITEM that I brought - which I am very excited about.

 

 

The Fingal CC expert looking at my piece of 1916 memorabilia

 

Here I am getting very passionate about it :-)

 

Proudly displaying my item

 

And here it is!  A memorial card (or mass card) for Michael Collins d.1922.  This card came from my dad, it apparently was found in our home garage - but I do need to discuss with him further to confirm exactly the details of it.

 

Two experts looked at it and they said that while a whole load of these were mass produced since 1922 that the indications are that this is an original (wow!!!!!), the reason being that reproductions tended to have a stamp of the organisation who had reproduced it and handed it out. Isn't that exciting!

 

Check out my sister Enid (of Renovating LPA blog) posing with re-enactors dressed as an "old Irish Republican Army" volunteer, an "old IRA" man, and members of  the Royal Irish Constabulary from the period.

 

I also watched a very good docu-drama "A Terrible Beauty" which showed stories from first hand accounts of people who took part in The Rising. 

 

Of course some of the Irish stories were very hard to watch,(although some uplifting as well)  but what touched me (to my surprise!!!) were some of the stories of the English soldiers who took part - the soldier leader who was married to an Irish girl, and who saw her lining the route (in Ballsbridge) on their way marching in from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) where their boat landed.  He stopped to kiss her and greet his two little children and to say that he hoped when they had taken care of the business in Dublin that he might get to spend a few days with them. Just a short way up was Mount Street where the famous (??) ambush/skirmish took place and he was shot and died at this point.  His grand daughter was interviewed (an old lady) who said that her mother would have spoke of the trauma of what happened - as a young girl - the excitement of seeing her father and then the sadness of her mother on learning of his death.

 

Road to the Rising

The weather today was pretty stunning. The sun came out, and it was WARM, so unusual for Ireland.

If you follow Irish history you will know that Easter weekend is a big part of our history as an independent Republic. Next year will be the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and in preparation for that there was a large festival held in the city today.

Katie dropped us off near the Mater hospital and we walked down through Parnell Street coming upon the Garden of Remembrance first.  This garden is in memoriam of all freedom fighters and in the sunlight looked particularly well.

At the end of the sunken crucifix there is a large statue of the Children of Lir (an Irish legend/story).

On to the Road to the Rising where the sights and sounds of 1915 was recreated.

This girl in the centre is depicting a bride in the style of the time.

The GPO (General Post Office) is probably one of the most important locations seized during the rising.

Overlooking the festivities today was "Big Jim" Jim Larkin