Jean Reinhardt's Blog, page 11
May 7, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 11
We’re still in the trenches for this week’s Thursday Doors post from the Cavan County Museum series. It’s a nice clean, easy to walk through, trench, unlike those that were in use during the first world war.
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I see a doorway on the right with a soldier standing nearby. Let’s call into Coy HQ for a look around.
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No solid door to be seen here, just a grey blanket pulled back from the entrance.
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There’s a nice little stove in the corner for some heat and to warm up that tin of soup.
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Considering where some had to sleep, this bunk is luxurious. Although, not exactly rat-proof.
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When not contending with rats there was that other pest – the bane of most soldiers at the time – lice. Did you know that killing them was called ‘chatting’?
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It was very difficult to maintain a satisfactory degree of sanitation in the trenches of WW1 but they did their best.
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Of course the deadliest enemy was human. Extreme vigilance was required in order to keep on top of what the opposing side was up to. Trench periscopes were helpful.
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I think it’s safe enough to make our way back to the main building now. There’s one more story to explore.
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On the way there we pass by a lovely mosaic.
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Thanks so much for joining me this week at the Cavan County Museum, there are lots more Thursday Doors to explore over on Norm’s blog.
April 30, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 10
Welcome to part 10 in the Cavan County Museum series of Thursday Doors. This one is dedicated to a young man in my husband’s family, his grandfather’s older brother, who lost his life in the first world war. His name was Michael O’Neill and he joined the Dublin Fusiliers in September 1914, arriving in France a year later. We don’t have any photos of him except one that was printed in a newspaper at the time of his death.
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Michael was only twenty years old when he died in the trenches of Hulluch during a gas attack on April 27th 1916. Of the 2,128 casualties, approximately 538 died, many of them slowly from respiratory disease. Lieutenant Lyon of the 7th Leinsters helped to gather the dead remarking that “some of them were holding hands like children in the dark.”
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These photos were taken on a visit to the Cavan County Museum before the lockdown. This WW1 replica trench, part of the museum’s outdoor exhibits, is the largest one open to the public in the UK and Ireland. It was a very sobering experience walking through it, imagining what young Michael’s last days must have been like.
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During the same week that Michael was under attack in the trenches his home city was also witnessing a battle. The Easter rising of 1916 was taking place and I’m sure he was concerned for the safety of his parents, sister and two younger brother who lived in one of the many tenement buildings in the heart of Dublin city. You can see from the following images and video how much damage was done when the city was shelled during the conflict.
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I know this is a sad and sombre post and next week I’m afraid it will be more of the same as we continue our journey through the trench. I’m sure Norm has links to more cheerful Thursday Doors over on his blog.
April 23, 2020
Thursday Doors – Lockdown
Welcome to Thursday Doors during lockdown. Thankfully, here in Ireland we are allowed take a walk every day to get some exercise and fresh air, as long as it’s not more than two kilometres from our homes. It’s so nice to have Turbet Island and the River Erne on our doorstep and I thought it would be good to include a photograph of these lovely natural amenities in my post this week.
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There were signs of Spring everywhere with lots of primroses in full bloom.
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I don’t know the history of this old rectory but I’ve been meaning to take a photograph of it since we moved here. It’s impossible to get close because it’s on private land, so I had to zoom in. Sorry it’s not a very clear image. The attached building seems to have a large arched entrance.
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I found an old postcard online of what the rectory used to look like in its day.
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There’s an interesting piece of machinery set as a feature along the river bank, you might know what it was for but I haven’t a clue.
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On my way back home through the town I captured some lovely red doors and a wonderful brick archway.
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By the time I arrived home I was ready for a nice cup of coffee in the back garden, which we’ve been clearing of renovation rubble bit by bit. Thanks for stopping by this week. For more Thursday Doors why not carry on over to Norm’s blog, I think he’s on lockdown, too.
April 16, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 9
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Part nine of the Cavan County Museum Thursday Doors series takes place outdoors this week. I know it isn’t strictly a door but the archway in that hedge is an entrance of sorts. It leads into the Peace Garden.
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The giant sized pencils display quotes about peace.
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A pathway through the garden leads to what I found to be a very poignant exhibit about WW1.
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The handwritten wills really got to me. The address on this one is just around the corner from my house.
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Thanks for coming along this week and for more Thursday Doors carry on over to Norm’s blog.
April 14, 2020
Remembering Titanic
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April 14th 2020 marks the 108th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. I’ve updated this post from a few years ago to share with you as we used to live only a short drive from where the ill-fated ship set sail for America. The Titanic Exhibition in Cobh county Cork is well worth a visit. Heartbreak Pier was the last place where some of Titanic’s passengers touched dry land. The ship arrived in Queenstown (now called Cobh) in county Cork to pick up mail and 123 passengers, before setting out on her first trans-Atlantic voyage. There were over 2,000 passengers and crew on board as she left the harbour at 1.30 pm on Thursday 11 April 1912, bound for New York.
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Heartbreak Pier
The Titanic exhibition is housed in the old White Star Line office building, which looks much the same now as it did back then.
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Of the 123 passengers who boarded from Cobh, three were first class, seven were second class and the remaining 113 were third class or steerage. Only 44 survived, ten of those being from Cork. When you receive your ticket for the guided tour you are given the name of one of the passengers who boarded Titanic from Cobh that day. At the end of the tour you find out whether or not you were among the survivors. The first time I took this tour, the name on my ticket was that of Katherine Buckley, aged 22, a young Irish woman from county Cork. You can find out what happened to her by following the link at the end of this post. This time my ticket belonged to Mary Canavan, a single woman aged 22.
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She was one of nine children, a farmer’s daughter from County Mayo and embarked as a 3rd class passenger. Her ticket cost £7 and 15 shillings (approx. £700 in today’s money). Mary’s elder brother Patrick had emigrated to America the year before and she was to join him. She traveled in a group of fourteen men and women from her parish, Addergoole* in Mayo, but lost her life, along with two of her cousins, Patrick Canavan and James Flynn, when the ship went down. Only three of the group survived. Follow the link below for more information and images.
Katherine Buckley’s fate – A Titanic Experience
April 9, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 8
Welcome to another Thursday Doors post from the Cavan County Museum series. It’s nice to be able to go on a virtual tour during these lockdowns most of us are having and this doorway will help us to do that. Let’s step back one hundred years into the past.
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Hmmm, no toilet rolls. Somebody has bought them all, but I do see bars of soap on the shelf. I’ll have to cut up the Sunday newspaper and hang it on a hook in the outhouse.
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My grandparents had a shop in the 60’s and I remember a weighing scales similar to this one, except it was white and a newer model.
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There’s plenty of soap, at least nobody is stockpiling that yet. Was toilet paper even invented back then? I wonder if rationing has been enforced. A taste of things to come perhaps. Do any of these goods look familiar to you?
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I’m not going to fill a basket in this wee shop so I think I’ll make my way back to 2020 and see what intersting doors Norm has over on his blog. I’ll be paying another virtual visit to the Cavan County Museum for next week’s Thursday Doors and you’re more than welcome to come along.
April 2, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 7
Welcome to another Thursday Doors in this series from the Cavan County Museum. If you’re self-isolating or in lockdown, I hope this short virtual tour will be an interesting distraction for you. The first door we go through in one of the exhibits on the grounds of the museum leads us to some very interesting rooms. This one is all about the 1916 Rising but I’ll save that exhibit until nearer the anniversary date, which is coming up later in the month.
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If you come with me through the doorless doorway we can see how some people lived back in the old days.
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That last doorway will bring us into a typical grocery shop which we can explore in next week’s post. As usual, Norm has a great selection of Thursday Doors over on his blog, so I’m heading over there now for a look.
March 27, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 6
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Back to the Cavan County Museum for this week’s Thursday Doors post. I hope you are all well wherever you are at the moment, particularly if you are self-isolating or under lockdown. At least, thanks to the internet, we can still ‘visit’ family, friends and fellow bloggers.
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Having climbed to the top floor of the building, passing a beautiful landing window on the way, I was surprised by the large open space that greeted me
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The bikes looked interesting so I took a closer look at them.
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I jumped when I saw a nun looking out at me as I passed her door. Well, I suppose, I had to bump into one sooner or later. After all, I was walking around a former convent. Maybe if I’d been using these old binoculars I would have spotted her sooner.
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The first door I went through brought me into Percy French’s room, a famous songwriter and painter who was born in Roscommon in 1854. He began writing songs while studying Engineering at Trinity College, Dublin. After graduating as a civil engineer in 1881 he joined the Board of Works in County Cavan as a self-styled ‘Inspector of Drains’. It is said that he wrote his best songs during this period, including the world-famous ‘Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff’. Another of his well known songs is The Mountains of Mourne. This rendition by Don McLean is one of my favourites.
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Time to say goodbye to Percy but there are lots more doors to see over on Norm’s blog, from all over the globe. Thanks so much for joining me at the Cavan County Museum for this week’s Thursday Doors post.
March 20, 2020
Thursday Doors – Tino
Today we had to say goodbye to Tino, aka The Gaffer, so I thought it fitting to devote a Thursday Doors post exclusively to him. He was a small dog with a huge personality and we are going to miss him so, so much but he had lived a good life since coming into our family as a very sick, abandoned puppy in Spain. It was fourteen years of loyal love and companionship and the memories I have will always be cherished.
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This was his favourite spot while I prepared meals. Knowing how clumsy I am, he choose it well and he loved to munch on raw vegetables.
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Next week’s Thursday Doors will be another one in the series from the Cavan County Museum. Norm has a nice selection over on his blog this week. I’m off to dry my eyes now.
March 9, 2020
Thursday Doors – Cavan County Museum 5
Let’s go back about a hundred years for this week’s Thursday Doors post from the Cavan County Museum. If I was a gentleman waiting on a morning train to work I would probably take a seat on one of those lovely old chairs in this first image. I quite fancy the red one.
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For a longer trip, I might pack my clothes in a fine old trunk such as this one.
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However, if I had been a young woman in the old days I might have had lodgings in a nice little townhouse. Have a look through this next door.
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Judging by the time on that mantle clock, I’m late for work.
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Let’s take a closer look at the office I might have worked in.
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When I finished secondary school or high school, back in the mid 70’s, I attended an office administration course at Miss Merry’s Secretarial Academy in Dublin. We had a choice of learning Gregg or Pitman shorthand but there was no choosing which typewriter to use. Our classroom contained about a dozen different versions of typewriter, from the one in the photo above to the most up to date electric one. We all took turns using every one of them because in those days we could end up working on ancient models, as they were still in use. I’m showing my age now. Needless to say, the electric one was most popular and much easier on the hands.
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Being a writer and booklover, this shelf full of old books definitely caught my eye. I had to downsize my own collection to fit in our tiny house. This next image shows you what I’m left with. I think I have room for one or two more but I’ll be very selective.
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Thanks so much for stopping by and if you carry on over to Norm’s blog you’ll see links to lots more doors. Next week I’ll have another in the Thursday Doors series from the Cavan County Museum.
