Re: Re: college green/ o’connell street plaza and pedestrians

I’m getting great mileage out of this Charles W. Cushman Collection. These might as well go here, given this thread absorbs nearly all Dame Street-related matters.

1961 🙂

What a scene! And talk about safety in numbers! Not only do so many people cycle, but also look at the age spectrum. When was the last time you saw a 10 year old cycling in Dublin city centre? Or in any urban context for that matter?

Even if he is dressed like he’s 75.

Of course, what is really of interest is the heart-breaking loss of the scene’s backdrop. What a magnificent, strong streetscape; exuding authority, institutional confidence and civic grandeur.

A criminal loss. Little else compares in the city today.

Likewise, the understated elegance of decorative schemes. This Wide Streets Commission terrace appears to be newly cleaned and re-pointed, probably by the last of the old school craftsmen who died out over the subsequent two decades. A potent new coat of Victorian claret to the windows too.

Note the attractive sultry tones of the fabulous right-hand shopfront, now painted a grubby gloss cream, and the sophistication of the paintwork adorning the present-day Toni & Guy shopfront. An art we have well and truly lost.

Turning our attention to over the road and a little further west, to the mother of all photographic gems 🙂

The notoriously elusive demolished Wide Streets Commission terrace in full colour! 14 houses in total were swept away here as part of Dame Street’s road-widening scheme, butchering three streets in the process.

Again, it is breathtaking to note the prevalence of a fully intact array of traditional shopfronts well into the second half of the 20th century. The charcoal one to the right is a real beauty.

As for the eye-catcher of G. Roche’s…

The original 18th century sashes even survived to the upper floors – just with their glazing bars chopped out.

A time when cycling was so leisurely, one smoked one’s pipe while dawdling up a hill!