Few people continue to entertain in their homes after retirement, preferring to meet their friends in restaurants and cafes. Ib Jorgensen is the exception. Not only does he still have friends around regularly for lunch and dinner, but actually bought an antique circular dining table in Francis Street just before Christmas as he felt it would be a better fit for eight guests than his existing oblong table.
An important picture which was rediscovered by Irish fine art dealer and journalist, James Gibbons, from Clara, has been purchased by the State. The picture is .
As the petals of real life very slowly begin to unfurl, this week sees the first steps in the gradual reopening of Irelandâs cultural sector, after four months closed.
Most galleries, museums, heritage sites, other cultural attractions and libraries (for lending only) can open their doors again from today. Fortunately, you can also travel outside your county to visit them. Up to 15 people can also now gather for live performance outdoors.(Other live performances, and cinemas, canât restart until June.)
Venues are looking forward to it. âIt has been a long time since the public have inhabited the gallery spaces, and we miss the connection and engagement with our audiences,â says Mary McCarthy, director of Crawford Art Gallery, in Cork. She encourages people to come in. âEven if you have not been before, do drop in.â
The Eurovision Song Contest held at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin 50 years ago today was the moment Catholic Ireland switched from black and white to colour.
Girls in hot pants were photographed walking down Grafton Street and disporting themselves in the River Club on Bachelors Walk; a riotous after-party went on until 4am in Dublin Castle; and the Cork-born drag queen Danny La Rue held court in the Shelbourne Hotel.
In sharp contrast, the segment between the performances and the voting - the interval that would make Riverdance an international phenomenon two decades later - showed official Ireland as a stylised country of comely maidens playing their harps in Bunratty Castle, real men on horses out hunting and weather-beaten peasants taking snuff.