Category / The Cobblestone Pub

by shannonchance

Third Spaces of Smithfield

Browse the bookshelf.

A good “third space” helps fill the gap left between your home (your first space) and your workplace (your second space).  It should be a place where everyone feels welcome and equal–regardless of income or social status.

I learned about third spaces from one of my thesis advisees at Hampton University, Ryan Kendall, who asserted that we lack adequate third spaces in the USA.  He proposed to transform our beautiful (but increasingly vacant) Post Office buildings into vibrant spaces. He wanted them to be used for socializing, learning, developing physically, and yes, mailing things (in old- and new-fashioned ways). Prior to his thesis year, Ryan worked at NASA Langley. That happened the summer after he completed the Comprehensive Design Studio that I taught alongside Robert Easter. Ryan was a smashing success with NASA.  And the NASA folks have kept coming back, asking for more and more HU interns and for our department’s help on various design projects.

Ryan Kendall in his job at NASA Langley.

Ryan’s main point?

In the States we often neglect our third spaces… or fail to create them all together.

I’ve found that fostering “third space” is a core tradition in Ireland.  The pub has long served this purpose.

When Dave and I visited Ireland in 2003, we saw entire families spend their evenings engrossed in meaningful conversations with neighbors and friends at the various pubs we visited.  Kids ran in and out and people of all ages mingled happily and comfortably.  Although pub culture is not as strong today (the smoking ban took a tool on the pubs), it’s something you can still find in many places.

I’m fortunate to have several great third spaces very close to my apartment here in Dublin’s Smithfield neighborhood, a district also known by its postal code, “Dublin 7.”

My favorite third space is the Cobblestone pub.  Another–where I’m starting to spend more and more time–is aptly called Third Space.

Third Space: changing the city around the table.

Bring some friends. Enjoy the art.

A webpage for the Third Space restaurant explains:

Our story starts in the changes Dublin saw in the “noughties”. Lots of new apartment blocks, lots of new offices and retail units – no gathering places. Living space and working space but no “third space”.

Third spaces are neighbourhood places where people can gather regularly, easily, informally and inexpensively.

Re-introducing such places into areas that lacked them became a passion for a small group of people. And so was born Third Space. It is a social business venture to open and run eating and meeting places in the areas of Dublin that lack community hubs. With a simple and great menu and an informal friendly environment, they will have a creative buzz that connects into the varied life of a modern Dublin neighborhood.

Third Space 1 opened in Smithfield on February 14th 2012.

I had an interesting encounter at both of my “third spaces” this week.  I’ll post them,  so you can see what I mean. Stay tuned! (Click here to read the sequel.)

Grab a lunch. Everyone’s welcome and they’ll make you feel at home… even a barrister (i.e., lawyer, shown to the left) can find a quite place to reflect on the day, away form the busy halls of the Four Courts.

by shannonchance

Painting the Town Red

Esther loves musical productions.  Surprisingly, she wasn’t much interested in seeing plays while she was here.  That’s because English is her fifth language and she was worried she’d have trouble understanding.

You heard right.  She speaks five languages: (1) Swiss German (in Berne dialect), as well as (2) High German, (3) French, (4) as much Italian as I speak, and also (5) English.

Esther used to take in exchange students like me as a way of building her skills in English.  I was the  first in a long line of American exchange students to frequent her Ferenberg home.

And while she was here we painted the town red!  We soaked in all these musical performances during her one-week stay in Dublin:

  • The musical An American Idiot which, like so many musicals these days, has a plot contrived as a way to package a band’s album into a Broadway show. Wikapedia explains “American Idiot is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day.”  Although the plot is understandably disappointing, Green Day’s “punk” music is actually quite festive.  The performance concluded with the whole company singing “It’s something unpredictable but in the end it’s right. I hope you have the time of your life!”  I’d been looking for an opportunity to visit the theater building itself, because it was designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind (the firm that designed the building to replace the World Trade Towers), and so I was perfectly happy that Esther actually asked to spend an evening immersed in American idiot-ry.  The theater is quite beautiful. However the knee-room was lacking where I sat and I determined once and for all that nose-bleed seats and traveling Broadway shows don’t mix.  The sound balance is often poor in the far upper corner when the show hits a new space.
  • Arlington Hotels Traditional Live Irish Music and Irish Dancing dinner show. The musicians sang “take me home country roads” (which is a favorite drinking song in Switzerland and pub song in Ireland). They also dedicated a song to Esther and me that was quite fitting.  Something about friends and traveling, if I recall correctly after this whirl-wind week. I was the only one in the place getting the host’s jokes. (He used to be a city planner, so perhaps we share some mental wiring?)
  • Gavin and his brother playing with other musicians at Hughes Pub. One of the guys in the band recognized the faces in Glen McClure’s photos from Achill Island (see my posts Leader of the Band and Drummer Girl).
  • The opera Hansel and Gretel, performed in the beautiful Gaiety Theater. I enjoyed this production more than any other opera I’ve ever seen. So I wasn’t too opposed when Esther asked to go see Disney on Ice for her last night in town. (It wasn’t my own top choice for the evening, but I gave in!)
  • Esther had never attended an ice-skating show in person and throughly enjoyed seeing Disney on Ice’s Passport to Adventure held at the Royal Dublin Society last night.
  • Two back-to-back visits to The Cobblestone pub. Thursday night we visited with Fulbright scholar Bob Trumble, his lovely wife Ann, and Ann’s her sister and brother-in-law.  When we’re in Virginia, Bob and Ann live in Williamsburg–just up the road from Dave and  me. On Thursday Tom gave Esther a copy of his CD.  She glowed with happiness.  Her eyes sparkled with excitement.  She’s so lovable!  We visited the pub again last night and got to hear Tom’s brother Neil (and Neil’s son) play.

Esther has just left for the airport, and things are now quiet and still. I’ve got mounds of work to do and yet hundreds of memories of this past week that I still want to share with you.  I hope to find time to post more for you in the coming days.

Gavin (far left) and his brother, Aidan, are among the musicians who play at Hughes Pub on Monday nights. Esther (far right) was soaking in the melodies.

Grand Canal Commercial Development and Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
Logo from the musical “An American Idiot.”
Theater by Studio Daniel Libeskind. http://daniel-libeskind.com/projects/bord-gáis-energy-theatre-and-grand-canal-commercial-development
Reflection on the Theater facade.
Inside of the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind.
The Samuel Beckett Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava’s office.
Gavin (far left) and his brother, Aidan, are among the musicians who play at Hughes’ Pub on Monday nights. Esther (far right) was soaking in the melodies.
This musician was at the Achill Island St. Patrick’s Day parade that Glen McClure photographed last March. He knows many people in Glen’s photos.
The American Embassy threw an election-night party with All-American flair.
Election Night at the Guinness Storehouse.
An election night discussion led by a lecturer from Trinity College Dublin.
The Ambassador to Ireland spoke to us from Pittsburgh on election night.
Poster from the opera “Hansel and Gretal.”
Shannon and Esther after the opera.
Shannon mimicking the witch.
Captain Hook got quite bossy in Disney on Ice.
Scenes from Passport to Adventure a Disney on Ice production.
I finally got to hear Tom’s brother Neil play the pipes last night. My camera didn’t have any juices left, so I downloaded this photo from http://www.chuckbrodsky.com, but all these guys were at the Cobblestone last night.
by shannonchance

Night Owl

Tea with Richard Hayes, Gavin Duffy, and Brian Bowe after the College Education Seminar wrapped up.

Happy Halloween!  I just got a call from Trish Long, who leads Disney’s branch here in Ireland.  We met at Zumba class at the elbowroom a couple of weeks ago.  She called to invite me to RTÉ Concert Orchestra: Psycho – Live! Hallowe’en Night at The National Concert Hall in Dublin.

What an awesome way to follow up yesterday’s seminar and last night’s musical evening at the Cobblestone.

At the Cobblestone, I got to hear Tom’s brother, Alfie, play alongside three of his kids.  Alfie’s daughter (seated to the left in the video) is studying Medieval Irish History and Architecture. She’s a student at Trinity College, and an excellent candidate for a Fulbright, I’d say.

Enjoying music and good conversation, with Nancy Stenson, Susan Early, and Joan Cahalin. Tom Mulligan is there, too, in the background.

Just as a crowd of instrument-carrying appeared to join Alfie’s family in the musicians corner, a bunch of my friends showed up, too. I spent a lovely evening talking with Fulbright Nancy Stenson and architects Joan Cahalin and Susan Early.

Nancy and Joan both have degrees in linguistics, so we got to discuss Nancy’s research (she’s diagnosing where students have the biggest problems with Irish pronunciation in order to help teachers teach Irish more effectively). Nancy has authored several textbooks on Irish language already, though she never mentions it herself.  I always do–because it’s fascinating!

When they left, I visited with three generations of a family from Brooklyn who are celebrating birthdays this week (one turning 21, one 50, and one 92)! They were there along with a relative from Dublin. I can’t believe how good life has been to the lot of us!

by shannonchance

Lifted!

Steven Best’s lecture on work he did in Norma Foster’s office in 1996 (where he was working with Thomas Leslie from Iowa State, the son of my dissertation advisor David Leslie). I enjoyed this slide of the architect carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. The image has Calvinist underpinnings, Steven Best said.

After a rather weighty lecture at the Dublin School of Architecture–in which my colleague from the States, Tom Leslie, was referenced by name–I bolted over to my yoga class with Joe Saflund at The elbowroom.

On the way home, I decided to “give myself a lift” by stepping into The Cobblestone Pub to enjoy a half-pint and a few songs.  I put in two long workdays in a row and thought I’d blow off some steam.

Once inside, I discovered Tomás is more than a talented bartender… he plays guitar and sings as well.  He’s shown in the photo alongside his uilleann pipe-playing cousin …and, well, any cousin of Tomás is a cousin of mine!

Such a wonderful, small world!

My favorite yoga instructor in Dublin is Joe Saflund, shown here in side angle pose.

Tomás Mulligan hard at work, making music at The Cobblestone.

by shannonchance

Meeting My Musical Family

I just emailed the current Fulbrighters in Ireland to see if they want to join me at the Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield (Dublin 7) on Tuesday, October 30.  I also posted this to the Fulbright Ireland alumni page on LinkedIn to see if any of them want to come along… had such a ball with them Friday. (More about that later.)

Then I realized you might want to come, too!

You may have seen my blog post about Tom Mulligan and his Cobblestone Pub and about Fulbright Amanda and Jonathan playing there.

Tom says one of his brothers (Alfie, a piper) will be playing that night between 7 and 10 pm. Alfie’s daughter and two sons will be playing as well.  It’s possible that Neillidh (mentioned in the blog) might also play. They’re all related to me in some way, and this is a chance for me to get to meet them and enjoy their melodies. Perhaps you’d enjoy being part of the fun?

This is an informal event, to be held in the front bar.  There’s no admission cost… just the cost of your own drinks. Perhaps I’ll see you there?

by shannonchance

Ful-brighting at the Cobblestone Pub

I’m posting a few photos my husband Dave Chance took the night Amanda Bernhard and her husband Jonathan Kennedy played at the Cobblestone Pub. We’d met them at the Fulbright Orientation weekend, and invited them to stay over at our place so they’d have the chance to visit the Pub.

Both Jonathan and Amanda play uilleann pipes. Amanda also plays fiddle.

Amanda is the Irish language Fulbright to Ireland this year. They are both studying Irish–at the Master’s degree level–at the a university in Galway. Amanda has been blogging about their adventures. You might want to visit her site to learn about on the other coast of Ireland, where many people still speak Irish day to day.

Jonathan is shown here playing uilleann pipes. Amanda plays the uilleann pipes as well as the fiddle. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)

Amanda Bernhard playing fiddle at the Cobblestone Pub. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)

Amanda Bernhard and Jonathan Kennedy playing at the Cobblestone in September 2012. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)

by shannonchance

My Family at the Cobblestone Pub

Mom with her cousin, Tom Mulligan (left) and Tim Bigelow (right) meeting at the Cobblestone Pub.

What a great send off!  Mom and her friends left for the airport at five o’clock this morning, so last night we decided to meet after my yoga class at the Cobblestone Pub.

You may recall from an earlier blog that the Cobblestone is considered the best place in Dublin to hear traditional Irish music.  We went there with Fulbright Amanda and her husband Jonathan, so they’d have a chance to play their instruments for an audience in Dublin.

A girl from last night’s yoga class said it would definitely not be a problem for me to go to the Pub in my exercise clothes. So I headed straight there–yoga mat and all.

When I arrived, Mom immediately introduced me to Tom Mulligan–a cousin of ours from Ballybunion in County Kerry–who she’d just met.  He had inquired about her visit Ireland and she said she’d been to County Kerry visiting Eilish and Con O’Hanlon.

Picture of the Cobblestone from the New York Times.

Loe and behold, Elish is Tom’s cousin.  I think he said his mom is the sister of my mom’s grandmother, but I haven’t been able to reconcile that math yet!  He seems so young.

Tom soon introduced me to his son, Thomas, who was working behind the bar.  And what a warm welcome we enjoyed!  Thomas was so complimentary about my Fulbright, and the fact that it’s in engineering.  Pretty soon, my smile was drawn ear to ear, my eyes were misty from hearing well-sung ballads, and my mom was hugging everyone in sight. Imagine! 😉

Tom is in the middle… doesn’t he look like Bill Clinton!?

Tom returned to playing, but when the musicians’ area started to get crowded, Tom packed up his flute and climbed behind the bar.

“Hum,” I thought, “wonder what that means?”  So I went to Googling the topic.  I discovered Tom’s the owner of the place!  Someone on Yelp had mentioned him by name and noted how incredibly nice he is.  (I’m in 100% agreement.)

Tom wanted to connect me with another Fulbright in the family, Siobhan. She taught Irish in the US.  To connect us, he dialed her up and soon handed me the phone.  Turns out, she’s the one who gave us an Irish lesson during the Fulbright orientation. I’d met her but not realized we were connected.  (I’d have never realized the connection to Tom without my huggy mom and her travel-ready neighbors.)

Tom’s son, Tomás, is working on a degree in  Irish politics and history at University College Dublin (UCD).  His dad completed a similar degree there 2006-2010… the same years I was in school at William and Mary. Tom had gone back to be a good example to his kids. It seems to have paid off!

Tomás wouldn’t even take money for my drinks last night. And, Tom gave Mom a copy of his CD to take home. Ain’t it grand to have a family!

You may also recall that it was my 2003 visit to the UCD campus that left me determined to become a Fulbright myself. And thanks to my mom’s positive example, I set to work on a PhD three years later. That helped it all come together.

So, all in all, it’s wonderful to find a place where everybody knows my name, and they seem so glad I came!  Who have thought I’d find my home in a pub?

Tom’s brother Neily is one of the world’s premier uilleann (elbow) pipers. I think he’ll be playing Thursday, October 25.  See you there?  For more information, you can like the Cobblestone on Facebook.

By the time I left last night, there’s been more than 14 different musicians chiming in. I can’t wait to return!