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.
‘We got the whiff of ray and chips and Mary softly sighed, Arah John come on for ‘one and one’, Down by the Liffeyside’. Like many major cities, Dublin has a strong association with food. From Molly Malone's 'cockles and mussels' to coddle - surely Dublin's signature dish - to the perennial Friday treat of 'one and one' (or fish and chips). This gallery celebrates some of the city's eatin' houses. We hope the chippers, cafes, and restaurants included here will bring back some happy memories.
The images show familiar Dublin scenes from within our collective living memory with a present day update. It is hoped that these images will resonate with people and trigger memories and conversations among the Diaspora prompting them to return to experience the new re-vitalised Dublin of the twenty-first century.
Eyewitness 1916: Images From 'Dublin After The Six Days' Insurrection'
This image gallery is composed of images taken from Dublin After The Six Days’ Insurrection (Dublin: Mecredy, Percy & Co., Ltd, 1916). The photos were taken by T.W. Murphy (also known as “The O’Tatur”), the sub-editor of The Motor News. The images are reproduced by kind permission of the estate of T.W. Murphy.
As Irish athletes prepare for 'the Games of the XXX Olympiad' this summer, we celebrate those Irish men and women who dared to go faster, aim higher, and be stronger in representing Ireland at the Olympic Games. These rare images from the Dublin City Council Photographic Collection depict our athletes as they departed our shores in expectation and, for an exalted few, their return in triumph.
Travellers: Images of Labre Park, Ballyfermot, 1968 and 1969
Labre Park was the first site built specifically for Travellers by a Local Authority in Ireland. It was opened in September 1967 at a cost of £50,000 and consisted of 39 concrete 'tigíns' in a row off Kylemore Road. Each 'tigín' was composed of a living room with a stove, a lavatory, and a place to wash. Residents of Labre Park slept in their caravans which were parked beside or behind each 'tigín'. Rents at Labre Park ranged from ten to thirty shillings per week.
James Joyce's Dubliners (1914) presents a raw and uncompromising portrait of his native city in a book he described as 'my nicely polished looking glass'.These images from the Dublin City Council Photographic Collection show Dublin as it was over fifty years later. They illustrate how the city had changed and yet, in some respects, stayed the same.
Dublin is a city of churches, chapels, and meeting houses. This image gallery depicts some of them. Some remain, some have changed use, and some have vanished but all live on in our collective memory.
The Civil War In Dublin: Images from Irish Life (July 1922)
On 28 June 1922 the forces of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State, led by Michael Collins, attacked the Anti-Treaty garrison at the Four Courts. This action is generally believed to mark the beginning of the Irish Civil War. The images in this gallery are taken from a special supplement to the Irish Life newspaper that was published on 14 July 1922 entitled 'Ireland's Tragic Week'. Each photograph was accompanied by a short text.
'Aisy, aisy, mind the chisler’. Brendan Behan, The Confirmation Suit (1953). This gallery consists of images of children going about their business in Dublin from the second half of the twentieth century up to the present day.
'The Jacks Are Back' image gallery celebrates the greatest sports team this city has produced. Up da Dubs! These images were taken from the Dublin City Council Photographic Collection and The Reading Room's extensive collection of GAA match programmes. The images taken from contemporary programmes featured in this gallery are copyright of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael/Gaelic Athletic Association.