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| 26 Feb 2008 01:02:38 pm |
 'Conditions were blustery, but generally good...' |
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Just a couple of shots from the barn film screening of 'Cold Fever' (1995) at the weekend. It was a blustery evening with spitting drizzle but we were comfortable enough. I hope to show another film in a couple of weeks or so. |
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Category : culture
| Posted By : Gareth |  Comments[55] |  Trackbacks [0] |
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| 25 Feb 2008 10:45:13 pm |
| Demolition of the Arigna ESB Power Station |
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Demolition of the Arigna ESB Power Station
"An entire rural area in the west must die" Leitrim Observer, January, 1990.
In the late 1950's E.S.B built their (15MN)coal fired power station in Arigna, it had a projected life span of just 25 years. In the 1970's E.S.B considered building a 45MN station with new technologies which would be able to run off lower grade 'crow coal',which is said to be in abundance in the Arigna Mountains. The projected cost for this project was 90 million pounds and it never went ahead.
www.iangallagher.com/arigna.html - |
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Category : memory
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[60] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 25 Feb 2008 07:44:23 pm |
| Arigna Mines |
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Above, an image of the 'sacred heart' that lies deep inside the Arigna mines.
Below, a series of extracts from an argument against the closing of the E.S.B Power Station and coal mines.
Seanad Éireann - Volume 123 - 07 February, 1990.
Private Business. - Arigna Power Station: Motion.
Mr. Costello: I move:
'That Seanad Éireann expresses deep concern at the decision by the Electricity Supply Board to close down its power station at Lough Allen, Arigna, County Roscommon thereby jeopardising the jobs of some 50 workers at the station and the jobs of some 250 miners in the neighbouring Arigna collieries; further calls on the Government to intervene to ensure that the ESB's decision to cease taking supplies of coal from Leydons, Arigna collieries, Flynn, Lehany and Wynns collieries after the 31st March 1990 is rescinded; and further calls on the Government to ensure that Arigna's power station remains operating while the proposals of the miners and ESB employees for investment, development and employment as outlined in their position paper (January 1990) are fully explored.'
Mr. Costello:'Briefly, Sir, I would like to outline the background to the present situation. This is an area where a tremendous amount of mining has taken place over the centuries. As far back as the 15th Century the iron mines were worked in Slieve an Iarann. Indeed, at its height in the 17th century 3,000 men were working there. It is an interesting and indeed an ironic fact at the present time that in 1790, exactly 200 years ago, Wolfe Tone, leader of the United Irishmen, castigated the British Government for their failure to develop the coal and iron mines in the area. Since the mid-19th century, the Arigna Mining Company having been established, coal has been mined successfully. In the Emergency years of 1939 to 1945, 350,000 tonnes of coal were produced annually. The Arigna mines played a crucial, though unsung, role in the national economy at the critical time.'
Mr. Costello: 'The effect of the ESB decision will be to devastate the six parishes of Ballinaglera, Drumkerrin, Drumshanbo, Kilronan, northern Ardcarne and my own home parish of Geevagh, which are located in the four counties of Leitrim, Roscommon, Cavan and Sligo.The last substantial coal mining industry in Ireland will come to an end. A sum of £2.5 million will be lost by that isolated rural economy and community; hundreds of people will be out of work and thousands of men, women and children will be detrimentally affected in the adjoining areas. Schools will close, villages will become deserted, the small holdings in the area will be sold and will be bought out, the mountain ranges and the valleys of Arigna and Slieve na Iarann will be forested, families will emigrate, the social welfare burden will be imposed on the State and the traditional way of life will be gone forever.'
In 1998 Denise McMorrow wrote a thesis entitled 'The Socio-Economic Costs of unemployment in Ireland with particular reference to the Arigna Mining Community.' This is available for examination in the local studies section of the Ballinamore library. In this text McMorrow discusses social problems in the Arigna area as predicted by Costello, above, just eight years earlier. The authors central argument debates whether the financial cost of keeping the mine open is in fact greater than the social and economic cost of closing it.
Image from http://www.monasette.com/archive/2005
Text from http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0123/S.0123.199002070010.html |
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Category : culture
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[53] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 25 Feb 2008 06:34:48 pm |
| Creevelea |
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View looking upwards from inside the brick furnace at Creevelea Iron Works.
Natural Resources: Vast Iron deposits were discovered in this area, Charcoal or Charred Peat was required for smelting and a source of water (mountain streams running from ‘Slíabh an Íarainn’) was also needed in the production process. This combination of elements were brought together in Creevalea to form the Iron works – where the ore was extracted from the earth and then smelted to form a high quality pig iron.
Physical Traces on the landscape? ‘Terra nullius’ A forgotten place?
The factory itself was an impressive sight resting at the foot of the hill, to many this place represented progress and the Industrial Revolution in all its glory.
Politics/ Settlement and Movement: To others the Iron works and other such industries stood as a beacon of political oppression and an unjust state of affairs whereby English gentry owned and exploited the majority of the Irish land and resources. In Creevalea Iron Works the Landowner in question was a Sir Charles Coote who at one time was said to have employed up to 3,000 individuals. It must be noted that this figure consisted of English or Dutch workers and that none of those employed were Irish. What essentially existed was a monopoly run by foreign investors- taking from the land’s resources and trading not so much as employment in return to the local community-. Records from this period suggest that Irish workers were simply unskilled and therefore considered unsuitable for this type of work, it is assumed that there was a strong political agenda behind this half-hearted reasoning.
…Cannons being manufactured there ‘imprudent to impart this knowledge to the natives’ …
It comes then as no surprise that the various Iron Works were a target during the revolts of 1641.
Image courtesy of Rory Grubb |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[54] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 25 Feb 2008 04:28:08 pm |
| Living on Main Street |
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A week or two ago I accessed the Irish Times archive and compiled the series of articles written by Emer McNamara, about her move from Dublin to Manorhamilton in the late nineties (every second Thursday September 1999 – June 2000).
This series was called ‘Living on Main Street’ and contain detailed descriptions that move from observations about people and life in the town (names included), to the author’s personal life, to the sense of the broader social changes happening in the country as a whole, and the northwest in particular. They make interesting, if slightly uncomfortable reading – I can identify with her migration from the east and its economic pull, but not her decision to make such a very public diary. It feels raw to me, and I can only wonder at the social and emotional conflicts that must have played out within the micropolitics of the town.
This idea of the ‘outside observer’ representing small town life to a cultured (or otherwise knowledgeable) audience elsewhere is as relevant to artists as it is to journalists, writers, anthropologists and others (see for example Hal Foster’s ‘The Artist as Ethnographer’ and Alex Coles, ‘Site-Specificity, the Ethnographic Turn’). She mentions this herself, describing a sense of caution/ suspicion at some of the things she hears: ‘Now, I know enough about American anthropologists in the Aran Islands, who've been taken for folklore rides…’ (Thursday, October 14, 1999).
Some extracts:
Economic realities began to change my perceptions. And the return here after my one-and-a-half years in Dublin was clinched by my new partner, Tony, when he embraced the move with enthusiasm… I bought the house for £47,000… The garden is 130 feet long, and it comes with a small mews attached, referred to in these parts as "d'outhouse". I'm going to renovate it as an apartment, to supplement my income and take advantage of the recently introduced tax incentives. I don't let the fact that I know zero about gardening or tourism put me off. And, anyway, the move here is not so much a choice as a necessity…. Let's put it this way, I don't expect to be decked out in Birkenstocks and track-suits anytime soon.
Thursday, September 16, 1999
"I found your account of the closure of Agnes's shop very moving," one man wrote to me, "but surely you could find some positive stories from a fine town like Manorhamilton?" I'm afraid that life here just does not break down that simply, and as much as I could try to paint a quaint picture of a rural retreat, that is not the truth. Nor can I package that truth to make quaint lifestyle reading for people living in the city… When people ask what my column is about I usually say "urban chick moves to rural town" because I thought that was the easiest way to get the point across. I realise now that's a lie, because I'm only trying to retain my street cred. I might as well just say: "But I'm not a culchie you know" and be done with it.
Thursday, November 11, 1999
"Here comes trouble," I heard one woman say to another when shopping in Spar the other day. Even my bank manager was a little sceptical when I suggested that the column would ultimately be good for the town. "Don't give me that," he said. "Don't be trying to convince me that you are working hard on behalf of the people of Manorhamilton." "Yeah, but they won't send a lynching party out, will they?" I asked feeling slightly ridiculous. "Not yet anyway," he replied rather cryptically.
Thursday, November 25, 1999
Aside from the wordcount, for copyright reasons I cannot post the articles here. Anyone who is interested in reading them can contact me – if anything the comparison with the recent past forms an interesting portrait of Manorhamilton. |
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Category : Representations
| Posted By : Sarah | Comments[137] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 25 Feb 2008 04:23:50 pm |
| Lovely Leitrim, part 2 (2005) |
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Twenty years after the Lovely Leitrim film (images posted in the 'tourism' category), Leitrim County Council have updated their tourist advertising. The result is Leitrim: Take a Closer Look, produced by Wren Productions in 2005 (www.wrenrecords.ie). Curiously, like the earlier version, it too is narrated by Paschal Mooney.
The most notable thing about this film is unfortunately the poor production values (grainy DV quality, kitschy Celtic script for titles). The editing was really jerky and irritating – shots lasted 3 seconds on average and the longest shot I noticed was around 11 seconds.
Additions from the earlier version included The Organic Centre, ‘the smallest church in Europe’ in Carrick-on-Shannon, and Ardnahoo Health Farm. The B&B ladies in the style of ‘bean an tí’ from the earlier video had been removed in favour of luxury hotels. Other than that, any evidence of development, regeneration etc. is absent.
The most curious things about the video are the half hearted superlatives and encouragements used to entice visitors:
Carrick is ‘the cruising capital of Ireland’;
the county is ‘certainly worth looking at’;
‘definitely worth trying’, even.
Leitrim: Take a Closer Look, 2005, is available from the County Library in Ballinamore. |
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Category : tourism
| Posted By : Sarah | Comments[61] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 21 Feb 2008 09:47:20 pm |
| Barn Fest - Screening Update |
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Change of movie!
Due to the internet movie people sending me the wrong film, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's
Cold Fever (Iceland-Japan, 1995) will be screened instead in the barn this Saturday night.
A Japanese businessman (Hirata) finds himself canceling his vacation plans to Hawaii when his grandfather reminds him of his duty to his parents. Seven years earlier, Hirata's parents had been killed in an accident in Iceland and Japanese tradition holds that their souls will not be at ease until the proper ceremonies have been performed. Thus, Hirata sets out on a journey, a quest to the river where his parents perished. Along the way, in this Icelandic-Japanese road movie, he encounters many difficulties, tough situations, and odd people in the land of fire and ice. Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's vision infuses Iceland's stark and beautiful landscape with a haunting spirituality.
This is weather depending: it might be a little windy Saturday night, but will be mainly dry and mild. All the same dress appropriately, bring a blanket and drink, fingerfood or whatever else. I will update only if the weather forces cancellation. Please arrive at 19.15. If you need directions give me a call. If you have'nt told me already, let me know if you can make it.
Best,
G. |
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Category : culture
| Posted By : Gareth | Comments[51] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 15 Feb 2008 07:15:04 pm |
| Barn Fest - Screening |
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Hi all,
I am planning to screen a film in Sarah and my barn here at Lisnabrack. I am thinking of Saturday 23rd February (weather permitting). This would be a simple get together. The film I am proposing is Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner.
Atanarjuat is Canada's first feature-length fiction film written, produced, directed, and acted by Inuit. An exciting action thriller set in ancient Igloolik, the film unfolds as a life-threatening struggle between powerful natural and supernatural characters. Atanarjuat is part of this continuous stream of oral history carried forward into the new millennium through a marriage of Inuit storytelling skills and new technology. http://www.atanarjuat.com/
Showing this in a barn in Leitrim promises to be a slightly left field experience. I hope ye can make it.
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Category : culture
| Posted By : Gareth | Comments[49] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Feb 2008 04:26:39 pm |
| GK Glossary II |
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Sublimation
1.An event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another.
2.Refine; purify; idealise (GK)
Sublime
Purify or elevate as if by sublimation (GK).
Latent
1. Existing in possibility, but not yet manifest or realised.
Latent Heat physics The heat required to convert a solid into a liquid or vapour, or a liquid into a vapour without a change in temperature (GK).
U-shaped valley
1. The indexical trace left after a glacier has eroded the sides and bottom of a valley. The negative space marking the legacy and movement of a glacier.
2. Iconic landscapes found in the north of County Leitrim running into County Sligo. (eg. Glenade & Glencar valleys) (GK). |
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Category : glossary
| Posted By : Gareth | Comments[76] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Feb 2008 02:17:21 pm |
| Environmental time vs human memory... |
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An 1870 postcard view of the Rhone glacier in Gletsch, Switzerland, contrasted dramatically with the shrinking 21st-century version of it. Ironically 'gletsch' is the German for glacier.
Image from http://firstpulseprojects.net/Strange-Weather-mt/05-disasters/ With article from New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/europe/24swiss.html?ex=1319342400&en=e5799377c890c8e8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
'People often fail to connect emotionally with changes that are too slow to observe...' - James Labinski, Sound Artist |
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Category : climate
| Posted By : Gareth | Comments[67] | Trackbacks [0] |
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