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Micro cache located in a suburban park in Artane. Bring your own pen!
We already have a cache called Rockfield Park placed in Blackrock, so this one is a distant relation. The park is fairly small and nondescript, and is located behind St. David's CBS with access from Malahide Road or Collins Avenue.
There is plenty of street parking available free of charge around the aprk boundaries and access is possible 24/7. There is some evidence of anti-social behaviour in the park, so caution should be exercised...
The building overshadowing GZ dates back before the school which moved there later. It was originally the site of the Artane Industrial School , from where the famous Artane Boys Band originated
Artane Band History
The Artane Boys Band was founded in 1872 by Brother Alphonsus Hoope, Superior of the Artane Industrial School, which had been established three years earlier. They gave their first public performance on the grounds of the school for the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) two years later.
In 1886 the band accepted an invitation to play at the Whit Monday games of the fledgling Gaelic Athletic Association on June 14th at the North Circular Road grounds, and began an association which endures to the present day.
Two major episodes happened in 1969. On February 15th the band hall was burned to the ground destroying all of the uniforms, instruments and music. The band appeared on Irish television the following week, and offers of help flooded in from Ireland and abroad, allowing the band to continue.
In June that year the industrial school closed, and membership of the band was opened up to boys who lived locally, ensuring a seamless transition from school band to community band.
The band has toured the USA on seven occasions, as well as trips to Toronto, Canada, Moscow, and has also travelled extensively around both Ireland, and the UK. They have played for every President and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, as well as Presidents Kennedy, Nixon and Clinton of the USA. The Band are no strangers to royalty either, having played for Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V and most recently, on the occasion of the state visit to Ireland by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh to Croke Park.
Girls now feature prominently in the Artane band...
The Artane Industrial school was set up in 1871 in Artane House by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Industrial Schools were established to take in orphaned or abandoned boys or those who were involved in petty crime, and even such a minor offense as skipping school could be enough for a boy to be sent there.[verification needed] It has been said that about 5% of the children in Artane, indeed in all Industrial Schools, were actually orphans. Most of the incarcerated children were from families that had broken down and as separation was not allowed either, the children of these broken marriages were incarcerated and the religious institution in whose charge the children were put were paid one-third of a labourer's wage to feed, educate and clothe each child. In today's money this would be equal to about €120 per child per week.
The school housed around 900 boys at any one time and they stayed there until they were 16 years of age.More than 15,000 youngsters passed through the gates of the school from 1871 to its closure in 1966. Subsequently, many allegations of abuse of boys at the school emerged
After the industrial school
St. David's Primary School, CBS, began operations on the lower floors of the old industrial school in 1969. St. David's Secondary School moved into the upper floors of the industrial school building in 1974from the pre-fabricated buildings on Kilmore Road which it had occupied since 1966. The school building remains today, with playing fields surrounded by a double fence.
Much of the surrounding land was later sold. Building began in 1969 with the construction of the Elm Mount estate followed by Thorndale, Whitethorn, Ardmore (in the townland of Kilmore Little, the site of the first school), Montrose and Pinebrook and ending with Beauvale in the 1970s. The construction of Artane Castle Shopping Centre was the last piece in that phase of development.
On 7 September 2008, a large fire which broke out at the industrial school complex, caused extensive damage to a building which is understood to have been used as a store room by the Artane Boys' Band and to house memorabilia.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybj abgrf!