We couldn’t resist posting these pictures from our Wednesday afternoon trip out. This week we visited the Freemason’s Grand Lodge on Molesworth Street. Our guide is pitcured above in the Templars chapel of the lodge. As he guided us through the cermonial rooms he dispelled many of the myths surrounding the Freemasons and did a fantastic job of answering all of our questions. It was a very interesting afternoon and an excellent tour.
Everyone at the museum would like to say a big congratulations to our former course trainees who are taking up courses at third level institutions in September. Well done to Chris McDonagh, who will be studying Humanities in Dundalk Institute of Technology, Luke Lyons who will be studying Arts in NUI Maynooth and Terence Mullally who will be undertaking the TAP programme at Trinity College Dublin. Please come back after your first term and tell us all how you are getting on!
The word Tholsel come from two Early English word meaning tax hall. The first Tholsel in Kilkenny was built around 1400 when the village became a walled city. The building of the present Tholsel commenced in 1759 but was renovated and the façade we see today was extended in 1761 by Alderman William Colles and was restored to its former glory in 1949. The Kilkenny Tholsel or Toll house is a five bay arcaded two story building on the town’s High Street. It was built for the Mayor and Citizens of Kilkenny. To this day this street is the commercial heart of this medieval city. In its time it also served as a Customs House, a Courthouse and a city Guild Hall. Today the building s used for city administrative. The city council chambers are inside and it is used as a temporary exhibition space during Kilkenny’s annual Arts Week and over the Christmas period the Nativity scene is held under the arch ways.
Filed under Aaron, Lady Gregory's Ghost
During our trip to Kilkenny we went to view the exhibition at the Butler Gallery, took a tour of Kilkenny Castle and had a look around St Canice’s Cathedral. We also undertook projects on buildings around the city including the Tholsel, the Black Abbey and Rothe House which we will be posting over the next week.
When we visited the Distillers press in NCAD back in May Sean Sills told us about a poem that James Joyce wrote in 1912 about a printer who refused to print Dubliners. We were reading the book at the time so have since sought out the poem and read it in class and we thought we would share it with you. We hope you enjoy it, thanks Sean!
Gas From a Burner by James Joyce (1912)
Ladies and gents, you are here assembled
To hear why earth and heaven trembled
Because of the black and sinister arts
Of an Irish writer in foreign parts.
He sent me a book ten years ago. I
read it a hundred times or so,
Backwards and forwards, down and up,
Through both the ends of a telescope.
I printed it all to the very last word
But by the mercy of the Lord
The darkness of my mind was rent
And I saw the writer’s foul intent. Read more
We have been very busy for the last fortnight with school tours at the museum. This means that our newer team members Gillian, Caoimhe and Barbara have been perfecting their printer’s hat. Here’s a nice instruction guideline we found online.
We are now in the second term of our course and have completed six of our nine modules including Work Experience, Local History, Communications, Folklore, Archeology and Reception Studies. We have also just finished Dubliners so our reading group is moving on to Dr Jekll and Mr Hyde the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson which was first published in 1886.
This week we are carrying out research for our local history projects. We are visiting the National Archive and Dublin City Library and Archive as well as undertaking research in our own local library, the Pembroke Library. Aside from hitting the books we have also been looking at history blogs and good history sites for our research. Here are some of our favourites.
1. Come Here to Me: A brilliant blog on all things Dublin- this looks at everything from Dublin’s history to graffiti. We were
lucky enough to have Donal Fallon come and talk to us before we set our blog up.
2. Cork Heritage: With a list of Heritage Events in Cork city throughout 2012 this is a great site for those living in the city or just visiting Cork. There are some great historical walking tours suggested and Kieran also has articles on Cork History.
3. Dublin City Public Library Blog: This is a great scholarly blog based at the heart of Dublin cities libraries. They also have some great posts on books including this one on bookbinding here and this one on shopping for books in Dublin in 1782 here.
4. South Dublin Libraries: This is great for Local history blog that looks at the history, folklore and trivia of south Dublin.
5. South Dublin History: This is an amazing website that looks at Clondalkin, Lucan, Newcastle, Palmerston, Rathcoole, Rathfarnham, Saggart, Tallaght, Templeogue. It includes modern and historic maps for each area, bibliographies, a history of each area, a chronology, list of famous people who lived in the area and
other resources. Very useful! This is one of the best sites on the local history of Dublin and has won some awards.
Our brand new children’s education area, sponsored by the Aviva Stadium, opened last Saturday. This has got us talking about how to best incorporate it into our children’s tours. We have also been discussing other children’s educational areas and children’s museums that we like. Here are some of our favourites (in no particular order).
1. Tara’s Palace: Museum of Childhood: Brilliant for children and adults!
2. National Gallery of Ireland, Kid’s area: Get your picture hanging in the National Gallery!
3. Imaginosity: Dublin’s children’s museum for under 9s.
4. The Wax Museum: Educational and lots of fun!
5. The Ark: For kids 2-12 the Ark promotes the Arts in all shapes and sizes to children.
6. Irish National Heritage Park, Ferrycarrig: 900 years of Irish settlement
and civilisation
7. The Zoo: It should be mandatory that every Irish child gets to visit the Zoo.
8. Dublinia: Making Medeival History accessible for children.
9. Viking Splash Tour: Become a Viking for the day!
10. Castletown House: They do a fantastic dress up events for children and a self-guided nature trail for schools and families.
Last Wednesday we were given a tour around the Distiller’s Press at the National College of Art and Design by Sean Sills. The Distillers Press is a working letterpress studio and NCAD are lucky enough to be the only third level institution with a working letterpress studio. Students of the college produce posters, books and course work in the studio and Sean showed us some of the work which has been produced there including an MA work in progress project, a hand printed book on the printers of the Titanic, and an award winning hand printed ‘Book of Hours’ produced in the studio.
Sean also allowed us to print our own book marks with the following wonderful George Bernard Shaw quote:
Well printed books are just as scarce as well written books
&
every author shall remember that
the most costly books derive their value from the craft of the printer
and
not the author’s genuis.
Cultural and Heritage Studies Course at the National Print Museum 