AN INCIDENT ON BOLTON STREET – MAY HAVE BEEN A ROAD ACCIDENT
Today I was experimenting with an old Sony VG100E camcorder and on my arrival back in Bolton Street I noticed a number of Fire Engines. As I have a policy of not photographing accidents if there are still victims to be seen I avoided getting close enough to determine the exact circumstances.
I used a Sony GM 24-70mm Lens but I forgot that because of the crop factor the lens is effectively a 36-105mm. I also forgot that there is no RAW option which was an annoying decision by Sony.
The Sony Handycam NEX-VG10 (model variants NEX-VG10E, NEX-VG10A, NEX-VG10J) was the large sensor interchangeable-lens video camera made and distributed by Sony in 2010-2011. It uses Sony E-mount camera lenses that were first used on the Sony NEX-3 and Sony NEX-5.
It is capable of shooting in 1920×1080 full high definition using a large APS-C sensor. The video is captured in the AVCHD format. When capturing still photos the NEX-VG10 is capable of 14-megapixel stills.
The camera kit came with an 18–200 mm lens that was also be compatible with the NEX Mirrorless interchangeable lens camera systems. The 16 mm ultra wide and 18–55 mm lens E-mount lenses also work with full auto-focus support. The built-on microphone is made of four directional mics that record in two-way stereo with the ability to capture both front and back sounds. The mic handle also has support for a hot shoe to connect a supported flash gun and a cold shoe to add on extra accessories.
First shipments of the NEX-VG10 commenced in September 2010 and I received my cope later in the year. Its launch price was 1999 US dollars and it came in a kit with a Sony SAL-18200 lens with hood and a free download of Vegas Movie Studio. As far as I can remember I paid Euro 2,000 which was a good deal considering the price of 18-200mm lens which I sold only a year ago.
THE DOME OF THE FOUR COURTS – RESTORATION BEGAN IN 2015
In 2011, a large chunk of one of the ornate capitals that top each of the 24 Corinthian columns supporting the dome broke away and fell on to a roof below. Investigations showed a steel ring encircling the concrete dome had rusted. Further examinations indicated significant repairs were required to the concrete dome itself.
A project to restore the much liked dome of the four courts building began in January 2015 but is not now expected to be completed until 2022 or 2023 and the cost to-date is more than €4m due to unforeseen complications.
Work based on the design of Thomas Cooley for the Public Records Office of Ireland, began in 1776. After his death in 1784 renowned architect James Gandon was appointed to finish the building which we recognise today as the Four Courts. It was built between 1786 and 1796, while the finishing touches to the arcades and wings were completed in 1802. The lands were previously used by the King’s Inns.
On 14 April 1922 the courts complex was occupied by IRA forces opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, led by Rory O’Connor. On 27 June the new National Army attacked the building to dislodge the rebels, on the orders of the Minister for Defence Richard Mulcahy, authorised by President of Dáil Éireann Arthur Griffith. This attack provoked a week of fighting in Dublin. In the process of the bombardment the historic building was destroyed. The west wing of the building was obliterated in a huge explosion, destroying the Irish Public Record Office at the rear of the building. Nearly a thousand years of archives were destroyed by this explosion, the ensuing fire, and the water poured onto the fire.
O’Connor’s forces were accused of mining the records office; however, those present, who included future Taoiseach Seán Lemass, said that, while they had used the archive as a store for their ammunition, they had not deliberately mined it. They suggest that the explosion was caused by the accidental detonation of their ammunition store during the fighting.
For a decade after the destruction of the Civil War, the courts sat in the old viceregal apartments in Dublin Castle. In 1932, a rebuilt and remodelled Four Courts was opened. However, much of the decorative interior of the original building had been lost and, in the absence of documentary archives (some of which had been in the Public Records Office and others of which were among the vast amount of legal records lost also), and also because the new state did not have the funds, the highly decorative interior was not replaced.
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