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ATHBHAILE – THE COBBLESTONE (FINAL)

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(A home away from home) 

ATHBHAILE is a story about family and community. It’s the story of how Tom Mulligan turned a pub in inner city Dublin from an early morning house, into a home from home for trad musicians. It’s about the history of the Mulligan family’s love for that tradition and the campaign against a planning application to turn it into a hotel bar. As many of Dublin’s most beloved cultural landmarks have been lost over the past few decades to new developments, the Cobblestone bucked the trend, with Dublin City Council turning down the planning request and declaring it a site of cultural importance. But despite that, the fate of the Cobblestone still hangs in the balance.  

The Story 

The Cobblestone in Dublin’s Smithfield has long been a home from home for trad musicians young and old, accomplished and beginner. When Tom Mulligan took over the pub in 1987 it was a local early morning house for the market people of the area. A few years after settling in, he decided to build on the legacy of his father TP, one of the founders of Na Piobairí Uilleann. The future of the community that Tom has created was threatened late last year when a planning application for a 114-room hotel was submitted to Dublin City Council.  The Cobblestone would be left with a much smaller space, too small, as far as the Mulligans were concerned, to keep doing, what it had become. 

7 nights of the week the Cobblestone caters for the many wonderful and varied musicians that pass through its doors. From sessions to lessons that help musicians graduate to sessions, there was no way that The Cobblestone could survive with less space and capacity. What happened next was one of the most heartening examples of people power seen in Dublin or across the country for many the year. The campaign to save the Cobblestone helped to highlight the story and the application for planning permission to Dublin City Council was refused.  

When Tom Mulligan first saw the planning application on the pub door, he felt ready to accept its fate. But after a campaign that saw two marches with thousands taking to the streets of Dublin, over 700 letters sent to Dublin City Council, and a petition signed by over 35,000, he now feels that he has a duty to save the pub’s legacy for future generations.  The Mulligan family speak candidly about their journey over the past year and their surprise at the outpouring of support when news of the planning application became public. They know, too, that this story will have many twists and turns before it’s over. Tom says he’s positive it will survive because he says he has to stay positive. But his wife Pauline has witnessed the sleepless nights and along with their two daughters, Síomha and Méabh, and their son Tomás, she is not confident the Cobblestone will be here this time next year. 

For Dubliners this story has also served to highlight the many treasured parts of the city that have been disappearing over the years. For the traditional Irish music community in Dublin, the Cobblestone is one of only two trad houses left in the city. The people who call this pub a “drinking pub with a music problem” are the heartbeat of this documentary, opening up their sessions and lessons to the cameras and reflecting on what makes this unique Dublin landmark so special, and why they intend to keep fighting for its survival.  

Athbhaile – The Cobblestone 

Reporter – Sinéad Ní Churnáin 

Producer/Director – Michael McCormack 

ATHBHAILE – THE COBBLESTON

(Áit ar baile as baile é)

RTÉ ONE – 7pm. An 22 Samhain agus an 29 Samhain 2022

Is é The Cobblestone, an áit is ansa le lucht an cheoil thraidisiúnta, a bheidh faoi thrácht sa chlár faisnéise dhá chuid seo. Tarraingíodh aird na meán agus an phobail ar an ngnó teaghlaigh nuair a chuaigh na mílte daoine chun sráideanna na príomhchathrach chun agóidíocht a dhéanamh i gcoinne iarratas pleanála d’óstán 9 stór a mbeadh dlúth agus inneach an Cobblestone curtha i mbaol aige dá mbeadh cead faighte ina leith.

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Scéal faoi mhuintir agus faoi phobal is ea ATHBHAILE. Is scéal é ina gcuirtear síos ar an gcaoi ar iompair Tom Mulligan teach tábhairne i lár chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath, a bhí ina theach leanna a d’osclaíodh go moch ar maidin, ina thearmann do cheoltóirí traidisiúnta ar a mbeidís ar a suaimhneas. Baineann sé le grá mhuintir Uí Mhaolagáin don traidisiún sin agus an áit as ar fhás an grá sin, agus baineann sé freisin leis an bhfeachtas i gcoinne iarratas pleanála chun beár óstáin a dhéanamh den teach tábhairne. Le deich nó fiche bliain anuas, tá go leor forbairtí nua tagtha ar an bhfód i mBaile Átha Cliath, agus scriosadh an-chuid de na sainchomharthaí is mó a raibh gean orthu sa chathair chun áit a dhéanamh dóibh. Cé go raibh an Cobblestone ag snámh in aghaidh easa ag tráth seo na forbraíochta, d’éirigh leis ainneoin na n-ainneoin nuair a dhiúltaigh Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Cliath cead pleanála a thabhairt, ag fógairt gur suíomh tábhachtach cultúir é. Ach ina ainneoin sin, tá todhchaí an Cobblestone fós idir dhá cheann na meá.

An Scéal

Tá teach tábhairne The Cobblestone i Margadh na Feirme, Baile Átha Cliath, ina bhaile as baile do cheoltóirí traidisiúnta, idir óg agus aosta, idir cheoltóirí inniúla agus thosaitheoirí, le fada an lá. Nuair a tháinig Tom i gceannas ar an bpub sa bhliain 1987, ba theach tábhairne é a bhíodh ag oscailt go moch ar maidin do mhuintir na háite a d’oibríodh ag an margadh ann. Cúpla bliain ina dhiaidh sin agus é socraithe isteach, chinn sé cur le hoidhreacht a athar TP, ar dhuine de bhunaitheoirí Na Píobairí Uilleann é. Cuireadh todhchaí an phobail sin a chothaigh Tom i mbaol ag deireadh na bliana seo caite nuair a cuireadh iarratas pleanála d’óstán 114 seomra faoi bhráid Chomhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath. Ní bheadh fágtha ag an Cobblestone ach spás i bhfad níos lú, spás a bheadh róbheag, dar le muintir Uí Mhaolagáin, chun leanúint orthu ag déanamh a bhfuil á dhéanamh acu faoi láthair.

Cuirtear áit fháilteach ar fáil sa Cobblestone 7 oíche na seachtaine don iliomad ceoltóirí iontacha ilchineálacha a bhuaileann isteach. Idir na seisiúin rialta a bhíonn ar siúl agus na ceachtanna a chuirtear ar fáil ar mhaithe le daoine a ullmhú chun seinm sna seisiúin, níl bealach ar bith go bhféadfadh an Cobblestone fanacht ar an gcaoi sin mura mbeadh an spás agus an acmhainn chéanna ann. B’ionann an rud a tharla i ndiaidh sin agus ceann de na samplaí is mó de chumhacht na ndaoine a tharla i mBaile Átha Cliath nó in áit ar bith sa tír leis na blianta fada, agus ba mhór an tógáil croí don phobal é. Chuidigh an feachtas chun an Cobblestone a shábháil le haird a tharraingt ar an scéal, agus diúltaíodh don iarratas ar chead pleanála a cuireadh faoi bhráid Chomhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath.

Nuair a chonaic Tom Mulligan an t-iarratas ar chead pleanála ar dhoras an phub i dtosach, bhí sé réidh le glacadh lena chinniúint. Ach anois, tar éis an fheachtais a cuireadh ar bun a raibh dhá mhórshiúl ina ndeachaigh na mílte daoine ar shráideanna Bhaile Átha Cliath, os cionn 700 litir chuig Comhairle Chathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath, agus achainí a shínigh breis is 35,000 duine i gceist leis, mothaíonn sé go bhfuil dualgas air leagáid an tí tábhairne a chaomhnú do na glúnta atá le teacht. Labhraíonn muintir Uí Mhaolagáin go neamhbhalbh faoina n-aistear le bliain anuas agus an t-iontas a bhí orthu de bharr an rabharta tacaíochta a fuair siad nuair a briseadh scéal an iarratais pleanála go poiblí. Tuigeann siad freisin gur iomaí cor agus casadh a bheidh sa scéal sula mbeidh sé thart. Deir Tom go bhfuil sé cinnte de go dtiocfaidh an pub slán, mar go gcaithfidh sé a bheith dearfach faoi. Ach feiceann Pauline, bean chéile Tom, go bhfuil an imní ag cur ó chodladh na hoíche é, agus níl sí féin, ná a mbeirt iníonacha Síomha agus Méabh ná a mac Tomás, cinnte go mbeidh an Cobblestone fós ann an t-am seo an bhliain seo chugainn.

I gcás mhuintir Átha Cliath, bhí an scéal seo ina chás de chineál atá coitianta sa chathair le roinnt blianta anuas, is é sin nach ann do go leor codanna di a raibh gean agus tóir orthu níos mó. Níl ach dhá theach tábhairne fágtha i mBaile Átha Cliath a bhfuil an ceol mar chuid lárnach díobh agus a mbíonn fáilte roimh lucht an cheoil thraidisiúnta i gcónaí iontu, agus tá an Cobblestone ar cheann acu. Is iad na daoine a thugann “a drinking pub with a music problem” ar an Cobblestone atá i gcroílár an chláir faisnéise seo. Ligeann siad na ceamairí isteach chuig na seisiúin agus na ceachtanna a bhíonn ar siúl agus déanann siad machnamh ar an rud a dhéanann áit chomh speisialta sin den sainchomhartha ar leith seo i mBaile Átha Cliath, agus ar an bhfáth a bhfuil sé i gceist acu leanúint orthu ar a míle dícheall ag iarraidh é a thabhairt slán.

Athbhaile – The Cobblestone

Tuairisceoir – Sinéad Ní Churnáin

Léiritheoir/Stiúrthóir – Michael McCormack