Royal Visit

Is Graham H on holiday 🙂

My enthusiasm for the opportunity to showcase ourselves internationally is tempered by the fact that my bus has been severely disrupted so I’ve had to rise at ungodly hours to make sure I’m in on time. That said, walking towards my temporary terminus on Cook St. I discovered a lovely-looking building I hadn’t seen before. It’s the building which hosts Liberties College and it’s opposite St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The place looks very nice from the outside, I don’t know about inside though!

Yes, there has been quite the frisson in the city over the past number of days. The helicopters circulating overhead 24/7 (including the one I can hear over Farmleigh at the moment) serving as a constant reminder of the week’s events.

During The Queen’s visit to Trinity on Tuesday, we got a taster for what College Green could be like as a civilised public space, stripped of its traffic.

Quite the carnival atmosphere, in spite of the not inconspicuous contingent of Garda.

The anticipation.

The occasional shot often showcases the most unlikely of elements – in this case the West Front’s exquisite keystone over the arch. Such grace.

It was wonderful to see the river of pedestrians flowing down Andrew Street – usually one of the most hostile streets in the city.

As an added bonus, all of the nasty Hartecast bins in the city were removed last week.

Over at the Castle, a vast broadcast media stand was erected on the Dubh Linn garden, which in the end was considerably underused. The lower level wasn’t even occupied at any stage over the past number of days.

While the upper level wasn’t particularly busy either.

Two tower scaffolds were used to host giant Arris to illuminate the Garden Front of the State Apartments.

The effect was far from flattering.

Alas I missed Huw Edwards. We’ll have to make do with er, Paul Clark of UTV Live.

Nonetheless, the broadcast infrastructure was considerable. Over twelve different OB units and radio cars were camped for the weel underneath the State Apartments, with hoards of cables draped in the service windows adjacent to St. Patrick’s Hall.

I’ve often though how remarkably convenient the State Apartments set-up is for outside broadcasts with the low level road immediately below. King John had such foresight in his choice of moat location for the operation of the modern-day castle.

In the run-up to the State banquet, as with all other events, the quays were simply locked down. This was at 5.30pm on a Wednesday evening.

The valley of the river Poddle evoked on one of those rare moments of calm.

If a little busier up on Cork Hill.

The Garden of Rememberance looked very well actually on TV. It is getting better with age and compared well with the War Memorial Gardens in Island Bridge.

Really both should get alot more attention from tourists. I rarely see many tourist in either, especially compared to the hoards at the storehouse or Trinity.

In a related design matter!: the army looked a little tatty. I would love to see the uniforms of the 1930’s brought back. The band are now wearing an inferior version and in fact the cavalry squadron have new uniforms, but again they are poor interpretations of the old uniforms.

A rare and surprisingly powerful scene. You don’t expect these things to move you until you see them, real, in the flesh.

Justice finally facing the Nation.

Fair play to Foley’s Pub on Merrion Row for getting in a batch of Union Jacks for the week that’s in it, and flying them along side the tricolour.

I see Trinity dusted theirs off too.

We got a couple of pictures of the back of Gardai down at Islandbridge and a glimpse of a royal wave.

Well done to everyone involved, I think the whole thing has been a triumph of civility.

Not normally a great fan of Ms E. Battenberg, I was really quite taken at how well (and generously) she carried it all off.
On the subject of the Butcher’s Apron flying over Dublin, I remember a few years ago they were filming for (I think) either the Michael Collins film or a TV drama and the UJ was flying over the GPO, for a few minutes and me with no camera. Does anyone have a pic of THAT?

@johnglas wrote:

Not normally a great fan of Ms E. Battenberg . . .

Her Scottish seat – ‘The Palace of Holyrood House’ – I think it’s called . . . . . . remind me again, is that in Glasgow or Edinburrrrgh?

Embra, as you well know. Odd how the Viceroys came up with the quite homely and oddly sterile Aras rather than an Old Irish version of Balmoral or Holyrood (= ‘Holy Cross’ after the Abbey originally on the site). Holyrood has at its core a 16th C royal residence, but it does brood (or sulk) somewhat at the foot of the Royal Mile.
There is a nice little vignette of a heraldic lion (rampant) on one of the entrances, sticking out a very red tongue at the other Holyrood, our still rather nouveau parliament, as if to say ‘I know who’s boss…’