TWO FOR JOY

10/09/2023

PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART IN SWORDS [TWO FOR JOY BY DAVID BYRNE]

This was the only example of Paint-A-Box street art that attracted my attention when I visited Swords last Sunday [9 September 2023]. I believe that there is at least one more example near the Castle.

The design is based on the superstition, of when you see 2 magpies, it brings you joy. David wanted to create something that would maybe spread a little cheer, or lighten someones mood.

Swords has good road links due to its proximity to Dublin city, which is the main focus of the Irish road network. The M1 Dublin–Belfast motorway passes along the eastern edge of the town and is the main route to/from Dublin City, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry and Belfast. The M50 Dublin semi-orbital motorway passes to the south of the town and provides connections with all of the other main roads out of Dublin (N2, N3, N4, N7, N81 and M11). 

The R132 dual-carriageway bypasses the centre of Swords, and runs south to Dublin Airport and north to Balbriggan. The proposed Swords Western Ring Road dual carriageway is due to run from the M1 at Lissenhall, north of Swords, along the western edge of Swords to the M2 motorway at Cherryhound. Other main roads from Swords include the R106 to Malahide and Portmarnock, R108 to Ballyboughal and Naul, R125 to Ashbourne and the M2 motorway, R126 to Donabate and Portrane and R127 to Lusk and Skerries.

WASHERWOMAN HILL

03/09/2023

PAINT-A-BOX STREET ON GLASNEVIN HILL [IN MEMORY OF THE WASHERWOMEN]

'On Washerwoman Hill' by Anna & Isobel Mahon - St Brigids School, Old Finglas Road/ Glasnevin Hill, Dublin 9.

It took me a few hours to realise what this about.

The Washerwoman Restaurant is on Glasnevin Hill which is/was locally known as Washerwoman's Hill.

It is claimed that the  original Washerwoman's Hill dates back to at least the 1770's when the female occupants of an Alms House on Glasnevin Hill operated  a 'laundry' service.  Clothes and bed linen were washed for the public in the waters of the Nevin stream. 

"The Irish Washerwoman" is a traditional jig known to have been played throughout Britain and Ireland and in North America. Although usually considered an Irish tune, some scholars claim that it is English in origin, derived from the seventeenth-century tune "Dargason".

A mainly residential neighbourhood, Glasnevin is located on the Northside of the city of Dublin (about 3 km north of Dublin city centre). It was established on the northern bank of the River Tolka where the stream for which it may be named joins, and now extends north and south of the river. Three watercourses flow into the Tolka in the area. Two streams can be seen near the Catholic "pyramid church", the Claremont Stream or Nevin Stream, flowing south from Poppintree and Jamestown Industrial Estate branches, and what is sometimes called the "Cemetery Drain" coming north from the southern edge of Glasnevin Cemetery. In addition, a major diversion from the Wad River comes from the Ballymun area, joining near the Claremont Stream.

The boundaries of Glasnevin stretch from the Royal Canal to Glasnevin Avenue and from the Finglas Road to the edges of Drumcondra. It spans the postal districts of Dublin 9 and 11,[citation needed] and is bordered to the northwest by Finglas, northeast by Ballymun and Santry, Whitehall to the east, Phibsborough and Drumcondra to the south and Cabra to the southwest.

WILD DUBLIN BY MARIE H GORDAN

23/08/2023

WILD DUBLIN BY MARIE H GORDAN [WARRENHOUSE ROAD - DUBLIN STREET IN BALDOYLE]

This was painted back in 2020 but this was my first time to see it. I know close to nothing about Marie other than that she is an illustrator and designer based in Dublin.

THE LETTER BY CLODAGH MCKENNA

16/08/2023

THE LETTER BY CLODAGH MCKENNA [PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART AT THORNCASTLE STREET]

This has been here for about two years but I did not get the opportunity to photograph it until day.

Clodagh described her work as follows: "My design was inspired by the stained glass windows in St. Patricks Church in Ringsend, also including the church in the background and the nearby post box. I incorporated a mother fox and her cub as they have become so prevalent, especially Scar the beloved fox from Ringsend. I wanted to create a fun playful scene with the mother fox on her way to post a letter."

Scar, a fox from Ringsend, is so called because of a gash above his eye.