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Thursday, June 26, 2025
Lost Property in Ringsend 1712
We wonder if this lost property was ever found? The London Tavern was later renamed the Old England Tavern and was located on Thorncastle Street where today you will find the Allcare Chemist.
Friday, June 20, 2025
The Historic Crossing the Irish Sea by Balloon from Ringsend
Birtles
near Macclesfield in Cheshire might not seem to have any great connection to
Ringsend but on Tuesday February 15th, 1910 one of the greatest aeronautical adventures
began on Barrow Street, international flight from Ringsend. John D. Dunville was the chairman of the Dunville Whiskey
distillers in Belfast. Dunville was born on October 20th, 1866, in Holywood,
Co. Down to Robert and Jeannie Dunville. The distillery was started by John
Dunville and William Napper but Dunville bought out Napper in 1825 and by 1837 they
were producing their famous Dunville VR.
Having
gained success initially as a whiskey blender, Dunville & Co. constructed
their own distillery, to be known as the Royal Irish Distilleries, on the edge
of Belfast in 1869. When built, the distillery occupied an impressive
four-storey red-brick building and was amongst the most modern in Ireland. With
production was distilled via the Coffey Still, at its peak the distillery
had a capacity of over 2.5 million gallons per annum, making it amongst the
largest in the country. The Coffey still was named after Aeneas Coffey who
invented the method and before leaving Ireland to go and revolutionise the
Scotch making industry, had his own distillery at the end of Barrow Street,
Ringsend. Much of the distillery's output was used in the company's whiskey
blends, Dunville’s VR and Dunville’s Three Crowns.
Although,
like other Irish distilleries, prohibition in the United States caused
Dunville to lose access to that market, Dunville ended the 1920s in good
financial health. However, when the last heir and chairman of Dunville, Robert
Lambart Dunville, died in 1931, the company began to flounder, and left to its
directors, in 1936 Dunville & Co. was liquidated.
John D. Dunville married Meath born Violet Lambart in 1892. In January 1910, the couple accompanied by Charles Pollock arrived at the Gas Company yard on Barrow Street with the St. Louis, a massive balloon. The balloon had originally crashed into the North Sea but it was rescued and purchased by balloonist John Dunville. It was repaired by Short and Company at their premises at Battersea London. Later to be known as Short Brothers and one of the most famous aeroplane manufacturers in Belfast was founded by Eustace and Oswald Short.
When 80,000 cubic feet of gas was being filled into the balloon it began to leak. The balloon was transferred back to Short’s in London for repair and arrived once more on Barrow Street on February 14th 1910. Eustace Short accompanied the repaired balloon to Ringsend. Two hours before the planned lift off Mr. W. F. Cotton, chief engineer of the Gas Co., and his assistant, Mr. Waterby began to fill the 85-foot-tall balloon with gas. The wind was so strong according to the newspapers that it took forty men to hold the ropes of the balloon tethering it to the ground. Originally the passengers in the basket on just the third completed flight across the Irish Sea, were Dunville, Charles Pollock, who raced balloons with Dunville, and Dunville’s wife Violet. However it was decided to ensure success, Violet would remain on the ground in Ringsend. On hand to watch the take-off was Sir Thomas Myles who would later be involved in the 1914 gun running by the Irish Volunteers from Germany.
At
10.08am, the balloon lifted off from Barrow Street, Ringsend. They men
travelled up to 10,000 feet in temperatures of -27 degrees and travelled at an
average speed of just over thirty miles per hour out over Dublin Bay and across
the Irish Sea. After four hours forty seven minutes and having flown over
Holyhead and the northern coast of Wales, the two men descended near
Macclesfield. Ringsend to Birtles was an amazing feat of aeronautics from the
then present of the Irish Aero Club.
Two
hours after landing Dunville was on his way to Holyhead to take the ferry back
to his wife with his now deflated balloon, while his companion made his way to London
by train. John Dunville died on June 10th 1929, Violet passed away in
1940.
Friday, May 2, 2025
The Annual Ringsend Bloomsday Festival -- The 2025 Programme of Events
Bloomsday
Ringsend 2025
Thursday,
12th June
Event 1
at The Ringsend Irishtown Community Centre 7.00pm
Opening
Event and Launch of
'The Bloomsday
Ringsend 2025 Festival'
Event 1.
'Writers Adventure' & Prize Giving
(Compositions
from local writers.)
Including
a Painting exhibition of
the homes
of James Joyce
Friday
13th June, 11.00am
Event 2.
Guided Tour
of St Matthews Church and Graveyard
with
Trevor James.
Saturday
14th June, 11.30am
Event 3
Lecture
in the Library on 'Ringsend 1904'
with
Eddie Bohan
Event 4,
12.30pm
Local
Walking Tour departing from
the Ringsend
Library
Event 5,
2.00pm
Live
Outdoor Music Event at Library Square with special guest George Murphy, Mick
the Busker & The Ringsend Pullovers
Sunday,
15th June, 9.30am
Event 6,
meet at Poolbeg Yacht Club.
Boat Trip
on the St Brigid with Dublin Bay Cruises
Monday,
16th June, 11 am
Event 7,
meet at St Patrick's Church, Ringsend.
Horsedrawn
Carriage led walk to the Joyce/Barnacle seat in Ringsend Park, stopping off at
Strasburg Terrace, Irishtown for a recital.
Event 8,
12.00pm
The
Annual Bloomsday Brunch and music at Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre.
All
events Free, no booking required
(except
for the Dublin Bay Cruise)
Friday, April 4, 2025
The Pigeon House Hospital written by Trevor James
The Pigeon House Hospital.
Trevor James
Nowadays, with a large sewage woks on one side and a waste incinerator on the
other, the Pigeon House doesn’t seem the ideal site for a hospital, but if you want an
isolated place to put people who have a deadly infectious disease and who are likely
to arrive by ship, then you can see the advantages.
Cholera was one of the feared infectious diseases in the 1800s. It first appeared in
the UK in the 1830s, probably brought from India by returning military and it swept
through Ireland in 1832. Another epidemic occurred in 1848/9 and a temporary
cholera hospital was established in Pearse Street (or Brunswick street as it was
then). In 1873 the fear of another outbreak of cholera led Dublin’s leading doctors to
recommend that anyone with symptoms of cholera arriving into the port should not
be brought to hospitals in the city but should be treated in a hospital close to the port.
A location on the south wall, about 500 metres before Pigeon House Fort was
recommended.
British Medical Journal 16 Aug 1873
This raised many objections both from the military authorities at Pigeon House Fort
and the residents of Ringsend and Irishtown, so, as an alternative, an eighteen bed
ship -the Prudence-was acquired by the South Dublin Union to be moored in Dublin
bay and act as an isolation facility for any cholera patients arriving at the port. The
cost of acquiring and fitting out the Prudence was £1700 and it was kept at anchor
off the North Wall 3 . However, by the end of the year the threat of cholera seemed to
have passed and the ship had never been used (except for housing a drunken sailor
on one occasion). By 1877 it was still unused although three caretakers were
employed to look after it . Acompany employed to inspect the ship in 1877 found
that it was filthy and had deteriorated significantly. There were proposals to sell it but
the inspectors put its value at only about £100 so it was considered a better option to
retain it, dismiss the caretakers, and keep a handyman on board to maintain it, just in
case of a new epidemic. The hospital ship remained in the port for the next 25 years,
apparently kept in good condition despite being used on only a few occasions and never
for a case of cholera. In fact, the threat of cholera had greatly diminished, and although
there had been outbreaks throughout Europe it had never reached Ireland since the 1850s.
In 1892 there were outbreaks of cholera in Liverpool and Glasgow and the port
authorities were on high alert but no cases were found here. However, there were
other highly infectious diseases that might be carried in on board ships. Outbreaks
of smallpox and scarlatina had demonstrated the need for an isolation hospital in
Dublin and a site on the Crumlin Road was recommended 6 but this was never acted
on.
In 1900, the Corporation was advised by Dr Flinn, the Local Government Board
Medical Inspector, that the hospital ship “although useful as a means of intercepting
a few seaborne cases of disease is totally unfit for an emergency of any magnitude
that might arise”. He went on to advise that, in view of the fact that cases of bubonic
plague had occurred in Glasgow, the Corporation should immediately equip the old
submarine mining station at the Pigeon House Fort as an isolation hospital. The
Corporation had purchased the Pigeon House Fort in 1897 and in September 1900,
they agreed to the proposal. However, this agreement was rescinded as the threat
of plague diminished and although alternative sites were proposed, all were objected
to and none was proceeded with.
There was a great deal of disagreement among the various interests (ie The Public
Health Committee, the Corporation, the Dublin Sanitary Association) as to the
suitability of the Pigeon House site but matters came to a head in December 1902
when a sailor was diagnosed with smallpox and the hospital ship refused to admit
him. There was also an outbreak of typhus at the time and none of the hospitals had
facilities to isolate him. Eventually he was isolated in the Hardwicke hospital but they
had to close a ward to do so. More cases occurred and this was the impetus that
was needed. The new Pigeon House isolation hospital opened on March 4 th 1903.
When the isolation hospital was opened the hospital ship became redundant and
was sold for scrap for £27.
Within days of its opening the new hospital was full and work was started on new
wards. A letter in the Irish Times from the President of the Royal College of
Surgeons, Sir Lambert Ormsby, describes it as an ideal hospital of its kind, both as
regards situation and equipment. By the 28 th March there were 43 cases being
treated and by the time the outbreak terminated in July 1903, 255 persons had been
treated for smallpox and 33 had died. After this, the hospital thoroughly disinfected
and kept ready in case of a new outbreak. But there were no further outbreaks
except for a short period in 1907 when there were fears of an epidemic of cerebro-
spinal meningitis. and the hospital lay more or less idle until about 1909
It remained virtually unused until about 1909 when it became an agent in the fight
against tuberculosis (TB) which was the big killer in Dublin in the early part of the 20th
century. At that time over 15% of all deaths in Ireland were from tuberculosis (or
consumption as it was also called). In 1907 Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Lord
Lieutenant, had begun a crusade against TB. She established the Women’s National
Health Association of Ireland with the aim of reducing infant mortality and eliminating
TB. In 1909, she persuaded Allan A. Ryan, the son of Thomas Fortune Ryan, one of
America’s richest men, to fund a hospital for the more advanced, though not
hopeless cases of TB. He guaranteed £1,000 annually for five years, so the WNHA
approached Dublin Corporation with a view to obtaining the Pigeon House Road
Hospital. Although at first dubious, the Corporation finally agreed to lease part of the
premises to the Association, at a nominal weekly rent of one shilling a week, but with
the proviso that, if there were a new outbreak of cholera or smallpox, the
tuberculosis patients would be immediately removed.
The new Allan A. Ryan Hospital for Consumption officially opened on 23 August
1910. It consisted of a two-storey red brick building, with accommodation for twenty-
five patients, set in two acres of ground. The patients were to be those who were not
too far advanced and had reasonable prospects of recovery. The male patients
occupied two wards on the ground floor, and the female patients were on the first
floor wards accessed by an external stairs. There was also accommodation for the
nursing staff. There was no effective treatment for TB at that time: the best that
could be done was to create a healthy environment – fresh air and nourishing food.
Since many poor families could not afford nourishing food, this in itself could be a life
saver The average stay of the patients in the hospital was thirteen weeks, and in that
time they achieved an average weight gain of 19lbs.
Allan A Ryan Hospital 1910
Over the next few years the hospital expanded but there remained a pressing need
for places. Legislation on the prevention of tuberculosis was enacted and Dublin
Corporation were required to make provision for treating TB so they agreed to take
over the hospital and use it for their own patients. The Corporation approached
several orders of nuns to request them to provide staff for the running of the hospital.
Having nuns administer hospitals was pretty standard practice at the time and it was
usually the cheaper option or as the Corporation noted it would ‘show a financial
economy in the cost of the nursing staff’. The Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de
Paul responded to the request and agreed to provide four nuns for the Pigeon House
Road Hospital including one sister superior, who would manager the hospital. The
nuns took up duty on 24 October 1918.
Although closed for a short time in 1920 because of lack of funds, the hospital,
renamed as St Catherine’s, continued operating until the mid 1950s. Larry Kelly in
his book The Pigeon House gives a personal account of life (and death) there. By
the 1950s better living conditions and effective treatments had dramatically reduced
the incidence of TB and made the Pigeon House Hospital redundant. It closed its
doors for the last time in August 1955.
Arrangements were made with Cork Street Hospital to provide medical, nursing and
ancillary personnel to staff the new facility.106 The provision was timely as a fresh
outbreak of smallpox occurred infecting sixty-five cases in the first quarter of
1903. The first eleven-cases of this fresh outbreak were treated in the Hardwicke
hospital.
Sources
Irish Independent 5 Sep 1892
Irish Times 5 Nov 1874
Freemans Journal 25 Jul 1874
Dublin Evening Mail 10 May 1877
Dublin Evening Mail 9 Sep 1877
Freeman’s Journal 12 Aug 1896
Freeman’s Journal 4 Sep 1900
Irish Times 7 Sep 1900 page 6
Irish Independent 9 Oct 1903
Irish Times 17 March 1903.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Ringsend's Rebel Priest, Father Flanagan
Patrick Flanagan was born
on April 7th 1883 in Dublin. A good student at school, he went onto
study at Clonliffe College to begin the process to join the priesthood. He
completed his studies at Maynooth University and in 1909 he was ordained. His
first appointment as a curate was to the south city suburb of Ringsend. As a passionate
believer in the Gaelic League and a supporter of the nationalist cause, he set
up Fianna Phadraig in Ringsend in 1911, just two years after his arrival in the
parish. According to Sean O’Shea’s Witness Statement at the Bureau of Military
History, he said that he was a member of Fianna Phadraig and that their uniform
was a grey shirt with an orange kerchief, blue breeches, grey puttees and a green
wide-brimmed hat. He added,
‘Fianna
Phadraig was a scout unit organized on similar lines to Fianna Eireann. The
unit was founded by Father Pat Flanagan, C.C., Ringsend. We were if anything
better trained from the military point of view than Fianna Eireann. We met the
latter iii a scouting exercise on Ticknock in the summer of 1915 and proved to
be the better unit on that occasion.’
The 1913 St. Patrick’s
Day parade organised by the Gaelic League and conducted in ‘flashes of sunshine
alternating with periods of snow’ included the participation of the Fianna Phadraig
along with the Fontenoy Hurling club also from Ringsend. In July, the
newspapers reported that at the ‘Aeridheacht Mor’ (Large Open Air Gathering)
held in Shelbourne Park,
‘An
interesting display of camp life given by Fianna Phadraig claimed much
attention, while the choice selections rendered by the Artane Band, Mr. H. Lowe
conducting, were thoroughly appreciated’
According to O’Shea
‘Fr.
Flanagan had some liaison with "D" Coy., 3rd Battalion, the local
Volunteer unit and the members of the Fianna were understood to be at the
Company's service for despatch work and the like.’
But the Reverend’s
involvement was more active. It was reported in the newspapers that on March 29th
1914, before the split, Father Flanagan presided at a meeting of the National
Volunteers. He would become a close confidant of many of those who would later
become involved in planning the 1916 Rising.
O’Shea added in his
witness statement,
‘without
ever raising his voice from the pulpit he succeeded in stamping out drunkenness
and loutishness from Ringsend. His chief weapon was the Fianna, a well-trained
body with its own pipe band. He had a definite military outlook. He took the
Fianna on winter's evenings through the history of the Boer War and showed us
that that war had been imposed on a peaceful people by a bullying Empire. He
told us how the Boers fought and how they could have won. He understood
guerrilla warfare and passed his knowledge on to us. We imbibed all this for
four or five years before the Rising. We were the first Fianna unit to carry
arms openly. This was the year before the Rising. He borrowed .22 rif1es from
all quarters so that we could march to the Tattoo we held in Shelbourne Park.
At that Tattoo we gave military display of attack and defence firing blank from
our rifles. We performed a display of tent-erecting and camp-fire singing.’
After the rebel surrender
in 1916, some fighting was still proceeding in the Ringsend district on a small
scale. Fr. Paddy Flanagan was asked by the military to try and stop it. But the
Reverend would get more than he bargained for according to Monsignor Curran.
"Father
Paddy Flanagan, Curate of Ringsend, was arrested yesterday and sent to Richmond
Barracks. Poor Father Mooney, P.P., was detained a prisoner, under armed guard
in his own house, from twelve noon until 6.30, and then only freed on the
promise not to leave the place for three days."
Father Flanagan became the
only Priest to be arrested and imprisoned in the aftermath of the Rising but was
released on Tuesday, 9th May, 1916. He provided a dreadful account of the
treatment of the prisoners in the Barracks under the British military
Patrick’s brother, John,
had also become a priest and was attached to the Pro-Cathedral when the Rising
began. According to Monsignor Curran,
‘Fr.
John Flanagan of Marlborough Street who went with Fr. Byrne [Later Archbishop
of Dublin] to Parnell Square, and there found that Eoin McNeill's
countermanding orders were being carried out.’
Father John would later
find himself at the heart of the action inside the GPO hearing confessions of
the rebels. According to the Monsignor
In 1918 Patrick Flanagan
was transferred to Aughrim Street Church and later made parish priest of
Booterstown in 1939. He was then involved in the building of a new church on
the Merrion Road, Church of our Lady Queen of Peace, opposite St Vincent’s
Hospital today.
In the building of the
church, he built a round tower, similar to the Glendalough tower of St. Kevin’s.
It was described at the time by future Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave as ‘Flanagan’s
Folly’. He died in 1956, his brother, by
then Parish priest in Fairview ad Mariano, predeceased him in 1935. Archbishop
McQuade was the chief celebrate of the funeral mass.
The Sign of the Highlander, Ringsend, A History
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Trevor James looks at the history of the churches in Ringsend and Irishtown through three centuries. In this article I want to briefly des...
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Allan Ryan For many Dubliners the location of The Allan Ryan Hospital would draw a blank but it was an Important addition to the nation'...
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Patrick Flanagan was born on April 7 th 1883 in Dublin. A good student at school, he went onto study at Clonliffe College to begin the pr...