THIS SATURDAY DECEMBER 13TH 2025

 

When Ringsend Was Centre of the World 1961

 

In 1961, Ringsend found itself at the heart of Catholic pageantry when the Papal Legate of Pope John 23rd, Cardinal Gregorio Pietro Agagianian arrived in the capital as part of the Patrician Year celebrations.  The Pope despatched the Armenian born cleric to Ireland, arriving at Dublin airport to be greeted by the Taoiseach Sean Lemass and the Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid. 

The celebrations were to coincide with the 1,500^th anniversary of the death of St. Patricks and as the church in Ringsend was the only Catholic church at the time dedicated to the national saint in the city, it was appropriate that this major event take place here. His itinerary outside Dublin included a visit to the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Drogheda, and to Cork, where he suggested that Irish emigration has been a providential method of spreading the Catholic Faith through the English-speaking world. The Cardinal received an honorary degree from President Eamon de Valera in his capacity as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, then came a visit to the library of Sir Alfred Chester Beatty and celebrate mass in Croke Park but it was his visit to Ringsend that garnered much of the headlines.

He arrived at a suitably decorated Ringsend Park, in front of thousands of people, where a military guard of honour, drawn from the Irish naval service was inspected by the Cardinal. The was to bless the foundation stone for Our Lady’s Memorial to be built on the South Wall as a beacon for mariners entering and exiting the port. Thousands of pounds had been raised by the dockers and fishermen of the locality to pay for the 60ft memorial which would be illuminated at night as a beacon of hope and safety. 

But despite the best efforts of the local Raytown people and it’s newsworthy start, the planned site was withdrawn as the ESB decided to expand their Poolbeg facility, and a new search began. After numerous proposals and failed to materialise plans eventually ‘Realt na Mara’ designed by Wicklow man Cecil King and standing 60ft tall was erected in 1972 but not on the southside of the River Liffey but at Dollymount where it still stands today. It was unveiled on September 24th, 1972, by Archbishop McQuaid. 

                                    

                                                 

                                  

   

If you want to see some coverage of the visit to Ringsend watch this. 

https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/hail-glorious-saint-patrick/

The Unveiling of the James Plunkett Kelly Plaque, Bath Street Irishtown

 

(c) RDHS 2025

The Ringsend & Districts Historical Society were delighted to unveil a plaque at 20 Bath Street, Irishtown, the birthplace of author and trade union activist James Plunkett Kelly. The ‘Strumpet City’ author was born here in 1920 and this unique piece of local history was unveiled on Saturday November 1^st 2025.

 

The organising committee of the RDHS and Paul Brannock (facilitator) would like to thank the following people for their support with this project:

Dearbhla McCormick – The current owner of 20 Bath Street, who kindly provided permission to place the plaque on her home.

Valerie and the family of James who attended on the day

Robert Ballagh – Artist

Ruth Hegarty – Actor

Vincent McCabe – Actor

Angela Harding – Actor

Gerry O’Brien – Actor

(All of whom appeared in the 1980 RTE TV adaptation of Strumpet City)

Brian Murray – Actor sent his best wishes but was unable to attend.

The Merry Cobbler Pub and The Stafford Family for their sponsorship and hosting the after event.

The Staff of the Merry Cobbler

Joe Boland – Nephew of James

Gerry Burke – Fixing the Plaque

John J. Cooke & Sons – Woodworkers

Francis Harrison – Special Decorated Cakes

The Irish Labour History Society

News Four & Editor Louise Whelan

And to ALL those who attended on that very special day.

James Plunkett Kelly's granddaughter speaking at the unveiling

Thanks to Paul Brannock, Louise Whelan and Billy Ryan for the photos and video

BRAM STOKER IN RINGSEND

 

Plaque Unveiling Invitation

One of the many events organised by the Ringsend & Districts Historical Society for October.

 

The First Casualities of Emmet's Rebellion in Ringsend Bay

 We have long been aware of the importance of Irishtown in the history of the southeast area along the River Liffey and Dublin Bay, but it’s pivotal role in Irish history and the history of warfare and space exploration is probably less appreciated. In our next two posts we will explore that unique and important history. Firstly, we will look at how Irishtown was at the heart of the creation of Republicanism, how its salt water was a source of medicinal cures and secondly while Space X launches the heaviest rocket into the space, the first firing of a rocket anywhere in Europe took place on Irishtown strand. The goal of the Ringsend & Districts Historical Society is the preserve and protect this great history, to research and educate and to bring our proud history to a wider audience. One small step for man, one giant leap for Irishtown.

As we saw in this post, Robert Emmet and William  Johnstone were test firing rockets on Irishtown strand in advance of the planned rising. An interesting article appeared in the newspapers in April 1803 just three months before the outbreak. this may have been a coincidence or a portent of things to come. The report stated that 'guns were heard in the bay' which was often the sound of a vessel in distress around the mouth of the River Liffey and Dublin Bay. Nine men in a lifeboat put out to sea from Bullock Harbour nrar Dalkey 'to affect assistance to the stricken vessel'. The first lifeboat had been installed at Sandycove earlier that year.

But the vessel in 'distress' was more likely more rocket test firing that sounded like a loud gun being fired. The rescue crew was made up of a pilot and eight local fishermen. They rowed out into the bay in the direction of the Pigeon House and Ringsend.

The unfortunate outcome was that in the darkness and 'a tidal tempest' the lives of all nine men were lost. Perhaps these men could be described as the first faltalities of Emmet's 1803 rebellion. 

 

Robert Malone (1897-1936) a Ringsend hero.

 

Robert Malone, A Ringsend Hero (by Trevor James)

Robert Malone in his uniform

Robert Malone, a proud Ringsender, was a fireman and lost his life in one of the worst tragedies in the history of the Dublin Fire Brigade. Robert was the eldest son of Robert Malone and his wife, Catherine Dent.  He was born at 31 Pembroke Cottages and continued to live there with his parents through his childhood.    He had a younger brother Pat and two sisters, Annie and Mary Martha.  His father was a fisherman. Around about 1912 the family moved to another cottage at 17 Pigeon House Road.

Robert joined the Volunteers about ten days before the beginning of the Rising but had previously been a boy scout and national volunteer.  He served with Eamon with De Valera in Boland’s Mills.  He was interned in Wakefield prison and Frongoch after the Rising. He was released from Frongoch in December 1916 and immediately rejoined the 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade, “training and instructing recruits, making hand grenades etc” and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1918.  He resigned in 1920, claiming that work made it impossible for him to attend parades.  However, around this time he became a member of the confraternity of St Patrick’s church, Ringsend and remained involved in church affairs until his death and this may also have influenced his decision to leave.

In 1925 his brother Pat died when he fell from a fishing smack while cleaning fish on deck.  Although the other fishermen were almost within arm’s reach of him, he suddenly sank, and his body was never found.

 

Robert had been working as a scavenger but, with the support of his commandant, joined the Pembroke Fire Brigade with his friend Peter McArdle and remained with the brigade when Pembroke was amalgamated with Greater Dublin in 1930.

 

At the age of 30, Robert, or Bob as he was generally known, married Annie Larkin from Strand Street, Irishtown in 1928.  The following year they had a son, also called Robert.  Bob was attached to Tara Street station, and he lived there with his wife and child in the married quarters. Bob loved his work as a fireman but in 1933 he was seriously injured when he fell from a ladder at a fire in Huet Motors, on Grand Canal Street. 

 

In 1934, the government unveiled the Military Service Pensions Act to provide pensions to those who had fought in the Rising or in the war of independence.  Bob applied for this but heard nothing from them. (See the bottom of this post for copies of the application)

On the night of 5th October 1936, he was chatting to his friend and co-worker, Kit Mullen, when a call was received that there was a fire in Exide Batteries on 164 Pearse Street.  This was close by, and within two minutes fire engines were on the scene, to find flames leaping out of the front windows of the building.  By coincidence, Bob’s wife, Annie, was returning from visiting relatives in Sandymount and was passing through Pearse Street at the time of the fire. The engines had reached there and connected the hoses to the fire hydrants but there was no water pressure and only a trickle of water emerged, preventing the firemen from fighting the fire effectively.   A crowd of onlookers was gathering, and shouts went up that there were children inside.  Annie saw Bob and two other firemen, Peter McArdle and Tom Nugent, enter the building.  One minute later there was a huge explosion and Annie knew that she would never see her husband again. His friend, Kit Mullen, had been off duty but he had travelled to the fire on his bike.  When the explosion took place, the letter "B" from Exide Batteries struck him, and he always believed it was a sign from Bob. 

 

The water pressure wasn’t restored until after midnight by which time the fire had spread to adjoining buildings.  With the pressure restored, the fire was brought under control and the search for the firemen could commence, with firemen police and civilians digging through the smouldering rubble.   It wasn’t till ten o’clock the following morning that the charred bodies of all the missing men were found.  They could only be identified by their badges.  The remains were brought to Sir Patrick Dun’s for an autopsy. 

The whole city was in mourning, and the families were offered a public funeral which they accepted.  The remains were moved from Sir Patrick Dunn’s and Bob’s body was placed on a fire engine from Tara Street and twenty men that he had served with in Boland’s Mills formed the guard of honour.  The other coffins of Peter McArdle and Tom Nugent were also placed on fire engines, and all were brought to City Hall where they lay in state for two days, with four firemen keeping a constant guard of honour.  There was a continuous stream of people through City Hall. Bob’s coffin was draped with the tricolour and the emblem of the Confraternity of St Patrick’s Ringsend where he had been a member for 17 years. 

Two days later, after a funeral mass in St Andrew’s church, Westland Row the funeral procession made the three-mile journey to Glasnevin through streets lined ten deep with about 100,000 people. The funeral cortege was almost a mile long with the men’s families and representatives from the Government, Corporation, trade unions, businesses. The garda band headed the procession and hundreds of firemen in their bright red uniforms followed the engines and a Guinness ten-wheel lorry was needed to hold all the wreaths and flowers. The full procession took almost an hour to pass. At Glasnevin, the Last Post was sounded, a volley of shots was fired over Bob’s coffin, and the three firemen were buried side by side, in death as in life.

His friend, Kit Mullen, who had also served with Bob in Boland’s Mills, was one of those who fired the volley over the grave.  Afterwards he collected the spent cartridge shells and welded them to form a cross, with a fire-brigade badge taking the place of Christ. 

 

Annie Malone went to live at 23 Strand Street, Bayview, Irishtown and subsequently at 180 Stella Gardens.  The military pension Bob had applied for was posthumously granted but only amounted to £31/16s/9d.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha