Sometimes we put too much trust in new technology and that was my failing tonight. Artificial intelligence still has a way to go in coping with human expression in all its variety. The poor transcription was stopped, but not before it undercut a number of very important speeches. Stopping it also deprived some of our audience of access to the later speeches. We are working on producing the corrected archival version of the ceremony which will be available online.

My sincerest apologies,

James Bacon
Chair, Dublin 2019 – An Irish Worldcon

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Today I went to Tara. Or rather, Fionna drove and James took the final batch of intrepid pictures in the driving rain. Today three of us went to Tara, then. This first picture is not Tara. It’s the church at Slane. I would hate you to miss it.

Slane is all about St Patrick according to everyone I’ve talked to. The lady at the tourist information at Tara was worried that I didn’t understand how hard it is to know when mythology is history and history is mythology and she heaved a sigh of relief when I understood that there’s a certain paucity of evidence for a fire on the hill. She gave me the gift (as a thank-you) of explaining which hilltop could see which hilltop: the High King at Tara might have been able to see the fire, but he would probably not have seen the hill itself. This means that we were invisible from Tara when we took these photos. (I took most of them… but James took the really interesting ones from Tara.)

The abbey St. Patrick is said to have founded is on the hill of Slane. That church was on a hill (there were many hills today, most of which were natural but one of which was diagnosed by Fionna as farmer-created). The hill at Slane was not your average hill: it’s where St. Patrick may or may not have lit a tremendous bonfire that changed Irish history. This is why it was so important that a fire could be seen on it from Tara or from Newgrange. A political statement that no-one can see is not that effective.

Where there are hills, there are also valleys. The valley in the next picture is not that close to Slane, and it’s important in different ways. Highish Medievalish ways, for the most part, rather than Earlyish Medievalish.

I fell in love with the area around the abbey at Fore. There was a very solid bit of medieval wall, the remnants of an abbey, an old church safely protected from the hillside by a cemetery … and more. The valley was tucked into granite hills and at the centre of it all was an ash tree growing out of an ancient well and decorated by so many people. I was expecting Tara to be the highlight of my day, but this valley gently nudged it aside.

On the way to Tara from there, we had lunch in a pub. Of course we did. The picture is not of where we had lunch, it’s the pub down the road that didn’t serve food, but it called itself an Irish pub and I’ve always wondered what an Irish pub would look like in Ireland.

My eyes were boggled by the castle at Trim. Why were my eyes boggled? Such an intimidating castle, even half-fallen down. Oisin McGann wrote about this, so you’re spared an hour of medievalish thought. Fionna and James were not so lucky.

It was a bit wet, and a bit cold (even for me – and I left winter on Wednesday) which meant I could only see the edge of Tara. The moral of the story is quite possibly that disabilities do what the description says. James took photos of the bits I couldn’t see, for your benefit (thank him nicely, please, for it was pouring ice-rain) and for mine. My photographs include critical objects like… jam.

What did I see? I saw the modern settlement spilling down the hill: graves and houses and a church turned into a tourist centre and a rather nice gift shop. From there was the road and the town and the everyday. The top of the hill is the Tara we dream of. The underground bits we cannot see, the half-visible avenue leading to the carved earth, the pillars and the hollows and the memories of the high kings.

Even with the rain pelting down, that hillside was worth visiting.

Gillian is an Australian science fiction author and fan with doctorates in medieval history and creative writing. She lives in the centre of the known universe (Canberra), and was GUFF delegate in 2014.  Her new novel, Year of the Fruit Cake, is available from all the best book stores and webshops. If you spot her at the convention, be sure to pick a surprise from her lucky dip bag.

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“A mountain paradise, yet silent and lonesome, somewhat strange, for all its sweetness of flower and of friend, not friendly . . . ” –

“The Blanket Fiend” (1929)

Beatrice Grimshaw (1870-1953) was born in Dunmurry, Co. Antrim on 3 February 1870. Though raised in Northern Ireland, and educated in France, Grimshaw is primarily associated with Australia and the South Seas, which she wrote about in her fiction and travel journalism. She was a devoted (and record-breaking) cyclist, and during the 1890s wrote for the Dublin-based magazines Irish Cyclist and Social Review. In 1904 Grimshaw was commissioned by London’s Daily Graphic to report on the Pacific islands, around which she purportedly sailed her own cutter, never to return to Europe again. Her travel writing includes From Fiji to the Cannibal Islands (1907) and In the Strange South Seas (1908); her most popular novels are When Red Gods Call (1911) and The Sorcerer’s Stone (1914); while collections such as The Valley of Never-Come-Back (1923) and The Beach of Terror (1931) feature some of her supernatural stories. After living much of her life in New Guinea, Grimshaw retired to New South Wales, where she died on 30 June 1953.

Read Beatrice Grimshaw on Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/46026

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These squares were not just pretty parks, they were the entertainment multiplexes of their day, laid out with pleasure pavilions where theatrical and musical performances took place, and the wealthy could eat and socialise. Having an address facing or adjoining one of the squares conferred significant social standing, and such sites could be sold or leased at a significant premium over less desirable sites.

Today we take you on a whistle stop tour of Dublin’s Georgian Squares, most of which are easily visited from the Worldcon venues.

St. Stephen’s Green

Our first stop is not actually a Georgian Square, but actually much older. It takes its name from the House of St Stephen, a Leper house founded in 1192, and was originally an area of common land for animal grazing. By 1610, it was already enclosed by streets, and in 1664 it was taken over by Dublin Corporation and enclosed by walls. Land surrounding the green could be leased from Dublin Corporation for one penny per square foot.

However, many of the early developments were rebuilt during the Georgian period, and many of the buildings from the period still standing today, with very fine examples on all four sides, and an unbroken terrace of fine Georgian houses still running the entire length of the East side.

Among the fine buildings on the square is the Royal College of Surgeons, established by royal charter in 1784, it did not have its own premises until it acquired its site on Stephen’s Green.

The original walls of the park were replaced by railings in 1814, and it opened to the public in 1880.

During the Easter Rising of 1916, rebels led by Constance Markievicz took up position in Stephen’s Green and a pitched battle was fought for most of the rising. However, a temporary armistice was agreed to allowed the groundskeeper to feed the ducks. A bust of Markievicz can now be found in the park.

Parnell Square

The oldest of Dublin’s actual Georgian squares, Parnell Square was originally named “Rutland Square” and was conceived by two men, Dr Bartholemew Mosse and Luke Gardiner. Dr Mosse leased four acres to build a “lying-in” hospital for less wealthy residents of the city. To fund his hospital, he developed the square and sold plots around it.

At its height the square had its own orchestra, and the former entertainment pavilions were developed into the Gate Theatre and the Ambassador Cinema (no longer a cinema).

One of the finest houses built on the square was built for Lord Charlemont by renowned architect William Chambers, which is now home to the Hugh Lane Gallery. Next door to this is the Dublin Writers’ Museum, which is well worth a visit.

The hospital became the Rotunda Maternity and gradually expanded to take over much of the area of the square. A strip along the northern edge became the Garden of Remembrance. Originally this was dedicated to Irish Men and Women killed in the 1916 rising, it has since been rededicated to remember Irish citizens who died in all wars.

There are current plans for Parnell Square to be the centrepiece of Dublin’s new cultural quarter, with a new central library next to the Hugh Lane Gallery. Unfortunately these plans have run into funding difficulties, but hopefully at least the new library will get the go-ahead.

Merrion Square

Perhaps the finest and best preserved of Dublin’s squares is Merrion Square, originally laid out in 1762 when James FitzGerald, the Earl of Kildare (who later became the Duke of Leinster) selected to build his house, now Leinster House, on the south side of the city. Prior to this, the north side was the fashionable area, but many landowners followed him and by 1800, the streets around Merrion Square were amongst the most fashionable to live in.

Leinster House was was sold in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society. In 1922 it was leased by the newly formed Irish Free State government, and eventually bought outright, and is still home to the Irish Parliament. Adjacent to it are the National History museum and the National Gallery (and around the other side, on Kildare Street, the National Museum and National Library).

The park was only open to residents who had a key until the 1960s, but has since been taken over by Dublin Corporation and turned into a public park. It is now home to a number of monuments, including a statue of Oscar Wilde (who previously lived across the road in number 1). Other famous residents include W.B. Yeats and Daniel O’Connell.

The south side of the square formally housed the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, where Erwin Schrödinger was employed from 1940 to 1958. Schrödinger, an outspoken critic of the Nazis, was fired from the university of Graz for “political unreliability”, and received an invitation to come to Dublin to head up De Valera’s new institute, which he accepted. He became a naturalised Irish citizen, though he retained his Austrian citizenship.

Mountjoy Square

While Merrion Square was attracting wealthy nobles south of the Liffey, the north side wasn’t going to give up without a fight, and in 1787 Luke Gardiner laid out a new square, a short distance from Rutland (Gardiner) Square. Originally called Gardiner Square, it was renamed Mountjoy Square when Gardiner became the 1st Viscount Mountjoy in 1795.

It is the only one of Dublin’s Georgian squares that is actually a square, with each side 140m in length. The houses are a uniform design, with the latest modern design features of the late 18th century, such as coal holes built into the pavement to allow coal to be poured into underground bunkers, minimising mess.

During the 19th century, many of the wealthier residents left, and many of the buildings were subdivided into tenements occupied by many families of lower social standing. Often these were poorly maintained, and the condition of the buildings deteriorated. A number of buildings were demolished around the square in the mid 20th century, particularly on the southern side where only three original houses remained. At one point it looked like large parts of Georgian Dublin might be set for demolition. Thankfully, thanks to the intervention of wealthy benefactors, the frontages of the demolished houses have since been restored, and the square restored to its former glory, even if the interior of many of the restored houses is not the original design.

Notable residents included playwright Sean O’Casey, who lived at number 35. All three of his Dublin trilogy plays were set in tenement houses, clearly inspired by the square.

Fitzwilliam Square

A short distance to the south of Merrion Square lies Fitzwilliam Square named after Irish Viscount Richard FitzWilliam. It was laid out in 1791 and received strong early interest. However, due to wars with France and concern about the impending act of union, only four houses were built by 1797, and it would take another 30 years to complete.

Despite this, the houses surrounding Fitzwilliam square are remarkably consistent architecturally. While smaller than the other squares, it is fully enclosed by fine terraced houses, and features some of Dublin’s finest Georgian architecture.

Perhaps the most photographed of Dublin’s famous Georgian doors can be found at number 46. Curiously, the door itself is not from the Georgian period, but is actually Edwardian, having been replaced nearly 100 years after the death of George IV.

The park itself is not open to the public (for a time there was a lunchtime food market on Fridays, but this isn’t currently running).

Artist Jack B. Yeats lived in number 18 from 1929 till his death in 1957. The Jameson family, famous for their whiskey, also had a house on the square.

Mount Pleasant Square

After the Act of Union in 1801, Ireland no longer had its own parliament or House of Lords, and many nobles no longer felt the need to maintain a house here. Many of those who still came to Dublin opted to sell their large properties and keep a smaller house that was easier to maintain. The suburbs of Ranelagh and Rathmines sprang up and became popular with the downsized wealthy class.

Mount Pleasant Square (which is not even remotely square in shape), was established by Terence Dolan, a glove maker from Chester, in 1807, and development carried on until the 1830s. Houses on the square are mostly two and three story houses over basements, built in the style of miniature versions of the Georgian terraces of the city centre.

The central gardens were originally built for the residents to enjoy, but proved two costly to maintain for the more middle class residents, and it was eventually sold. It now houses the Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club. A small strip of of park remains on the eastern edge. This was threatened with development into a garage in the 1990s, but thanks to public outcry, the development was prevented and it is now a public park.

Planning your Worldcon trip? Check out this handy map showing every place Touring Tuesdays has visited.

James Shields is coordinator for the Touring Tuesdays blog, and is also working on the Children’s Programme team as well as producing the Hugo Awards finalists announcement video for Dublin 2019. Outside of conventions, James is a massive LEGO fan and a former LEGO ambassador for Ireland and a founding member of Brick.ie, the Irish Association for Adult Fans of LEGO.

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“In Ireland anything may happen to anyone anywhere and at any time, and it usually does.” –

“The Unfortunate Fursey” (1946)

Mervyn Wall (1908-1997) was born in Rathmines, Dublin. He was educated in Belvedere College; Bonn, Germany; and the National University of Ireland where he obtained his B.A. in 1928. After fourteen years in the Civil Service, he joined Radio Éireann as Programme Officer. In 1957 he left Radio Éireann to become Secretary of the Arts Council of Ireland, a position he held until 1975. Widely known during his lifetime as a broadcaster and critic, he is best remembered now for his plays and novels, among them two satirical fantasies set in medieval Ireland, The Unfortunate Fursey (1946) and The Return of Fursey (1948). His book Leaves for the Burning won Denmark’s Best European Novel award in 1952.

Writings by Mervyn Wall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_Wall#Writings

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There are some remarkably pleasant walks, both urban and rural, within easy reach of Dublin City Centre and accessible by public transport. I recently had some unexpected free time in Dublin and did each of these walks as a day trip from the city centre for just a few pounds on the bus or train, making it an easy and relatively cheap way to see some of what the local area has to offer.

To find these walks I used the very handy “All Trails” app (a really great guide if you enjoy walking, with trails all over the world) and used some of their suggestions as starting points. I have included links to the page about each walk at the bottom of each description, though I didn’t always stick to the suggested routes. The maps for each trail generally show other footpaths in the area too, so you can easily pick a route that suits you. The “All Trails” app also has some great information about points of interest along the way. I think I’m a little bit in love, and will definitely be using it again in the future!

Phoenix Park

Inside the city, just a couple of kilometres west of the centre along the Liffey river, lies Phoenix park. At a whopping 1,750 acres in size it is one of the largest recreational spaces that can be found inside any European city. To get to it you can either walk along the river, or hop on the Luas tram to Heuston, less than 20 minutes west from the CCD.

Inside the park there are any number of paths (as well as a few roads – watch out for vehicles!) many of which are tarmacked making them suitable for walkers of all abilities and accessible for those using wheels too. As well as simply soaking up the lovely atmosphere of the park you can: visit the Victorian People’s Flower Garden, admire the Wellington Testimonial (which, at over 60m in height, is the tallest obelisk in Europe), visit a prehistoric burial chamber, check out a powder magazine fort from the 1700s, visit Ashdown Castle (actually a medieval tower house, right next to the Phoenix Park Visitors Centre which is also worth popping into), see the Phoenix Monument and the Papal Cross (erected to mark the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979), and stop off at the very lovely Tea Rooms for lunch. On top of all that, Phoenix Park is also the home of Dublin Zoo, so you can combine a visit there with a walk in the park.

With so many interesting sites only a short trip from the city centre, it’s not surprising that Phoenix Park is a popular destination and can get quite busy when the weather is good. However, Phoenix Park is big enough that you can always find a quiet spot away from the crowds if that’s what you’re looking for. You could easily spend days exploring all that Phoenix Park has to offer, without ever leaving Dublin, but even if you only have a few hours to spare it’s very quick and easy to get to and well worth a visit.

Ruggedness: Not at all – extremely civilised.
Distance: Totally up to you!
Food & Drink: Available in the park at the Tea Rooms near the entrance, or at the café at the visitor’s centre.
More Info: Phoenix Park Website” http://phoenixpark.ie, All Trails Phoenix Park Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/county-dublin/phoenix-park-trail

Dun Laoghaire Harbour

The Port of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced “Done Leery”) is about half an hour south of the centre of Dublin on the DART train which can be picked up at Connolly Street Station, which itself is just a half mile walk, or 3 stops on the Luas tram, from the CCD (though if you are further south in the city the DART also stops at Tara Street, Pearse, and various other stations on its way through Dublin). The harbour is enclosed by two piers, either of which make a nice walk from where you can admire the sailing boats moored inside the walls, or the views along the coast outside them.

The East pier is more popular for walking and is very close to the Dun Laoghaire DART station, which is easy to find with mostly level concrete underfoot, making it fairly accessible (though if stairs are an issue, do check that the lifts are working at the relevant DART stations – several were out of order the day I went). It is also important to note that the area can get pretty busy during the holidays, especially when the weather is good. If you want a longer walk, or to avoid the worst of the crowds, you can hop off one stop early at Salthill & Monkstown and walk out along the slightly longer West pier before continuing around the harbour to the East pier. From there you can walk the second pier or continue down the coast, past Sandycove (where you’ll find many locals swimming in the sea if the sun is out – join them if you’re feeling brave!), out to the viewpoint at Forty Foot, and potentially on past Dalkey to Killiney Hill Park before getting the DART home again from whichever station you find yourself closest to. I only made it as far as to Forty Foot myself before seeking shelter in a nearby café when the rain came in, but I understand that the views further south are fabulous so I’m very much hoping to go back and find those.

Ruggedness: Pretty civilised if you stay around the towns, potentially a bit more of a moderate hike if you make it as far as Killiney Hill Park.
Distance: About 1.6 miles if you just go out along the East Pier and back, but you can easily extend the walk down the coast all the way to Bray and still get the DART home again if you don’t fancy walking back.
Food & Drink: Easily available in various cafes in Dun Laoghaire, Sandycover, and other small towns as you head South.
More Info: All Trails Dun Laoghaire East Pier: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/county-dublin/east-pier-dun-laoghaire, All Trails Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey & Killiney: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/county-dublin/dun-laoghaire-dalkey-and-killiney-loop-walk

Hellfire Club & Massey Woods

Set in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains to the south of the city, the ruins of Montpelier Lodge (which later became home to the notorious Hellfire Club, the name by which it is now better known) can be found atop Montpelier Hill. This is a little harder to reach by public transport than the other walks I did, but manageable by taking the number 15 bus from the city to the end of the line at Hunters Wood, then walking ~1.5 miles along country roads to the car park where the walk really starts. It’s all uphill on the way from the bus stop, but thankfully that means it’s all downhill on the way home! Although you do need to watch out for fast-moving cars on the windy country lanes, which are not paved. Alternatively, if you have use of a car there is a very convenient car park right at the bottom of the hill.

From the car park you can choose whether to take the longer, windier but less-steep path up the hill, which is well maintained, wide and gravelled, or to scramble more directly up one of the various goat-trail-like footpaths to the top. At the top you can explore the ruined building, said to be haunted by the ghost of an enormous black cat, or just admire the stunning views back towards the city.

The weather was somewhat blustery the day I went, and other than a few families making their way to the top at lunch time, I pretty much had the hill to myself. Having made my way more or less straight up to have a well-earned picnic lunch at the top, I then explored a few of the other footpaths which criss-cross the hill, enjoying the views all around on my way down again.

Just across the road from the car park you can find the entrance to Massey Woods, which were once part of the grounds of the estate and which are a very lovely (and much flatter!) addition to the walk, and very much worth including if you’ve made it all the way out there. The paths of Massey Woods are also a lot more sheltered, so a great option when the wind picks up!

The main path leads through the woodland and around on a circular trail which takes you gently down to, across and along the very pretty river, past the ruins of some old out-buildings, and through the ruins of the old formal walled gardens, before making its way back up to the entrance. Though much of this path is wide and well maintained with gravel underfoot, it does become considerably narrower and harder to navigate as it passes through the ruins.

As an added bonus, a small detour off the main path leads to a Bronze Age wedge tomb. The path isn’t well marked or maintained, and there are no signs to tell you what you’re looking at, but I think I found the remains of the tomb and stopped there to eat my packed lunch under the tree which stood over it, which was quite delightful. In the couple of hours I spent exploring the woodland I saw two or three dog walkers and a couple of people out riding, but the woodland was very quiet and extremely peaceful, a great get-away from the city!

Ruggedness: Not too bad if you stick to the main paths, but reasonable footwear advised, and can get very rugged and if you stray off path!
Length: Monpelier Hill Loop ~3 miles, Massey Woods Loop ~2.3 miles, plus an extra 3 miles (1.5 miles each way) if you also walk to/from the bus stop.
Food & Drink: There is a café a short distance along the road at the Timbertrove Country Store, but I didn’t try it.
More Info: All Trails Hellfire Club & Massey Woods: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/dublin-city/hell-fire-club-and-massey-woods-loop

Howth Cliff Loop

At the opposite end of the DART train line to Dun Laoghaire, about half an hour North of the city centre, lies Howth (pronounced ‘Hoath’), a charming little seaside spot where you will find a very quaint railway station, lots of lovely pubs and cafés, a pier that makes for a nice short walk, and the beginning of the Howth Cliff Loop.

In fact there are several loop walk options that begin in Howth, all very clearly signposted. There is a handy map just as you come out of the station that gives details of each option so you can decide what you fancy tackling, but if you plan to leave the area around the harbour and head along the cliffs at all, be advised that it gets pretty steep and pretty rugged very quickly.

The effort is well worth it, though, as the views from the cliff path are quite stunning. At times the cliff walks take you up for wonderful views, while at others, they take you all the way down to the water’s edge where some people were brave enough to take a dip (not me – the Irish Sea is cold!), so there is quite a bit of up-and-down involved.

I followed the longer, purple-signed “Bog of the Frogs” loop, which a chap at the station had informed me was closed, but I’m not one to let that sort of thing stop me! Sure enough, the usual purple-signed route back around the side of Shielmartin Hill was shut for maintenance, but there was a clearly signposted diversion in place going up and over the summit, which was closer to the All Trails suggested route which is slightly different to the signposted route in several places. At 163 meters high it was quite a climb, but the views at the top can not be beaten, and made it more than worth the effort. The diversion signs suggested that the works on the route around the hill will be complete on August 16th, just in time for WorldCon, but if you’re planning on doing the “Bog of the Frogs” loop and don’t want to include the climb to the summit I would double check that the main path is open again before departing!

On the way back down towards the station was the first time I lost track of the otherwise very clearly signposted path, and ended up wandering too far towards town rather than staying out towards the countryside. Though, signs towards the station were plentiful so it would be a gross exaggeration to say that I was lost. It was at this point that I also realised that the signposted purple route differs quite significantly here from the All Trails route, and that the latter was the one that went past Howth Castle, which I had seen in the distance from the summit and was keen to get a closer look at. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find a footpath that cut back towards the castle without adding too much distance (or climbing anymore hills!), so I included that as a little diversion and was pleased that I did. Part of the castle is a private residence so you can’t go in, but it’s lovely from the outside and several people were picnicking on the grass opposite. There is also a transport museum here which I didn’t go into, but which might be of interest.

Overall Howth was absolutely gorgeous, and if I had to pick one place out of town to visit while I was in Dublin this would be it. Though, I would say wait for good weather and go on a fine day if you plan on hiking, rather than just enjoying the town, as most of the route is pretty exposed to the elements. However, Howth was extremely busy, particularly close to the station – not surprising as it’s a very popular destination that’s easy to reach. Most of the tourists either turned back after a short distance along the cliff path, or took one of the shorter loop walk options, so it quietened down somewhat after those paths diverged. I still passed, or was passed by, other walkers fairly often, but spent at least some of the time walking alone and enjoying the peace and quiet. The “Frog of the Bogs” loop also passes through a golf course at one point, and crosses a fairway where you need to pay close attention to flying golf balls as they whizz across the path!

Ruggedness: Very Rugged! Lots of up and down on narrow rocky paths along the cliffs if you leave the area around the station – wear decent walking boots and bring a wind & water-proof jacket in case the weather changes on you as the path is pretty exposed.
Length: Between 3.5 & 7.5 miles for the cliff path, depending on the loop you pick, or just enjoy the town & pier near the station.
Food & Drink: Plenty of options in Howth itself, but nothing once you get out of town, so if you’re doing the longer loop walk take snacks & drinks!
More Info: All Trails Howth Loop Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/dublin/howth-loop-trail

Dr Emma J King has a PhD in cosmology and has delivered science shows for the Royal Institution, before hanging up her lab coat to tour the world and save turtles. Next year she’s returning to university to turn her hand to Space Engineering. She’s been an irregular at conventions since the Glasgow WorldCon in 1995, and can occasionally be found at cons blowing things up, for science.

The post Touring Tuesdays: Nice Walks Near Dublin appeared first on Dublin 2019.

“Up and down the streets I wandered till dawn grew gray, but no dawn arose in my heart, only black night for ever.” –

“Transmigration” (1900)

Dora Sigerson Shorter (1866-1918) was born in Clare Street, Dublin. Both of her parents were writers—her father was the noted surgeon and poet George Sigerson (1836-1925). In 1895 she married the English literary critic Clement King Shorter and relocated to London. Early in her career she contributed to magazines such as Irish Monthly and Samhain, and became friendly with the political activist Alice Furlong and the author Katharine Tynan. Shorter’s volumes of poetry include The Fairy Changeling (1897), Love of Ireland (1916), and the posthumously published Sixteen Dead Men and Other Poems of Easter Week (1919). Shorter died in St. John’s Woods, London, on 6 January 1918; Tynan later wrote that she “died of a broken heart” which she attributed to the 1916 executions. Although chiefly known for her poetry (and to a lesser extent as a sculptor) Shorter also wrote prose, including sketches collected in The Father Confessor: Stories of Danger and Death (1900). She is now regarded as a significant poet of the Irish Literary Revival.

Read Dora Sigerson Shorter at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3072

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“In her once familiar street, as in any unused channel, an unfamiliar queerness had silted up; a cat wove itself in and out of railings, but no human eye watched Mrs. Drover’s return.” –

“The Demon Lover” (1941)

Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) was born in Dublin. In 1930 she inherited the family estate in Bowen Court, in Co. Cork, where she entertained the likes of Virginia Woolf and Eudora Welty. Her novels, non-fiction, and short stories—such as those in The Cat Jumps and Other Stories (1934) and The Demon Lover and Other Stories (1945)—continue to be read and appreciated today. Her ghostly fiction, which made regular appearances in the anthologies of Cynthia Asquith, is akin to that of Henry James in its psychological probity, but briefer, wittier, and more ironic, with a streak of feline cruelty.

Selected Works by Elizabeth Bowen are listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bowen#Selected_works

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“One bleak night in autumn a sound outside drew him to the door, and opening it, he stood listening.” –

“The Wee Gray Woman” (1903)

Ethna Carbery (1866-1902) was the pen name of journalist, writer, poet, and patriot Anna MacManus. She was born Anna Bella Johnston in Ballymena, Co. Antrim on 3 December 1866, and started publishing poems and short stories in Irish periodicals at the age of fifteen. She was one of the co-founders of the Daughters of Ireland, a radical nationalist women’s organisation led by Maud Gonne. With the poet and writer Alice Milligan, Carbery published two nationalist periodicals, The Northern Patriot and The Shan Van Vocht, the latter considered a major contribution to the Irish literary revival. In 1901 she married poet and folklorist Séumas MacManus, though the marriage was short-lived. Carbery died at the age of thirty-five in Donegal on 2 April 1902. After her death, her husband published three volumes of her work: a book of poetry, The Four Winds of Eirinn (1902); and two short story collections, The Passionate Hearts (1903), and In the Celtic Past (1904).

Works by Ethna Carbery:
The Four Winds of Eirinn (1902) – poems
The Passionate Hearts (1903) – stories
In the Celtic Past (1904) – hero tales
We Sang for Ireland: Poems of Ethna Carbery, Séamus MacManus, Alice Milligan (1950) – poetry

The post Fantastic Fridays: Ethna Carbery appeared first on Dublin 2019.

The Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Dublin has announced that international bestselling author George R.R. Martin will visit the IFI for a very special screening of Fred M Wilcox’s seminal 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet in 35mm at 20:00 on Saturday, 17 August. This event is presented in association with Dublin 2019: An Irish WorldCon.

Screening in a splendid CinemaScope print, Forbidden Planet is one of the classic science fiction movies of the 1950s. A lavishly produced, completely studio-bound extravaganza, it features Leslie Nielsen in an early role, special effects that are still impressive, and the first musical score for a film created entirely electronically.

Following the screening, George R.R. Martin will be in conversation with Maura McHugh about Forbidden Planet and the influence such works have had on his own writing and career.

Tickets for this special event will only be available via the IFI’s website, www.ifi.ie – further details in relation to the ticket release will be announced in due course. 

Nielsen plays Adams, the commander of a spaceship sent to the planet Altair-4 in the year 2000 AD to investigate the destruction of most of its inhabitants by some invisible, unstoppable monster. Adams and his crew find two human survivors, a saturnine philologist named Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his guileless daughter Altaira (Anne Francis). Living with them is Robby the Robot (for many the real star of the film), one of the legacies of the planet’s technologically sophisticated previous inhabitants. Soon after Adams and his crew turn up the monster responsible for the deaths raises its head again.

The parallels with Shakespeare’s The Tempest are immediately apparent: Morbius is Prospero, his daughter a Miranda who has never known men, Robby the Robot serves as the spirit Ariel, and the monster is Caliban the witch-child. What really distinguishes Forbidden Planet is its fascination with technology and artifice. A lot of money went into creating the giant set that represents Altair-4 as a surreal planet with a green sky, pink sand and two moons. Robby the Robot is the film’s most delightful invention, a benign creation fluent in 88 languages and capable of almost any task.

George R.R. Martin portrait by Henry Söderlund.

The post George R.R. Martin to visit the IFI during Worldcon for a Screening of Forbidden Planet. appeared first on Dublin 2019.