Death in Ireland #1 – St Valentine’s Relics

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I’m starting with this as Saint Valentines day was only a few weeks ago and a visit to the church housing these relics prompted me to write this series of posts.

So, Saint Valentine…what’s not to love? -he’s the Patron Saint of fiancees, bee keepers, happy marriages, love, plague, epilepsy and against fainting. Continue reading

Culture Night Dublin

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Great Auk

So, tomorrow is Culture Night in Dublin. There is an incredible range of places opening their doors to the public until all hours. Here is my rough plan for the evening… Continue reading

A jar of moles and fleas racing chariots- my weekend in London

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So, just back from a fascinating weekend in London which began with a quick browse in the bookshop at the Wellcome Collection. Since we were passing, I couldn’t resist a quick nosey and “may” have been sucked into some purchases. Continue reading

Reclaiming Spectacle – Congress of Curious People

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Saturday and Sunday of this weekend will be an explosion of the spectacular by the looks of it…

CfCP

What a programme! Where else would you find the history and culture of the funfair and the fascination of religious relics (including Jesus’ foreskin) in the same lineup of topics? Where else??

Really excited to have the opportunity to attend, considering Morbid Anatomy in NY always seems so far away from Ireland!

A visit to RCPI Library

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So, during Ireland’s recent Heritage week, I visited the RCPI’s beautiful building on Kildare Street for a lunchtime tour of the building including Sir Patrick Dun’s Library. The tour was very insightful, but the library blew me away- 30,000 books relating to the history of medicine. They had some beautifully illustrated books on display and provided gloves to encourage people to take  a careful glance through the contents. One book really caught my eye… a book by Ambrose Parey (Ambroise Pare)… as seen in some badly taken iphone pics… Continue reading