HEADLESS URBAN EXPRESSION

There Is Much To See Here

William Murphy

PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART

by

OUTSIDE JAMES ADAM & SONS

James Adam and Sons Ltd, trading as Adam’s, is Ireland’s leading Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers. Founded in 1887, it is situated in the heart of Dublin on St Stephen’s Green.

Over the last century the company has developed its expertise in many fields and currently offers specialist sales ranging from Important Irish Art, Fine Period Furniture, Silver & Object’s Of Vertu, Contemporary & Modern Art, Militaria & Memorabilia as well as Vintage Wine Sales and we are adept at the appraisal and sale of private collections.

CITY FOXES BY SHANE SUTTON

by

VINCENT’S AT DRUMCONDRA END OF DORSET STREET

“City Foxes” by Shane Sutton Art on Dorset Street: Shane is an highly skilled artist with a fervent passion for multiple disciplines, including traditional painting, film-making, and street art. His diverse range of talents spans various mediums, and his current focus is on street, canvas, and digital art, which he explores through his street art persona, SPACER. Shane’s work embodies the intersection of art and technology, producing technically resonant works that delve into themes and ideas in innovative and unexpected ways.

Shane’s notable achievements include an art residency with the European Space Agency (ESA UK) and winning the Graffiti without Gravity street art competition with the ESA (Holland). As a painter, he has created a body of work that explores a wide range of subjects, from the impact of technology on our lives to themes within the street art genre. Shane’s contributions to film have also garnered significant recognition, with multiple awards from international film festivals and a nomination for best editing at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) was founded in Ireland in 1844. It is the largest voluntary charitable organisation in Ireland. During its history, it has helped people in need through Famine, a Civil War, a War of Independence, two World Wars and several economic recessions.

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organisation in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.

Innumerable Catholic parishes have established “conferences”, most of which affiliate with a diocesan council. Among its varied efforts to offer material help to the poor or needy, the Society also has thrift stores (charity shops in Ireland such as Vincent’s) which sell donated goods at a low price and raise money for the poor. There are a great variety of outreach programs sponsored by the local conferences and councils, addressing local needs for social services.

STREET ART ON NORTH MONASTERY ROAD IN CORK CITY

by

PHOTOGRAPHED IN 2022

I have delayed processing some photographs from my 2022 visit to Cork until now for a variety of reasons. The actual visit was a bit strange as the city had yet to recover from Covid-19 restrictions. For example my hotel had been block-booked by the Department Of Health up until a few days before I arrived. I also had problems with public transport as scheduled buses failed to arrive and as a result I ended up being stranded for hours in unfamiliar locations and in some cases had to walk long distance in order to return to the city centre.

In May 2023 I spent a week in Cork City and my hotel cost Euro 345 when I tried to book for a week in May 2024 I was quoted Euro 900 (the newspapers are claiming that hotel prices have increased by 18%) which I am not willing to pay. I had to cancel most of my 2023 city visits because of cost but I had a back up booking for a week in August 2023 in Cork so I will visit Cork for a second time in 2023. Going forward I will change my approach and will undertake day trips to locations that are closer to Dublin (an hour or two from Dublin).

Up until now I had the option to cancel or reschedule my bookings and I did not have to pay in advance … now the hotels are seeking non-refundable payments in advance and some are seeking no-damage deposits of up to 200 Euros (this is new to me). What really annoys me is that I have been a regular guest at many of the hotels for 15 to twenty years.

I was trying to locate the North Monastery when I came across some examples of street art. For various reasons I did not actually visit the North Monastery which is a school.

The North Monastery, commonly known as The Mon, is a co-educational education campus comprising Scoil Mhuire Fatima Primary School, North Monastery Co-educational Secondary and Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG[4] located at Our Lady’s Mount, Cork, Ireland.

The North Monastery was founded on 9 November 1811 when Brother Jerome O’Connor and Brother John Baptist Leonard were given charge of a school in Chapel Lane by the Bishop of Cork, Rev Dr Moylan. Seventeen students attended on the first day. In 1814, a 14-acre sloping site was acquired from a wealthy Catholic businessman, Sir George Goold, Baronet, and a new school was built. The North Monastery had found its permanent home. An outbreak of typhus fever in the city in 1816 saw the school being used as a temporary hospital.

Brother Griffin, a poet and novelist, became a member of the North Monastery in 1839. He died on 12 June 1840 in his 37th year. His remains are interred in the cemetery in the grounds of the school. It was shortly after the death of Griffin that Daniel O’Connell visited with the Founder of the Order, Edmund Ignatius Rice.

In 1857, Brother James Burke arrived at the North Monastery and under his guidance the students began the study of natural philosophy (science). At this time John Philip Holland (inventor of the submarine) studied under the guidance of Br. Burke. In 1879, Patrick J. Kennedy, a past pupil, was installed as Lord Mayor of Cork, the first of a long and distinguished list of past pupils to hold this office. In 1901 the Lord Mayor of Cork, Edward Fitzgerald, organised an Industrial Exhibition.

The school represented the Department of Education and Br. Burke and his students built an electric tramway which was the high point of the exhibition. Burke died on 23 March 1904 as the result of an accident and was accorded a public funeral with a procession through the streets of Cork city. He was buried in the cemetery at the North Monastery.

In 1911, the school celebrated its centenary and the Br. Burke Memorial Extension, was formally opened in 1913. On the advent of the First World War the British army confiscated lathes, drilling machines and other machinery from the school. They closed and sealed the wireless room and cut down the aerial mast. These precautions were carried out under the Defence of the Realm Act.

In March 1920, Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Curtain, a past pupil, paid an official visit to the school and addressed the boys in Irish. Shortly afterwards he was murdered at midnight by a gang of armed assassins. He was given a public funeral at which nearly 2,000 North Monastery boys marched in procession. Terence McSwiney, who was also a past pupil, was his successor. He died in October 1920 in Brixton prison after 74 days on hunger strike.

The school continued to flourish and produced many more past pupils who distinguished themselves in all walks of life including business, politics, sport, the arts and academia, including former Taoiseach and sportsman Jack Lynch who formally opened a new secondary school building in 1967.

AN INTERESTING ENTRANCE ON WESTERN WAY IN DUBLIN – STREET ART BY JULIETTE VIODE

by

SUNDAY 18 JUNE 2023

The minute I saw this I knew that it was by Juliette Viode.

Juliette Viodé who describes herself as follows:

“I am a mural artist and illustrator based and working in Dublin. I studied animation and illustration in Dublin and since graduating have been heavily involved in the street art scene. I was formerly the lead artist for the Dublin Canvas Project. Through this initiative, I designed and painted a series of small and large scale murals around the city. I am now working as a freelance artist and have continued to paint murals, in particular for disadvantaged communities, helping them re-take pride in their areas. I have also worked extensively with kids with learning disabilities, showing them new tools to communicate ideas.”

“Street art is not my only focus though, I have pursued my work as an illustrator through several commissioned pieces and exhibitions. I’ve most recently worked for the Sun-Pilot project at the Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research centre in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) as part of their education and public engagement program. In this project I designed illustrations to explain scientific concepts to children. The artwork I created will be used in schools throughout the EU as a teaching tool.”

“My work is vibrant, cheerful and character-centric.”

The Western Way may be unknown to most people but it connects Mountjoy Street to Constitution Hill and is therefore of some importance. There is not much to see except for this painted door.

Western Way was created as a circulation route c.1880, linking Constitution Hill to the south-west with Mountjoy Street to the east.

The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) developed a train station at Broadstone from 1841, and purchased the Royal Canal in 1845.

In 1877, the MGWR was given permission to close 150 yards of the canal branch line and to construct a new forecourt for the train station. The new approach road, Western Way, was built by way of Foster aqueduct, with Saint Mary’s Chapel of Ease, or the Black Church, as its eastern focal point. The road curves around the site of former Palmerston House at the north-west corner of Dominick Street Upper.

Dominick Street Upper was developed from the 1820s, but remained largely undeveloped until the Broadstone railway terminus was built.

Sites for villas and terraces were offered in the 1860s, and the north side was owned by the Palmerston estate, where they built Palmerston House north of the junction of Dominick Street Upper and Constitution Hill. The fine cast-iron railings and granite gate piers are indicative of the wealth of the MGWR as patron and high quality craftsmanship throughout the nineteenth century.

THIS MURAL IS PROMOTING EYES GUTS THROAT BONES A BOOK BY MOIRA FOWLEY

by

CHANCERY STREET BESIDE FEGAN’S 1924 CAFE

According to Google Maps Fegan’s Cafe is currently closed which is a pity.

Moïra Fowley lives in Dublin with her girlfriend and her two daughters. Half French and half Irish, she is the author of four critically acclaimed YA novels. Eyes Guts Throat Bones is her first book for adults.

What will the end of the world look like?
Will it be an old man slowly turned to gold, flowers raining from the sky, or a hole cut through the wire fencing that keeps the monsters out?
Is it someone you love wearing your face, or a good old fashioned inter-dimensional summoning?
Does it sound like a howl outside the window, or does it look like coming home?
This startling and irresistibly witty collection from the phenomenally talented Moïra Fowley is an exploration of all our darkest impulses and deepest fears.

LADY ON A BIKE PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART

by

Artist: Pawel Jasinski

Artist: Pawel Jasinski
Artwork title: ‘Lady on Bike’
Location: Dominick Street/Dorset Street, Dublin 1

Artwork description: A big, Apple Lady is walking along the street. In contrast to her physicality, her spirit and dreams are light and flying up to the sky.

Biography: Pawel Jasinski, artist and designer, was born in Poland and currently works in Dublin. His paintings were exhibited in several European countries including Latvia, Ireland, Poland and England. Portrait of Paul Brady painted by Pawel has been printed on the side of a building in Temple Bar. His work “Woman on the Temple Bar” was chosen as the picture of the month December 2017 by the curator of The Hunt Museum in Limerick.

You will find links to buy products from Amazon, Google and other partners. If you click on these links, you’ll find that the URL includes a small extra piece of text which identifies that the click came from my websites. This text is an affiliate code, and it means that I get a small payment if you choose to buy that product. These affiliate links help pay the costs of producing my websites and ensure that the content is free to you.