#Skibbereen

[nkp1981]

Where you can read a book yesterday, today or tomorrow

Skibbereen, Ireland

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1847 – Horrific Report | Irish Genocide.

Lord Dufferin (a twenty-one year old student at Oxford) and the Hon G.G. Boyle publish a report after visiting Skibbereen, Co Cork. “The scenes we have witnessed during our short stay at Skibbereen, equal anything that has been recorded by history, or could be conceived by the imagination. Famine, typhus fever, dysentery, and a disease hitherto unknown, are sweeping away the whole…

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

John Macklin - Journey Beyond the Grave - Ace - 1970

[mcgaggs]

[chasingcrystal]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Crystal 🐱| Solo Motorcycle Travel (@chasing.crystal)

Dumpster Crystal is ready! Let’s go through the mountain pass! ⛰️🏍️😼

How are you today? What will you accomplish?

[lisablasstudio]

Monday's image: June 5, 2023

Richard Tuttle, Celebration #1, Pencil and acrylic colors on foamcore and cardboard, 49.5 x 38 x 1 centimeters, 2003, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Switzerland

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[mridulrgupta]

A traveler with an open mind grows richer with each journey, with each encounter, with each conversation. #skibbereen #westcork #cork #ireland #mridulrgupta #indian #travel #travelphotography #love #photooftheday #instagood #igers #travelgram #explore #travelling #trip #irelandtourism #wanderlust #adventure (at Skibbereen, West Cork) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnYzAWRs55X3fimJ5d_zNUPoCBbbRMtAsEohnc0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[disdoorted-crows]

i made a list of folk songs the mechs used in their music and now you can have it too

have you ever been listening to a folk playlist and thought, 'hey, i think i've heard this one on a mechs album!'? well, you probably have! the mechs' songs, especially their early stuff like once upon a time in space, often contained tunes from popular folk songs!

disclaimer: i got a lot of this information from either the genius lyrics page for the song or the lyric video from TheVoidSings, who of course has lyric videos for (i believe) all the mechs songs out there. so, shoutout to them for doing the research! i just compiled it. also, this is an incomplete list; it's just all the ones i could find.

the queens court - the deserter

tim goes crazy - battle hymn of the republic

the recruiters song - pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag

gassed last night - bombed last night

the toy soldiers song - over the hills and far away

blood and whiskey - o were I on Parnassus hill

pump shanty - pump shanty

cinders song - haul away joe

rose red - rose red

old king cole - old king cole

laid in blood - fifteen men on a dead man's chest

our boy jack - bella ciao

sleeping beauty - let all mortal flesh keep silence (picardy)

broken horses - skibbereen

sirens - gently johnny

riddle of the sphinx - greensleeves

favoured son - the rocky road to dublin

underworld blues - last kind words blues

ties that bind - blue in green

elysian fields - i am a poor wayfaring stranger

one eyed jacks - the house of the rising sun/when jonny comes marching home

iphis - house carpenter

pellinore and the beast - barbara allen

gunfight at the dolorous guard - my funny valentine

empty trail - when the levee breaks

the hanged man rusts - lannigan's ball

hellfire - dem bones (💀💀💀)

skin and bone - the raggle taggle gypsies

holder of the grail - the rising of the moon

peacemaker - sinnerman

once and future king - the snow it melts the soonest

thor - drowsy maggie

ragnarok I runaway - crazy train

drop dead - matty groves

lost in the cosmos - bonny grovewoodside

chop of their heads - mouse round (mending song)

[salvador-daley]

Robert talking to the students at Skibbereen Community School this week ❤️❤️

[vtatters]

I want to visit Cork someday, what do you recommend must see? Love your blog by the way, thanks 😁👋🌻☘️

OK, there are the obvious; fota wildlife park, blarney Castle and Park, ballycotton for the scenery, skibbereen for the history, cobh, you defo should visit spike Island, clonakilty for the craic and pub scene. Kinda depends on your time frame. If you are over here, let me know and I'll give you a tour 😁

[dustedmagazine]

Robert Poss — Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust (Trace Elements)

Robert Poss is best known for his work with Band of Susans, a late 1980s-early 1990s guitar-centric no wave band that came up in the same general scene and time frame as Sonic Youth and Swans. Band of Susans went through a number of configurations, but it never had fewer than three guitarists at a time. Consider Poss the primer inter pares (or first among equals) in the band’s squalling wall of guitars.

Now a few decades and a handful of solo albums on, Poss is still fascinated by the possibilities of amplification and feedback, though perhaps in a more lyrical, less confrontational way than in his youth.

Poss has titled this album Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust, and indeed, it includes all of the above. Though some tracks favor one element or the other, the lines are not always so sharply delineated. There are drones in the more structured songs, and often, the lilt of melody in even the abstract instrumentals. (I’ll leave discerning “fairy dust” to others.)

Listen, for instance, to the way “Skibbereen Drive” blasts out distorted guitar chords, then surrounds them in flickering wah tones, all the while maintaining a steady, anthemic march. Or how “Out of the Fairy Dust” floats a lucid melody over seething, shifting beds of timber, a folk song living in an ambient wash. “Skew Forest” is maybe the purest expression of feedback sculpture, but even this track follows a wandering narrative line. Poss is thinking hard about texture and atmosphere but not to the exclusion of a good hook.

In the same way, the song-like tracks coruscate with detuned blare, the wall of guitar distortion almost, but not quite, burying the vocals in “Secrets, Chapter and Verse.” “It’s Always Further Than It Seems” has the rough romanticism of post-punk turning into college rock—first run Burma and very early R.E.M. come to mind—but there’s a haze and roar even in this well-shaped song.

As an album, Songs, Drones and Fairy Dust runs a bit long, piling up the brief experiments and longer compositions as Poss tries out new things. You might not want to listen all the way through very often (or you might) but pick any point on this extensive collection and you’ll find some very compelling guitar sounds, bending subtly or overtly towards song.

Jennifer Kelly

[victusinveritas]

Cutlery from Michael Collins' last meal.

This cutlery used by Collins at his last meal in the Eldon Hotel in Skibbereen on August 22, 1922, hours before the ambush at Béal na mBláth. The knife, fork and spoon were stitched to a green silk shamrock to symbolise Ireland, flanked by a green flag with a harp and a tricolour.

The hotel manager held onto the cutlery and after Michael Collins' death, it was presented to Kitty Kiernan, who was well known as Collins' fiancée. Following Kitty's untimely death in 1945, the cutlery was passed on to her sister Maud. Later, it was passed down through Maud's husband's family, Gearóid O'Sullivan, who raised the Irish flag over the GPO during the 1916 Rising.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1848 – ‘Starvation Fever of 1847’ article by Dr. Daniel Donovan of Skibbereen, Co Cork was published in the Dublin Medical Press.

Skibbereen was synonymous with the Genocide of 1845-52 with reports of pestilence, starvation and death from that area on an almost biblical scale. However, there are also stories of extraordinary courage and heroic deeds about those who ministered to the afflicted and who did so much to alleviate their great distress. Canon John O’Rourke, who visited Skibbereen when carrying out research for his…

[cassowary-rapture]

Edited to fix some things, make it easier to read, and add TBI info (from here)

High Noon Over Camelot:

Gunfight at the Dolorous Guard - My Funny Valentine Empty Trail - When The Levee Breaks The Hanged Man Rusts - Lannigan's Ball Hellfire - Dem Bones Blood and Whiskey - On Parnassus Hill Skin and Bone - The Raggle Taggle Gypsies Holder of the GRAIL - The Rising Of The Moon Peacemaker - Sinnerman Once And Future King - The Snow It Melts the Soonest

Once Upon a Time (in Space)

Old King Cole/Rose Red/Pump Shanty - traditional songs with the same names Cinders' Song - Haul Away Joe Our Boy Jack - Bella Ciao Sleeping Beauty - Picardy No Happy Endings - Adama's Theme from Battlestar Galactica, Tetris Theme A, and Shipping Up To Boston Laid In Blood - Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest

Ulysses Dies at Dawn:

Broken Horses - Skibbereen Riddle of the Sphinx - Greensleeves Favoured Son - Rocky Road to Dublin Underworld Blues - Last Kind Words Ties That Bind - Blue in Green Elysian Fields - Wayfaring Stranger

The Bifrost Incident:

Thor - Ace of Spades by Motorhead Ragnarok I: Runaway - Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne

Is there anyway to find the songs your music is based on? All I've been able to work out so far is Hellfire.

Once Upon A Time (In Space) and Ulysses Dies At Dawn have lists in the album booklets, and High Noon Over Camelot will do when it comes out. The High Noon songs are:

Gunfight at the Dolorous Guard - My Funny ValentineEmpty Trail - When The Levee Breaks Hanged Man Rusts - Lannigan’s BallHellfire - Dem’ BonesBlood and Whiskey - On Parnassus HillSkin and Bone - The Raggle Taggle GypsiesHolder of the GRAIL - The Rising Of The MoonPeacemaker - SinnermanOnce And Future King - The Snow It Melts The Soonest

(And for the record, Once:Old King Cole/Rose Red/Pump Shanty - traditional songs with the same namesCinders’ Song - Haul Away JoeOur Boy Jack - Bella CiaoSleeping Beauty - PicardyNo Happy Endings - Adama’s Theme from Battlestar Galactica, Tetris Theme A, and Shipping Up To BostonLaid In Blood - Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest

and Ulysses:Broken Horses - SkibbereenRiddle of the Sphinx - GreensleevesFavoured Son - Rocky Road to DublinUnderworld Blues - Last Kind WordsTies That Bind - Blue in GreenElysian Fields - Wayfaring Stranger)

[princepsfianna]

They said it is a lovely place wherein a Prince might dwell. Why have you then forsaken her, the reason to me tell!

Beautiful song, beautiful singer. Revenge, revenge for Skibbereen tis be our battle cry. Because Ireland unfree can never be at peace.

[dadfatherhq]

So, and as promised, our regular output resumes. A little ahead of schedule with this one, for reasons I’ll explain in a minute.

This is not the sort of song I would usually write, let alone release but I did write it, was pleased with the results and thought with the looming coincidence of dates and all, well why not.

How it came about went something like this: I visited London – from whence I derive – for the first time in many years during the summer. I met up with the few folks who still actually live there, hadn’t become social hermits or were no longer of this global parish and on the last night went out for a curry and some beers with the two remaining closest.

Post-pub two became one and I ended up back at my friend’s gaff with the promise of the spare bed and a nightcap. Resources were stretched and this manifested as a large G&T – when did I last have a gin and tonic? Decades possibly.

We nattered awhile with friend mostly itemising his unceasing social and cultural activities. I wasn’t entirely envious to not still be living the manic whirl of my younger years but it did make me realise that my equivalent activities were basically zero. I live in Skibbereen, what am I going to do? Sit down the pub by myself? My nearest equivalent was the week’s solo camping I’d endured enjoyed in Snowdonia prior to my London sojourn. And I’ve yet to meet anyone who has the slightest interest in that (well apart from my kids).

Anyway, in the standout in friend’s itinerary was attending the Nick Drake prom the previous month. Which he thought wonderful. Now friend has always been a bigtime music fan but Nick Drake is about as far as I could conceive from his core tastes. But... his girlfriend had got him a ticket and he had loved it.

He then goes directly from that to telling me the story which I describe almost exactly in my song. Yes I’ve added some environmental adornments and a little motivation but that apart every crucial aspect is as he told me.

This being one of the most extraordinary tales I’d heard in a good while, and being a songwriter who likes writing songs, I immediately asked him if I could write it up. As a song. ‘Yeah’, he said.

And the next night, stuck in a Travelodge on the outskirts of Telford before the next day’s ferry back to Ireland, and having nothing better to do, I wrote said song. I’d already figured it on the drive up. KEEP IT SIMPLE; it’s rich in complication as it is.

I sent a rough version to my friend asking what he thought. As I’d figured he had no recollection of having told me but seemed amused and was at least not discouraging.

It was around about this time that I realised that my friend’s fiftieth anniversary must nearly coincide with Nick Drake’s death and lo and behold on Wiki-ing his bio twas indeed true. And here we are, on 24/11. See what you make of it.

Christmas offering up next...

I forgot to mention the always splendid artwork contributed by Charli Daddorter - aka Urban V. I have now.