1.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
2.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Abbey Theatre
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The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day. The Abbey was the first state-subsidized theatre in the English-speaking world, since July 1966, the Abbey has been located at 26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1. In its early years, the theatre was associated with the writers of the Irish Literary Revival, many of whom were involved in its founding. The Abbey served as a nursery for many of the leading Irish playwrights and actors of the 20th century, including William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory, Seán OCasey and John Millington Synge. In addition, through its programme of touring abroad and its high visibility to foreign, particularly American, audiences. The Abbey arose from three bases, the first of which was the seminal Irish Literary Theatre. Founded by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and W. B, Yeats in 1899—with assistance from George Moore—it presented plays in the Antient Concert Rooms and the Gaiety Theatre, which brought critical approval but limited public interest. The second base involved the work of two Dublin directors, William and Frank Fay, William worked in the 1890s with a touring company in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, while his brother Frank was involved in amateur dramatics in Dublin. In April 1902, the Fays gave three performances of Æs play Deirdre and Yeats Cathleen Ní Houlihan in a hall in St Theresas Hall on Clarendon Street, the performances played to a mainly working-class audience rather than the usual middle-class Dublin theatregoers. The run was a success, thanks in part to the beauty and force of Maud Gonne. The company continued at the Antient Concert Rooms, producing works by Seumas OCuisin, Fred Ryan, the third base was financial support and experience of Annie Horniman. Horniman was a middle-class Englishwoman with previous experience of production, having been involved in the presentation of George Bernard Shaws Arms. She came to Dublin in 1903 to act as Yeats unpaid secretary and her money helped found the Abbey Theatre and, according to the critic Adrian Frazier, would make the rich feel at home, and the poor—on a first visit—out of place. Encouraged by the St Theresas Hall success, Yeats, Lady Gregory, Æ, Martyn and they were joined by actors and playwrights from Fays company. At first, they staged performances in the Molesworth Hall, on 11 May 1904, the society formally accepted Hornimans offer of the use of the building. As Horniman did not usually reside in Ireland, the letters patent required were granted in the name of Lady Gregory. The founders appointed William Fay theatre manager, responsible for training the actors in the newly established repertory company
5.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
6.
Rotunda Hospital
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The Rotunda Hospital is one of the three main maternity hospitals in the city of Dublin, the others being the Coombe and the National Maternity Hospital. The hospital is located just off the top of OConnell Street, on Parnell Square and this issue was not limited to the Lying-In-Hospital. The design of the main building was undertaken by the renowned architect Richard Cassels. Because it was an institution, the hospital had several public function rooms in which fundraising activities were held. One of these areas was a rotunda, after which the hospital is now named. It is estimated that over 300,000 babies have been born there, in 1889, the first caesarean section performed in Ireland was performed at the Rotunda. Rotunda Hospital website History of the Rotunda Hospital
7.
Henrik Ibsen
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Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the father of realism and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre and he is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and A Dolls House became the worlds most performed play by the early 20th century. Several of his dramas were considered scandalous to many of his era. Ibsens later work examined the realities that lay behind many façades and it utilized a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. The poetic and cinematic early play Peer Gynt, however, has strong surreal elements, Ibsen is often ranked as one of the most distinguished playwrights in the European tradition. Richard Hornby describes him as a profound poetic dramatist—the best since Shakespeare and he is widely regarded as the most important playwright since Shakespeare. He influenced other playwrights and novelists such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, James Joyce, Eugene ONeill, Ibsen was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902,1903, and 1904. Ibsen wrote his plays in Danish and they were published by the Danish publisher Gyldendal, born into a merchant family connected to the patriciate of Skien, Ibsen shaped his dramas according to his family background. He was the father of Prime Minister Sigurd Ibsen, Ibsens dramas continue in their influence upon contemporary culture and film with notable film productions including A Dolls House featuring Jane Fonda and A Master Builder featuring Wallace Shawn. Ibsen was born to Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg, in a merchant family, in the small port town of Skien in Telemark county. Ibsens grandfather, ship captain Henrich Ibsen, had died at sea in 1797, Knud Ibsens paternal ancestors were ship captains of Danish origin, but he decided to become a merchant, having initial success. His marriage to Marichen Altenburg, a daughter of ship-owner Johan Andreas Altenburg, theodore Jorgenson points out that Henriks ancestry reached back into the important Telemark family of Paus both on the fathers and on the mothers side. Hedvig Paus must have well known to the young dramatist. Henrik Ibsen was fascinated by his parents strange, almost incestuous marriage, Henriks sister Hedvig would write about their mother, She was a quiet, lovable woman, the soul of the house, everything to her husband and children. She sacrificed herself time and time again, There was no bitterness or reproach in her. The Ibsen family eventually moved to a city house, Snipetorp, owned by Knud Ibsens half-brother, Ibsen would both model and name characters in his plays after his own family. At fifteen, Ibsen was forced to leave school and he moved to the small town of Grimstad to become an apprentice pharmacist and began writing plays. In 1846, when Ibsen was age 18, a liaison with a servant produced a child, whose upbringing Ibsen had to pay for until the boy was in his teens
8.
Orson Welles
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George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theatre, radio, and film. In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941. It reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring, although some contemporary sources claim these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to notoriety. His first film was Citizen Kane, which he co-wrote, produced, directed, Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films in his career. He has been praised as the ultimate auteur, Welles followed up Citizen Kane with critically acclaimed films including The Magnificent Ambersons in 1942 and Touch of Evil in 1958. Although these three are his most acclaimed films, critics have argued other works of his, such as The Lady from Shanghai and Chimes at Midnight, are underappreciated. Known for his voice, Welles was an actor in radio and film, a Shakespearean stage actor. George Orson Welles was born May 6,1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, son of Richard Head Welles and he was named after his paternal great-grandfather, influential Kenosha attorney Orson S. Head, and his brother George Head. Despite his familys affluence, Welles encountered hardship in childhood and his parents separated and moved to Chicago in 1919. His father, who made a fortune as the inventor of a bicycle lamp, became an alcoholic. Beatrice died of hepatitis in a Chicago hospital May 10,1924, the Gordon String Quartet, which had made its first appearance at her home in 1921, played at Beatrices funeral. After his mothers death Welles ceased pursuing music and it was decided that he would spend the summer with the Watson family at a private art colony in Wyoming, New York, established by Lydia Avery Coonley Ward. There he played and became friends with the children of the Aga Khan, Welles briefly attended public school before his alcoholic father left business altogether and took him along on his travels to Jamaica and the Far East. When they returned they settled in a hotel in Grand Detour, Illinois, when the hotel burned down, Welles and his father took to the road again. During the three years that Orson lived with his father, some observers wondered who took care of whom, in some ways, he was never really a young boy, you know, said Roger Hill, who became Welless teacher and lifelong friend. Welles briefly attended school in Madison, Wisconsin, enrolled in the fourth grade. At Todd School, Welles came under the influence of Roger Hill, Hill provided Welles with an ad hoc educational environment that proved invaluable to his creative experience, allowing Welles to concentrate on subjects that interested him. Welles performed and staged theatrical experiments and productions there, Todd provided Welles with many valuable experiences, wrote critic Richard France
9.
James Mason
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James Neville Mason was an English actor. He was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes, Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to Mabel Hattersley and John Mason. His father was a textile merchant. He was educated at Marlborough College, and earned a first in architecture at Peterhouse, Mason had no formal training in acting and initially embarked upon it for fun. After Cambridge he made his debut in Aldershot in The Rascal in 1931. He joined The Old Vic theatre in London under the guidance of Tyrone Guthrie, in 1933 Alexander Korda gave Mason a small role in The Private Life of Don Juan but sacked him three days into shooting. From 1935-38, he starred in many British quota quickies, Mason became hugely popular for his brooding anti-heroes in the Gainsborough series of melodramas of the 1940s, including The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady. He also starred with Deborah Kerr and Robert Newton in Hatters Castle and he then took the lead role in the popular The Seventh Veil, which set box office records in post-war Britain and raised him to international stardom. He followed it with a role as a mortally wounded IRA bank robber on the run in Odd Man Out and his first Hollywood film, exhibitors voted him the most popular star in Britain in each year between 1944 and 1947. They also thought he was the most popular star in 1946. He was the most popular star in Canada in 1948. Masons languid but impassioned vocal talent enabled him to play a villain as easily as his good looks assisted him as a leading man. His roles include Brutus in Julius Caesar, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in The Desert Fox, The Story of Rommel and The Desert Rats, in the 1950s, Mason was host of Lux Video Theatre on CBS television. In 1963 he settled in Switzerland, and embarked on a transatlantic career, one of his last roles, that of corrupt lawyer Ed Concannon in The Verdict, earned him his third and final Oscar nomination. Mason had been a neighbour and friend of the comedian. Having completed playing the role in Dr. This was to be Masons final screen performance, in the late 1970s, Mason became a mentor to up-and-coming actor Sam Neill. Mason was a lover of animals, particularly cats
10.
Michael Gambon
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Sir Michael John Gambon CBE is an Irish-born English actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. He has won four BAFTA TV Awards and three Olivier Awards, Gambon was born in Cabra, Dublin, during World War II. His father, Edward Gambon, was an engineer, and his mother and his father decided to seek work in the rebuilding of London, and so the family moved to Mornington Crescent in north London, when Gambon was five. His father had him made a British citizen, a decision that would later allow Gambon to receive a substantive, rather than honorary, knighthood, brought up as a strict Roman Catholic, he attended St Aloysius Boys School in Somers Town and served at the altar. He then moved to St Aloysius College in Hornsey Lane, Highgate, London and he later moved to North End, Kent, and attended Crayford Secondary School, before leaving with no qualifications at fifteen. He then gained an apprenticeship with Vickers Armstrong as a toolmaker, by the time he was 21, he was a qualified engineer. He kept the job for a year, acquiring a fascination and passion for collecting antique guns, clocks, watches. At age 24, Gambon wrote a letter to Micheál Mac Liammóir and it was accompanied by a CV describing a rich and wholly imaginary theatre career – and he was taken on. Gambon made his professional stage début in the Gate Theatre Dublins 1962 production of Othello, playing Second Gentleman, followed by a European tour. Gambon, along with Robert Stephens, Derek Jacobi and Frank Finlay, was hired as one of the to be renowned and played any number of small roles, appearing on cast lists as Mike Gambon. The company initially performed at the Old Vic, their first production being Hamlet, directed by Olivier and starring Peter OToole. Gambon played for four years in many NT productions, including named roles in The Recruiting Officer and The Royal Hunt of the Sun, working with directors William Gaskill, after three years at the Old Vic, Olivier advised Gambon to gain experience in provincial rep. In 1967, he left the NT for the Birmingham Repertory Company, Gambon was suggested for the role of James Bond in On Her Majestys Secret Service, although he was dismissed for being even less known than George Lazenby who was cast. His rise to fame began in 1974 when Eric Thompson cast him as the vet in Alan Ayckbourns The Norman Conquests at Greenwich. A speedy transfer to the West End established him as a actor, squatting at a crowded dining table on a tiny chair. He is also one of the few actors to have mastered the demands of the vast Olivier Theatre, as Simon Callow once said, Gambons iron lungs and overwhelming charisma are able to command a sort of operatic full-throatedness which triumphs over hard walls and long distances. This was to him in good stead in John Dexters masterly staging of The Life of Galileo in 1980. Hall called him unsentimental, dangerous and immensely powerful, and The Sunday Times called his performance a decisive step in the direction of great tragedy, Great acting, while fellow actors paid him the rare compliment of applauding him in the dressing room on the first night
11.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
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Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond, Lovett, who is in desperate need of fresh meat for her pies. Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980, in addition to several revivals the musical has been presented by opera companies. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical, the character of Sweeney Todd had its origins in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as penny dreadfuls. A story called The String of Pearls was published in a magazine during the winter of 1846-47. Set in 1785, the featured as its principal villain a certain Sweeney Todd and included all the plot elements that were used by Sondheim. The psychopathic barber’s story proved instantly popular – it was turned into a play before the ending had even been revealed in print, an expanded edition appeared in 1850, an American version in 1852, a new play in 1865. By the 1870s, Sweeney Todd was a character to most Victorians. Sondheim’s musical was, in fact, based on Christopher Bond’s 1973 spooky melodrama, in Bonds reincarnation of the character, Todd was the victim of a ruthless judge who raped his young wife and exiled him to Australia. Sondheim first conceived of a version of the story in 1973. Bonds sophisticated plot and language significantly elevated the lurid nature of the tale, Sondheim once noted, “It had a weight to it. Because wrote certain characters in blank verse and he also infused into it plot elements from Jacobean tragedy and The Count of Monte Cristo. He was able to all these disparate elements that had been in existence rather dully for a hundred and some-odd years. I had a feeling it would be a new animal, the effect it had at Stratford East in London and the effect it had at the Uris Theater in New York are two entirely different effects, even though its the same play. It was essentially charming over there because they dont take Sweeney Todd seriously and our production was larger in scope. Hal Prince gave it a sense, a sense that this was a man of some size instead of just a nut case. The music helps to give it that dimension. ”Music proved to be a key element behind the impact of Sweeney Todd on audiences, over eighty percent of the production is set to music, either sung or orchestrated underneath dialogue. The score is one vast structure, each individual part meshing with others for the good of the musical machine
12.
Culture of Ireland
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The culture of Ireland includes customs and traditions, language, music, art, literature, folklore, cuisine and sports associated with Ireland and the Irish people. For most of its history, Irelands culture has been primarily Gaelic. It has also influenced by Anglo-Norman, English and Scottish culture. The Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland in the 12th century, while the 16th/17th century conquest, today, there are notable cultural differences between those of Catholic and Protestant background, and between travellers and the settled population. Due to large-scale emigration from Ireland, Irish culture has a reach and festivals such as Saint Patricks Day. Irish culture has to some degree been inherited and modified by the Irish diaspora, in historic times, texts such as the Táin Bó Cúailinge show a society in which cattle represented a primary source of wealth and status. Little of this had changed by the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, giraldus Cambrensis portrayed a Gaelic society in which cattle farming and transhumance was the norm. The Normans replaced traditional clan land management with the system of land tenure. This led to the imposition of the village, parish and county over the system of townlands. In general, a parish was a civil and religious unit with a manor, a village, each parish incorporated one or more existing townlands into its boundaries. With the gradual extension of English feudalism over the island, the Irish county structure came into existence and was completed in 1610 and these structures are still of vital importance in the daily life of Irish communities. Apart from the significance of the parish, most rural postal addresses consist of house. This situation continued up to the end of the 19th century, in this process of reform, the former tenants and labourers became land owners, with the great estates being broken up into small- and medium-sized farms and smallholdings. The process continued well into the 20th century with the work of the Irish Land Commission and this contrasted with Britain, where many of the big estates were left intact. One consequence of this is the widely recognised cultural phenomenon of land hunger amongst the new class of Irish farmer. In general, this means that families will do almost anything to retain land ownership within the family unit. The majority of the Irish calendar today still reflects the old pagan customs, christmas in Ireland has several local traditions, some in no way connected with Christianity. On 26 December, there is a custom of Wrenboys who call door to door with an arrangement of assorted material to represent a dead wren caught in the furze, the festival is in remembrance to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland
13.
Amharclann Ghaoth Dobhair
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Amharclann Ghaoth Dobhair, anglicized as Gweedore Theatre, is a local theatre in the Gaeltacht region of Derrybeg in the parish of Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland. It seats over 200 patrons, and ever since it was opened by actress Siobhán McKenna, Aisteoirí Ghaoth Dobhair was a group of actors founded in Srath na Corcra, Derrybeg in 1932, and they gained critical acclaim and travelled as far as Glasgow to perform. The key people involved in the group were Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríghde, Áine Nic Giolla Bhríghde, Johnnie Sheáin Ó Gallchóir, Proinsias Ó Maonaigh, Uí Bhraonáin, Tomás Mac Giolla Bhríghde, Seán Ó Casaide, Néilí Ó Maolagáin, Niall Ó Dufaigh, and Proinsias Ó Duibhir. Several well-known local entertainers took to the limelight in productions of Geamaireachtaí Aisteoirí Ghaoth Dobhair, eithne Ní Bhraonáin from Dore - now globally known as Enya. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh - now of Altan fame, Máire Ní Bhraonáin - now known as Moya Brennan. Three of the Uí Chasaide clan Na Casaidigh, and the two Brennan brothers Pól and Ciarán of internationally renowned group Clannad. They all took part in the pantos before taking to the world-stage, there is an average of two to three productions in the Amharclann each year, plus drama competitions which are entered by local schools. The management board of the theatre have applied for a grant from the government to restore and renovate it
14.
Dean Crowe Theatre
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The Dean Crowe Theatre & Arts Centre is a theatre and arts space in Athlone, Westmeath, Ireland. Built in 1800 the building served as the church for 137 years. The altar was placed against the wall in the middle of the building, seating on three sides, with three galleries overhead, in 1937 the present day church of SS. Peter and Paul was completed, and so the building was converted to use as a hall, and later. In the 1960s, the building was home to the newly founded St. Aloysius College
15.
Everyman Palace Theatre
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The Everyman Theatre is a 650-seat Victorian theatre on MacCurtain Street in Cork, Ireland. Originally opened in 1897/98, it is the oldest purpose-built theatre building in Cork, the Everyman has undergone many changes, through its days as Dan Lowrey’s Palace of Varieties, life as a cinema, periods of disrepair, and reinvigoration as a modern theatre in the 1980s. The theatre is housed in a listed Victorian building with a stage and auditorium, with proscenium arch, four elaborately decorated boxes. The Everymans programme is a mix of plays, operas, musicals and concerts. In the summer months, it hosts productions by Irish playwrights, other major recurring events include the Guinness Jazz Festival in October, and the Christmas pantomime. A unique feature of the Everyman Palace is that its front of house ushering staff is composed entirely of volunteers, up until 2007, the Everyman hosted the Irish regional festival of the National Theatres New Connections program every May. It gained a reputation for supporting and enabling providing a platform for youth theatres such as Activate, Kildare Youth Theatre and Independent Youth Theatre
16.
Gaiety Theatre, Dublin
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The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephens Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows, designed by architect C. J. Patrick Wall and Louis Elliman bought the theatre in 1936 and ran it for several decades with local actors and actresses. They sold it in 1965, and in the 1960s and the 1970s the theatre was run by Fred ODonovan, in the 1990s Groundwork Productions took on the lease and the theatre was eventually bought by the Break for the Border Group. The Gaiety was purchased by music promoter Denis Desmond and his wife Caroline in the late 1990s, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism also contributed to this restoration fund. Performers and playwrights associated with the theatre have been celebrated with hand-prints cast in bronze and these handprints include those of Luciano Pavarotti, Brendan Grace, Maureen Potter, Twink, John B Keane, Anna Manahan, Niall Toibin and Brian Friel. The theatre played host to the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, the first to be staged in Ireland, Clodagh Rodgers later presented her RTÉ TV series The Clodagh Rodgers Show from the theatre in the late 1970s. The Gaiety is known for its annual Christmas pantomime and has hosted a pantomime every year since 1874, actor and director Alan Stanford directed both Gaiety productions of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. The musical director for the past several shows has been Peter Beckett, Irish entertainer June Rodgers starred in the Gaiety pantomime for years, until she began to headline the equally established Olympia Theatre panto. The Gaiety shows have included Irish performers that appeal to home grown audiences, pantomimes in the 21st century have included versions of, Mother Goose, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin, Robinson Crusoe, Peter Pan, Red Riding Hood
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Lambert Puppet Theatre
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The Lambert Puppet Theatre & Museum is a puppet theatre located in Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland. It is a family run business established in 1972 by Eugene Lambert and it used to produce childrens television series on Radio Telefís Éireann, such as Wanderly Wagon. The theatre is currently being run by Eugenes son, Liam, on August 28,2015, the theatre was badly damaged in an arson attack, causing over €150,000 worth in damage. On 13 November 2015, the theatre re-opened to the public with re-built puppets, for the Christmas performance of Aladdin
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Mill Theatre Dundrum
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Mill Theatre Dundrum, in Dublin, Ireland, was opened by Mary McAleese on May 4,2006 and is located in the Dundrum Town Centre. There are 205 seats in the main Auditorium/Theatre, the seating can be retracted to provide practice or performance space. The stage is an arch which is at ground level. In 2012, the space was renamed in honor of screen actress Maureen OHara who was born nearby, in Ranelagh. Mill Theatre Dundrum also has space for exhibiting visual arts
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Moat Theatre
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The Moat Theatre is a theatre and arts centre in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. The Moat Club was formed in the 1950s with the intention of providing the Naas area with facilities to be used for dramatic theater, in 1960 it bought the Christian Brothers school and converted the upper rooms into a hall for table tennis. The lower rooms were converted into a 125-seat theatre in 1963 and it was renovated in the early 2000s, re-opening in 2003. The Moat derives its name from the ancient motte, a reputed meeting-site of the Kings of Leinster, official site Facebook page Theatres Online page Into Kildare page entertainment. ie page
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Olympia Theatre (Dublin)
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The Olympia Theatre is a concert hall and theatre venue in Dublin, Ireland, located in Dame Street. Opened as The Star of Erin music hall in 1879, the venue was renamed as Dan Lowerys Music Hall in 1881 and it was finally named The Olympia Theatre in 1923. It ran successfully for years until, in November 1974. The theatre was restored and redecorated, allowing it to reopen on 14 March 1977, in November 2004, a truck reversing on Dame Street crashed into the front of the Olympia damaging the building. A cast-iron and glass canopy from the 1890s, by the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, was demolished during the accident but has since been restored, R. E. M. recorded their album Live at the Olympia at the venue. Erasure played two consecutive sold-out shows here during their Total Pop Tour in June 2011, recording footage used for the videoclip of their single When I Start To. The band played again at the Olympia for two others consecutive sold-out shows in 2014 for their The Violet Flame Tour, during these shows they recorded footage used later for the Sacred video. Tom Waits recorded his version of The Piano Has Been Drinking here. Tori Amos played her first European gig in the Olympia, in September 2015, Swedens Eurovision Song Contest winner Måns Zelmerlöw is expected to kick off a 17-date European tour at the venue. The film An Awfully Big Adventure shot a number of scenes at the theatre, Dermot Morgan recorded Dermot Morgan Live here on 16 April 1994. The Olympia, along with Dublins Gaiety Theatre and The Helix Theatre and its most recent productions have been Aladdin, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Robin Hood and a revival of Cinderella which starred Jedward as the Fairy Godbrothers. This year the Olympia pantomime features Jedward once again in Jedward, list of concert halls Anthony, Barry
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Passionfruit Theatre
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The Passionfruit Theatre is a theatre and theatre company based in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland. It was founded by Irish playwright and novelist Joe Ducke, Old Vic graduate Emily Campbell and it is the third theatre in Athlone along with the Dean Crowe Theatre and Arts Centre and the Little Theatre. Since its inception, Passionfruit Theatre has produced shows in Athlone, the companys first production under the Passionfruit moniker was a tour of Joe Duckes one-act play East of the Sun, West of the Moon in 2005. The play centres on three characters, Maud Gonne, Lady Gregory, and William Butler Yeats, and how their lives intersect on the evening of December 31,1899. According to the author, he wrote the play during the Christmas holidays in 1999 when the New Millennium was just around the corner. The setting is New Years Eve 1899, and I used real characters to describe the new feeling of anticipation that always surrounds such crucial dates, the production was directed by Mark Shanahan with set and costume design by Emily Campbell. Dermot Ward played Yeats, Anne Hoey played the role of Lady Gregory, Anne Hoey won a best actress award for her portrayal of Lady Gregory on the One-Act circuit in 2006. In 2006 Passionfruit Theatre embarked on three high-profile productions, the first was Walk a Crooked Mile, a three-act play by Joe Ducke, which was performed in the Athlone Dean Crowe Theatre in February 2006. The production was directed by Paul Fagan, with set and costume by Emily Campbell and lighting design, the cast included Passionfruit regulars Dermot Ward, Anne Hoey and Emily Campbell. The author has described the play as Hamlet reset and retold in the Irish midlands. In August 2006 Passionfruit toured two one-act plays, Brazen Bulls by Irish playwright Oswald J. Healy, and A Slight Ache by Harold Pinter, galway, the Bog Lane Theatre in Ballymahon, and the Teachers Club Theatre in Dublin. Both plays were directed by Paul Fagan, with set and costume design by Emily Campbell, Brazen Bulls starred Dermot Ward, Stephen Herbert and John Keane, while A Slight Ache starred Eoin OConnell, Evie Craddock and Dan ODowd. Other productions include, With Wandering Steps and Slow by Oswald J. Healy Directed by Paul Fagan The Pot of Broth by William Butler Yeats Directed by Luke Hayden 5 Dec 2007, one Of Us by Joseph Ducke, played Marcus Goodbody Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone. In August 2007 Passionfruit Theatre was approved for a grant towards the refurbishment of its theatre at Northgate St. Athlone. The newly refurbished theatre has been designed by Budd Holden, student of the Lee Strasberg Theatre, Athlone List of Irish theatres and theatre companies Homepage Athlone. ie
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Project Arts Centre
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Project Arts Centre is a multidisciplinary arts centre based in Temple Bar, Dublin, which hosts theatre, dance, music and performance. Project Arts Centre was founded by Jim FitzGerald and Colm OBriain in 1967 after a festival at the Gate Theatre in 1966. Project Arts Centre was the first such centre in Ireland. The Centre had several homes before it opened for business in a factory on East Essex Street in 1975. The centre has been a venue for many of the performing arts festivals including Dublin Dance Festival, Dublin Writers Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival. Since the Irish recession there has been an emphasis on cross cultural productions
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Riverbank Arts Centre
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Riverbank Arts Centre is a multi-disciplinary venue including theatre and visual arts centre in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. Located just off the M7 motorway,40 minutes from Dublin City, Riverbank Arts Centre is lively, atmospheric and convenient, from theatre, music and comedy to childrens events and cinema, Riverbank Arts Centre provides an intimate setting for a broad variety of shows. Riverbank Arts Centre Café offers lunch and afternoon tea daily, from 9. 00am, if you want a full meal or a quick snack, or one of our delicious home made desserts and a gourmet coffee, this is the place to go. Come for the arts and theatre and stay for the food, the venue is accessible for those of varying abilities including wheelchair accessible ramp, interior lift to gallery and auditorium, increased seating capacity for wheelchair users. There are also a number of dedicated accessible parking spaces to the front of the building, official site Riverbank Arts Centre at the Discover Ireland page
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Smock Alley Theatre
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The Smock Alley Theatre is a theatre in Dublin. The original theatre opened in 1662 and operated till 1787, in 2012, after a €3.5 million investment, a new theatre opened on the original foundations and with a lot of the original superstructure. The Smock Alley Theatre was the purpose built theatre in Ireland. It was preceded by the Werburgh Street Theatre - which was, however, only active for four years and that earlier theater came to a sudden end with the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In October of that year, the Lords Justices prohibited playing there, already shortly afterwards, the building was said to be ruined and spoiled, and a cow-house made of the stage. There never was an attempt to renew theatrical activity in that location, the years of Oliver Cromwells Puritan rule were a bad time for the theater, altogether outlawed also in England itself. Moreover, Ireland, conquered by Cromwells troops, suffered various other kinds of harsh oppression, but the restoration of King Charles II - who strongly appreciated French culture, including French theater - saw the swift revival of theater and its flourishing in both England and Ireland. Within a short time of the Restoration of the Monarchy, no less than three major theaters were opened, the construction in London of Lincolns Inn Fields, and Drury Lane was closely followed by Dublins Smock Alley Theatre, the first Irish institute to be dubbed Theatre Royal. It was known as the Theatre Royal at Smock Alley when it was built and it consisted of a classical proscenium stage, pit, boxes, a middle and upper gallery, lattices and a music/orchestra loft above the stage, also the acoustics were said to be excellent. The pit had backless benches and a floor that rose toward the back of the audience to help sightlines. Mostly single men sat here, and it was the noisiest, rowdiest area in the theatre, boxes sat upper class aristocrats—mostly married couples with wives who wanted to be seen. Boxes were luxuriously decorated with velvet drapes should the occupants require some privacy during the evening. for whatever reason, the doors were wider in the boxes to allow access for the voluminous dresses of the ladies. Galleries held the class, including servants of the upper classes in attendance. These were the worst seats as they were on the level as the large chandeliers that lit the theatre. Candles were made of tallow and they were very pungent and smokey and he was pulled from the wreckage of his box with two broken legs There was another partial collapse in March 1734 after which it was abandoned for a short while. The major decision was taken to demolish and rebuild the theatre in 1735 with increased audience capacity. However a new theatre had opened in Aungier Street and it managed to wrestle the title Theatre Royal from Smock Alley for a time, in 1745 Thomas Sheridan, godson of Jonathan Swift, took on the role of manager of Smock Alley and Aungier Street. He made many improvements and reclaimed the title Theatre Royal for Smock Alley, by 1750 the Aungier Street theatre had closed down
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Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe
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Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, also called An Taiḃḋearc, is the national Irish language theatre of Ireland. The word taibhdhearc appears as a gloss for the Latin teatrum in an old Irish document, derived from roots meaning dream, the modern Irish for a theatre is amharclann. The building itself is built on the ruins of the citys original Augustinian friary. The rear wall incorporates a wall from this friary, including carved stone window frames. With its location on An tSráid Láir the Taibhdhearc is situated in the heart of the city of Galway. Throughout the year the theatre is a much sought-after venue for drama and music productions, the busiest period for the arts in the city happens during the two weeks of the annual Galway Arts Festival. In 2004 An Taibhdhearc awarded the Gradam Bhaitéir Uí Mhaicín prize for scriptwriting to Coinneáil Orainn by Darach Ó Scolaí, after suffering extensive smoke damage during a fire in 2007 An Taibhdhearc closed its doors for an extended period of renovation and refurbishment. While the theatre has been closed An Taibhdhearc has continued to produce shows in venues around Galway city and county. The theatre was re-opened in autumn 2012, with Irish President Michael D Higgins reopening the theatre at an event in September 2012
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Focus Theatre
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The Focus Theatre in Dublin was a small but respected theatre which offered a variety of plays from new and established writers. Focus Theatres Acting Studio was founded in April 1963 by the Irish American actor, the Focus Theatre itself was founded by OConnell and her husband, Luke Kelly of The Dubliners in 1967, and opened on 29 September with a production of Doris Lessings Play With a Tiger. It has been at the forefront of training actors and directors in Stanislavskis system as well as putting on productions of the classics of European and international theatre. Several notable actors have been associated with the Focus, including Gabriel Byrne, Sabina Coyne, Olwen Fouéré, Tom Hickey, Bosco Hogan, the artistic director is Joe Devlin. The theatre closed in April 2012 due to funding issues
