The South Quays’ relatively open space offers an unobstructed view of the North Quays, making it an ideal vantage point for a street photographer like myself. Armed with my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, I captured the contrasting architectural styles: the grandeur of the Four Courts and the old Church On Araan Quay which is discussed below.
History
Built between 1835 and 1837, shortly after Catholic Emancipation, a time where Catholics gained increased rights to build prominent places of worship. Designed by Patrick Byrne, a significant architect of Catholic churches in Ireland during this era. He also designed St. Audoen’s Catholic Church nearby.
Saint Paul’s forms a historic and visual focal point on Arran Quay. Designed by Patrick Byrne, it was built soon after Catholic Emancipation, when the Roman Catholic Church was beginning to build visible high-status buildings. Its tall Italianate bell and clock tower provides visual as well as contextual interest, with the inclusion of a clock, which was more common on Protestant Churches, implying a sense of public responsibility and thus increasing the status of the building.
The elegant detailing on the portico, as well as the later figures to the pediment (Joseph Robinson Kirk, c.1870), provide decorative and technical interest to the façade, and are testament to the skill and craftsmanship of stone workers and sculptors in the nineteenth century.
The very fine classical interior, with a wealth of quality materials and craftsmanship, adds to the overall architectural importance of this ecclesiastical site, despite the removal of some features such as the altar rails. Eamonn and Sinead De Valera were married here in 1910, adding a certain historical significance to the building.
Artistic interest is added by the altar, by Farrell (before 1863), and a copy of Rubens Conversion of St. Paul by F.S. Barff (1863), which replaced an earlier representation of the crucifixion. The church had fallen into disuse, although currently it is used for some Catholic services as well as Syrian Orthodox services and Taize prayer.
Note: St. Paul’s is no longer the parish church. However, it is still used by a Catholic youth group and the St. Gregrorios Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.
The grounds of one of Ireland’s most spectacular and historic heritage sites in the heart of Dublin will feature Tent Mór and Tent Beag, an outdoor Main Stage, performance spaces, relaxation areas, a mini-funfair and the Irish Food and Craft Village.
All daytime events will be free of charge, along with the full day and night programme on St. Patrick’s Day, supported by Dublin Airport. Night time events on the 16th and 18th of March will require a pre-purchased ticket that will be valid for the full evening’s programme.
Festival Quarter will be open to all ages throughout the day, and will be reserved for adults only from 6pm to 10:30pm. Just a short walk from the city centre, easily accessible by Luas and bus, and adjacent to Heuston Station, Festival Quarter will be a bustling hub for locals and visitors alike, from March 16th to 18th.
I usually use the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max rather than the iPhone XR but the 12 Pro failed to charge overnight for some unknown reason.
During the last ten days I made three visits to the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham as I wanted to video a multi-media installation located in the courtyard but unfortunately no matter what equipment I have used, to date, I had problems with wind noise and unstable video because the equipment was hand-held but I feel that the iPhone XR produced better results that my Sony A7RIV. Next visit I will bring a tripod and a camcorder.
When I first saw this a few years ago it was suggested to me that it was not an art installation and that it was in fact part of an expensive ventilation system. As I liked these dark blocks I began to believe that it was a modern sculpture and then one day I saw a notice nearby indicating that it was “8 Limestones” by Ulrich Rückriem.
Ulrich Rückriem completed an apprenticeship as a stone mason in Düren from 1957 to 1959 and spent the following two years working as journeyman for the stonemason’s lodge at Cologne cathedral. During these years he also spent two semesters studying at the Cologne Werkschulen under Ludwig Gies. Rückriem travelled extensively through southern Europe, Morocco and Tunisia in 1962. After his return he decided to become a sculptor and settled in Nörvenich near Düren in 1963. He had his first one-man exhibition one year later at the Leopold-Hoesch Museum in Düren.
Rückriem developed his own working method in 1968. The working material and the working process are made the subject of the work by duplicating, splitting, reducing and slightly changing the original material. The sculptor moved to Mönchengladbach in 1969, where he shared a studio with Blinky Palermo in an old factory. His first exhibition with the new stone sculptures took place in the same year at the Galerie Konrad Fischer in Düsseldorf.
Rückriem’s work was much praised in the following years with important exhibitions, such as at the Haus Lange in Krefeld in 1970. Rückriem exhibited works at the documenta 5, 7, 8 and 9 in Kassel between 1972 and 1992. He was a professor of sculpture at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg from 1974 to 1984. Rückriem expanded his range of working materials at the end of the 1970s and began experimenting with granite, dolomite, wood and iron. He exhibited four split dolomites at the biennal in Venice in 1978. Ulrich Rückriem became professor of sculpture at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf in 1984 and then at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Frankfurt am Main in 1988. Today, the artist lives in Ireland. His self-reflective works in stone, iron and wood are an important contribution to process art.
HOLLYBANK ROAD – THIS IS THE TYPE OF LENS FLARE PROBLEM THAT I HAVE WITH THE iPHONE 12 PRO MAX
I have noticed that if there reflected light I have lens flare issues when using the iPhone 12 Pro Max. See the reflection from the car mirror … in this instance the source of the problem is obvious but sometimes the source is not obvious and often the resulting image is unusable.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE GRANGEGORMAN CAMPUS – I USED AN iPHONE XR
Today I used an Apple iPhone XR and the Halide App. Unfortunately, I had no end of problems including unusual lens flare and inconsistent focusing and exposure – some images were totally black and some totally white and I could decide if it was a software or hardware issue.
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