Category Archives: Dublin Events

Avoca Malahide – Bloggers Meet-Up

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A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to a ‘Lifestyle Blogger Meet-Up’ organised by Emily Westbrooks of http://www.fromchinavillage.com/ taking place in the brand spanking new Avoca Malahide

Blogger Meetup Invite spring

The team in Avoca Malahide pulled out all the stops to ensure we had a memorable evening. Michael the chef treated us to a taste of the various hot dishes on offer, quiches, pates, salads and most importantly cakes!

photo (8)Emily had created a beautiful tablescape (I learnt a new word!) so it felt very special indeed.

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We were in the shop after hours so we had the run of the place, great for having a proper look around. I have to confess Avoca was not really on my radar, I knew they had a great cafe and fab merchandise however it was not a shop I regularly popped into. I loved the Voya products, cute aprons and Selected Femme womenswear (very different range to the choice on offer in BT2, great to see more of this product range)

photo (10)Ordharnait the Store manager spoke to us about the future plans for the store, they are hoping to make it a part of the local community and have an Avoca Club starting up. The whole team are very enthusiastic and positive, and it looks like a great place to hang out, never mind work in!

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We were treated to a goody bag on the way home with an Avoca Cookbook, apron and chutneys. Thanks to Ali, Ordharnait, Michael and Emily for making it a very special evening!

 

 

Hays Festival Comes To Kells

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The world renowned literary festival Hays (originally from Hay-On-Wye in Wales) is branching out and have just announced a new Irish Hay Festival which will take place this June from 28th to 30th in Kells, Co.Meath . It is entitled ’Imagine the world’  or in Irish Samhlaigh an domhan. It is a wonder that they have not already branched out to Ireland considering there are Hays festivals all across the world, but it is fitting to place it in the home of the Book of Kells – details as per the website are below:

headfort bridge

Our newest chapter will be in Kells in County Meath, Ireland, with a three-day festival planned for this summer. The full line-up will be announced in May.

Some programme highlights are: novelists John Boyne, DBC Pierre,John Banville, Tiffany Murray; poets Owen Sheers, Nerys Williams,Eurig Salisbury; memoirs from Jeanette Winterson; children’s writersJenny Valentine, Sarah Webb; playwright Frank McGuinness; actorsPeter Sheridan, Lisa Dwan; a film animating The Secret of Kells; academics Germaine Greer on Shakespeare and Dr Bernard Meehanon the Book of Kells®; politician Jesse Norman on Burke; and musicianAlex Valentine.

Kells & District Chamber, working with a number of partners, hope to develop an Irish ‘town of books’ as a national centre for all genres of literature. The Hay Festival will bring together the best Irish and international authors and thinkers to celebrate the sharing of stories and ideas.

Kells is rich in history and tradition, the spiritual and original home of the Book of Kells® and a wonderful place to throw a party. We’re thrilled to be working with such warm and generous partners here. The full programme will be released in May 2013.”
Lyndy Cooke, Hay Festival Producer

The Hay Festival team produce fifteen festivals every year across Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.  The original festival in Wales runs over eleven days in the Whitsun half-term holiday with a vibrant mash of literature, world music, politics, comedy and film. Hay Festivals won The Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2009.

Supporters and partners of the inaugural Hay Festival Kells include Kells & District Chamber, Meath Partnership, Fáilte Ireland, Meath County Council and Kells Town Council.

 

Win! Tickets for NYE Concert in Dublin – Comp Closed!

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Congrats to Siobhan, Laura and Rachael who all won a pair of tickets!

Hard to believe its nearly the end of 2012!  Time to start planning those New Years Eve parties, and we have 3 pairs of tickets to give away for the NYE concert in Dublin, College Green. See below for details:

NYE Dublin – Dublin’s New Year’s Festival – marks the start of The Gathering Ireland 2013! To celebrate, we’re offering 3 pairs of tickets to the NYE Dublin Countdown Concert, featuring Imelda May plus Bell X1.

Dublin’s New Year Festival is even bigger and better this year. There will be no better place than Dublin’s city centre streets to celebrate the arrival of 2013….Even Lonely Planet has named Dublin as one of the Top 5 places in the world to spend New Year, so you don’t want to miss it!

Nightfall will be heralded by a stunning Procession of Light, with fabulous floats, illuminated torch bearers, ferocious fire breathers, towering stilt walkers and enthralling dancers, parading through the city streets ‘broad and narrow’. This is a people’s procession, which anyone can register to be part of. It will be followed by sensational fireworks over Georgian Dublin, massive projections lighting up Dublin’s most beautiful architecture and an outdoor Countdown Concert at the iconic College Green Dublin, with internationally renowned Irish artists, promising an electric atmosphere.

For more information on the festival programme, to register to be part of the Procession of Light, to buy Countdown Concert tickets or to check out hotel and restaurant offers specially created for the NYE Dublin festival, visit www.nyedublin.ie<http://www.nyedublin.ie> or www.facebook.com/nyedublin<http://www.facebook.com/nyedublin>

To be in with a chance to win 3 pairs of tickets to the NYE Countdown Concert, answer the following question:

What day does New Year’s Eve fall on this year?

a)      Monday

b)      Tuesday

c)      Wednesday

Terms and conditions:

Prize is non-transferable. 1 pair of tickets per winner.

Please comment below or tweet me at @welovetown to win. Deadline is Wednesday 19th of December 2012

Thanks to Conway Communications and NYE Dublin for the tickets!

A day trip to the Old City

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About two Saturdays a group of us bloggers and meeeja people were brought on a tour of the ‘Old City’ in Temple Bar. Temple Bar Cultural Trust and Conway Communications organised the day which was action packed and highly enjoyable. We visited several shops and market trader stands and I have listed a few of them below.

The Old City is located in the west end of Temple Bar between Parliament Street and Dublin’s Civic Offices and is definitely a part of Dublin I have not been too many times so it was great to have an opportunity to re-visit and explore it.

Tamp and Stitch is an extremely cool clothing store and as the name suggests you can also enjoy a cup of Hasbean coffee while perusing the well sourced stock. The owners also display artwork which is for sale, and the whole concept works really well.

We also dropped into Gutter Bookshop which is an award winning independent bookshop which celebrated its second or third birthday (can’t remember which, sorry Bob) the day we were there.

Lunch was in the delightful Queen of Tarts on Cows Lane with the most amazing lemon meringue tarts, followed by visit to a few of the traders on Cows Lane and a tour of Smock Alley Theatre.

This is a fantastic creative part of Dublin with some really interesting quirky independent stores. I would highly recommend a visit, and if you are thinking of buying Irish this year for Christmas head to Cows Lane/Old City!!

An Béal Bocht – Flann O’Briens The Poor Mouth @Project Arts

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The fabulous Blue Raincoat Company are putting on another Flann O’Brien play in Project Arts Theatre next month. I have already seen ‘At Swim Two Birds’ and ‘The Third Policeman’ both outstanding productions.  This will be the final part of their trilogy.

See details below:

Flann O’Brien’s The Poor Mouth to be performed at Project Arts Centre, 12th – 24th November 2012

Blue Raincoat Theatre Company plays the Project Arts Centre in their stage adaptation of Brian O’Nolan’s (Flann O’Brien) The Poor Mouth, running from 12th -24th November 2012. This production sees Sligo based Blue Raincoat Theatre Company complete a trilogy of original stage adaptations by Jocelyn Clarke, of the major novels of Flann O’Brien. Blue Raincoatʼs existing stage adaptations of At Swim-Two-Birds (2007) and The Third Policeman (2009) continue to garner international acclaim and touring success. Their adaption of The Poor Mouth has previously been nominated for two Irish Times Theatre Awards for Best Director (Niall Henry) and Best Supporting Actor (Bob Kelly).
Bónapárt Ó Cúnasa, is a resident of Corkadoragha – a remote region of Gaelic speaking Ireland where it never stops raining and where everyone lives in desperate poverty (and always will). Having embarked on a series of blood curdling adventures, Bónapárt has landed up in prison on a false murder charge. “Safe in jail and free from the miseries of life” he begins to write the most affecting memoir of our times.
An Béal Bocht (The Poor Mouth) is Brian OʼNolanʼs Irish language masterpiece and remains amongst the greatest novels ever written in Irish, many of which it gently parodies. It was first published in 1941 and was the only one of OʼNolanʼs novels written under his Myles na gCopaleen byline – a more anglicized Myles Na Gopaleen was his actual Irish Times pen name.
The Poor Mouth opens on November 12th 2012 at Project Arts Centre Dublin and runs until November 24th. Tickets can be booked through the Project Arts website<http://projectartscentre.ie/programme/whats-on/1647-poor-mouth> .
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Challenge 126 – 5 Marathons in One Day!

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You may have seen a few tweets about this endeavour but basically two guys – Mike Sheridan of Entertainment.ie and Brian Maher of Spin 1038 are currently running from Limerick to Dublin to raise much needed funds for the Special Olympics Ireland team. This is 5 marathons, or 126 miles in one day!

The guys are currently 50 miles away from Dublin having run through the night, in some really bad conditions – who would have thought it would be this wet and cold in April!

You can donate on their page www.challenge126.com, or text 57252 to donate €2 and follow them on @challenge126 for updates on their progression.

Given today is a big fundraising drive for the Special Olympics you should really donate something, go on, even its only €2!

One City One Book – Dubliners

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I have been very remiss in not mentioning One City One Book so far, and this year it is ‘Dubliners’ by James Joyce.

There have been a number of events already held and this weekend is the last weekend of events, so still some time to soak up some Joycean words about our fair city.

Bewleys Cafe Theatre are currently running a production called ‘Joyced!’ which runs until this Saturday, April 28th. More details here

There are also self guided audio walks called Dubliners and you can do a half-days walk, or ‘full days epic’ walk. These leave from the Dublin Writers Museum on Parnell Square North. More details here

You can also head to the historic and famous Sweny’s Pharmacy at Lincoln Place  for a drop in reading group from 1pm to 2pm until Friday lunchtime.

There are a number of other events, all detailed on the event calender here http://www.dublinonecityonebook.ie/calendar

 

 

 

Trocaire Live -This Saturday!

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This is for a great cause, on this Saturday in The Grand Social, and thanks to DHR Communications we have a pair of tickets to give-away too. Simply comment on this piece or tweet us at @welovetown

See below for all the details

Nigerian drummers, Ugandan dancers and a Filipino guitar group will perform alongside some of Ireland’s best-known indie and alternative music acts later this month at a special gig organised by the charity, Trócaire.

TrócaireLive will take place at The Grand Social, 35 Lower Liffey Street, Dublin 1 on Saturday, 28th April (doors: 7.30pm). The gig will showcase Irish and world music, and place a spotlight on Trócaire’s campaigning work. 

Fred, The Hot Sprockets and Katie Kim will headline TrócaireLive and will be joined by the Dembe Troupe dancers from Uganda; Talking Drums, a Nigerian drumming duo; and Manila Rhythm, a Filipino acoustic band.  Up-and-coming singer-songwriter, Daniel Scannell, will also perform; Groovement Soul will close the gig with a DJ set; and the event will be MCed by Today FM’s Paul McLoone, himself a well-known musician and lead singer with The Undertones. 

Announcing details of TrócaireLive today (10.04.12), Joanne McGarry, Campaigns Officer with Trócaire, said: “Trócaire works in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.  This gig will reflect the global nature of our work.  It will give people a chance to sample elements of different cultures, while enjoying top-class Irish acts. 

“The night will kick off with Nigerian folk drummers performing outside the venue. Inside, people can enjoy Middle Eastern food and soak up the atmosphere in the rooftop garden as they listen to the laidback surfer sounds of Daniel Scannell. 

“Anyone who likes dancing will find it impossible to resist the mariachi-inspired music of Manila Rhythm and the awe-inspiring moves of the Dembe dance troupe. And, on top of all this, we’re offering the chance to see three of the most exciting contemporary acts on the Irish music scene: Fred, The Hot Sprockets and Katie Kim.  This truly promises to be a gig with a difference.”

Further information about all of the acts performing at TrócaireLive is available at: www.trocaire.org/trocairelive.  Tickets for the gig cost €10.  They are available now from Entertainment.ie, and will also be available – on a ‘first come, first served’ basis – at the door on the night. 

 

 

 

 

Record Store Day – Events Today & Tomorrow

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Record Store Day is a worldwide event taking place tomorrow and is a great chance to visit our now ever dwindling record stores in Dublin to see live acts and pick up special Record Store Day singles released for the day.

Tower Records and Elastic Witch are both running live events all day, or you could head to the Outhouse for ‘Record Store Gay’.  Tieranniesaur are kicking of proceedings in Tower Records today at 3pm, and one of my favourite bands of the moment Dark Room Notes playing tomorrow along with HAL, Sweet Jane and Special Guests, click here for more details. 

Elastic Witch have Simon Bird, Last Days of 1984, Girls Names, Adult Rock and more. Click here for more details

The Outhouse on Capel St have a very impressive line up for their ‘Record Store Gay’ including Gaz Le Rock, Hello Moon, I ♥ The Monster Hero, Drunken Boat, Lamont Bailey Wall, School Tour, Lovesea & T, Seeping into Cinemas, Soil Creep, You Kiss by the Book, who have put together an album of covers which have an LGBT theme and will be available to buy on the day Nialler9 posted a link to the album stream during the week, you can listen to it here