The Spike
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Found first piece of tatty merchandise to take advantage of our Sword of Light
Hmmm… somehow I don’t think that’s officially licensed merchandise. You might get away with peddling a t-shirt with a grey wedge, as that could be anything, but putting Spire in the name of the item is a dead givaway!
Remember folks, only buy official merchandise so the profits go to other arts projects.
James
Originally posted by StephenC
What a load of old cobblers… why not just stick to the plain old simple Spike! Or Spire of Dublin if you have to…
All this Padraig Pearse crap…. enough with the 1916 memorials. And as for Brian Boru…please! Where did that one come from. Its so twee.
oh yes, there’s so many memorials to them isnt there Stephen! (name a couple will you please)
Oh and Rory W, you’d prefer to still have Nelson on O Connell street? (philistines! ha!)
I suppose the government were philistines removing vicky’s staute too!I prefer the name as it is, for what its worth.
C.
Seriously though. If you’re going to create a memorial to Pearse/Brian/whoever, you announce that you’re creating a monument to them and then construct it.
What you don’t do is build a monument and then tag a name on the end. That’s just silly…
Official name: The Spire (of Dublin).
Fun name: The Spike.
Cutesy-Wutesy name: Spikey Wikey. (?)fjp
I’d agree with Ritchie, Monument of Light! When the lights are eventually (big stress here) put in place, we should be able to see why!
Poltical monuments should be commissioned as such, if the authorities want a Brian Boru memorial, build it in Clontarf! I’d agree with it! Put Padriag Pierce in GPO or Rathfarnham. But, don’t hijack something else and put a name on it for the sake of it, it was designed as a focal point of light and height for the rejuvination of dirty old O’Connell Street….
As for Victoria in Dun Laoghaire, that is a fact of history, don’t see a problem refurbishing it. It’s part of the town’s architectural heritage.
On another note…..
Please, please, no more political or personal bashing! Everyone has the right to political views, whatever they may be, we live in a democracy, however this just isn’t the board for it…..Have a good weekend all!
I agree , this name calling is ridiculous.
If they want to rename it they should consider
“The Fudge from the Judge” in light of all the court cases!
A monument to Brian Boru is twee…it has no relevance to modern Ireland whatsoever. I bet most people couldn’t tell you the first thing about Brain Boru past the the Battle of Clontarf…and even there their knowledge would be hazy and inaccurate.
As for Pearse – well there is a beautiful Pieta for Pearse at his grave in Glasnevin and their is also St Ednas as a less militaristic legacy. As for 1916 – we done all this to death in 1966. You have the GPO itself with its plaques and statue and gaudy friezes; a Garden of Remembrance; various plaques on a variety of sites around the city.
Lets get over it…. it’s 2003. lets just enjoy art for arts sake rather than sticking a tacky moniker to it.Just an opinion graham, no need to be so touchy! 🙂 its friday!
and as I said I like the name that’s there already! So I never said it should be called the pearse pillar or anything like that! I only said the (here we go again) STephen C post was boring predictable stuff…and asked for evidence to the contrary- I think (as Niall agreed) that there should be a more prominent monument to pearse and the others in or around the GPO, not just some plaques…instead of the typical ‘oh enough of 1916 already, ‘its like, so, Oirish’ drivel Stephen puts here…
Niall, I meant the statur of Victoria that was in College green area (i think)…sorry bout that.
FJP – I think it will forever be known as the spike to the public and the name picking is a waste of time….
not sure bout spikey-wickey though! 😀
No Ciaran O – I wouldn’t prefer to have Nelson there in particular – I wiould have liked him to have been replaced in a civilised manner with something more suitable. Demolishing the whole thing was a loss to Dublin. We rightly condemn the Taliban for destroying statues, why shouldn’t we condemn republicans?
Interesting that as a result of the removal (blowing up?) of Victoria in College Green, Dublin is the only European city without an equestrian statue.
Still, we’re also the only city with 396 foot Spire!
Touche.
Actually the statue on College Green was of William III. A statue to Victoria was on the city side of Leinster House but was removed in the 1940s and left in storage somewhere. In 1988 the Government gave it to Sydney to commemorate the Bicentennial.
Originally posted by Graham Hickey
Interesting that as a result of the removal (blowing up?) of Victoria in College Green, Dublin is the only European city without an equestrian statue.Still, we’re also the only city with 396 foot Spire!
Touche.
you mean touchy? 🙂
well Rory, the reason is I support the removal thats why. As you do, and Im sure many others, If it wasnt done by them Im sure it probably would still be there, and I think youll agree that if it was done in trhis day and age it would be somewhat different to it being done back then it that climate.
anyhow I didnt want to speak of politics just the fact that Im happy with the name of the spike, but theres no need to be so revisionist on this site! christ, if I were a stranger to Ireland and came on here Id be under the impression that everythign thats grat about Dublin (mostly what ppl speak of) is british, and that we should keep every remnant of britishness as sacred. Then if someone mentions 1916 in anything but negative tones, theyre shot down!
Thats my final word on it…Ill stick to the bricks n mortar now (or preferably glass and steel :))
Originally posted by StephenC
Actually the statue on College Green was of William III. A statue to Victoria was on the city side of Leinster House but was removed in the 1940s and left in storage somewhere. In 1988 the Government gave it to Sydney to commemorate the Bicentennial.cheers thats the one I was thinkin of. better suited to the aussies methinks…
It looks quite good where it is – outside the Q Vic Buildings appropriately. But its not a very flattering likeness…I can’t imagine her being very impressed by it. Which begs an interesting question… what would some of our other notables think of their statues. Would Wolfe Tone like his long, spidery look on the Green, or Thomas Davis be impressed by his on College Green complete with rubbish strewn not working fountain, or Mr O’Connell with his pigeon shit covered head?
In 1966 there was no need to blow up Nelsons Pillar. But that’s the IRA for ye….cultural ambassadors…Not!
By right the bureaucrats should have removed and replaced the statue of Nelson with a statue of Wolfe Tone who was afterall a Dub and the founding father of the Irish Republic. All references to Nelson and the empire should have been removed too and replaced with references to Wolfe Tone and Democracy. In that way the pillar could have remained as part of the street and statue of Wolfe Tone could have been cast in a classical manner in keeping with his time and the plinth of the pillar. But no, that would have beyond the comprehension of the people of the time.
Anyway here’s to today, the times we live in now and the Spire of Dublin.just found this on the wellington monument…..
“The testimonial obelisk in the Phoenix Park, 205 feet high (designed by R. Smirke), to commemorate the victories of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), was erected in 1817.
It was originally intended to erect an equestrian statue on a pedestal beside the monument, – but this intention has been abandoned, and the pedestal has been removed”I know there used to be another equestrian statue at the mansion house, but this would have been more impressive im sure had it been built.
Originally posted by GregF
In 1966 there was no need to blow up Nelsons Pillar. But that’s the IRA for ye….cultural ambassadors…Not!
By right the bureaucrats should have removed and replaced the statue of Nelson with a statue of Wolfe Tone who was afterall a Dub and the founding father of the Irish Republic. All references to Nelson and the empire should have been removed too and replaced with references to Tone and Democracy. In that way the pillar could have remained as part of the street and statue of tone could have been cast in a classical manner in keeping with his time and the plinth of the pillar. But no, that would have beyond the comprehension of the people of the time.
Anyway here’s to today, the times we live in now and the Spire of Dublin.I concur. perhaps the city manager (was there one at the time?:)) should have had a meeting with the ‘lads’ before and arranged for just the top section to be removed….better than asking the ‘army’ to do it, and a lot cheaper…
C.
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