Military History and Decorative Arts- Together at Last (?)

Yup, we're back to Collins Barracks- this time we're going inside to see the two most easily-compatible museum subjects: violent military history and interior home decorations... wait, what?

Collins Barracks Drilling Yard

Ok, this place is huge, really quite spacious, so my guess is that the National Museum folks put these together because they had neither enough military history nor interior design pieces to fill this huge complex.

In any case, the interior drilling yard is quite impressive. This facility was used first by British then by Irish soldiers as a training facility. Today, one can almost hear the sound of marching boots in the yard among the imposing stone square of buildings.

The Irish relationship with their military is much different than the American admiration and near-worship of men and women in uniform. The USA has been involved in so many conflicts in its short history, and it looks like that will be the case for a long time to come... but most of Ireland's organized fighting was done against the British (and the Irish) in their own towns and cities. Ireland did lose tens of thousands in World War I, but they were technically British soldiers fighting for the King. Since independence, Ireland has only had a small role in some UN peacekeeping operations.

Ireland was (somewhat controversially) neutral in World War II, and have never really stopped fighting the British in Northern Ireland, so it's easy to just say that Ireland's military history is... complicated.

The military branch of Collins Barracks displays uniforms, personal effects, and weapons from the various conflicts faced by the Irish from ancient Celtic warriors to eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth-century rebels to the guerilla fighting IRA during The Troubles.

I Use a Razor Just like That!

See?

Irish Volunteers Recruiting Poster 

You Call that a Gun? This is a Gun!

Now... let's put down the guns and pick up... our best China for guests? It's on to the Decorative Arts wing of the museum. I have a feeling that "Decorative Arts" is the catch-all museum category- and I don't mean that in a bad way. This wing had displays not only of domestic decorations, but of many niche categories like coins, medals, and timepieces.

My Favorite: The 1950s Room

Victorian Music Room

It was almost too much to see the museum in one day. I made a point to go through as much as I could, but I was feeling museum fatigue by the end of my visit. I slogged through the last few exhibits, but didn't pay them much mind. It was certainly no fault of the museum, but this complex might very well be a multiple-day museum.

For short-term visitors (as I recommend in my eBook project), I would suggest seeing the military museum on the ground floor and only the fully-decorated rooms of the Decorative Arts museum. For residents, get out there once in a while. If you haven't been there for a while, get back there- maybe for one of their many scheduled talks or tours.

First Day in Derry

After our memorable long weekend in Belgium, our next travel adventure was to Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its mixed cultural background and geographic location so close to the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border made it one of the most hotly-contested cities during the tragic times of The Troubles in the twentieth century.

Thankfully, Derry is (mostly) peaceful today. There was only one hotel firebombing the week we visited. Only one! Our hostel host still recommended that we avoid taking any routes near police stations.

Just after this cryptic warning, we walked across the beautiful (and ironic) Peace Bridge from the historically (Republican) Catholic Bogside to historically (British Unionist) Protestant Riverside. 

Derry Peace Bridge

There was a festival on in the park across the river, the Festival of Colours. It was mostly a family festival, but fun to check out. I even ran into my friend Lord Stilton at the park. What are the odds!? We picked up some fried dough and some olives for a cloudy-day riverside snack. We could see the famous Guildhall from across the river and watched the amazed tourists and locals on the Peace Bridge marvel at a jetski pulling a tuber in the River Foyle.

Donuts and Olives

The Guildhall

Jetski Pulling a Tuber

One of Derry's most notable structures is the old city wall. Unlike so many other walled cities (including Dublin) most of the original wall is still totally intact. The narrow gates sometimes create traffic snarls going into the small heart of the city today, but I think traffic problems are a small price to pay for preserving such important city landmarks.

Derry City Wall Gate

After a cursory walk around town (we were planning a more thorough tour the next morning), we stopped by a pub near the city wall. There we met a very nice Derry resident who celebrated our holiday with us. He told us to remember that Protestants could be nice, too.

Check!

Hangin' Out

After dinner at the best-known Chinese takeout in town, we headed to our hostel at the top of the steep hill. From our room window, we could see over the river to the distant hill of Donegal (in the Republic) and Co. Derry (in the North).

The Hills of Donegal

The next day, we were off for a much bigger walk around this beautiful city.

Retro Saturday: The Blue Marlin Project

After all that Final Fantasy V, it's time to begin some new games. Or old games... or new old games... again...?

I was inspired by a stream viewer to get back to a game I've played many times before, the classic NES fishing game The Blue Marlin. I did a very low-quality Let's Play of it a long time ago on this blog, but I wanted to really learn the game for a possible future speedrun.

So I took to the streamwaves and did some testing. Thanks to another stream viewer, we are uncovering some of the secrets of this game, and they are quite interesting. Inspired by all this knowledge and the general lack of internet resources on the game, I decided to put together a real, accurate FAQ for the game with the help of some other enthusiasts.

Look for more updates here on this space, including on-stream research and timed runs. To establish a base time, I timed myself going through the game and established my first real personal best (PB) time of 1:19:45. I know I can get under an hour, so look for that and updates from the FAQ soon!

For now, let's check out that PB!

For more Blue Marlin videos and other streaming action, check me out over at Twitch.tv/active_ate

Happy fishing!

Dublin City Hall October Lectures

Throughout the month of October 2014, Dublin City Hall is participating in Dublin Festival of History with a series of free Tuesday lunchtime lectures. The first of which was a fantastic look at the human stories of Ireland's participation in World War I.

Great lecture to a full house @DubCityCouncil City Hall today. Free talks next 3 Tuesdays at 1. Dont be late! pic.twitter.com/4KlgT0naVS
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) October 7, 2014

 The City Council chambers were packed for this first talk of the series. The presenter Tom Burke is the chairman of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association- a group dedicated to the preservation of the stories and records of this now-defunct arm of the British military.

The theme of the story seemed to be, "What a useless waste that war was- to hell with your politics!" These Dublin volunteers fought and died in some of the bloodiest stalemates of the war, on the Western Front and in Gallipoli. They suffered massive casualties, disease, and the dreaded chlorine gas attacks- and didn't have much to show for it. During one offensive push, they gained a few miles of territory but lost tens of thousands of soldiers- to the tune of 35 soldiers for each yard of territory gained.

...But back in Ireland, they were still recruiting and sending off more boys and girls to the effort. It is always fascinating for me to see the streets and buildings that I know so well now in different historical contexts. Mr. Burke showed us old recruiting posters posted on familiar street corners, rattled off addresses of the boys signing up that I now pass every day without a second thought. Just one of those things about living in an old city with so much ancient and modern history.

Three more talks are scheduled for October:

• Tuesday, Oct. 14- The Dublin Townships and the Great War
• Tuesday, Oct. 21- Out of the Dark, 1914-1918 South Dubliners and the Great War
• Tuesday, Oct. 28- The Saddest Songs, Those Heartfelt Rhymes: Songs and Poetry from the Great War

All talks begin at 1:10 p.m. at Dublin City Hall, arrive early to secure a seat. No booking is required.

Daniel O'Connell Says, "Be There!"

Dublin Castle Medieval Undercroft and Chapel Royal

On free OPW sites day, I finished the State Apartments poke-around just in time for the tour of the Medieval Undercroft- some recently-discovered ruins beneath the modern administrative offices of Dublin Castle.

The 20-minute tour explores the foundation of another 13th-century Norman Tower matching the one still standing on the other side of the parking lot. The round foundation helped archaeologists more accurately diagram the layout of medieval Dublin Castle and Dublin city.

Norman Tower Foundation

From the tower, sections of the original stone castle wall are still standing, including an entrance of steep steps leading up from what would have been a deep moat surrounding the castle fed by the now-underground River Poddle. Boats carrying people and cargo would have pulled up to this niche and loaded and unloaded right here- 800 years ago.

Dublin Castle Wall

Old Dublin Castle Entrance

Leading from another corner of the tower foundation is the old Dublin city wall, which shared Dublin Castle's exterior wall- forming the southeast corner of what was then the tiny walled port city. Boats would have had to come under this arch of the city wall to deliver goods to the castle. The arch was bricked up after the original construction, but long before it was found under the current castle. The keystone is still clearly visible in the old arch today.

Dublin City Wall and Keystone

At the bottom of the current arch, the city wall meets the old castle wall- and the River Poddle still provides a bit of a "moat" for the exhibit today. The underground river flows so near this spot that water regularly seeps in and needs to be pumped out. The effect is nice, though. The curators are allowing water from the same little river to feed the same moat it did all those centuries ago... Pretty cool.

Castle Wall and City Wall Corner

To finish the day of free access to the normally-pricey Dublin Castle exhibits, I took a few minutes to check out the Chapel Royal- the 19th-century Neo-Gothic church attached to the 13th-century Norman Tower. Got all that?

Norman Tower and Chapel Royal

This chapel is VERY unique in Dublin history. It was one of the very few (only?) churches to have been built as an Anglican Protestant church and later converted to a Roman Catholic church. I can hear it now...

"Well ye can KEEP St. Patrick's and Christ Church! We've got the Chapel Royal, so HA!"

-No Irish Catholic Ever

This used to be the King's own private chapel, and the names of all the noble (read: rich) houses are inscribed on wooden plaques lining the upper balcony. 

If you are ever near Dublin Castle on the first Wednesday of any month, I would highly recommend a visit to these normally ticketed exhibits. Because they are operated by OPW, the admission price isn't too steep, but at free, it's a real steal!

Chapel Royal Interior

Chapel Royal Pipe Organ