1.
Easter Rising
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The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and it was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period. Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising began on Easter Monday,24 April 1916, the British Army brought in thousands of reinforcements as well as artillery and a gunboat. There was fierce fighting on the routes into the city centre. Elsewhere in Dublin, the fighting consisted of sniping and long-range gun battles. The main rebel positions were surrounded and bombarded with artillery. Germany had sent a shipment of arms to the rebels, Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill had then issued a countermand in a bid to halt the Rising, which greatly reduced the number of rebels who mobilised. With much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army suppressed the Rising, Pearse agreed to an unconditional surrender on Saturday 29 April, although sporadic fighting continued until Sunday, when word reached the other rebel positions. After the surrender the country remained under martial law, about 3,500 people were taken prisoner by the British, many of whom had played no part in the Rising, and 1,800 of them were sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain. Most of the leaders of the Rising were executed following courts-martial, the Rising brought physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly 50 years had been dominated by constitutional nationalism. It, and the British reaction to it, led to increased support for Irish independence. In December 1918, republicans, represented by the reconstituted Sinn Féin party and they did not take their seats, but instead convened the First Dáil and declared the independence of the Irish Republic, which led to the War of Independence. 485 people were killed in the Easter Rising, about 54% were civilians, 30% were British military and police, and 16% were Irish rebels. Many of the civilians were killed as a result of the British using artillery and heavy machine guns, others were caught in the crossfire in a crowded city. The shelling and the fires it caused left parts of inner city Dublin in ruins, from early on, many Irish nationalists opposed the union and the ensuing exploitation and impoverishment of the island, which led to a high level of depopulation. Opposition took various forms, constitutional, social and revolutionary, the Irish Home Rule movement sought to achieve self-government for Ireland, within the United Kingdom. In 1886, the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell succeeded in having the First Home Rule Bill introduced in the British parliament, the Second Home Rule Bill of 1893 was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords. After the fall of Parnell, younger and more radical nationalists became disillusioned with parliamentary politics, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Gaelic League and the cultural revival under W. B
2.
Dublin City Council
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Dublin City Council is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, until 2001, the council was known as Dublin Corporation. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, the council has 63 elected members and is the largest local council in Ireland. Elections are held five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Lord Mayor. The city administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Owen Keegan, the council meets at City Hall, Dublin. As part of the Dublin Region, Dublin City Council is within the remit of the Dublin Regional Authority. Following the enactment of the Local Government Act 2001, the Regional Authority was established and it is one of eight such Authorities in the Republic of Ireland. Local government in the region was further regulated by the Local Government Act 1994, the statutory instrument giving effect to the Act came into force on 1 January 1994. The instrument also provided for the abolition of Dublin County Council – the entity that had previously had responsibility for Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, the four entities collectively comprise the former entity known as County Dublin. This entity, which had created after the Norman invasion of Ireland, was abolished under the Acts. The functions of the City Council include, Public Housing, Library Services, Refuse Services, Drainage, Driver and Vehicle Licensing, Planning, the Council budgeted to spend €847,137,522 during 2007 in service of these functions. 50. 5% of this went towards the payroll of the Councils staff which was a reduction from 50. 7% in 2006, the 2007 roads budget was just over €105,000,000, to support maintenance of all roads in its functional area. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1840, they were replaced by a unicameral assembly, the new name Dublin City Council was coined for the unicameral assembly. The Lord Mayor of Dublin presided over the assembly and this office which had existed since 1665. The first City Council was elected in October 1841 when Daniel OConnell became the first Lord Mayor, since 1 January 2002, the functions of local government have been transferred to Dublin City Council. In 1994, Dublin County Council and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire were abolished, to coincide with its name change, the City Council adopted a new logo and brand identity, based on a simplified version of the ancient three castles symbol. Executive power is shared between the council and an executive official known as the Chief Executive
3.
Rush, Dublin
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Rush is a small seaside town in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland. It lies on the Irish Sea coast between Skerries and Lusk, on the R128 regional road and it had a population at the 2011 census of 9,231. Rush is also a parish in the Fingal North deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, Rush was once viewed as the heart of market gardening in Leinster and many people were employed in agriculture. Nowadays, however, horticulture and agriculture have been superseded by Rushs increasing role as a commuter belt town, there is evidence of settlement in the Rush area dating back to Neolithic times. Flint tools have been found in the area and there is a passage grave, a giant promontory fort is located on the headland of Drumanagh, north of Rush. It is surrounded on three sides by cliffs and a large rampart encloses the fourth side, the site has not been excavated, but it is thought that it dates back to the Bronze or Iron age. This claim is disputed by archaeologists who see this simply as evidence of trade between Ireland and the Romans. The artifacts were excavated after being discovered with metal detectors. According to Barry Raftery of UCD Drumanagh may well have been a trading station linking Ireland. It was probably populated with a mixture of Irish, Romano-British, Gallo-Roman, legal disputes with the land owner have meant that further excavations have not been carried out to be able to settle the debate. The ruins of the original St. Maurs chapel lie in Whitestown cemetery and these date back to Anglo-Norman times and are named after Saint Maurus, a followers of St. Benedict. There is a connected with these ruins that some French navigators. They made a vow to St. Maur that if they survived they would build a chapel in his honour on the first point of land they reached and they subsequently landed at Rogerstown and built a chapel there in his honour. The area became known as Knightstown and later Whitestown, in 1776, a church was built closer to the centre of Rush to replace the old chapel. It was also dedicated to St. Maur and is one of the earliest examples of a penal Catholic church in the Fingal area, the current Catholic church of Saint Maur is beside the 1776 building. It was dedicated in 1989 and is in the new, post Vatican II style, two miles north from the centre of Rush village lies a magnificent portico which is all that remains of Kenure House, a large mansion which had many acres of an estate around it. The name is a version of Ceann Iubhair, meaning headland of the yew trees. There is a ruined church which was dedicated to St. Damnan
4.
HM Prison Wakefield
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Her Majestys Prison Wakefield is a Category A mens prison, located in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majestys Prison Service, and is the largest high-security prison in the United Kingdom, the prison has been nicknamed the Monster Mansion due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders and murderers held there. Wakefield Prison was originally built as a house of correction in 1594, most of the current prison buildings date from Victorian times. The current prison was designated a ‘dispersal prison in 1966, the English Dialect Dictionary noted references to Wakefield were often short for referring to the long-standing prison. The exercise yard at Wakefield has a tree, around which female inmates used to exercise. This origin of the song is also propounded on the prisons website, there is no corroborative evidence to support this theory. During the First World War, Wakefield Prison was used as a Home Office work camp, the ordinary criminal prisoners were removed, and the new influx were sentenced to two or more years imprisonment for refusing to obey military orders. After the closure of Dyce prison camp in October 1916, Wakefield Prison was also used to intern conscientious objectors. In September 1918 a group of conscientious objectors took advantage of a slackening in the regime that occurred towards the end of the war. They issued a list of demands for better treatment, known as the Wakefield Manifesto, in 2001 it was announced that a new Supermax security unit was to be built at Wakefield Prison. The unit was to house the most dangerous inmates within the British prisons system, in March 2004 an inspection report from Her Majestys Chief Inspector of Prisons criticised staff at Wakefield Prison for being disrespectful to inmates. The report claimed that the prison was over-controlled, and a third of the inmates claimed to have been victimised. Wakefield Prison holds approximately 600 of Britains most dangerous people, accommodation at the prison comprises single-occupancy cells with integral sanitation. All residential units have available for offenders to prepare their own meals. An Incentives and Earned Privileges system allows standard and enhanced offenders the opportunity of in-cell TV, all offenders are subject to mandatory drugs testing and there are voluntary testing arrangements, which are compulsory for all offenders employed as e. g. wing cleaners or kitchen workers. HMP Wakefield offers a range of activities for inmates, including charity work, a course in industrial cleaning. The Education Department is operated by The Manchester College, and offers learning opportunities ranging from basic skills to Open University courses, other facilities include a prison shop, gym, and multi-faith chaplaincy. Child murderer and sex offender Ian Huntley was held at Wakefield until 23 January 2008 when he was moved to HMP Frankland, momcilo Krajisnik Radislav Krstic Serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman committed suicide at Wakefield Prison in 2004
5.
National Library of Ireland
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The National Library of Ireland is Irelands national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is the member of the Irish Government responsible for the library. It has a quantity of Irish and Irish-related material which can be consulted without charge. Included in their collections is material issued by private as well as government publishers, the Chief Herald of Ireland and National Photographic Archive are attached to the library. The library holds exhibitions and holds an archive of Irish newspapers and it is also ISSN National Centre for Ireland. The library also provides a number of services including genealogy. The main library building is on Kildare Street, adjacent to Leinster House and this arrangement remained in place until the library became an autonomous cultural institution in 2005. In 1927 the Library was granted legal status under the Industrial and Commercial Property Act,1927
