Ripper Street, Raheny

There I was, passing by my favourite church, All Saints', Raheny, when I noticed the hydraulic platform. Fine, I thought, they're fixing the roof.

But hang on a minute, I thought the roof was fixed a while back? What's going on here? So I turned the car around and went back for a look.



What on earth is this? A distinctly odd looking crowd of roof fixers if ever I saw them. No safety helmets, no high visibility jackets and a funny assortment of theatre lights on tripods.



And then this. We must be in the movies?

RTÉ had already done a very nice piece on the King James marathon bible reading last year and this year's marathon had finished on Holy Thursday.

So in I went for a look. Well sort of. The church was out of bounds for the moment but the security man told me they were filming Ripper Street, including in the vaults.



Wow. One minute King James, the next minute Jack the Ripper. Poor Lord Ardilaun and the Missus will be sorely in need of that 250th anniversary can of draught Guinness in the mortuary chapel.

Following an intensive piece of dectective work (Google to you) I can now bring you the background to this, the most innovative and exciting piece of religious fund raising I have seen in a long time. Hat off to the Reverend Jim. And Bram Stoker, eat your heart out.

Ripper Street is an extraordinary new drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the Rippers grisly killings. The action centres around the notorious H Division – the police precinct from hell – and the officers charged with impossible task of keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel.

Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper’s legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but changed the very fabric of their city.

The eight-part BBC series began filming in various locations around Dublin earlier this month, using various locations across the city to re-create London’s East End in 1889. It is expected to be screened sometime later in the year.
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