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"Before the huge high door of the Irish house of parliament a flock of pigeons flew." (U8.401)
In 1904, the Irish House(s) of Parliament had long become the Bank of Ireland. Built 1729-1739, it was the seat of both chambers (Lords and Commons) of the Irish parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland in the 18c. This PC reads: "Bank of Ireland, Dublin - The old Irish Parliamentary Houses. Completed 1739. East front added 1785. Statues represent Hibernia, Commerce, and Fidelity." |
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In 1800, the Irish Parliament was abolished by the Act of Union whereby a 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland' was created, with its seat in Westminster. The Irish House of Parliament building was then used for various purposes, including a militant garrison and an art gallery. In 1803, the fledgling Bank of Ireland bought it from the British government for £40,000. It is seen in this PC illuminated for the Royal Visit of 1903. |
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"Their little frolic after meals. Who will we do it on? I pick the fellow in black. Here goes. Here's good luck. Must be thrilling from the air. Apjohn, myself and Owen Goldberg up in the trees near Goose green playing the monkeys. Mackerel they called me." (U8.401) |
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"A squad of constables debouched from College street, marching in Indian file. Goose step. Foodheated faces, sweating helmets, patting their truncheons. After their feed with a good load of fat soup under their belts."
I did not find a PC with constables, so this is one with a squad of soldiers. (U8.406) |
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This is a Hold To Light postcard, that shows additional detail or some color when viewed against a bright ligt. |
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"He crossed under Tommy Moore's roguish finger." (U8.414)
From a tourist pamphlet dated 1900: "passing through Westmoreland street, we come to the eyesore of Dublin, a vile mis-shapen monstrous pewter image erected in memory of the National poet, Thomas Moore." This PC shows Westmoreland street with Tommy Moore's statue, placed over Dublin's largest public urinal. |
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This SV shows the same perspective in the 1860s. |
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"They did right to put him up over a urinal: meeting of the waters." (U8.414)
The Meeting of the Waters is the confluence of the rivers Avonmore and Avonbeg to form the river Avoca, in county Wicklow. The valley of Avoca (or Ovoca) is considered one of the most beautiful landscapes in Ireland. It was celebrated in poem and song by Thomas Moore. |
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"Ought to be places for women. Running into cakeshops. Settle my hat straight." (U8.415) |
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"There is not in this wide world a vallee. Great song of Julia Morkan's." (U8.416)
Moore's 'The Meeting of the Waters' was in the 1st volume of 'Irish Melodies' (1808). It starts: "There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet; Oh! the last rays of feeling and life must depart, Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart." |
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"Kept her voice up to the very last. Pupil of Michael Balfe's, wasn't she?" (U8.417)
Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) was an Irish singer and composer of songs and operas, including 'The Bohemian Girl' and 'The Rose of Castile'. He was born in Dublin, the son of a dancing master. As a child, he played the violin for his father's classes (1814-1815). In 1817 he appeared as a violinist in public and composed a ballad later known as 'The Lovers' Mistake'. As a teenager, he moved to London (1823) and became a violinist in the orchestra of Drury Lane; he took formal music lessons from C. E. Horn, the organist at St. George's Chapel. Balfe had a pleasant baritone voice, and sang (in Norwich, Rome, Paris) in various operas. He was also famous for songs he wrote such as 'When other hearts', 'I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls' and 'Come into the garden, Maud'. Balfe wrote 28 operas, the first to be produced was 'I rivali di se stessi' (Palermo, 1829). He is probably the second most famous 19c. composer of opera in English, after Arthur Sullivan. Balfe was married to Luisa Roser, a Hungarian singer he had met at Bergamo. Balfe retired from music to Hertfordshire where he owned a farm (1864). |
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"That horse policeman the day Joe Chamberlain was given his degree in Trinity he got a run for his money." (U8.423)
Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) was a British businessman, politician, and statesman. He was M.P. (1876) then President of the Board of Trade (1880). |
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Chamberlain visited Dublin December 17-18 1899 to accept an honorary degree from Trinity College. In defiance, the Irish Socialist Republican Party called for a public (pro-Boer) meeting 'to celebrate the British defeat at Stormberg;' the meeting was to be held on College Green (beside Trinity) on Dec 17, at the same time as Chamberlain's triumphal entry. To counter, the Irish Transvaal Committee called for a similar public meeting in Beresford Place 'to salute Chamberlain.' On Dec 15, the London Pall Mall Gazette reported trouble brewing in Dublin, and the St James' Gazette expressed hopes 'that the police will see to it.' On Dec 17, tactical positions in the neighbourhood of Trinity were occupied by masses of police (and curious onlookers). Though many would-be protesters backed out, Maud Gonne, Arthur Griffith (founder of the United Irishman), Edward Stewart and James Connolly (of the Irish Socialist Republican Party) stepped in and drove down to Beresford Place to hold the meeting. Police baton-charged them, arrested James Connolly, and smashed The Workers' Republic's printing press, briefly suspending its publication. Chamberlain in his speech at Trinity apparently lost heart, for instead of the expected war-whoop, he asked those present to believe he was 'not so black as he was painted.' |
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"Still I got to know that young Dixon who dressed that sting for me in the Mater and now he's in Holles street where Mrs Purefoy." (U8.429) |
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"Police whistle in my ears still. All skedaddled. Why he fixed on me. Give me in charge. Right here it began." (U8.431) |