The Sheela-na-gigs of Stoneybatter

There's no general agreement on how to spell them (Sheela na gig, Síle na gcíoch, Síle na gCíoc...) or what they stand for.  But there are at least four tiny stone-like figures that might very well be sheela-na-gigs in Stoneybatter, making it the sheela-na-gig capital of Ireland.

Worldwide Discount Airfares, Arbour Hill

Ghost signs are a recurring motif in Ghost Flight, such as this one - an abandoned shopfront at 58A Arbour Hill in Stoneybatter. The book only mentioned it in passing, but it deserves far better, because since the start of the recession the building has become, well, a sort of lovable local landmark.

Christy Brown's coal lorry, Arbour Hill

Dublin writer and artist Christy Brown was born on this day in 1932. My Left Foot, Jim Sheridan's award-winning film from 1989, tells the semi-fictional story of Christy (brilliantly played by Daniel Day-Lewis), and this is a famous scene shot in Stoneybatter, around Arbour Hill.

Arbour Hill Cemetery #1

Arbour Hill's military cemetery is the last resting place of 14 of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. It is currently undergoing a revamp.

A little patch of (UN) sky blue

The UN memorial garden in Arbour Hill in Dublin will be an early location in the fourth Moss Reid book. A small garden with at least three entrances/exits - one directly onto the street - yet secluded, tranquil and rather special.

Hangman, hangman...

Dublin has its fair share of bloody street names. Literally.

Arbour Hill Church, Stoneybatter

Arbour Hill's church and cemetery will feature prominently in Dublin's Easter 1916 centenary commemorations. And in Book #4 of the Moss Reid series too, as it happens. You heard it here first.

The Belfry, Stoneybatter

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Belfry (mentioned briefly in Black Marigolds) is one of Stoneybatter's oldest pubs.

It's on a prominent street corner, hard to miss, an old landmark with its red-and-blue paintwork and those four splendid light-globes at the front saying "Shortts General Store".

Yet with its big screens and Sky Sport and pool table, the Belfry is/was in fact a relative newcomer. In the 1980s and early 1990s it used to be known as Daly's.

Stoneybatter says 'Yes'

I've seen stranger turnabouts in elections before, but surely the SNP will take most - possibly all - of Scotland's seats this week, and on 22 May Stoneybatter will produce an overwhelming "Yes" vote in Ireland's same-sex marriage referendum.

I've only anecdotal evidence for the latter: friends and neighbours, several prominent pub and shop fronts, every second lamp post, so many canvassers, yet not a "No" in sight. It's a bolshie old place alright...

Brendan Behan's Cowtown

You don't come across many films showing the massive old cattle market in Stoneybatter, aka "Cowtown". But you do get glimpses of it (around the 23-minute mark) in this documentary called "Brendan Behan's Dublin".

Greek Orthodox Church, Dublin

The occasional tourist might ask you for directions "to the church on Arbour Hill". They're probably looking for the Church of the Sacred Heart, with its burial ground and monument to the 1916 rebel leaders.

But there's another church on the hill in Stoneybatter: the Greek Orthodox Church.

Walshes snug, Stoneybatter

To get a good idea of Walshes pub on Manor Street in Stoneybatter, check out this superb new video by award-winning director and music documentarian Myles O’Reilly.

It's a ballad called "Way Up On The Mountain" by Ye Vagabonds - brothers Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn. The duo currently play Walshes every Monday night.

Things looking up at the Joinery?

Update: just weeks after I wrote this, in September 2014 the Joinery announced that it would be closing down for good the following December. It has archived its online material at thejoineryarchive.org

Benburb Street #1: the old red-light district

Over the years Benburb Street has certainly been through the wars. Literally.

If you stroll, jog, cycle or take the tram along its route on a fine summer's day it can seem like a lovely spot today. Most of us can be forgiven for not knowing - or simply forgetting - about the street's sordid past.

But I deal in crime fiction, and this happens to be a real street in Stoneybatter with countless real crimes.

The Magdalene Laundries of Stoneybatter

Stoneybatter used to have at least one Magdalene Laundry: St Mary's in Stanhope Street, controlled by the Sisters of Charity.

Lilliput Stores, Rosemount Terrace, Arbour Hill

Talk about timing. It was May 2007, just months before the Irish economy would implode dramatically like a neutron star. I can't imagine a more difficult time to start a new business in Dublin.

Yet that's the very time that a tiny greengrocers and deli called the Lilliput Stores first opened its doors. Or, strictly speaking, door (singular).