Thursday, January 9, 2014

Travel information

Ballybough – 13 (towards Harristown, stop 48)
Ballymun – 13 (towards Harristown, stop 112)
Carlisle Grounds (Bray DART Station)
Croke Park – 13 (towards Harristown, stop 48)
Dame Street*
Dublin Airport – 747 (towards Dublin Airport)
Dublin Castle*
Dunsoghly Castle – 40b (from Parnell St. towards Toberburr, stop 1553)
Four Courts*
Georges Street*
Grafton Street*
Grand Canal (Golden Bridge Stop)
Grand Canal Quay (Grand Canal Dock DART Station)
Henry Street*
James Joyce Bridge*
Jervis Shopping Centre (Jervis Stop)*
Kilbarrack Shopping Centre (Kilbarrack DART Station)
Kilbarrack Station (Kilbarrack DART Station)
Killiney Hill (Killiney DART Station)
Kilmainham Jail – 13 (towards Grange Castle, stop 1945)
Mansion House, Dawson Street*
Moore Street*
Mountjoy Prison – 46a (towards Phoenix Park, stop 797)
Mountjoy Square East – 13 (towards Harristown, stop 50)
O’Connell Street/The Spire (Abbey Street Stop)*
Phoenix Park/The Wellington Monument – 46a (towards Phoenix Park, stop 807)
Raheny (Raheny DART Station)
Ranelagh (Ranelagh Stop)
River Liffey*
Smithfield (Smithfield Stop)*
South Lotts (Grand Canal Dock DART Station)
St. Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner Street – 13 (towards Harristown, stop 50)
St. Stephen’s Green (St. Stephen’s Green Stop)*
The Camden Deluxe Hotel, Camden Street*
The Custom House*
The Ha’penny Bridge*
The Rotunda Hospital
The Shelbourne Hotel*

Location along red LUAS line.
Location along green LUAS line.
Location on DART route.
All bus routes depart from O’Connell Street unless otherwise stated.
Most locations will require you to walk a short distance from the bus/DART/LUAS stop.
Locations marked with an asterisk (*) are City Centre locations and can be accessed easily by foot.


Movie 14: Haywire




    The action-thriller HAYWIRE brings mixed martial arts star Gina Carano to the big screen for the very first time and pairs her with celebrity heavyweights Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor and Academy Award winning Director Steven Soderberg. Her role as double-crossed government operative Mallory Kane sends her into battle against sinister forces from within her own agency, forcing her to use her wits and fists to defeat her enemies and find her way home.

    Shelbourne Hotel

    Only a small portion of the film takes place in Dublin, and the majority of those scenes were shot in the Shelbourne Hotel. At this point the protagonist, Mallory, is posing undercover as the wife of an MI6 agent named Paul. A chase sequence also takes place on the streets of Dublin but there are no specific locations.

    The Shelbourne Hotel is a famous hotel situated in a landmark building on the north side of St Stephen's Green, in Dublin, Ireland. Currently operated by Marriott International, the hotel has 265 rooms in total and reopened in March 2007 after undergoing an eighteen-month refurbishment. John McCurdy designed the hotel and the studio of M. M. Barbezet of Paris cast the four external statues, two Nubian Princesses and their shackled slave girls. It was founded in 1824 by Martin Burke after he acquired 3 adjoining townhouses overlooking St. Stephen’s Green. He named the hotel “The Shelbourne” after William Petty, the 2nd Earl of Shelburne.

    Movie 13: Adam and Paul


    Adam and Paul is a 2004 Irish film which follows a day in the life of two Dublin drug addicts, Adam and Paul, as they wander around Dublin trying to score heroin. Adam is the taller and slightly smarter of the two while Paul is his sidekick.

    St. Stephen's green Park

    In this scene, after just coming from Ballymun Flats, Adam and Paul rung into their old gang who are drinking cans and make them feel unwelcome as they “have a little picnic for the kiddies”.

    Located in the city centre of Dublin, St Stephen’s Green was created in 1664 but the current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard and opened Tuesday 27 July 1880.

    During the Easter Rising of 1916, a group of insurgents made up mainly of members of the Irish Citizen Army, under the command of Commandant Michael Mallin and his second-in-command Constance Markievicz, established a position in St Stephen's Green. They numbered between 200 and 250. They confiscated motor vehicles to establish road blocks on the streets that surround the park, and dug defensive positions in the park itself. This approach differed from that of taking up positions in buildings, adopted elsewhere in the city. It proved to have been unwise when elements of the British Army took up positions in the Shelbourne Hotel, at the northeastern corner of St Stephen's Green, overlooking the park, from which they could shoot down into the entrenchments. Finding themselves in a weak position, the Volunteers withdrew to the Royal College of Surgeons on the west side of the Green. During the Rising, fire was temporarily halted to allow the park's groundsman to feed the local ducks.

    Smithfield

    After their encounter in Stephen’s Green, the pair find themselves in Smithfield, where Paul botches an attempt to rob some food out of a local Spar. Also filmed here is the scene where Adam attempts to rob a woman’s purse in a cafe, which only results in them getting kicked out.

    Smithfield is probably most famous for it’s square, formerly a large open market. It also has an interesting film association having been used in 1964 as a stand-in for Checkpoint Charlie in The Spy who Came in from the Cold, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Smithfield was laid out in the mid 17th century as a marketplace, and until its renovation in the early 21st Century, the square was lined with inner city 'farm yards' housing livestock. The market is now a public square, officially called Smithfield Plaza, but known locally as Smithfield Square.


    Movie 12: Kisses




    “Kisses” is the story of Dylan and Kylie’s adventures in Dublin city when they ran away from home around Christmas. The pair is faced with the joy of their own free rein along with the terrifying reality Dublin nightlife has to offer two children. The film was written and directed by Lance Daly in 2008. Kelly O’Neil and Shane Curry play the innocent couple. It was voted the Best Feature Film and Best Irish Film at Foyle Film Festival in 2008. It also won numerous Irish Film and Television awards such as Best Script for Film, Best Editing and Best Costume Design. Kelly O’Neil was nominated as Best Actress in Lead Role in Film.

    The Grand Canal

    Dylan and Kylie sail down the Grand Canal on a barge along the Luas stops “Goldenbridge” and “Suir Road”. Accompanied by the person driving the raft, they begin their travels into the heart of Dublin city. The Grand Canal is the south canal in Dublin that connected the capital city to the River Shannon in the west of Ireland. In 1757, Thomas Omer began constructing the canal. It was thought to improve the water supply in the city from the River Morrell, however this wasn’t the case as the walls gave way. It wasn’t until 1779, that the canal was opened to traffic from Sallins. Situated in the north of the city is the Royal Canal which opened in 1817. Although Dylan and Kylie glide along the canal, the last actual working barge to go down the Grand Canal was in 1960.

    Jervis Shopping Centre

    Dylan and Kylie go to Jervis Shopping Centre to buy new clothes, but more importantly their “Heelys”. Here, the pair skates inside the busy shopping centre in their brand new skate runners. In 1994, the former hospital site was bought for the centre. The building kept the outside façade of the former Jervis street Hospital in the new design and also named the centre after it. Jervis Shopping Centre cost £76 million to construct. As one of the first shopping centres opened in the late 1990’s Economic Boom, it introduced the first appearance of many British “high street” retailers, such as Boots and Argos, to the Republic of Ireland. It was also one of the first shopping centres to introduce a food court to Ireland.

    O'Connell Street

    O’Connell Street sees Dylan hanging off the back of a car in order to save Kylie. It is Dublin city’s main thoroughfare that was built in the 18th century. It was previously the third of it’s width in the 17th century with the name Drogheda Street laid out by the Earl of Drogheda, Henry Moore. Much of O’Connell Street was rebuilt in the 20th century following the turbulence of the Irish Civil War and the fight for Independence. It is focal point of much Irish history such as the 1913 Dublin Lockout, the 1916 Easter Rising, the 1922 Irish Civil War and the destruction of Nelson Pillar in 1966. Bullet holes can still be seen on the façade of The General Post Office and the O’Connell Monument.

    The Spire

    Dylan and Kylie hug The Spire of Dublin, also known as the Monument of Light. This 398 ft tall sculpture was designed by Ian Ritchie Architects and manufactured by Radley Engineering of Dungarvan, County Wexford. Seven sections were installed over a month’s period by SIAC Constructions Ltd and it was completed on the 21st of January 2003. The large pin like sculpture is three metres in diameter at the base and narrows to fifteen centimetres. Twelve metres of the top illuminate at night and can be seen from a great distance. The section of The Spire in the movie is the base of it. The design around this section was based on sample of each and rock that was taken from the grounds the sculpture stands on. This was also formally the site of Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street.

    Movie 10: Once



    Once is an Irish musical film written and directed by John Carney in 2007. A busker played by Glen Hansard meets a Czech immigrant played by Markéta Irglová in the heart of Dublin. Despite that she has a husband they fall for one another while composing and performing music together. Both Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová composed and performed the soundtrack music for the movie which was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2007 it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly.”

    Grafton Street

    The movie opens with Glen Harnsard busking on Grafton Street.
    This street was named after the first Duke of Grafton, Henry FitzRoy. It developed from Dawson Street in 1708. Grafton Street today is one of the main shopping districts in Dublin city. In 2008 it was listed as the fifth most expensive shopping street in the world. It is well known spot for busking in the city centre which is portrayed in this movie. Markéta Irglová’s character also dragged her broken hover along this street and sold flowers.

    St. Stephen's Green


    Movie 11: Inside I'm Dancing



    “Inside I’m Dancing,” also released as “Rory O’Shea was Here,” is a comedy drama filmed in Dublin and Wicklow and directed by Damien O’Donnell in 2004. The film follows two disabled young men, played by James McAvoy and Steven Robertson, as they strive for physical and emotional independence outside of their institutionalised home.

    Dame Street


    The closing scene of the movie sees Michael independently making his way through Dame Street. This is one of many large thoroughfares in Dublin city. The street takes its name from the medival church of St. Mary del Dam that was annihilated in the 17th century. Dame Street houses many banks such as the AIB, Ulster Bank and the Central Bank of Ireland which can be seen if the movie. The Central Bank of Ireland was founded in1943 and has been the banker of the Government of Ireland since the first of January 1972.

    James Joyce Bridge


    Rory and Michael joke about the James Joyce Bridge not being accessible for wheelchair users with suicidal intentions. This Bridge was opened on the 16th of June 2003. The road bridge spans over the River Liffey, connecting the Sough Quay to the north side of Dublin at Blackhall Place. The bridge was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and constructed by Irishenco Construction. The bridge is forety meters long with a single-span structural steel design and two outward angles arches. It was named after the Irish author James Joyce.

    Movie 9: Michael Collins


    Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biographic film, written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as Michael Collins, revolutionary who played a highly influential role in the Irish Civil War.  

    After the defeat of Irish rebels by the British forces during the 1916 rising, Collins develops new guerrilla strategies for the independence of Ireland. Although Collins is conflicted about the necessity of this violence to free his beloved homeland, by 1921 the British are willing to negotiate. Sinn Fein President Eamon de Valera sends a reluctant Collins to London to negotiate a settlement. When Collins returns with a compromise of a divided Ireland and an Irish Free State, he is vilified by de Valera.Collins is now faced with civil war as he struggles against those who insist on complete and unconditional freedom for all of Ireland.

    Croke Park/Carlisle Grounds

    When de Valera travels to the US to seek the support of Woodrow Wilson he leaves Collins in command of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Collins recruits a squad from the IRA's Dublin Brigade, which, on Bloody Sunday, assassinates fourteen members of MI5's Cairo Gang. In retaliation, the Black and Tans fire into the crowd at a Gaelic football match at Croke Park.  The Croke Park Stadium was not actually used to shoot this scene. The Croke Park Set was located at Carlisle Grounds, Bray, and County Wicklow, Ireland.

    Located on Jones Road in Dublin 3, Croke Park has been used primarily by the GAA to host Gaelic games since its establishment in 1908. GAA member, Frank Dineen, borrowed much of the £3,250 asking price and bought the ground in 1908. Named Croke Park in honour of Archbishop Thomas Croke, one of the GAA's first patrons. In 1917, the rubble from the Easter in 1916 was used to construct a grassy hill on the railway end of the stadium. This stand is now favoured by Dublin supporters and is known as Hill 16.On the 21 November 1920 Croke Park was the scene of a massacre by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). The Police, supported by the British Auxiliary Division entered the ground, shooting at random into the crowd killing or fatally wounding 14 during a Dublin-Tipperary Gaelic football match. The dead included 13 spectators and Tipperary's captain, Michael. Posthumously, the Hogan stand built in 1924 was named in his honour. These shootings, on the day which became known as Bloody Sunday, were a reprisal for the assassination of 15 people associated with the Cairo Gang, a group of British Intelligence officers, by Michael Collins's 'squad' earlier that day.

    The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in BrayCounty WicklowIreland. It is home to Bray Wanderers A.F.C. its capacity is approximately 7,000 with 3,185 seats. It is more commonly known to football fans as "The Field of Dreams”. The Carlisle Grounds is the Football Association of Ireland ground with the longest history as a sports venue. Opened in 1862 as the Bray Athletic Ground, it was renamed the Carlisle Cricket and Archery Ground, in honour of the 7th Earl of Carlisle who performed the opening ceremony as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Later it was shortened to the Carlisle Grounds.

    The Custom House

    After returning from the US, de Valera decrees that the IRA must attack The Custom House. Collins argues that fighting a conventional war will allow the British to win, but the Irish Cabinet votes to support de Valera. The attack fails catastrophically; Collins declares that the IRA can only hold out for a month, however, the British soon call for a cease fire.

    The Custom House is a neoclassical 18th century building on Custom House Quay which houses the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The building of a new Custom House for Dublin was the idea of John Beresford, who became first commissioner of revenue for Ireland in 1780. In 1781 he appointed James Gandon as architect, after Thomas Cooley, the original architect on the project, had died. This was Gandon's first large scale commission. The new Custom House was unpopular with the Dublin Corporation and some city merchants who complained that it moved the city’s central trading point. Beresford was determined to complete the project and ignored the protests. It was used as the headquarters of local government in Ireland. During the War of Independence in 1921, the IRA burnt down the Custom House, in an attempt to disrupt British rule in Ireland. Gandon's original interior was completely destroyed and the central dome collapsed. Many historical records were also destroyed. After the Anglo-Irish Treaty, it was restored by the Irish Free State government. The results of this reconstruction can still be seen today – the dome was rebuilt using Irish limestone which is noticeably darker than the Portland stone used in the original construction. 

    The Four Courts

    De Valera and his supporters resign in protest after the Dáil approves the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Both Collins and de Valera try to sway the Irish people in their respective directions. When the people vote to approve the Treaty, de Valera refuses to accept the results and orders the IRA to seize the Four Courts in Dublin. 

    Also built by George Gandon, The Four Courts is located on Inns Quay in Dublin. It was built between 1786 and 1796. The building originally housed the four courts of ChanceryKing's BenchExchequer and Common Pleas. The Four Courts were seized by Commandant Ned Daly's 1st Battalion during the Easter Rising in 1916. However they survived and on 14 April 1922 they were occupied by Republican forces led by Rory O'Connor who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty. After several months of a stand-off, the new Provisional Government attacked the building to force the rebels to leave the rebels, on the advice of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Michael. This provoked a week of fighting in Dublin during which the historic building was destroyed. One thousand years of archives were destroyed during the fighting. 

    The Ha'penny Bridge

    Ordered by the Cabinet to retake the Four Courts, Collins is appalled at having to fight former comrades. Arthur Griffith, however, informs him that, if the Irish Free State Army will not deal with the IRA, the British Army will. In the 1916 battle through ought the streets of Dublin, the IRA is driven from the city. Despite Collins' attempts to capture him, Boland is shot by a sentry while trying to swim the Liffey.

    The Ha’Penny Bridge is featured briefly in the film and its historic importance in Irish history should not be overlooked. The Penny Ha'penny Bridge, and officially the Liffey Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. Made of cast iron, the bridge was cast at Coalbrookdale in ShropshireEngland. Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey. The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose to Build the bridge and planned to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years. However the Dublin residence found the toll to be "objectionable" within its first year of operation, it was to be removed at no cost to the city. This Caused great debate and the toll was increased for a time to a Penny Ha'penny (one and a half pence), but was eventually dropped in 1919. While the toll was in operation, there were turnstiles at either end of the bridge.

    Tuesday, January 7, 2014

    Movie/TV Show 8: The Tudors

    The Tudors is a British-Canadian historical fiction television series set primarily in sixteenth-century England, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series, although named after the Tudor dynasty as a whole, is based specifically upon the reign of King Henry VIII of England. 

    Dublin Castle 

    Dublin Castle has a long history which goes back to King John, the first Lord of Ireland, though most of the building dates from the 18th century. Originally built as a defensive fortification for Norman Dublin in 1204, it became the seat of the English Government and later the British Government under the Lordship of Ireland, the Kingdom of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1921 after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, it was handed over to the new provisional government led by Michael Collins, and in 1922 it assumed the role of the Four Courts for a decade, which had been badly damaged during the civil war. In 1938 the castle hosted the inauguration of the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, and has been the venue for the event ever since. It’s 
    also used for official State visits, informal foreign affairs, State banquets, Government policy launches, as well as the central base for Ireland’s European Presidency roughly every 10 years. Aside from ‘The Tudors’, Dublin Castle also features in ‘Barry Lyndon’, ‘Michael Collins’, ‘Becoming Jane’, and ‘Medallion’. It also hosts the Heineken Green Energy festival every May and features on the album cover of ‘Khartoum Variations’ by Jandek. 

    Kilmainham Jail

    Kilmainham Jail was first built in 1796 and played an important role in Irish history as a number of political prisoners were held, and some executed there. In 1924 it was decommissioned as a prison by the Irish Free State Government and has been under the direction of the OPW since the mid 1980s. Notable inmates include Henry Joy McCracken (1796), Oliver Bond (1798), James Bartholomew Blackwell (1799), James Napper Tandy (1799), Robert Emmet (1803), Anne Devlin (1803), Thomas Russell (1803), Michael Dwyer (1803), William Smith O'Brien (1848), Thomas Francis.

    Aside from The Tudors, the jail also features in The Quare Fellow, The 
    Face of Fu Manchu, The Italian Job, The Mackintosh Man, The Last Remake of Beau Geste, The 
    Whistle Blower, The Babe, In the Name of the Father, Michael Collins, The Escapist, The Adventures.

    Movie 7: The General


    The General is an Irish crime film directed by John Boorman about Dublin crime boss Martin Cahill, who pulled off several daring heists in the early 1980s, and attracted the attention of the Garda Síochána, IRA, and Ulster Volunteer Force. The film was shot in 1997 and released in 1998. Brendan Gleeson plays Cahill, Adrian Dunbar plays his friend Noel Curley, and Jon Voight plays Inspector Ned Kenny. 

    South Lotts

    South Lotts is a small area to the South of the Liffey in Dublin 4, developed after the embankment of the Liffey in 1711. It is home to Google’s European headquarters, as well as an apartment complex in an area called The Gasworks. The area also hosts greyhound racing on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at the Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium. Aside from The General, other films such as In The Name Of The Father and Educating Rita were filmed in the area, as well as commercials for Eircom and Vodafone.

    Ranelagh

    Ranelagh is a residential area located in Dublin 6, and played a part in the Irish Confederate wars, including the Battle of Rathmines in 1649. It is the home of some of Irelands leading politicians, such as Garret FitzGerald, Michael McDowell, Mary Robinson, Robert Briscoe, Michael Mulcahy, and Eamon Ryan. Other notable individuals from the area include Maureen O’Hara (actress), Maeve Brennan (author/journalist), Ken Doherty (former world snooker champion), Eamon Morrissey (actor), John Mulholland (editor of The Observer), Brendan O’Reilly (Olympian, RTE commentator, journalist, singer, songwriter, actor, author), and Eamon Dunphy (Irish media personality, broadcaster, author, sports pundit, former pro footballer). Aside from the General, part of Lenny Abrhamson’s 2013 film Frank, was shot on Cowper Gardens and Park Drive. 

    Phoenix Park

    Phoenix Park is one the largest walled city parks in Europe, covering 1,750 acres. It is home to Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin Zoo, the Papal Cross, the Deerfield Residence, Phoenix Park Visitor Centre and Ashtown Castle, the People's Gardens, Magazine Fort, and monuments which include, the Wellington Monument which is the largest obelisk in Europe, and the Phoenix Column, a Corinthian column located on Chesterfield Avenue. Other places of note in the park are the Furry Glen, Farmleigh (the State guest house), the headquarters of An Garda Síochána, the National Ambulance Service College (formerly the Hibernian Military School), Ordnance Survey Ireland in Mountjoy House, Irish Defence Forces Dick McKee Barracks, Ratra House (former home of Civil Defence Ireland from 1950 until 2006), Grangegorman Military Cemetery, and grounds for football, hurling, soccer, cricket and polo. The park is home to a variety of flora and fauna, including 351 species of trees, 400-
    450 fallow deer and 72 species of bird, as well as holding several streams and tributaries of the Liffey. Phoenix Park hosts a number of events annually, motor racing, the Great Ireland Run and various concerts, amongst others. It also features in James Joyce’s ‘Finnegans Wake’ and ‘Ulysses’. 

    Movie 6: The Commitments


    The Commitments follows the story of young musician Jimmy Rabbitte in his quest to manage “the world’s greatest soul band”. Assembling a group of young musicians, with the help of Musical veteran, Joey “the Lips” Fagan, Jimmy begins to whip the members into shape, with both brilliant and disastrous results.

    Directed by Alan Parker, The Commitments is the film adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s novel about a Dublin soul band from “Barrytown”. Although a fictional location, Doyle based Barrytown on  Kilbarrack, a working class area in North County Dublin. The film was shot in 44 locations throughout Dublin’s North side and city center with only one location (Jimmy Rabbitte’s House) created in a studio.

    Kilbarrack

    Only one of these 44 scenes was actually shot in Kilbarrack itself. The walkway, where Jimmy Rabbitte convinces Outspan and Derek that they should play ‘Dublin Soul’ – and have ‘The’ in their name – is Kilbarrack D.A.R.T. (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) Station.
    Kilbarrack, served by a station principally was constructed for the new council residential areas that were becoming established in the area. Kilbarrack Station was opened on the 1st June 1969, and was of a simple construction, consisting of up & down platforms, small concrete built booking office and a Victorian footbridge which had been salvaged from a former station elsewhere. In the early 1980s, with the commencement of the DART services, the footbridge was replaced as well as the booking office, a red bricked building taking its place.

    St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, Sheriff Street

    For the opening scene with Jimmy is seen trying to offload cassettes and t-shirts. Although the street market featured was created for the film. It was on Sheriff Street, in front of St Laurence O’Toole Church, in the North Wall district, just east of Dublin’s city centre.

    The Camden Deluxe Hotel

    The dilapidated pool hall above which the band rehearses is located above the Palace Nightclub in the Camden Deluxe Hotel, Camden Street. It was Ricardo’s Snooker Hall, built in 1912 as a movie palace, and given an art deco makeover in the Thirties. (According to local rumour, Rita Hayworth and her husband attended a screening here in the 1950s).
    It’s now the Camden Deluxe Hotel, 84-87 Camden Street Lower, south of Temple Bar. The elaborately decorated arched ceiling seen in the film has been preserved and is now part of the Palace Nightclub, above the hotel. The room still serves as a popular snooker hall just as in the film. The Commitments ‘rehearsal room’ was also seen in 1995’s An Awfully Big Adventure, with Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman.

    St Francis Xavier Church 

    The church, in which Jimmy finds keyboard player Steven playing A Whiter Shade of Pale on the organ and where at confession the priest displays an inept knowledge of Sixties soul) is St Francis Xavier Church, Upper Gardiner Street, near Mountjoy Square.
    Designed by Father Bartholomew Esmonde SJ the church was erected by the architect Joseph B. Keane. The first stone of this classical cut granite building was laid on 2 July 1829, the year of Catholic Emancipation.
     Architectural critic Christine Casey describes it in her book, "Dublin", as "the most elegant church of the period in Dublin". 
    The building is known for its collection, sculpted altar piece, and paintings, mostly Italian in origin and dating from the Victorian period
     Father B. Esmonde's knowledge of the temples of Italy acquired during his long residency there is reflected in the churches own architectural features, including iconic colonnade, portico and visually deceptive celestial domed ceiling.
    In 1889 the funeral was held here for the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.
    The church also features in James Joyce's short story "Grace" from Dubliners, however The Commitments was the only movie filmed in this location.

    Mansion House, Dawson Street

    The ‘Westley Hotel’, where Jimmy tags along with Joey in the hope of meeting soul legend Wilson Pickett makes a convincing-looking hotel is none other than the city’s Mansion House on Dawson Street, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715, which now also houses the restaurant, Fire.

    Movie 5: The Snapper


    The Snapper is a 1993 Irish television film which was directed by Stephen Frears and starred Tina KellegherColm Meaney and Brendan Gleeson. The film is based on the novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, about the Rabbitte family and their domestic adventures. It forms part of Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy which includes The Van, The Commitments and The Snapper. The film was directed by Stephen Frears and stars Tina Kellegher and Colm Meaney.

    The Film follows the story of young Sharon Curley who becomes pregnant, but refuses to tell anyone who the father is. She decides to keep the baby ("snapper") and her family, each in their own way, eventually decides to support her.  Her refusal to name the father sets in motion a family drama involving her three brothers, two sisters, and her parents, along with her employers and all her friends.

    Raheny

    The Coastal town of Raheny provides an idyllic setting for the fictional “Barrytown”. Raheny is situated on the coast of County Dublin, about 8 km from Dublin city centre and 7 km from Dublin Airport, and has been for centuries within the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council, formerly Dublin Corporation. The historic county boundary lies close by. Nearby areas include KillesterClontarfArtaneKilbarrackCoolockDonaghmede and the skyline is dominated by Howth Head. station, although it has its own railway station, parts of Raheny are served by other DART stations, Harmonstown and Kilbarrack, on the same line. The Kilbarrack station proves an important location as the Rabbitte Family (Changed to Curley by 20th century Fox) live in a council house just outside the station grounds.

    The Old Shieling Hotel, Raheny

    The Shieling Hotel, in the former Fox Hall, and a part of the small Regency Hotel group, ceased operation in early 2008, after planning permission had been granted, after an appeal, to redevelop the main house, a protected historic structure, as flats, due to its significance to the area and also its appearance in The Snapper.
    The Cedar Lodge Pub also makes an appearance in the film and is located near the Old Shelling Hotel. This historic pub also made an appearance in The Van The Pub was Frequented by author Roddy Doyle during his years living at home in Kilbarrack.

    Ballybough

    Ballybough is an inner city district of north east Dublin city, Ireland.  It situated north of the Summerhill the term Bailebough in Irish is derived from the 'Baile' Town and 'Bocht' meaning 'poor'. Prior to its urbanization in the late nineteenth century, Ballybough was known as Mud Island, owing to its proximity to the mud flats that now form Fairview.
    Known characters of ill-repute during the 19th and 20th centuries. The authorities designated an area of burial known as 'the Suicide Plot' for the areas drunks, criminals and prostitutes. It is from this burial site Bram Stoker derived the idea of the cross for his novel 'Dracula,' the cross being the junction of Clonliffe Road and Ballybough Road. Sadly, this site now hosts two large advertising billboards which local residents are trying to have removed.
    The area was home to such famous people such as Luke Kelly of The Dubliners folk group for whom Ballybough Bridge over the River Tolka is named. The film director Jim Sheridan (Foot, The) is also from the area. Curtis Flemming from Tolka Road played International football for Ireland as did Paddy Moore from Clonliffe Avenue.
    Close by at Jones's Road is Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. This sports stadium is among the most modern in Europe with a capacity of 83,000. In addition to hurling and Gaelic football it is also used as a rock concert venue. It is here that U2 has played to some of its largest audiences. The stadium was also the venue where world boxing champion Muhammad Ali defeated 'Al Blue' Lewis in a non-title fight in 1972.

    The Rotunda Hospital

    The Rotunda Hospital, one of the three main maternity hospitals in Dublin features as the birthplace of Sharon’s baby, the Snapper. The hospital is located just off the top of O'Connell Street, on Parnell Square.
    The hospital, originally known as "The Dublin Lying-In Hospital", was founded in 1745 by Bartholomew Mosse (1712-1759), a surgeon and man-midwife who was appalled at the conditions that pregnant mothers had to endure at the time. Initially located in George's Lane, it was later moved to its present location in 1757 where it became known as "The New Lying-In Hospital", referred to today as "The Rotunda".
    The design of the hospital's main building was undertaken by the renowned architect Richard Cassels, who was also responsible for Leinster House,Russborough House and Powerscourt House


    Movie 4: Intermission


    Intermission is an urban love story about people adrift and their convoluted journeys in the search for some kind of love. A misguided break-up between two young lovers initiate’s a series of events affecting everyone around them with cataclysmic results. All the characters are blissfully unaware of the accidental nature of life and the way in which their lives intersect. The hapless lover and his best mate, the sex-starved singleton; the maverick detective and a ruthless petty thief; the pretty girl on the rebound with an older married man; the deserted wife on the brink of breakdown; the ambitious TV producer; the robbed and the abandoned fiancé and a nine year old tearaway all find their lives interweaving in this hilarious story of modern romance with a biter twist.People get blinding glimpses into the real nature of their lives and can see they’ve been stuck in a rut for years, just going through the motions. Sometimes they see with equal clarity that they are free to take charge and sometimes it’s just too late.

    Kilbarrack Shopping Centre

    Intermission as a film constantly has the viewer on edge as to what is going to happen next, As the lives of each character unveils. The opening scene with Collin Farrell is set Kilbarrack Shopping Centre. ( Which has gone through a lot of changes since this film was released)  Its  located on the east side of Grange Park Avenue just off the Raheny Road. Both Raheny and Kilbarrack Dart Station are in close proximity. Raheny road is a busy thoroughfare between the Tonlegee Road and Howth Road. 
    Kilbarrack is an old district, whose name can be found on maps and sea charts, many held at Dublin City Archive, going back several hundred years. It was historically a large area of fields, many being 'grange' lands held by Dublin church establishments, with small settlements. Over time, two hamlets emerged, Kilbarrack proper, near the seafront, close to the still-extant Kilbarrack Church and Graveyard complex , and Little Kilbarrack, on the road inland (now Tonlegee Road).
    The district is crossed by one of Dublin's small waterways, the Kilbarrack Stream or Donough Water, which enters the sea in two branches.
    The site of Kilbarrack hamlet, and the part of the district bounding Sutton and Baldoyle, are now together known as Bayside (from inside Kilbarrack Road to Baldoyle Road), while today's Kilbarrack, and the Greendale shopping and civic complex, are close to where Little Kilbarrack stood. The Tesco-led shopping centre is near the site of the former "big house" of the area, Kilbarrack House.
    In the 1970s, Swans Nest Court, a complex of tower blocks of flats was built by Dublin Corporation. It was demolished and redeveloped into social and affordable housing in the early 2000s after it fell into disrepair. 


    Movie 3: Crushproof



    Just hours after his release from prison Neal takes his murderous revenge and ends up on the run with his old gang. But the gang he once considered his home from home is no longer his refuge and their days as urban cowboys riding the wild horses are numbered. 
    Crushproof is The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse reset in the already vanishing 'pony club' subculture of Dublin's wild Northside. It tells the mythic but realistic tale of the last gang in town riding rough-shod and bare-back towards the millennium.

    Mountjoy Prison


    Mountjoy was designed by the British military engineering officer, Captain Joshua Jebb, Royal Engineers and opened in 1850, based on the design of London's Pentonville Prison also designed by Jebb. Originally intended as the first stop for men sentenced to transportation, they would spend a period in separate confinement before being transferred to Spike Island and transported from there to Van Diemen's Land.A total of 46 prisoners (including one woman, Annie Walsh) were executed within the walls of the prison, prior to the abolition of capital punishment. Executions were done by hanging, after which the bodies of the dead were taken down from the gallows and buried within the prison grounds in unmarked graves. The list of prisoners executed at Mountjoy Prison includes:

    -Kevin Barry

    -Patrick Moran

    -Frank Flood

    -Thomas Whelan

    -Thomas Traynor

    -Patrick Doyle

    -Thomas Bryan

    -Bernard Ryan

    -Edmond Foley

    -Patrick Maher

    Annie Walsh from Limerick was found guilty of murdering her husband and was executed in Mountjoy prison on 5 August 1925. She remains the only woman ever executed by the Irish State. e last execution carried out in the Republic of Ireland, that of Michael Manning, took place in Mountjoy Prison on 20 April 1954.Some Irish leaders involved with the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War were held there. On 14 May 1921, an IRA team led by Paddy Daly and Emmet Dalton mounted an attempt to rescue Sean McEoin from the prison. They used a captured armoured car to gain access to Mountjoy, but were discovered and had to shoot their way out. On 31 October 1973, it was the scene of a spectacular escape by helicopter by three Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners.

    Ballymun

    Ballymun is an area on Dublin’s Northside close to Dublin Airport.  It is infamous for the Ballymun flats, which became a symbol of poverty, drugs, alienation from the state and social problems in Ireland from the 1970s. Today it is undergoing a multi-billion euro renewal, with a renovated village centre, surrounded by estates of houses and apartments. Among the opprobrium heaped on Ballymun, the deployment of the flats has been described by the environmental journalist Frank McDonald, in his book The Construction of Dublin, as the Irish state's 'worst planning disaster'. However, at the time of its construction, Ballymun was a sought after location and prospective tenants had to pass an interview to get housing there. There were three types of flats: seven fifteen-storey towers; nineteen eight-storey blocks; ten four-storey blocks. The flats were built in the 1960s under the authority of Neil Blaney, the then Fianna Fáil Minister for Local Government. They incorporated the best social housing practice of the time. The first tenants moved in between August 1966 and December 1966. By February 1969, when the National Building Agency's contract for Ballymun ceased and control of Ballymun was handed to Dublin Corporation (Dublin County Council didn't want it), there was a total of 3,021 dwellings in the new Ballymun, all of which was social housing under the control of the Irish state through Dublin Corporation (the Corpo).
    The tenants primarily came from the most deprived areas of inner city Dublin, places where the depth of poverty could not be conceived of in modern Ireland. Many tenants were middle class residents whose property was 'compulsory purchased' by Dublin City Council. They arrived in Ballymun to some of the finest social housing in Europe, having central heating and other rarities of the day in their homes.
    However, there was a profound lack of amenities throughout the area - initially the only shop was a van selling at premium prices, for example - and, combined with a lack of trees, and estates built in cul de sacs, ghettoisation developed. The earliest efforts to improve services began in the 1970s with the establishment of tenants' associations, particularly in Sillogue. By the recession of the 1980s, Ballymun was infested with social problems, most especially alcohol and other drug abuse. Although the public image of Ballymun has changed dramatically since then.

    Phoenix Park

    Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin  lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 11 km perimeter wall encloses 707 hectares (1,750 acres), one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth century has been home to a herd of wild Fallow deer. The English name comes from the Irish fionn uisce meaning "clear water". 

    The Wellington Monument

    The Wellington Monument is a 62 metres (203 ft) tall obelisk commemorating the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. It is the largest obelisk in Europe and would have been even higher if the publicly subscribed funding had not run out. Designed by Robert Smirke, there are four bronze plaques cast from cannons captured at the Battle of Waterloo—three of which have pictorial representations of Wellington's career while the fourth has an inscription at the base of the obelisk.

    River Liffey

    The earliest stone bridge over the Liffey of which there is solid evidence was the Bridge of Dublin (on the site of the current Fr. Mathew Bridge) built by the Dominicans in 1428, which survived well into the 18th century.This bridge with four arches included various buildings such as a chapel, bakehouse and possibly an inn and replaced an earlier wooden bridge (Dubhghalls Bridge) on the same site. Island Bridge (a predecessor of the current bridge) was added in 1577. With the development of commercial Dublin in the 17th century, four new bridges were added between 1670 and 1684: Barrack, or Bloody Bridge, (the forerunner of the current Rory O'More Bridge), Essex Bridge (Grattan Bridge), Ormond Bridge (O'Donovan Rossa Bridge) and Arran Bridge. The oldest bridge still standing is the Mellows Bridge, (originally Queens Bridge) constructed in 1764 on the site of the Arran Bridge, which was destroyed by floods in 1763. The first iron bridge was the elegant Ha'penny Bridge built in 1816. The newest bridge is the Samuel Beckett Bridge opened in December 2009. A suspension bridge, it swivels to allow river traffic to pass. 
    The Liffey (An Life in Irish) is a river in Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. The river supplies much of Dublin's water, and a range of recreational opportunities.

    The Shelbourne Hotel

    The Shelbourne Hotel is a famous hotel situated in a landmark building on the north side of St Stephen's Green, in Dublin. Currently operated by Marriott International, the hotel has 265 rooms in total The Shelbourne Hotel was founded in 1824 by Tipperary man Martin Burke, when he acquired three adjoining townhouses overlooking Dublin's St Stephen's Green - Europe's largest garden square. Burke named his grand new hotel The Shelbourne, after William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne.

    -In the early 1900s, Alois Hitler, Jr, the half brother of Adolf Hitler, worked in the hotel while in Dublin.

    -In 1922, the Irish Constitution was drafted in room 112, now known as The Constitution Room.