The Belfast Telegraph reports on the restoration of an in situ ‘isolation pillar’ which was part of the tram network in Belfast. These allowed engineers to isolate part of the network for maintenance whilst keeping the rest of the network running.
The box is located on Linenhall Street and has both the city coat of arms and “BTH” for “British Thompson Houston”, cast into it.
The Irish Examiner has an article about the memorial reputed to be the grave of Samuel Grubb, a Quaker of Castlegrace, Co. Tipperary, which is in the form of a beehive.
The Grubbs were active in milling, Castlegrace Mill being their business. The mill building and mill house remain – I was part of a Mills and Millers of Ireland visit to the complex in 2022, arranged courtesy of its current owners.
I haven’t made it to this monument yet – now that I have the bulk of what is necessary for the railway network of Ireland done, I will be moving onto other additions to the Gazetteer and memorials will be part of this.
In the interim, the image below is of the monument, photo from Geograph.ie – copyright Hywel Williams and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence:
There exist service providers that provide access to the records maintained by the Companies Registration Office for a fee (that this data is not available free to the end user is a disgrace, but not surprising in this kakistocracy).
I came upon this entry on the record for Irish Rail:
From my limited legal knowledge, I understand that the Plantiff is the person/entity initiating legal action (the person/entity on the receiving end of a legal action is the defendant).
The above titled play, described as “a show featuring music, singing and theatrical performances telling the story of miners’ lives in the coal mines of the Slieveardagh area of Tipperary” is taking place on 29th August 2025 in The Horse and Jockey Hotel’s Derrynaflan Theatre.
Further details, including how to buy tickets, can be found here.
The latest railway station in Ireland has opened. Woodbrook Station on the DART line, between Bray and Shankill, opened on 10th August 2025.
I managed to get out there on the opening day and also nabbed a free ice cream cone (courtesy of Irish Rail or the developer of the adjacent residential development, I don’t know).
I also spotted Irish Rail’s Barry Kenny and CEO Jim Meade in conversation on the concourse outside the station. I did think of saying hello, but I don’t think either gentleman would have wanted their Sunday ruined by having one of their biggest critics identify himself.
The Smithsonian magazine site has an interesting article about a 3D rendering of 2 female skeletons found in a chert mine* in what is now modern day Czech Republic.
The bones of the skeletons were carbon dated to between 4050 and 4340 B.C.E., making them 6,000 years old.