Category Archives: Dublin

Marching with the nurses

February 9, 2019Dublin, Ireland, Uncategorizednurses, nurses' strikemidnightmurphy

strike

As I turned left onto Parnell Street from Marlborough Street I could see the crowds. The Garden of Remembrance was the gathering point but the throngs of people stretched back to the Gate Theatre. The usual suspects were well present and correct. I consider myself one of the usual suspects – if there is a protest I am likely to be present. I don’t wear a high viz jacket advertising the ‘Worker’s Hammer’ newspaper, like my fellow serial protesters however. In any case we were massively outnumbered by the INMO and PNA staff. Today’s gathering was a march to support the two week old strike action by members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Association. Continue reading Marching with the nurses →

Theatrical: ‘The Bear’

January 30, 2019Dublin, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

beach

I don’t make new year’s resolutions, so for 2019 I hatched a plan – I was going to explore more classical theatre. I regularly avail of new shows. Didn’t the ancient Greeks invent the art form though? I have thousands of years of catching up to do. I decided that this Wednesday I would have an adventure, and attend ‘The Bear’ by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘The Bear’ →

Theatrical: ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ at the Gaiety Theatre

January 28, 2019Dublin, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

On Saturday night I attended my first ever play at the legendary Gaiety theatre in Dublin. Built in 1871 it is Ireland’s oldest continuously running theatre (Smock Alley is older but only recently reopened). Famed for its annual three month summer season of Riverdance to fleece American tourists; and its Christmas pantomime; it also stages plays and musicals throughout the rest of the year. With seating for over 2000 people it is the grand old dame of Dublin theatre, designed in a deeply gaudy manner. Naturally I loved it. Having done a bit of research I was unsurprised to discover the at the upper circle of the theatre was a place where fancy gentlemen used to congregate for encounters, at the time where such shenanigans were illegal. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ at the Gaiety Theatre →

Theatrical: ‘Come from away’

January 14, 2019Dublin, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

On Saturday I went to the theatre, to see the deeply controversial play ‘Come from away’. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘Come from away’ →

A home invasion of the winged variety

December 30, 2018Dublin, UncategorizedSeagullmidnightmurphy

seagull

The plan for today was to write a short story. The submission deadline was midnight tomorrow. I realise that this takes leaving things to the last minute to a whole new level, but there was little I could do about that now. I had the story semi-plotted when I decided to check the submission guidelines one more time. To my joy, I saw that the date had been pushed out by two weeks. This meant I could have a day off. If I was more disciplined I would have written anyway. I had another scheme in mind however. I was going on an excursion. Continue reading A home invasion of the winged variety →

Theatrical: ‘Iphigenia in Splott’

December 12, 2018Dublin, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

effie

In ancient Greek mythology, Iphigenia was the daughter of King Agememnon and Queen Clytemnestra, who was sacrificed to the gods to for a wind change which would allow the king to invade Troy. In the play ‘Ipghigenia in Splott’ in Smock Alley Theatre, Ipghgenia (Effie) is a hard boiled young woman in a hoodie, who terrorises her neighbours as she prowls the street of her estate. Hard drinking, tough-as-nails, she knows what people think of her. But she doesn’t care. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘Iphigenia in Splott’ →

Winter wastelands

November 29, 2018Dublin, Theatre, Travels to work, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

ND-MLT-cover-eventbrite

In eight days I will be paying a visit to my old stomping ground of Amsterdam for a friend’s very important birthday (i.e . the celebration of an age where the second digit is zero). It will only be a flying visit this time as my gluttony for leisure went unchecked this year – I have only twenty six minutes holiday leave remaining, for the rest of 2018. It’s unlikely I’ll see all the people that I would like to, but I will do my damnedest to see a few. It comes at a particularly appropriate time as I am currently wallowing in a pit of glumness, as November draws to a close. Having spoken before about how utterly soul-destroying the final fortnight in November is, I am reminded of the brutal reality as it is being endured. A trip to the Lowlands will be a tonic. The thundering incompetence of Dublin Bus comes into sharp relief each November as I wallow in rainy, dark misery on Parnell Street each morning for the 40D bus – also known as ‘The bus that never arrives’. This morning as I boarded, my nostrils were assaulted by a noxious odour of halitosis. How could anyone not be aware of the brutal reality of their oral stench? My eyes were watering by the time I finally disembarked in the eternally grey industrial wastelands of County Dublin. Continue reading Winter wastelands →

Sunday, bloody Sunday

November 12, 2018Dublin, Film, Ireland, James Joyce, UncategorizedSomeLikeItHotmidnightmurphy

offaly

Thanks to the inclement weather, a walk in the park seemed unwise. A decision had to be made. I was not going to loll about the house like a sack of meal that Sunday afternoon. I put on my stylish anorak and headed outdoors. My first stop was to the coffee-shop near my house, where a caffeine-infused warm beverage (a coffee) was drank). Over the river I trotted. I was walking past Pearse Street Station on Westland Row when the skies opened. Into Saint Andrew’s Church I went for shelter. That’s one of the functions of a church I think. I was reading the history of the church on the plaque on the wall (built in 1832, three years after the Catholic Emancipation Act which legalised catholic churches, it is quite a splendid building in that gaudy catholic style). I was admiring the interior when a Polish priest approached me and told me that the church was closed. I departed. Continue reading Sunday, bloody Sunday →

To the theatre darling: ‘Men at play’

November 9, 2018Dublin, Gay, Ireland, Theatre, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

Gubbeen

I received a text on Wednesday night from a friend. She recommended that I haul my grizzled old carcass to the Complex on Little Green Street at my earliest convenience, to see Good Dog Theatre’s latest work – a play called ‘Men at play’. She thought I would enjoy it. Seeing as I am a person of easy persuasion (but very high virtue) I decided that Thursday evening would be the occasion I would attend. Continue reading To the theatre darling: ‘Men at play’ →

U2: The Experience and Innocence tour

November 6, 2018Dublin, Ireland, Music, Pride, Uncategorizedmidnightmurphy

JimmysHall-Landscape

Being Irish, U2 is a band that has been totally unavoidable throughout my life. Since their international breakthrough almost forty years ago they have been inescapable on the musical and cultural landscape of my home country. Indisputably U2 is the most commercially successful musical act in Irish history. Even between musical projects, lead singer Bono has become a spokesperson and advocate for various global charity projects and initiatives. While I wouldn’t ever have been a massive U2 fan – they were a little bit too bloviatingly heterosexual for my refined taste – I tended to enjoy their songs and would sing along with gusto when they played on the wireless. In more recent years I developed a greater appreciation of them. Their song ‘Sometimes you can’t make it on your own’ was about the death of Bono’s father was quite beautiful. I still wouldn’t hold them in too high of an esteem but I enjoyed them. Continue reading U2: The Experience and Innocence tour →