Local History

by Damien Hughes on Dec 21st, 2013 - 16526 Views

Preface: Just To be Clear, My Own Position On A Cork Street Park Due to the articles I’ve written about the potential Cork Street Park, I’ve received some interesting ideas, via email and Facebook, for the use of the space that’s available, and I plan on presenting some of them here... 

by Betty Brunkard on Dec 10th, 2013 - 5346 Views

In 1545, the archbishop obtained a license to unite the Church of St. John the Baptist of Kilmainham and that of St. James, both without the suburbs, to the Church of St. Catherine, within the suburbs of Dublin. In 1556, the Lord Lieutenant Fitzwalter kept his court at Kilmainham and it was here that... 

by Eoghan Brunkard on Dec 10th, 2013 - 2661 Views

Somewhere between 410 – 420 AD St Patrick first came to Ireland as a slave. Irish raiders had been attacking the British western coastline for centuries particularly in places such as Wales and Cornwall, they captured a young Patrick and brought him back to Ireland where he spent the next 6 years... 

by Betty Brunkard on Dec 10th, 2013 - 9162 Views

On Thursday the 1st of September 1831 at 9 o’clock in the morning, Dublin Zoological Gardens opened its doors to the public for the first time. By the mid 1830’s, the city’s population was about 200,000 and approximately 40,000 people were visiting the Zoo each year. The entrance was quite expensive,... 

by Eoghan Brunkard on Dec 9th, 2013 - 2807 Views

This famous editorial first appeared in the New York Sun on September 21st, 1897. We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun. Dear Editor, I... 

by Betty Brunkard on Dec 9th, 2013 - 4074 Views

Christmas, more than any other festival, has more worldwide customs and traditions. Red Christmas Candles Long ago in Ireland, each household had a long, red Christmas candle burning in the window. This was to light the way for Mary and Joseph, on their journey to Bethlehem. Before the advent of supermarkets,... 

by Betty Brunkard on Dec 8th, 2013 - 2506 Views

In 606 a.d, Saint Magnend was abbot of a monastery here, giving rise to the name Kill Magnend or ‘church of Magnend. This was later corrupted into its current name of Kilmainham. Saint Magnend’s feast day was celebrated on the 18th of December each year and Kilmainham became an important place of... 

by FRG.ie Admin on Nov 30th, 2013 - 4835 Views

Social historian IDA MILNE discusses the changing view of the role of women in the history of the 1913 Lockout What women’s voices do we hear from the Lockout narrative? Perhaps the best known, in 2013 terms, would be that of Rosie Hackett, the meek-looking and tiny Jacob’s biscuit factory worker,... 

by FRG.ie Admin on Nov 29th, 2013 - 3403 Views

‘I always felt it was worth it, to see the trouble the police had getting [the banner] down. No one was arrested. If it took 400 policemen to take four women, what would the newspapers say?’ Last month Dublin City Councillors voted to name the newest bridge over the River Liffey in honour of trade... 

by Fountain Resource Group on Nov 29th, 2013 - 9794 Views

A housing inquiry in 1914 found that 16 members of Dublin Corporation owned tenements and it was clear that Corporation members intervened to foil the enforcement of regulations against their properties While Dublin may have been regarded as the “second city” of the British Empire in the... 

by Eoghan Brunkard on Nov 28th, 2013 - 3673 Views

Looking back… Many moons ago Fountain Resource Group news was distributed by a medium known as “paper”, much like the ancient Egyptians used papyrus, this substance was soft, and could be manipulated easily by the natives as a recording substance. The notorious Derek Freeney was a famed record... 

by Eoghan Brunkard on Nov 27th, 2013 - 2127 Views

The organisation RADE, whose speciality is promoting recovery from drug abuse through performance in drama and entertainment, has this year decided to produce a play based on the Lock Out in honour of its centenary. People recovering from addiction have donned bonnets and caps to recapture the spirit... 

by Eoghan Brunkard on Nov 17th, 2013 - 14967 Views

It was just past 10, the group were lucky to catch the off license before the shutters came down. Though the rain had kept up since early evening and the streets were now well wetted, they would keep faithful to the plan and set out down Bow Lane for the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. That usually quite... 

by Damien Hughes on Nov 17th, 2013 - 3933 Views

The good folks at The Liberty, a free online newspaper run by the students at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), have produced this short film which captures some of the differences that have come about due to development around The Liberties. The video features excerpts from a 30-year-old RTE programme,... 

by Alan Finn on Nov 12th, 2013 - 5734 Views

Rainsford Street, Dublin 8 Sir Mark Rainsford was a Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1700 to 1701. He was the original founder of the Guinness Brewery, and had a son, also named Mark (Jnr.), who inherited his fathers land. Another Mark (Sir Mark Rainsford’s grandson) sold the current site to Mr Arthur... 

by Alan Finn on Sep 25th, 2013 - 6635 Views

He was known locally and fondly by the moniker “man on the bridge”. His real name was Arthur Fields, who with his family came to Dublin to start a new life. As a Jewish family they found it difficult living on the continent in a time of high anti Semitism. Arthur left his home in Kiev, Ukraine in... 

by Eoghan Brunkard on Sep 12th, 2013 - 5462 Views

“Finally on Six One, does Dublin have its own “Hound of the Baskervilles”? There have been a number of strange sightings in Dublin’s Cabra area of a large black dog that is meant to have a supernatural appearance. Local residents claim that they have caught glimpses of the animal roaming around... 

by Donal Fallon via ComeHereToMe.com on Sep 7th, 2013 - 6560 Views

This image by Paul Reynolds captures the beautiful John’s Lane Church in the heart of the Liberties, which has long interested me because of its hidden history. PLEASE NOTE: This article was originally published on ComeHereToMe.com. We have republished it under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs... 

by Damien Hughes on Sep 7th, 2013 - 3424 Views

The Dublin Civic Trust is celebrating the heritage of Dublin’s Squares by hosting a Dublin Square Conference on Friday September the 13th, and a Dublin Garden Square Day on Saturday the 14th of September. DOWNLOAD PROGRAMMES OF EVENTS: Dublin Squares Conference 2013 (Sept 13th) Dublin Garden Squares... 

by Alan Finn on Sep 7th, 2013 - 5620 Views

Photo: Copyright Wally Cassidy 1991, get more info here. We at the Fountain your favourite online newswire recently put an article up titled “Bang Bang” and we hope you enjoyed it. We decided to expand this subject by adding in some more characters that where once part of our street scenes. Using...