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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Kodak in Ireland

I came across this advertisement for Kodak in Ireland which dates from 1940. It mentions war time shortages and the fact that Kodak cameras were currently unavailable. The George Eastman House has an extensive collection of Kodak advertisements many of which, like the one above, depict fashionable young women. 

The ad also refers to Kodak House in Rathmines. This Art Deco building was designed by the architectural firm of Donnelly, Moore & Keatinge in 1930 and was used by the firm until 1982. William Sedgwick Keatinge was also responsible for later additions in 1949 and 1951. The building was recently renovated and the following atmospheric photograph demonstrates how well it has survived.

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Wedding Photograph, Howth Head, 3rd September, 1930

This young bride is photographed on Howth Head, County Dublin. I think it is a really glamorous image – very much of its time. I love the headdress and oversized bouquet. These coupled with the setting and textured paper upon which it is printed make for a very atmospheric portrait. She looks like she could float away!

The marriage featured in the society pages of The Irish Times in September 1930. The bride, Monica, was a judge’s daughter and according to the 1911 census she had 5 sisters. The household, in Fitzwilliam Place, had 6 servants including a butler and a French governess. She married another bastion of upper class Ireland – a young army officer from Cork who was the son of manufacturer.   

    

The Victoria and Albert museum have gathered an archive of wedding photographs in preparation of an exhibition on that theme. It is arranged by decades and I think you will agree that this Irish bride was definitely in tune with the style of day. 

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