Kitty Lee, Patty, and I visited Dublin’s beautiful St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday as well.
Category / Art/Arch/Culture
Traditional Irish Music and Dance Show
Kitty, Patty, and I took in a show at the Arlington Hotel last night!
Gaiety with a Love-Hungry Farmer
Shannon Chance, Kitty Lee Layman, and Patty Asplund after the Love-Hungry Farmer.
Nose-bleed seats at the Gaiety Theater.
Kitty Lee Layman and Patty Asplund in Dublin…
…enjoying an excellent theater production.
Bakery Window
A drizzly day in Dublin….
Reflection in Bakery Window on Lower Baggot Street. (Copyright Shannon Chance 2013.)
Dave Chance Downtown: Renovation Update
Dave’s been hard at work with renovating his new studio. It’s going be used for business activities today, so he had to get the project to an adequate level of readiness. Still lots to do, but it’s looking great!
Here’s what his wall framing and floor moving projects look like:
Wall with rigid insulation and furring.
Wall with electric lines, batt insulation, and wall board.
Wall to the right taped for spackle and painting.
Floor moved for today’s auditions.
Map of Dublin Neighborhoods
A very interesting map by “Bold & Noble” that was posted on the Only in Ireland Facebook page.
Dublin neighborhoods. (Downloaded from Only in Ireland‘s Facebook page.)
Birthday Surprises
Who ordered this weather?
Wow! What a day!
It’s my birthday; the 43rd one of my life. Besides the weather, great things happened!
#1) I awoke to great news: I’d been invited to review a manuscript for a special edition of JEE (a different edition than the one we’ve written for). I’m hoping this is a good sign. Apparently the editors though I was sufficiently competent to be part of their rigorous peer-review process.
#2) My aunt Kitty Lee and her friend Patty Asplund arrived fresh off the plane. This is the first day Kitty has ever spent outside North America!!!
Shannon, Kitty Lee, and Patty.
#3) Mom woke up in the middle of the night (Pennsylvania time) to call and wish me a happy day.
#4) I put Kitty Lee and Patty on the hop-on hop-off bus and headed for sushi with my colleagues. Little did I know they’d planned a birthday lunch. Sima *baked* a gluten-free cake using truffles, chestnut flour, butter, and cream. Amazing!!!! The sushi was awesome too.
#5) My replacement bank card finally arrived. YAY!!!!
#6) I visited the former House of Parliament (now owned by the Bank of Ireland, a long story that I’ll save for another day).
Sima, Brian, Gavin, and Shannon.
Birthday cake alla Sima!
Blowing out my (4)3 candles!
I got a fabulous tour of the most historic room by Phillip and Jeremy. I’ll return again to learn more from John and Sean. And Jeremy will copy some information for me to pick up. While I was there, I met a group from Northern Ireland. They’d all been police (some representing loyalists and some representing nationalists — in other words, on both sides). In any case, they’d have been the ones “keeping the peace” while the men I met in the Cobblestone were out in the past *not* “keeping the peace.”
William of Orange
Phillip told me the stories depicted on the tapestries hanging in the hall. The victor of the story was William of Orange. Three years after the event depicted, King William and his wife (Queen Mary) chartered the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Where I earned my PhD! Philip said that Mary was much more important in all that than William. I said that’s why we have t-shirts that say, “Mary and William.”
#7) The bus was right there when I stepped out of the Bank, ready to whisk me back to my apartment.
#8) The post had safely delivered birthday cards and a package from each of parents (my Mom, and my Dad and Step-Mom). It’s wonderful to be remembered.
#9) I got word that our photo show is on! The title is
Inter-changes: Interpretations of Ireland by Three VirginiansPhotographs by US Fulbright Scholar Shannon Chance, Dave Chance & Glen McClure
#10) Kitty and Patty have sweet-talked the hop-on bus driver into delivering them to my doorstep. I am telling you: Patty is a charmer!!!! She’s a seasoned traveller — and a former missionary — who has a way of touching people’s souls. I’m glad she’s here to help Kitty Lee learn the traveling ropes!
We’ll be out for #11 soon! I’ll let you know how it goes (they are likely to crash soon…).
A model of the Bank of Ireland building.
Shannon Chance in the Bank of Ireland.
Bank of Ireland’s former Parliament chamber.
Upcoming Photo Exhibition in Dublin
I’ve got an exhibition of reflection photographs in the works for spring. It’s to occur during May at Notre Dame’s O’Connell House on St. Stephen’s Green. Tuesday, I met to plan with Notre Dame’s Lisa Caulfield and Joseph Stranix as well as Fulbright’s Joanne Davidson. I showed them some examples of my work and, thankfully, got enthusiastic response. 🙂
It’s a big, beautiful space and I look forward to filling it with images. It’s so much space, in fact, that I am hoping to include my two favorite photographers in the show. (I’m seeking final approval for that.) I’ll keep you posted as plans progress.
It’s a gorgeous space, and I though you might enjoy seeing it pre-show:
Lisa and Joanne reviewing my photos from a past exhibition.
The view toward O’Connell House (it’s on the right, Marrion Square is to the left.)
Plaque inside the O’Connell House.
The fabulous and welcoming O’Connelll House.
I can hang photos in the entry hall…
…and the two large rooms on the first floor (that’s the second floor in American terminology).
A view of the two rooms.
View from the back room.
I’m not using this room, but I wanted to show it to you. So beautiful. The back wall is hung in “salon style.”
Observations from a Walk with Amanda
Thought I’d share some random images from a walk I took in Dublin (from Smithfield to Kildare Street) with Amanda Bernhard.
Wow! UGS for sale…
…hum, seems a bit dodgy…
…”perhaps” they’re not authentic!
This is the stately Sy. Paul’s Church of Smithfield.
Like many churches here, this one caters to a specific ethnic group as well as the Irish-born population.
Its sign had caught my eye once upon a time…
…I’d forgotten until Amanda remarked how strange it is to have at @ on the name plaque of a church.
I’ve been meaning for so long to show you the mail boxes here. You’ve got old and new styles beside one another here on Arran Quay (pronounced “key”).
This is the medieval St. Audeon’s Church. I’ve not been inside because it is closed in winter.
The medieval wall of St. Audeon’s Church is still intact. The area was once known as Hell, Esther and I learned when we took the Dublin Ghost Bus tour.
This is the West Gate of the city, attached to Christchurch Cathedral (protestant, Church of Ireland).
Like me, Amanda also spends too much time at the computer (brainy Fulbrights!?!). We decided to step into the Back Shop on Exchequer Street.
The black chair was beautiful and very comfortable.
Some others were a bit over the top!
Of course, you can choose your own fabrics. They build the chair to fit your own back!
Snowy Sunrise
Snowflakes this morning… what a rare sight in Dublin. It was just a light dusting of flakes, floating peacefully to the ground. They’re mostly gone now.
snowy sunrise February 5
Ireland by Chance 