The Liberty Map Beta

This is my map I created in Flash. It is a extremely simple and not even complete mock up of the map I will hopefully put on the Web site. View it.

Ash Wednesday

Tonight I went to Mass for the first time with my roommate Ruth and her boyfriend Sean. It was a really traditional mass. Prayer was read in Latin, there were five alter boys, incense, bells and all. I was brought up nondenominational- meaning protestant to the Irish. Anything not Catholic is Protestant. The Protestants oppressed the Catholics of Ireland for 100s of years, meaning England oppressed Ireland for 100s of years. But who didn't the British oppress? Anyway, I received ash from the priest, I had to kneel down while he said a short prayer in Latin before putting his thumb to my forehead. Later we took communion in a very traditional manner. The priest fed us the eucharist on our stuck out tongues while saying a prayer ( I heard corpus christi- meaning body of Christ). I don't know any of the rituals even how you are supposed to cross yourself, or kneel with your right knee before sitting or before the altar. But, it was a very interesting experience and I am really glad I went. The priest talked about how ash Wednesday and Lent is not just an excuse to take off a couple of pounds or leave off the fags (cigarettes) for a while, but a preparation for the death of Jesus Christ (Easter). He was a little intense and forceful, but it was interesting. Ruth and Sean both agreed that normally mass is not as formal, the priest congratulates the recent victor in the local kids football match, etc., etc.
Also, what Americans call Fat Tuesday, Ireland calls Pancake Tuesday. Everyone eats pancakes at all meals. Well not everyone, but we had pancakes, which are American crepes. They are flat and fold up. Alison, Ruth's good friend upstairs is going to culinary school and made us pancakes with caramel, marshmallows, and nutella. The pancakes were perfect! Ruth assembled them and they were too good to be true.
I'll keep you updated on other traditions, Cheers!

Connemara/ Salthill/Galway/Dunmore

So, my birthday was this past Saturday. I spent the weekend at Molly's (my roommate) family's house. Her grandfather was born in Donegal, the northern part of Ireland, and his cousin Madeline lives in Dunmore with her husband Robbie. They operated a B&B in Galway for a while and lease it out to someone else who now runs it. They are both happily retired. Their home was absolutely gorgeous. It felt like a B&B. Madeline had the best hospitality I have ever experienced of anyone. She made breakfast each morning. Gave me medicine because I was sick and even went to the local bakery and had them make a cake for me and Molly (her birthday is this Sunday). Robbie used to be a chef in one of his many trades. He fixed chicken, parsnips (from his own garden), carrots, potatoes and beets. It was delicious. The next night we had lamb, leek with white sauce, parsnips and potatoes. We had duck eggs from their own ducks as well in the morning. I also don't think I have had as much tea in my life as in that weekend. It was absolutely wonderful.
On my birthday, Madeline drove through Connemara. Nothing is there except scattered houses and the most gorgeous scenery you have ever experienced. Words cannot describe the site. The feeling. I saw Galway, the Altlantic from the other side, sheep, a castle, the Twelve Pins (also Bens) which are the mountains, a gorgeous boarding school (Kylemore) which looked like a castle too and ate chowder in a quaint town called Roundstone, where the writer of The Riverdance owns a house nearby. I am posting some photographs, but I will link my Flickr so that you can see more of the beauty of Ireland.

They also had a border collie named Ness, short for Guinness. She was so affectionate and the best trained dog I have ever encountered. She just sat and let you pet her and did whatever they said without hesitation. They also had an iron fireplace, which they put turf (peat) in to fuel it.
Everything you think of Ireland, the hospitality, the food, the good company and wonderful scenery, I experienced in that weekend. It was absolutely amazing.
They also had antique furniture and an old-school bathtub and wash basin. The electric blankets were also a plus from my mattress in my dorm that I literally feel all the springs from.
Enjoy west Ireland!

The Iveagh Market

These photographs are taken of the Iveagh Market. I took them through a break in a window, which you can see above. The Earl of Iveagh opened this market in 1902 to give people a dry place to sell their goods according to warrenmountprimary.com. The market eventually closed down. However, during the Celtic Tiger, the major economic boom in Ireland, Dublin wanted to reopen the market, but eventually ran out of money. It now is boarded up and only holes in the windows are the only ways to see this gorgeous place. It is overgrown with wildlife and is coming out the sides of the buildings. When out of the recession and back into better times Dublin should reopen this beautiful piece of history to the vendors and peopel once more.

The Liberties in the afternoon

This is housing along a main road located in The Liberties. It is the fastest way to walk to class and it is lovely at sunset.


The sky can be breathtaking in Dublin. It backlights 3 buildings in The Liberties by the Iveagh Market, which no longer is in operation. Below is a cathedral against the black sky lit by the setting sun.

These photographs were taken in a section of town called The Liberties. It is called The Liberties because back in the Middle Ages, the people were free from the government. However, they still paid money to the Catholic Church who ran the section of town.
The Guinness brewery is located in this section and the Iveagh family, the family who owns Guinness, has donated a lot to the area. Such as housing, monuments, etc. The best Guinness in town is found at Capstan but called Fallon's by the locals. Guinness ensures this because the keg is kept right under the bar as opposed to under ground like most pubs. Of course temperature and the whole 9-yards also plays a part in the taste of beer, so other factors may play a part as well. I have yet to taste it myself, but I will no doubt update this when I do.
The Liberties should not be walked through at night. Violence and drugs have risen in the area since the recession. There is also a brothel in this part of the city. However, it is not a bad part of Dublin and has a ton of history and culture in this area. I also live at the bottom of The Liberties (Dublin 8- the number of the district for The Liberties). Dublin's districts are all even on the southside of the river Liffey and odd to the north of it. I have never felt unsafe but would not walk down Thomas Street at night.
I am in a newspaper class at D.I.T. and we put out about 3 newspapers a semester completely dedicated to this community. The newspaper is called The Liberty. I will be on their new web team this semester, which will correspond with the print stories. This has never been done at D.I.T. so I hope to make it a fantastic Web site along with the other team members. I hope to include multimedia, maps in Flash, photo essays and of course the stories will be up as well. The Web site will turn live the day we go to print on our first issue, which is March 9th. I will post a link. And it will improve throughout the semester.

TradFest - Traditional Festival

TradFest occurred about a week ago at the end of January in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. It included a market, outdoor music, dancing, traditional Irish jigs and reels, and a film festival. There were also bands playing in pubs at night. This occurred at the Meeting House Square on Sunday, January 21st, in the afternoon. The band encouraged everyone to dance and those who did not know how picked it up fairly fast. Enjoy!