Cape Cornwall at the south-western tip of Cornwall is where the St George's Channel meets the English Channel (a cape is where two channels of water meet). The St George's Channel coastline is the coastline of North Cornwall and North Devon in the West Country Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay in Wales and counties Wexford, Waterford and Cork in southern Ireland.

Regular visitors to the St George's Channel coast include basking sharks, dolphins, porpoises, Atlantic grey seals, leather-back turtles, lobsters and other impressive marine life. They attracted by the clean, clear waters and good food supplies of the coastlines of the West Country, Wales and South-West Ireland. North Cornwall, around Porthcurno and St Ives is famous for its regular spottings of basking sharks, while Pembrokeshire and Cardigan Bay is internationally recognised as a haven for bottle nosed dolphins.

The name is said to derive from a 14th-century legend that Saint George had voyaged to Roman Britain from the Byzantine Empire. The legend said he approached Britain via the channel that bears his name.

Relief map of the Irish Sea. St George's Channel at the southern opening of the sea.

Geography

The source of the Shannon is in the Cuilcagh Mountains in south County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, from where it flows through Shannon Cave, and rises at Shannon Pot in County Cavan. The river runs through/between 13 of Ireland's 32 Counties. Lakes on the Shannon include Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg. Tributaries include the River Inny, River Suck and the River Brosna.

It is linked to the River Erne by the Shannon-Erne Waterway.

History

The river began flowing along its present course after the end of the Ice Age. Vikings settled in the region in 10th century and used the river to raid the rich monasteries deep inland. In 937 the Limerick Vikings clashed with those of Dublin on Lough Ree and were defeated.

In the seventeenth century, the Shannon was of major strategic importance in military campaign in Ireland, as it formed a physical boundary between the east and west of the country. In the Irish Confederate Wars of 1641-53, the Irish retreated behind the Shannon in 1650 and held out for two further years against English Parliamentarian forces. In preparing a land settlement, or plantation after his conquest of Ireland Oliver Cromwell reputedly said the remaining Irish landowners would go to "Hell or Connaught", referring to their choice of forced migration across the river, or death.

In the Williamite war in Ireland (1689-91), the Jacobites also retreated behind the Shannon after their defeat at the Battle of the BoyneSieges of Limerick and Siege of Athlone). in 1690. Athlone and Limerick, cities commanding bridges over the river, saw bloody sieges. (See

As late as 1916, the leaders of the Easter Rising planned to have their forces in the west "hold the line of the Shannon". However, in the event, the rebels were neither well enough armed nor equipped to attempt such an ambitious policy.

The Shannon holds much of Irelands past and is a beautiful site to see.

Economics

Despite being more than 300 km (200 miles) long, it rises only 76 m (250 feet) above sea level, so the river is easily navigable, with only a few locks along its length. There is a hydroelectric generation plant at Ardnacrusha belonging to the ESB.

Shipping in Shannon estuary was developed extensively during the 1980s, with over £2 billion (€2.5Billion) investment. A tanker terminal at Foynes and an oil jetty at Shannon Airport were built. In 1982 a large scale Alumina Extraction Plant was built at Aughinish. 60,000 tonne cargo vessels now carry raw bauxite from West African mines to the plant, where it is refined to Alumina. This is then exported to Canada where it is further refined to Aluminium. 1985 saw the opening of a huge coal-fired electricity plant at Moneypoint, fed by regular visits by 150,000 tonne bulk carriers.

There are various stages to the competition. In England there are regionals, then nationals and then qualifications for the All-Ireland and in Ireland there are counties, provinces then the All-Ireland. One can compete in just about any instrument and there are various age categories. It is considered very competitive.

The first national festival of Irish traditional music was held in Mullingar in 1951. At its inaugural meeting in September 1951, CCÉ came up with the title of Fleadh Cheoil, aiming to make this a great national festival.

In the years that followed, fleadheanna (the plural form of fleadh) at county and provincial were organised. Since then, Fleadh Nua (the new fleadh), Fleadh na Breataine (an All-Britain fleadh) and regional fleadhanna in Britain, and two major fleadhanna in the USA have also become annual CCÉ events.

From its beginning, the goal of the Fleadh Cheoil was to establish standards in Irish traditional music through competition. The Fleadh developed as a mainly competitive event, but it also included many concerts, céilithe, parades, pageants, and street sessions.

Right through the sixties and seventies, the Fleadh continued to grow and the number of would-be competitors grew so large that qualifying stages had to be arranged, at county and provincial level, to produce a manageable number of participants for the All-Ireland finals at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

Today, nearly 50 years on, fleadhanna at each level provide a platform and a meeting place for the thousands of musicians (around 20,000 performers compete in fleadhanna each year) who carry on the tradition of playing and cherishing Irish music, songs, and dances. Impromptu sessions usually follow the competitions.

The 2007 festival will be held in Tullamore, County Offaly.

Competition categories

According to CCÉ's official rules for 2005,

Solo competitions shall be held for the following instruments: fiddle; two-row accordion; concert flute; whistle; piano accordion; concertina; uilleann pipes; harp; mouth organ; banjo; mandolin - excluding banjo-mandolin; piano; old-style melodeon; bodhrán; war pipes; miscellaneous such as three and five row button accordion, piccolo, harmonica and other stringed instruments; céilí band drums; accompaniment – confined to piano, harp, guitar and bouzouki type instruments; solo traditional singing in Irish and English; whistling; lilting; newly composed ballads and amhráin nua-cheaptha.

Solo competitions for slow airs shall be held in all age groups for the following instruments: (a) fiddle; (b) concert flute; (c) whistle; (d) uilleann pipes.

There are also competitions for the following ensembles: duet, trio, ceili band, instrumental group (grupai cheoil), accordion band, pipe band, and miscellaneous ensemble.

The full rule set, which may change from year to year, is available from CCÉ.

The Hunt Museum is a museum in the city of Limerick, Ireland. Holding a personal collection donated by the Hunt family, it was originally situated in the University of Limerick, before being moved to its present location. It can now be visited in the old custom house, an historic 18th century building by the River Shannon. Limerick's bustling quays began at this area of the river, recently made home to a marina.

The Hunt Museum holds about 2000 different artifacts, both from Ireland and abroad. The oldest pieces are from stone-age Ireland and ancient Egypt. The collection includes the Antrim Cross (a 9th century bronze and enamel cross), a small sketch by Picasso and a bronze horse from a design by Leonardo da Vinci for a large monument.

Controversy

In December 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center alleged in a letter to President Mary McAleese that the museum's collection contained items looted by the Nazis during the Second World War, although the letter did not refer to any specific items in the collection. The museum has denied the claims.

An inquiry led by former Supreme Court judge Donal Barrington was set up by the museum, but its members resigned in February 2005, saying that the museum's funding made an independent inquiry impossible, and requesting a more appropriate inquiry be created. The Department of Arts then provided €150,000 in funding for a second inquiry led by former civil servant Seán Cromien, under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy. The second inquiry was due to submit an interim report to the Royal Irish Academy in November 2005. This was submitted in February 2006. In October 2005, the museum published a catalogue of its exhibits on the internet, providing full details of all the items in its collection. In June 2006, the inquiry submitted the final report, which was published on the Academy's website.

Also in June 2006, a one-day conference took place on the theme of Contested Cultural Property and Museums: The Case of the Hunt Museum. At this conference, a message was conveyed from Shimon Samuels, who had sent the original letter to Mary McAleese questioning why he had not been invited to the seminar. Later, the terms of reference of the Hunt Museum Evaluation Group were questioned, the Simon Wiesenthal Center believing that more emphasis should have been placed on investigating the purported Nazi links of the Hunt family and the Hunt Museum Evaluation Group believing that this lay beyond their terms of reference, which were to do with provenance research. The Royal Irish Academy issued a press release responding to the statement of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The Folk Museum

Traditional Irish buildings at the museum

The Folk Museum houses a variety of old buildings and dwellings which have been collected from various parts of Ireland and rebuilt in the grounds of the museum, brick by brick. 60 acres are devoted to illustrating the rural way of life in the early 1900s, and visitors can stroll through a recreation of the period's countryside complete with farms, cottages, crops, livestock, and visit a typical Ulster town of the time called "Ballycultra", featuring shops, churches, and both terraced and larger housing. Regular activities include open hearth cooking, printing, needlework, and traditional Irish crafts demonstrations. The museum is currently undergoing expansion, with the addition of a picture house, hardware shop, drapers, chemists, weaving shed and a period tea room. This is being partly funded by Heritage Lottery and Peace II grants, and is estimated to be complete in 2007.

Indoors, the Folk Galleries feature a number of temporary exhibitions including They Love Music Mightily, an exhibition featuring contemporary recordings of Irish traditional music, and Meet the Victorians, a lively and colourful exhibition on aspects of Victorian life.

The Museum is the holder of Northern Ireland's main film, photographic, television and sound archives. The Museum holds the BBC Northern Ireland archive of radio and television programmes, and also possesses over 2,000 hours of sound material broadcast between 1972 and 2002 by the Irish language radio station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, from its studios in Derrybeg, County Donegal. The museum also maintains an archive of Ulster dialects, and a large library containing over 15,000 books and periodicals. The archives and library are open to the public during office hours.

The Transport Museum

Maedb, a locomotive housed at the museum

The Transport Museum houses an extensive transport collection, and endeavours to tell the story of transport in Ireland, from its early history to the modern era. It is the largest railway collection in Ireland, and one of the largest transport collections in Europe. Attractions in the grounds themselves include a model railway operated by the Model Engineers Society of Northern Ireland, and the 120 ton steel schooner Result.

The Irish Railway Collection tells the story of over 150 years of railway history. Steam locomotives, passenger carriages and goods wagons are combined with extensive railway memorabilia, interactive displays and visitor facilities. These include an award-winning computer game and children's play area. One of the collection's main attractions is Maedb, one of the three largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever to be built and run in Ireland. Alongside the Irish Railway Collection are the new Road Transport Galleries, which boast a large collection of vehicles ranging from cycles and motorcycles, to trams, buses, and cars. One of its most famous attractions is a De Lorean DMC-12 car, the model made famous by the Back to the Future trilogy, and manufactured by the De Lorean Motor Company in Belfast.

The museum boasts a permanent Titanic exhibition, documenting the construction, voyage, and eventual sinking of the ill-fated vessel. The ship has long been associated with Northern Ireland, as it was constructed in the Harland and Wolff shipyards, just a few miles from the museum. A more recent exhibition at the Transport Museum is X2: Flight Experience, developed in partnership with BombardierShort Brothers. The exhibition aims to enable young visitors to discover for themselves the principles of flight, explore the history of aviation, and understand the process of making a successful aircraft. Also on display at the museum is the Short's manufactured SC1, a prototype vertical take-off aeroplane, only two of which were ever produced (the other crashed during testing, killing its pilot). Aerospace, owners of the Belfast-based aerospace company

Since the 1940s the Ulster Museum has built up very good collection of art by modern Irish, and particularly Northern Irish, artists.

In 1998, the Ulster Museum, which includes Armagh County Museum, merged with the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster-American Folk Park to form the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland, MAGNI.

In July 2005, a £12m refurbishment of the museum was announced, with funding coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. In October 2006 the museum closed its doors until 2009, to allow for the refurbishment work.

The Ulster Museum contains important collections of birds, Irish mammals, insects, molluscs, marine invertebrates, flowering plants, algae and lichens, as well as an archive of books and manuscripts relating to Irish natural history. The museum also maintains a natural history website named Habitas.  In the late 1980s and the early 1990s it had a permanent exhibition on dinosaurs which has since been scaled back considerably. There is also a collection of rocks, minerals and fossils.

Ulster Museum

Zoology

List of zoological collections

Historic

• Joseph Whitaker early 20th century, mounted birds from Sicily.
• William Thompson mid 19th century author of Natural History of Ireland, Mollusca, birds, algae.
• Robert Templeton (Belfast, Colombo) mid 19th century insects from Ceylon.
• George Crawford Hyndman mollusca and Indian birds.
• William Monad Crawford early 20th century Butterflies from Burma.
• Canon William Frederick Johnson early 20th century, Coleoptera.
• Charles Langham early 20th century, Irish insects European butterflies.
• H.M Peebles Himalayan snow butterflies (Parnassiinae)
• Robert Welch early 20th century Mollusca.
• Herbert T Malcolmson early 20th century James Sheals bird mounts (Ireland).
• Thomas Workman late 19th century Lepidoptera

Recent

• Paul Wilcox (1943- ) Butterflies of Malaya.
• Paul Smart (1941- ) Tropical butterflies
• Raymond Haynes Irish Butterflies Moths
• James P. Brock Ichneumonidae
• Shell collections, Nudibranchs and Sea sponges
• J.R.Stoffel Types of Agrias butterflies

Important individual specimens

• Holotype of Emperor Penguin collected by Captain Crozier of Banbridge
• Champion Patrick of Ifold - Irish wolfhound^[3]
• Dwarf elephant skeletons from Sicily.
• The Egyptian mummified body of Takabuti.
• Mummy case of Tjesmutperet.
• Slender-billed Curlew
• Rothschild's, Queen Alexandra's and other Birdwing butterflies.
• Giant Clam - given to the Belfast Natural History Society by Francis Walker
• Lammergeier mount by James Sheals
• Gervais' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon europaeus)
• Japanese spider crab
• Bonaparte's Gull collected by William Thompson - the first European specimen.
• Giant squid Model
• Thylacine
• Coelacanth
• Bald Eagle Juvenile from near Garrison, County Fermanagh on 11 January 1973.
• Passenger Pigeon
• Irish Elk
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Irish specimen)

Wildlife art

The Zoology Department also maintains collections of Wildlife Art. Works by Peter Scott, Joseph Wolf, Eric Ennion, John Gerrard Keulemans, Roger Tory Peterson, Charles Tunnicliffe, Robert Gillmor and Archibald Thorburn are included. Illustrated works held by the Zoology Department include British Entomology - being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland — a classic work of entomology by John Curtis.

Botany

The Herbarium (BEL)

The herbarium in the Ulster Museum (BEL), is based on specimens from Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society (founded in 1821); the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club (founded in 1863); the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery (formed 1905) and the herbarium (BFT) of the Botany Departmeny of Queen's University, Belfast acquired in 1968. In total the number of specimens is more than 100,000. Although specimens from Northern Ireland are well represented, specimens from elsewhere in the world have been acquired by donation, exchange and purchase. All branches of the world's flora are represented: algae, lichens, fungi, mosses and pteridophytesconifers and angiosperms. Little information about the Irish flora before 1830 is available, the oldest specimen in the Ulster Museum is an alga: Batrachospermum moniliforme (BEL: F41) collected in 1798 by John Templeton, other specimens of Batrachospermum, originally incorrectly identified as Thorea ramoissima were collected by John Templeton in 1815 from a "boghole" in Co. Donegal (BEL:F42 - F47). It was originally published by Harvey in 1841.  (ferns),

List of some of the collectors

• S.A.Bennett (1843 — 1929)
• Corrie Denew Chase (1878 — 1965). (vascular plants and algae) — his herbarium of about 4,000 sheets was passed to Methodist College Belfast who passed it to the museum in 1970.
• John Cocks (1787 — 1861) (algae)
• Thomas Hughes Corry (1859 — 1883) (vascular plants).
• A. Fenton (A.F-G.Fenton) (lichens)
• M.Foslie (algae)
• Paul Hackney (1945 — ) (vascular plants and mosses)
• William Henry Harvey (1811 — 1866) (algae).
• George Crawford Hyndman (1796 — 1867) (algae).
• Frederick Hugh Woodhams Kerr (1885 — 1958) (vascular plants)
• Mary Patriria Happer Kertland (1901 — 1991) (vascular plants)
• William McCalla (c.1814 — 1849) (algae).
• Osborne Morton (1945 — ) (lichens and algae)
• Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865 — 1953) (vascular plants)
• Arthur Wilson Stelfox (1883 — 1972) (vascular plants)
• Samuel Alexander Stewart (1826 — 1910) (vascular plants)
• John Templeton (Botanist)John Templeton (1766 — 1825) (algae).
• William Thompson (1805 — 1852) (algae).
• Sylvanus Wear (1858 — 1920) (vascular plants and algae)
• Coslett Herbert Waddell (1858 — 1919) (vascular plants, Bryophyta and algae).

1960s Art

The collection contains works by:

Jean Dubuffet

Morris Louis

Anthony Caro

Karel Appel

Francis Bacon

Joseph Beuys

Eduardo Paolozzi

Jean-Robert Ipoustéguy

Past Art Exhibitions

Partial List

• Scultura Italiana 1964
• Henri Laurens, 16 July-30 August, 1971

Ethnographic Collections

Chola Art[2]]Bronze statues from the Chola Dynasty.

Samurai Armour

Solomon Islands war canoe. Similar boat

Girona

The museum acquired Armada artefacts from the Galleass Girona (ship) in 1971.

Action

The Ulster Museum is now closed to the public for renovation, this will take about three years and cost about £12m. Its character will be dramatically changed. Meanwhile all the specimens are lodged in an outside store. Books and journals, not regularly required, have been sent to an archive store and temporary buildings have been erected for the academic staff while the building is being renovated.

15.05.2007 Builders have not yet been appointed and the alterations have not yet begun.

31.05.2007 Botany Department is now inaction in the Cultra site.

Central to the Folk Park is the boyhood home of Thomas Mellon, judge and founder of the Pittsburgh banking dynasty. Contained within the park are some thirty buildings — some recreations and some are painstakingly restored originals. Some of the two-up, two-downSandy Row, off the Donegall Road in Belfast, and other buildings have been transported from elsewhere in the province. houses in one of the reconstructed streets were transported in their entirety from

Elsewhere in the site there are agricultural displays and animals, and visitors are offered samples of various local, food such as smoked salmon and bread, freshly-cooked in the cottages they pass through.

The park is open throughout the year, excluding some public holidays.

Theme

The museum is themed, with volunteers dressed in period costume, often demonstrating techniques used for day-to-day tasks and occupational skills such as bread making, cooking, arts and crafts, embroidery, spinning and printing and so on. Events are marked which cover the culture of both the New World and the Old World, such as Independence Day and Halloween. Festivals often take place including Saint Patrick's Day, Appalachian, Bluegrass and Irish folk music and dancing demonstrations. Exhibitions are often scheduled to promote cultural awareness, such as Hands Across the Border and textiles exhibits.

Transatlantic connections

The Ulster-American theme is highlighted by the layout and the information relayed, such as the fact that over two million people had left Ulster, for North America between the years 1700 and 1900.

The park is split into four sections, including the entrance.

Research and education

The entrance itself includes accommodation for up to 46 people, in a variety of situations, a restaurant, a visitors information centre and the Centre for Migration Studies (CMS). The CMS has an attached library and offers, in conjunction with the University of Ulster and Queen's University of Belfast, postgraduate and undergraduate courses, as well as tailored and shorter courses, all of which concern the study of Irish migration from 1600 to the present day. The specialist research library contains thousands of volumes for research, including a collection of primary source documents, the Irish Emigration Database, maps and periodicals, all being cross-indexable and searchable on computers. The Centre is open to visitors during basic office hours, and closed during public holidays.

Old World

The Old World region is the second area of the park. It includes whole streets of old houses, an old original printing press, a bank, an old police barracks, the old Castletown National School, and two churches.

New World

The fourth and final part of the park is entered through the third — a full-size replica of an emigrant ship.

The themed atmosphere continues amongst log cabins from Pennsylvania an Boston.

The Point has been noted for its flexible seating configurations - over the years it has not only served as a venue for many different varieties of music concerts, but has also been turned into an ice rink, a boxing arena, a conference hall, an exhibition centre, a wrestling ring, a theatre, an opera house and a three ring circus.

History

The building was constructed in 1878 as a train depot to serve the nearby busy port.

In the late 1980s, after many years of neglect and disuse, it was bought by local developer Harry Crosbie and fitted with new balconies, offices and backstage facilities.

Before it was renovated, U2 recorded part of their 1988 album Rattle and Hum there. It was opened in 1988. Huey Lewis and the News were the first act to play there. U2 played four nights at the Point near the end of their Lovetown Tour in 1989. One concert was broadcast around the world and another became notable for Bono's prophetic comment regarding U2 having to "go away and ... and dream it all up again."

On the 19th June 1992 - Def Leppard kicked of their 7 Day Weekend Tour of Europe in the Point Depot in support of their multi million selling record 'Adrenalize'. The show was the first time Def Leppard had brought their 'In The Round' stage show outside of America. The Stage was set in the middle of the arena and featured a revolving drum kit which could move to any point around the stage. This was also the first time any band had brought an 'in the round' stage show on an international tour. It was also the first full show the band played with new guitarist Vivian Campbell. 

In the Nineties, the Point became a familiar setting to millions of European television viewers, as it was the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, 1995, and 1997, becoming the only venue to have hosted the final three times.

The Point thus also served as the first place the dancing sensation Riverdance was performed, being in the interval act of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest.

The 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards was also held there.

Tragedy struck the theatre in the May of 1996 at a Smashing Pumpkins concert. Due to overcrowding and moshing, 17 year old fan Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death.

David Gray's live performance video, David Gray: Live, released in 2001, was recorded at The Point in December 1999.

Kylie Minogue made a triumphant return to the Point (after a 14 year absence) in May 2005 with her Showgirl Tour. She played six nights at the Dublin venue, just weeks before she was told she had breast cancer.

Bell X1's live album Tour De Flock was recorded at their live concert here in 2006.

Oasis (band) have played several concerts in the Point, most recently in December, 2005, where they referred to Dublin as 'the second greatest city in the world'.

Pearl Jam opened their first European tour in six years at the Point Theatre. They were originally to play the Leeds and Reading Festivals first and then come and play at Slane Castle however Pearl Jam felt the Point was the perfect place to begin their tour. The concert gained wide radio play in the U.K and Ireland.

Beyoncé recently played two dates in the Point, which closed the first leg of the 'Beyonce Experience Tour'. During both concerts, Beyoncé commented on how she loved coming to Ireland for the Irish shows, telling the audience how she 'bragged' on them to her band/crew. At the end of the second Irish show, Beyoncé cried, giving an emotional conclusion to the first leg of her tour.

Several other acts will play the Point throughout Summer 2007, before its renovation, including Keane, George Michael, and Norah Jones.

Future

The Point is due to be closed in the summer of 2007 to be rebuilt and refurbished to a design by HOKSVE architects and Buro Happold engineers. The wall closest to the city will be knocked out and will be extended out to create an arena with the capacity of over 14,000. Also on the site of the carpark and other surrounding land there will be an underground carpark, a cinema, a shopping centre, a small 2000 seater theatre, a hotel and a 24 story tower with offices, retail and 150 residential units.

The Helix is a building on the Dublin City University campus between Glasnevin and Whitehall on Dublin's Northside, originally planned to be called the Aula Maxima. Recently completed, in 2002, it is described as a "performance space" and holds concerts, university conferring ceremonies and national arts shows. In fact the Helix has three areas for live performances:

• The Mahony Hall (1260 seats),
• The Theatre (450 seats), and
• The Space (150 seats).

Introduction

At a cost of €36.5 million, The Helix is an Arts Centre comprising Concert Hall, Theatre, Studio Theatre, Exhibition Area, Artists in Residence Studios and full support spaces; the building is three storey over basement (undeveloped space). The gross floor area of the building is 11,650m2.

It was designed by Polish-born architects A & D Wejchert (Andrzej Wejchert & Danuta Kornaus-Wejchert) and is a stunning building containing elevations of contrasting glass and granite. Inside, the foyer – featuring inclined columns – is the main organising focal point in the building and is arranged over three levels with an interconnecting open void through which light spills from the roof. The void has a series of sweeping stairways, which twist, helix-like, to entice patrons towards the upper levels.

Aside from the breathtaking vista of The Helix building inside and out, the venue prides itself on the range of performing arts that it can stage. The seating layouts in each of the three venues and the ratio of audience to performance can be changed to allow alternative uses ranging from theatre, cinema, concerts, musicals, drama, dance, operatic performances and pop concerts to exhibitions, banquets, seminars, examinations, graduations, conferences and corporate hospitality.

For major events the foyer space can be linked with the atrium street in the adjoining Henry Grattan Building by means of a direct passage. The facility could potentially be used for separate entertainment use prior to major events.

About

Foyer, Ground floor

Foyer, Top floor

The Helix has been host to world-class performances ranging from the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, The St. Petersburg Ballet, International Theatre and World Singers to hit west End Shows. The artistic programme at The Helix is bringing the very best in the world of performing arts, from the Irish Chamber Orchestra to the Russian State Opera and from Ireland’s national theatre companies to world touring companies.

The Helix has generated an impressive reputation for staging cutting edge and diverse theatre and music. It has welcomed some of the greatest orchestras from around the world, Opera singers such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Lesley Garrett and Bryn Terfel, theatre from the US, UK, South Africa, Vietnam and of course Ireland, (most notably the world premier of Roddy Doyle's 'The Woman Who Walked Into Doors'). Rock music has not been neglected and two legends tread the Helix boards in the forms of Van Morrison and Lou Reed. Jazz musicians such as the Wayne Shorter Group (with pianist Danilo Pérez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade) and Jan Garbarek Group (with Manu Katché), the Charles Lloyd quartet (with pianist Keith Jarrett, drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Cecil McBee) and Thimar (Anouar Brahem, John Surman and Dave Holland) also play in the venue. The Helix has also hosted concerts by bands, singers and musicians such as The Corrs, Aslan, Sinéad O'Connor, Chumbawamba, Suzanne Vega, Vonda Shepard, Deacon Blue, The Drifters, Declan O'Rourke, Brian Kennedy, James Galway, Ludovico Einaudi, Nigel Kennedy, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Smokie, Juliet Turner, Crystal Gayle, Dana, Lorna Luft, Ani DiFranco, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Errol Brown, Dean Friedman, Cara Dillon, Eleanor McEvoy, Daniel O'Donnell, Foster & Allen, Don Baker, Jane McDonald, Lulu, Luka Bloom, Nick Lowe, Roger Whittaker, Tom Paxton, Tommy Emmanuel, Tommy Makem, Christie Hennessy and Jack L.

Amongst other things, in the past it was home to “The Dunphy Show” (TV3), the comedy TV show “The Panel” (RTÉ), “Rip Off Republic” (RTÉ) and the infamous “You're A Star” (RTÉ). The show Celtic Woman (PBS) was shot there in September 2004. Daniel O'Donnell's "Songs of Faith" was shot there in 2003. "The Des Bishop Work Experience" (2004) was also shot there. It is currently home to the National Chamber Choir of Ireland. The Helix has also hosted RTÉ Radio 1's leading arts programme, “Rattlebag”. Public audiences with controversial political figures such as George Galloway, film critics such as Barry Norman, broadcasting figures such as John SergeantClive James and spiritual masters such as Sogyal Rinpoche have also been held in the venue. The Gallery has been used for art exhibitions and photojournalism exhibitions such as ‘The Devil Within Us’ by Jan Šibík. Other large national and international events have been held in the helix, such as the NABBA world bodybuilding championships, the FÍS National Film Awards and the Labour Party2006 and 2007. and  Conferences in

"Psychic mediums" such as Derek Acorah, Derek Ogilvie, Colin Fry and Tony Stockwell perform regularly at The Helix.

The Helix is marketed as suitable for national and international conferences as has ready road access to Dublin Airport and to the M50 motorway and the city centre.

"As the newest and most outstanding platform for the Arts in Ireland it is an international example of how Architecture can best serve the artistic aesthetic and cultural needs of a city and country." - Marie-Louise O'Donnell, Artistic Director and manager of The Space at The Helix.

The Helix was awarded the Opus Building of the Year Award in 2003.

Venues

• The Mahony Hall:
  • Orchestral concert hall with rear choir stalls.

The main auditorium, The Mahony Hall, can seat 1,260 over two floors. The Hall is named after Dr Mahony who is a long time supporter of the arts in Ireland.

It was designed for acoustic excellence and to accommodate a variety of functions such as orchestral performances, ballet, contemporary music, business conferences, exhibitions, gala banquets and awards ceremonies. The ground floor seating is retractable or can be removed to give a large flat floor. The hall was designed to be television camera friendly and sound reflective baffles over the stage incorporate all the required light and sound adjustable technology. The most important characteristics of The Mahony Hall are its TV, video, audio and projection facilities, infra-red hearing reinforcement systems, dedicated TV camera positions, sound reinforcement system, comfort and wonderful sight lines. In the past the programme in Mahony Hall has included musicals, ballet, orchestral music and even a spectacular ice show.

• The Basement:
  • Underneath the Mahony Hall, on the right side of the building from the point of view of Collins Avenue, currently undeveloped.
• The Theatre:
  • Proscenium arch theatre.

The Theatre seats 450 (Raked Stalls 277, Orchestra pit 46, balcony 119, disabled positions 4) and is fully equipped with orchestra pit and fly tower. To the observer the fly tower is unobtrusively concealed behind glass, which reflects the surrounding skyline. It also has one of the largest stages in the country.

It is a perfect space for opera, dance and drama as well as conferences, seminars product launches. It has TV, video, audio and projection facilities, a sound and light control room, cinematic projection room, infra-red hearing reinforcement system, theatre grid, fly tower, apron stage conversions, scene dock, sound reinforcement system, lighting bridges and follow spots.

• The Space:
  • Black box studio.

The Space studio theatre is designed as a totally flexible venue suitable for experimental theatre and contemporary music. The space can seat 150.

It is an intimate playbox, octagonal in shape with retractable seating on three sides, leaving the rest open to performers or conference speakers to use as they will. It is a perfect space for entertaining clients, holding workshops, seminars or training sessions. As a free space it is a perfect design for dialogue, discussion or even live radio interviews. It has TV, video, audio and projection facilities, a sound reinforcement system, a microphone management system, equipment balconies and a main control booth.

• The Gallery
  • The Gallery, situated on the top floor of The Helix is a dedicated exhibition and visual art gallery which compliments the three auditoria. It is roof lit and flexible to accommodate a variety of visual art events or indeed multimedia presentations, receptions and seminars. It is bright and roomy with a beautiful wooden floor.
• The Blue Room:
  • For Thespian use.

The Foyer

• Ground Floor:
  • Snack Shop, Box Office, Cafe/Bar.
  • Entrance to The Space
  • Ground Floor entrance to the Theatre
  • Ground Floor entrance to the Mahony Hall
• First Floor:
  • Food Served Daily.
  • First Floor entrance to the Theatre
  • First Floor entrance to the Mahony Hall
• Second Floor:
  • Second Floor Bar, Heated Veranda.
  • Entrance to The Gallery
  • Entrance to The Blue Room
  • Second Floor entrance to the Mahony Hall

Other information

There are many offices to the rear of The Helix on all four floors of the building. They house everyone from Technical Support and Management to Marketing & PR Staff.

There are many rooms in the basement, ground floor and first floor on the left side of the building from the point of view of Collins Avenue, most are used for storage of stage props, other theatre-specific equipment and refreshments.

It also has an 850 car parking facility. There is a tunnel between the multi-storey car park and The Helix main entrance (for pedestrian use).

After the Society's move to Dublin in the 1890s, it came eventually to occupy the premises on Merrion Square, where it is still to be found. It now fulfills its original aims through the maintenance of its library and provision of lectures and excursions, as well as the continued publication of its Journal, which is one of the most respected publications in the field of Irish archaeology and history.

History

Foundation

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland was founded in 1849 as the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, by a group of young men with archaeological and historical interests who were based in the Kilkenny area. The aim of the Society was the preservation and illustration of the antiquities of Kilkenny, city and county, although this later spread to cover a far wider area, with the Society changing its name only five years later to 'The Kilkenny and South East of Ireland Archaeological Society', both to attract wider membership and to reflect the interests of those who had already joined. Indeed, by 1868 it had become the 'Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland', reflecting its exponential growth, partly due to the widespread circulation of its Journal. In 1869 it was granted a Royal Charter, and the right to elect Fellows, and in 1890 it moved to Dublin, changing its name to the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland as it took on what it saw as a national role, becoming in 1891, according to its Honorary Secretary Robert Cochrane: 'not only the largest Antiquarian Society in Great Britain and Ireland, but also the largest in the world'.

Graves and Prim

The two first, and highly dynamic Honorary General Secretaries, the Revd. James Graves (1815-1886), and John G.A. Prim (1821-1875), a newspaper man, were responsible for its initial success. These cousins had had an interest in Kilkenny antiquities from their youngest days, when they had rambled as far afield as Kilfane church to see the famous tomb sculpture of Cantwell Fada. Graves had been making sketches of the ancient monasteries of the vicinity since his student days in Trinity College Dublin in the 1830s, while Prim had found time despite his hectic schedule at the 'Kilkenny Moderator' to start collecting Irish ballads and transcribing from medieval manuscripts as early as 1841. Their knowledge of local antiquities was matched by the idealism of the organisation itself, which was non-sectarian, including the Catholic Robert Cane, later Mayor of Kilkenny, as well as Philip Moore, a Catholic priest who remained a close friend of Prim’s to the end of his life. Its subscription rate, at 5 shillings a year, was also very modest in comparison with most English archaeological societies, many of which adopted high subscription rates with the intention of promoting a socially exclusive and often highly aristocratic membership.

Irish antiquarianism and archaeology in the 1840s

The Society’s foundation was no doubt influenced by the general revival of interest in ancient Irish antiquities and history which the Ordnance Survey had sparked off. George Petrie (1790-1866), who had been actively involved in the OS was also revitalising the Antiquities Committee of the Royal Irish Academy, and opening up critically sound debate on early Christian buildings in Ireland with the publication of his book The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland: An Essay on the Origins and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, in 1845. Nevertheless, it was a time of increasing danger for the heritage of Ireland, as the Irish language suffered severe setbacks after the Famine of the 1840s, and was vanishing from County Kilkenny even around the time the Society was establishing itself. As superstitious beliefs died out, people became less cautious of destroying the field monuments such as raths and stone circles, which hitherto had been avoided in cultivation of the land. Meanwhile many of the standing buildings were in increasing danger from the effects of rain and frost, as much as from wanton vandalism.

Conservation Work

The Society’s early aims therefore included the conservation of endangered buildings, and they carried out valuable work at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Jerpoint Cistercian Abbey, County Kilkenny and St Francis Abbey in Kilkenny city. However, with the passing of the Church Temporalities Act in 1869, many of these structures came to be vested in the Board of Works, which then took over the duty of conserving them, appointing Thomas Newenham Deane Inspector of National Monuments in 1875. This relieved the Society of its responsibilities in active preservation of buildings, although it continued to participate by drawing the Board’s attention to individual cases.

Museum

Its interest in preservation was also reflected in the Museum it built up of objects donated by various members, as well as those objects found during the archaeological excavations it carried out itself. Many items from the Museum subsequently became part of the collections of the National Museum of Ireland.

Preservation through Illustration

It achieved its aim of illustration of antiquities, not only through the published Journal, which from its creation contained both lithographs and engravings, (later photographs), but also by a comprehensive effort to photograph the antiquities of the 32 counties of Ireland.

Publications

The RSAI publishes an annual peer-reviewed Journal.