Ardgillan Castle

2009-11-01T18:52:26Z

ActivExpression: clean up, typos fixed: the the → the using AWB

[[Image:Ardgillan castle.jpg|thumb|480px|right|The exterior of the castle.]]
'''Ardgillan Castle''' is a large country house in [[Balbriggan]], [[County Dublin]] set in the {{convert|200|acre|km2|sing=on}} Ardgillan Demesne.

Featuring castellated embellishments, the building overlooks Barnageera Beach, the [[Irish Sea]] and [[Skerries]]. The castle consists of two storeys over a basement, which extends under the south lawns. When occupied, the ground and first floors were the living accommodation while the west and east wings were servants quarters and estate offices. The basement was the service floor, the kitchen and stores. The castle has now been restored and the ground floor rooms and kitchens are open to visitors for guided tours. Tea-rooms are located off the main reception area and serving light snacks are open in conjunction with the Castle opening times. Upstairs, the former bedrooms are used for classes and exhibitions including a permanent and unique exhibition of the "Down Survey" colour maps and text. Rooms are also available form small group meetings and workshops.

Ardgillan Demesne is a popular local park, with a mix of woodlands and large grass open spaces. The park contains a walled herb garden, rose garden, Victorian conservatory, tea rooms and an [[Icehouse (building)|ice house]]. A children's playground was added in 2006. Ardgillan Castle provides guided tours and hosts exhibitions throughout the years.

==History==
The house was built by the Reverend Robert Taylor in 1738. The house remained in the Taylor family until 1962 when the estate to Heinrich Potts of Westphalia.

In 1982 the estate was sold to [[Fingal County Council]], and it is now open to the public.

==Trivia==
The ghost of a woman was believed to haunt the bridge (known locally as The Lady's Stairs) that exists over the nearby railway line at the end of the garden. It was said that the woman's husband was a frequent swimmer, and when he did not return one night, she went to the bridge to await his return. The tale then claims her husband had died while swimming, and she stayed at the bridge to await his return until she died. A more "horror-like" version of the tale claims that if one is to go the end of the bridge at midnight on [[Halloween]], her ghost appears and throws you to the ocean, leading to one's death. The bridge was damaged by a truck strike in 2006 and was eventually renovated and reopened in 2007.

In 2005 the estate was host to a number of open air concerts in the summer time. Pop artists who have played here include [[Moby]], [[R.E.M. (band)|REM]], [[Meat Loaf]] and [[Status Quo]]. No more concerts have been held at the venue since and it still remains to be seen if the County Council plans to host any in the future.

===External links===
* [http://www.fingalcoco.ie/LeisureandTourism/ParksHeritageProperties/ArdgillanCastle/ Ardgillan Castle on Fingal County Council's website]
* [http://www.ardgillanskerries.com/ Ardgillan Castle Skerries Website]

{{Historic Irish houses}}

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[[Category:Castles in Fingal]]
[[Category:Visitor attractions in County Dublin]]

[[es:Castillo de Ardgillan]]

Thomas Frank (Journalist)

2009-09-25T22:46:39Z

ActivExpression: Revert to revision 313800936 dated 2009-09-14 09:26:08 by SmackBot using popups

{{For|the civil engineer|Thomas Pierson Frank}}
[[Image:TCF by barn.jpg|thumb|Thomas Frank]]
'''Thomas Frank''' (born 1965) is an [[United States|American]] author, journalist and columnist for the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', authoring ''The Tilting Yard'' since May, 2008.

Frank is a historian of culture and ideas and analyzes trends in American electoral politics and propaganda, advertising, popular culture, mainstream journalism and economics. With his writing, he explores the rhetoric and impact of the '[[Culture war|Culture Wars]]' in American political life, and the relationship between [[politics of the United States|politics]] and [[culture]] in the United States.

==Politics==
Frank comes from a [[Left-wing politics|leftist]] political perspective and is highly critical of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] governance, especially the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|presidency]] of [[George W. Bush]]. However, he has also criticized the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] for "swearing off economic [[social liberalism|'liberalism']]"<ref>http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17982</ref>. He is unique among writers on the American Left both for his political outlook, which revives the discourses of the American [[populism|Populist Movement]] of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, <ref>http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08012008/profile3.html</ref> and for his [[polemic]]al style, which has been said to update that of the [[muckraker]]s of the same historical era <ref>http://www.mediachannel.org/views/interviews/frank.shtml</ref>.

Frank is the founder and editor of ''[[The Baffler]]'' and the author of several books, most recently ''[[The Wrecking Crew (book)|The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule]]''. Other writings include essays for ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', ''[[Le Monde diplomatique]]'', ''[[Bookforum]]'', and the ''[[Financial Times]]''. His book ''[[What's the Matter with Kansas?]]'', published in 2004, earned him nationwide and international recognition.

==Personal life==
Frank was born in [[Kansas City, Missouri]] in 1965. He grew up in a local suburb, [[Mission Hills, Kansas]]. Frank graduated from [[Shawnee Mission East High School]]. He later attended the [[University of Kansas]]. He also attended the [[University of Virginia]] and the [[University of Chicago]], where he received a [[doctorate|Ph.D.]] in [[history]] in 1994. He currently lives in [[Washington, DC]] with his wife, Wendy, and their children.

==Books==
*[[The Conquest of Cool]] (1997) ISBN 0-226-26012-7
*[[One Market Under God|One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy]] (2000) ISBN 0-385-49503-X
*[[New Consensus for Old: Cultural Studies from Left to Right]] (2002) ISBN 0-9717575-4-2
*[[What's the Matter with Kansas?]] (2004) ISBN 0-8050-7339-6
*[[The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule]] (2008) 384pp, ISBN 0805079882, Publisher: [[Henry Holt and Co.]], Pub. Date: 2008-09-05.
*[[Boob Jubilee: The Mad Cultural Politics of the New Economy: Salvos from the Baffler]] (2003) ISBN 0-393-32430-3

==See also==
* ''[[The Trap (television documentary series)|The Trap (TV Documentary Series)]]'' Thomas Frank features in ''The Trap'', a BBC documentary.
* ''[[What's the Matter with Kansas? (film)]]'' 2009 documentary movie based on Thomas Frank's best-selling book of the same name.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://www.tcfrank.com/ Frank's personal website]
*[http://us.macmillan.com/author/thomasfrank Thomas Frank Author Page] (Henry Holt and Company)
*[http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=28262 What's The Matter With "What's The Matter With Kansas"]; [[The Nation (U.S. periodical)|The Nation]]; October 11, 2005; ''[http://www.princeton.edu/%7ebartels/kansas.pdf Study] (pdf) argues that the white working class hasn't moved right and that "moral values" are not pushing them to vote Republican.''
*[http://tcfrank.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/dismissed.pdf Class is Dismissed ] Thomas Frank's reply to Prof. Bartels' study ''What's The Matter With "What's The Matter With Kansas".''
*[http://www.prickly-paradigm.com/catalog.html#2 New Consensus for Old: Cultural Studies from Left to Right] 26 page book/pamphlet put out by [[Prickly Paradigm]] in Fall 2002.
*[http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/frank.html PBS's NOW with Bill Moyers] An interview on [[What's the Matter With Kansas?]]
*{{imdb name|id=1839388}}
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd5nd3aBtkU Frank giving speech at "Hostile Takeover"]
*[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120873309012529689.html?mod=mostpop Opinion article in the Wall Street Journal written by Frank]
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-667877812822137165&hl=en VIDEO: Thomas Frank, Aug. 14, 2008 - The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule], presentation at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, from recent book tour.

==Notes==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Thomas}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American book editors]]
[[Category:American columnists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:American historians]]
[[Category:American political writers]]
[[Category:People from Missouri]]
[[Category:People from the Kansas City metropolitan area]]
[[Category:People from Johnson County, Kansas]]
[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:University of Virginia alumni]]

[[fr:Thomas Frank]]
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Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Ardgillan Castle

Thomas Frank (Journalist)