Dublin

The UCD Bowl is a rugby union and football stadium in the Southeast of Dublin. It is the home ground of University College Dublin RFC in the AIB All... Ireland League and University College Dublin A.F.C. in League of Ireland Premier Division. It has also hosted training sessions for the Ireland rugby team and various touring international teams including the All Blacks. With its redevelopment complete, it now has capacity for 3,000 people, including 1,500 seats. It is located to the North of the Belfield campus beside the National hockey stadium, near the Sports Centre. There is a single stand on the Southern side of the stadium with uncovered standing room at each end. 860 seats in the stand are covered. A substantial programme of improvements to the Bowl was started in 2007 after a decision was made to move the UCD football team from their home in Belfield Park as the Bowl would not meet the requirements of UEFA licencing for the League of Ireland. The redevelopment was confirmed in 2006 after a €1.25 million Sports Capital grant was allocated to the work and objections to planning were overruled.
more

Dalymount Park is an Irish football stadium situated in Phibsborough on Dublin's Northside. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there... since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as 'Dalyer' by fans, it was also historically the "home of Irish football", holding many Irish internationals and FAI Cup finals. It has also hosted UEFA Champions League qualifiers, UEFA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup matches. However, the ground was largely undeveloped between the 1940s and the 2000s, and has now fallen out of use as a major venue, except for the home games of Bohemians. The stadium has also been used as a home ground by other League of Ireland teams. In December 2010, Sporting Fingal announced that they were to play their home games at Dalymount during the 2011 Airtricity League season; however, the club folded less than two months later. Bohemians have redeveloped the ground to some extent. In 1999 the old main stand was replaced by a modern structure with 2,742 seats, known as the "Jodi Stand". This was at a cost of £1.1 million.
more

The U2 Tower was a proposed landmark skyscraper to be constructed in Dublin. The site was in the South Docklands campshires, at the corner of Sir... John Rogerson's Quay and Britain Quay, by the confluence of the River Liffey, the River Dodder, and the Grand Canal. The design announced on 12 October 2007 was by Foster and Partners. Its height had been reported at 120 metres, "well over 120 metres", and 180 metres, any of which would have made it the tallest building on the island of Ireland. The building would have been an apartment building, with a recording studio owned by the rock group U2 in a "pod" at the top. Construction was to begin in 2008 and end in 2011, at a cost of €200m. In October 2008, the project was suspended indefinitely because of the economic downturn. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority was established in 1997 to regenerate the brownfield sites and underused warehouses in the Docklands at the mouth of the River Liffey in Dublin. In 2000, the DDDA proposed a landmark tower for the Britain Quay site.
more

Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry, in the north of Dublin City. Often called Santry Stadium, it is... the centre for athletics events in Ireland, and home track of Clonliffe Harriers. It was home to Sporting Fingal FC. The modern capacity of the ground is 4,000 with a single 800 seat, covered stand. The stadium was opened in 1958 with a cinder track. An inaugural series of meetings was held, and on 6 August 1958, Australian Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile run with a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds. This was the first race in which five athletes had run a four minute mile. In 1978 the stadium was resurfaced with a tartan track, the first such in the Republic of Ireland. In the early 1990s it was renamed after Billy Morton, the late administrator who had initiated the original track and who brought famous athletes to compete in the stadium. It hosted the athletics events of the Special Olympics World Games in 2003. The stadium consists of a small covered stand with 800 seats and three sides of open terracing, bringing the total capacity up to 4,000.
more

The James Joyce Tower and Museum is a Martello tower in Sandycove, Dublin, where James Joyce spent six nights in 1904. The tower was leased from the... British War Office by Joyce's university friend Oliver St. John Gogarty, with the purpose of "Hellenising" Ireland. Joyce left after an incident in which Gogarty fired a gun in his direction. The opening scenes of Ulysses are set the morning after this incident. Gogarty is immortalised as "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan" . The tower now contains a museum dedicated to Joyce and displays some of his possessions and other ephemera associated with Ulysses . The living space is set up to resemble its 1904 appearance . It is a place of pilgrimage for Joyce enthusiasts, especially on Bloomsday. The Tower became a museum through the efforts of the Dublin artist, John Ryan. Ryan also rescued the front door to 7 Eccles Street from demolition and organised, with Brian O'Nolan, the first Bloomsday Celebration in 1954.
more

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra.... O'Connor achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U". Since then, while maintaining her singing career, she has occasionally encountered controversy, partly due to her statements and gestures such as her ordination as a priest despite being female with a Roman Catholic background, and her expressed strong views on organized religion, women's rights, war, and child abuse. In addition to her nine solo albums her work includes many singles, songs for films, collaborations with many other artists, and appearances at charity fundraising concerts. Sinéad O'Connor was born in Glenageary in County Dublin and was named after Sinéad de Valera, wife of Irish President Éamon de Valera and mother of the doctor presiding over the delivery, and Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. She is the third of five children, sister to Joseph, Eimear, John, and Eoin. Joseph O'Connor is a novelist. Her parents are Sean O'Connor, a structural engineer later turned barrister, and Marie O'Connor.
more

Susan McFadden is an actress and singer born in Dublin, Ireland. She is known for playing the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde the Musical in... London at the Savoy theatre. Susan McFadden was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1983, to parents Mairead and Brendan. She has an older brother, Brian McFadden. McFadden is a graduate of the Billie Barry Stage School, located in Dublin. Before appearing on Grease is the Word, McFadden toured with many Irish entertainers in supporting roles. She was one of the dancers in Daniel O'Donnell's Rock & Roll Show tour and DVD. She also played the role of Kathy in an Irish production of Singing in the Rain in 2004 to much acclaim. The show played at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin and the Everyman Palace Theatre in Cork. She is the winning contestant on the ITV reality TV show Grease Is the Word. As a result she played the lead female role of Sandy in the West End production of Grease with Danny Bayne beginning in August 2007. In 2008, McFadden recorded two songs for the CD Act One - Songs From The Musicals Of Alexander S.
more

John Stewart Beckett , was an Irish musician, composer and conductor; cousin of the famous writer and playwright Samuel Beckett. John and his twin... sister Ann were born in Sandymount, Dublin to Gerald and Peggy Beckett. Gerald, brother of Bill Beckett , studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin and became County Medical Officer for Wicklow. John attended St. Columba's College, Dublin, where he was taught music by Joe Groocock, whom he admired little short of idolatry, and who furthered his lifelong devotion to the music of J. S. Bach. John wrote his first fugue at around the age of fourteen in the Groocock family home while visiting one weekend. John received scholarships to study at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London. John went to London in 1945 and studied composition for three years - one of his teachers was Edmund Rubbra. He won a travelling scholarship and went to Paris in 1949, where he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger. He returned to Dublin in 1950 and played the harpsichord continuo part in a performance, at the Dublin Metropolitan Hall, of Bach's Mass in B minor, conducted by Otto Matzerath . The historic Weber harpsichord from the National Museum was used for the occasion. John returned to London in 1953 and, with fellow Irishman Michael Morrow, founded Musica Reservata in 1960. This group specialized in the performance of medieval and early Renaissance music. John played in and then conducted this group, which made many records. He also composed avant-garde incidental music for experimental dramas broadcast on the BBC Third Programme. John came back to Ireland in around 1970 and worked at teaching music in the Royal Irish Academy of Music until 1983. During this period he conducted a memorable series of Bach Cantatas in St Ann's Church, Dawson Street, in Dublin. He also featured in many RTḖ radio programmes. From 1983 he worked as a producer for BBC Radio 3 until he retired. He lived in London until his sudden death in February, 2007.
more

David Tynan O'Mahoney , better known as Dave Allen, was an Irish comedian, very popular in the UK, Australia, and Canada in the 1960s and 1970s. He... also became known in the United States through showings of his shows on American television. His career had a major resurgence during the late 1980s and early 1990s. At the height of his career he was Britain's most controversial comedian, regularly provoking conservative indignation at his frequent highlighting of political hypocrisy and his disregard for religious authority. Allen's act was typified by his relaxed, rueful and intimate style; he would sit on a high bar stool facing his audience, smoking and occasionally sipping from a glass of what he always allowed people to assume was whisky, but in fact was merely ginger ale with ice. Literally and metaphorically, he was a sober-minded man who, though sometimes appearing deliberately crotchety and irritable on stage, always gave off an air of charm and serene melancholy both in his act and in real life. Each day he would pore over the newspapers, constantly scribbling notes and ideas which he then expanded for his routines.
more

Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main... vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife, Alison Stewart, and the future members of U2. Bono writes almost all U2 lyrics, often using political, social, and religious themes. During their early years, Bono's lyrics contributed to U2's rebellious and spiritual tone. As the band matured, his lyrics became inspired more by personal experiences shared with members of U2. Outside the band, he has collaborated and recorded with numerous artists, sits on the board of Elevation Partners, and has refurbished and owns The Clarence Hotel in Dublin with The Edge. Bono is also widely known for his activism concerning Africa, for which he co-founded DATA, EDUN, the ONE Campaign and Product Red. He has organised and played in several benefit concerts and has met with influential politicians. Bono has been praised and criticised for his activism and involvement with U2.
more

Gerry Owens is the vocalist, songwriter, arranger and producer of Irish Industrial rock band Lluther. Owens was born in Dublin, Ireland. As his... father was a musician, Owens was always surrounded by music, particularly film soundtracks and classical/orchestral music. After spending some time in London and playing in a series of bands, he returned to Dublin to form Skindive, who were quickly signed by Chris Blackwell to his Palm Pictures label. Owens wrote, arranged, recorded and co-produced the Skindive album and gained considerable exposure and success worldwide with the band, including rave reviews in publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine, Boston Globe and Rock Sound and the music being featured on the Grammy Awards 2002, MTV Movie Awards 2002 and MTV Road Rules. Having worked with such names as Danny Saber , Dave 'Rave' Ogilvie , Adrian Sherwood and Scott Humphries , Owens developed his creative and technical abilities extensively. The outcome was Lluther.
more

Jim Sheridan is an Irish film director. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Sheridan is perhaps best known for his films My Left Foot, In the Name of... the Father, The Field and In America. Sheridan was born in Dublin, the son of Anna and Peter Sheridan, an actor and railroad worker. Sheridan was initially educated by the Irish Christian Brothers and later graduated from University College Dublin. He emigrated to Canada and then New York City in 1981. In 1979 Jim, or Shay Sheridan wrote two plays. The first, an Irish beggar's opera called "The Ha'penny Place", was staged in the Project Arts Centre, and the second, a piece of agitprop theatre called "The Last Post", was staged nearby in Connolly Hall. Interestingly, an actor called Jer O'Leary, a long time friend and political associate of Jim's, appeared in both these plays, and went on to appear in small parts in almost all of Sheridan's pictures. In 1989, he directed My Left Foot, which became a critical and commercial success and won Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker Academy Awards.
more

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and... literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his writings address prevailing social problems, but have a vein of comedy which makes their stark themes more palatable. Shaw examined education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege. He was most angered by what he perceived as the exploitation of the working class. An ardent socialist, Shaw wrote many brochures and speeches for the Fabian Society. He became an accomplished orator in the furtherance of its causes, which included gaining equal rights for men and women, alleviating abuses of the working class, rescinding private ownership of productive land, and promoting healthy lifestyles. For a short time he was active in local politics, serving on the London County Council. In 1898, Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a fellow Fabian, whom he survived.
more

Colm Ó Cíosóig is the drummer and a founding member of London-based, Irish Shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine. Originally formed in... 1983, My Bloody Valentine had gone through a few lineup changes before they forged a signature sound that was to become known by the music press as "shoegazing" in the late 80s and early 90s. Along with Kevin Shields' guitar work and Bilinda Butcher's ethereal vocals, Ó Cíosóig's off-kilter and snare-heavy drumming had become a key element of the band's sound. Ó Cíosóig has co-written songs for My Bloody Valentine and has contributed production work to many of their releases. Due to illness and homelessness during the recording of Loveless, Ó Cíosóig had played drum patterns that were sampled and looped on most of the tracks. He later recovered and was well enough to play live on three tracks, including "Only Shallow". The song "Touched" was done solely by Ó Cíosóig without any contribution from the other members of the band. During My Bloody Valentine's hiatus since the early 90s, Ó Cíosóig had been quietly prolific with various musical collaborations and guest appearances.
more

Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in... the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken. He has now starred in over 35 feature films, such as The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing, Stigmata and End of Days, in addition to writing two. Byrne's producing credits include the Academy Award-nominated In the Name of the Father. More recently, he has received much critical acclaim for his role as Dr. Paul Weston in the HBO drama In Treatment. Byrne, the first of six children, was born in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland, the son of a cooper and soldier, Dan, and a hospital nurse from Galway, Eileen . He has four siblings: Donal, Thomas, Breda, and Margaret; another, Marian, died at a young age. Byrne was raised a strict Roman Catholic and educated in Ardscoil Éanna in Crumlin, where he later taught Spanish and History.
more

Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor. His best-known films include Braveheart, Gangs of New York, In Bruges, 28 Days Later, Troy, the Harry Potter... films, The Guard and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty. He won an Emmy Award in 2009 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the film Into the Storm. Gleeson was born in Dublin, the son of Pat and Frank Gleeson. Gleeson has described himself as having been an avid reader as a child. Later, after training as an actor, he returned to Ireland and worked for several years as a secondary school teacher of Irish and English at the now defunct Catholic Belcamp College in North County Dublin, which closed in 2004. He was working simultaneously as an actor while teaching, doing semi-professional and professional productions in Dublin and surrounding areas. He left the teaching profession to commit full-time to acting in 1991. Gleeson started his film career at the age of 34. He first came to prominence in Ireland for his role as Michael Collins in The Treaty, a television film broadcast on RTÉ One, and for which he won a Jacob's Award in 1992.
more

Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier. Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin,... Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for his country. Richard spent a few of his childhood years in India, where his father, a British officer, served as an army physician. Later his family moved to West Devon and Todd attended Shrewsbury School. Upon leaving school, Todd trained for a potential military career at Sandhurst before inaugurating his acting training at the Italia Conti Academy. This change in career led to estrangement from his mother. When he learned, aged 19, she had committed suicide, he admitted in later life that he had not grieved long for her. He first appeared professionally as an actor at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in 1936 in a production of Twelfth Night. He played in regional theatres and then co-founded the Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1939. During the Second World War, Todd joined the British Army, receiving a commission in 1941.
more