The Dublin Community Blog

I have lived in Dublin for well into double digits, and today I learnt that the remains of St Valentine are housed in a Shrine in Whitefriar Street Church.

In 1835 an Irish Carmelite by the name of John Spratt was visiting Rome. He was well known in Ireland for his skills as a preacher and also for his work among the poor and destitute in Dublin’s Liberties area. He was also responsible for the building of the new church to Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Whitefriar Street. While he was in Rome he was asked to preach at the famous Jesuit Church in the city, the Gesu. Apparently his fame as a preacher had gone before him, no doubt brought by some Jesuits who had been in Dublin. The elite of Rome flocked to hear him and he received many tokens of esteem from the doyens of the Church. One such token came from Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) and were the remains of Saint Valentine.

On November 10, 1836, the Reliquary containing the remains arrived in Dublin and were brought in solemn procession to Whitefriar Street Church where they were received by Archbishop Murray of Dublin. With the death of Fr Spratt interest in the relics died away and they went into storage. During a major renovation in the church in the 1950s/60s they were returned to prominence with an altar and shrine being constructed to house them and enable them to be venerated. The statue was carved by Irene Broe and depicts the saint in the red vestments of a martyr and holding a crocus in his hand.

Today, being the feast of St. Valentine, is a busy day at the Church:

The feastday of the saint on February 14 is a very popular one and many couples come to the Eucharistic celebrations that day which also includes a Blessing of Rings for those about to be married. On the feastday, the Reliquary is removed from beneath the side-altar and is placed before the high altar in the church and there venerated at the Masses. At the 11.00am and 3.15pm Masses there are special sermons and also a short ceremony for the Blessing of Rings for those about to be married.

Whitefriar Street Church is located between Aungier Street and Wexford Street.

So, dear readers, it just goes to show, no matter how long you live in Dublin, you’ll often find out something new about the city!

Happy Valentines Day

The Dublin International Film Festival starts on Friday next, February 15th and runs until February 24th.

The opening night screening is In Bruges written and directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Dubliners Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Unfortunately this screening is sold out, however the film will be on general release in early March. If the trailer is anything to go by, this film looks good fun.

There are some very interesting screenings – a full list can be found here.

The Frames frontman (and Dubliner) and Once moviestars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have been nominated for an Oscar in the Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) category for their song “Falling Slowly”. The song can be downloaded free from the official Once website.

I’m a big Glen fan and the nomination is well deserved. The soundtrack to the movie is well worth checking out and some of the songs can be heard on myspace.

The Oscar winners will be announced on February 24th. Good luck Glen and Marketa.

So much for Operation Freeflow! Nothing much flowed around the Point Depot this morning after a truck overturned. This happened at 5.30am, yet it took a full 6 hours for the truck to be removed and caused total gridlock out as far as the airport. How can one incident have such a drastic affect on city traffic?

More info here:
eircom.net
RTE

The Food Safety Authority yesterday published a list of enforcement orders served on food premises for October. I was quite surprised and shocked to see two places on the list that I have frequented: O’Briens Sandwich Bar in St. Stephens Green Shopping Centre and Ba Mizu under Powerscourt Townhouse.

Closure Orders are served when it is deemed, upon inspection, that there is, or there is likely to be, a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises.

I like Ba Mizu and have enjoyed many a good feed there. I’m not sure I’ll be running back!

I enjoy food and am lucky enough to often eat out, but I’m wondering can we really trust what we are served in restaurants?

This October Bank Holiday weekend sees an unusual event take place in the grounds of IMMA at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham:

A series of happenings under the stars in one of the most beautiful settings in the capital city, Some Days Never End is where cutting-edge 21st century musicians and the most thought-provoking contemporary artist of the 20th century come together to play.

Located in three tented structures pitched in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the home of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Some Days Never End will apply equal weight to both music and art. Given the time of year, these structures will be heated. The third structure will feature the high standard wide ranging food and drink associated with POD Concerts festivals.

Besides the musical performances, Some Days Never End will also pay tribute to Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory, an apt homage to mark the 20th anniversary of the artist’s death.

It all kicks off tomorrow and a full list of performers can be found on the Some Days Never End website.

Congratuations to author Anne Enright on winning the prestigious Man Booker Prize for her book The Gathering. According to media reports, this book had an outside chance of winning, being up against favourites Ian McEwan and Lloyd Jones.

Howard Davies, Chair of the Booker judges describes ‘the Gathering’ as:

“an unflinching look at a grieving family. It’s the bleakness of one woman’s vision, a bleakness rooted in her family, her marriage and the death of her brother.”

Davies said that the winning title was a ‘powerful, uncomfortable and even at times angry book’ but went on to explain that the family epic was a ‘very readable and satisfying novel’.

The author herself describes the book as “the equivalent of a Hollywood weepie”. The prize is a wonderful achievement and I’m looking forward to reading the book.

Further media articles here:
Irish Times
The Guardian
The New York Times

Last Wednesday during the deconstruction of the 1916 Sigerson Memorial in Glasnevin Cemetery, workmen found a time capsule buried in in the masonry of the memorial.

Made of indestructible lead, it was found in a stone canopy covering a beautiful sculpture — reminiscent of Michaelangelo’s famous Pieta — by the late nationalist Mrs Dora Sigerson Shorter.

Cylindrical in shape, it measures three and a half inches in width and two feet in length and has lead caps soldered on either end.

(Irish Independent article)

I completely missed hearing this over the weekend and only caught news of it on RTE News last night. I’m surprised it hasn’t been given more publicity, given its been buried for 80 years. According to the news item last night, The National Museum and the OPW are planning to open it this week, however there is no mention of the capsule on either website which is a shame. I think its a very exciting find and hopefully its contents will be published publicly.

What would you put in a 2007 time capsule?

Dublin Theatre Festival is currently taking place in venues around the city. The full programme of events can be found on their website. I’ve heard great reviews of the Druid production Long Day’s Journey. It runs in the Gaiety until Oct 13th. I’m hoping to go along this week.

If you go to a play, please leave a comment with your thoughts.

UPDATE: here are some reviews of “A Long Day’s Journey” from its Galway run:
Sunday Independent – Sep 23rd
Irish Times – Sep 22nd
The Guardian – Sep 21st

A garda is in hospital after being shot while on duty in Dublin this morning. The Traffic Corps motorcycle officer stopped a stolen car on Ossory Road, Dublin 1, shortly after 9am.

I imagine some roads around Amiens St, North Strand, Alfie Byrne Rd will be closed. Heres a map of the area. What a scary world we live in.

Further updates from the following links:

RTE

eircom.net

Garda website