THE IRISH DIASPORA... history, heritage and culture, and a sense of connection.See the stars?

Land of Hope and Dreams

This is Land of Hope and Dreams…

Grab your ticket and your suitcase, thunder’s rolling down this track
Don’t know where you’re goin’ now, but you know you won’t be back
Darlin’ if you’re weary, lay your head upon my chest
We’ll take what we can carry, y’and we’ll leave the rest
Big wheels roll through fields where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

Well here I will provide for you, and I’ll stand by your side
You’ll need a good companion now, for this part of the ride
Leave behind your sorrows, let this day be the last
Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine, and all this darkness past
Big wheels roll through fields where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

Well this train carries saints and sinners, this train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers, this train carries lost souls
I said this train dreams will not be thwarted, this train faith will be rewarded
This train hear the steel wheels singin’, this train bells of freedom ringin’

Well this train carries saints and sinners, this train carries losers and winners
This train, carries whores and gamblers, this train carries lost souls
I said this train carries broken-hearted, thieves and sweet souls departed
This train carries fools and kings, this train, all aboard

I said now this train, dreams will not be thwarted
This train, faith will be rewarded,
This train, hear the steel wheels singin’
This train, bells of freedom ringin’

I said this train, I said this train, board this train

People get ready, there’s a train comin’
People get ready, there’s a train comin’
People get ready, people get ready
People get ready, people get ready
People get ready, there’s a train comin’
Don’t need no ticket just get on board.

Bruce Springsteen, paternal grandmother Martha O’Hagan, and great-great-grandmother Ann Garrity from County Westmeath who left Ireland in 1852.

Just think, if it wasn’t for An Gorta Mor we might not have Bruce!

Keep on rockin’ it’s a strange world but sometimes isn’t it great!

October 15th, 2009 | Tags: | Category: Roots, Spirit | 2 comments

Irish Postcodes

Right now you can send a letter to Michael Regan, Scrahanaleary, West Cork, Ireland, and it’ll drop in our letter box – fairly quickly too.

Ireland is the only country in Europe that doesn’t use a postcode system, and it isn’t really a problem. The only time you might run into difficulty is on websites that insist on a code as part of your address. Then it’s make one up time – I’ve used CO1, CO2 and WC1!

Irish PostcodesBut change beckons and the Minister for Communications has announced the introduction of a national postcode system from 2011. So what format should it be?

Irish Postcodes

  • Alpha-numeric (eg: ATH 123 – Athlone)
  • The PONC system (developed by GPS Ireland)
  • IE followed by a numeric code (eg: IE 10123)
  • Derived from original placenames in Irish (as proposed by Conradh na Gaeilge)
  • Numbers, or numbers and letters unrelated to placenames in any language
  • Something new, possibly improving on systems in use in other countries

I tend to agree with Conradh na Gaeilge that we shouldn’t base the format on the english spelling of placenames, but not sure how well it would work for Irish placenames either. For example Ballydehob in Irish is Béal Átha Dá Chab (mouth of the two river fords) so would we go with BÁDC or BÁ or similar, and how complex would it be differentiating one area from another?

Personally I like the idea of IE followed by a numeric code (IE 10123), or possibly IE followed by a county prefix, followed by a numeric code, (IE CO123). Whichever way we go it would be good to have something with a national identity.

Update: 31st Jan 2010 – The Department of Communications has issued an invitation to tender for implementation of the system, due in by the end of 2011. An alphanumeric model to identify clusters of houses has been approved, and would read, for example, as D02 123 or ATH 123.

The press release also states the format will have a geo-coordinate at its centre, making it compatible with global positioning and navigation systems. What this means for individual houses, or the final format, waits to be seen – will be interesting to see how GPS coordinates are built in whilst keeping the postcode easy to remember.

October 5th, 2009 | Tags: | Category: Communicator! | 3 comments
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