Middle Row, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, 1990

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of Ireland on The Commons) — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:53:15 -0700

National Library of Ireland on The Commons posted a photo:

Taken by photographer, G.W.V. Whitcroft.

You can compare this view of Lurgan with its companion photo (taken approximately 100 years earlier) as part of the Lawrence Photographic Project 1990/1991, where one thousand photographs from the Lawrence Collection in the National Library of Ireland were replicated a hundred years later by a team of volunteer photographers, thereby creating a record of the changing face of the selected locations all over Ireland.

For further information on the Lawrence Photographic Project, read all about it on our NLI Blog.

Joefuz has been dying to identify some modern cars for ages, hence this amazing outpouring of vehicle knowledge:
"I can see 3 Austin Montegos, 4 Vauxhall Novas, an Astramax van, 2 Ford Escorts (one might be an XR3i), a Renault Traffic van, an RUC Tangi Landrover, a Ford Sierra, a Toyota Liteace, a Mitsubishi Colt, a C Class Mercedes, I think the nose of an Austin Mini Maestro, a Transit van, a Renault 5, a Renault 4 van, a Suzuki Swift, 2 Fiat Pandas and a Nissan Bluebird. The dark grey tail on the right foreground might be a Ford Cortina. The blue car behind the Transit van might be a Peugeot estate. The red car behind the Astramax van might be a Ford Sierra (face lift version, so newer than the one on the other side of the road. The blue car parked in the middle 3rd along might be a 4th Montego. The car being towed by the recovery truck looks to be an old mercedes. The green car in the foreground I think is a Triumph."

Date: Saturday, 22 September 1990 at 10:30 (weather conditions - cloudy)

NLI Ref.: LPP_14/24

Grafton Street

nobody@flickr.com (National Library of Ireland on The Commons) — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:21:09 -0700

National Library of Ireland on The Commons posted a photo:

Grafton Street in Dublin, long before pedestrianisation was even a twinkle in Dublin Corporation's eye. Check out the tags for the car registrations that are clear enough to read - the only one I'm unsure of is either ZD 6822 or 9822.

Niall McAuley very kindly rounded up the dates for ZC, ZD and IH registration plates:
IH 1 to IH 9999 (Dec 1903 - Jan 1952);
ZC 1 to ZC 9999 (Mar 1937 - Jan 1940);
ZD 1 to ZD 9999 (Jan 1940 - Jan 1947). And Niall gave us this Street View link.

Thanks to MKSeery for this contribution:
"RE date: The Ingersoll building is attributed in DIA to Robert George Hopcraft, who died in 1947.

Terry de Valera writes in 1986 Dublin Historical Record that Monument Café was one of the first café chains in Ireland (note added).

He also mentions other businesses on Grafton St in the early 1940s, from the Trinity end up: Mitchell's Café (opposite Wicklow St) - "haunt of groups of pugnacious middle-aged, very middle-class ladies", Millar & Beatty furniture shop, Knowles fruit shop, McConnell's fish merchants and poulterers, Monument Café, Roberts Café, Lambert Briens, and on the other side from the Green down to TCD: Noblett's sweet shop, and Kapp & Peterson."

Philip Ward has a very personal memory of Fannin's at no. 41 (next door to Keatinge's):
"No.41 is Fannin & Co, surgical and medical supplies and chemists at that location from the late 1800s to the mid sixties. My father worked there for many years. I remember visiting him as a young lad of 10 and looking at the Leeches for sale!"

More great information in from MKSeery on Keatinge's at no. 42:
"It looks like Keatinges were more than just plumbers and decorators, but scholars too! The shop appears in all the earlier Lawrence photos. A Mr Charles T Keatinge, with an address of Grafton St, was a Fellow of the Institute of British Decorators, and wrote a paper for JRSAI in 1900 entitled 'The Guild of Cutlers, Painter-Stainers and Stationers, Better Known as the Guild of St. Luke the Evangelist, Dublin'.
And one more little thing about Keatinges: an advert that appears (no date but "Saorstat" mentioned) states:
WE ARE CONTRACTORS for every kind of Building from the Foundations to the Final Coat of Paint We decorate homes in every county of Saorstat
Select Your Wall Papers and decide on your Scheme of Decoration in our Showrooms
42 GRAFTON STREET,DUBLIN
J. F. Keatinge & Sons, Ltd. Phone Dublin 224
Your smallest enquiry gets fullest attention "

Good old Thoms Street Directories also allowed MKSeery to confirm our date of Circa 1947 because he:
"had a look in Thom's for this part of Grafton St. Ingersoll (No. 40) is listed in 1947 but in 1948 No. 40 is Murphy (Jewellers) Ltd.

1947 listing for block below:
No. 43: Bolero Café and Dorothy Begley Confectioners
No. 42: JF Keatinge, contractors for building, plumbing and painting. Gregg School Ltd: Civil Service and Commercial Training School
No. 41: Fannin and Son Surgical Instrument Makers, medical booksellers and chemist. WE Scholl and Son, Manufacturers of Electromedical apparatus.
No. 40: Ingersoll Watch Co (in 1948 this was Murphy (Jewellers) Ltd.)
No. 39: Monument Café. Irish Telephone (New System) Co. Ltd.
No. 38: McConnell Ltd Fish Poultry Game Fruit and Provision Merchants.
No. 37: Monument Creamery. Margaret Gibson, dressmaker. The Parkside Press Ltd., Publishers.
No. 36: Levett and Frye Ltd, Grocers and Wine Merchants."

Date: Circa 1947

NLI Ref.: VAL 1678

Uploads from National Library of Ireland on The Commons, tagged pedestrians

Middle Row, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, 1990

Grafton Street