A Ringsend
Pub, a Family in Turmoil:
The
Troubled Story of The Kearns’ Public House
Behind the doors of a Ringsend pub lay a story of financial ruin,
marital conflict and a shocking act of violence that would make headlines
thousands of miles away. When Joseph and Mary Kearns arrived at 12 Bridge
Street at the turn of the twentieth century, few could have imagined the
extraordinary events that would unfold. From courtroom battles over unpaid
debts and a fight for control of a publican’s licence to an assault that
attracted international attention, the Kearns family’s turbulent history reveals
a darker chapter in the social life of old Dublin.
Ringsend
has been home to many publicans since its first tavern opened in the early
seventeenth century. One of its saddest and strangest stories concerns the
Kearns family, who arrived at 12 Bridge Street—now John Clarke’s—at the turn of
the twentieth century.
Joseph Kearns on New Street
Joseph Kearns, a farmer’s son from Lisclooney in County Offaly, then known as the King’s County, became a publican at 67 and 68 New Street after purchasing the pub from Mrs. Frazer in June 1894. The premises stood in a poor part of the city on the edge of the Liberties and even when applying for the transfer of the licence the court was told that the pub itself was in poor condition.
In
September 1895, Denis Byrne (28), Joseph Clithero (35) and Joseph Quinn (35)
were charged with stealing a copper barrel of whiskey, valued at 30 shillings,
from the pub’s cellar. A
month later, Kearns appeared before the court seeking £3 7s 6d from Michael
Hunt for drinks supplied over the counter. Hunt, a labourer earning £1 a week,
told the judge that he could not afford to pay at that time. On learning that
Kearns had repeatedly allowed Hunt to buy drinks on credit, or ‘on the slate’,
the judge said:
‘the publicans were
doing an infernal harm against the working classes.’ Adding ‘It was all a
tragedy as the working classes could get drink so freely from these publicans.’
The
court awarded £1—equivalent to one week’s wages—and told Hunt to stay out of
Kearns’s premises once the fine had been paid.
Marriage and Financial Difficulties
Financial
difficulties arose when Joseph’s brother and business partner, Patrick, decided
to emigrate to the United States and wanted his share of the business paid in
cash. On September 6th 1899, Joseph married Mary Evans at Star of
the Sea Church in Sandymount. Mary was the only daughter of the late Denis
Evans, a greengrocer at 27 Main Street, Blackrock. Joseph and Mary’s first son, Denis,
was born in July 1900. He was named after his two grandfathers, both of whom
were called Denis.
Towards
the end of that year, Mrs. Mary Davin, the owner of 67 New Street, demanded the
return of her house because Kearns had fallen behind with the rent. She was
subsequently granted a transfer of the licence from Kearns into her own name. In July 1901, the Belfast newspaper
the Irish News reported that Joseph had been declared bankrupt. The courts
disposed of his interest in the New Street pub.
Mary’s Purchase of 12 Bridge Street
The
pub at 12 Bridge Street was put up for sale in May 1900 by Nicholas Horan. By
September 1901, Mary Kearns had purchased the premises with her own money, most
likely money left to her by her late father. As she later told the courts, she
was not dependent on her bankrupt husband: she was a woman of means, with a
personal fortune of £700. When Joseph applied in October 1901 to have the
licence transferred into his name, the court refused because he was bankrupt
and had left several creditors unpaid on New Street.
The 1901 Irish census recorded the following household at 12 Bridge Street, Ringsend:
·
Joseph
Kearns, aged 28, a publican; Mary Kearns, aged 26; and their son, Denis.
·
Two
visitors, Francis and Thomas Smullen.
·
Two
servants, Mary Gleason and Alice Doyle.
Mary’s Application for a Licence
Almost
immediately after Joseph’s application was refused, newspaper advertisements
announced that Mary Kearns would apply for the licence. On Monday, December 30th
1901, she appeared in court with her solicitor, Gerard Byrne. Because the
previous licence had lapsed, she sought a new seven-day licence rather than a
transfer. The court reserved judgement and did not grant her application until
April 1902.
The Assault and Joseph’s Imprisonment
Before
Mary received the licence, an incident at Bridge Street drew newspaper coverage
in Dublin, Belfast and London, and as far away as Denver, Colorado. A report
published in The Denver Courier on February 15th 1902 stated:
‘On Tuesday morning at Ringsend,
County Dublin, a man named Joseph Kearns, publican and provision dealer
attempted to strike his wife with a large bacon knife while she was dressing
herself to attend a funeral. She succeeded in avoiding the attack and got out
of her room, he followed her with the knife. The police were called in, and the
knife was taken from Kearns. He was brought to Irishtown station and there
charged by his wife as being a dangerous lunatic.’
The
Dublin Metropolitan Police were based at the barracks in Irishtown. The charge
of ‘dangerous lunatic’ usually referred to violence associated with excessive
drinking. The incident is dated 21 January 1901 in this account. Joseph was
initially charged with attempted murder, but the charge was reduced to common
assault when he appeared before the Southern Divisional Police Court. He was
found guilty of assaulting Mary and sentenced to one calendar month in prison.
Joseph
served his sentence in Kilmainham Jail. The prison record described him as 29
years old and 5 ft 10 in tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fair
complexion. It gave his place of birth as Belmont, County Offaly, a small
village just south of Ferbane.
The Sale of the Bridge Street Properties
Although
Mary had secured the licence and Joseph was no longer on the premises, she had less
experience of running a pub than her husband. On August 12th 1902,
an advertisement in the Freemans Journal announced that auctioneer Andrew J.
Keogh would sell her interest in Bridge Street on the ‘instructions of Mary
Kearns’. The auction included both 12 and 14 Bridge Street. No. 14 was sold to
the Nelson family, while the pub at No. 12 went to Peter North, whose brother
Morgan had been running premises across the road on Fitzwilliam Street. The Kearns
account with Guinness was closed in June 1903 with arrears due but according to
the finance officer at the brewery there was little chance of collecting the
amount owed.
Ten
years later at the next census Mary and Denis were living with widowed Hannah Mearns
at 8 Bath Street[1].
Despite the obvious issues with the marriage in 1901 Eliza was born and two
years later Margaret but Joseph is not mentioned in the census.
Sources:
Rebecca
Simpson
The
Irish Newspaper Archives
The
British Newspaper Archives
The
US Library of Congress
Licensed
Vintners Association
Guinness
Archives
Jameson
Archives
WITH
THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTER OF THIS BLOG POST
RAY
McGIVEN, CHICAGO, USA, A FORMER RESIDENT OF THE PARISH OF RINGSEND
[1]
Her husband Daniel died in January 1902, Hannah died in March 1914
