Mireille Finnegan
I have been guiding in Ireland and Scotland for the last 10 years. I am particularly interested in Arts and Paintings.
specialized in French speaking tours .
Location Dublin
Activity
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i did not know that. interesting
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Mireille Finnegan replied to Carolyn Lawson
same for me. my oldest raincoat is over 40 years old and i still use it regularly. i like to wear clothes which belonged to someone else as a reminder of the Friends and family. i hate getting rid of my clothes even when they are threadbare. i used to donate the good ones to charity shops in Ireland but I am back to France and it's seems to be more difficult...
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Mireille Finnegan replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
it's only fake news! how dare they!
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
the snakes decoration on Urnes´ portal are part of the base of the tree of life and is as well a symbol of eternity in the Christian religion as the mathematical 8 symbol of infinity. You can find them in most Celtic crosses.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
where Christianism find its best anchorage is where it has respected the Ancient Gods and Traditions.
In the carvings of the Stave churches , you can find designs of the traditional tree of life , as we can find them in the Book of Kells.
That´s why I love these churches as a proof of continuity and universality. -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
These "simple" stave churches were not so simple as they were carved. The first version of the Irish oratories were much more simple, rough wood , no carving. During the penal laws, XVIIIe century, some wooden structures were built on a chariot to be able to deplace them.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Just a question, please.
In Ireland the very first churches had only one room, then two from XI century, and then bigger and bigger.
Are the "Simple" Stave Churches from an earlier period than the other types?
Thanks -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Were you familiar with Stave Churches before taking this course? YES
How do the Stave Churches and their construction compare to structures in your country? STAVE CHURCHES ARE MORE BEAUTIFULLY CARVED -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Pity about the destruction , they are such beautiful buildings . real Art pieces.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Thank you for the documents
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Hi . I am French but live mainly in Ireland and been working as a Tourist Guide for the last ten years. As part of the extension of my work in Ireland and Scotland , I went on a trip to Norway to visit the Viking culture and had the chance to admire these Stave churches. Really fascinating and worth conservating them. Thanks. Mireille
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Art impacts us in every way, It leaves a long lasting effect which could induce us to react responsibly later on. It makes you think twice about our own behaviour. Thank you to all these Artists who feel involved in this world.
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I am very sensitive to wood carving. living in a small appartment, my solution is to paint the structures I like, such as the Kelpies and Eriu Irish divinity carved out of a trunk.
There are a lot of junk structures you can enjoy like the fish in the Botanic garden in Belfast showing the dammage of litter on the environment -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
A lot of ephemeral art conveys a strong message. it's a pity it desappears in a short time. But luckily we have some photographs to remember them.
Would not have been possible to find a technical way of preserving Reitzenstein’s hanging tree?
I love street art as it is a reflexion of our actual world. -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Barbara Hepworth... but I have no money
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I like one of the Moma criteria: Necessity. Here is the ultimate litmus test: if this object had never been designed and produced, would the world miss it, even just a bit? As disarming as this question might seem, it really works. Try it at home.
Most criteria are completly subjective, so that's may be why a consultation of future viewers should be done -
Those types of outdoor carving sculptures are amongst my favorites.
Art in parks is certainly the best place to communicate with the viewer and much more democratic than museum -
When you spend a few years pasing by a sculpture that you don´t like , it´s not very uplifting. So yes, they should be part of the decision panel
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I like Barbara Hepworth's work for their smoothness
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Fresian cows are acquirring a bad reputation of polluting the planet, at the moment... it's true that planted on its four legs , it looks a bit defiant... if you are vegetarian, it could look even provocative. If it was standing in front of the ministery of Agriculture in France, ther is no doubt it would be vandalised.
So yes, the environment where a... -
Necessity of creation comes first. When you start practising your art, you can feel the need to enter a school to perfect your technic. The school can't make you an artist, in my opinion. you are born an artist who needs to practise and may be be guided to attain the summit of your art.
What is interesting with school is that it broaden your knowledge and... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
It's kind of funny to think how much Modern Artists can be connected to Nature when their art is so abstract.
the name Dryad is meaningful of the importance of our connection with Nature. In our environmental and green politics era, these sculptures are even more actuals.
Sculpture Art History should be part of standard education, so everyone could... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Very interesting and moving documentary. his son´s commitment to preserve his work for posterity, so much could be lost. I hope there is a museum/park dedicated to him??
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Barbara Hepworth´s sculptures are fantastic. I love the scuñpture parks because you can touch the sculptures and interacting with them is very important. Hepworth´s sculptures are inspired by the localities where she lived but for each viewer it could represent any other similar places. the connection with the sea and the erosion effect of waves and wind is...
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Looking at this structure, I first saw a reclining chair. Very inviting. I would have probably walk towards it with the intention of resting on it.
In Dublin, in the courtyard of the Education Department there is a sculpture representing an hand and the Artist said that in fact this piece is not complete as long as a child is not sitting in it. The hand is a... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Nowadays, we can see a lot of wooden carved sculptures along the roads and streets. I think that we are back to figurative sculpture with a modern message about environment and Nature. We still have a mid abstract approach but I think the abstract art has matured.
about feminism, I think that a piece of art has to be considered by itself, the fact that the... -
For me, Modern Art is when the Artist express himself through his work. it´s not a simple picture of reality . it express a feeling or make you think about your environment. Like the structure in front of a building which reflects the passers-by and the light, the structure becomes alive. Modern Art started at the beginning of the XX century more or less....
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Mireille Finnegan replied to Philip Simmonds
@MaddieBoden De Stijl is not uk nor usa, so...
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Mireille Finnegan replied to Philip Scott
@MaddieBoden agreed. Thanks a lot for this first week. the extra links were really great.
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Mireille Finnegan replied to Lyn B
@LindaMatthews Nice jelly Babies,Thank you.
in which material were they made? -
Mireille Finnegan replied to john wakenshaw
I thought these tunnels were a genious idea. Piercing those holes to reflect a constellation and let Nature and Light to animate these concrete tunnels was a "brillant" idea.
Thank you for making us discover these talented Artists. -
The sculpture i chose was " The Kiss" by Rowan Gillespie.1990.
It was commissionned by the Architect of the buildings where it stands.
it's a free standing sculpture of a couple about to kiss, the shapes are sugestive and modern, they are about 2 meters high on a plinth at the corner of Earlsfort terrace, nearby the National Concert Hall and in front of... -
The singing stone reminds me of one of my favorite sculpture in Drumcliffe, county Sligo, Ireland.
W.B.Yeats tomb is very simple, too simple compared to the personage.So, just outside the graveyard, there is a nice statue of him with one of his poem carved on the ground. -
What fascinates me is the way one Artist evolves along his life. I would choose one artist and choose works from different periods of his life, showing how he works, prepares his master piece and the final works.
My personal collection of paintings is mostly from people I know which me remind of the person and the moments we shared., or depicting places with... -
1.) Architecturally - How do the buildings style and appearance relate to the changes going on in higher education?
This modern approach was very efficient . I don't understand why it's not apply to social or standard housing?
I am 66, but I love everything modern. my interior is very modern, minimalist and mainly white.
the modern aspect of the buildings... -
in Dublin, in Temple Bar Quarter , there is a sky map of the Viking period on a wall, in this concrete material...very nicely done, but unfortunately most people won't see it unlesss a Guide has stopped in front of it and then other passers-by would have a quick look at it.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
This type of campus encourages the feeling of belonging. That´s why a frequent question is " where did you study?" the sense of fellowship is fundamental and you will be keep a special link to your fellow students all your life...hopefully.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
For the last two years. I have started painting, which brings me a good deal of relaxation.
And because of it. Every time I go for a walk, I look at trees and leaves as if I am going to paint them. Because of painting, I am paying more attention to details.
First time i went to a Art class, I told my husband I was going to a relaxation session...and it's... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
colors appear different according to the background
music can be associated to colors
our perception evolves with our needs -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
My last dream. I was in a train with my husband. Our station arrived. The train stopped. My husband went off. By the time I had collected my stuff,.bag, coat, scarf.the door closed and I am left alone in the train.
I often have this type of nightmares. I feel very unsecure, even if I have no reason for it. -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Once I lost the perception of heat and cold.
By acunpucture, you can change your perception of them.
I was feeling very cold and it was 30Celsius outside.
I knew that my perception was wrong. I got it corrected.
But for a few months, may be a year and never knew if my perceptions were correct. -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
It's 6.47am. I am in my bed reading this course.
My ears are ringing.
I can see my paintings, and they are reassuring, they are bright...no sign of mental illness... probably,my problem is not depression but boredom.
I suppose it's easy to mix both??
Like every morning. The question is,:what's the plan for Today?
I am going to pilates class at 9.30 , but... -
For me it's feeling alone and I start not to join any group because I am feeling that nobody minds if I am there or not.
But I thought that this were only the premises of a depression...not the depression itself??? -
I hope that the Irish Government will try again to better communicate about water management and put in place water meters for everyone in order to spot the waste of water
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Apparently in Ireland we consume an average of 100liters per person. But only 50% of the households have a watermeter. I don't have any, so I have no idea.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I am surprised at one particular figure: the shower using more than a bath.
I thought the opposite and I tested it myself. At the end of my shower, the bath tub was filled only at a third of it. It's true that I don't spend 10 mn, may be 5mn only. Try it yourself! -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I thought I would do better. with WWF i got 141. But for example , though living in Ireland , I don't use any heating as I have a south facing apartment and my neighbours warm the building enough for me.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Getting old, books are more difficult to read. I need proper lighting and it's not always the case. So, I more and more rely on my phone or my computer for reading, and as i travel a lot, ebooks are much lighter to carry...
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Asthma in Ireland
470,000 Irish people have asthma, including one in five children
One Irish person dies every week as a result of their asthma – of these deaths, 90% are preventable
Uncontrolled asthma is dangerous – every 26 minutes someone in Ireland visits an Emergency Department with asthma
Asthma costs the state over €500 million per annum
Children... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
As a frequent traveler, I think that travelling has to be blame for climate change.
the spread of infections is increased by the migration of birds but by travelers themselves. if you consider people who live in the countryside in Europe, cultivate their own vegetable garden, collect rain water to irrigate their plants, don't travel much and have a healthy... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I think that most of the time when it's not extreme pollution, you won't see it directly; and that's the main challenge. Along the sea, sewage are going straight in. It's a clear fact, but nobody seems to care
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@GillianMisstear Hi Gillian, at least you have a water meter. I am in Castleknock and I don't have any meter, so I could not tell how much water I spend. But I am a bad pupil as I buy food imported from Kenya. I should try to use only local products, which could be a bit limited.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
As a tour guide, I can see that people are more interested in History and places if they can link it to a film or a serie.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Hi. what amazes me is that every body knows about climate change, but around me I think 90% don't care.
People behavior is very selfish and unless this has a direct impact to their life, they are not ready to do anything to stop this global warming.
More and more people become vegan but I am not convinced that's to reduce the impact of cattle pollution.
I... -
Absolutely
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I feel quite good. we have only one car for two. I walk most of the time or take public transport. I had not thought about the implication of fashion and new clothes on climate change. So now i feel better wearing old comfortable clothes that I have been keeping and using for over 20 years. in Ireland we have a lot of charity shops with items pre-loved as we...
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In fact, the minister joan Burton, had to resign.
Irish people still their water free. We don't have any water meters. -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
all aspects are important.
water quality is probably the main concern in Ireland -
Unfortunately, there is a big difference between what Countries have agreed to do and what they have achieved.
Ireland is a very bad example. Mainly because the landscape looks so healthy that most of us don't feel really concerned.
Ireland is a very temperate country , so for example Heat wave is something completely foreign here. -
Hi Philip.
No there is no water cut off. It's even worse. Because there were a lot of protests and one Minister had been even molested, those like me have been reimbursed of what we had paid..
We still don't pay a cent.
Have a nice shower! :-) -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Hi. I am a tourist guide in Ireland and Scotland. Two beautiful and relatively well preserved countries. But for how long. I talk a lot about nature and our relationship with it. How it has changed so much in the last 2000 years. How can we go back to a closer life with Nature. I walk and have a kind of holistic approach. But it's difficult to make other...
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
In Ireland, the government has tried to create a tax on water to try to improve the infrastructure and improve the distribution avoiding too much spillage.
People have refused to pay the water charges.
I personally think it's a scandal because they don't care about water.
If you pay for what you're using at least you are a bit more careful.
These billions... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Long term efficient policies are difficult to maintain as there are too many human beings on the planet with greater needs, which implies more cattle(for example) creating more pollution...
Why China abandoned the one child policy? Is it because other countries did not do the same? Supremacy and greed are leading the world.
How can we change this? -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Hi. I live in Ireland which is considered as a green and natural environment, but if you look closer Nature is not so well looked after.
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Thank you
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Mireille Finnegan replied to Gary Casey
Wouah! The beginning sounded interesting and a sister exhibition in Kells would be a great idea.
Pity about the end of the comments becoming a bit politic and may be not the place to express it. -
We are at a time of mass tourism and the Book of Kells exhibition is on this trail. When people are visiting on their own, most of them spend 40mn in it. We spent quite a bit more on this course. I thought I knew the book of Kells inside out... well, I must say I have learnt so much more these past weeks. Thank you for that.
Next time , I guide there, I hope... -
Correct. when visiting Dublin, Ireland, Don't forget to visit Chester Beatty Library, near Dublin Castle. There are plenty wonderful books from Japan, China, as well as Coran and Bibles
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Activities would mean more space... Could the shop be transferred somewhere else and use this space for activities or more interactive panels? That would be nice for all the students groups who are visiting this exhibition each year.
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Thank you Annie. An interactive stand with highlighted spots on the different pages with explanation of the meaning of the symbols would be great. For the scriptorium, I would indicate a few places around Ireland that you could visit to get this idea.
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May be activities could be done in connection with the National Gallery Dublin
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Is the chapel in Dun Laoghaire accessible to the public?
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Dia dhuit. In Dublin, there is a walk and talk group in Gaeilge, once a week.
I hope to be able to join them at the end of this course.
Slàn -
Same
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
My understanding was that anything on social media become more or less public. If you want to keep private, just use emails :-)
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I only post for business purposes
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Since last thursday i did 95464 steps which give an average of 13637 steps per day.
My problem is that i loose weight during the winter because i have more exercise and eat less than during the summer when i go to the restaurants twice a day
but thanks to this course and will be more conscious of the problem. thanks a lot -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I suppose a varied diet is better than all these modified products.
I normally spend an hour per day exercising outside, so I think i have my dose of vitamin D -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I eat healthy food, less and less red meat, my BMI is under 24, I do a lot of exercise, such as 3 or 4 tennis match a week, a lot of walking... and had a cancer.
that's fate -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I would normally eat fish once a week but since the start of the course , I intend to stick to twice a week. thanks
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Hi everyone. I tend to eat more on Sundays and Mondays as there are leftovers from Sunday. Today for example , I had 2 pancakes to finish the dough...and of course with a spoonful of sugar on each... very bad.
Apart from Sundays, i normally eat around 1200/ 1500 calories a day; but too much sugar, the rest seems to be ok
I had 20 days in January without... -
Mireille Finnegan replied to Linda Whelan
freewill and free wheel down to the grave as well
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I don't think the tax is a solution.
Just educate people starting from schools, it works -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Thank you for this explanation about sugars. As I said at the beginning of the course, I could not loose weight though I was eating very little, I downloaded an app that you recommended and it showed that I was constantly eating too much sugar. I don't drink soft drinks , only occasionally but it's very easy to eat too much sugar.
So, I tried to reduce my... -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I completely I agree that it's not an addiction
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Mireille Finnegan replied to Russell Flitney
Self discipline is all what you need.But you can always indulge from time to time
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I don't think that you can be addicted to any food. Just some foods are more attractive than others.
As would say my old friend, Oscar Wilde, I resist everything but temptation -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
This shows what normally people expects from food. The word ,i don't see is CONFORT!!!
Confort food is not always unhealthy.
So have a piece of dark chocolate -
Mireille Finnegan made a comment
I have what we call Celtic blood, which means I have too much iron. I used to give blood to get rid of the excess but I had a cancer 3 years ago , so I cannot give blood any longer.
I always had a reasonably balanced diet and I am very upset about this ... because it did not prevent me from having a cancer... so nothing is straight forward nor miraculous -
Have you heard of perfection? I am far from it.
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
My intake is lower than my expenditure and i am still not loosing weight?????
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apparently , i am at the limit of each index , bmi 24, waist 88.
what should i do? -
what is the waist to hip indicator? as i am in the same situation
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My BMI is 24, and I am doing a lot of exercise and eating very little , but i cannot loose weight...why?
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
you could be more proned to obeseity than others , but that's more a life style problem
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Hi. How are you different when you speak another language? I am French and live in Ireland where we speak English and Irish. Irish becomes more and more a fancy language spoken only by a few, even if it's compulsory to learn it at school. Even when I speak English I am perceived as being French and not because of my accent that people think it's German. I...
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Mireille Finnegan made a comment
Life always find its way. Jurassic Park 1.I don't know if it's the exact quote but that's one I use in French regularly when I go to the Burren region in Ireland, because life is every where , even in places that you don't expect. you can always reflect as well on the dangers of science, mutation and consequences. Same thing applies to ideologies, Freedom,...
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I think that Workers from every country should unit. One of the problems is that in some countries workers have gained larger advantages than in others and they are not ready to find a middle settlement.
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Interesting, I had never heard of it before today
Republic of Ireland[edit]The Occupy Dame Street camp in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Main article: Occupy Dame Street
To date six towns and cities in Ireland have witnessed experienced Occupy camps; Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Letterkenny, and Athlone.[264] Protests were held in... -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iobdENzFxVc
if you go to youtube, you will find a lot of different versions of no pasaran.
it reminds me of my Spanish studies 40 years ago.
thanks
