a stone carving from a capital that adorns a column in Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Loughrea, Co Galway. The Cathedral was designed by William Byrne and funded by the wonderful Edward Martyn, Catholic land-owner, Humanist, scholar, patron, and playwright. Martyn was an absolutely vital figure in Ireland’s Gaelic Revival, a hugely important benefactor to the arts. Among his many… Read More St Brendan’s Cathedral & St Brendan Navigator.
We asked readers to try and identify four architectural details, from buildings around Ireland. If you have not seen the quiz yet, you can find it here. Or, if you just want the answers, and a bit of additional detail, here’s the answer to picture 1. (below) This fierce and fabulous sea creature is… Read More Answer 1… Dolphin House, & the influence of John Ruskin.
A small set of curious pictures, just four today, for readers to puzzle over. In a break with tradition, these images are not all from the capital. Two pictures are from Dublin, but the other two from elsewhere in Ireland, from much further afield. Enjoy, and please feel free to share with friends or colleagues.… Read More Four details… four pictures from Dublin and around Ireland.
Doors of Dublin quiz, results and reflections. It has to be acknowledged again this was a tough quiz. Too tough for most it seems. Over two hundred people read the post, but only around 1o people had a crack at answering the picture questions.. less than 1 in 20 readers ! That’s a… Read More Results of Doors of Dublin Quiz.
Here, at last, are the answers to the Doors of Dublin Quiz. They were delayed until now because replies were still trickling in until just a few days ago. It’s probably also necessary to repeat a word of apologetic explanation, to readers who replied to the quiz but did not see their responses appear (until tonight).… Read More Answers to the Doors of Dublin Quiz.
“there are so many doors to open. I am impatient to begin…” – Charlie Gordan, Flowers for Algernon. Many Dubliners are familiar with the well-known comercial souvenir poster, prominent in pubs and language schools, showing a grid of photographs depicting lovely painted Georgian doors. The simple, elegant Neo-Classical restraint of Georgian doors are of course wonderful. But,… Read More Doors of Dublin…
In his much-quoted opening of Dublin 1660-1860, the architectural historian Maurice Craig describes how one of the most momentous events in history, the taking of Byzantine Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, had a side effect with unexpected consequences. Byzantium, a huge Christian empire and the surviving eastern half of the old Roman Empire,… Read More Egyptian Neo-Classical Architecture in Dublin: the Ripples of History. A self-indulgent & speculative wander, through ideas, history, and some favourite Dublin buildings.
In the next few days, after an absence of a few weeks, we will resume our study of Dublin with a series of posts, talks, tours and quizes. We have several quizes lined up, on different themes of history and architecture (and history and architecture combined) as well as guided tours and discussions. But… Read More Dublin’s Egyptian Glory…. The newest quiz, from Hidden Dublin tours.
Here, slightly later than advertised, are the answers to the great Dublin street scape quiz, along with a few choice pieces of information on some of our featured Dublin buildings… The prize for this quiz was a pair or family ticket to any Dublin Decoded walking tour. Just one quick word of warning, obviously, if… Read More Answers to the Dublin street-scape Quiz (could you name 5 from 5?)
photo credit, Con O’Donoghue. (copyright 2012) Saint Audoen’s is ancient in origin. A church dedicated to St Collum Cile stood here in the early Christian era. It was re-founded in the early Norman period, and re-dedicated, this time to Saint “Audoen” Despite centuries of religious turmoil and war in Ireland, it has not… Read More The Portlester Tomb, Saint Audoen’s Church, Dublin.
Arran Q Henderson 