Category Archives: Ireland

Through the Fanlight Glass: Space and the Dublin Townhouse

Posted on September 1, 2011 by niamhcullen

Recently I have begun to think anew about space. No not what lies above in the starry heavens, but instead the spaces we inhabit and how we use them. Some of these spatial thoughts have been influenced by the practicalities of an impending move abroad, and the realisation I won’t have space for my whole library! Most of these thoughts have been inspired by my rather eclectic reading and watching experiences over the last few weeks, not to mention ongoing discussions about a proposal for a TV documentary on cooking and eating in the Irish country house (More of that in the future perhaps). Watching TV3’s fantastic documentary on Dublin’s Tenements has encouraged me to consider more fully the changing functions and arrangements of Dublin’s townhouses. The programme together with a relatively recent visit to New York’s brilliant Tenement Museum (why don’t we have one?) has given me a new insight into the appalling reality that lay behind so many beautiful if faded Georgian facades. Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Film and television, History, Ireland | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Political and Social Density in the age of Bubbles: Making Sense of the Present and the Past

Posted on May 3, 2011 by niamhcullen

By Patrick Walsh There is an old Chinese curse that says ‘May you live in interesting times’. Few of us would dispute that we are living in ‘interesting times’ today. In Ireland, as elsewhere in the world, the last few … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Books, Education, History, Ireland | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Escaping the ivory tower: academics and the city

Posted on April 10, 2011 by niamhcullen

By Niamh Cullen Last Wednesday I attended the inaugural event of a new group of Dublin based humanities scholars, Dublintellectual. The idea behind Dublintellectual – bringing the research of Irish based scholars and researchers to a wider public – is … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Education, Events in Dublin, In the news, Ireland | Tagged , | 10 Comments

‘Arts degrees. Please take one’… Is a humanities degree worth the paper it’s written on?

Posted on April 3, 2011 by niamhcullen

By Niamh Cullen I think most humanities students are asked at least once – and realistically, probably a lot more than that – why they chose to do an ‘arts’ degree. After all, what does history, English, Spanish or film … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Education, History, In the news, Ireland | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

‘Sure they only work six hours a week’: Defending Irish academia

Posted on March 27, 2011 by niamhcullen

By Patrick Walsh Irish universities and the academic blogosphere are currently full of academics reflecting upon their position, as they attempt to generate responses to increasingly restrictive, and frequently ill-thought out new policy directives. Reflection of course comes naturally to … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Education, In the news, Ireland | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

What’s the point of universities?

Posted on March 27, 2011 by niamhcullen

I know this blog has been very quiet for a while – unfortunately I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had much time for writing blog pieces in the last few weeks, although, annoyingly, I’ve had loads of ideas! However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Education, In the news, Ireland | 2 Comments

A ‘ghastly heap of fermenting brickwork’? Cities and progressive politics

Posted on February 3, 2011 by niamhcullen

Fintan O’Toole’s intriguingly entitled article in Saturday’s Irish Times, ‘The decision that I made on contesting this general election’, got me thinking about a few things. I was enthusiastic about his idea of seeking out people who were active in civil society – whether the arts, business, education or community work – at a local level, but were emphatically not politicians, to contest the election. But at the same time, I could see why such an idea was probably doomed to failure – or at least not to live up to the expectations placed in it – especially given the very short time frame. But it was O’Toole’s citing of Mary O’Rourke’s dismissive comment that all it would amount to would be a ”a few gurus in posh areas” that really made me wonder about why people vote the way they do. Continue reading →

Posted in History, In the news, Ireland, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Fiddling while Rome burns: Berlusconi and the crisis of the Italian Left

Posted on December 23, 2010 by niamhcullen

Life seemed very normal in Rome when I was there the weekend before last. There were posters everywhere for a march against the Berlusconi government to take place that Saturday, December 11, but protests and popular demonstrations by those at all ends of the political spectrum are a fairly everyday occurence in Italy, and usually cause little remark. When I lived in Rome a few years ago, the brief life of the last Prodi government was nearing its end and I had to share my way home one Saturday with a right-wing protest march heading for the Colosseum, where marchers sported t-shirts with the delightfully Italian slogan of ‘No communists in the family… thank god’. Such marches usually pass without incident, as did the one on December 11. However political tensions were mounting in the lead-up to the parliamentary vote on the no-confidence motion in the Berlusconi government, to take place that Tuesday. Ever since Gianfranco Fini, former leader of the right-wing Alleanza Nazionale party had withdrawn his support for Berlusconi’s government last August in a surprising show of statesmanship, it had seemed as if his days as prime minister were numbered. Continue reading →

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Humanities research… what’s the point?

Posted on November 29, 2010 by niamhcullen

By Niamh Cullen Last Friday the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences celebrated the 10th anniversary of its foundation. The council, as many postgraduate and postdoc readers will know, has been of enormous benefit to Irish universities, … Continue reading →

Posted in Events in Dublin, History, In the news, Ireland | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Their lives in dresses

Posted on September 17, 2010 by niamhcullen

The scene I saw in front of me as I walked into the room looked like the dressing room of an actress or eccentric ‘society lady’ from the 1950s; both intimate and luxurious at the same time. A rail of vintage dresses on one side, mannequins modelling more elegant pieces on the other, a video screen disguised as a mirror with a gaudy, brass frame and an old-fashioned full-length lamp; this is the set of My Life in Dresses, a piece of theatre by Sorcha Kenny dedicated to dresses and the stories they can tell. The performance is only part of a much larger project whereby Sorcha, inspired by her own love of dresses and convinced of their importance in people’s lives, collected stories from men and women of all ages across Ireland, about dresses which held a particular significance for them. Continue reading →

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