Bhí sé scamallach agus fionnuair.
DAOINE
Starting out, it looked as though there would be only one staffing the table, Diarmuid on his ownyoh, but then Christian turned up and stayed through and, a little later, so did Steve. So it was, unusually for us, an all-male foireann.
We were fortunate to meet, among the people who came to sign, father and daughter Liam Kenny and Siobhán Kenny, both with a strong feeling for our history and indeed, Siobhán’s great-grandfather (through her mother’s side) Vol. William Meehan had fought in the Mendicity Institute on the south side of the Liffey, commanded by Seán Heuston (Seán Mac Aodh). Although Heuston (the train station to the west of the city centre is named after him) was 25, he was a member of Na Fianna Éireann, the Republican youth organisation founded by Constance Marikievicz (nee Gore-Booth) and Bulmer Hobson in 1909. Though it was originally only intended to be held for 3–4 hours, with about 20 Volunteers, he held the the Institution in epic struggle for over two days. One of the 16 executed (14 in Dublin), his death came by British firing squad on 8th May in Kilmainham Jail (today a museum and place of guided tours, including to the execution yard – it was going to be demolished until saved by community volunteer work and presented to the State in 1966).
Both Kennys, father and daughter were happy to pose for a SMSFD solidarity portrait and so will also be saved in our Solidarity Portraits Album.
STAIR NA MBRAT/ HISTORY OF THE FLAGS
A brief history of the four flags we display at our weekly stall:
The Tricolour (Trí-Dhatach) was designed and made in silk by French revolutionary women in Paris and presented to Young Irelander Thomas Meagher (“of the Sword”) during the revolution in the French capital of 1848 (“the Year of Revolutions”).
Meagher first displayed the flag in his native city of Waterford on 7th March 1848 from the window of the Wolfe Tone Club there, announcing another revolution in France. He first displayed it in Dublin in Lower Abbey Street, across the road from where the Theatre is now.
The design slowly gained popularity but it was not until the 1916 Rising that one could say that most Republicans accepted it as the national flag and, even then, different flags were displayed during the Rising at different fighting posts. The Tricolour was one of TWO different flags flown on the GPO during the Rising and yet another was flown across the street over the Imperial Hotel in Clery’s building.
Sadly, the Tricolour is often enough flown by people who do not know its history nor even agree with its meaning, which is about republicanism and therefore separation of church and state, about tolerance, acceptance of difference and unity in struggle.
We’ll do a short piece on another flag in next week’s album.
UPDATES/ UASDÁTA
Planning Permissions: We received notification from An Bord Pleanála that the third planning application by the property speculator Hammerson is having its period of consideration extended and the deadline for decision on appeals extended now to 24th August.
Meanwhile, the Bord has already decided on the other two applications but has yet to inform us of their decision, though we do know that they have refused to hear us orally.
We still await a reply from DCC to our question: When will the O’Rahilly Monument signpost be replaced?
Mar is gnáthach, you can help by sharing posts or photos from here on your social media from time to time.
