Dublin

Ghosts Stories of Dublin

Posted on by gerrytastic

Ahead of this year’s Bram Stoker festival we thought we’d look at the darker side of our fair city and dig into the most famous ghosts stories of Dublin. Any city that’s been around over a thousand years is going to have its fair share of ghost stories and Dublin is no different. In fact considering Dublin has ample cause to claim to be one of the great centres of Gothic literature, having been home to writers like Charles Maturin, Lafcadio Hearn, Sheridan Le Fanu and of course the daddy of Dracula himself, Bram Stoker it’s no surprise we like stories of the ghouslish, strange or macabre. Below we’ve listed some of our dark and scary favourites, stories of ghosts, murders most foul and even Satanic worship.

The Black Church

black-church

 

These days the the imposing, dark limestone building in Broadstone houses offices but up until 1962 St. Mary’s was a Chapel of ease for the local north Dublin protestant community. Due to the darkness of the stone the building became better known as the “Black Church” and various myths arose about the building. The most common one being that if you ran around the building three times and then entered the Church and went to the altar you would see the Devil. Although in true Dublin tradition different variations of the required actions emerged including walking around the Church in reverse 13 times or having to recite the “Our Father” backwards!

 

Darkey Kelly

Hellfire Club James Worsdale

 

For years the legend of Darkey Kelly was that she was burnt at the stake in 1746 for the crime of witchcraft, her only real crime was falling foul of the Sheriff of Dublin Simon Luttrell, known by his title Earl of Carhampton, who had fathered her child.  It was alleged that Kelly had threatened to out the Earl as a member of the infamous “Hellfire Club” (more of which later) and that it was this threat that lead to her execution.  However later research has shown that it was not dabbling in black magic that did for Dorcas “Darkey” Kelly but the fact that she appears to have been a serial killer.

Dorcas Kelly was a brothel keeper in the area close to Christchurch Cathedral, indeed a pub on Fishamble Street still bears her name to this day. She was being investigated in relation to the death of a local shoemaker named John Dowling and the during the course of searching her brothel the remains of five other murdered men were discovered. Kelly was tried and convicted of murder and she was executed in a brutal fashion (part hanged and then burnt alive) on Baggot Street in the year 1761.

Futher to the ghoulish story of Darkey Kelly’s death stories have often been told of the appearance of her ghost in the grounds of the nearby St. Audeon’s Church off High Street. She is said to be dressed all in green, a colour often associated with death in Irish myth.

 

The murder of Edward Ford and the dark side of Trinity College

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Trinity College has its share of ghoulish connections, many of the august University’s students would go on to write their own tales of  dark and unexpected, Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost and of course Bram Stoker’s Dracula spring to mind but there was plenty of real-life gore and ghoulishness to contend with.

As a centre for medical study Trinity’s medical school still sees its fair share of dead bodies but while the cadavers donated to medical science today are treated with courtesy and respect the bodies used by medical students in the 19th Century suffered a less dignified fate. Upon construction of the Berkeley Library in the late 1990’s the remains of dozens of bodies were discovered. It was theorised that these were bodies, sourced ilicitly through grave robbers and body-snatchers by medical students as part of their medical training, quickly dissected and buried under the cloak of darkness.

It is not known if any of these individuals haunt the College but one man who reportedly does is former lecturer Edward Ford. In 1734 the somewhat ill-tempered academic was sparked to anger by a group of rowdy Trinity Students throwing stones at his windows in the Rubrics building of the campus (the fine red brick buildings at east end of the main square). Mr. Ford did not take this sort of hijink well and decide to disperse the rambunctious students by firing a pistol at them. The drunken group quickly scattered but sought revenge for being shot at, they returned to their rooms, grabbed their own firearms and returned to the Rubrics building to teach Edward Ford, Fellow of Trinity College a lesson and fired a shot through his window.

Although the intention was not to kill that was the effect, Ford had been shot although he could not name his assailant, his last words were said to have been a reply regarding the identity of the shooter with Ford saying magnanimously “I do not know, but God forgive them, I do.”

No successful charges were ever brought against any student for the shooting of Ford but it is said that a forlorn individual in powdered wig and Georgian attire can be seen wandering the Rubrics building at night and that it is none other than Ford’s ghost that wanders the halls.

 

The Ghost of the Poet Mangan

lord-edward-pub

The Lord Edward pub and restaurant sit close to Christchurch Cathedral and are named after the famous Lord Edward Fitzgerald the Duke of Leinster who built Leinster House. It was in this building that the poet and scholar James Clarence Mangan was born. Mangan was fluent in a number of languages and became noted for his translations of European and Middles Eastern works to English and also for the quality of his own original poetry. Years later Mangan would admired by the likes of James Joyce and W.B. Yeats and was a friend and comtempory of Thomas Davis whose statue stands on College Green today.

Mangan himself is commemorated with a statue bust in St. Stephen’s Green but his emphemeral, ghostly presence is said to favour returning to the site of his birth and appear in the Lord Edward Tavern.

 

The Hellfire Club

the-hellfire-club

The original Hellfire club had been formed in London in 1719 but was banned within two years by the King of England, George I. The edicts of the King did not however prevent a Hellfire club emerging for the wealthy young gentlemen of Dublin as a place where they could, drink, gamble, hire prostitutes, torture animals and even do a bit of Satan worshipping. One of the founders of the club was Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse who was also the first Grandmaster of the Freemasons in Dublin. In fact Parsons’ home was on Molesworth Street where the main Dublin Masonic Lodge has operated since 1869.

Parsons and many of the wealthy young gents or “Bucks” as they called themselves would meet in taverns and Inns around the city to enjoy their debauches and among their number was the Sheriff of Dublin Simon Luttrell who we met earlier in relation to the execution of Darkey Kelly. Luttrell was known by various nicknames and titles including “the King of Hell” and was said to have sold his soul to the Devil in order to escape crippling debts.

The club members moved their many of their meetings into the foothills of the Dublin mountains, specifically the former hunting lodge of William Conolly, (Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and one of Ireland’s richest men) , on Montpelier Hill which took on the name of the Hellfire Club. It was reported that on building the hunting lodge Conolly had used the stones of a former ancient cairn and passage grave which further added to the ghoulish attraction for the club members.

Originally posted on Dublintown.ie in October 2015.

UCD – teaching a football lesson?

Posted on by gerrytastic

Something I did up for The Football Pink on the unique place occupied by UCD in Irish football.

It’s a strange situation when the most famous player ever to play for your club didn’t actually do so; but then that’s the League of Ireland for you. The player in question was the louche, chain-smoking, erudite Brazilian genius Sócrates and the story went that while studying medicine at UCD (University College Dublin) he joined the College football team (UCD AFC) and played in the unremarkable surroundings of the League of Ireland B division. It’s a lovely image, a young Sócrates, maybe 20 years old playing against the reserve sides of League of Ireland teams in front of a couple of hundred spectators on a muddy pitch in Belfield, the University’s sports grounds. The only problem is it never happened. Sócrates did indeed study medicine and was a qualified Doctor but he studied in the state of Sao Paulo and not in the leafy suburbs of south Dublin.

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While the concept of a University team playing league football is not unique, UCD are a bit of a quirk in Irish football. A rock of stability in the financially turbulent League of Ireland, UCD – because of their connection with Ireland’s largest university and their focus on providing sports scholarships to aspiring students – have a “business model” that has always been different from some of the more established League of Ireland clubs.

While no Brazilian philosopher-footballers have turned out for the Students there have been some well-known players who’ve donned the blue and navy of UCD. Peter Lorimer played a handful of games for them before his second spell with Leeds United while Irish international Kevin Moran also played while studying for his degree. There are other points of interest with the club; their Executive Vice President is the remarkable Josef Veselsky; a formidable table tennis player in his youth in his home city of Bratislava, he joined the Czech resistance when the Nazis invaded before relocating to Ireland in the 1940s. Even UCD’s rare forays into Europe have been of note; back in the 1984-85 Cup Winners Cup, the Students were the width of a crossbar away from knocking Everton out of a competition they would eventually win.

Then, of course, there is the “fan culture” of the club. One of the team’s most famous fans was University alumnus Dermot Morgan, better known to international audiences as Fr. Ted Crilly from Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. In typical Morgan style, when asked why he supported UCD he is reported to have replied “because I don’t like crowds” – an apt response. UCD’s ground; the Belfield Bowl has a seated area of 1,500 and can accommodate more standing but the ground stewards are rarely troubled with capacity crowds. A couple of hundred students and alumni attending games is par for the course for UCD which is low even for the First Division where they currently reside; indeed it is not unusual for opposition supporters to outnumber home fans.

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This has raised the question as to what UCD bring to the league. In terms of boisterous travelling support and match day atmosphere not a great deal, but in other areas they offer a lot. The scholarship system has offered talented young footballers the chance to play league football while pursuing further education. Though not a scholarship student, UCD’s most famous ex-player – the former Manchester United and Ireland defender Kevin Moran – has often said that delaying his move to England until after he completed his Commerce degree meant both that he was more mature when heading over and also less worried about his future, as he had his degree to fall back on. The most recent Ireland international to come through the UCD scholarship system has been Conor Sammon, (dubbed the “Sammon of College” during his stay there) who’s currently on-loan at Sheffield United from Derby County while many other League of Ireland of clubs have benefitted from UCD’s approach.

Dundalk, for example, have just won their second league title in a row and central to this latest triumph has been midfielder Ronan Finn, who won a football scholarship to UCD while one of the star performers who helped St. Patrick’s Athletic win last year’s FAI Cup was Conan Byrne, another UCD past man. UCD aren’t expected to challenge for trophies and are not reliant on generating big gates or chasing prize money, they expect their best performers like Finn and Byrne to get poached by other clubs offering decent wages which means they have always been the club to give youth a chance and to develop quality young players.

At the time of writing, UCD occupy a play-off spot in the First Division having been relegated from the Premier Division last year, yet despite this state of affairs 2015 has seen UCD secure one of the greatest financial windfalls of any League of Ireland club. The University side qualified for the Europa League this year by the Fair Play award route. UCD have always focussed on trying to play expansive, passing football – perhaps best exemplified by previous coach Martin Russell – and eschewing the more physical side of the game which has ultimately benefitted them. While many in Irish football expected UCD to be humiliated in Europe, they surprised many commentators when their young side defeated F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg 2-1 over two legs. Star of the tie was 19-year-old striker Ryan Swan, the third generation of the Swan family to play in the League of Ireland; his father Derek had finished his career at UCD and his cousin Tony McDonnell was the clubs’ erstwhile captain. Progress through the first qualifying round meant the Students met Slovan Bratislava in the next phase, but a heavy home defeat meant that UCD would progress no further. The blow was softened as the club banked over €400,000 in UEFA prize money during their European adventure. To put this into context Dundalk won just €100,000 in prize money for winning the league title. A club that was relegated and only got to play in Europe due to the Fair Play league got several multiples of that amount, and this sums up the dilemma in the League of Ireland.

swan

Dundalk, so impressive over the last two years, were on the brink of going bust only a year earlier and the club is still in dispute with their former owner over lease arrangements of their ground, Oriel Park, and their youth development facilities. UCD and other clubs such as Cabinteely F.C. and especially Wexford Youths present an alternative model to the more established sides in the league. While Wexford, Cabinteely and UCD might lack the trophies and support levels of other clubs, their focus on the youth development of mostly amateur players raises a dilemma for the league.

Dundalk, Bohemians, Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers, Cork City, Drogheda United, Derry City and others have all chased, and in some cases achieved, on field success but have very nearly gone out of business in the process due to overspending, mostly in terms of player wages. A discussion is now whether the aim for clubs should be one of full professionalism of players and coaching staff with a focus on European progress and using such successes to grow existing fan bases, or a return to a mostly amateur player set up with resources focused more on local area player development.

Wexford Youths are newly crowned First Division champions and UCD may yet join them in the Premier Division next year via the play-offs. Some League of Ireland fans are asking themselves if these clubs are good for the nation’s top flight; they are not going to bring legions of travelling fans nor are they likely to entice the sceptical armchair football fans of Ireland through the turnstiles of Irish clubs in the way that the stylish football of Richie Towell, Daryl Horgan and co. have brought crowds back to Dundalk games.

That is unlikely to be of concern to UCD, their European windfall has helped to secure the future of the club even further and they are likely to continue offering young men the chance to play league football while pursuing further education. Those same players are likely to be hoovered up by League of Ireland sides with bigger wage budgets and UCD will begin again, as they always do – with a minimum of fuss.

 

Lesser known plaques of Dublin

Posted on by gerrytastic

The poet Patrick Kavanagh once wrote of a “footfall tapping secrecies of stone” and as I walk around Dublin that phrase often rings true.

If the paving stones of our footpaths and the bricks of our buildings could talk to us about the lives once lived in our city they would have quite the story to tell. The thing is that on occasions the walls and pavements of our fair city do talk to use. Though you may pass them by with scant regard the streets and buildings of DublinTown are filled with a vast array of stories from the past in the form of the various plaques and commemorations that adorn bricks, flagstones and pillars. Below are a couple of our personal choices that may have bypassed your attention.

Clerys-plaque

Pawel Edmund Strzelecki – plaque located at the side of Clery’s on Sackville Place

Pawel Edmund Strzelecki was born in 1797 in what is now part of the modern city of Poznan, Poland. A soldier, and an early European explorer through much of Australia, Pawel’s association with Ireland began during the Great Famine when he was sent to Dublin to help distribute supplies donated to relieve the chronic hunger gripping the worst affected areas of the country. Such was his devotion that he even succumbed to “famine fever”, a horribly debilitating illness that was believed to have been spread by lice. Due to his previous connections with Australia he was also well placed to help those Irish families who wished to emigrate there to start new lives.

Lafcadio-Hearn Dion

Lafcadio Hearn and Dion Boucicault – plaque located at 47 & 48 Gardiner Street Lower

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was born on June 27, 1850, on Lefkada, an Ionian island. The son of a Greek mother and an Irish army surgeon who parted ways shortly after his birth, Hearn was sent to live with relatives in Ireland, specifically 47 Gardiner Street Lower which is now the Townhouse hotel.

His upbringing left him with an unshakeable interest in ghost stories and the occult. He spent time living in Cincinnati and later New Orleans not long after the end of the American Civil War. Later in life he moved to Japan where he ended up teaching English in Tokyo Imperial University. It was his writings during his time in Japan that would secure his cultural legacy, especially his celebrated writings on Japanese folklore and ghost stories which have been made into feature films and manga cartoons.

The neighbouring building was home to Dion Boucicault another writer of note, Boucicault was born in Dublin in 1820 and was a man of many talents. He was an actor, theatre manager and playwright. He helped to define the role of the “stage – Irishman”, while his work tackled risqué subjects for the time such as mixed-race marriage. His writings, often combining Victorian melodrama with farcical comedy remains popular and the Abbey Theatre produced Boucicault’s Arrah na pogue as recently as 2011.

bewleys

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Thomas Moore, Robert Emmet, The Duke of Wellington – plaque located on Bewley’s of Grafton Street

Grafton Street is the busiest street in the county, and Bewley’s café (currently under refurbishment) is one of its most popular businesses, but many people walk by this impressive plaque without noticing it. Bewley’s was the site where the famous Whytes Academy was established, an English Grammar School, and among its famous students included writers, composers, rebels and politicians. Some famous past pupils were Richard Brinsley Sheridan, one of the foremost playwrights of the day, famous for plays like The Rivals and School for Scandal he was also an MP for over 30 years and is buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Cathedral.

Thomas Moore, born in nearby Aungier Street who is best remembered as one of the most popular songwriters of the 19th Century, his notable works including The Last Rose of Summer, the Minstrel Boy and aptly The Meeting of the Waters as his statue resides over a former public toilet! His works are referenced extensively in the writings of James Joyce and he has a statue next to Trinity College where he was a student, (the statue has been temporarily relocated for the Luas works) and the Westin Hotel.

Robert Emmet the nationalist leader was executed in 1803 at the tender age of 25 on Thomas Street in the city centre. He had been involved in the 1798 rebellion as well as being the leader of the failed revolt that took place in 1803 and which lead to his arrest and death. He remains a hugely significant figure in Irish Republican history, was the subject of songs and poems, as well as a fairly inaccurate play by Dion Boucicault (mentioned above), and has several towns and counties named after him in the United States.

Arthur Wellesley, better known as the conqueror of Napoleon, a two-time British Prime minister and the 1st Duke of Wellington was born in Dublin where the Merrion Hotel now stands. As well as his famous victory at the Battle of Waterloo which is commemorated by the imposing Wellington monument in the Phoenix Park (the monuments’ metal plaques are sculpted out of captured Napoleonic cannon), the Iron Duke during one of his terms as Prime minister brought the Catholic Relief act of 1829 into force which gave Catholics almost full Civil Rights under British law and meant that Members of Parliament like Daniel O’Connell could finally, officially take their seats in Westminster.

Quite the collection of old boys from Samuel Whyte’s Grammar school, give them a thought next time you stop into Bewley’s for a coffee.

Tom-ClarkeTom-Clarke2

Tom Clarke – plaque location at the corner of Parnell Street and O’Connell Street Upper

Thomas Clarke has two plaques which bear his name, both above the tobacconist shop he ran on the corner of Parnell Street and O’Connell Street. As well as selling cigarettes, sweets and other sundry items he also used his business as a meeting place for other members of the IRB. British forces were well aware of Clarke’s Republican past, including his earlier attempt to blow up London Bridge and would often keep the shop under surveillance!

Clarke fought during the Easter Rising in the GPO garrison, only a stone’s throw from his shop. As one of the seven signatories of the proclamation he was sentenced to death and despite possessing American citizenship (which would save Eamon De Valera’s life) he was executed by firing squad on May 3rd 1916. His wife Kathleen would continue on with his political ideals as a TD and Senator and also as the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin. A newsagents shop still trades to this day from the same spot as Clarke’s original tobacconists.

Ernest-Walton

Ernest Walton – plaque location Trinity College

In Ireland many of us would be aware of the contributions of our Nobel laureates in the field of literature, Heaney, Beckett, Shaw and Yeats are well known and oft-quoted. They have featured on banknotes and stamps and in TV documentaries, their faces look out on us from displays in Dublin airport next to quotes from their famous works.

Less in known of Ernest Walton, a scientist and lecturer in Trinity College who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 and who helped bring about the “atomic age”. Ireland has a rich scientific history which includes contributions of note from the likes of Robert Boyle and William Rowan Hamilton to the wonderfully named Robert Mallet, the father of seismology.

Walton, who had been a student of fellow Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford, along with his colleague John Cockcroft were among the first people to effectively “split the atom” and were responsible for the development of an early type of particle accelerator. His plaque is tucked down the back of Trinity College on the School of Physics building.

Originally posted on DublinTown.ie in May 2015

The Bridges of Dublin

Posted on by gerrytastic

Are you a northsider or a southsider? It’s a question asked a bit. A lot more than are you a Dubliner? You can blame Ross O’Carroll Kelly, Damo & Ivor or odd and even postcodes but it seems that we look on our own lovely Liffey as a barrier that divides us rather than the Life-giving River that is like the blood running through the veins of our vibrant city.

So rather than look at what separates us as Dubliners  why not look at what crosses such divides and brings us together. Our bridges of Dublin. Last year Dublin City Council launched their Bridges of Dublin website along with a small exhibition in the Civic Offices which prompted us here in DublinTown to spend a little time thinking about the bridges of our fair city.

After all doesn’t Baile Átha Cliath simply mean town of the hurdle fort, a reference back to the time when both our Viking and Gaelic ancestors were leppin’ across the Liffey at the site of the current Fr. Mathew Bridge? That’s the one that joins Church Street to Merchant’s Quay, and there has been a bridge of some variety there for over 1,000 years. It’s named after the priest who tried to rid Dublin of the daemon drink as a Temperance campaigner in the 19th Century.

Fr. Mathew was born in County Tipperary and he’s the only priest to have Dublin bridge named after him but not the only non-Dubliner. Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, the Fenian leader, was born in Cork and has a bridge named after him, at Winetavern Street (next to the Civic Offices) over to the Four Courts, while an earlier rebel leader Rory O’More (a Laois man) gives his name to the fetching blue bridge that links Watling Street and Ellis Street next to the Guinness brewery,  Sean Heuston (of Limerick) a Volunteer commander in 1916 is also commemorated at both Heuston bridge and nearby Heuston train station.

hinde

As you can see plenty of Rebels are recorded in the stones and struts that criss-cross our city although one of the British army’s most famous leaders was also once commemorated thus. The Duke of Wellington, a Dubliner by birth was once commemorated as you crossed from Liffey Street to Temple Bar, what we now know today as the iconic Ha’penny bridge.

Apart from Rebels and soldiers there are bridges that commemorate politicians and statesmen like Isaac Butt, and most grandly, Daniel O’Connell, his O’Connell Bridge leading into O’Connell Street. A unique bridge, visually appealing and beautifully crafted it is in fact wider than it is long by 5 metres. The building of O’Connell Bridge as well as a construction of the Custom House a few years earlier changed the shape of the city’s business and trade. Throngs of people moved between the widened streets of Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street) and Westmoreland Street which saw these areas become a new commercial hub in the city as the centre of shipping was moved further east into Dublin Bay, reshaping the city profoundly.

As the centuries progressed our city continued to grow, Eastward Dublin Port developed and later still the IFSC and Docklands areas began to emerge. To serve these new areas and connect our city, new bridges and new designs emerged to reflect a modern city, new names too. The city’s rich literary heritage was celebrated with bridges bearing the names of Sean O’Casey, James Joyce and Nobel Laureate Samuel Beckett. The style and use of the bridges had progressed, the Beckett Bridge reminiscent of the Irish harp straddling the river, while the pedestrian only O’Casey Bridge pivots in sections so as to accommodate boats sailing up the Liffey.

View of the Samuel Beckett bridge

The latest bridge to span the river is the Rosie Hackett Bridge, the first Liffey Bridge named after a woman it opened in 2014. The diminutive Rosie was a long-time member of the ITGWU and was also a member of James Connolly’s Irish Citizen Army during the 1916 Rising, it was Rosie who delivered the still wet proclamation of the Irish Republic to Connolly before it was read out by Padraic Pearse on the steps of the GPO. The Rosie Hackett Bridge also features tram tracks to accommodate the new Luas Cross City line which will begin crossing the river from Marlborough Street to Hawkins Street from 2017.

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The Rosie Hackett bridge at night

So next time you cross the river try to think more of what connects us as a city, the wrought iron, steel and granite of its bridges, the names of men and women of Dublin and all Ireland who left a mark upon their city and the world. Forget about north side/Southside stereotypes, it’s time to build a bridge and get over it.

Originally posted to DublinTown in June 2015.

Bohemians in Europe – The Aciéries D’Angleur trophy 1929

Posted on by gerrytastic

When you look through the history of Bohemian Football Club and you get down as far as the honours section there is, thankfully much to peruse – league titles, cups of various names and hues, some major, some minor, some now defunct.

One that sticks out though, its obscure French title jarring somewhat alongside lists of Leinster Senior Cup victories, is the Aciéries d’Angleur triumph of 1929. Many supporters may imagine this to be some sort of pre-Hanot era version of a European trophy, to be classified with the likes of the Mitropa Cup or Latin Cup which existed before the emergence of the European Cup in the 1950s. Unlike those other competitions, however, there is precious little information immediately available about the Aciéries d’Angleur, so for the benefit of the Bohs faithful, I offer this short account.

The Aciéries d’Angleur was a trophy contested by teams in and around Liege and Brussels, the term ‘Aciéries d’Angleur’ referred to the steel mills (aciéries) of the Angleur region around Liege, an area that had become heavily industrialised from the early 19th century onwards. Bohemians were invited to participate as a guest team in a competition involving , Standard Liege and Royal Tilleur FC but also played matches against a Royal Flemish XI and Charleroi Sporting Club as part of a wider tour of Belgium.

At the time, the national team of the Irish Free State was in its nascent phase. There had been an acrimonious spilt from the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA), and the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) had sought recognition from FIFA in order to compete on the international stage.

They knew that this recognition was unlikely to come from the “Home Nation” associations of the UK, whose official line was to recognise the IFA as football’s governing body for the whole island. Though the FAIFS had split from the IFA in 1921 and had been recognised by FIFA in 1923, it would not be until 1924 that a team would take to the pitch under the Free State banner when they competed in that year’s Olympic Games. It would be a further two years before a full international match would take place, this time against Italy in Turin. The Italians would then send a strong side for a return fixture in Dublin, playing in Lansdowne Road in 1927.

The two fixtures against the Italians both ended in defeat – the next international games were against Belgium and were both somewhat more successful. The first game, in February 1928, took place in Liege, with the Free State XI gaining a win with a very credible 4-2 victory in a game that featured Bohs’ Jack McCarthy as captain, Jimmy White grabbing two goals, Jeremiah (Sam) Robinson on the wing and Harry Cannon in goal. The return fixture was held in Dalymount Park a year later with the Irish running out 4-0 winners, thanks in no small part to a hat-trick by John Joe Flood of Shamrock Rovers in a game that also featured Bohs winger Jimmy Bermingham on the right.

Some IFA observers north of the border saw this Free State side as a rump team, playing these early fixtures against other “Catholic” nations and excluded from the Home Nations championship which they viewed, somewhat arrogantly, as the true competitive measure of an international side. However, returning to Bohs, with the Belgian national team having twice played against Ireland, once in Dalymount, it should not perhaps seem so strange that Bohemians – Irish champions in the 1927-28 season – should be invited to compete for the Aciéries d’Angleur trophy.

The tournament was held as a pre-season competition before the beginning of the 1929-30 season, a campaign that would see Bohs again crowned as league champions as they reclaimed their title from rivals Shelbourne. It was contested by teams from the region around Liege and often featured a foreign invitee, the famous amateur English club Dulwich Hamlet had previously taken part, as had PSV Eindhoven.

The fixtures took place in August 1929, with the first match being against Charleroi on August 15th. A crowd of 15,000 was estimated to have attended, with the Bohemians players given a “splendid reception” on what was described as a day “too warm indeed, for football”. Although it was noted by Irish diplomat PJ O’Byrne (a Papal Count from his time as Irish Envoy to Rome) that the Bohemian party were warmly welcomed by the British Consul in Charleroi, there was an incident which caused a bit of a stir.

As Count O’Byrne noted:

“Proceedings were marred somewhat – from our point of view – by the heralding of the Bohemian team on the field under the colours of the Union Jack, which, apparently, was the cause of some manifestation by a section of the crowd, probably British ex-Service Men.”

If the Union Flag incident affected the Bohs players, it didn’t show in their performance, as they ran out 2-1 winners, with goals from a pair of Bills – Bill Cleary and the English-born Bill Dennis. The matches came thick and fast, with another game the following day (Friday 16th) against Royal Flemish select in Brussels with Bohemians winning 1-0 according to a report in the Irish Times.

There is very little information about this game or about who made up the Royal Flemish side but later that same day the Bohemian Football Club party met with Count O’Byrne and arranged to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honour the Irish dead of the First World War. The Free State international side had performed this same ritual the year before with some diplomatic assistance from the impressively named Count Gerald Edward O’Kelly de Gallagh et Tycooly, who had since relocated to Paris.

This simple ceremony, the laying of a wreath, which was a large floral harp in the Saorstát colours, was preceded by a short speech from Joe Wickham, secretary of Bohemians (and later to be General Secretary of the FAI). The diplomatic Free State flag was given to the team for the rest of the tour, so that it could be displayed in the stadium on match days and avoid any further incidents like the one in Charleroi. The wreath-laying ceremony had added significance for Bohemians, as the club had, according to one source, lost up to 40 playing members to the military during the Great War. One such Bohemian who would not return was the club’s early star forward Harold Sloan, who was killed in action on the Western Front in 1917.

On Saturday 17th the third game of the tour took place against Royal Tilleur FC. Royal Tilleur were a moderate side from Liege who had been relegated from the Belgian top flight the previous season. The club went through several mergers, and now exists as part of RFC de Liege, a club most famous for its refusal to release Jean Marc Bosman once his contract had expired and allow him to join French team Dunkerque. Again Bohemians ran out 1-0 winners, and once again Cleary was on the scoresheet.

The final game of the competition was against Standard Liege, to win what the Irish Independent referred to as the Royal Angleur Cup. The match was hard-fought, with the sides level at half-time at one apiece, Bermingham getting the first strike for Bohs. The Gypsies got on top in the second half, finishing as 3-2 winners, with Bill Dennis and Johnny McMahon getting the crucial goals. From there it was swiftly off to Ostend to catch the boat to London, and then back to Dublin to finish preparations for the new season.

Just over two weeks after the return of the triumphant Bohemian side, there was a meeting of the FAIFS Council. At this meeting, PJ Casey of Dundalk FC paid tribute to Bohs on account of their successes in Belgium. The Association agreed to officially record these achievements, and this motion was supported by “various members” of the Council. It was further agreed at this meeting that the Association should endeavour to arrange another match against Belgium (and others against Holland, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain).

The game with Belgium was duly arranged for May 1930, and heralded another victory for the Irish, this time a 3-1 win in a game that featured the final international appearance of Bohemians defender Jack McCarthy (then 32), and the debut of 20-year-old forward Fred Horlacher, who was beginning his journey to becoming a club legend.

We often think of European club football as being insular in the years before the European Cup, especially in Ireland of the 1920s and 30s, where the association game was restricted to the hotbeds of Dublin and Cork, separated from the major clubs in the Belfast area, and effectively ostracised by the “Home Nations”.

The Aciéries d’Angleur however, showed that a team like Bohemians, true to their name, were more connected to mainland Europe than one might expect. The journey to Belgium was in its own small way an important step to identify the Free State, its Football Association, and clubs as separate and distinct entities, capable of competing in the international arena.

The issues around the Free State flag and the visit to the grave of the Unknown Soldier show that Bohemian Football Club, in a minor way, did its part to acknowledge the past (such as the contribution of Irish soldiers during the Great War) and herald the future of a small nation in flying the flag of the Free State. It is not far-fetched to assume that many of those attending the matches in Belgium would never have seen the Irish tricolour flown before, or perhaps even been aware of the emergence of this new state.

This was not to be the last engagement between Bohemians and teams from other nations. It is noteworthy that throughout the 1920s and 30s, long before official UEFA club competitions, Bohemians were competing against sides from all over the world. Although the Free State national teams’ victories over Belgium show that Belgian sides were perhaps not world beaters, it is worth remembering that they had been Olympic Champions on home soil in 1920, and players from that victorious side were still featuring against the Irish in 1928.

Bohemians, as a completely amateur side, also had to undertake a boat journey to Belgium via Britain, and play games on consecutive dates in blistering August weather against the local sides and in front of partisan crowds. Their victory is still worthy of respect from the Bohemian faithful to this day, even if the tournament may seem obscure and archaic to modern fans.

Many will already know about Bohs’ historical victories in Europe against Rangers, Aberdeen, Kaiserslautern or BATE Borisov, though some may not be familiar with these earlier games in Belgium or indeed against sides from as far afield as South America, but then that’s a story for another day.

Originally posted on the official Bohemian FC website in 2014 and with special thanks to Simon Alcock for the imagery.

The story of Bruxelles- from star signs to rock stars

Posted on by gerrytastic

In the late 19th Century there was a revival of interest in those matters spiritual and supernatural. People of the 1880’s and 90’s rediscovered an interest in the forgotten pastime of astrology and this re-emergence of a fascination with astrology and horoscopes might explain the reason that the pub we know today as Bruxelles (more on that name shortly) was originally known as the Zodiac Lounge when it opened its doors for business way back in 1886.

Bruxelles-Bar-Zoodiac

The Zodiac Lounge was part of the famous Mooney’s pub group and was also known as the Grafton Mooney, much as the Parnell Heritage Pub on Parnell Street was known as the Parnell Mooney. The signs of the Zodiac that influenced the pub’s name are still clearly visible in Bruxelles to this day. Just look behind the main bar and you can still see the beautiful tiled mosaics of figures representing each of the star signs, these tiles are almost 130 years old and offer a connection back to the Victorian world of the Zodiac lounge.

Bruxelles-Bar-Zoodiac-2

Bruxelles-Bar-FlagsBut why is it called Bruxelles and why are all those flags hanging from the ceiling? And speaking of that, why are there no stars and stripes hanging there an American friend asks? Well, give me a minute and I’ll tell you. In the early 1970’s the bar came into the ownership of the Egan family who continue to run the pub to this day. The purchase of the pub happened to coincide with Ireland’s entry into the EU (or the EEC as it was then) and in the spirit of European harmony the pub was renamed Bruxelles after the Belgian capital. The flags that hang from the ceiling represent all the member nations of the EU so sorry to any visitors from across the Atlantic but that’s why you don’t see an American, or Canadian or Australian flag there.

Bruxelles-Bar-UndergroundWhile the 70’s brought big changes Bruxelles certainly hasn’t stood still in the intervening decades. The pub, and its famous basement bars became the hangout in Dublin for the emerging Rock scene and was famously frequented by Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy fame. It’s for this reason that when a statue was erected to Philo, that Harry Street, right next to the pub he knew so well seemed the natural location for its location. The connection with the Lynott clan continues to this day. Philomena, Phil’s Ma in case you didn’t already know, continues to drop by the pub from time to time and has played a big part in its latest development.

The basement bars, so long beloved of rockers, metallers and indie kids have been completely refurbished and extended. The Zodiac Lounge and the Flanders Lounge as they’re dubbed in acknowledgment to the venue’s history look fantastic and the Flanders Lounge has been decked out with a huge amount of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy memorabilia kindly donated by Philomena. Phil has his own eponymous snug down the back of the bar and there is a new beer cellar that stretches right out under the flagstones of Grafton Street. It’s the perfect spot to try a pint of Bruxelles own bespoke lager!

The new basement bars are available for private hire and for live music and DJ nights. They’re also a treasure trove for any connoisseur of good beer or good rock music.

Originally poster to Dublintown.ie July 2015

The story behind a pub called the Confession Box

Posted on by gerrytastic

The Confession Box pub resides snuggly at 88 Marlborough Street on the ground floor of a fine old Georgian building at the side of Boyers Department Store. At Confession Box you are guaranteed a good pint & no penance.

The name might seem curious at first but when you consider the size of the cosy confines of the pub and the close proximity to the neoclassical grandeur of St. Mary’s Pro- Cathedral, “the Pro” as it is still known by many Dubs, the pubs’ title begins to make a bit more sense.

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There is another reported reason for the name of the pub that dates back all the way to the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). During that conflict the last know excommunications from the Catholic Church in Ireland took place and were directed against the men involved in the ongoing rebellion. At the forefront of issuing these excommunications was Bishop Daniel Cohalan of Cork and it was rumoured that many of those who were excommunicated, including that famous Corkonian Michael Collins, would drop into what was then the “Maid of Erin” pub and would receive Communion and Confession from sympathetic priests from the nearby Pro-Cathedral. Thus the pub earned the nickname of “The Confession Box”.

There is still a great deal of memorabilia adorning the walls of the pub today from that time period with “the Big Fella” featuring prominently.

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These were not the Confession Box’s only claims to fame however. In 1793 the building was the birthplace of Dionysius Lardner the noted scientist and economist who became infamous for his rivalry with the most famous engineer in the Industrial revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was also reportedly the father of the famous playwright Dion Boucicault, who features elsewhere on DublinTown.

Many years later the pub came into the ownership of the noted sportsman Michael O’Flanagan and was renamed “O’Flanagan’s” until 1965. Michael was a great all-round athlete and was the younger brother of the famous Dr. Kevin O’Flanagan. Michael and Kevin are unique in the world of sport, both committed amateurs, they are the only brothers who have represented their country at senior level in both soccer and rugby. Michael who was playing for Dublin club Bohemians when he won his only cap for the Irish football team in 1946, a late call up to replace injured striker Davy Walsh in a game against England at Dalymount Park. His brother Kevin, then playing for Arsenal only realised he would be lining out alongside his brother when he turned up in the dressing room an hour before kick-off! Mick was also a member of the Irish Grand Slam winning rugby team of 1948, winning his only cap in the 6-0 win over Scotland. Such was the connections with the pub that years after Mick’s sporting retirement a group of sports journalists who were in for a pint decided to found the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) there and then. An association that exists to this day.

confession-box

Today the pub is probably best known for its pints of Guinness, it has been voted the best pint in Dublin by 98FM listeners for the last two years in their Best of Dublin awards. And for their popular live trad music evenings. The pub has recently been refurbished although the changes have been subtle and have preserved the intimated, old world atmosphere so beloved of locals and tourists alike. So next time you’re on Marlborough Street drop in for a pint. We don’t think they do communion wafers anymore.

Originally posted on Dublintown.ie in July 2015

Blogging beginnings

Posted on by gerrytastic

I’ve been writing bits and pieces about football in general and Bohemian F.C. in particular for a number of years now. I always avoided trying to start my own blog preferring to write pieces for other websites who were either in the process of establishing themselves or were already well established. They already had readers and an audience and I’ve never felt comfortable chasing that and, well it seemed like a much easier way to get stuff read.

The reason I’ve started this blog now is that I wanted to have all the various articles I’ve written in the one place and maybe have a space to put up bits and pieces that are of even more of a minority interest than usual.

What you’ll find is a good bit of Bohs stuff, some general football musings and even a few other bits I’ve done on Dublin history. So please feel free to share, comment or complain.