O.D.S. MARKS SIPTU CENTENARY

The Old Drogheda Society will mark this year’s centenary of the  SIPTU trade union with two events in the coming weeks. The Society’s Journal (No. 17), which is to be launched on Wednesday November 25th, will include an article entitled “Liberty Hall Peter Street – The foundation of  ITGWU-Siptu in Drogheda” and on Thursday December 4th, the ODS hosts a lecture on the theme of  ”Drogheda’s Labour History”.

I’m particularly looking forward to the “Drogheda’s Labour History” lecture, not least because the lecture is to be given by Siptu’s Francis “Francie” Devine, one of Ireland’s most respected and authoritive students of Irish labour and trade union history. Francie has written extensively on the history and struggles of the Irish labour and trade union movement, and the breadth and depth of his  knowledge is astounding.  Siptu released Francie ( for 12 months) from his regular duties and commissioned him to write, compile and edit the union’s recently published official “centenary” history. 

Given that it was myself who put together the ”Liberty Hall Peter Street” article for the upcoming Old Drogheda Society Journal, I can only hope  (from a local perspective) that I’ve made some small and worthwhile contribution to what is truly a momentus year for Siptu, and that I’ve been of some help to the ongoing work of the  ODS.

O.D.S. EVENTS (NOVEMBER/DECEMBER): Book Launch - ”The  Streets & Lanes of Drogheda” by Jim Garry, 3rd Edition  revised and updated by Deirdre-Howard Russell, at 8pm on Wednesday, November 18th in The Laurence Town Centre.  Book Launch - “Old Drogheda Society Journal No. 17″ at 8pm on Wednesday, November 25th in The Governor’s  House,  Millmount .  Lecture - “Drogheda’s  Labour History”, Francis Devine  (Siptu), at 8pm  on Thursday,  December 4th in The Governor’s House, Millmount.

TRADITIONAL BOATS OF THE BOYNE

The Old Drogheda Society’s Annual Corcoran-Garry Lecture takes place at 8pm on Wednesday night, October 7th,  in the Droichead Arts Centre. The theme of the event will be “Traditional Boats on the Boyne” with principal speaker Criostoir MacCarthaigh from the Dept. of Irish Folklore, UCD. 

This seminar-style event will also feature contributions from leading marine archaeologists, local boatmen and boatmakers, as well as from mussel fishermen and their wives. Admission is free and there will be a book stall open on the night.

The Annual Corcoran-Garry Lecture is sponsored by the Old Drogheda Society in memory of the late Moira Corcoran and Jim Garry, founder members of the ODS and renowned local historians.

Notice and information on this event was very kindly supplied to me by Liam Reilly, Tel: 041 9833097 (office hours).

MILLMOUNT WALLED TOWNS DAY

 As part of National Heritage Week , and to mark Irish Walled Towns Day,  Millmount Museum will be hosting a series of free events on Sunday August 23th from 1pm -6pm in the Millmount courtyard and complex.

 

Drogheda is one of just 12 towns in Ireland (north & south) celebrating its heritage as a walled town and a very interesting afternoon programme of traditional and world music, set dancing, sean nos dancing, folk theatre, falconry dispaly, craft demonstrations, kiddies fun games, book stall and food stalls have been arranged.

 

Millmount Museum and Martello Tower will be open free of charge and all of the craft units in the complex will be open.

 

Further Info from:

Liam Reilly, Millmount Museum, Drogheda.

Check out:

http://www.drogheda.ie/cms/publish/events/article_

BOYNE BOOKS – a real surprise

Boyne Books, the new bookshop  on Narrow West Street, is very fast aquiring the reputation of being Drogheda’s  latest and very best “cultural” venue .

Although only open since May of this year, Boyne Books has very quickly become the favourite bookshop of serious readers and of the local Creative Writers Group, not to mention Drogheda’s arts fraternity.

What seemingly sets Boyne Books well above and apart from the bigger book outlets in town is the sheer quality of its range of books, prints as well as old and rare photographs. Another feature of Boyne Books  is that it is a very inexpensive shop with something to suit every interest and budget. You  simply can’t fail  to get the feeling that the proprietors have taken a deliberate policy decision to completely bypass the ”trashy” end of the  book market, and concentrate solely on quality rather than quantity.

The other ingredient in the popularity of Boyne Books is that it is more than just another bookstore. It ’s also a venue, that hosts regular events – everything from exhibitions to poetry and book reading reading evenings to “open mic” nights, and has also already been the venue for one or two very  successful book launches.   A ”cafe-style” atmosphere (tea/coffee/snacks always available), tourist and visitor information readily on hand all  combine neatly with the books and the venue’s events to give the town it’s very first  (and very  real)  high street ”heritage centre”.

Check out  Boyne Books for yourself – you’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

THE REAL ARTS FESTIVAL

 MILLMOUNT, Drogheda’s REAL centre of culture and heritage,  hosts it’s annual TRADITIONAL DAY (the REAL arts festival) on Sunday May 3rd from 12 noon to 6pm., with FREE ADMISSION.

THE MAY DAY STORY

The annual world-wide celebration of May Day (1st May) as an international workers and trade union festival was born out of the tragic events during a general strike Chicago back in 1886.

“The Sack of Balbriggan”- a recommended read

On a Monday night in September 1920, Black and Tan forces based at Gormanston’s military camp entered Balbriggan and embarked on an orgy of widespread burning and looting that ended with the killing of two of the town’s inhabitants. This infamous assault on Balbriggan was carried out as a reprisal for the alleged killing of an R.I.C officer by the I.R.A. earlier in the evening, as the unfortunate policeman left a local pub.

RADIO CAROLINE – The Louth Connection

A major commemoration event will begin in August on the Isle of Man to mark the 40th anniversary of the “sinking”, in 1968, of Radio Caroline by the then British government’s Marine Offences legislation.
Radio Caroline began broadcasting from a converted Danish car ferry, the MV Fredericia, on Easter Sunday morning 1964 from off the south-east coast of England. At the time the output from both the BBC and Radio Eireann (now RTE Radio) was essentially wall-to-wall talk, with little or no “pop” or chart music being played. Radio Caroline with it’s blurb “This is Radio Caroline on 199 – your all day music station every day” completely changed the style and format of radio broadcasting in Britain and Ireland, leaving a legacy that has endured to this day.

In July of 1964 Caroline moved from the south coast of England, dropped anchor in international waters (three miles off Ramsey Bay on the Isle of Man) and began blasting the chart music of the time to millions of listeners all across Britain and Ireland. The British Navy made a number of ham-fisted and unsuccessful attempts to “scuttle” Caroline on behalf of he UK government (and the BBC). This took the form of attempting to “jam” Caroline’s signal and generally harrass it’s tender (supply) vessels. Radio Eireann and the Irish authorities were also unhappy but were powerless and ill-equipped to intervene. The “official” political position of the Manx government was one of disapproval. Privately, however, the Isle of Man authorities milked the publicity and attention and used the Caroline adventure as an aid to promote the island as a holiday destination.

Radio Caroline started life in Greenore Port (north Co. Louth) in the winter of 1964 when the 35 year old, second-hand MV Fredericia was, under the noses of the authorities, fitted out as a floating radio station and re-named “Caroline” by Ronan O’Rahilly, son of the then port owner Aodaghan O’Rahilly, and grandson of Michael (“The O’Rahilly”) the famed 1916 rebel.

The station remained on the air until 1968 after Westminster made it a criminal offence to supply, service or advertise on Caroline. The resultant difficultiy in getting supplies to Caroline’s crew and Djs was overcome by tendering the vessel from Greenore, Dundalk, and Holland. However getting fearful advertisers to break the law and continue advertising on Radio Caroline was alltogether a different matter.

Radio Caroline very quickly found itself with a diminishing income-stream when advertising on the station was outlawed. Mounting debts and unpaid bills led to the Caroline ship being impounded by a Dutch tug company to whom it owed money, causing it to cease broadcasting.

The Radio Caroline commemoration event will take the form of an exhibition, begining in August in The House of Manannan, Peel on the Isle of Man. It will also encompass a Radio Caroline Weekend that includes a special Caroline Conference, guided coach trips to Ramsey Bay and around the Caroline exhibition in Peel.

To coincide with the commemoration on the Isle of Man, which runs until next February, island-based author, broadcaster and event management consultant Andy Wint has just published a book entitled “Manx Giant – the story of Radio Caroline 1964 -1968″ The publication, which has been extensively researched, is now available and is being hailed as “the definitive history” of Radio Caroline (North).

Andy’s beautifully presented work has already been the subject of much acclaim. The research and publication of the Radio Caroline story, as well as the Radio Caroline Commemorative Exhibition, featured on (ITV) Border Television recently.

Here in Ireland, LMFM’s Mid-Morning Show (Daire Nelson), on a couple of occasions over the summer, had Andy as an interview guest to speak about the commemoration event and the publication of his book, which generated much interest and feedback from listeners around the north-east region, including Greenore, Co. Louth – the birthplace of Radio Caroline.

 For more information and purchase details, check out: www.manxgiant.com

Postscript: The success of the Radio Caroline Commemoration Event  last September has prompted Manx National Heritage (MNH) to extend the run of the Caroline Exhibition through this summer (2009). Andy Wint’s book on the history of Radio Caroline (Manx Giant) quickly sold out, leading to a second (revised and updated) edition to be published, which is due out around now.