Its young Noel Crowe and his cousins again. Gawd, the feet were walked of them poor little lads, and it looks like Noel, in the first pic, is finally saying “not another inch”. But seriously, this time theyre in the Great Palm House in the National Botanic Gardens. Were not sure of the date, but should it have been 1948 or 9 they just might have encountered one of the twentieth centurys greatest philosophers sitting on the steps that lead down from the east wing into the Palm House. For long periods during this time, particularly in the winter months, Ludwig Wittgenstein sat here scribbling down his thoughts. Wittgenstein, an academic born in Austria was from an extremely wealthy but tragedy filled family. As a young man he inherited most of the familys wealth, a fortune that he later gave away. In 1938, as a result of a newly passed Nazi law, Wittgensteins Jewish ancestry would qualify him and other family members for detention, or worse. Fortunately for him he was by then living and working in various colleges in the UK thereby escaping their reach. Ironically, as a young boy he had attended school with Adolf Hitler. Wittgenstein had initially been to Ireland in the early 30s for a brief period but came back and stayed for two years in the late 1940s. During this time he is thought to have compiled his writings that would later appear as the highly acclaimed Philosophical Investigations, a book published after his death. Some folk reckon a lot of it was written on those steps in the Great Palm House. Visitors will see a plaque to his memory embedded on the steps where he sat. At the time he was living in what is now the Ashling Hotel on Parkgate St. For an interesting insight into the man, along with his association with the Bots see The Elvis of Philosophy by Emer Martin, novelist, painter, and film maker. - youtube/watch?v=8bjegjXl8hY Pictures courtesy of Eileen Sweeney.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 23:06:27 +0000
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