Pics: 11 shop fronts from a different Ireland
Many – but not quite all – of these stores and pubs have now disappeared.
Premier Cycles
The Gin Mill
Beshoff's
The Merchant
John Taylor Tailors
Fred's Oasis
Balfe's Antiques
EP Stacey
The Commodore
Martin-Hudson & Gibson
St Stephen's Green
THESE PHOTOS SHOW pubs and shops around Ireland in the decades leading up to the 1980s.
Many have since closed – and the streets around them show a time when our towns and cities looked quite different.
What links the businesses? Each of their signs was hand-painted by signwriter Kevin Freeney, who worked in and around Dublin for decades before his death in 1986.
Kevin’s son Paul Freeney now maintains a Flickr account dedicated to his father’s work, A Gentleman of Letters, where more examples of his signage can be seen. Paul writes:
We (Kevin’s family) do sometimes come across his work that we had not known about, but as time goes on and Dublin changes it happens less and less.
Paul now works as a photographer himself, specialising in capturing moments of street life in and around Dublin. His work can be seen on Flickr here.
For more information on Paul’s photography, visit paulfreeney.com.
In pics: Photographs of life in Dublin flats goon show… in a Dublin flat>
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Hey there, Fred’s Oasis is not from Dublin, but from a little village of Carne, in south east Wexford, and in fact that is my grandmother pictured in the shop, now an 82 year woman still going strong & Fred is my grandfather also 82 and still going strong. Fred’s Oasis is now replaced by a house, but its owners aren’t far away. :-)
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There’s a cool historic Dublin thread on boards.ie that I like to pop into sometimes.
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Two great names from old Sign Companies in the 80′s.
Sign On
The Signacologist.
When the owner was asked:
What’s that?
Do you know what a Gynaecologist is?
Yes.
Well you should see some the c…. , I have to deal with!
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Lovely pictures but as usual nearly all from Dublin- article says from around Ireland- everything revolves around Dublin :/
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Deeply deeply disappointed that the journal.ie would ruin a perfectly good photo series about Dublin with a few shots from around the country. Deeply disappointed.
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Sometimes I thinks Dublin should be It’s own Country…. no great images from outside Dublin…. and there are many… pity…
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Actually not a bad idea. We could split off and call ourselves “The United County Councils of Dublin” and leave the bitterness behind. The Daíl would become the central parliament, housing representatives from each of the federal county councils whilst each administrative area would be responsible for its own law enforcement, taxes etc. We would of course have to build a fence outlining the border, and post guards who have a strict quota as to how many non-dubs can cross in to prevent undermining our job market and preserve our unique Dublin culture.
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Is that the entrance to the Dandelion market on the last photo one can see what a huge loss to the city many happy memories of a young U 2 and the coolest cowboy boots in the world in the leather shop or was it just me that spent many a Saturday hanging and looking cool because you knew you could
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Beshoffs is still in Clontarf. It was modernised years ago but it’s still there. Or is it about the disappearance of old shop fronts? Where did these photos come from?
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The Williams and woods building still stands. It was used for record storage up to not long ago, but sure what’s happening with it now but at least some of the Windows have been opened up. There’s a big silver mint painted on the wall up at roof level, think you can see it from the multi storey.
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Ah right, Brendan, I didm’t realise that was part of the W&W complex, i was referring to this, the huge facade that used to stand opposite the pub in the photo above http://www.dublin.ie/forums/showthread.php?11611-Williams-and-Woods/page2
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Which shopping centre on pic 11? I think Stephan’s green shopping centre was built before 1981…..
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Opened in 1988 – “The Dandelion Market,, which closed in 1981, is commemorated with a plaque, while Sinnotts Bar on South King Street is the only part of the original site that remains. Work began on the St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre in 1985, with the whole project taking three years to complete. The centre officially opened its doors on 8 November 1988.”
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