Flying High

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I may not be

But I love flying high, above the blue sea

Where the air is clear

And time so dear

To reach once more, and be set free

Flying High

View across Scotsman’s Bay from the East Pier, Dun Laoghaire to Sandycove

Farewell

It’s a sad day, our cousin is gone

A beautiful one, who we called John

With his friendly smile

And personal style

Many happy memories, that’ll live on.

Shine on..

Don Cameron – April 2022

Freedom

Roses are red, and masks are few

What a change, do what you do

Keep head held high

Reach for the sky

Breathe in freedom, you got through

Breathe, breathe in the air...

Trinity College – Centre of Excellence

Trinity College is, in the middle of town

Founded long ago, when Liz had the crown

There’s history all round

Great names do abound

A centre of excellence, and world renown

On Time….

Beckett, Wilde and Goldsmith spent time

In hallowed halls, their work so sublime

Book of Kells is a pleasure

Scholarship to treasure

Enjoy the sound, of the Campanile’s chime

Oscar Wilde – writer and wit

Cobblestones are loved, in Parliament Square

A step back in time, you feel like you’re there

The Exam Hall’s inviting

Chequered floor exciting

As alumni on high, gaze down with no care

The Campanile

It’s an oasis of peace, and quiet reflection

The Long Room’s books, a great collection

In the Buttery for tea

More, yes please

A treat all round, it’s loved with affection

The magnificent Long Room

Don Cameron 2022

Making Kisstory

We held each other, so close and tight

‘Neath the magic, of dancing moonlight

We breathed as one

Oh such loving fun

Then kisstory was made, a wonderous night

Making Kisstory

Beggars Bush Barracks

Built in 1827 the barracks, built for British Forces, has featured notably in Irish history. It was set-up as a link in the chain of barracks that surrounded the city, and offered quick access to main roads in the south-east and the port at Dun Laoghaire, that was essential for both troop and equipment arrival.

During the Easter Rising in 1916 it was, unknown to members of the Irish Republican Army who had taken up firing positions nearby on Northumberland Road and Lower Mount Street, lightly defended and would have been a significant prize if it had been taken. This, however, did not happen and the fighting around Mount Street Bridge saw the heaviest casualties of the insurrection.

Beggars Bush Barracks

Six years later, on 1^st February 1922, it was the first barracks to be handed over after the signing of the Treaty in December 1921. On the day a small troop of soldiers (3 officers and 43 men) led by  Captain Daly, stopped outside City Hall (where the government was then based) and saluted Collins, Griffith and other cabinet members before heading off. They were dressed in new uniforms, carried rifles and were cheered on their way. At the barracks Richard Mulcahy, Minister for Defence, presented a tricolour to Captain Daly which was then raised. A service celebrating the 100^th anniversary was held recently.

The barracks were decommissioned in 1929, and since then various government agencies have been based there, including The National Print Museum, Labour Court, Geological Survey of Ireland and the Irish Labour History Society (ILHS). In there are photographs and paintings of famous labour men and women, including a  banner featuring Jim Larkin which has recently been on display in the National Gallery of Ireland. There is also a window frame from the original Liberty Hall that was rescued from the bombed building, and collections of diaries and papers of former Labour politicians. A visit can be arranged by contacting the ILHS.

Window frame from the original Liberty Hall

Lady Augusta Gregory

Isabella Augusta Persee was born on the night of the 14^th and 15^th of March 1852 in Roxborough House, Galway on an estate that measured 6,000 acres. Many years later she often questioned whether such timing – The Ides of March – was indeed favourable. She was the ninth of thirteen children, and closest to her four younger brothers, which commentators suggest developed her independent streak. She was educated at home and learned about local folklore from her nanny, Mary Sheridan, a native Irish speaker, and these tales left a strong impression on the young girl that she would develop later.

Lady Augusta Gregory

She was married to Sir William Gregory in 1880 and they lived at his estate at Coole, Co Galway. He was thirty-five years her senior, and they travelled in Europe and the Middle East, and had months-long breaks in London where she met such celebrities as Alfred Lord Tennyson and Henry James. When William died in March 1892 she returned to Coole and set about improving the financial position of the estate. After reading works by WB Yeats and Douglas Hyde she became interested in Irish legends and learned Irish to be better able to understand the stories that she collected.

By the mid-1890s she had become friends with Yeats who often stayed for months at a time in Coole, and the place became a hub for discussion on the budding Irish Revival. In 1897 a decision was taken to form an Irish Theatre, and the Abbey Theatre opened its doors on the 27^th December 1904 with two plays, Spreading the News by Lady Gregory and On Baile’s Strand by Yeats. Hugh Lane, her nephew, who she introduced to many Irish artists, later bequeathed most of his wonderful collection of paintings to the museum in Dublin that now bears his name.

Since those early days, The Abbey Theatre has become world famous, and Lady Gregory’s role as playwright and manager (until 1928) was remembered by dramatist Lennox Robinson ‘..without Lady Gregory’s doggedness and determination and belief in the Theatre, these people (Irish playwrights) might never have, artistically, existed’.

The Abbey Theatre