Nick Maxwell The Civic Offices are possibly the most controversial buildings erected in Dublin during the twentieth century—still referred to by many as ‘the bunkers’. A design competition was held and in 1968 it was announced that Stephenson Gibney Architects had won. As originally proposed, the scheme consisted of four concrete panel-clad towers with vertical window bays … Read more
The Wood Quay Oral History Project is an initiative of the Dublin City Heritage Plan, co-funded by the Heritage Council and commissioned by the Heritage Officer of Dublin City Council, Charles Duggan. A steering group, established from a wide background, set the format for the project and identified key interviewees. The present writer developed the … Read more
Against a backdrop of political uncertainty regarding Home Rule, and with soon-to-be-armed volunteers appearing on Irish streets, North and South, the Battle of Clontarf was presented as a definitive victory for a native Irish force over a foreign aggressor. The Irish Volunteer and Clontarf The first edition of the Irish Volunteer appeared on 7 February … Read more
The year 1914 saw the beginning of the painting of the murals depicting the history of the city within the rotunda of Dublin’s City Hall, the work of students of the Metropolitan School of Art, under the guidance of James Ward. Alderman Thomas Kelly, leader of Sinn Féin on Dublin Corporation, had been instrumental in … Read more
History painting—the most important, albeit conservative, manner of European painting—was occasionally subverted in Ireland for anti-establishment purposes. James Barry’s St Patrick Baptizing the King of Cashel (1763), Daniel Maclise’s Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854) and John Mulvany’s Battle of Aughrim (1885) all show the inherent versatility of the genre in presenting alternative views of … Read more