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Video Of The Luas

Luas (Irish for 'speed'), also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a light rail system serving Dublin. There are currently two Luas lines. The Green line commenced operations on 30 June 2004, while the Red Line opened on 26 September 2004. It is one of 450 light rail systems operating in cities around the world. As of 2008, the system has 36 stations and 15 miles (25 km) of track.

The Luas is operated by Veolia Transport, under tender from the RPA. It is a major part of the Dublin Transportation Office's strategy (2000-2016). There are currently two extensions to the existing lines under construction, while several more extensions as well as new lines are at the planning stage.

The Kilt In Ireland

The kilt is a traditional garment of modern Scottish and Celtic (more specifically Gaelic) culture typically worn by men.

The Kilt exists in various modern forms, and in forms inspired by the historical garment, including:


    * the modern form of the traditional Scottish garment

    * the historical form of this same Scottish garment (cf. History of the kilt)

    * various other forms of the kilt, such as the Northumbrian kilt, Irish kilt, Welsh cilt, Cornish cilt, and the Contemporary kilt

    * certain types of school uniform skirts for girls


Traditionalists emphasize that the plural of kilt is the kilt rather than kilts, although the latter term has been used alongside the former and continues to gain acceptance in modern English. According to the OED, the noun derives from a verb to kilt, originally meaning "to gird up; to tuck up (the skirts) round the body", itself of Scandinavian origin.


At modern-day Highland games gatherings in Scotland and elsewhere, the modern version of the traditional Scottish kilt is much in evidence. Historical forms of the Scottish kilt have differed in several particulars (some quite substantial) from the modern-day version.

Continue reading The Kilt In Ireland

Photography

Writers born in Dublin

Some of the greatest writers in the English language were born in Dublin and every corner of the city has links with the written word. One of Ireland’s first writers to be recognised internationally was Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels and Dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Trinity College Dublin has educated many of Dublin's world-renowned writers, such as Oliver Goldsmith  (author of The Vicar of Wakefiled), Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Edmund Burke. Here it is possible to view the Book of Durrow and the Book of Kells  (transcriptions of the Bible). 


In the 19th century Oscar Wilde captivated the world's imagination with his satiric masterpieces (enjoy the "Wilde and Co." literary walk of Dublin, organised by John C. O' Mahony (contact: 00353 (0)86 3296304). Oscar Wilde's writing brought Dublin to prominence during the late Victorian era.His works,  including An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray have enshrined him as one of Ireland's finest writers and satirists. His home for many years may still be seen in Merrion Square.

Continue reading Writers born in Dublin

Recent Additions To Flickr

Census Of Ireland 1911


Census of Ireland, Dublin 1911


Please note that the Irish Time has a excellent site "IRISH ANCESTORS"


The household returns and ancillary records for the censuses of Ireland of 1901 and 1911, which are in the custody of the National Archives of Ireland, represent an extremely valuable part of the Irish national heritage. Read more about their digitisation.


    * What’s in the Census records?

    * Partners in the project

    * Future plans

    * Search the census records for Dublin 1911


What was Dublin like in 1911?


See our illustrated account of the city in 1911:


    * Read about transport, and look at a tram timetable for 1911

    * Read about social life, and see photographs of the Royal Visit in 1911

    * Read about education and see the list of pupils in Padraig Pearse’s school, St. Enda’s

    * Read about literature and see Oliver St. John Gogarty’s census return,

    * Read about trade unions and see the return for James Connolly and his family


About the 1901 and 1911 censuses

Continue reading Census Of Ireland 1911

18th. Century

Castles In Ireland

LIST OF IRISH CASTLES (ROI)

County Carlow


 County Cavan


 County Clare


 County Cork


 County Donegal


 County Dublin


 County Galway


 County Kerry


 County Kildare


 County Kilkenny


 County Laois


 County Leitrim


 County Limerick


 County Louth


 County Mayo


 County Meath


 County Monaghan


 County Offaly


 County Roscommon


 County Sligo


 County Tipperary


 County Waterford


 County Westmeath


 County Wexford


 County Wicklow





VIKING WARSHIP "Sea Stallion"



Today was an exciting day in Dublin because the Viking "Sea Stallion" finally arrived. I have tracked the progress of the Sea Stallion since it set sail from Roskilde (Denmark) on the 30th. June until it arrived in Dublin but all the time I failed to realise that there was a much more interesting and somewhat unknown story behind the enterprising voyage.

The story which supports the belief that the Irish People have a long memory when it comes to history is included below.


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Viking Ship Museum: We are forced to give Sea Stallion away


In relation to a new EU-directive about the inviolability of the national cultural heritage Ireland has claimed the handing over of the Skuldelev 2-wreck, the remains of a 30m-long Viking ship, which today is on display in the Viking Ship Museum Roskilde. The background for this claim is the fact that Skuldelev 2 originally was built in the year 1042... in Ireland. About 30 years later the ship sailed to Denmark and ended her days on the bottom of the Roskilde Fjord as part of a fortification against enemies traveling on the water."We are still shocked. The claim from Ireland came by a huge surprise for us. This looks like a revenge with a delay of 1,000 years," says the director of the Viking Ship Museum, Tinna Damgård-Sørensen.

"Since the Skuldelev-ships were excavated in the 1960ies we have regarded them as precious stones of the Danish cultural heritage. But for Skuldelev 2 it is scientifically documented that she was built in the vicinity of Dublin. The new EU-directive, which comes into force on April 1st this year, gives the Irish the lawful authority to claim the wreck be handed over to its legitimate owner, this being the Irish Ministry for Culture".

"We asked the European court of justice whether the fact that the ship was built by Vikings resident in Ireland would not turn the matter around. So to speak: the ship was built in Ireland but by people who had Nordic blood in their veins. But the EU-court turned down our complaint on the grounds that the oak timber the ship was built of came from the woods around Dublin and therefore is regarded as Irish timber. And the timber's origin definitely plays a more important role than the nationality of the craftsmen," continues Tinna amgård-Sørensen, who has kept the Irish claim a secret until now.

"We have also raised an objection against EU laws being valid for a ship that was built in 1042 - circa 900 years before the Rome declaration was written. This argument made no better impression on the judges of the EU-court than the others. In the end we raised the issue that the ship was excavated in the 1960ies when Denmark was not even a member of the EU (or EC, how it was called then). But the European court of justice holds to the directive being made retrospective... back to the Viking Age if need be".

There are good reasons though, that the Viking Ship Museum may keep the wreck Skuldelev 2. The pieces of the wreck are so delicate that they would not survive a transport from Roskilde to Ireland. After long and secret negotiations between the National Museum in Dublin and the Viking Ship Museum both partners have now reached an agreement.

When Sea Stallion from Glendalough, which is a true copy of Skuldelev2, sails on her historic voyage from Roskilde to Dublin this summer, the crew will hand over the ship to the Irish authorities at arrival in Dublin in mid August. "One has to admit, that the project suddenly took a different direction than what was planned. During 10 years we have dreamed about and made plans for Sea Stallion to sail to Dublin... and back again. Now the result is that we only need to sail to Dublin. There we will give her to the Irish and in return the original wreck can stay in Roskilde.

According to the National Museum in Dublin, Sea Stallion will be taken out of the water by Irelands biggest crane in the middle of August and from then on be on show at Collins barracks, former military barracks and today part of the National Museum. 

"The very day that was supposed to be a day of celebration - Sunday 1st July - has become a day of sorrow for we have to say good bye to Sea Stallion forever. It is a hard stroke for the Viking Ship Museum, but also a great loss for Roskilde, and for the whole of Denmark. Roskilde looses a symbol - it is like Roskilde Cathedral would burn down. Also Denmark has to depart from the world's biggest reconstruction of a Viking ship, only one year after it became part of our ultimate cultural heritage in the so-called Cultural Canon".

As Tinna Damgård-Sørensen says, the Viking Ship Museum is not going to admit to the will of the Irish for nothing. The National Museum in Dublin displays a number of axes and jewellery from the Viking Age, which the Viking Ship Museum now will claim to come back to Denmark. A recent ship find has also aroused the Viking Ship Museum's attention. 

"This wreck is probably not from the Viking period but from the Middle Ages. But it is clinker-built, a building method that originates from the Vikings. In our opinion this fact alone is sufficient to claim the ship back to Denmark as part of our cultural heritage, according to the EU directive," finishes Tinna Damgård-Sørensen.

---oOo---

Irish Culture Department to support Viking Longship Voyage


Department for Arts, Sports and Tourism, (DAST), Dublin, Ireland.
The Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark
Sunday May 6th 2007.

The Irish Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism Mr. John O'Donoghue has announced financial support to the Sea Stallion experiment, making the historic Viking ship expedition this summer a truly Danish-Irish project.


On Sunday July 1st 2007 the World’s largest reconstruction of a Viking ship – a 30 metre long war ship replica - will leave the Viking Ship Museum harbour in Roskilde, Denmark and set its course for Dublin. Crewed by 65 international volunteers, the ship will ply the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. The arrival in Dublin is scheduled for Tuesday the 14th of August. During a six-week period the ship will be thoroughly tested in the waters the original ship was built to conquer.


The ship – The Sea Stallion of Glendalough – was built at the Viking Ship Museum between 2000 and 2004 being a precise reconstruction of a Viking ship originally built in Dublin in the year 1042. 30 years later the original ship was scuttled in Danish waters at the mouth of Roskilde Fjord as part of the city's defence.
“This is one of the largest marine archaeological experiments ever carried out. We are honoured and deeply grateful that Ireland welcomes the ship, the crew and the project in such a warm atmosphere. We understand that the Vikings were not always so welcome. This time the crew on board The Sea Stallion promise to behave.” says director of the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Tinna Damgaard-Soerensen.
(Irish) Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism spokesperson Mr. Chris Flynn says: “This is the culmination of a project of many years gestation, and of cooperation between the National Museum of Ireland and the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum.   The exhibition will be a fantastic use of the Collins Barracks exhibition space and I hope that everyone will take this unique opportunity of welcoming the Sea Stallion to Dublin Docklands on 14th August.”

Continue reading VIKING WARSHIP "Sea Stallion"

FLAG OF IRELAND

Title

The national flag of the Ireland, also known as the tricolour, is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white, and orange. The flag proportion is 1:2 (length twice the width). The green is representative of the older Gaelic tradition while the orange represents the supporters of William of Orange. The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the two cultures.

First introduced by Thomas Francis Meagher in 1848, it was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above the General Post Office in Dublin, that the tricolour came to be regarded as the national flag[citation needed]. The flag was adopted in 1919 by the Irish Republic during its war of independence, and subsequently by the Irish Free State (1922–1937), later being given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, which established the Republic. The tricolour is regarded by many nationalists as the national flag of the whole of island of Ireland. Thus it is flown (often controversially) by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Historically the island has been represented by a number of other flags, including Saint Patrick's cross, and the flag of the four provinces of Ireland.
The flag's colours are the vertical opposite of the shorter flag of Côte d'Ivoire.




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