The Anglo-Irish War (1919-1921) and Irish Civil War

[Miss Golightly]

A belatedly peculiar Bloomsday to you.

Thanks Story! I completely forgot about Bloomsday but was out in Monkstown on Saturday (in County Dublin) and came across a bunch of chaps (mostly) who were standing outside one of the pubs singing Danny Boy (beautifully), all drinking wine and eating kidneys (or was it liver - I couldn't say!) - once they were done they all hopped into their beautiful vintage cars and headed off to the next venue on their list - it was a really nice unexpected treat!

[Blackthorn]

That is so, so cool, Miss Golightly!

[Miss Golightly]

Thank you Blackthorn! I forgot to mention that all the gents were beautifully turned out and all donning straw boaters. There were lots of cool events on in Dublin for Bloomsday - hopefully some year I will join in in all the fun (once I remember when it's taking place of course!).

[Edward]

It is quite possible that the early Garda cork helmets were indeed older R.I.C. helmets that had simply been rebadged with Garda helmet plates, hence why the early Garda helmets had more ornate finials like those of the previous R.I.C. helmets. And in turn when newer helmets were specifically made for/issued to An Garda Síochána with Garda badges, the finials became less ornate over the years. Compare the finials on the helmets in all the photos I added. The earlier R.I.C. helmets had more military influenced spike point and later ball top shaped finials. Whereas the Garda helmets went from ball point to rose top finials.

The RIC helmets in the photos are not a million miles away from the Pickelhaube, which of course would have been a contemporary.

[Story]

90th anniversary of the death of Michael Collins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmeHp...3&feature=plcp