by johnfoyle Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:43 pm
When
Cáit O’Riordan explains that she likes living where she does because the woman next door keeps chickens in her back garden, you might be forgiven for assuming that her pad is situated in Ireland’s rural heartland. Not so. She lives in the Dublin suburb she describes as “Rocking Rathmines”. “I just love the idea of waking up with the hens all clucking around,’ she admits. ‘It was the only place I looked at that had that farmyardy vibe going on, although I’m a completely city person!”
Her present abode, where she’s lived for four years, has another key advantage. “It takes me exactly 30 minutes to walk from here to the Millennium Bridge and Temple Bar,” she says. “My favourite bit of New York is 9th Avenue from 42nd Street up to the back of the Lincoln Centre, and there’s something about the walk into town, down Camden Street and Aungier Street, that reminds me of that. I like the quirky little shops, and the low-rise architecture and the fact that every time I take that walk I meet at least a couple of people I know. That doesn’t happen in London. I like that about Dublin, which is where I’ve lived since 1989. Also, people, especially Pogues fans, often stop me to tell me what a great poet Shane MacGowan is. There’s always somebody to wave at.” Cáit regards her three-bedroom semi-d as a “cave” in an extremely quiet neighbourhood, to which she retreats from the rest of the world. “I don’t encourage visitors, and everybody accepts that,” she says. Of course she plays music, both on record and on her guitars, but never too loud. “I have very good neighbours and I want to be a good neighbour too,” she says, ‘and I certainly don’t want to upset the chickens. I can make as much noise as I want in the rehearsal rooms and on stage.” Since she stopped drinking over a year ago, local pubs are no longer places she frequents, but “I love the famous Bald Barista on Aungier Street. I always stop off there to see Buzz!”
Neither home cooking nor DIY have much appeal for her. “Why would I want to cook when I live close to Jo Burger, Bombay Pantry, lots of great places to eat, and Ranelagh is only 10 minutes away? As for DIY if anybody wants to volunteer, let me know, especially if there’s a nice plumber out there?”
She took up boxing a while back, but gave up because she became concerned when it seemed to be damaging her knuckles. She actually laughs out loud when I mention the subject of gardening, so we move swiftly along to her record collection, which ranges from
The Clangers to
Leonard Cohen and
Charlie Mingus, and her book collection which tends to focus on biographies and true-life stories rather than fiction. “I don’t read fiction at all. I’m an adventure junkie, and what happens in the real world is amazing, so I tend to read about people like
Sir Edmund Hillary and his great achievement in climbing Mount Everest. There was something about Sir Ed, and I get it off
Bono as well, people who find themselves with this extraordinary fame that wasn’t really the point of what they did. Bono didn’t set out to be the world’s most famous man, he just wanted to be in the best rock band in the world. Sir Ed just wanted to conquer the highest mountain. I find books about such people completely inspirational.” Not one to collect antiques, or works or art, or ornaments as such, she has a big teddy bear called Big Teds, one of several, but her most prized possessions are her musical instruments. “This year I figured out the Audacity programme on my PC. When I come up with musical ideas, I can record them and I’ve even learned to send them as mp3s. I’m getting a handle on the techy side.”
She has a pair of impressive cowboy boots. “I bought them about two years ago in a shop called Lara’s just round the corner from your Hot Press office. But my favourite personal possession is my P Bass. I’ve had it for about 22 years. She’s old and battered like me but she still does the job. I call her Chrissie. A friend has loaned me a double bass on strict instructions that I learn a
Henry Grimes solo. I have a bodhrán that
Christy Moore gave me in 1988, when I was hanging out at Windmill Lane.”
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/charleshardin/28March20084.jpg[/img]
When [b]Cáit O’Riordan[/b] explains that she likes living where she does because the woman next door keeps chickens in her back garden, you might be forgiven for assuming that her pad is situated in Ireland’s rural heartland. Not so. She lives in the Dublin suburb she describes as “Rocking Rathmines”. “I just love the idea of waking up with the hens all clucking around,’ she admits. ‘It was the only place I looked at that had that farmyardy vibe going on, although I’m a completely city person!”
Her present abode, where she’s lived for four years, has another key advantage. “It takes me exactly 30 minutes to walk from here to the Millennium Bridge and Temple Bar,” she says. “My favourite bit of New York is 9th Avenue from 42nd Street up to the back of the Lincoln Centre, and there’s something about the walk into town, down Camden Street and Aungier Street, that reminds me of that. I like the quirky little shops, and the low-rise architecture and the fact that every time I take that walk I meet at least a couple of people I know. That doesn’t happen in London. I like that about Dublin, which is where I’ve lived since 1989. Also, people, especially Pogues fans, often stop me to tell me what a great poet Shane MacGowan is. There’s always somebody to wave at.” Cáit regards her three-bedroom semi-d as a “cave” in an extremely quiet neighbourhood, to which she retreats from the rest of the world. “I don’t encourage visitors, and everybody accepts that,” she says. Of course she plays music, both on record and on her guitars, but never too loud. “I have very good neighbours and I want to be a good neighbour too,” she says, ‘and I certainly don’t want to upset the chickens. I can make as much noise as I want in the rehearsal rooms and on stage.” Since she stopped drinking over a year ago, local pubs are no longer places she frequents, but “I love the famous Bald Barista on Aungier Street. I always stop off there to see Buzz!”
Neither home cooking nor DIY have much appeal for her. “Why would I want to cook when I live close to Jo Burger, Bombay Pantry, lots of great places to eat, and Ranelagh is only 10 minutes away? As for DIY if anybody wants to volunteer, let me know, especially if there’s a nice plumber out there?”
She took up boxing a while back, but gave up because she became concerned when it seemed to be damaging her knuckles. She actually laughs out loud when I mention the subject of gardening, so we move swiftly along to her record collection, which ranges from [b]The Clangers [/b]to [b]Leonard Cohen[/b] and[b] Charlie Mingus[/b], and her book collection which tends to focus on biographies and true-life stories rather than fiction. “I don’t read fiction at all. I’m an adventure junkie, and what happens in the real world is amazing, so I tend to read about people like [b]Sir Edmund Hillary [/b]and his great achievement in climbing Mount Everest. There was something about Sir Ed, and I get it off [b]Bono [/b]as well, people who find themselves with this extraordinary fame that wasn’t really the point of what they did. Bono didn’t set out to be the world’s most famous man, he just wanted to be in the best rock band in the world. Sir Ed just wanted to conquer the highest mountain. I find books about such people completely inspirational.” Not one to collect antiques, or works or art, or ornaments as such, she has a big teddy bear called Big Teds, one of several, but her most prized possessions are her musical instruments. “This year I figured out the Audacity programme on my PC. When I come up with musical ideas, I can record them and I’ve even learned to send them as mp3s. I’m getting a handle on the techy side.”
She has a pair of impressive cowboy boots. “I bought them about two years ago in a shop called Lara’s just round the corner from your Hot Press office. But my favourite personal possession is my P Bass. I’ve had it for about 22 years. She’s old and battered like me but she still does the job. I call her Chrissie. A friend has loaned me a double bass on strict instructions that I learn a [b]Henry Grimes[/b] solo. I have a bodhrán that [b]Christy Moore [/b]gave me in 1988, when I was hanging out at Windmill Lane.”
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/charleshardin/28March2008.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/charleshardin/28March20083.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/charleshardin/28March20082.jpg[/img]
