The Dublin Community Blog

The good people of Dublin hit the streets of Dublin in their thousands over the weekend to check out the Street Performance World Championships. We made it along but not quite in time to participate in the world record attempt. From what I read on Twitter it seems like too many people hopped along! Congratulations to all who particpated in this wonky bit of history!

Congratulations too to the staff and volunteers at SPWC for organising another great free festival. We managed to catch JP Koala, Dr. Kaboom and Thom Sellectomy. We couldn’t get next or near last year’s winners, USA Breakdancers, but had we managed to catch them we would have missed our favourite this year, Dr. Kaboom so all’s well. Like last year the Festijeux were a big hit with three generations of our family and I eventually had to drag my father away!

I took myself and my three children along to the RHA Gallagher Gallery on Ely Place (map) to check out their annual exhibition. It runs until 31st July and I would recommend that you get yourself along to it. It’s a hop, skip and a jump from Stephen’s Green so we combined our visit with a picnic in the park. (This was originally supposed to be a playground post but the playground in Stephen’s Green is closed for refurbishment but looks like it will be ace!)

To be honest my visit to the exhibition was kind of a duty: my brother, Blaise Smith, and brother-in-law, John O’Reilly, both have paintings on display. The painting right is by  the brother in law.

That’s the thing about the RHA Annnual exhibition: if you know any Irish artists chances are you will see some of their work exhibited here. It’s a great opportunity to see the work of up-and-coming or established artists. I am the farthest thing from an art critic. I look at the paintings and think about what they make me think about. I like this or that because the colours appeal to me or it evokes memories or reminds me of a person, place or thing. Some paintings I enjoy because they make me smile or conjure up other emotions. I have a very rudimentary art history education so I won’t even attempt to review the exhibition in those terms but as a way to spend an afternoon in Dublin you could do a lot worse. You are bound to see something that will make you melt inside, raise your hackles or that will feature in your dreams or nightmares. All types of materials are used and while painting features heavily there are also prints, photography, sculpture, architecture and even one brooch featured! The refurbished gallery is a beautiful exhibition space (it’s probably been refurbished for ages but y’know I don’t get out much!) It was a fine way to spend the afternoon with two lively under 7s and there was no difficulty getting the buggy around and up and down.

My husband was very glad when I told him I didn’t get a catalogue and buy any paintings but if you are looking to invest in some work this is a great place to pick up some iconic Irish art as many of the items are for sale. I hadn’t planned to write a blog post about the exhibition so while I know which items would be my top five I can’t remember all the details. I do plan to go back so I might take notes next time!

180th Annual Exhibition, Opening hours:
The RHA Gallery will revert to opening ALL Exhibition AREAS, 7 days a week, for the 180th Annual Exhibition, from 24 May – 30 July.
Monday & Tuesday 11 – 5pm
Wednesday – Saturday 11 – 7pm
Sunday 2 – 5pm

As a mammy-ish aside I also note that the RHA run children’s workshops throughout the year. My older son was very interested in the exhibition so I’m off to book him into the workshop that focuses on the exhibtion.

Another set of photos, this time from the Taste Of Dublin Festival. This was my first time attending the festival and I have to admit that while the food was very nice I did think there was very little value for money. The celebrity chefs attracted crowds and the food stands did a great trade but I have to wonder if next year prices will drop and how many of those restaurants will still be around. Was this the last day out for the Celtic Tiger?

It’s been a busy June in Dublin, I’ve decided to catch up on some photos that I’ve taken and intended to post to the Dublin Community Blog.

First we had the Dublin Docklands Festival. A great sunny weekend packed with food, music and tall ships. Click on the image to see more photos from Flickr.

Last weekend, the Dublin City Business Association launched a campaign to encourage families to discover (or re-discover?) Dublin this summer. Many of the highlights of the campaign are events or festivals that we’ve mentioned here on the Dublin Community Blog. However, there are a few others that are worth having a look at as well, especially for families. Here’s the press release from Conway Communications:
Read the rest of this entry »

Might be worth a look if you’re looking for something to do this weekend! Weather forecasts are looking good, and I’d love to have a poke around some of the tall ships along with the Le Aoife.

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/maritimefestival/

There’s an outdoor market, along with some street entertainment. Pat Liddy will be holding walking tours of the Docklands area over the weekend.

From urban beaches to urban gardens…! Smithfield Square in Dublin 7 will be transformed into a colourful civic garden this coming Saturday, July 12th, for the second annual Urban Garden event.

Organised by Dublin City Council, the event aims to add colour to urban spaces through gardening initiatives on both an individual and community level. Talks and workshops include a Life In Your Garden workshop by Australian environmentalist Dale Treadwell, an interactive workshop on wildlife in urban spaces by Dublin City Council’s Biodiversity Officer, Mairead Stack, and a series of gardening demonstrations by landscape gardener (and blogger) Peter Donegan.

A number of market stalls selling food, jewellery and clothing will also be set up on the day. Admission is free and the event runs from noon to 6pm – further details can be found here.

I went to Custom Quay House last Sunday, in order to see what Dublin Urban Beach is all about. So, a plenty of sand, a few hundred people with a lot of kids, but all of them wearing anything but swim suites:).
Free entrance, free drinks, free food (ok, kidding about food&drinks).
Being a Romanian and having the hot Black Sea at about 200 km of Bucharest,  I must say that Dublin Urban Beach is like a joke for me. But hey, I really understand the action and right now I only want the sun to be more powerfull in Dublin.
And when I’m thinking that these days in Romania the average temperature is about 35 degrees Celsius……..
More pictures.

Not far from busy city centre you can spot animals that usually live deep in the wild. But there are herons hunting in Liffey, Dodder or Dublin Bay. Close to Milltown lives this lazy fox, catching some sun at the top of some shed. Nice.

The OPW have announced details of this year’s summer cultural programme at Farmleigh House, the official Irish State guest residence and rumoured future pied-a-terre of Taoiseach Brian Cowen. The house and its beautiful gardens are nestled in the north western corner of the Phoenix Park and are open from March to December each year.

Some of the events will be ticketed, such as their drive-in movie programme and a concert series. Tickets are free and will be issued on a lottery basis. Other highlights include regular farmers’ markets, a family fitness day, and an Irish version of Oktoberfest (Septemberfest!)

Full programme details and ticket lottery information can be found here. Now, if only the weather would improve…