Dundrum History, cont. June 18, 2010
I seem to be on a local history sidetrack. Yesterday en route back from our visit with our friends we met a man crossing the Dundrum by-pass just near the library. He looked familiar, we exchanged pleasantries, and then scurried across the road – the pedestrian crossing green light doesn’t give us oldies much time – when we’re only half way across the green turns to yellow. When we were safe on the other side the man asked me if I had found any more books on Irish history. Ah – you were the man I met at the Taney Church fete last Saturday. You were at the book stall and helped me look for books on local history. Alas I answered his question, only the book by Geraldine Mitchell. He looked blank. Further I added, she wrote Deeds Not Words The Life and Work of Muriel Gahan.
Again that drew a blank and we moved on. We talked about the local history books about Dundrum written by J. (James) Nolan. I told him I had been looking at those books in the library and that my copies were in much better condition. (My copies are in Seattle.) He wondered how I was interested in this topic since I wasn’t native to these parts. People seem to know immediately that I am a foreigner so to speak – and it is the speaking that gives me away. So I explained that we were here in Dundrum over 40 years. Ah he said, a “blow-in”. Now if there’s one term that really irritates me it’s to be called a “blow-in” – it makes me feel very unwelcome. He proceeded to apologize profusely and go on to say that one could be a “blow-in” even if born just a few streets away. Anyway, I digress.
He proceeded to tell me about a relation who had served in the First World War as a member of an ambulance crew and over a period of 2 years had written home regularly, home being Dundrum I was lead to believe. The family has preserved these letters and a book has been written about them. The book is at the printer now and will only be available privately. Alas, an elusive and tantalizing source of local history.
Incidentally I also noticed the book that the man was carrying – Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, a book about Afghanistan. The conversation could have shifted far across the world if only Ian had not gone on ahead, I felt it was high time I caught up with him before he disappeared altogether and I missed my luncheon date.
Local History, A Little Bit More – Dundrum Library June 17, 2010
Having written about St. Nahi’s Church here in Dundrum and referred to the Dundrum Library just behind it, I’ll add some information today about the library. I discovered a book with lovely paintings and informative text about some of the features in our Dundrum/Stillorgan/Rathfarnham area. The paintings are by Olivia Hayes and the text by the late Christoper Ryan. On the cover is a painting of our Main Street here in Dundrum – the terrace of red brick houses is very distinctive.
The library in Dundrum is one of the many Carnegie libraries scattered around Ireland, and to be found in other countries as well.
According to the Christopher Ryan’s text, Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1835. He emigrated to the U.S. where his first job was as a bobbin winder in a cotton factory. By the time he was age 50 he had his own steel works and was becoming increasingly wealthy. During the last 18 years of his life, Carnegie sponsored the building 2,811 libraries – 660 of these were in the British Isles. There are several in the greater Dublin area. The Dundrum Library was opened in August 1914 by the then Lord Chancellor.
In the early years the library was also used as an entertainment centre. The upper floor had a stage and a kitchen and was a popular venue for concerts , plays, dances, and sales-of-work.
When we came to Dundrum in the late 1960’s the library was closed and if I remember correctly it did not open until the late ’70’s. It is now an excellent community resource, no longer for plays and entertainment, but it houses an excellent collection of books and reference material. And it also has computers for community use. It also hosts activity groups for different interests in the community – e.g. a reading group, a Scrabble Club, Cupla Focla – an Irish conversation group. And I think I also read about a knitting group meeting there.
As to my knitting – here’s a photo labelled Still Life – Knitting, Watering Can, and Cat
the knitting is my current work-in-progress, another blanket
In this spell of very nice weather I have to provide a chair for my cat to be beside me in the garden – and another chair for my cup of tea
The bird life in the garden these days is wonderful. I have watched a number of birds gathering material for nest building in nearby shrubs or trees.
This isn’t the best of photos but this is a very friendly robin who hovered around us as we had coffee this morning in the garden of friends. I wouldn’t have known it was a robin except that our hostess told us so – it was newly fledged so it did not have the characteristic red breast. It reminded me of what I would imagine a baby thrush to look like with a brownish speckled breast.
St. Nahi’s – Local History June 15, 2010
St. Nahi’s is a small church here in Dundrum/Churchtown, Dublin, Ireland. It is located on a very ancient site where it is thought there was a monastic settlement as early as the 7th century.
The source for the following is the Taney Parish website
St Nahi’s Church
St Nahi’s stands on the original site of Dundrum Parish Church where according to official records, a church was built about 800AD probably on the ruins of a still older building. It was dedicated to St Nathy or Nahi – a Saint of the very early Irish Church who is thought to have lived in a monastery at Churchtown about 600AD. St Nahi’s was rebuilt several times – in 950, 1650 and in 1750.The present restoration was completed in 1910
The present St Nahi’s Church was erected in the middle of the 18th Century. It was consecrated on 8th June 1760. It was designed as a simple rectangular box shape.
photo from Wikipedia
photo from Wikipedia
Following are some of my photos taken earlier this month.
St. Naithi’s graveyard (photo from the Taney website)
view of St. Nahi graveyard from upstairs in the Dundrum Library where I meet once a week with Cupla Focla, the Irish speaking group
Dundrum Library, to the left is a little lane which runs behind the graveyard
Dundrum Library
Absent-Minded Knitter May 13, 2010
I knit this sweater a few years ago and I have worn it a lot. Yesterday I happened to be looking at the cuffs and realised that one sleeve had a cuff knitted knit one, purl one – the cuff on the other sleeve is knit two, purl two. Does it matter? I don’t think so since it has gone un-noticed until just now.
Regular readers of this blog know that I like to read memoirs and other works of such ilk. Here is an excellent one which I finished last night. Nothing to Do but Stay, My Pioneer Mother, by Carrie Young. A book I found in the Scandinavian Store on 15th near our home in Seattle. This book is a collection of essays about Carrine Berg, 1879-1962. Carrine came to America from Norway at the age of 3. She grew up in Minnesota and went on to homestead in North Dakota. She would have been of my grandparents generation. The essays are fascinating telling of family life in the middle west at that time in history. Carrine was a very skilled seamstress, and no doubt a knitter as well. She was anything but absent-minded. Her story comes through as of a pioneer woman of sturdy stock and one to be greatly admired. 
Now to get back to the editing of my own autobiography.
16 Year Old Weaver Arrested October 29, 2009
This morning, reading about the Suffragettes , I found the following information:
In March 1907, a 16-year-old Huddersfield weaver named Dora Thewlis was arrested. The sensational photograph of the arrest was later turned into a picture postcard – wouldn’t this be a nice one for my collection. 
And I like the cover picture from a 1974 issue of The Radio Times of 3 of the Suffragettes in later life.
And here’s another old postcard that I read about today.
This is from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Written in 1922. And the accompanying blurb is to be found here.
Artwork for today January 23, 2009
This is the photo from which I was working today in my art class. It’s an old photo, possibly from Scotland or northern England. I can’t remember where I found it, but it is a nice line-up of girls who worked in the herring fisheries – the herring girls.
This was fun to sketch – the result is nothing to brag about but I had a good time.
