When the Eucharistic Congress came to town

Preparations were in train in Dublin for the thirty-first Eucharistic Congress, held on 23 June 1932, for several months and the month of June became a period of retreat and prayer.

On the day, almost half a million people were present to witness Papal Legate Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri celebrate mass.

Contemporary estimates record the presence of high church dignitaries including nine cardinals, hundreds of bishops and other clerics representing forty-eight countries.
The newly elected Fianna Fail government under the formerly excommunicated Eamon de Valera went all out to show that the Irish Free State was a country in high standing with Rome.
During the High Mass, the 1,500-year-old St Patrick’s Bell was used to mark the solemn moments. The bell was loaned for the occasion by the National Museum of Ireland. Scouts from the newly formed Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland acted as guards at the high altar in the park. The High Mass was followed by a procession to the centre of the city along the North Circular Road and down O’Connell Street, where, at an altar erected on O’Connell Bridge, solemn benediction was imparted by Cardinal Lauri.
The procession to the bridge was some five miles long and was given colour by the hundreds of banners carried by participants who wore the special Congress badge struck for the occasion.

The main park gates at Parkgate Street were removed for ease of movement of crowds for the Eucharistic Congress.
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Park traffic study comments are sought

The Commissioners of Public Works has commissioned Faber Maunsell Consulting Engineers to conduct a comprehensive study of traffic in the park.

The closing date for submissions was extended to the end of May following local complaints that the original closing date was too close to the announcement of the study.

Results of the survey are expected to go on public display by the end of the summer.

Pressure has been building on the OPW, custodians of the park, to allow the park to be used as a public bus route to ease traffic congestion on surrounding roads.

Submissions may be emailed to the consultants.

More detail here

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four in a row and a football match

On Saturday April 22 author Brendan Nolan was interviewed on Dublin's Phoenix FM in an extended interview. It was the fourth weekend in a row that the book featured in the media.

A local cup match between two teams from St Brigid's GAA club was on that afternoon and Brendan was sandwiched between live match reports, or vice versa.

The programme ran for two and a half hours and is to be edited to a 60-minute interview for re-broadcast whenever the station needs an hour-long show to fill a schedule.

It could go on forever.

For signed copies go here

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Signed copies for home delivery

The book Phoenix Park a history and guidebook is going into its third printing since launch on December 8.

It has featured on the just published shelves and on the tables in Eason's of O'Connell Street for some 18 weeks without a break, and other outlets are also prominently featuring the book, so it's no wonder sales are staying steady.

On the web it is available through Amazon, Eason's, and the publisher Liffey Press websites as well as other sales site.

As well, we have added a new sales point for personally signed copies delivered to your home.

For signed copies go here

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Three weekends in a row

Easter weekend 2006 was the third weekend in a row that the book and or author were featured in newspapers.

On April 1, we were on Mooney goes Wild on RTE radio and in the Evening Herald.

On April 8, the book was mentioned in the Horizons column of the Irish Times.

On April 15, Easter Sunday, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times ran a two page feature in one of its supplements and Brendan Nolan was interviewed.

Sadly, no jacket of the book appeared, nor was the website address included in the factbox and no author picture was used despite an invitation from the paper to be photographed extensively in the Park, which we agreed to do.

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