Summer Stars runs from Tues 4 June to Sat 31 August. Get Reading! Now that school is over you can still spark your imagination, join in activities and take part in our exciting Summer Stars challenge.
Disease and Dirt: Public Health in Dublin, 1903-1917
Dublin was one of the most depressed cities in Europe at the turn of the century. Declining industry, overcrowding, unemployment, and poor housing created a cauldron of poverty for many Dubliners. The connection between poverty and disease had been formally recognised in the nineteenth century. These rarely seen images from Dublin Corporation’s Reports Upon The State Of Public Health In The City Of Dublin show some of the measures taken by Dublin’s civic authority to curb the spread of infectious diseases. We hope that it may be of interest to anyone researching the social history of Dublin in the early twentieth century.
This photo gallery tells the history of social housing in Inchicore which is a suburb of Dublin, 5km west of the city centre. It traces the history of the area from tenements and one of Dublin Corporation’s first social housing schemes to the conversion of Richmond Barracks to Keogh Square then St Michael’s Estate and beyond.
Dining in Dublin: 150 Years of Eating Out in Ireland’s Capital
What’s it like to eat in Dublin? As this image gallery shows, Dublin boasts a rich and varied food history that includes everything from haute cuisine to kosher pickles to a “Wan an’ Wan” by the Liffey. Some of the Dublin eateries in these pictures came in and out of existence within just a few years, making their stories harder to trace. Others evolved into cultural institutions, famous not only for their food but for their contribution to the vibrancy of Dublin life.
Through the Looking Glass: Tourism in Dublin, 1950 - 1990
These photographs tell a part of the story of tourism in Dublin, offering an insight into how the city has been seen from both the inside and out. The timeline created by these images allows for an interesting comparison between then and now.
This image gallery shows a selection from the photographs and slides of the amateur photographer, William Stafford. He took most of these pictures during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The collection contains a great variety of images, from the imposing form of Queen Victoria in the days after she was moved from her plinth outside Leinster House, to the derelict courts and alleys of the mid-20th century city. There are images here of Nelson’s Pillar just after the explosion of March 1966, the old Queen's Theatre, of flower sellers and fishmongers and street urchins. Many of the places he photographed, such as Hospital Lane in Islandbridge, have now disappeared or have changed beyond recognition. There are also images of the family business; the Stafford brothers started out importing coal and salt to their works on Ormond Quay, eventually concentrating on salt importation and packaging.The Stafford Collection material was retrieved by Jeremy Wales of the City Architects Division, and Charles Duggan, Heritage Officer, Dublin City Council, during clearance works to facilitate the development of the ‘Dublin House’ project at 29-30 Fishamble Street, the former home of William Stafford. Now held in Dublin City Library and Archive, it includes postcards, business and family papers and a large collection of religious ephemera. The siblings Angela and William appear to have been very religious, and one of their sisters, Cissie, became a Carmelite nun. One of the most interesting parts of the collection is the photographic element. On retrieval, the slides and prints had been left for years in unsuitable conditions, and were in very poor condition. Apart from a little work on the colour slides, we have not done any restoration work on the images as yet, so the viewer will get a real sense of the years that this material lay neglected in the dark and damp house in Fishamble Street.The main reason for publishing this gallery is to bring the images captured by William Stafford back into the light. We also hope that it will be seen by members of the extended Stafford family and that they will get back to us with more information on the fortunes of the family and especially on William, our photographer. Finally we are anxious to establish whether anyone has a claim to the material, and whether it can be made freely available to the people of Dublin, as we feel William Stafford would have liked.View the Stafford Image Gallery.
Monuments and statues are a significant feature of the cityscape of Dublin; some make an appearance for a short period of time, while others become more permanent fixtures. This collection of images represents some of those statues that have spent time in the capital city, as well as some that are soon to move. Certain monuments that no longer adorn the streets and parks of Dublin reflect the nation’s indefatigable struggle to regain independence, such as those that were notably connected to the British Monarchy, which unfortunately included the only three equestrian statues in Ireland.
This gallery is a tribute to an animal which has been a friend to Dubliners through the centuries. Whether as a working horse, a military high-stepper, a means of transport or simply a beloved companion, these images show the important role Dublin horses played in daily life throughout the last century, from those pulling the Lord Mayor’s Coach to those feeding from an old car in Labre Park.
Alive Alive O! Dublin's Markets and Street Sellers
Crying cockles and mussels! Alive Alive O! Cabbages on Moore Street, lilies on Grafton Street, Christmas decorations on Thomas Street. The photographs here tell the story of the changes to the markets during the late 20th and early 21st century - the demise of the Iveagh clothes market, the re-invention of the Smithfield Horse Fair and the huge changes undergone by the street traders in Moore Street during the redevelopment of the area from the 1970s onwards.
The Gloucester Diamond got its name from the diamond-shaped intersection at Gloucester Place and Sean Macdermott Street. Colloquially, ‘The Diamond’ refers not just to Gloucester Place, but the entire area surrounding it. It is recorded in Thomas Campbell’s map of 1811 which predates the first Ordnance Survey maps of the area (1829-41).The photographs in this gallery were taken between 1968 and 1987 and therefore depict the later redevelopments.
Cinema-going has always been extremely popular with Dubliners. It was the city's most famous son, James Joyce, who helped bring the exciting new art-form to Dublin when the Volta Picture Theatre opened on Mary Street in December 1909. Joyce was the Managing Director. This image gallery pays tribute to some of the city's most notable cinemas. Many of these have sadly closed as cinemagoers now frequent multiplexes in the suburbs. We hope these images bring back happy memories of afternoons and evenings spent bewitched by the silver screen.