AIMSIR
Bhí sé fuar agus ag bagairt báistí for our 491st Saturday but remained dry.
DAOINE
Bróna, Orla, Deirdre, Eileen agus Diarmuid were the foireann today and, apparently for the runup to Valentine’s Day, the private tent-market was back on the street.
We collected lots of signatures and had many positive interactions with people, Irish-born and not. One of the workers on a nearby stall collected some signatures for us also.
Celine Dawson talked to us about her neighbour Dinah Mulvey (some confusion for a few minutes with Mulvihill, one of the Volunteers who was killed around the corner) who had a fresh fruit and vegetable stall on Moore Street near Hanlon’ fish shop (one of the shops that was there in 1916 also).
Celine’s uncle Billy Stacey fought in the War of Independence.
Damien Higgins told us about his great-grandfather Andy “Dazzler” Mulligan, so named for the shiny metal in his boots and on his cart-horse. Andy was in the Irish Citizen Army and carried the metal type to print the I916 Proclamation from the printers in Capel Street to Liberty Hall.
In the Rising, Andy was based at the GPO and so ended up in the battle and surrender in Moore Street, after which he was sent to jail in England.
Christine Rooney has lots of stories about how things were and talked about the stall-holders and others having great nights in Gerry Dwyer’s pub.
Christine used to collect the empty orange boxes which were constructed of thin slats of wood and take them home on a pram. Later she’d break them up, tie them into bunches and sell them as kindling firewood. If she ran out of string for the bundles, she’d use old tights.
Christine was reared in a four-room house but only in one room as the other three were rented out. These were hard times for working people and they were tough and creative to survive them.
As always we appreciate them sharing their history with us and we also shared our knowledge of history with children who came with adults. It is heart-warming to see the adults encouraging the children to sign the petition.
EILE
Our group is heading for its 500th Saturday on the street. In September 2014 Bróna Uí Loing, Vivienne Kelly, Diarmuid Breatnach and Mel Mac Giobúin met to begin a weekly presence on the street with a campaign table, leaflets and petition sheets. We consulted with other campaigners about the wording of the petition, of which the immediate objective was to prevent an exchange of DCC’s Nos.24-25 at the end of the 1916 Terrace to Joe O’Reilly for Nos.14-17 because otherwise he’d be able to demolish all buildings from No.25 to No.18.
Only Bróna and Mel had relatives who had fought in the 1916 Rising and/or the War of Independence but others with or without family connections to fighters in those two periods joined over the years for long or short periods, while others dropped out for health, employment or other reasons.
In November 2014 the objective we had set ourselves was achieved when the elected councillors voted to reject the speculator’s offer but we decided to continue our presence on the street until overall victory which is how we are now approaching our 500th Saturday, 10 years later.
YOU CAN SUPPORT US by sharing the information in our posts from time to time and signing and sharing our on-line petition.
