Wine rooms identified as 32 Mary Street!

I got a lot of feedback from an earlier post in which I attempted to identify the location for a snapshot of a Dublin pub and street-scape. Come here to me! reposted the photograph and the responses were many and varied – some thought the image was taken in Parliament Street whilst others reckoned it was in Temple Bar. Upon closer inspection, the engraved window shows the surname Healy and after much thrawling through street directories the only public house I could locate that matched the numbers was J.J. Healy’s of 32 Mary Street.

This was confirmed by Jennifer from Finglas who sent me the image below showing the pub in a later incarnation as The Elbow Inn along with the card for Healys. The building which was on the corner of Mary Street and Liffey Street, was given a mock Tudor makeover in the 60s! It was demolished to make way for the current Marks and Spencer shop ca. 1978. 

According to Jennifer’s mother, the Hegarty family lived next door so it looks like the mystery is solved!

On another note, I am travelling to Cavan this week to give a talk about a group of photographers who were active in the area in the 1890s! This follows on from a article I wrote for the Breifne Historical Society. Going back to my roots!

 

 

 

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Private Wine Rooms over mystery Dublin pub?

This snapshot is crammed full of amazing details like the sign for ‘private wine rooms upstairs’;  the young fella peaking over the odd little car;  the banner advertising Player’s cigarettes and the shadowy sign in the window. Despite my loathing of Arthur’s Day I am still fond of the ‘Guinness is good for you’ sign.

This photograph has me totally puzzled though as I cannot locate a Dublin pub whose street number is 32 and which is also next door to a stationer’s/tobacconist’s. The name of the shop looks like Hegarty and in the original print I can faintly make out a surname ending in ‘lly’ on the etched pub sign. I have checked one or two Thom’s Street directories for the 1920s, 30s and 40s but to no avail.

Perhaps the photograph wasn’t taken in Dublin which would disappoint me though it really shouldn’t matter as the image is a great snippet of street life wherever it originates. Any suggestions welcome?

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