Brewed by Privatbrauerei Schimpfle Style: Cola Weizen (wheat) Gessertshausen, Bavaria, Germany
The brewery Schimpfle is located near the old city of Augsburg. It all started when, in 1864, a Mathias Schimpfle bought a small inn with brewing rights in the quiet town of Gessertshausen, in the heart of Bavaria.
Using raw materials from the region and sticking to traditional brewing principles, the Schimpfle family brewed special beer specialties that proved popular amongst the locals. This popularity meant expansion of the brewery, to meet the demands of the ever growing customer base.
The love of beer brewing has been passed down from generation to generation. Today Thomas Schimpfle, leads the brewery into the fourth generation of the family, as a freshly brewed master brewer, he took over the brewery at the age of 22 and developed his own beer brand – the Lösch dwarf was born.
The brewery now do a variety of dwarf bottled flavours, from a hot spicy number, to a pils, a cellar, a shandy type brew, and a wheat lemon non-alcoholic, in addition to the cola weizen.
Review: 0,33l bottle of Lösch-Zwerg Cola Weizen: 2.8% vol.
Like the little brown bottles with the pull caps, has the logo of a little elf on the front, as a fireman. Zwerg means dwarf!
On pour, as to be expected this looks exactly like a cola, brownish in appearance, no head. Except this in fact has less carbonation than the real thing!
A white head did make an appearance in the second bottle, but died quickly after, and the beer looks generally flat.
Minimal smell, just picking up the cola aroma, but on a very faint level.
Bit of a disappointment in the taste department, expected more of a cola taste, but what I got was pretty flat, and tasteless really. Like a bad watery cola, with a hint, and just a hint, of alcohol.
Second bottle served ice cold, much better in the taste, more cool and crisp on the tongue, and much more of a cola taste, and this time the alcohol is alive! Sugary, cola, caramels, wheat, and a bit of yeast.
Overall I think I would much prefer to have the real thing, a cola, perhaps with a dash of vodka. This is simply not worth it.
Brewed by Feldschlösschen (Carlsberg) Style: Pale Lager Rheinfelden, Switzerland
Feldschlösschen is the best known beer brand in Switzerland. Their beers have been brewed at the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden, the biggest brewery in Switzerland, since its foundation in 1876 and has been the leading Swiss beer brand for more than 100 years. Today its by far the leading brand in the country with 45 per cent of the beer market, with more than 40 Swiss beer brands, mineral waters, soft drinks and wine produced and shipped all over the country and beyond.
The brewery logo is in the shape of a castle and Feldschlösschen means ‘small castle in the fields’ in German.
Have tried Feldschlösschen beers before, most notably their main brew, their Pale Lager which I actually liked, much to the chagrin of beer geeks everywhere. Yes it is a generic lager but on a hot day a cold one is great. As I said at the time, it is a “bloody good beer!” Also tried their strong Pale Lager, Feldschlösschen Stark , at 7% ABV. Also found it quite nice and did the business. And I recently drank their Feldschlösschen Frühlingsbier, a seasonal spring beer, which was shit, basically! So you can see, it’s a bit of hit and miss with Feldschlösschen!
Review: 50cl can of Feldschlösschen Ice: 4.7% vol.
Has a nice cool design on the can, cold icy colouring leaving you in no doubt this is best served ice cold.
On pour looks good, a nice golden colour appears with a nice and very decent frothy white head. Does die a bit, but nothing wrong with the appearance.
A nice lagery smell on the nose, light and not too strong, of malts and barley, small hint of hops but not much, some citrus. Ok but not strong.
On taste I get a nice initial lovely cold and cool taste on the tongue, as expected very cold and crisp. Otherwise I am getting your standard lagery tastes.
A slight sour aftertaste with this one, bit of a metallic flavour off it too, bit yucky! Must be this that gave me a slight head the next day, polluted my head!
Overall this is a very cold lager with a bit of an off taste. Not nice, too bitter, difficult to enjoy and not good for the head. Avoid!
The beautiful city of Lucerne (German: Luzern, French: Lucerne), was to be the next destination on my Swiss football groundhop. The German speaking city, the gateway to central Switzerland as they say, is pretty much smack bang in the middle of the country, with a population just over 81,000 people. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media for this region.
The cities foundations are owed to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Leodegar founded in 750, later acquired by Murbach Abbey in Alsace in the middle of the 9th century, and by this time the area was called Luciaria, later to be known in Latin as Lucerna “lantern”, but why so no one exactly knows. In 1178 the city was independent and doing quite well, with a good economy and a rising population (3000). The Habsburgs, one of the most influential and distinguished royal houses of Europe, looked on and decided they would like a piece of the action. In response the residents of Lucerne along with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed the Swiss Confederacy, on November 7, 1332 as a bulwark to an attack. Later the cities of Zürich, Zug and Bern joined the alliance, and thus ending the Austrian rulers influence in Switzerland. This resulted in Lucerne expanding even more free from the fear of an attack from outside forces. The city developed its infrastructure, raised taxes, and appointed its own local officials.
Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and within sight of the famous mountains of Rigi, Pilatus and Stanserhorn in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne is truly a city with one heck of an amazing setting. Add to this its well-preserved medieval Altstadt (Old Town), its souvenir and watch shops, which are always full of Chinese visitors, the many high quality restaurants and top of the range bars, and beautiful waterfront promenades. the town is for sure a top destination for many travel groups and individuals on their journey through central Switzerland.
One of the city’s famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century, and hard to miss once you exit the train station, but be forewarned it is always bustling with tourists eager to take the best photo of the bridge. Not like anything I would do at all!! Other things to see and visit is the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal, found in a small park just off the Löwenplatz. The carving commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. The Swiss Museum of Transport is also well worth a visit, a large and comprehensive museum exhibiting all forms of transport, including locomotives, automobiles, ships, and aircraft. It is to be found beside the lake in the northern-eastern section of the city. but generally the best thing to do in Lucerne is just to walk around the lake shore and take in all the breathtaking views. Or you could also take a boat trip on the lake itself. I have done both options numerous times, and it is great for rebalancing the mind and spirit when the fresh mountain air runs through your nostrils and into your body energising you at the same time. Nothing like it. Love it. Love Lucerne.
Getting to the city is very easy, its central location means it is never too far from Switzerland’s other main cities, either on the motorway or by the extensive rail network in the country. Roughly 40 minutes by car from Basel, Zurich and Bern, and by rail about an hour from these same three cities, showing just how central Lucerne really is.
First pub of the day for me was to be the Anfield Pub, not that far from the main bridge of the city,crossing the street and down an alley. The exterior of the pub is pretty bland. I actually walked past it looking for it, I figured owing to its name it might have some red colouring, but no a boring black and grey and easy to pass by.
Normally I am mad early for these trips but here I was at the bar and it was 1.30 midday and the whole bar was EMPTY!!!! Just me and the two friendly bar ladies. A Saturday, midday, in a pub with live football on the box, empty. Wow, that’s just crazy to me!!!!
Sat down and ordered an Eichhof beer, a local brew I have tried and liked before. Served quickly (no shit!), from the friendly bar lady, I enjoyed the good pint and took in all the Liverpool themed football memorabilia to which there was a lot, and the bar is quite big.
They have 21 flat screens on the go all the time, showing round the clock football action, darts and table football if you get too bored with all that, they also do food. It’s a good place I guess if you are looking to watch the football for sure.
The bar is fine but something must be up if you can’t entice customers in on a Saturday midday, considering all the people just off the main drag around the corner. It is also a bit cheesy as well, calling a bar after the home ground of an English team considering you are in one of the most scenic cities in Switzerland. Use your local history? No connection, just looks silly, in my opinion.
Anyway pint was good, nice and cold, and service was friendly and fast.
Next pub was to be the Shamrock Irish Pub not too far from the Anfield, and the differences in size of crowd and atmosphere was very apparent. Two screens for the football here, not 21, with people eating food, others drinking and chatting, and a bit of a midday atmosphere building up. Takes an Irish pub to show you how it is done!!
Could have went for the usual suspects you can get in an Irish bar, Guinness, Smithwicks, or even a Kilkenny, but wanted to try something different so I went for an ale called a Braufrisch from the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden. It looked lovely in the glass, and went down better. Very good beer.
Sat down, not at the small bar which was full but at a side table, and took in the scenery. Most people were looking at the football, but there were a few Americans across from me eating some grub. Have to say it looked pretty good, and they were happy for sure, fish and chips all round. Must get food in here the next time I am in Lucerne.
Small, cozy, Irish bar with the usual style one expects from these kind of places, bar man was ok, pint was good, all is well and onto the next bar….
Again another surprise from one bar to the next. Ventured into Mr Pickwick’s pub, a familiar pub name in Switzerland as this chain is dotted in a few of the nation’s biggest cities. They are British style pubs offering a lot of good beer on tap, with tasty food to boot and football on the TV in the settings of an authentic English pub with added atmosphere. Pub has a great location as it is right on the promenade near the the Chapel Bridge, and offering seating outside with a river view.
Good crowd building up, and many were kitted out in Dutch regalia, as apparently it was the national day of the Netherlands. Kind of interesting to see. But surely they should be all doping up rather than downing the pints?
Sat at bar, got a good seat in the front and ordered a “Fursty Ferret“, an interesting amber ale they had on show. Well poured and looked very appetising, dived in and sure enough it was lovely. Well worth the try, so, so tasty and one to look out for again in the future.
Now I have to say the service in the pub was atrocious, and not just to me. Paying for the pint, the bar man barely noted my service, didn’t even look at me, took my money and that was that. But it wasn’t just me, he did it to every customer I saw. And his wife, I take it it was his wife, wasn’t much better. They looked like they had their minds on other things, absolute zero interaction with customers, stiffness and slightly rude. Did something happen previously with the happy but noisey Dutch drinkers? Either Way, it’s nothing to me and every customer should be made to feel welcome in a bar. Are they even British? A fucking joke. If you can’t run a good jovial and happy pub you have no business in this game my friends. Go to the Irish bar and take notes on how it is done!!! Pathetic.
Found it quite funny to be honest. Amazed on how not run a pub. but still the pint was excellent. Drank up, and out the door I went.
Next pub wasn’t too far to find as it was right next to Mr. Pickwicks, Rathaus Brauerei also on the promenade near the Chapel Bridge.
Plenty of seating outside but I went right into the bar, got a seat at the highchair, and ordered one of the Brauerei’s own onsite brews, a Weissbier, not my favourite kind of drink but luckily enough this one was fresh and tasty straight from the tap and tasted so good. Excellent stuff.
The place was quite busy, and people were not only drinking but eating from the extensive menu on show. Food served looked good coming hot from the kitchen, but I was happy enough with the nourishment I was getting from the beer, going down well. Had a nice chat with a lovely gentleman who was telling me that there is actually a 70-meter long underground line through the Rathaus to the fermentation and storage cellar in nearby Eisengasse, piping the wort through. Cool. The copper brew pans are also on show behind the bar and restaurant and there are lots of cellars to be seen on your travels to the toilets!!
Nice friendly ambience, good efficient service, and a lot of history on show in the old Rathaus. Not surprised to learn the place is a listed building, with the date of the build going back to between 1602 and 1606 in the style of the Italian Renaissance.
Read after their sausage’s are to die for. Ah well, missed that, next time so……….
Had read that the bar called Hard Rock Down Town on Eisengasse street was meant to be a cool enough place to hang out, so had a look and it was closed. A bit annoying as it was the afternoon but anyway a kind man who noticed that I had tried to open the door suggested St.Magdalena as a good place for a drink, a bar two doors down.
Took his advice and ventured in. Small enough place, really just a tiny circular bar with a few tables and chairs and not much else. Sat at the bar and ordered a Eichhof from the very friendly bar man.
Got chatting to two Lucerne FC supporters, and enjoyed the casual atmosphere in the place, a good friendly vibe to the place, very chilled. Seemed it was made up of mostly locals, which is cool.
They do food here, but it’s on the small scale here, nothing too pretentious all ordinary ware.
One major issue is the hard core porn images they have in the toilet. I do wonder why a certain community always need to appeal to the lowest common denominator, it’s not cool or “edgy”, but crass and I can’t for the life of me see what’s the point of it. Anyway judge for yourself, see pic!
Oops Cafe Bar
Address: Zentralstrasse 10, 6000 Lucerne
Got a bit lost and tired so popped in here to charge the phone and recharge my own batteries. Nice enough place, kind of a cafe type bar, easy going relaxed atmosphere building, with a nice modern interior. Sat at bar and ordered a Feldschlossen beer, just a regular lager on the tap, served fast and with a nice smile by the friendly bar lady.
Not much else to say really, a place for a quick pint and that was that really.
Followed the music that was coming from afar, it was pumping from the entrance to this bar and restaurant. A DJ was playing some great dance tunes from the 90s and early 2000’s, banging them tunes out. Brilliant.
Food on the barbecue was also on offer, and good beer, Eichhof although in plastic cups, but heh beggars can’t be choosers, right?
The place is situated very close to the football ground, and is the perfect location for a few beers before I head into the arena.
The place is pretty big inside, they do a lot of food and have enough room to pack out a big crowd. I decided to stay outside and have my hot food and beer and enjoy the music from the DJ. Later I read they do good pizza’s, perhaps next time I am this side of the world.
Liked this bar/restaurant, it had a great atmosphere abulding, the bar man and DJ were very friendly and chatty, and the place was well set up with tarpaulin to shelter us from the rain. Definitely worth a visit if here for a football match, recommended.
Founded in 1901, Fussball-Club Luzern (FCL) play in the Super League, the top tier of the country’s football league system, and have won the Swiss Championship once (1989) and the Swiss Cup twice (1960 and 1992).
The club colours are blue and white, derived from the City of Lucerne and Canton of Lucerne’s coats of arms.
The team is regarded as a bit of a yo-yo club, going up and down every year from relegation to promotion and back again, having done this a record 17 times!!
A club was to be born, called “FC Luzern” and was mentioned in an add in the local paper, the “Luzerner Tagblatt“ in 1897, in which a meeting was called in the Café Alpenclub for ideas on how to get the ball rolling and start up this team in the city. Owing to a slow initial response it was 4 years before that team came into existence in 1901, initiated by friends Adolf Coulin, Ernst Haag and Hans Walter, with its official launch in the Restaurant Seidenhof, near the train station. Two years later they joined the Swiss FA, starting off in the third highest division.
They did get to play in the top two divisions over time, and were constantly moving up and down through the leagues. At one stage they were not even the top team in Lucerne as city rival FC Kickers (who still play today at the 5th level of Swiss football!), often gave them a good hiding results wise. A merger between the two clubs went close, rejected by just one vote. Funny how things change in the end!
The club got a professional manager in 1921, Dionys Schönecker from Rapid Vienna of Austria, and his appointment was an instant success as Luzern faced Servette from Geneva in a title decider on 25 June 1922 in Basel. They were unlucky and bowed out 2-0.
A good few barren years followed that, as from the 30’s right upto the late 50’s nothing too exciting happened at the club, which spent a good portion of that time in the 2nd division with the usual promotion and relegation ups and downs to break up the occasional boredom for the fans.
Things changed in 1960 when the club finally got its hands on some silverware. Luzern won its first major national trophy by winning the Swiss Cup. The final was played against FC Grenchen and they won 1-0.
This success did not last long and the club were once again relegated in 1966. Promoted in 1967 was followed by relegation in 1969, promoted in 1970, relegated in 1972, promoted in 1974, once again relegated on in 1975 and finally promoted in 1979. Had their fans any hair left after all that I do wonder!
The clubs golden years were from 1980–1992. During this period they did the impossible and won the Swiss Championship. Friedel Rausch took over as a manager in 1985, and within a few years brought his very unfancied team to the top of the league, sensationally winning the Swiss championship in 1989. Luzern clinched the title race with a 1–0 home win against Servette in front of 24,000 fans. The deciding goal was scored by German striker Jürgen Mohr. They also won the Cup in 1992, beating FC Lugano 3–1 in the Swiss Cup final, under their German manager, but as so common with this club, of course they were also relegated in the same reason! What a club!!!
Afterwards the club did nothing of substance for many years and even skirted with the idea of going out of business as the debts racked up. In 2001, their centenary year, they entered administration and had to be rebranded and repackaged in order to continue, with much thanks to the effort of their supporters who helped financially when the call was put out for help.
Since then the club have had a good few appearance in the Swiss cup final, but always losing, and finished second in the league in 2011, but with the club nearly going bust in 2001 I guess the supporters are happy to have a few years at the top table in the league, as it certainly beats no football in the city of Lucerne, and with their new stadium, the Swissporarena, they can be happy in the knowledge that at least the clubs foundations are more solid these days, even if success is still far away for the moment at least.
The club play at home in the Swissporarena which was newly built in 2011, at the cost of EUR €60 million, on the site of the old stadium, Stadion Allmend. The stadium is used mostly for football matches of FC Lucerne, but the Swiss national team use it at least once in every qualifying campaign for the World Cup or Euros. Its capacity is of 16,800 spectators.
The club is fairly well followed with the 4th highest attendance record in the country (from 11,00 to 14,000), owing to the fact that it is centrally located and can hoover up fans from its surrounding areas. Their main rivals would be SC Kriens, who play in the 2nd division and are about 5 minutes drive away, stadium to stadium.
Well known players to have played for the club include two time CL winning manager Ottmar Hitzfeld, Swiss stars Alex Frei, Adrian Knup, Hakan Yakin and Kubilay Türkyılmaz, man mountain Ike Shorunmu, a very much underrated goalkeeper, from Nigeria, and Ricardo Costa a solid Defender from Portugal who could always be relied upon at the back.
To the game
FC Luzern 3 – 1 FC Thun
27.04.2019 • Swissporarena
• Roy Gelmi (OG. 3′)
• Pascal Schürpf (34′)
• Marvin Spielmann (Thun 50′)
• Blessing Chibuike Eleke (88′)
Attendance: 8’064
Getting to the Swissporarena is not so difficult and can be walked to from the city centre, as it is not much more than 2 kilometres south of Luzern’s city centre and main railway station.
The walk from the southern side of Luzern’s city centre takes about 20 minutes.
Alternatively, one can always take the commuter rail (S-Bahn) line S4 or S5 from the main railway station, and get off at stop Luzern Allmend / Messe, which is right at the arena.
Another option is bus 20 from the main railway station or the Bundesplatz in the direction of Technikumstrasse. Get off at stop Allmend/Messe. Buses go four times an hour, the ride takes about 8 minutes.
Tickets for FC Luzern matches can be bought online, at the Fanshop at the stadium, or at the Neue Luzerner Zeitung at the Pilatusstrasse 12 (about 200 metres from the main railway station). Don’t worry about not getting a ticket, as so often with Swiss football, Luzern will only sell out at the very odd high-profile match.
Ticket prices range from CHF 28.00 for the standing area, to CHF 33.00 for a seat in one of the corners, and CHF 100.00 for one at the main stand (if you are loaded!).
The ground itself is all modern and kind of funny looking, with golden looking stands formed all round, it’s kind of shit looking to be honest. Not the most attractive stadium I have ever seen for sure. Inside it looks a little better, all seats decked out in the club colours of blue.
Wasn’t long in settling down to my seat when Luzern went one nil up with an own goal headed in by Thun player Roy Gelmi after about 3 minutes on the clock. From a long throw in, he couldn’t avoid the ball connecting with his head as the penalty box was quite crowded at the time. Unlucky for him but a good start to the home team.
Thun had a goal correctly disallowed for offside, and then not long after Luzern get their second when Pascal Schürpf took a shot from outside the box that somehow went in. From such a distance and with not that much pace, the Thun goalkeeper could have done a little better in his effort to save it, I think!! But I should give him the benefit of been unsighted and it was bucketing down with rain. Good build up play from Eleke to the goal, to add.
Not long after the second half got underway Thun were right back in it with a well taken goal by Marvin Spielmann, rifling it into the net. Nice one, game on. Now at this stage a lot of the fans were further retreating back into the stands due to how bad the weather was. It was near torrential at this stage, making it hard to stay focused on the game, for us the supporters never mind what it was like for the players to kick the ball around the soggy pitch!!
After that not a whole lot happened to be fair with many of the fans just wishing that the game could go quickly as the rain was making everyone pretty miserable. Blessing Chibuike Eleke scored near the end, a real cracker, took the defender on, feigned and shot from his left in the far corner. Excellent goal to top off a real good performance from the player who looked dangerous anytime he had the ball.
Overall, good game but the conditions were so bad that to be honest I wouldn’t say this was a very enjoyable match day experience for me. The Luzern fans were fine and the stadium is ok, the pre match atmosphere was very good, and it was easy to find my seat and all but man it was one wet evening!! Totally soaked as I made my way home…..
Highlights of the game here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSUhxXbHz-M
Overall
Lucerne is a great city, just so pretty and has plenty of good drinking establishments, and other touristy things to do! The ground was fine, I especially enjoyed the pre match entertainment outside, and the footballing experience was ok. But perhaps next time I will pick a day when there is not so much rain! I know I am from ireland, but that doesnt mean I enjoy standing in showers and getting wet. Next time I will visit FC Luzern during the summer!
My football day trip this time was to be a little different. Rather than head straight to the pub for a day of drinking and having the craic and then finish it off with some football, this time I was to shake the day up a bit by including some more cultural and creative pursuits. Some might argue isn’t football high art in itself, but anyway this time round I was to take a nice walking tour in Phibsborough, then head across the city to Darndale to take in some great art, and then to finish it off with some football at Richmond Park, the stadium of light, home of St Patrick’s Athletic, not before I had a chat with local musician and keyboard wizard, Tommy Keyes. Art, music, storytelling, football and the odd pint, who says my life is boring!
St Patrick’s Athletic Football Club are based in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore (Irish: Inse Chór, meaning “Island of Sheep”), located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of the city centre, easily accessible by the Luas from O’Connell street.
Inchicore, by the Grand Canal, grew from a small village evolving in time as a gateway for trade into Dublin city, then as a significant industrial and residential suburb, with the Irish railway network having a hub here always providing opportunities.
Inchicore, with a population of about 2400, still has a small village atmosphere. The area includes a variety of local stores including a butcher/deli, hardware, ethnic stores, and two mid-size supermarkets, not to forget there are several pubs, including the ancient Black Lion Inn, and several restaurants and takeaways. A brewery has also opened in the area. Add in the main Church and you have everything you might need in an Irish town! (Oh yeah, the football club too!!)
My Streets Dublin
While I was thinking of what I could do for the day out in Dublin I came across a new walking tour that was been introduced in the city, called My Streets, Ireland. What was different about this tour was that it was done by people who have lived on the streets of the capital, homeless people giving tours and telling their unique stories. So I signed up and on the day I was lucky to get a tour off Eddie who was showing a few of us around the streets of Phibsboro, North Dublin. I also got chatting to Austin Campbell, one of the people behind the exciting new venture.
Phibsboro, is a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood in North Dublin hugging the The Royal Canal. A typical red-brick terrace area, with the odd Victorian style looking pub and the always busy Doyle’s Corner thoroughfare. Easily reachable by the new Luas Cross City Line network, or if you are mad, one could, of course, walk from O’Connell Street which can take you about 30 minutes or less.
It would be amiss of me not to mention, just about now, my football away days trip to local Phibsboro football club, Bohemians F.C. Read all about it here
I was well impressed with Eddie, a nice young man who has turned his life around and the tour was very informative. This was a tour that didn’t so much concentrate on the sights of the city but more on the personal stories of its people. Eddie talked about his rough upbringing, why he was on the streets, and the ins and outs of life as a homeless person. It was really a great way to spend an hour and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a little different in a tour. It certainly brought me into a world I don’t often think about, which was good.
I think what Austin and My Streets Ireland are doing is great, giving homeless people opportunities and also it’s a way of them contributing to the community. I will definitely be back on one of their tours the next time I am in Dublin as Austin mentioned they have plans for a Brendan Behan tour and a tour on Dublin’s street markets (a la Moore street for example), which both sound interesting, on top of the other tours they offer, Eddies one which I took ( ‘Eddie’s Experiences of Homelessness’ ) and a Viking special.
Anyway so here is my quick chat with eddie, Enjoy!
My Streets Ireland: Tours are offered 7 days a week and can be booked by private messaging on the My Streets facebook page, by emailing or by phone.
Tours are charged at a price of €10 per person.
The second part of my big adventure on my day out in Dublin was to head over the famous, Darndale, the edge of nowhere as they say, to meet the one and only Immanuel godson, an amazing Northside artist and painter who creates works in a classic and realistic style spruced up with a good healthy dose of modern day humour and satire. It was actually good to see that, like Eddies homeless tour in the morning, Immanuel has also been integrated into his community, an artist of the people for the people.
Darndale (Irish: Darndál meaning ”daffodil”) is an area on the Northside of Dublin, featuring a high concentration of social housing. It is located in the north of the sprawling suburb of Coolock. Got the bus from Busaras, takes about 40 minutes.
Immanuel was kind enough to show me round his gallery and explain some of the ideas behind his art. I also had a great chat with Immanuel about his work, and some of his opinions on the modern day art scene.
Would also like to mention how cool the Darndale Belcamp Village Centre is, it really is one tranquil place where anyone from the community can go in, embrace all the great art on display and relax in their thoughts and moods. And it isn’t just Immanuel’s art that is exhibited, a good few other local talents have their work highlighted and laid out around the building. An excellent resource for the local people, hats off to whoever keeps it going.
After Eddies great tour we needed a quick pint and a quick rest of the old legs before we embarked on our journey across town. Plenty of good boozers in Phibsboro, but we decided to head to Doyles Corner, an iconic landmark in this part of town.
Here for over a 100 years, it is a pub steeped in the fabric of the local community. I have drank in this place before, as it is a stone’s throw from Bohemians FC ground, Dalymount Park, and it is also not too far from Croke Park, the Gah ground. So on match day, be it football, bogball, or stick fighting (ancient Irish sports), it is always busy.
Well to say we were amazed is an understatement. We actually had to check if we were in the right bar, I say this as the whole place got a total revamp inside, and looks totally different. It has got a very stylish and fancy new makeover. It really is a great design, and who ever is the interior decorator deserves a big cheer. There is a bit of everything in it really, some art deco, has nice wooden snugs, cool peasants on displays, dead and stuffed of course, the visit to the bogs bring you on an old disco style journey with big pop art in the toilets. Now I know this all sounds like a bit of a mess but somehow it all works perfectly together. Of course for me the best bit is behind the bar, looking at all the various whiskeys and liquor on display,
We were the only two at the bar early morning, so still quiet. They have a good selection of beers on tap but went for Franciscan Well’s Rebel Red Ale, from Cork. Bar lady was friendly and served the beer perfectly in no time. Also got some Keoghs mature Irish crisps, very nice too, so good went back for another bag! As we were looking at all the beers, booze and alcohol on display Pogues Irish Whiskey caught our eye, and sure we just had to have a taste of this! Got a shot of it, was smooth enough, and gave us that little kick we need to continue on our journey across Dublin.
Doyles is looking fantastic and will be here again no doubt about it the next time I’m this side of Dublin, so much to see, so many interesting beers to try out, great setting, friendly staff, and a good effort all round. Next time I should try some of their food as I’d guess they have a great menu too!
Back again in Graingers Bar. We got a taxi back from Darndale to the city, and rather than try out a new bar we went with what we know, Graingers. We were hungry and in need of some good grub, so we knew what we would get in this bar………delicious food at a decent price, with a good pint too boot.
Near both the national bus and train Station this bar always has good food on offer. Great friendly service and a good way to recharge the batteries and fill the belly. Ordered a new beer, a Cute Hoor, an Irish pale ale, from Cork I think, but operated by Heineken, was pretty good though, very nice. Also the fish and chips ordered did the business.
One of my favourite bars for a quiet pint and some food. Recommended, as always!
Arrived in Inchicore, and really there is only one pub to go for a quick pre match scoop and that is Mcdowells Pub, smack bang wallop right beside the football ground! The club actually own this pub, they bought it to reassure fans who were worried that the club might up sticks and move. It’s a nod to the fans that the club is determined to stay in the area, and it’s also a good money making venture too! Having a pint in this pub is not only a pleasurable experience as you mingle with the fans, but it’s good to know you are also helping the coffers of the club with your purchase.
Place was busy, as to be expected with a pre match crowd, ordered a Heineken, and a packet of Tayto Salt and Vinegar, that’s the lunch sorted. Pint served fast and efficiently from the friendly bar man.
Good bar as there is a good bit of Pats football memorabilia dotted around, and the atmosphere was building up. Love this bar, it’s only a pity though that they can not somehow have it set up that punters can return at half time for a few more pints. Perhaps knock down a wall out the back???
Quick pint, and even quicker walk, straight out the door and right down the short alley to the turnstile to the game. As easy as that. One, two, three……..
Had one final pint just before we got the last bus home. Right across from Connolly Train Station, and near the Luas stop and Busaras bus terminal, is the Beresford Hotel with a bar on show. Looks like it was open for business and had a few souls inside, so we ventured in.
The Beresford is a 3 star hotel, with a top restaurant with an Italian menu but also offering Irish style breakfasts, anad a cafe bar with a top notch bar and lounge offering a wide array of drinks.
Seen that this new lager called Rockshore was popular so I decided to try it out. And boy was that a good decision as it was lovely, cold and crisp, what a fine pint to finish the day with. Lovely.
Barman was friendly and efficient, the interior was good, nice and comfy sitting at the bar, and the place was quiet enough to have the chat and digest the day we had. A very good place to have a quick pint before getting the train or bus home.
St Patrick’s Athletic F.C.
Founded: 1929
Arena/Stadium: Richmond Park,
Location: 125 Emmet Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8
Capacity: 5,340 (2,800 seated)
Manager: Harry Kenny
Leagues: League of Ireland Premier Division
Honours
League of Ireland/Premier Division: 8 (Last 2013)
FAI Cup: 3 (Last 2014)
St Patrick’s Athletic F.C. is a football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they originally played in the Phoenix Park but now play in Richmond Park since 1930.
Currently managed by Harry Kenny, the club play in red and white, and have won nine (or eight depending who you talk to!) league titles, and three FAI Cups. The club’s glory years came in the 1950s and 1990s when they won 7 of their 9 league titles. The club also have the record for never having been relegated from the Premier Division. Rivals could be said to be any of the other Dublin teams with the likes of Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians to choose from.
The club started off playing in the Leinster Senior League before taking their place in the League of Ireland in 1951, winning the Championship at their first attempt, with striker Shay Gibbons banging in the goals (LOI top scorer for three seasons in the 50’s). They had won the Leinster Senior league on numerous occasions, so perhaps winning the national league wasn’t such a big surprise. Two more league championship successes followed in 1954–55 and 1955–56, while in 1959 they achieved their first Cup success, beating Waterford 2-1 in a replay. Another Cup win came in 1961, beating Drumcondra 2-1, in an all Dublin final. Who would have guessed it would have taken 53 years for their next FAI Cup win! (2014).
The next few decades, from the swinging ’60s right upto the drab 80’s, were pretty forgetful years for Pats fans. No trophies in a long barren spell for the club. Paul McGrath did appear though, earning the PFAI Players player of the year in 1982, for his very brief time at the club, before been whisked off to Manchester United. Even shorter, much shorter in fact, was the one appearance for St Pats, by World Cup legend Gordon Banks! At the time British stars used to come over to Ireland for play for pay games. Invaraibly they were always shite as they were well at the end of their careers. Terry Venables was another who came over, in the 80’s.
Fortunes began to change when Brian Kerr took control of the managerial reigns in 1986. Working on a tight budget the manager got the team to win the LOI Championship title in the 1989-1990 season, their first for 34 years! He did unearth a few gems, Paul Osam, Curtis Fleming, Pat Fenlon, John McDonnell, and things looked rosy for the club.
But as so often in Irish football, the highs are always followed closely by the lows. The club was thrown into chaos when a takeover bid failed badly, leaving the club hours away from extinction before a group of local investors raised £82,000 to save the club. Phew!
Brian Kerr, wearing the club badge on his sleeve, as always, stepped up to help his club out when they needed him most for the gigantic task of rebuilding a winning team that was shot to pieces in months, with so many players leaving in the havoc surrounding the survival of the club. But as so often with Keer, he worked the oracle and once again created a winning championship team at St Pats with the league trophy returning to Richmond Park in 1996. The winning squad made up of such Pats legends as Eddie Gormley, Paul Osam and Ricky O’Flaherty together with exciting young stars such as Colin Hawkins and Trevor Molloy.
When Kerr resigned to take up the Director of Coaching job with the FAI, the good work was continued by Pat Dolan and then Liam Buckley installed as manager, with further championships in 1998 and 1999. The less said about the 10–0 aggregate loss to Zimbru Chişinău in the CL the better, the only real blight on Buckleys time at Pats!
In 2002 there was a League Championship title win that was not valid. The tile was given to Shelbourne as St Pats were given a 15 points deduction for playing an unregistered player for the first 5 games of the season. Some Pats fans count this in their title wins and you might see 9 instead of 8 Championships, so be warned!
In 2005 there were talks of a ground share plan in Tallaght with Dublin rivals, Shamrock Rovers. Obviously this was anathema to the supporters who fiercely resisted the move. In july 2006, the fans helped pressure the club to buy the Richmond House pub (also known as McDowell’s) for use as an official clubhouse, to show that they listened to the fans concerns and show their grounding in the local community.
Fast forward to 2012 and the return of Liam Buckley, former player and manager, for another stint in the hot seat. A clearout of the old team and bringing in 14 new players, Buckley was showing his serious ambitions on rebuilding a team to compete for the championship again. he did bring in some real star quality to the club, Chris Forrester, Christy Fagan, and Ger O’Brien, all becoming fans favourites in no time at all. Buckley’s side finished 3rd in the league, 6 points off champions Sligo Rovers. and he also guided his side to the 2012 FAI Cup Final, but they lost out 3–2 in extra-time to Derry City further extending the Saints’ FAI Cup winning drought to 52 years. Improvements were seen and the fans were happy, safe in the knowledge that good days were just around the corner. Killian Brennan and Conan Byrne arrived, further strengthening an already very decent side, and sure enough in 2013 they clinched the League of Ireland title on after a 2–0 win against holders Sligo Rovers with two games to spare. Brennan getting PFAI player of the year for his efforts.
In 2013 they finally got the monkey off their back and won the cup for the first time in 53 long years. beating Derry City 2–0 with Christy Fagan immortalising himself with the club’s fans by scoring twice. He was also the clubs top scorer that season in the league and also voted PFAI player of the year. Not a bad season by all accounts!
Upto the present day, they have got Harry Kenny managing them, an ex assistant manager now taking the number one role, having showed some promise as a manager when in charge of Bray Wanderers. Started the season with a cracker, beating Cork City at home, but since then the team have had a stop start season, winning games they were not expected to do so well and losing or drawing games they should have won. Some rumblings from the fans but I think a new man in charge needs at least a season to bed in his football philosophy. So let’s see…..
Pats have always put on a bit of a show in European football though. They have had some misadventures for sure (as mentioned), but on a few occasions they have got through numerous rounds in the Europa League, beating some decent teams along the way. In 2008–09 St. Pat’s progressed through two rounds of the UEFA Cup by beating JFK Olimps Riga and Elfsborg before losing to Hertha BSC, 0-2 on agg, in the First Round proper. In 2009, they did the same, two rounds of progression, Pat’s this time won games against Valletta FC and Russian Premier League side Krylia Sovetov to reach the play-off round where they were defeated by FC Steaua București, 1-5 on agg.. In 2011, again the same, knocking out Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja from Iceland and FC Shakhter Karagandy from Kazakhstan before eventually being knocked out in the third qualifying round by Ukrainian side FC Karpaty Lviv, 1-5 on agg..
In 2012 Buckley took the reins of the club knowing of the European expectations at the club and once again didn’t disappoint, knocking both Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja of iceland (a game I was at!) and NK Široki Brijeg out after extra-time, to earn a tie with German powerhouse Hannover 96, who knocked the Saints out in the third qualifying round. In 2016 the Saints knocked Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg out of the UEFA Europa League on away goals before being narrowly beaten 2–1 on aggregate to Dinamo Minsk of Belarus in the second qualifying round, in a game truth be told they should have really won. Overall, generally Pats perform decent enough in Europe, and are one of the few LOI teams where fans can regal newcomers about “glory European adventures down Richmond way”, always when it’s raining though!!
Notable ex-players who have donned the Pats shirt in the past include Ireland internationals Keith Fahey, Curtis Fleming, and “The Black Pearl of Inchicore”, the legend that is Paul Mcgrath, one of the best defenders I have ever seen, no doubt about it. Other top players include Joseph N’Do, Ryan Guy, Charles Mbabazi Livingstone, Gordon Banks, Eddie Gormley, and Paul Osam who hold the all time appearances record for the club (308).
The club play out of Richmond Park in the suburb of Inchicore. The area where the ground now stands was formerly used as a recreational area by the British Army, who were stationed at the nearby Richmond Barracks, named after Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond hence the name Richmond Park. Getting to Richmond is dead easy. One can take a bus, bus numbers 68, 68a, 69 and 79 all can take you near or near enough to the ground from the city centre, but the best and easiest way to Richmond is by taking the tram. Get on the Red Luas line to Saggart/Tallaght from the city centre, getting off at Goldenbridge stop. From there, cross the canal, veer left and continue down Connolly Avenue towards Emmet Road. Simples!
St Pats, although a small club they do have a strong link up with their surroundings and the local south west Dublin community. When visiting Richmond one can definitely feel a close bond from the supporters towards the club. The Shed End Invincibles are the “ultra” group associated with the team. They no doubt bring a great atmosphere to the ground, always having some sort of fan display on show, sing throughout and are one of the better fan groups in the LOI. They really play a big part in making a trip to Richmond a highlight, for me at least.
To the game
St Patrick’s Athletic 1 – Dundalk 0
05.04.2019 Richmond Park
45’ Own goal
Attendance: 1878
Despite it piddling down for most, if not all, of the game, I barely noticed that I was totally drenched, such was the excitement on offer at Richmond Park. Ok parts of the game were a little pedestrian, but for what St Pats lacked in skill they more than made up for it with steely determination and heart.
Dundalk, the Champions, looked a bit lively at the start and one was thinking it was only a matter of time before they would score. But then as the game went on, the Pats players became more confident, with Rhys McCabe working his socks off, popping up all over the pitch, harrying players for the ball, pinning passes left to right, and generally been a pain in the ass for the Dundalk back four. An excellent performance from Rhys McCabe, what a pleasure to see such skill on show in our league.
Was right in view of the penalty box when the Pats had a clear penalty shout waved away by the ref, but it no doubt hit the Dundalk defender and God only knows what the hell the linesman was doing as he also had a clear view of the incident. He took a good bit of ribbing from the Pats fans after that terrible error. I dont know, refs and linesmen…..a different breed! Ha.
Sure enough the goal came via McCabe, who floated a swinging cross into the box only for Daniel Cleary to somehow slide it into his own goal, one nil to the home team just before half time.
In the second half both teams had chances to score, but it seemed that the Pats midfield were bossing it, with the team home totally neutralising the Dundalk threat. That was until the last 10 minutes or so, with about 5 minutes of added time, when the Pats players naturally whilted with all the effort they put in, Dundalk put the foot on the gas and there was a lot of last man defending as Dundalk kept plugging away for the equaliser.
Hoban had a glorious chance to level in the end, but the Gods were looking down on Pats, as he shot wide. The divine would only support the Saints, surely! The whole ground let out a collective sigh of relief at the final whistle, and then the cheers began, beating the champions at home, great.
It would be totally unfair of me not to mention that the Pats back four were immense. It was them and their stout heroic defending that made Dundalk look so flat. They played as a coherent unit at the back and for most of the game had everything in control, playing with confidence from the back. Great performance form the Pats defence.
I dont quite know how Pats have been losing before and after this game, consistently dropping points every few games, as on this performance they have a great team and should really be doing slightly better than mid table where they are at the moment. Would give the benefit of doubt to the manager, Harry Kenny, as sometimes it takes a while to stamp your authority and game plan on a squad in your first year as the gaffer. But let’s see, as I feel pats have the makings of a good team here. (But I am a bit biased to be honest as I always love visiting Richmond and so have a soft spot for Pats)
Highlights of the game here
Interview
Had the pleasure of having a short chat with long time Super Saints fan, Tommy Keyes.
Tommy is a Singer-Songwriter. In between a long stint as a top civil servant with the government, Tommy was a member of Irish rock band Sidewinder in the 1970s, and is now back, after a “break” of 40 years, in the profession he loves the most, wannabe rock star and keyboard extraordinaire, writing songs, making albums and performing on stage with his new band.
He has released four albums to date, all recorded in Sun Studios at Temple Lane, with some of Ireland’s top session musicians. The albums are An Irish Life, The Sad Pursuit, Some of These Stories are True, and his most recent offering, his fourth album, Temptation Once Again. An Irish life was very well received by both the critics and the public, while the song “Christmas Eve in Dublin”, a track off his latest album reached the top of the Irish singer/songwriter charts on iTunes, with the album overall getting a very healthy score of 8/10 from the Irish music mag, Hot Press, an Irish version of Rolling Stone.
I’m Tommy Keyes, singer songwriter, recording artist and given Rob’s (me!) particular interest in football as well, I’m also very heavily involved in St. Patrick’s athletic football club and that’s where we are tonight doing this interview.
With the song Richmond nights, the start of the song……….”Hand in hand, the boy and man walk to the terraced shed, find some space and take their place among the sea of red” so……….
Yeah that song is about 3 generations. I mean my dad first brought me here, we are in Richmond park, my dad first brought me here maybe when we were 11 or 12 and then I brought my kids as soon as they were old enough to turn them into League of Ireland supporters as well. I don’t have any grandchildren yet but the song is kind of looking ahead to when you know and it’s most likely be my daughter, as my eldest daughter is very heavily involved now in the club as well, when she will have someone to bring along, and it’s the way the love of a football club, and the love of supporting the club, gets passed on from generation to generation, it’s a very, very special thing.
I think St.Pats is, I don’t know like I have seen a few of the other teams in Dublin, but I think St Pats are slightly different to maybe Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians, is more rooted within its area, its family, it’s more community based I think?
Its very rooted in the community here in Inchicore, about 10 or 12 years ago, when, 13 years ago, when the new owner Garrett Kelleher bought the club, a lot of people were telling him that the sensible thing was to, to sell up the ground here, move out to Tallaght which was been developed at that stage, share the ground with Shamrock Rovers, and he very quickly realized that if you did that you would kill the club because the club is absolutely rooted in the community here. Not just Inchicore but the areas around it, West Dublin, its of this place and we couldn’t move so he quickly said no the club is never moving from here.
And is it hard to get people out these days to follow the League of Ireland?
It’s very hard because any night of the week…..I mean we are here Friday night and we are playing Dundalk, who are the best team in the country so this should be a massive match but Liverpool are on television tonight so we are definitely going to lose supporters to that but the one thing I will say is that there seems to be a bit of a resurgence since the start of this season, we have had very good gates for home matches, Bohemians, our last away match was in Bohemians away last week, they sold out. We sold out for our last match here against Shamrock Rovers, we had to turn people away …….you know we are talking here about you know……4,300, 4,400, we are not talking about massive gates, but you know things are improving, but I mean the quality of the football is extremely good and you can shout at the television as much as you like it’s not the same as shouting at players who can hear you………….and referees who can hear you…..
Attendances are up this season……….
Definitely
Is there a reason for that, I mean for this season especially…….?
A lot of the clubs including ourselves did some very, very good promotion videos that went viral on YouTube and all that type of thing, maybe people have a bit more money in their pocket, the quality of the football is very good, I mean a lot of the time what we are trying to do is to get people to bring their friends to a match or two, because we know that if they see how good the product is, the entertainment is, they will come again.
And since you have been following them what was the highlight season for you?
Well….I have been following them 50 years, we have won the league 6 times in that period, but I think nothing really can beat winning the FAI cup in 2014, in the Aviva because that was the hoodoo that was hanging over this club, you know, 7 cup finals, we won the cup back in I think about 61, and after that we were in 7 cup finals and we lost every single one of them. And like some of them were so close, Shelbourne went to a replay, Derry went to extra time, we lost, 7 in a row we lost, so there was this jinx hanging over us, we are never going to win the cup, even though we won 6 leagues in the same period, and we beat Derry 2-0 in the Aviva in 2014 and that was really, really special.
https://youtu.be/YLwzH42S2tQ
Did you drink for a week after that!?
Ah, no comment on that!
And there has been some special European nights here as well. Once we get beyond a certain stage in Europe we have to move to Tallaght or whatever, and it’s never as good, but when this place is packed for a European night you know, we played Elfsborg from Sweden and we were losing on aggregate with about 5 minutes to go, we just needed a goal to win on away goals, we got the goal and then we got another goal, and that was just a massive, massive night.
https://youtu.be/rgcAHb4dhw8
Well cult heroes I mean then, its Paul McGrath……..
Every generation brings it cults heroes, I mean we have a lad at the club at the moment Ian Birmingham, the captain, it’s his testimonial year this year, 10th successive season, and that’s 10 seasons always been in the first team, you rarely get that in League of Ireland football now.
But you know, people like Paul Osam, Eddie Gormley, Curtis Fleming, and people older than me will talk about people like Ginger O’Rourke, and Timber Cummins and people like these fellas back in the 50’s so its generation to generation.
There is a kid here at the moment called Jamie Lennon, you will see him tonight, he is a defensive midfielder, came on as a sub for the Ireland under 21’s in tallaght there last Sunday week, you know he is a star of the future.
Chris Forrester is back, Chris has had a disastrous year, he was doing really well at Peterborough and then it kind of went off the boil, they sold him to Aberdeen and that didn’t work out at all, so he is home now, and he hasn’t played very much football in the last year so he is only finding his feet again, when he finds his feet he is going to be massive, he was one of the legends here……….
So what should I expect tonight in terms of atmosphere…?
The atmosphere will be good, we are on a bad roll because the team hasn’t quite gelled with the new signings, Dundalk are the best team in the country, notwithstanding that Shamrock Rovers might be top of the table at the moment, so we are very much up against it, if we get anything out of the game tonight that would be good.
Then with regards music Tommy, so how is the music going for you these days?
The music is going very well, I was working in a completely different….I was working away from music for nearly 40 years because in the 70s I had been in bands, and so on, and I was the main songwriter in the bands that I was in, and then I was away from music for 40 years because I had a different career and it just didn’t leave any room for music, but I retired from that in 2015 and went straight into the studio and recorded stuff, started doing albums, getting back gigging, looking around for singer songwriter sessions…….I’m not really interested in going into pubs doing covers,
You do your own songs…
I do my own stuff and there are, particularly around Dublin, there are places where you can go and play your own material and I ended up landing on my feet really, because I got involved with a pub in Dublin called Darkie Kelly’s, which has singer songwriter night on Tuesdays, and I started playing that and then they asked me to host it and then they asked me to run it and so I run that session now, and I get to do quite a few original songs, and every Tuesday night and we usually have 9 or 10 other singer songwriters who all perform and then we have a big jam at the end, and I do a thing then in the same place, an idea came up with myself last year called the Sunday Song Brunch where twice a month we have half 12 until 3 o’clock sessions on a Sunday where we have much the same thing. And the nice thing about that is our musicians because during the day, musicians who have young kids, the kids maybe never seen daddy or mammy play so they can bring them in, so that’s nice as well.
I’m very content, 4th album, Temptation Once Again, came out in November, has done really well, got really nice reviews for it, getting a good bit of radio play, I’m never going to make money out of this but it doesn’t matter I just want my original songs out there
But you get your own audience online……..
That’s exactly it, that’s exactly it.
Does the football feed off it, when you are standing on the terraces on a cold wet night, does inspiration hit you………
Well I don’t know about that. but the first thing is I look around the ground as you will do this evening and behind each goal I will see a big billboard Tommy Keyes, that I decided I was going to put a little bit of money into promotion so St pats might as well have it…….so every time that Soccer Republic (TV Show) is on or whatever it is called now, if they are showing any goals from Richmond Park, just a quick little subliminal add that catches everyone for Tommy Keyes, which is good.
Which would be better, the buzz from a live performance, you are playing in front of people, or a goal tonight, is there…………
They are both brilliant……. that’s like saying you can only keep one of your kids……..which one would you give up, you couldn’t really choose between those………….
You said you were with Sidewinder back in the day…..
In the 70’s………….
Yeah, is there much of a difference between then and these times?
Yeah well first of all, big difference personally because I was just the keyboard player in the band I was never the front man, now it’s me, I’m Tommy Keyes, sometimes I play with a band, but it would be the band I put together myself and so on…………so it is different……
And the other big difference is now, and this is why I said I feel very sorry for young musicians now, in those days you could actually make money doing it, you know….the gigs all paid, there were big crowds and all that type of thing, and if you brought out an album or single people would buy it, now the venues generally don’t pay, or pay very, very little, and everyone downloads the albums, singles, or streams them whatever, I mean if you hear everything you want to hear on Spotify, why are you going to buy things, and that’s the problem. So, in terms of it been a money-making proposition it is very difficult.
But you are more catered to your audience I think due to YouTube and social media; you can go direct to your audience.
Absolutely, you can target them in that way.
Ok Tommy, just with regards to tonight’s game, any predictions on the game ………….
Mmmm………my head says we will lose, and my heart says a one all draw.
I think they lost in the cup there (To Dundalk) ……….
We played them in the League Cup on Monday, 2-1 defeat, yeah
But that was the second team maybe?
Well yeah both teams were under strength for the game you know.
Our problem this season is scoring goals, and our striker, Mikey Drennan is the only player who has scored so far this season and unfortunately, he got sent off against Bohemians last week so he is suspended so that doesn’t help. Gary Shaw is playing up front
Ok so it might be a one nil then, a narrow one nil then
I did a short and brief review of two of Tommy’s albums. I am not a great music reviewer, maybe not even a good beer reviewer, but I gave it a try.
An Irish Life: Tommy Keyes (2016)
This album is Tommy reminiscing about the olden days, the time he was growing up as a wee lad, the teenage years of angst and rock music, gigging around the country, the monotony of a working stiff, and the equal pleasures and sadness of seeing his daughters grow up and then leave home. Basically it’s the story of Tommy’s life in music, and in poetic form sang with passion and feeling. The soundtrack to his life in all its glory and wonder, just like the lives of his fellow compatriots, a life not too separated from what so many were going through in Ireland at the time, an Irish life we all know so well.
The album is cleverly set up into 4 parts: Spring, Summer, Autumn and, finishing with, Christmas. Showing the various stages of life in music form, hot stepping it as a young nipper in spring, football in the summer, sad reflections in autumn, and get togethers around the family tree at Christmas.
From the beginning we are brought into the life of a dreamer, “I was there” is the first track, taking us back to the days of late night clubs and old gigs, the craic was great and the fun Tommy had………..”Those were crazy days, I know cause I was there”, all played out to the beat of an old style light rock tempo just like what was heard back in the day. Great start, sets us up nicely, gets us in the mood…………
“Happy days” is another cracker of a tune, love it. This time Tommy goes back even further, to the excitement he had as a young nipper acting out make believe scenes as a cowboy, football superstar, or 007, like we all did when we were kids. Happy days indeed. “In our field of dreams we’ll be football teams, we’ll take to the pitch in the green shirt of Ireland, win every match on the way to the final”. Great, makes me wonder do the young ones these days, what with their Iphone and Ipads, have the same amount of fun we had when we were young, somehow I doubt it. The backing vocals on this track provided by Ellen and Cian O’Mahoney are excellent, and what makes the song stand out. There is also a nice guitar solo, from Dick Farrelly, midway through the track, just to remind you of Tommy’s rock credentials!
The soft rock and easy listening continues with the next tune, “Landscape Park”, again about childhood memories, again about football in the park, “Kick a football until dark”. Something tells me Tommy, was a keen footballer and perhaps music was not his first love!
“SmallTown Superstars”, track 4, goes off on a little tangent, more of a country twang to this song, pretty upbeat and chirpy, and another guitar solo from Mr Dick Farrelly, perhaps highlighting the mix of the showband and the new music coming from across the water, “We were children of the 50’s, we grow up with rock n roll”, before Tommy and his mates had a band themselves and while making all the local newspapers, they “were small town superstars”, for a while at least living the dream.
After the upbeat start Tommy slows it down a bit for the next few songs, a more soulful, more soothing collection of memories. “In Dublin” is about emigration, a subject I think most Irish people are only too well aware of, “We’re climbing slowly in the sky, never look behind, leaving on our own, America, Australia, we’re never coming home!”, while “Long Distance Call” is another reminder of the ways things were pre internet or pre skype when calling from afar. A call home, to loved ones, “On Bondi Beach on Christmas day the sky is clear, I just called to say I’m fine”. The backing vocals create an air of sadness and shows how distance does indeed make the heart grow fonder.
Tommy’s life has settled down as shown in the next few tracks, as a working man in “Sleep She Said“, a “cog in the wheel in a lifetime of service, when morning comes I do it all again!”, all played out with a lovely melody on the guitar. He has grown up and now has a young child, “My Little Girl“, it is a “Slowdown world for me and my girl”. track 8, mid life, mid album.
We then move onto my favourite track of the album and the song that got me into Tommy’s music, “Richmond Nights”, an ode to time spent watching St Patrick’s Athletic as a young lad, “Hand in hand, the boy and man walk to the terraced shed, find some space and take their place among the sea of red”, excellently setting out the scene of footballing seeds taking root. Tommy later sings about continuing this family tradition with his daughter, “in years to come, one will hold tight to his hand, when she’s allowed to join the crowd”. I love the way Tommy expertly shows through this song, what football is all about, the love of the game passed down, generation to generation. This is what it’s all about, the passion of the beautiful game, all highlighted perfectly in “Richmond Nights”.
More beautiful poetry in the next track, song 10, “Bloom”, another slow number, this time a song to his daughter, the memories of her growing up, and now she is in adulthood, “The rose is in bloom”. “Souvenirs” follows in the same vein, “A baby tooth, a tattered teddy bear, a lock of golden hair”. By the time we get to “Dust In My Eye”, we see his daughter has grown up, “I am standing in terminal two, handing your suitcase to you”, as she prepares to travel abroad. In “Shooting Stars”, he hopes she will return, “near or far, please be here for Christmas. All these songs are slow numbers, one follows the other, a father showing his love for his children in music form. Anyone that is a parent can empathise with this passion from the heart.
“An old Irish song” is a number with some traditional music included, there is a bodhran, the tin whistle, a fiddle, even some As Gaeilge sung beautifully by Ellen O’Mahoney and Carla Ryan. One of my favourite tracks, as it is hard to get an original traditional tune right, but Tommy does it just fine. The song is about where his mother taught.
The last track, “New Years Eve”, highlights the ending of the year, a time when we are all together as a family, and the album comes full circle, a pleasant conclusion to the life and times of Tommy Keyes. It starts like it will be a version of Auld Lang Syne but with a touch of Dublin soul. “Here we are again in New Years Eve around the family tree”. A fitting end to a great album.
I enjoyed this album a lot and in some sense it is good that Tommy has returned to music but this time without the pressures of trying to “make it” or the endless hassle of meeting album deadlines and doing gigs for self promotion. Now that Tommy has lived, his music shows a more soulful reflective mood, easy going and with a wonderful poetic style of writing easy for the listener to follow and partake in. It is a good album and one to listen to again and again.
Temptation Once Again: Tommy Keyes (2018)
Two years after “An Irish Life” Tommy returns with “Temptation Once Again”, another easy listening collection of songs, but this time the topic is love, the good and the bad of it all. The “mainstays of the live set”, were brought to life in the studio with a team of the best session singers and musicians one can find!
On the cover we see temptation…………..women, beer, the party lifestyle…………the story of my life! (yeah right!)
“Just A Simple Love Song”, kicks off the album, and what an excellent track to start with, brilliant, we get the the drums, piano, the backing vocals, violin, cello, sax, all coming together nicely, music that has a bit of everything, but “it’s just a simple love song for you”. “Snakes and Ladders”, seamlessly into song two, a similar song and mood, love is in the air…………..”feels like we’re playing a game of snakes and ladders, and we’re always falling down”, the turbulence of a rocky relationship but feels like it will all work out in the end. In both songs backing singer Ellen O’Mahoney and Tommy on lead vocals guide the songs expertly to their destination.
Track three, “By My Side” is a kind of Randy Newman style number, I half expect to hear it on the new Toy Story movie, a contemplative song, “I was searching far and wide for an answer that was right there by my side” true love was found.
“Superman”, the next track, sounds like an ode to Tommy’s parents, working the piano, while singing some soul, “little fingers wipe away the tears, pull the blanket tight around my ears”.
Track five, “It Wouldn’t Be Me”, and we are back to the Randy Newman crispy voiced pop sounds. Works well and easy to listen to. This time we see some problems from the lovers, “I can change if you want me to, I can be anyone you’d like me to be, but it wouldn’t be me!”. Richie Buckley on sax is heavy on this one. Nice tune.
We get to see the reality of life as a young musician, on “Brimful In My Soul”, “I’m empty in my pockets but I’m brimful in my soul”, the harsh life as a musician with promises of stardom, “I was playing a open mic to a crowd of nine or ten”. Temptation here, perhaps, is to pack it in, give up on your first love……………….music? A very good song, love the story in it, from the heart and a nice slow number with Tommy perhaps giving us a glimpse of the struggles he, like a lot of musicians, went through for his craft.
Track seven, “Something’s Broken”, like the previous song, is another mellow piano sound that lingers in the mind. “Lean on me and I’ll guide you home” perhaps a song showing his love towards his children? “I promise you, you’ll never be alone”
Tommy on the piano once again shining in the next number, “The Moon and the Stars”. Gerrard Farrelly softly on the drums, while the chorus “you light up the night like the moon and the stars” sang beautifully by Ellen and Cian o’Mahoney, Paul o’Toole, and Padraig MacMahon, easy going and upbeat, the couple are back in love again. And “Everyday I Fall In Love Again” an enduring love song, Tommy’s upbeat tones declaring “everyday I fall in love again with you, with you, everyday I fall in love with you”, undying love.
But is the love undying since we move onto track ten and we get “Temptation Once Again”, an easy going soul/pop number, where an older man encounters a younger woman, “she’s walks in your direction flashes you a smile”, “experience is best”, tempting for the old man. Another song where the musicians and the session band come together as one, with a great sax again by Richie Buckley, and Gerrard Farrelly on the drums again smooching it up, with, I am guessing his brother, Dick Farrelly on bass strumming out those heavy moods, all in unison, excellent track.
“Valentine” brings the pace down a bit, a slow love song with the excellent pairing of Aisling Bridgeman and Aine Gallagher on their violins in the background, a lovely song of “two lovers growing old, bring(ing) back those memories, bring(ing) back that smile”
Track 12, “Christmas Eve in Dublin”, did very well in the ITunes charts, and it’s not hard to see why, as it’s a lovely seasonal song perfect for the time of year that’s in it, meeting in the pub over pints, seeing “Just the same old faces, just the same old show Christmas Eve on Dublin, they say it looks like snow”, slow number with a lovely guitar melody running through. Pubs, pints and Dublin, what’s not to love there?
Perhaps track 13 shows what can happen if you indulge too much in the old beer drinking, as “I Was Joking”, Tommy sings about acting the maggot, playing the joker, but it got out of hand, “I never meant to hurt you, I was joking that was all”. A break up on the cards?, “Now I know the jokes on me”
Perhaps the break up has happened as in “Drunk Lullaby”, it certainly looks like lost love and someone has hit the drink, “A bottle of rye and a drunk lullaby and an old faded picture of you”, Clare Kinsella on the cello the stand out here, very good.
Bu the last track, “Land’s End”, Tommy looks back on life again, “memories, nothing more, lands end, lands end, land end” a song that reminds me of Tom Waits with his gravelly voice, contemplative and reflecting the short time we have on this little old planet we have”awaiting the last ship, to the other side, lands end, lands end, lands end”. A great song to finish a very good album, an album where time spent perfecting the songs in the studio was well worth it all with the musicians in their own unique ways come together to produce a well crafted love album. I was thinking that Tommy could be the Irish version of Louis Armstrong, Randy Newman or at times Tom Waits. take your pick! Yes it is that good!
Overall
Dublin was great, as always, the pints were and are always fantastic, and it is not hard to have a good time in the big city.
Loved meeting the guys, Eddie, Immanuel and Tommy, was really special to chat to three very talented individuals, and I wish them great success in the future. Just goes to show you the talent that one can find in this little wee country of ours.
Also must mention the fast food in Richmond, a tiny bit expensive, but the burgers were so, so tasty……………and I see I am down to be home and back in Ireland during the first few weeks of July. I notice Pats are pencilled down for a Euro tie with Norrkoping from Sweden during that time……………..mmmm………………….VERY TEMPTING…………..
Had the pleasure of having a short chat with long time Super Saints fan, Tommy Keyes.
Tommy is a Singer-Songwriter. In between a long stint as a top civil servant with the government, Tommy was a member of Irish rock band Sidewinder in the 1970s, and is now back, after a “break” of 40 years, in the profession he loves the most, wannabe rock star and keyboard extraordinaire, writing songs, making albums and performing on stage with his new band.
He has released four albums to date, all recorded in Sun Studios at Temple Lane, with some of Ireland’s top session musicians. The albums are An Irish Life, The Sad Pursuit, Some of These Stories are True, and his most recent offering, his fourth album, Temptation Once Again. An Irish life was very well received by both the critics and the public, while the song “Christmas Eve in Dublin”, a track off his latest album reached the top of the Irish singer/songwriter charts on iTunes, with the album overall getting a very healthy score of 8/10 from the Irish music mag, Hot Press, an Irish version of Rolling Stone.
I’m Tommy Keyes, singer songwriter, recording artist and given Rob’s (me!) particular interest in football as well, I’m also very heavily involved in St. Patrick’s athletic football club and that’s where we are tonight doing this interview.
With the song Richmond nights, the start of the song……….”Hand in hand, the boy and man walk to the terraced shed, find some space and take their place among the sea of red” so……….
Yeah that song is about 3 generations. I mean my dad first brought me here, we are in Richmond park, my dad first brought me here maybe when we were 11 or 12 and then I brought my kids as soon as they were old enough to turn them into League of Ireland supporters as well. I don’t have any grandchildren yet but the song is kind of looking ahead to when you know and it’s most likely be my daughter, as my eldest daughter is very heavily involved now in the club as well, when she will have someone to bring along, and it’s the way the love of a football club, and the love of supporting the club, gets passed on from generation to generation, it’s a very, very special thing.
I think St.Pats is, I don’t know like I have seen a few of the other teams in Dublin, but I think St Pats are slightly different to maybe Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians, is more rooted within its area, its family, it’s more community based I think?
Its very rooted in the community here in Inchicore, about 10 or 12 years ago, when, 13 years ago, when the new owner Garrett Kelleher bought the club, a lot of people were telling him that the sensible thing was to, to sell up the ground here, move out to Tallaght which was been developed at that stage, share the ground with Shamrock Rovers, and he very quickly realized that if you did that you would kill the club because the club is absolutely rooted in the community here. Not just Inchicore but the areas around it, West Dublin, its of this place and we couldn’t move so he quickly said no the club is never moving from here.
And is it hard to get people out these days to follow the League of Ireland?
It’s very hard because any night of the week…..I mean we are here Friday night and we are playing Dundalk, who are the best team in the country so this should be a massive match but Liverpool are on television tonight so we are definitely going to lose supporters to that but the one thing I will say is that there seems to be a bit of a resurgence since the start of this season, we have had very good gates for home matches, Bohemians, our last away match was in Bohemians away last week, they sold out. We sold out for our last match here against Shamrock Rovers, we had to turn people away …….you know we are talking here about you know……4,300, 4,400, we are not talking about massive gates, but you know things are improving, but I mean the quality of the football is extremely good and you can shout at the television as much as you like it’s not the same as shouting at players who can hear you………….and referees who can hear you…..
Attendances are up this season……….
Definitely
Is there a reason for that, I mean for this season especially…….?
A lot of the clubs including ourselves did some very, very good promotion videos that went viral on YouTube and all that type of thing, maybe people have a bit more money in their pocket, the quality of the football is very good, I mean a lot of the time what we are trying to do is to get people to bring their friends to a match or two, because we know that if they see how good the product is, the entertainment is, they will come again.
And since you have been following them what was the highlight season for you?
Well….I have been following them 50 years, we have won the league 6 times in that period, but I think nothing really can beat winning the FAI cup in 2014, in the Aviva because that was the hoodoo that was hanging over this club, you know, 7 cup finals, we won the cup back in I think about 61, and after that we were in 7 cup finals and we lost every single one of them. And like some of them were so close, Shelbourne went to a replay, Derry went to extra time, we lost, 7 in a row we lost, so there was this jinx hanging over us, we are never going to win the cup, even though we won 6 leagues in the same period, and we beat Derry 2-0 in the Aviva in 2014 and that was really, really special.
https://youtu.be/YLwzH42S2tQ
Did you drink for a week after that!?
Ah, no comment on that!
And there has been some special European nights here as well. Once we get beyond a certain stage in Europe we have to move to Tallaght or whatever, and it’s never as good, but when this place is packed for a European night you know, we played Elfsborg from Sweden and we were losing on aggregate with about 5 minutes to go, we just needed a goal to win on away goals, we got the goal and then we got another goal, and that was just a massive, massive night.
https://youtu.be/rgcAHb4dhw8
Well cult heroes I mean then, its Paul McGrath……..
Every generation brings it cults heroes, I mean we have a lad at the club at the moment Ian Birmingham, the captain, it’s his testimonial year this year, 10th successive season, and that’s 10 seasons always been in the first team, you rarely get that in League of Ireland football now.
But you know, people like Paul Osam, Eddie Gormley, Curtis Fleming, and people older than me will talk about people like Ginger O’Rourke, and Timber Cummins and people like these fellas back in the 50’s so its generation to generation.
There is a kid here at the moment called Jamie Lennon, you will see him tonight, he is a defensive midfielder, came on as a sub for the Ireland under 21’s in tallaght there last Sunday week, you know he is a star of the future.
Chris Forrester is back, Chris has had a disastrous year, he was doing really well at Peterborough and then it kind of went off the boil, they sold him to Aberdeen and that didn’t work out at all, so he is home now, and he hasn’t played very much football in the last year so he is only finding his feet again, when he finds his feet he is going to be massive, he was one of the legends here……….
So what should I expect tonight in terms of atmosphere…?
The atmosphere will be good, we are on a bad roll because the team hasn’t quite gelled with the new signings, Dundalk are the best team in the country, notwithstanding that Shamrock Rovers might be top of the table at the moment, so we are very much up against it, if we get anything out of the game tonight that would be good.
Then with regards music Tommy, so how is the music going for you these days?
The music is going very well, I was working in a completely different….I was working away from music for nearly 40 years because in the 70s I had been in bands, and so on, and I was the main songwriter in the bands that I was in, and then I was away from music for 40 years because I had a different career and it just didn’t leave any room for music, but I retired from that in 2015 and went straight into the studio and recorded stuff, started doing albums, getting back gigging, looking around for singer songwriter sessions…….I’m not really interested in going into pubs doing covers,
You do your own songs…
I do my own stuff and there are, particularly around Dublin, there are places where you can go and play your own material and I ended up landing on my feet really, because I got involved with a pub in Dublin called Darkie Kelly’s, which has singer songwriter night on Tuesdays, and I started playing that and then they asked me to host it and then they asked me to run it and so I run that session now, and I get to do quite a few original songs, and every Tuesday night and we usually have 9 or 10 other singer songwriters who all perform and then we have a big jam at the end, and I do a thing then in the same place, an idea came up with myself last year called the Sunday Song Brunch where twice a month we have half 12 until 3 o’clock sessions on a Sunday where we have much the same thing. And the nice thing about that is our musicians because during the day, musicians who have young kids, the kids maybe never seen daddy or mammy play so they can bring them in, so that’s nice as well.
I’m very content, 4th album, Temptation Once Again, came out in November, has done really well, got really nice reviews for it, getting a good bit of radio play, I’m never going to make money out of this but it doesn’t matter I just want my original songs out there
But you get your own audience online……..
That’s exactly it, that’s exactly it.
Does the football feed off it, when you are standing on the terraces on a cold wet night, does inspiration hit you………
Well I don’t know about that. but the first thing is I look around the ground as you will do this evening and behind each goal I will see a big billboard Tommy Keyes, that I decided I was going to put a little bit of money into promotion so St pats might as well have it…….so every time that Soccer Republic (TV Show) is on or whatever it is called now, if they are showing any goals from Richmond Park, just a quick little subliminal add that catches everyone for Tommy Keyes, which is good.
Which would be better, the buzz from a live performance, you are playing in front of people, or a goal tonight, is there…………
They are both brilliant……. that’s like saying you can only keep one of your kids……..which one would you give up, you couldn’t really choose between those………….
You said you were with Sidewinder back in the day…..
In the 70’s………….
Yeah, is there much of a difference between then and these times?
Yeah well first of all, big difference personally because I was just the keyboard player in the band I was never the front man, now it’s me, I’m Tommy Keyes, sometimes I play with a band, but it would be the band I put together myself and so on…………so it is different……
And the other big difference is now, and this is why I said I feel very sorry for young musicians now, in those days you could actually make money doing it, you know….the gigs all paid, there were big crowds and all that type of thing, and if you brought out an album or single people would buy it, now the venues generally don’t pay, or pay very, very little, and everyone downloads the albums, singles, or streams them whatever, I mean if you hear everything you want to hear on Spotify, why are you going to buy things, and that’s the problem. So, in terms of it been a money-making proposition it is very difficult.
But you are more catered to your audience I think due to YouTube and social media; you can go direct to your audience.
Absolutely, you can target them in that way.
Ok Tommy, just with regards to tonight’s game, any predictions on the game ………….
Mmmm………my head says we will lose, and my heart says a one all draw.
I think they lost in the cup there (To Dundalk) ……….
We played them in the League Cup on Monday, 2-1 defeat, yeah
But that was the second team maybe?
Well yeah both teams were under strength for the game you know.
Our problem this season is scoring goals, and our striker, Mikey Drennan is the only player who has scored so far this season and unfortunately, he got sent off against Bohemians last week so he is suspended so that doesn’t help. Gary Shaw is playing up front
Ok so it might be a one nil then, a narrow one nil then
I did a short and brief review of two of Tommy’s albums. I am not a great music reviewer, maybe not even a good beer reviewer, but I gave it a try.
An Irish Life: Tommy Keyes (2016)
This album is Tommy reminiscing about the olden days, the time he was growing up as a wee lad, the teenage years of angst and rock music, gigging around the country, the monotony of a working stiff, and the equal pleasures and sadness of seeing his daughters grow up and then leave home. Basically it’s the story of Tommy’s life in music, and in poetic form sang with passion and feeling. The soundtrack to his life in all its glory and wonder, just like the lives of his fellow compatriots, a life not too separated from what so many were going through in Ireland at the time, an Irish life we all know so well.
The album is cleverly set up into 4 parts: Spring, Summer, Autumn and, finishing with, Christmas. Showing the various stages of life in music form, hot stepping it as a young nipper in spring, football in the summer, sad reflections in autumn, and get togethers around the family tree at Christmas.
From the beginning we are brought into the life of a dreamer, “I was there” is the first track, taking us back to the days of late night clubs and old gigs, the craic was great and the fun Tommy had………..”Those were crazy days, I know cause I was there”, all played out to the beat of an old style light rock tempo just like what was heard back in the day. Great start, sets us up nicely, gets us in the mood…………
“Happy days” is another cracker of a tune, love it. This time Tommy goes back even further, to the excitement he had as a young nipper acting out make believe scenes as a cowboy, football superstar, or 007, like we all did when we were kids. Happy days indeed. “In our field of dreams we’ll be football teams, we’ll take to the pitch in the green shirt of Ireland, win every match on the way to the final”. Great, makes me wonder do the young ones these days, what with their Iphone and Ipads, have the same amount of fun we had when we were young, somehow I doubt it. The backing vocals on this track provided by Ellen and Cian O’Mahoney are excellent, and what makes the song stand out. There is also a nice guitar solo, from Dick Farrelly, midway through the track, just to remind you of Tommy’s rock credentials!
The soft rock and easy listening continues with the next tune, “Landscape Park”, again about childhood memories, again about football in the park, “Kick a football until dark”. Something tells me Tommy, was a keen footballer and perhaps music was not his first love!
“SmallTown Superstars”, track 4, goes off on a little tangent, more of a country twang to this song, pretty upbeat and chirpy, and another guitar solo from Mr Dick Farrelly, perhaps highlighting the mix of the showband and the new music coming from across the water, “We were children of the 50’s, we grow up with rock n roll”, before Tommy and his mates had a band themselves and while making all the local newspapers, they “were small town superstars”, for a while at least living the dream.
After the upbeat start Tommy slows it down a bit for the next few songs, a more soulful, more soothing collection of memories. “In Dublin” is about emigration, a subject I think most Irish people are only too well aware of, “We’re climbing slowly in the sky, never look behind, leaving on our own, America, Australia, we’re never coming home!”, while “Long Distance Call” is another reminder of the ways things were pre internet or pre skype when calling from afar. A call home, to loved ones, “On Bondi Beach on Christmas day the sky is clear, I just called to say I’m fine”. The backing vocals create an air of sadness and shows how distance does indeed make the heart grow fonder.
Tommy’s life has settled down as shown in the next few tracks, as a working man in “Sleep She Said“, a “cog in the wheel in a lifetime of service, when morning comes I do it all again!”, all played out with a lovely melody on the guitar. He has grown up and now has a young child, “My Little Girl“, it is a “Slowdown world for me and my girl”. track 8, mid life, mid album.
We then move onto my favourite track of the album and the song that got me into Tommy’s music, “Richmond Nights”, an ode to time spent watching St Patrick’s Athletic as a young lad, “Hand in hand, the boy and man walk to the terraced shed, find some space and take their place among the sea of red”, excellently setting out the scene of footballing seeds taking root. Tommy later sings about continuing this family tradition with his daughter, “in years to come, one will hold tight to his hand, when she’s allowed to join the crowd”. I love the way Tommy expertly shows through this song, what football is all about, the love of the game passed down, generation to generation. This is what it’s all about, the passion of the beautiful game, all highlighted perfectly in “Richmond Nights”.
More beautiful poetry in the next track, song 10, “Bloom”, another slow number, this time a song to his daughter, the memories of her growing up, and now she is in adulthood, “The rose is in bloom”. “Souvenirs” follows in the same vein, “A baby tooth, a tattered teddy bear, a lock of golden hair”. By the time we get to “Dust In My Eye”, we see his daughter has grown up, “I am standing in terminal two, handing your suitcase to you”, as she prepares to travel abroad. In “Shooting Stars”, he hopes she will return, “near or far, please be here for Christmas. All these songs are slow numbers, one follows the other, a father showing his love for his children in music form. Anyone that is a parent can empathise with this passion from the heart.
“An old Irish song” is a number with some traditional music included, there is a bodhran, the tin whistle, a fiddle, even some As Gaeilge sung beautifully by Ellen O’Mahoney and Carla Ryan. One of my favourite tracks, as it is hard to get an original traditional tune right, but Tommy does it just fine. The song is about where his mother taught.
The last track, “New Years Eve”, highlights the ending of the year, a time when we are all together as a family, and the album comes full circle, a pleasant conclusion to the life and times of Tommy Keyes. It starts like it will be a version of Auld Lang Syne but with a touch of Dublin soul. “Here we are again in New Years Eve around the family tree”. A fitting end to a great album.
I enjoyed this album a lot and in some sense it is good that Tommy has returned to music but this time without the pressures of trying to “make it” or the endless hassle of meeting album deadlines and doing gigs for self promotion. Now that Tommy has lived, his music shows a more soulful reflective mood, easy going and with a wonderful poetic style of writing easy for the listener to follow and partake in. It is a good album and one to listen to again and again.
Temptation Once Again: Tommy Keyes (2018)
Two years after “An Irish Life” Tommy returns with “Temptation Once Again”, another easy listening collection of songs, but this time the topic is love, the good and the bad of it all. The “mainstays of the live set”, were brought to life in the studio with a team of the best session singers and musicians one can find!
On the cover we see temptation…………..women, beer, the party lifestyle…………the story of my life! (yeah right!)
“Just A Simple Love Song”, kicks off the album, and what an excellent track to start with, brilliant, we get the the drums, piano, the backing vocals, violin, cello, sax, all coming together nicely, music that has a bit of everything, but “it’s just a simple love song for you”. “Snakes and Ladders”, seamlessly into song two, a similar song and mood, love is in the air…………..”feels like we’re playing a game of snakes and ladders, and we’re always falling down”, the turbulence of a rocky relationship but feels like it will all work out in the end. In both songs backing singer Ellen O’Mahoney and Tommy on lead vocals guide the songs expertly to their destination.
Track three, “By My Side” is a kind of Randy Newman style number, I half expect to hear it on the new Toy Story movie, a contemplative song, “I was searching far and wide for an answer that was right there by my side” true love was found.
“Superman”, the next track, sounds like an ode to Tommy’s parents, working the piano, while singing some soul, “little fingers wipe away the tears, pull the blanket tight around my ears”.
Track five, “It Wouldn’t Be Me”, and we are back to the Randy Newman crispy voiced pop sounds. Works well and easy to listen to. This time we see some problems from the lovers, “I can change if you want me to, I can be anyone you’d like me to be, but it wouldn’t be me!”. Richie Buckley on sax is heavy on this one. Nice tune.
We get to see the reality of life as a young musician, on “Brimful In My Soul”, “I’m empty in my pockets but I’m brimful in my soul”, the harsh life as a musician with promises of stardom, “I was playing a open mic to a crowd of nine or ten”. Temptation here, perhaps, is to pack it in, give up on your first love……………….music? A very good song, love the story in it, from the heart and a nice slow number with Tommy perhaps giving us a glimpse of the struggles he, like a lot of musicians, went through for his craft.
Track seven, “Something’s Broken”, like the previous song, is another mellow piano sound that lingers in the mind. “Lean on me and I’ll guide you home” perhaps a song showing his love towards his children? “I promise you, you’ll never be alone”
Tommy on the piano once again shining in the next number, “The Moon and the Stars”. Gerrard Farrelly softly on the drums, while the chorus “you light up the night like the moon and the stars” sang beautifully by Ellen and Cian o’Mahoney, Paul o’Toole, and Padraig MacMahon, easy going and upbeat, the couple are back in love again. And “Everyday I Fall In Love Again” an enduring love song, Tommy’s upbeat tones declaring “everyday I fall in love again with you, with you, everyday I fall in love with you”, undying love.
But is the love undying since we move onto track ten and we get “Temptation Once Again”, an easy going soul/pop number, where an older man encounters a younger woman, “she’s walks in your direction flashes you a smile”, “experience is best”, tempting for the old man. Another song where the musicians and the session band come together as one, with a great sax again by Richie Buckley, and Gerrard Farrelly on the drums again smooching it up, with, I am guessing his brother, Dick Farrelly on bass strumming out those heavy moods, all in unison, excellent track.
“Valentine” brings the pace down a bit, a slow love song with the excellent pairing of Aisling Bridgeman and Aine Gallagher on their violins in the background, a lovely song of “two lovers growing old, bring(ing) back those memories, bring(ing) back that smile”
Track 12, “Christmas Eve in Dublin”, did very well in the ITunes charts, and it’s not hard to see why, as it’s a lovely seasonal song perfect for the time of year that’s in it, meeting in the pub over pints, seeing “Just the same old faces, just the same old show Christmas Eve on Dublin, they say it looks like snow”, slow number with a lovely guitar melody running through. Pubs, pints and Dublin, what’s not to love there?
Perhaps track 13 shows what can happen if you indulge too much in the old beer drinking, as “I Was Joking”, Tommy sings about acting the maggot, playing the joker, but it got out of hand, “I never meant to hurt you, I was joking that was all”. A break up on the cards?, “Now I know the jokes on me”
Perhaps the break up has happened as in “Drunk Lullaby”, it certainly looks like lost love and someone has hit the drink, “A bottle of rye and a drunk lullaby and an old faded picture of you”, Clare Kinsella on the cello the stand out here, very good.
Bu the last track, “Land’s End”, Tommy looks back on life again, “memories, nothing more, lands end, lands end, land end” a song that reminds me of Tom Waits with his gravelly voice, contemplative and reflecting the short time we have on this little old planet we have”awaiting the last ship, to the other side, lands end, lands end, lands end”. A great song to finish a very good album, an album where time spent perfecting the songs in the studio was well worth it all with the musicians in their own unique ways come together to produce a well crafted love album. I was thinking that Tommy could be the Irish version of Louis Armstrong, Randy Newman or at times Tom Waits. take your pick! Yes it is that good!
The second part of my big adventure on my day out in Dublin was to head over the famous, Darndale, the edge of nowhere as they say, to meet the one and only Immanuel godson, an amazing Northside artist and painter who creates works in a classic and realistic style spruced up with a good healthy dose of modern day humour and satire. It was actually good to see that, like Eddies homeless tour in the morning, Immanuel has also been integrated into his community, an artist of the people for the people.
Darndale (Irish: Darndál meaning ”daffodil”) is an area on the Northside of Dublin, featuring a high concentration of social housing. It is located in the north of the sprawling suburb of Coolock. Got the bus from Busaras, takes about 40 minutes.
Immanuel was kind enough to show me round his gallery and explain some of the ideas behind his art. I also had a great chat with Immanuel about his work, and some of his opinions on the modern day art scene.
Would also like to mention how cool the Darndale Belcamp Village Centre is, it really is one tranquil place where anyone from the community can go in, embrace all the great art on display and relax in their thoughts and moods. And it isn’t just Immanuel’s art that is exhibited, a good few other local talents have their work highlighted and laid out around the building. An excellent resource for the local people, hats off to whoever keeps it going.
While I was thinking of what I could do for the day out in Dublin I came across a new walking tour that was been introduced in the city, called My Streets, Ireland. What was different about this tour was that it was done by people who have lived on the streets of the capital, homeless people giving tours and telling their unique stories. So I signed up and on the day I was lucky to get a tour off Eddie who was showing a few of us around the streets of Phibsboro, North Dublin. I also got chatting to Austin Campbell, one of the people behind the exciting new venture.
Phibsboro, is a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood in North Dublin hugging the The Royal Canal. A typical red-brick terrace area, with the odd Victorian style looking pub and the always busy Doyle’s Corner thoroughfare. Easily reachable by the new Luas Cross City Line network, or if you are mad, one could, of course, walk from O’Connell Street which can take you about 30 minutes or less.
It would be amiss of me not to mention, just about now, my football away days trip to local Phibsboro football club, Bohemians F.C. Read all about it here
I was well impressed with Eddie, a nice young man who has turned his life around and the tour was very informative. This was a tour that didn’t so much concentrate on the sights of the city but more on the personal stories of its people. Eddie talked about his rough upbringing, why he was on the streets, and the ins and outs of life as a homeless person. It was really a great way to spend an hour and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a little different in a tour. It certainly brought me into a world I don’t often think about, which was good.
I think what Austin and My Streets Ireland are doing is great, giving homeless people opportunities and also it’s a way of them contributing to the community. I will definitely be back on one of their tours the next time I am in Dublin as Austin mentioned they have plans for a Brendan Behan tour and a tour on Dublin’s street markets (a la Moore street for example), which both sound interesting, on top of the other tours they offer, Eddies one which I took ( ‘Eddie’s Experiences of Homelessness’ ) and a Viking special.
Anyway so here is my quick chat with eddie, Enjoy!
My Streets Ireland: Tours are offered 7 days a week and can be booked by private messaging on the My Streets facebook page, by emailing or by phone.
Tours are charged at a price of €10 per person.
Brewed by Nøgne Ø Style: Double IPA Grimstad, Norway
Founded in 2002, by Gunnar Wiig and Kjetil Jikiun, Nøgne Ø is a Norwegian beer that has been kicking ass for a while now on the various online beer review sites.
Nøgne Ø, is an old Danish word for “Naked Isle”, highlighting the barren and rugged landscape off Norway’s rough coastal waters. It was selected from a 19th-century Norwegian poem called Terje Vigen by Henrik Ibsen.
In 2013 Hansa Borg Bryggerier, a family run Norwegian brewery and distribution company which markets beer, bottled water and carbonated drinks, acquired a majority share in Nøgne Ø. This resulted in Nøgne Ø growing in production in size and output, and now make more than 30 different styles of craft beers and ales, and export to more than 40 countries worldwide. The styles include seasonal beers, a wide variety of pale ales, Belgians, lagers and traditional ales, porters and stouts and anything else they can think of. For a while they also produced their own version of Sake, a first in Europe, but have since discontinued this, best to leave that to the Japanese I think!
Review: 0,33l brown bottle of Nøgne Ø Two Captains Double IPA: 8.5% vol.
Listed in the top 100 breweries in the World by a certain beer rating site every year since 2006 to 2018, so this better be good so. It will be my first try out with a beer from Norway.
This award winning beer, first brewed in 2010, had its recipe made up by an airline captain and part time homebrewer Jan Halvor Fjeld. Nøgne Ø’s head brewer at that time was also a pilot, hence the name, Two Captains!
Interesting brown bottle with a logo that looks a bit hisptery, an “avant garde” style.
On pour looks great, a lovely amber colour and a small but decent white head. Doesn’t look too bad at all, very inviting.
The white head although small does maintain very well, small but steady, Some good lacing apparent.
It really is a good looking beer, lovely to watch it swirl about in the glass, has a deep look, that captivates. Very good so far!
The smell was also lovely, had the “wow factor”, gorgeous in fact.
Deep smelling, IPA style, like a good ale, floral and hop notes, but the citrus and lemon stand out a lot here. Also got a nice whiff of caramel.
The aroma is a nice combination of lemonade and fermented fruit drenched in alcohol. Amazing on the nose, a very seductive smell and one so powerful they could sell as a perfume.
So to the taste, and well……..wow! It is very strong in the taste, all that double hopping has produced one hell of a strong tasting beer. Hopped to hell, and very, very bitter, very strong in the taste.
All a bit “urgh” to me, finding those hops are just impossible to enjoy, going down very slowly and with great difficulty. Too strong and bitter to truly appreciate or enjoy. One for the hardcore IPA heads to like, but not for me. And to be fair to them they do warn on their website that this isn’t for the faint hearted..
The extreme bitterness (100 IPU) is very overwhelming, killing everything in its reach. Got the hops for sure, but also found the caramel, the fruits and the sweet malts.
Very strong in the alcohol too, they are using English ale yeast so therein lies the strength of this brew, can feel it for sure, and don’t mind admitting I was a bit pissed after the two bottles. The 8.5% is definitely alive and well here, all clean though. I can imagine downing a few of these bad boys you would be on your head in no time! But I wonder if it is possible to drink more than two with how bitter and disgusting they are? Best avoided………
Brewed by Namibia Breweries Limited Style: Euro Pale Lager Windhoek, Namibia
Windhoek Lager is a beer brewed by the Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), a Namibian brewery founded in 1920. Namibia is a country in southwest Africa of about 2.5 million people, in case you were curious, where the famous sprinter Frankie Fredericks was from, remember him? Windhoek is the country’s capital and the name given to the lager.
In the early 1900’s, two friends, Carl List and Hermann Ohlthaver acquired four small breweries with financial difficulties. The breweries were merged under the name South West Breweries Limited (SWB). In time, SWB changed its name to Namibia Breweries Limited when Namibia gained independence, from South Africa, on the 21st of March 1990. Ohlthaver & List Group of Companies are still the majority shareholder.
Before its independence in 1990, the area was known first as German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika), then as South-West Africa, reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and the South Africans. That perhaps might explain why they have some colonial throwback to brewing German style beers in accordance with the old Reinheitsgebot, also known as the “German Beer Purity Law”. As a reminder, the law prohibits the use of any flavourings, preservatives, or colourants during the brewing process and allows only three traditional, natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, and water. Following the rules means a slower more nuanced quality produced brew as opposed to a mass produced beer doled out quickly in a matter of days by speeding up the process with additives and inferior ingredients.
Namibia Breweries Limited produce and sell all the regular beers one would expect from a large brewery, their lagers, a few shandies, some soft drinks, and also some speciality beers perhaps unusual to Africa, like their Urbock, a winter bock beer. Most of the beer is sold to their neighbour and massive next door market, South Africa, with over 60% of NBL products heading in that direction, with the rest going to about 20 countries worldwide.
Review: 330ml green bottle of Windhoek Premium lager: 4.0% vol.
Reads “crafted with passion since 1920” on the bottle..
Looks good on the pour, a very nice white frothy head, quite big, and a lovely golden coloured beer. Good carbonation, fizzing around. After a while it all settles down to look a bit flat.
Overall it is a solid look. Ok
Aromas of grains and pale malts and citric notes, typical lager smells, all light, but ok.
Not getting a whole lot from the bottle, all fizzled away perhaps. The initial taste is not bad, grainy and am getting nice big malty mouthfuls, but afterwards the beer does die in the taste department, goes a little flat in the mouth, very fast in fact.
Getting usual lager traits, of malts, grains, and sweet corns. Also got a slight off taste to the beer.
Overall, despite initial promise, this is a very thin and weak brew, a boring and bland generic lager, very forgettable, and not worth purchasing again. Not quite as good as it gets, far from it!
Brewed by Ichnusa (Heineken Italia) Style: Unfiltered Lager Sardinia, Italy
Founded in 1912, by Amsicora Capra, Birra Ichnusa is brewed in Assemini, a town near Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, the beautiful mediterranean Italian island. It is named after the Latinized ancient name for Sardinia, Hyknusa.
Now owned by Heineken International. So much for all the waffle on their website then about the soul of Sardinia and all that!
The brewery produce mostly lagers, strong and light, filtered and unfiltered, to an ever widening market.
Review: 33cl small, tinty brown bottle of Ichnusa Non Filtrata: 5.0% vol.
Ichnusa Non Filtrata. which, as can easily be guessed from the name, is not filtered during the production process.
Nice tinty looking brown bottle, with a cool looking label, showing the flag of Calgilari, a pretty nice flag it has to be said. “1912” highlighted showing the date the brewery was first launched.
Not much comes out of the small bottle for sure, the carbonation making the beer appear alive, buzzing around like mad.
As it is unfiltered, it is cloudy looking and there is some sediment floating around too.
A fluffy white head, and a golden cloudy looking beer on appearance. Looks all a bit shit to be honest. Not a looker.
The smell is one of pure lager, very malty, grainy, a lot of corn, and slight hint of the hops.
Ok aroma but a little dull all the same.
Not getting a whole lot in these nice but generally impractical bottles. I want to drink beer and lots of it, not a wee glass of piddle????
The overall taste that I am finding is one of the barley malt and the corn, it runs through this beer, hitting the taste buds knocking them right out, making the beer very hard to enjoy, very hard to drink really.
Urgh, far too much with the hoppy aftertaste. Unfiltered, yes I know.
Taste is a bit urgh, too bitter and the taste is far to intense for me to sit down and appreciate. Very grainy and malty, and the sweet corns all too much for this palate.
Overall this is a shite beer, not nice at all, leaves a bad bitter taste in the mouth, waste of time from the small bottle to the beer itself. In retrospect I guess having the small bottles is a good idea, in that there is so little of this shit to drink! I guess strong unfiltered beer from Sardinia is not my thing.
The brewery Schimpfle is located near the old city of Augsburg. It all started when, in 1864, a Mathias Schimpfle bought a small inn with brewing rights in the quiet town of Gessertshausen, in the heart of Bavaria. 
Like the little brown bottles with the pull caps, has the logo of a little elf on the front, as a fireman. Zwerg means dwarf!
Bit of a disappointment in the taste department, expected more of a cola taste, but what I got was pretty flat, and tasteless really. Like a bad watery cola, with a hint, and just a hint, of alcohol. 
Feldschlösschen is the best known beer brand in Switzerland. Their beers have been brewed at the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden, the biggest brewery in Switzerland, since its foundation in 1876 and has been the leading Swiss beer brand for more than 100 years. Today its by far the leading brand in the country with 45 per cent of the beer market, with more than 40 Swiss beer brands, mineral waters, soft drinks and wine produced and shipped all over the country and beyond.
Has a nice cool design on the can, cold icy colouring leaving you in no doubt this is best served ice cold.
The cities foundations are owed to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Leodegar founded in 750, later acquired by Murbach Abbey in Alsace in the middle of the 9th century, and by this time the area was called Luciaria, later to be known in Latin as Lucerna “lantern”, but why so no one exactly knows. In 1178 the city was independent and doing quite well, with a good economy and a rising population (3000). The Habsburgs, one of the most influential and distinguished royal houses of Europe, looked on and decided they would like a piece of the action. In response the residents of Lucerne along with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed the Swiss Confederacy, on November 7, 1332 as a bulwark to an attack. Later the cities of Zürich, Zug and Bern joined the alliance, and thus ending the Austrian rulers influence in Switzerland. This resulted in Lucerne expanding even more free from the fear of an attack from outside forces. The city developed its infrastructure, raised taxes, and appointed its own local officials.
Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and within sight of the famous mountains of Rigi, Pilatus and Stanserhorn in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne is truly a city with one heck of an amazing setting. Add to this its well-preserved medieval Altstadt (Old Town), its souvenir and watch shops, which are always full of Chinese visitors, the many high quality restaurants and top of the range bars, and beautiful waterfront promenades. the town is for sure a top destination for many travel groups and individuals on their journey through central Switzerland.
One of the city’s famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century, and hard to miss once you exit the train station, but be forewarned it is always bustling with tourists eager to take the best photo of the bridge. Not like anything I would do at all!! Other things to see and visit is the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal, found in a small park just off the Löwenplatz. The carving commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. The Swiss Museum of Transport is also well worth a visit, a large and comprehensive museum exhibiting all forms of transport, including locomotives, automobiles, ships, and aircraft. It is to be found beside the lake in the northern-eastern section of the city. but generally the best thing to do in Lucerne is just to walk around the lake shore and take in all the breathtaking views. Or you could also take a boat trip on the lake itself. I have done both options numerous times, and it is great for rebalancing the mind and spirit when the fresh mountain air runs through your nostrils and into your body energising you at the same time. Nothing like it. Love it. Love Lucerne. 
Getting to the city is very easy, its central location means it is never too far from Switzerland’s other main cities, either on the motorway or by the extensive rail network in the country. Roughly 40 minutes by car from Basel, Zurich and Bern, and by rail about an hour from these same three cities, showing just how central Lucerne really is. 
First pub of the day for me was to be the Anfield Pub, not that far from the main bridge of the city,crossing the street and down an alley. The exterior of the pub is pretty bland. I actually walked past it looking for it, I figured owing to its name it might have some red colouring, but no a boring black and grey and easy to pass by. 
The bar is fine but something must be up if you can’t entice customers in on a Saturday midday, considering all the people just off the main drag around the corner. It is also a bit cheesy as well, calling a bar after the home ground of an English team considering you are in one of the most scenic cities in Switzerland. Use your local history? No connection, just looks silly, in my opinion. 
Could have went for the usual suspects you can get in an Irish bar, Guinness, Smithwicks, or even a Kilkenny, but wanted to try something different so I went for an ale called a Braufrisch from the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden. It looked lovely in the glass, and went down better. Very good beer. 
Sat at bar, got a good seat in the front and ordered a “Fursty Ferret“, an interesting amber ale they had on show. Well poured and looked very appetising, dived in and sure enough it was lovely. Well worth the try, so, so tasty and one to look out for again in the future.
Next pub wasn’t too far to find as it was right next to Mr. Pickwicks, Rathaus Brauerei also on the promenade near the Chapel Bridge. 
The place was quite busy, and people were not only drinking but eating from the extensive menu on show. Food served looked good coming hot from the kitchen, but I was happy enough with the nourishment I was getting from the beer, going down well. Had a nice chat with a lovely gentleman who was telling me that there is actually a 70-meter long underground line through the Rathaus to the fermentation and storage cellar in nearby Eisengasse, piping the wort through. Cool. The copper brew pans are also on show behind the bar and restaurant and there are lots of cellars to be seen on your travels to the toilets!!
Took his advice and ventured in. Small enough place, really just a tiny circular bar with a few tables and chairs and not much else. Sat at the bar and ordered a Eichhof from the very friendly bar man.
Got chatting to two Lucerne FC supporters, and enjoyed the casual atmosphere in the place, a good friendly vibe to the place, very chilled. Seemed it was made up of mostly locals, which is cool. 
Got a bit lost and tired so popped in here to charge the phone and recharge my own batteries. Nice enough place, kind of a cafe type bar, easy going relaxed atmosphere building, with a nice modern interior. Sat at bar and ordered a Feldschlossen beer, just a regular lager on the tap, served fast and with a nice smile by the friendly bar lady. 
Followed the music that was coming from afar, it was pumping from the entrance to this bar and restaurant. A DJ was playing some great dance tunes from the 90s and early 2000’s, banging them tunes out. Brilliant.
The place is pretty big inside, they do a lot of food and have enough room to pack out a big crowd. I decided to stay outside and have my hot food and beer and enjoy the music from the DJ. Later I read they do good pizza’s, perhaps next time I am this side of the world.
A club was to be born, called “FC Luzern” and was mentioned in an add in the local paper, the “Luzerner Tagblatt“ in 1897, in which a meeting was called in the Café Alpenclub for ideas on how to get the ball rolling and start up this team in the city. Owing to a slow initial response it was 4 years before that team came into existence in 1901, initiated by friends Adolf Coulin, Ernst Haag and Hans Walter, with its official launch in the Restaurant Seidenhof, near the train station. Two years later they joined the Swiss FA, starting off in the third highest division. 
The club got a professional manager in 1921, Dionys Schönecker from Rapid Vienna of Austria, and his appointment was an instant success as Luzern faced Servette from Geneva in a title decider on 25 June 1922 in Basel. They were unlucky and bowed out 2-0. 
Afterwards the club did nothing of substance for many years and even skirted with the idea of going out of business as the debts racked up. In 2001, their centenary year, they entered administration and had to be rebranded and repackaged in order to continue, with much thanks to the effort of their supporters who helped financially when the call was put out for help. 
The club play at home in the Swissporarena which was newly built in 2011, at the cost of EUR €60 million, on the site of the old stadium, Stadion Allmend. The stadium is used mostly for football matches of FC Lucerne, but the Swiss national team use it at least once in every qualifying campaign for the World Cup or Euros. Its capacity is of 16,800 spectators. 
Tickets for FC Luzern matches can be bought online, at the Fanshop at the stadium, or at the Neue Luzerner Zeitung at the Pilatusstrasse 12 (about 200 metres from the main railway station). Don’t worry about not getting a ticket, as so often with Swiss football, Luzern will only sell out at the very odd high-profile match.
The ground itself is all modern and kind of funny looking, with golden looking stands formed all round, it’s kind of shit looking to be honest. Not the most attractive stadium I have ever seen for sure. Inside it looks a little better, all seats decked out in the club colours of blue. 
Not long after the second half got underway Thun were right back in it with a well taken goal by Marvin Spielmann, rifling it into the net. Nice one, game on. Now at this stage a lot of the fans were further retreating back into the stands due to how bad the weather was. It was near torrential at this stage, making it hard to stay focused on the game, for us the supporters never mind what it was like for the players to kick the ball around the soggy pitch!!
St Patrick’s Athletic Football Club are based in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore (Irish: Inse Chór, meaning “Island of Sheep”), located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of the city centre, easily accessible by the Luas from O’Connell street. 
While I was thinking of what I could do for the day out in Dublin I came across a new walking tour that was been introduced in the city, called My Streets, Ireland. What was different about this tour was that it was done by people who have lived on the streets of the capital, homeless people giving tours and telling their unique stories. So I signed up and on the day I was lucky to get a tour off Eddie who was showing a few of us around the streets of Phibsboro, North Dublin. I also got chatting to Austin Campbell, one of the people behind the exciting new venture.
Phibsboro, is a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood in North Dublin hugging the The Royal Canal. A typical red-brick terrace area, with the odd Victorian style looking pub and the always busy Doyle’s Corner thoroughfare. Easily reachable by the new Luas Cross City Line network, or if you are mad, one could, of course, walk from O’Connell Street which can take you about 30 minutes or less.
I was well impressed with Eddie, a nice young man who has turned his life around and the tour was very informative. This was a tour that didn’t so much concentrate on the sights of the city but more on the personal stories of its people. Eddie talked about his rough upbringing, why he was on the streets, and the ins and outs of life as a homeless person. It was really a great way to spend an hour and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a little different in a tour. It certainly brought me into a world I don’t often think about, which was good.
Darndale (Irish: Darndál meaning ”daffodil”) is an area on the Northside of Dublin, featuring a high concentration of social housing. It is located in the north of the sprawling suburb of Coolock. Got the bus from Busaras, takes about 40 minutes. 
Well to say we were amazed is an understatement. We actually had to check if we were in the right bar, I say this as the whole place got a total revamp inside, and looks totally different. It has got a very stylish and fancy new makeover. It really is a great design, and who ever is the interior decorator deserves a big cheer. There is a bit of everything in it really, some art deco, has nice wooden snugs, cool peasants on displays, dead and stuffed of course, the visit to the bogs bring you on an old disco style journey with big pop art in the toilets. Now I know this all sounds like a bit of a mess but somehow it all works perfectly together. Of course for me the best bit is behind the bar, looking at all the various whiskeys and liquor on display, 
We were the only two at the bar early morning, so still quiet. They have a good selection of beers on tap but went for Franciscan Well’s Rebel Red Ale, from Cork. Bar lady was friendly and served the beer perfectly in no time. Also got some Keoghs mature Irish crisps, very nice too, so good went back for another bag! As we were looking at all the beers, booze and alcohol on display Pogues Irish Whiskey caught our eye, and sure we just had to have a taste of this! Got a shot of it, was smooth enough, and gave us that little kick we need to continue on our journey across Dublin.
Place was busy, as to be expected with a pre match crowd, ordered a Heineken, and a packet of Tayto Salt and Vinegar, that’s the lunch sorted. Pint served fast and efficiently from the friendly bar man. 
The Beresford is a 3 star hotel, with a top restaurant with an Italian menu but also offering Irish style breakfasts, anad a cafe bar with a top notch bar and lounge offering a wide array of drinks.
St Patrick’s Athletic F.C. is a football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they originally played in the Phoenix Park but now play in Richmond Park since 1930. 
The next few decades, from the swinging ’60s right upto the drab 80’s, were pretty forgetful years for Pats fans. No trophies in a long barren spell for the club. Paul McGrath did appear though, earning the PFAI Players player of the year in 1982, for his very brief time at the club, before been whisked off to Manchester United. Even shorter, much shorter in fact, was the one appearance for St Pats, by World Cup legend Gordon Banks! At the time British stars used to come over to Ireland for play for pay games. Invaraibly they were always shite as they were well at the end of their careers. Terry Venables was another who came over, in the 80’s.
Brian Kerr, wearing the club badge on his sleeve, as always, stepped up to help his club out when they needed him most for the gigantic task of rebuilding a winning team that was shot to pieces in months, with so many players leaving in the havoc surrounding the survival of the club. But as so often with Keer, he worked the oracle and once again created a winning championship team at St Pats with the league trophy returning to Richmond Park in 1996. The winning squad made up of such Pats legends as Eddie Gormley, Paul Osam and Ricky O’Flaherty together with exciting young stars such as Colin Hawkins and Trevor Molloy.
Fast forward to 2012 and the return of Liam Buckley, former player and manager, for another stint in the hot seat. A clearout of the old team and bringing in 14 new players, Buckley was showing his serious ambitions on rebuilding a team to compete for the championship again. he did bring in some real star quality to the club, Chris Forrester, Christy Fagan, and Ger O’Brien, all becoming fans favourites in no time at all. Buckley’s side finished 3rd in the league, 6 points off champions Sligo Rovers. and he also guided his side to the 2012 FAI Cup Final, but they lost out 3–2 in extra-time to Derry City further extending the Saints’ FAI Cup winning drought to 52 years. Improvements were seen and the fans were happy, safe in the knowledge that good days were just around the corner. Killian Brennan and Conan Byrne arrived, further strengthening an already very decent side, and sure enough in 2013 they clinched the League of Ireland title on after a 2–0 win against holders Sligo Rovers with two games to spare. Brennan getting PFAI player of the year for his efforts. 
In 2013 they finally got the monkey off their back and won the cup for the first time in 53 long years. beating Derry City 2–0 with Christy Fagan immortalising himself with the club’s fans by scoring twice. He was also the clubs top scorer that season in the league and also voted PFAI player of the year. Not a bad season by all accounts!
Notable ex-players who have donned the Pats shirt in the past include Ireland internationals Keith Fahey, Curtis Fleming, and “The Black Pearl of Inchicore”, the legend that is Paul Mcgrath, one of the best defenders I have ever seen, no doubt about it. Other top players include Joseph N’Do, Ryan Guy, Charles Mbabazi Livingstone, Gordon Banks, Eddie Gormley, and Paul Osam who hold the all time appearances record for the club (308).
St Patrick’s Athletic 1 – Dundalk 0 
Despite it piddling down for most, if not all, of the game, I barely noticed that I was totally drenched, such was the excitement on offer at Richmond Park. Ok parts of the game were a little pedestrian, but for what St Pats lacked in skill they more than made up for it with steely determination and heart. 
In the second half both teams had chances to score, but it seemed that the Pats midfield were bossing it, with the team home totally neutralising the Dundalk threat. That was until the last 10 minutes or so, with about 5 minutes of added time, when the Pats players naturally whilted with all the effort they put in, Dundalk put the foot on the gas and there was a lot of last man defending as Dundalk kept plugging away for the equaliser.
Loved meeting the guys, Eddie, Immanuel and Tommy, was really special to chat to three very talented individuals, and I wish them great success in the future. Just goes to show you the talent that one can find in this little wee country of ours. 
Darndale (Irish: Darndál meaning ”daffodil”) is an area on the Northside of Dublin, featuring a high concentration of social housing. It is located in the north of the sprawling suburb of Coolock. Got the bus from Busaras, takes about 40 minutes. 
Founded in 2002, by Gunnar Wiig and Kjetil Jikiun, Nøgne Ø is a Norwegian beer that has been kicking ass for a while now on the various online beer review sites.
This award winning beer, first brewed in 2010, had its recipe made up by an airline captain and part time homebrewer Jan Halvor Fjeld. Nøgne Ø’s head brewer at that time was also a pilot, hence the name, Two Captains! 
All a bit “urgh” to me, finding those hops are just impossible to enjoy, going down very slowly and with great difficulty. Too strong and bitter to truly appreciate or enjoy. One for the hardcore IPA heads to like, but not for me. And to be fair to them they do warn on their website that this isn’t for the faint hearted..
Windhoek Lager is a beer brewed by the Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), a Namibian brewery founded in 1920. Namibia is a country in southwest Africa of about 2.5 million people, in case you were curious, where the famous sprinter Frankie Fredericks was from, remember him? Windhoek is the country’s capital and the name given to the lager. 
Before its independence in 1990, the area was known first as German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika), then as South-West Africa, reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and the South Africans. That perhaps might explain why they have some colonial throwback to brewing German style beers in accordance with the old Reinheitsgebot, also known as the “German Beer Purity Law”. As a reminder, the law prohibits the use of any flavourings, preservatives, or colourants during the brewing process and allows only three traditional, natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, and water. Following the rules means a slower more nuanced quality produced brew as opposed to a mass produced beer doled out quickly in a matter of days by speeding up the process with additives and inferior ingredients.
Overall it is a solid look. Ok
Founded in 1912, by Amsicora Capra, Birra Ichnusa is brewed in Assemini, a town near Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, the beautiful mediterranean Italian island. It is named after the Latinized ancient name for Sardinia, Hyknusa.
Not much comes out of the small bottle for sure, the carbonation making the beer appear alive, buzzing around like mad.
Urgh, far too much with the hoppy aftertaste. Unfiltered, yes I know.