Sarah Zama's Blog, page 65

Emotions (AtoZ Challenge 2016 – Jazz Age Jazz)

JAZZ AGE JAZZ - Emotions #AtoZChallenge The Devil music and the freedom of #jazz
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Jazz is a kind of music that relies greatly on emotions. It’s highly improvisational, and improvisation picks up the mood of the moment and goes with it. The stronger the mood, the livelier the improvisation.

In the 1920s, jazz’s ability to work with emotions was one of the reasons why it was so strongly opposed by the more traditional section of society. Jazz music, with its fast, syncopated rhythm, was thought to be able to bring out the more basic, primitive, animalistic emotions. And the dances that were danced to it (the Charleston, the Black Bottom, the Turkey Trot and such like) didn’t do anything to mitigate that idea.

People would dance in couples to that music, often embracing each other, their bodies rubbing against each other, at a fast, exhilarating rhythm. That was the good of jazz for young people, it was the freedom to express themselves, a liberating experience, both physical and intellectual. Jazz represented the brake away from the past. It was a new rhythm, a new way to understand rules, even a new way to bend those rules to create something that didn’t existed before.

Most traditional people thought this was true… only it wasn’t good at all. The break away from the past and conventional rules were perceive as something that would eventually destroy society. The ‘devil music’ would twist young people’s inhibitions and moral restraints – especially those of women – and would create rebellion against authority, which would eventually lead to chaos.

And if this were not enough, jazz was performed in disreputable places (mostly speakeasies) where other illegal activities were going on (drinking and interracial meeting), which the music seemed to encourage.

It was clearly the making of the devil and some reformers asked that it be prohibited just like alcohol.

But on the other side of the fence, jazz is understood in a very different way. As Wynton Marsalis explains in his book Moving on Higher Ground: how jazz can change your life, the most important emotion jazz encourages is respect.

Because improvisation is so essential to the life of jazz music, it requires a very strong feeling for the group. Musicians have to be aware of what they have to offer, but they also need to be aware that all the other musicians and even the listeners have something just as valuable to bring in. That’s how you recognise everyone’s potentiality and how you create something by making it work together.

At its heart, jazz is a great song of freedom and respect.

 

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RESOURCES

Marsalis, Wynton, Moving to Higher Ground: how jazz can change your life. Random House, New York, 2008

Jazz in America –
Medical Daily – Emotion and Creativity: Jazz Improvisation of Happiness Activates Different Brain Networks than Sadness

 

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Dixieland (AtoZ Challenge 2016 – Jazz Age Jazz)

JAZZ AGE JAZZ - Dixieland #AtoZChallenge #jazz The sound of “collective inprovisation”
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Although pin-pointing where exactly jazz originated is quite a difficult undertaking, it is generally accepted that early jazz appeared as a recognizable music in and around New Orleans at the turn of the XX century.

New Orleans was the ideal place to produce the kind of multi-influenced music that jazz is. A the turn of the XX century, New Orleans was home to many different cultures that clashed, but also met in a multicultural environment. Many languages were spoken in the city, French, Spanish and English being the prominent. There was a strong Caribbean influence that prompted a high tolerance toward the black community, which allowed slaves to retain much of their culture. Each of these differetn culture brought something to the table of music, but the Creaoles in particular

Louis Armstrong

united in themselves most of these characteristics.

Hig-brow music and low-calss music cohexisted in New Orleans and sometimes crossed path. It was an extraordinarily ripe mix of oral music techniques of lower-class origins, that by merging with a more formal concept of music adapted itself to the new demands of the professional dance halls.

Jazz, this new music, came of age in New Orleans, and when jazzmen left the South and moved North on the tracks of the Great Migration, this music became known as Dixieland.

Dixieland instrumentation and band size could be very flexible but primarily consisted of a “front line” (trumpets or cornet, trombone and a clarinet) and a “rhythm section” (guitar or banjo, bass or tuba, piano and drums). It very much resembled the organization of marching bands in New Orleans, which were probably the firsts to perform Dixieland.

The defining Dixieland sounds is the “collective improvisation”. This happens when one instrument – usually the trumpet – plays the melody or a recognizable paraphrase or variation of it and the other instruments of the “front line” improvise around that melody.

It creates a music that is always evolving and may even sound chaotic at first. In fact, in the 1920s, many people didn’t even consider jazz to be proper music. Thomas Edison famously commented that it sounds better when played backwards.

Still a lot of people did get the gist of it. In the 1920s, Dixieland was probably the most popular form of jazz.

 

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RESOURCES

About Entertainment – What is Early Jazz?

Prezi – Dixieland

QuizLet – Dixieland and Early Jazz/Blues from New Orleans

Gonola – Dixieland Jazz: Innovator in New Orleans music history

New World Encyclopedia – Dixieland

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Call and Response (AtoZ Challenge 2016 – Jazz Age Jazz)

JAZZ AGE JAZZ - Call and Response #AtoZChallenge #jazz as a strong communal creation
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Call-and-response is one of the most defining characteristics of jazz, one that comes stright out of the music’s African origin.

In whe work songs there would be a leader calling a line and a group responding to that line. So in jazz (especially early jazz) there would be an instrument proposing a melody and the other instruments would respond to it, would improvise around it.

But call-and-response went beyond the bandstand. The same way musicians influenced and prompted each other, so would the public. The audience’s reaction was vital to the performance because musicians would improvise on the base of audience’s input.

This was particularly true when people danced to jazz music. Dancers would react to the music, improvising new steps, and musicians would catch the new steps, their rhythm, and improvise new music on that.

Jazz was a very strong communal creation any way you looked at it, still how tcall-and-response was understood and practiced was always one of the things that most distinguished black from white jazz in America.

St. Louis Cotton Club Band Jazz Postcard Photo: Block Bros Studio, 1925 Missouri

White jazz was not only more mellow compared to the hot black jazz, it was also consumed in a more ‘European’ way. There would always be an invisible line between musicians and audience that was very seldom crossed.

In black establishments, the public would participate in the performance and would actually influenced it. In addition to communal creation of music between musicians and dancers, listeners would often comment the music and would protest loudly if they didn’t like it, or cheer hotly when they did like it. Throwing objects to the band to signal the audience’s displeasure wasn’t unheard of.

White establishments tried to adapt a more direct enjoyment of jazz by trying to blur the barrier between audience and performers, for example by bringing the show on the dance floor, on the same level as the audience. Dancers would often move among the tables, the audience was encouraged to show their appreciation or displeasure by clapping their hands or banging cutlery on the tables. But it always remained, at heart, a very different kind of involvement than the African American version.

 

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RESOURCES

Ogren, Kathy J., The Jazz Revolution. Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989

Jazz in America –

 

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Blues (AtoZ Challenge 2016 – Jazz Age Jazz)

 

“Blues is always about wanting to be someplace else but making the best of where you are.”

— Francis Davis, The History of the Blues: The Roots, the Music, the People (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 1995)

There are a couple of resons used to explain the name of this music:

Blues is short for “blues devil”, a term that was frequently used in America at the turn of the XX century to describe sadness or depression.
Blues make use of the “blue notes”, which are played at a pitch lower than the major scale and give the song a haunting, melancholy tone.

In many ways, blues is easier to define than jazz. But there is more to this music than the definition expresses. It’s true, blues songs often speak of misfortune, betrayal and regret, which is what the general public normally think when considering blues. But while the words speak of personal hard luck, the music itself is about overcoming that hard luck. Blues is about saying what you think, ridding yourself of frustration and simply having fun. The best blues is visceral, cathartic and strongly emotional.

There are definitely elements of blues in jazz music, though blues emerged a lot earlier in the same place where jazz manifested itself half a century later.

After the Civil War, African Americans came to the realisation that although slaves had been emancipated, freedom and equality were still a long way away. That was the feeling out of which this music was born.

Mamie Smith

The language of blues is a cultural code that finds its origin deep in the African American cultural and historical experience. It is not necessarily an intentional hidden message, like the ones in slaves’ spirituals and working songs, but rather a more intuitive message, some kind of metaphor that comes from a communal experience that was distinctively African American. For this reason, blues was for a long time circumscribed to the black community, the only one for which it had a deep cultural and historical meaning. Segregation, which was part of that same experience, allowed the evolution of blues in its own independent way. For a long time – and even after jazz became the most popular music of the nation – blues remained a music that few outside the African American community would hear.

But inside that community, blues created quite a stir.

From the beginning, it broke with the tradition of African communal creation of music and it was rather a personal expression of a communal experience. Bluesman and  blueswoman wouldn’t sing with the community being bart of it, but stand alone and sing to the community, even if they would express a communal feeling. This position implied authority on their part.

Those were men and women who performed in disreputable places and sang songs that often contained bawdy, very explicit lyrics. They weren’t considered the best representatives  for an entire, struggling community. Still, as they expressed their people’s feelings toward life and future, they ended up competing with preachers’ and politics’ authority on the matter.

Soon, that controversy would spread onto jazz.

JAZZ AGE JAZZ - Blues #AtoZChallenge #jazz The roots of the music of the soul
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RESOURCES

Ogren, Kathy J., The Jazz Revolution. Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989

Sullivan, Megan, African-American Music as Rebellion: From Slavesong to Hip-Hop (PDF)

All About Jazz – A brief history of the Blues

Shmoop – Blues Music History – Introduction

Diffen – Blues vs. Jazz

 

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Afro-American Origin (AtoZ Challenge 2016 – Jazz Age Jazz)

JAZZ AGE JAZZ - A is for African American Origin #AtoZChallenge #jazz
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If there’s something certain about jazz is that nothing is certain about jazz. We don’t know for certain where or when it was born. We don’t know for certain why and how it emerged as its own form of music. Even a definition for it is not easily founded.

But it is normally agreed on the fact that jazz arose in the South of the United States around the turn of the XX century and that, although it was always a mixture of European’s and African American’s musical traditions, the characteristics that most define jazz – especially early jazz – found their origin very far away in time and place: in Africa.

The place where a first form of music that then evolved into many others, including jazz, was the Southern plantation.

The communities of slaves on plantations were very diverse. Slaves came from different parts of Africa and often spoke different native languages, but music was something they all understood because it was a common part of all their different backgrounds. Slowly but steadily, music became a form of communication and one of the very few forms of expressions for slaves, who would draw strongly on their African heritage, but also picked up elements  of the owners’ European music culture. The plantation was one of the first places where contamination occurred.

Music on the plantations manifests in two different, main forms:

Spirituals: a syncretic form of religious expression. It had its roots in African spirituality, but was generally tolerated by plantation owners because interpreted as a conversion to Christianity.
Work song and field hollers: work in the fields was repetitive and monotonous. Work songs created a rhythm to work at, with strong, steady beats. A leader would sing a line, all the other participants would respond.

Early manifestations of music and songs on the plantations, both sacred and secular, were very similar in structure. The situation when they occurred was what differentiated them. In later years, this connection between sacred and secular music created quite the controversy inside the black community.

Another thing they had in common was that these songs often had a hidden meaning, a coded message comprehensible only to the community participating in the song and hidden to the slave owners. This secret meaning was sometimes meant to uplift the community and give some kind of hope. Some other times, it actually contained a message that was spread among the different plantations, which is why field hollers were sometimes forbidden.

The communal creation of the music, the syncopated rhythm and the “call and response” practice were all characteristics of African music, that would then evolved inside the African American community, often independently from the dominant white culture. Jazz was one of the many forms of music that emerged from this common experience.

 

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RESOURCES

Ogren, Kathy J., The Jazz Revolution. Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989

Sullivan, Megan, African-American Music as Rebellion: From Slavesong to Hip-Hop (PDF)

Red Hot Jazz – The Origins of Jazz

Hub Pages – How did jazz begin? The start of a history of jazz

Jazz – Jazz Heritages

 

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Thursday Quotables – The Soldier’s Farawell

Stephen didn’t answer. ‘Whichever way things go in there’. What if it didn’t come to a war? What if the Treaty was accepted? That wouldn’t get him off the hook, either. He could hardly just walk away and leave them to it. Whether he liked it or not, he was part of it now.

“Look, you don’t have to answer straight away,” Dalton went on, his voice lower, an insistent whisper. “I know you’ll need to talk about it. But we ‘want’ you, Stephen. Our terms would be generous. You can start with the same rank you had when you were demobbed – captain, wasn’t it? And it would be a short commission; you can resign if you get your old job back.”

“General Dalton!” a shout came from back down the corridor. Somebody had leaned out of a doorway and was beckoning furiously.

“Well, think about it anyway,” Dalton said as he turned to leave. “We need men like you.”

“What was that about?” Lillian asked when Stephen sat back down.

“I don’t think you want to know.”

Before she could press him further, Billy reappeared. He was walking slowly and looked dazed.

“Well?” Stephen asked. “Have they finished the vote?”

“They have.” Billy sat down heavily on the end of the chair. “It passed!”

“Oh thank God!” Lillian laughed, relieved.

“It passed, but only by seven votes,” Billy went on, despair in his voice. “Sixty-four to Fifty-seven. The Dáin is split – the country is split. Christ, what a mess!”

At that moment the doors to the chamber burst open and the deputies came streaming out. To a man they looked shocked and angry. After the first rush the crowd thinned and Stephen could see the dais at the far end of the chamber. He saw Collins standing up, his head cocked towards Emmet Dalton and his face stern and forbidding. His back was turned to Eamon de Valera, who was still slumped in his chair, his face in his hands and his whole body heaving with sobs.”

The Soldier’s Farawell by Alan Monaghan is the third novel in a trilogy. I didn’t know it when I picked it up, but I read it with ease, I never felt I was missing pieces.

It tells of a part of Irish history that is seldom addressed: not the days of the Easter Rising, but rather the days that followed, the Civil War that bloodied the country for four years afterward. Not a pleasant part of history and you really feel it reading the novel. Brother turning against brother, old allies turning into enemies. It was a violent time where human lives really counted for nothing.

It’s a very intense part of history, so it’s kind of a shame that the Stephen’s story doesn’t really merge in it completely, and this is true for all characters. All the characters in the story seem to go with the flow of the historical events, rather than following their own personal arc, and I think this is why I wasn’t completely involved in the story. There was always a sense of detachment, I never deeply cared for any of them. Events are also quite episodic, I never had a sense of the whole.

Still, it was a pleasant read. I mean, I read the entire novel in spite of my issue above, and this because the writing style is easy and smooth. There are many, very well described scenes of war, a view mini-arc episodes that got me involved enough to keep reading.

It could have been a far more involving read, but it was an enjoyable one nonetheless

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In addition to be part of the Thursday Quotables meme at Bookshelf Fantasies, which I often take part to, this post is also part of theReading Ireland Month.

The post Thursday Quotables – The Soldier’s Farawell appeared first on The Old Shelter.

Thursday Quotables – The Soldier’s Farawell

Stephen didn’t answer. ‘Whichever way things go in there’. What if it didn’t come to a war? What if the Treaty was accepted? That wouldn’t get him off the hook, either. He could hardly just walk away and leave them to it. Whether he liked it or not, he was part of it now.

“Look, you don’t have to answer straight away,” Dalton went on, his voice lower, an insistent whisper. “I know you’ll need to talk about it. But we ‘want’ you, Stephen. Our terms would be generous. You can start with the same rank you had when you were demobbed – captain, wasn’t it? And it would be a short commission; you can resign if you get your old job back.”

“General Dalton!” a shout came from back down the corridor. Somebody had leaned out of a doorway and was beckoning furiously.

“Well, think about it anyway,” Dalton said as he turned to leave. “We need men like you.”

“What was that about?” Lillian asked when Stephen sat back down.

“I don’t think you want to know.”

Before she could press him further, Billy reappeared. He was walking slowly and looked dazed.

“Well?” Stephen asked. “Have they finished the vote?”

“They have.” Billy sat down heavily on the end of the chair. “It passed!”

“Oh thank God!” Lillian laughed, relieved.

“It passed, but only by seven votes,” Billy went on, despair in his voice. “Sixty-four to Fifty-seven. The Dáin is split – the country is split. Christ, what a mess!”

At that moment the doors to the chamber burst open and the deputies came streaming out. To a man they looked shocked and angry. After the first rush the crowd thinned and Stephen could see the dais at the far end of the chamber. He saw Collins standing up, his head cocked towards Emmet Dalton and his face stern and forbidding. His back was turned to Eamon de Valera, who was still slumped in his chair, his face in his hands and his whole body heaving with sobs.”

The Soldier’s Farawell by Alan Monaghan is the third novel in a trilogy. I didn’t know it when I picked it up, but I read it with ease, I never felt I was missing pieces.

It tells of a part of Irish history that is seldom addressed: not the days of the Easter Rising, but rather the days that followed, the Civil War that bloodied the country for four years afterward. Not a pleasant part of history and you really feel it reading the novel. Brother turning against brother, old allies turning into enemies. It was a violent time where human lives really counted for nothing.

It’s a very intense part of history, so it’s kind of a shame that the Stephen’s story doesn’t really merge in it completely, and this is true for all characters. All the characters in the story seem to go with the flow of the historical events, rather than following their own personal arc, and I think this is why I wasn’t completely involved in the story. There was always a sense of detachment, I never deeply cared for any of them. Events are also quite episodic, I never had a sense of the whole.

Still, it was a pleasant read. I mean, I read the entire novel in spite of my issue above, and this because the writing style is easy and smooth. There are many, very well described scenes of war, a view mini-arc episodes that got me involved enough to keep reading.

It could have been a far more involving read, but it was an enjoyable one nonetheless

————————————————————————————————————–

In addition to be part of the Thursday Quotables meme at Bookshelf Fantasies, which I often take part to, this post is also part of theReading Ireland Month.

The post Thursday Quotables – The Soldier’s Farawell appeared first on The Old Shelter.

10 Themes I’m anticipating in the AtoZ Challenge

What? The AtoZ Challenge starts in two days? That can’t be!!!! Ok, Sarah. You’ll be grand. You can do this! Just pull yourself together.

And I’m even better off than last year, but you know? Last year was my first challenge. I didn’t know what I was getting into. This year, I know. And I can’t wait for it to start, but at the same time I feel I’m so NOT prepared. There’s so much that I still need to do. Yes, yes, I’ve finished drafting all my posts, which is a lot more than I had last year at this time, but I still have to revise everything (except the first four posts. Those are ready to go… I hope. I still need one last read through), and I want to have imagines specifically done for every post (thanks Canva. It’s the first time I’m using you and I’m loving you!). I still have to find most of the songs for each post. Find pics…

And once it will be on, there will be visits to my blog to answer to, visits to reciprocate, and commenting and discovering. I have a list of more than 40 blogs I already want to follow for the challenge.

I can’t possibly do this!!!! Someone help me!!!!

Fine. Now that the panicking has be done, let’s go down to business.

Yes, I’ve been going through the theme reveal list and I found quite a few blogs that I want to follow. I know there will be many more. Last year, I never ceased finding new blogs to follow, but that’s part of the fun.

Here are some of the blogs that most inspire me for this challenge. There a many more (as I said, I’ve already bookmarked more than 40), but I find this particularly intriguing. Check them out, and if you have blogs that you find are follow-worthy, let us know in the comments.

Enjoy!

 

Tales of Many Shapes and Colors:  Representation and Diversity in Storytelling

In Zalka ‘s words: Representation and diversity are much discussed topics in relation to movies, comic books, literature, and the media. People have been speaking up about having more stories that feature characters that have not been featured before – or if they have, only sporadically, in minor roles, or as stereotypes. As I see it, there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a parallel discussion in oral storytelling as well.

Cultivating Happiness from A to Z in 55 words

In Shilpa‘s words: “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!”  Remember this rhyme from our school days? From early on, we were taught to recognize and celebrate feelings of happiness! And today, we know that happiness is not only one of the most positive emotions we can experience, but being happy is also the key to a fulfilled, healthy life.

Most of us believe that happiness is a result of some external circumstance, but it doesn’t have to be. Happiness a daily habit and it can be cultivated in our every day life.

Witchy Women

In Diana‘s words: And so, for this third year in A to Z Challenge, I’m continuing traditions of deepening my research interests and focusing on ladies again. Only this time, instead of girls in children’s fiction or lady monsters, I’m spending the month talking about Witchy Women. I’ll be joined by a few fantastic guests, who’ve offered their takes on their favorite witches. And of course I’ll be chatting about witches…witches from fiction, comics, film, folklore, and even a few historical figures.

Dreams

In Stephen‘s words: Dream interpretation is something I find fascinating and have studied for decades. Let’s go a bit deeper. What are the sources of dreams? Where do they come from? Within the person? God? An outside source? That bad burrito or double pepperoni extra cheese pizza you ate before going to sleep?

I’ll be exploring what dreams are, the different types of dreams, and the meaning behind things in our dreams such as colors, people, location etc.

Castle

In Rae‘s words: Each castle built tells a story. It represents a piece of history. When I visit one, I’m not just drinking in the scale, but also the reason why it’s there. Who lived in its walls and why.

The worst romance novel ever written in 26 days

In Megan‘s words: My hoped-for goal with this chosen theme, gentle readers and writers, is to teach you how not to write a book. Each day’s letter will explore a different component of creative writing and the worst way you could possibly implement it. From awful dialog to awkward foreshadowing, cartoonish villains and even more cartoonish heroes, useless details, too many details, plot that goes nowhere, and metaphor-laced drivel, there will be something to offend even the most seasoned writer/agent/editor/beta reader/long-suffering friend of an author who thinks they’ve seen it all. Take notes, learn, discuss, and most importantly–laugh.

Mermaids

In Claire Annette‘s words: I am currently working on a project involving mermaids so I decided to organize my research from A to Z and write posts about what I find. I’ll be sharing books, movies, songs, poetry, and lots of interesting information about mermaids from around the world.

Chicago

In Laura‘s words: Chicago is my hometown (or, anyway, close enough), so I’ve got a lot of fond memories of the city. And since April is the month where all the ice and snow typically melts into Spring there, meaning that Chicagoans can actually come out of their lairs and explore again, I figured it’d be a nice way to spotlight some of my favorite places throughout the city – as well as some places I’d like to explore if/when my family ever moves back to the area.

Easter Rising of 1916

In Loca4Crafts‘s words: This year is the 100 year anniversary of the Easter Rising of 1916 in Ireland.  I am Irish but have never taken the time to learn about this part of my history.  I left Ireland before the topic came up in my school history lessons.  So I am taking this opportunity to learn more about my history by blogging my way through an A to Z of the Easter Rising.

A Brilliant Conspiracy

In Roland‘s words: Inspired by this mystery, I will post a brief episode in “A Brilliant Conspiracy” on every day of the challenge, from A through to Z, each one starting with the relevant letter.

Each episode will consist of one word for each of the letters of the alphabet, initially in alphabetical order. As each letter is ticked off, I will then use it anywhere in the following episodes. For instance, Day 3 will start with ‘C’ for ‘Confessions, and somewhere I will use A and B – possibly for ‘Archibald’ and for ‘but’. By the time the mystery reaches Z, all the other letters will be in non-alphabetical order. That means 26 posts, each one of 26 words.

Well? Are you as escited as I am?

Come along for the ride!

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Kilmainham Gaol: 150 Years of Irish History

I visited Kilmainham Goal the first time in 1998 and the place never really left me. So when I visited with my friends last year I knew I wanted to bring them there. I know many tourists think the true heart of Ireland is her Celtic past. To me, the true heart of Ireland lies here, between the walls of this prison.

The museum

Kilmainham was founded in 1796 as Dublin’s “New Goal”. It was one of the most modern jails in the United Kingdom at that time, and in truth, the prison was always one ahead of its times.

But there’s nothing modern to our eyes in the West Wing, the oldest of the building. It’s a dark, gloomy, narrow corridor with tiny cells on one side and high windows on the other. With its limestone walls, the jail remains cold and dump the year round and there is no way to get some comfort. Prisoners at the time received a very scant meal and only one candle every two weeks.

The West Wing

In the first years, more than half of the inmates were debtors. The rest were all there for petty crimes, including begging. There were men, but also women, who actually made up a large part of the population, together with children, at least up until 1881, when Kilmainham became a men only prison. It was a very messy, laud environment. It tended to be crowded and men were forced to heavy work (mostly stone breaking) in the courtyard, which added to the noise.

Those convicted of murder and robbery with violence (including women) were sentenced to death and hanged in public from gallows erected in the small courtyard in front of the entrance door. The last public execution took place in 1821.

The front courtyard

During the dire times of the Great Famine the jail became crazily overcrowded because people would intentionally commit crimes in order to be arrested and admitted to the jail, so to be able to receive at least a basic meal.

In those days, up to five people would live in cells meant for just one. The corridors were also jammed with people sleeping on the floor. Many of the inmates were women and children charged with begging and stealing food.

In the following years, Kilmainham adopted the more modern concepts of jail management, which included the idea that prisoners had to be continuously watched. Corridors became larger, thick with rails and bars, peepholes were added to doors. The inmates had to know that they could not do anything without the guards knowing it.

The East Wing

Then in 1862, when the spectacular East Wing was added, Kilmainam once again shifted to the more modern ideas: the Victorian ideal of reformation. This marked the beginning of the time were prisons were run on the principles of silence and separation. The prisoners would spend 22 hours alone in their cells, one hour in the church, praying, and one hours walking in circles in the courtyard. This was meant to encourage reflections on one’s own deeds and hopefully redemption.

Victorians also believed the architecture of the jail itself was crucial to the reform of the inmates. The main building of the East Wing is in fact a large hall, with a beautiful skylark, with the cells all around. This was designed to encourage inmates to look up at the sky (and so at God) in the hope that more righteous behaviours would be inspired.

This main hall is truly stunning and if you didn’t know you are in a prison you’d hardly believe it. It a spacious place full of light. Cells are bigger than the old ones. In recent years, volunteers have track down where patriots were held prisoner and so now their names are on cell doors. There are a lot of familiar names here.

The main hall

The cells

 

The skylark

Following the failure of the Fenian uprising in 1867, Kilmainham turned into what it is renown for now: the place of the patriots.

It was in that occasion that the jail was cleared of all common prisoners and filled with rebels. Security was strengthened.

Then, on 28th February 1910 the prison was closed, only to be reopened, once again only for housing rebels, after the Easter Rising of 1916.

Fourteen leaders of the Easter Rising were shot to death in the Stonebreaker’s Yard. The firsts were the head of the rebellion: Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas McDonagh on 4th May 1916.

On the 3rd May, Joseph Mary Plunkett married Grace Gifford, mere hours before he was executed in the yard. The last execution was that of James Connolly, who had been severely wounded during the Raising and was probably already dying. He was so weak he had to be tight to a chair.

The marksmen aimed at white crosses on the condemned’s hearts and as it was costume, some of the executioners were issued with dummy bullets so that none of them could be sure who actually killed the other men.

An amnesty sent the last of the rebels free in 1917.

The Stonebreakers’ Courtyard

But the prison was used one last time during the Civil War that blooded Ireland between 1921 and 1924, following the controversial Treaty with Great Britain that, among other things, handed over the four counties of Ulster to Britain. The Free State Government executed 77 Republicans here.

At that time, only the East Wing was used, the cell doors would be kept opened and prisoners could freely meet under the skylark.

At the end of the Civil War, Kilmainham ended its days as a prison and was left to abandonment.

It was only in the 1960s, with the resurgence of the fight for the independence of Ulster, that a group of citizens organised in a Restoration Committee and started restoring the jail. They handed it over to the State in 1986. Kilmainham has been a museum ever since.

This is a very moving place, were so much history has happened and where so many men and women had lost their lives. I’ve visited it twice, but I will visit again if the occasion presents itself. It’s a place were feelings and memories are alive.

Kilmainham Gaol. To me, the true heart of #Ireland lies here, between the walls of this prison
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RESOURCES

Irish History Links – Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin

An Oige – Kilmainham Gaol A fascinating part of Irish history

Heritage Ireland – Kilmainham Gaol brochure (pdf)

History with a Twist – Ireand Dirty War…

The post Kilmainham Gaol: 150 Years of Irish History appeared first on The Old Shelter.

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal Blogfest Day 2016

Do you know what the #AtoZChallenge is?

I know many of you do, because I met you during last year’s challenge, but for those who don’t, the A to Z is a blogging challenge.

It happens every year in April and calls for blogging every day during the month, except on Sundays, following the order of the letters of the alphabet. You can do it any way you want, about anything you want, as long as your post is inspired by the letter of the alphabet on the particular day. Last year I read blogs about storytelling, travels, films, serialised stories, writing craft, crafts in general.

There are bloggers who go random, and bloggers who go theme. As soon as I hear ‘theme’ I thought, ‘I’m doing it!’

I know, there are bloggers who think that a theme is constraining. Personally, I don’t think so. I think a theme gives you direction and for me it was inspiring. Sure, some of the letters are hell to come up with, because you can’t chose anything you want, but that’s a little price to pay for a challenge that in my opinion ends up  being more cohesive and satisfying.

Last year I blogged about the Roaring Twenties, and I’m sorry for you, that’s what I’m going to do this year too, except my theme will be even more specific.

Are you ready? This is what I’ll be blogging about

 

Just like last year, most of what I’ll be blogging about comes from my research for my stories. This year’s challenge is actually based on one of my favourite books from my research, The Jazz Revolution by Kathy J. Ogren.

Many people don’t realise (I certainly didn’t before I started researching) that jazz had a huge impact on 1920s America (and partly Europe). There’s a reason why the 1920s are also called the Jazz Age – and not just because jazz was the most popular music of the time. As Ogren thoroughly exposes in her book, jazz was the expression of a profound change in the American society of the time, but it was also part of the cause.

#AtoZChallenge Theme Reveal JAZZ AGE JAZZ #jazz as a social phenomenon in the Roaring Twenties
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Born in shady places in the South of the US, inside the African American community, jazz finds its roots in blues and the hardship it expresses, but also looks with hope to the future. In the 1920s, it spoke of the freedom a prosperous society can offer and the change working on the minds of people even when that freedom isn’t achieved. Black musicians of the Jazz Age gained recognition and advanced integration as white musicians went to listen to them to learn that music that crossed every line.  Women vocalists gained and advanced freedom of expression for every woman, even while battling commodification of their image. Jazz expressed the fast life of the new century, the unpredictability, the fear and excitement.

I have 26 posts to bring you on this journey. I hope you’ll come along.

A –

B –

C –

D –

E –

F –

G –

H –

I –

J –

K –

L –

M –

N –

O –

P –

Q –

R –

S –

T –

U –

V –

W –

X –

Y –

Z –

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Today is Theme Reveal Day. Bloggers are revealing the theme they will blog about during the challenge. You can find the complete list here. Now excuse me as I delve into it.

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