Warum, so fragt sich mancher zufällig vorbeisurfende Leser vielleicht, sollte man eigentlich nach Dublin fahren? Lassen Sie mich einmal die „klassischen“ Gründe durchgehen …

Musik – Ja, viele Menschen kommen wegen der Musik in die irische Hauptstadt. So der Mainstream-Folk-Fan, für den das absolut Gelbe vom Ei ist, Guinness-beseelt (oder -besudelt) mit einem letzten „air-fa-la-la-lo“ im O’Donoghues vom Hocker zu fallen. Oder die Altrocker, die am Rory Gallagher Square den Klängen von Thin Lizzy lauschen möchten. Oder die Gefolgschaft Bonos, die zwischen Windmühle und Hotel pilgert, murmelnd „still haven’t found what I%u2019m looking for“. Oder die weniger murmelnden denn kreischenden AnhängerInnen von Gruppen wie Boyzone, Bellefire und Westlife … alle gemeinsam mit unversöhnlichem, ernsten Blick beobachtet von den Anhängern St. Sineads! Ja, Dublin hat etwas für alle diese Menschen – und auch für jene, die einmal Händels „Messias“ am Uraufführungsort erleben wollen.

[ via: Dublin.de – Warum überhaupt Dublin ? ]<!– –>

Saint Patrick’s Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially St. Paddy’s Day or Paddy’s Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa 385–461 AD), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17.
The day is the national holiday of Ireland. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the rest of Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.The biggest celebrations on the island of Ireland outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, where Saint Patrick was buried following his death on 17 March 461.

(check out Wikipedia for St.Patrick)

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This is a promotional film by Dublin Tourism:
You find it in YouTube with the key-word:
It’s a Beautiful Day for Dublin or:
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=WVv0Nn12Jog
Enjoy it.
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Please allow 10-15 seconds for our new improved

and faster streaming to upload to your PC

[ via: Live Webcam of Dublin, Ireland Wireless Broadband Streaming Web Cam Dublins O Connell Bridge and Liffey Free ]<!– –>

Cast

Seamus – Sean McGinleyMartin – Aaron Monaghan

Matty – Tadhg Murphy (albino)

Kate – Sarah Greene

Nursey – Catherine Walsh

Maria – Sarah Jane Drummey

Review

Empress of India

A very controversial play is this year’s Druid production of Stuart Carolan’s
„Empress of India“ at the Theatre Festival in Dublin. The Dublin Theatre Festival always
presents new plays and plays that show at least vanguard features. The
„Empress“ is both, probably not presenting new theatrical techniques, but it
violates certain rules of tragedy, thus not being a „typical“ tragedy, and it
is definitely not a comedy, even though it is sometimes funny. In reviews in Ireland the play
has been blamed for being none of both. The play is also criticised because of
the blasphemous presentation of religious symbols and the excessive use of
verbal sexual atrocities.

The plot is simple, let us reduce it even more. Seamus Lamb’s wife is
dead and the famous actor is so much haunted by the loss, that he has to be
permanently cared for. But his grief is not only expressed by depression, but
by mad verbal outbursts of insulting sexual attacks on his Nursey or fierce
humiliations of his albino son. None of his three kids succeeds in life and
none of them can cope with the heavy burden of the loss of their mother and their
suffering father. As a result Matty ends up on stage in his sister’s clothes,
Martin cuts off his ear and Kate commits suicide. not being able to be of any
help for his children Seamus Lamb shoots himself. There they are, the tragic
hero and his victims, a desperate final tableau that is sharply contrasted by a
video-representation of the two boys in their childhood days representing an
intact family but already indicating that their father doesn?t really care for
them.

What are the reasons for this holocaust?

In fact Seamus Lamb is only interested in himself. On the surface, seemingly
a rather narcistic personality, permanently trying to be on stage and thus in
the sphere of illusion, he doesn?t care for others. But he himself gives a much
better explanation: By not loving anybody he tries to avoid being hurt. So in
order not to build up an emphatic relationship with his children and his
Nursey, he escapes and stays in an illusionary world that is not even committed
to truth. It is part of his guilt that he applies this strategy to his children
who suffer from it and who consequently are themselves not able to show their
feelings to others or to communicate with others properly. Matty, the albino,
deeply humiliated and insulted by his father doesn’t even try, Martin, who is
related to a girl called Maria, cannot open up himself to her, he also hasn’t
got the strength to control his grief so that a normal social life, having
dinner with friends for example, would be possible. In fact with Maria
communication fails on all levels: the verbal and the physical barrier is
finally shown in an impressive tableau when Maria tries to sleep, not without
having invited Martin to come to her and to be held by her, but he himself
cannot join her, remaining naked at a distance, constantly calling her name.

This is a moment in which two other levels link: Maria, the human being
and Maria, the mother of God whose statue is always on stage, turning her back
to the characters and to the audience. Here Martin calls for Maria, addressing
her in a way the Virgin Maria is addressed, calling her to rescue him. Naturally he cannot get through to the human version.

On the other hand, in his desperation, he addresses the statue and
blames her of not having rescued her son and even treats and threatens it as if
it were a human being.

The motif of confusion is also found elsewhere in the play:

Seamus presents stories that seem to be true but turn out to be wrong.
He acts the death of Jesus but cannot stand a human pain. Matty is dressed in
his sister’s clothes. Seamus attacks Nursey with sexual atrocities but „what
(he) really means: (He) loves his wife“. Seamus attacks and humiliates Matty,
but what he really means is that he considers him to be „his beautiful
son“.

This confusion is also underlined by the gigantic attic window that
looks out to the sky.

This symbol of an outlook to heaven is in fact impenetrable. In fact it
is a mirror that just throws back and, by its uneven surface, distorts the
humans who struggle under it trying to overcome their sorrows but being too
weak to succeed: The distorted shape is reflected again in distorted
communication. Instead of offering a heavenly solution it is also used as a
screen, showing pictures from the past or showing Kate’s suicide.

After all there is the question, why the disaster is presented to us!

I think Seamus is a tragic character. Not caring for the family, being
caught by the quest for personal success is something that is perhaps not only a
modern reality. Seamus, the actor, is a victim of the hubris that he can act
away reality, that he can swap reality for imagination. What makes the
character tragic is the fact that he shows (two) moments of insight: When he admits,
after a fit of raging, that he loves his wife and when he addresses his albino
son as „my beautiful son“ after having humiliated him. A tragic hero also
produces victims, well there they are, spread out in front of our eyes at the
end of the play.

Where is the solution? Well, not from the Virgin Maria whose statue is lying on the floor and definitely not
from above, there is a solid screen between heaven and earth. There is no real solution
indicated on stage, because two moments of insight in what seems to be a
lunatic asylum are not enough to make us believe in the redemptive power of
insight. So the solution must be in the minds of the spectators. If there is
none, no solution is possible. This is the final message of the play and, by
the way, this is typical for a post-modern play.

There is nothing like the solution of the epic theatre, there is no
guided solution that leads to a certain conclusion. Everybody can find his own
answer and if he doesn’t, well, there isn’t any for him.

The performance as such was very impressive, its symbolism clear. The
dramatic concept is convincing.

But why is there this little tiny globe being referred to only once in
the play but permanently on stage? We have two choices: Either it is a badly presented motif or it is our planet under the Godless sky, just given to us and left to us and left alone and we
are left to ourselves on it and have to find our own answers and „so we beat on,
boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.“ (F. Scott
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Schöningh, p. 128)

See Dublin Live – The Dublin Webcam!

Now you can see live video footage of our fair city streamed directly from Dublin to your computer! The Dublin webcam camera pans from O’Connell St Bridge to the famous ha’penny bridge. This live view of Dublin means that you can watch major events, such as the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, pass by, or just spend a little time watching the people of the Fair City of Dublin going about their business!

Please allow 10-15 seconds for our new improved and faster streaming to upload to your PC

[ via: Dublin Tourism – Dublin Webcam ]<!– –>

The Sunday Times September 24, 2006

Theatre: Touching from a distance
A turkey or a biting commentary about suicide and grief? Gerry McCarthy on Stuart Carolanâ’s new play, Empress of India.
The age of reason is dead and consigned to the dustbin of history. This is the age of feelings, where the heart is more important than the brain and emotional health is taken as the cornerstone of human wellbeing. Ever since Freud, accessing the emotions has been seen as the key to mental well-being. „Don’t tell me what you think,“ we are told, „tell me what you feel.“

[ via: Theatre: Touching from a distance – Sunday Times – Times Online ]<!– –>

Hot on the heels of its recent, sell-out success with the critically acclaimed DruidSynge at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival, Druid returns to Galway’s Town Hall Theatre and Dublin Theatre Festival (at the Abbey Theatre) this Autumn with the world premier of a play by one of Ireland’s most talented young playwrights Stuart Carolan.

[ via: Welcome to the DRUID Theatre Company ]<!– –>

Shelbourne Greyhound Stadium Ltd.,
Shelbourne Park,
Dublin 4

[ via: Shelbourne Park ]<!– –>

Vorhersage für die Region Dublin[ via: WetterOnline ]<!– –>

Irish War for Independence/ Easter Rising
The Easter Monday Rising, however, had no such military prospects of success. There was always, of course, the chance that a German success on the Western Front would break through England’s defenses and so allow substantial help to be sent before the Rising was crushed, but this proved a vain hope. On the morning of Easter Monday, April 24th 1916, the Dublin battalions paraded, bearing full arms and one days rations. Shortly after noon, the General Post Office, the Four Courts, three of the railway terminal, along with other important points circling the center of Dublin were rushed and occupied. The Proclamation of the Irish Republic was proudly published on large placards and read out from the steps of the General Post Office:

[ via: Irish 1916 Easter Rising ~ War for Independence – ]<!– –>

Dublin is famous as a city of writers and literature, and the Dublin Writers Museum is an essential visit for anyone who wants to discover, explore, or simply enjoy Dublin’s immense literary heritage.

[ via: Dublin Writers Museum ]<!– –>

The Children of Lir

Lough Derravaragh
where the children of Lir turned into swans (near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath)

Once upon a time, there lived a chieftain in Ireland whose name was Lir. Together with his wife Aev, he had four beautiful children, three sons and one girl. But shortly after the birth of their fourth child, Aev died. As his children needed a mother, Lir married Aev’s sister Aoife.

Aoife was very jealous of Lir’s love for his children and so she made an evil plan.

[ via: The Children of Lir ]<!– –>

Art Work from the Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the Gospel. It was created in Ireland probably around 800 AD. The original manuscript is owned by Trinity College in Ireland where it on display. There are facsimile editions available. Please check out the Book of Kells links for more information about this beautiful manuscript.

[ via: Art Work from the Book of Kells ]<!– –>

Trinity College Library is the largest library in Ireland. Its collections of manuscripts and printed books have been built up since the end of the sixteenth century. In addition to the purchases and donations of almost four centuries, since 1801 the Library has had the right to claim all British and Irish publications under the terms of successive Copyright Acts. The bookstock is now over four million volumes and there are extensive collections of manuscripts, maps and music.

[ via: Trinity College Library – Trinity Information – Trinity College, Dublin | Coláiste na Tríonóide, Baile Átha Cliath ]<!– –>

This was the first purpose built Parliament House in the world and was constructed at a great time of public confidence in Dublin. The original building designed by Pearce (outlined in black below) was constructed between 1729 and 1739 is only part of the existing structure. This consisted of the central section with its huge colonnades. Pearce was actually knighted in the building on the 10 March 1731.

[ via: Former Houses of Parliament / Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin (Edward Pearce, James Gandon, Francis Johnston) [Archeire, Irish Architecture Online] ]<!– –>

The James Joyce Tower
The Fortyfoot, Sandycove

The James Joyce Tower was one of a series of Martello towers built to withstand an invasion by Napoleon and now holds a museum devoted to the life and works of James Joyce, who made the tower the setting for the first chapter of his masterpiece, Ulysses.

[via: The James Joyce Tower & Museum Sandycove Dun Laoghaire ]<!– –>

Just below the Martello tower is the Forty Foot Pool, named after the army’s 40th Foot Regiment, which was stationed nearby. At the close of the first chapter of Ulysses, Buck Mulligan heads to the pool for a morning swim, an activity which is still a local tradition.

[ via: Dublin Travel Guide – Not to miss – Yahoo! Travel UK ]<!– –>

Powerscourt House and Gardens
Powerscourt is one of Europe’s great treasures and Ireland’s most famous House & Gardens. Gracing the Wicklow mountains, 20km from Dublin city centre, Powerscourt is a heritage property with a surprising difference.

[ via: Powerscourt House & Gardens ]<!– –>

Glendalough:

This virtual tour is a continuation of Celtic Monasticism: History and Spiruality. Visitors who have not visited that site may want to review these materials, and especially the discusion of the holy sites on which monasteries were built.

[ via: Glendalough: A Virtual Tour ]<!– –>

Kilmainham Jail, a short report
Kilmainham Jail
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Posted by Kate Bierma at 04:50 PM

On Sunday seven of us found the Kimainham jail after a long, enjoyable, post lunch trek. We were able to go on a guided tour through the jail built in 1792. We learned that it was decommisioned in 1924 after many years of being a part of Irelandâ??s troubled history. Early in the tour we sat in the old chapel where our guide gave us an overview of the jail’s history. His lovely Irish accent, knowledge, and passion for the subject allowed the stories to become very real. At one point in his presesentation he explained how one of the men involved in the 1916 Easter rising got married in the very chapel we were sitting in. He and his bride were married, had ten minutes together, and then he was executed.

[ via: Northern Ireland: Conflict & Reconciliation ]<!– –>

The Irish Museum of Modern Art is Ireland’s leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. The Museum presents a wide variety of art in a dynamic programme of exhibitions, which regularly includes bodies of work from its own Collection and its award-winning Education and Community Department. It also creates more widespread access to art and artists through its Studio and National programmes.

[ via: Irish Museum of Modern Art: Welcome to IMMA | Irish Museum of Modern Art ]<!– –>

GUINNESS STOREHOUSE is Ireland’s No. 1
international visitor attraction. Our staff will
be pleased to welcome you and bring alive
a real segment of Irish history.

[ via: http:// http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/&lt;!– –>

One of Dublin’s more unusual attractions has to be St. Michan’s Church. Named after a Danish Bishop, it was for five hundred years the only parish church in Dublin north of the River Liffey. Founded around 1095 by the Danish colony in Oxmanstown and located near the Four Courts, the present building dates from about 1685 when it was rebuilt to serve a more prosperous congregation in an area created by Sir Humphrey Jervis. Historians believe the church may have been designed by Sir William Robinson, Ireland’s Surveyor General (1645 – 1712).

[ via: The Mummies of St. Michan’s ]<!– –>

Newgrange Ireland – Megalithic Passage Tomb – World Heritage Site
The Megalithic Passage Tomb at Newgrange was built about 3200 BC. The kidney shaped mound covers an area of over one acre and is surrounded by 97 kerbstones, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art. The 19 metre long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. It is estimated that the construction of the Passage Tomb at Newgrange would have taken a work force of 300 at least 20 year

[ via: Newgrange Ireland – Megalithic Passage Tomb – World Heritage Site ]<!– –>

Orange march sparks Dublin riots

Henry McDonald, Ireland editor in Dublin
Sunday February 26, 2006

Observer
The first loyalist march in Dublin since Partition had to be rerouted after thousands of republican protesters rioted in the centre of the Irish capital yesterday, with several Irish police among 40 people injured.

The main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, became a battle zone as up to 2,000 rioters tore up building materials being used in major renovation work in the road and hurled them at Irish police. Shops and hotels closed their doors, and at least three Irish police were taken to hospital as rioters hurled scaffolding poles, bricks, slates and rocks at their lines.

[ via: Observer | Orange march sparks Dublin riots ]<!– –>