A month of instagram #1

Yes, so I've been playing around with instagram since they released it for android!

L-R, from top:

1. Tintin character (all of them!) chandelier, Hergé Museum, Belgium
2. 'A First Class Crisp' - Tayto doesn't miss a once in a lifetime marketing opportunity
3. Walking home
4. Window display, The Sheelin Antique Irish Lace Museum & Shop
5. Trinkets, The Sheelin Antique Lace Museum and Shop
6. Paddling in the sea at Strandhill beach, Co. Sligo
7. Green amongst the grey, the roofs of Sligo town
8. Iconic windows of The Model gallery
9. Buying lots of cheese for an exhibition opening reception
10. An alignment of past and present - (Tomb 7) Carrowmore megalithic tombs, Co. Sligo

You can follow me, illbeyourmirror!

Suffragette City

One of the perks of my internship is being able to sneak into the store every now and then at take a peek at the wonderful works on the racks.

I am particularly excited as Communicating with Prisoners (1924), by Jack B. Yeats, has made it to the short-list of ten paintings nominated for the title of 'Ireland's Favourite Painting'. This work is from the Niland Collection, held in The Model gallery. It is the only regional painting that has made it to the shortlist.

Jack, brother of the poet William, is one of Ireland’s best loved painters of the twentieth-century and this painting is one of a number of iconic scenes he painted during the civil war. 

© Estate of Jack B Yeats. All rights reserved / DACS 2012. Photo © The Model, Sligo
Writing of the context of Jack Yeats' painting, Communicating with Prisoners, Thomas MacGreevy declares ". . . they [Irish women] did everything except get executed. Many of them gave all they had, they suffered, they fought, they went to gaol, they hunger-struck." (Source)
Painted in 1924, Communicating with Prisoners depicts a group of seven women and one boy, whom are engaged in listening to shouts from the window of a of a Kilmainham jail bastion, from a ring of indistinct prisoners looking out at the group below. (More info on work here)
 The Irish suffrage movement was largely an urban, middle class one. Militant Irish suffragists were imprisoned in England and Ireland and some went on hunger strike (as referenced above). Former notable female prisoners include Grace Gifford and Countess Markievicz.
In 1914, Cumann na mBan was founded as an independent Irish female republican paramilitary organisation. MacGreevy elaborates: "There was a certain progressive, leftist strain in the Irish nationalist movement, which also had ties to Irish feminism and the suffragist movement. It is true that the participation of Irish women in political affairs remained for many years sporadic. Nevertheless, they continued to perform, even if only in limited numbers, similar roles to men."
Though not as acclaimed as their brothers but no less creatively gifted, Jack's sisters, Elizabeth and Lily, founded the Dun Emer Guild with their friend Evelyn Gleeson in 1902, in Dundrum, Co. Dublin. The name Dun Emer (Fort of Emer) was named for the Lady Emer, wife of the hero Cúchulainn, renowned in Irish folklore for her beauty and artistic skills. Jack's interest in Irish suffragettes who formed the theme of this painting, may have been inspired by his sisters and their contemporaries.
You can cast your vote for Ireland's Favourite Painting here! 
Read more...Masterpiece: Communicating with Prisoners  CELT: Movements for Social and Political Reform, 1870-1914: Irish SuffragettesJSTOR: A Political Prisoner in Kilmainham Jail: The Diary of Cecilia Saunders GallagherCuala Press pressmark
And for the title that's in it, a favourite -

Aubergine Steaks with Cous Cous Topping

I haven't forgotten about the blog, just been doing a lot thinking about blogging and my place in Irish blogging, etc. But here's some real food for thought! My pal Donna asked for the recipe and I thought I'd share it with you guys. This is delicious. It's taken from Leith's Vegetable Bible, with some of my own modifications and exclusions. It's vegan too!


(Someone recently downloaded instagram for android!)

110g cous cous
225ml boiling water
1/4 pint olive or chili infused oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 shallots or spring onions, finely chopped
grated zest of one lemon
salt & freshly ground pepper
2 med to large aubergines
30g butter melted (I omitted this)
a walnut sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1. Preheat grill to high and preheat the oven to 190c
2. Place cous cous in a bowl, pour over the boiling water and and leave to soak. warm the oil in a small saucepan and stir in the garlic, shallot/spring onion and half the lemon zest and the juice. season with salt and pepper.
3. Trim the stalks from the aubergines and cut each lengthways into 4-5 thick slices. brush liberally with the infused oil and grill on both sides until golden brown.
4. Using a fork, mix the cous cous with the melted butter (I used whatever oil was left over), ginger and the remaining lemon zest (I used the other half of the lemon juice instead). Season with s & p. I also added some fresh coriander that was left in the fridge. arrange the slices in a single layer in an over proof dish, or a baking tray. pile the cous cous mixture on top and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cous cous topping is hot and roasted on top!

Serve with a fresh mediterranean salad, we also had a sort-of-colcannon on the side, where I used up the cabbage left in the fridge and mashed it with onions, garlic, potatoes and olive butter.