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Thursday, June 26, 2025

The Sign of the Highlander, Ringsend, A History

While in the heart of Ringsend today there are just three publichouses, The Oarsman, John Clarke's and the Yacht but in the 18th century, 300 years ago one pub, The Sign of the Highlander had a unique history. It was located at the top of Thorncastle Street at the foot of the bridge where today St. Patrick's Church is located today. The Ringsend Temperance movement had a dramtic effect on the pubs in the area and the Highlander never reopened, instead the houses lay in ruins and were eventually leased to the Catholic Chutch for their house of worship. 




 

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.

Mrs Dunville in the basket of their balloon

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 1916 Easter Rising & Ringsend. the Unveiling of the Seamus Grace Archives


Book your space on the FREE Walking Tour at


1916easterrisingcoachtour@gmail.com


or scan the QR Code


 

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

While in the heart of Ringsend today there are just three publichouses, The Oarsman, John Clarke's and the Yacht but in the 18th century...