The Spike
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I never thought of an Irish name (the shame of it) and I quite like the idea of An Tur Solais. im glad the CC opted for the common sense choice.
Spire…
The noun “spire” has 1 sense in WordNet
steeple, spire — (a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the topCambridge on line dictionary
spire
noun [C]
a tall pointed structure on top of a building, esp. a church towerWordsmyth
a tall, narrow, cone-shaped roof or upward projection on a building or outer wall; steeple; pinnacle.bootlegbooks.com
Spire
(Spire), n. [OE. spire, spir, a blade of grass, a young shoot, AS. spir; akin to G. spier a blade of grass, Dan. spire a sprout, sprig, Sw. spira a spar, Icel. spira.]1. A slender stalk or blade in vegetation; as, a spire grass or of wheat.
An oak cometh up a little spire.
Chaucer.2. A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself. “With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned.” Milton.
A spire of land that stand apart,
Cleft from the main.
Tennyson.Tall spire from which the sound of cheerful bells
Just undulates upon the listening ear.
Cowper.3. (Mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting.
4. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
The spire and top of praises.
Shak.Spire
(Spire), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Spired ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spiring.] To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire. Emerson.It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.
Mortimer.Spire
(Spire), n. [L. spira coil, twist; akin to Gr. : cf. F. spire.]1. A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist. Dryden.
2. (Geom.) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n.
Spire bearer. (Paleon.) Same as Spirifer.
Spired
(Spired) a. Having a spire; being in the form of a spire; as, a spired steeple. Mason.Having originated from minerets, via the crusades to identify churches it is wholly inappropriate for this ediface.
Poor old Ritchie, he wanted Monument of Light, I would have gone with that. I like the Irish language version, but only as it’s official translation. Spire better than some of other crazy ideas.
Roll on the unveiling and lighting.. no news on that then… I think Midsummer’s Day would be ideal.. this would give all concerned, plenty of time, given their speed. Only kiddin!
A needle has connotations of heroin abuse particularly in Dublin, which would be unwelcome and would only draw more stupid nicknames.
Ian Ritchie endorsed the name Spire, according to the report prepared by the City Manager.
The report refers to ‘Monument of Light’ as the designer’s “working” title.
There were five criteria for the choice.
a) clearly identifiable with the designed monument.
b) should reflect the spiritual aspect of the ‘working’ title.
c) should have unifying rather than divisive associations
d) should be short, understandable by visitors
e) should reflect national rather than local aspirations.
The report also explains why no historical tag has been attached.
“It is forward looking and aspirational, not retrospective and historic in intent.”
Interestingly, it suggests a separate monument be built to Brian Boru, to coincide with 1000th anniversary of Battle of Clontarf, 1014 AD.Originally posted by kefu
The report also explains why no historical tag has been attached.
“It is forward looking and aspirational, not retrospective and historic in intent.”There went my suggestion to stick with the old name, “The Millenium Spire”, as a remembrance of how long it took to get the darn thing up.
Collinsky, I totally agree! Lot of mucking around! I like the idea of a statue/sculpture, monument, as long as tasteful for Brian Boru at Clontarf, not be a while yet! Might be ready for 2018!!!
Originally posted by kefu
“The report also explains why no historical tag has been attached.
It is forward looking and aspirational, not retrospective and historic in intent.”
100% in agreement, as posted below. nice to be looking forward instead of rooting ourselves in the past, as we as a nation are prone to do.
Originally posted by ro_G In terms of it’s effect on Dublin – it is visible from all over the city and is visible to all. It is bound to have much more impact, positive or negative, on the greater population. While I also like the sculptures you mention, they all represent the past, and arte looking back and are about heritage. But i want to look forward too, to a future Dublin.
See, theres two broad options for people of our age, stay here and make the best of the country or leave for other parts of teh worth. Neither makes one person better than the other, and i’m not implying that it does, but for the people who are living here and plan to live here long term it is, in short, inspiring to have such a monument that is not looking to the past but to the future, to future regeneration, to future tearing down of north/south dublin divides, to bury the sackville place legacy behid us. God knows, the streets of Dublin have enough reminders of the past.
http://www.p45rant.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&postid=726028
wow – i was getting very high-horsey that day! 😮
SO many things in Irish are really poetic. Take for example the small annoying bug The cricket. (I’ll leave it to you to find out what it is in irish and why so). We irish dont die, we “find death” (why we start looking i dont know) and i think a little more thought should have gone into finding a portic irish name for it, An Tur Solais will however have to do. And no doubt it will develop another name over time. “the hags with the bags” being a particulat favourite of mine and i hope people dont become offended by whatever we all eventually affectionatly call it, lets just hope its not “the stiffy by the liffey”.
I’m really impressed by it though, so simple, so elegant, so imposing yet somehow it fits.
I have one small concern about it though. Its not possibly the best tourist attraction, not due to the fact that you cant go up it or it dosen’t really do anything as its simplicity is its beauty but the fact that i cant see anybody buying minature models to bring home to the family, CAn you imagine the trouble you would have trying to get a flight with one in your baggage!Ok, latest developments.
All hell has broken loose on the site to get it ready for Patrick’s Day. There’s a flurry of activity at the base of the Spire, in contrast to the workerless site it had become over the past couple of months.
The cast bronze base is now fully installed around the base, the gap between it and the Spire that allows light to rise up now clearly evident.
Stainless steel bollards of varing height (and wrapped in plastic) are being installed right now (Monday 14:00) about 3 metres from, and in circumference of, the base of the Spire.
I didn’t see any paving slabs being laid, as I was rushing past, but presumably they are stacked up somewhere on site.
There are no floodlights on any of the corner buildings to illuminate the sculpture, although wiring infrastructure may well be in place (again, I was rushing)
The beacon is still on top.
Will the tip be illuminated on time?
More to the point, will the whole site be finished on time?!
Originally posted by Aken
but the fact that i cant see anybody buying minature models to bring home to the family, CAn you imagine the trouble you would have trying to get a flight with one in your baggage!Ok, well the paving is being laid now around the base, its not the planned paving for the plaza, but rather temporary paving, presumably for Patrick’s Day, and it looks like at least it will be completed in time, considering the pace of it’s laying.
Its simply a continuation of the 88 paving, ie concrete slabs (although smaller and square this time) with the red brick banding around the edges behind the kerbstones.Also, a plaza shape is not being created, just the central median being continued at it’s current width, hence the current 2 traffic lanes on either side will be restored to 3 lanes for the time being at least.
The stainless steel bollards are all the same height, not different as I said before, there’s either 8 or 10 in place, 4 or 5 on each road side.
There is no floodlighting at all on any of the corner buildings.
I was trying to read an artical over a passenger’s shoulder on the train yesterday about the Spire works not being completed in time for Patrick’s Day, in the Herald, but to no avail, anyone know anything?
When I passed last night, they seemed to be taking down the hoarding and packing the site huts onto lorries.
I hope they’re reusing the original paving slabs. It would be very wasteful to put down new paving for Paddy’s day then rip it up again to redo the plaza.
James
Dream on, this is the CC, unfortunatly
These are brand new slabs, and will be ripped up again for the plaza to be installed, it’s paving being of granite slabs, laid in alternating stripes, like a football field.
Passed again about 5 this evening, all the paving is nearly finished already! All of the hoarding is now gone, just the steel railings to keep the prying public out.Will the Spire itself be cleaned before Monday? Its really manky now when seen in the sunlight.
(Westmoreland St looks brilliant with miles of green bunting stretched over the facades of it’s buildings)
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