Richmond Street Sth. - old and new

[Auld Decency]

Do you have a photo of original block available ? or further down the street

towards South Richmond Street ? I would just love to see it if you have one.

Don't think I have any old photos of Lennox St myself. I'll ask my friends around the area if they have any.

[dinny]

It's still exactly the same Camden ...never changed , walked down there last Sunday

[camden]

I think the bottom of the street has changed since Lamberts building was demolished.

I'm sure that was the name of the Vet on the corner of Lennox Street and South Richmond Street.

[Auld Decency]

Yes, Lambert the vet came from an old well-off family I believe. From what I have heard, Raymond Kearns, then owner of Portobello College, bought that corner and adjoining land belonging to McCambridge back in the 1970s. He built the office block on the corner using special regulation for educational institutions. When he decided to demolish it, the grounds he gave were that it was not suitable for an educational facility. It was demolished in 2006.

This is what he planned to build in its place (the corner is still empty):

[Auld Decency]

That corner today:

[Auld Decency]

This used to be Bambricks. It is frequented now by young student types. I was in it last year and they had no guinness so I did not stay to long. There is an old bus out the back

I had to take some photos there two years ago and ordered two coffees with sugar - they had no spoons in the pub for the sugar! I believe the pub is owned by Raymond Kearns, who bought up a lot of property in the area with a view to massive redevelopment, but who has now scarpered and left the area devastated.

[jeangenie]

I worked on a few jobs for a builder who did a lot of the work for Kearns. I worked on the building on the corner and could not believe it when I seen it was demolished as it was only a few years old. He built a gym at the back of Bambricks and I heard rumours that he was looking to buy Bambricks but they would not sell. That was at that time I heard this but they where probably made an offer they could not refuse

[Auld Decency]

This terrace, stretching from the (now AIB) bank to the present empty corner, was built around the early 1830s. I presume the building on the left was Lambert the vet's? The photo dates from the 1950s.

[camden]

Thanks for that great photo.Not sure if that was the entrance to Lambert's or into McCambridge's.From my memory the entrance was on the corner of Lennox St

and South Richmond St.There was a big gate leading into a yard with offices at the side.However it was great to see that lovely photo.What a fine day when

that photo was taken.The weather was just like I remember all those long sunny days way back then.Don't remember too much rain.Memory's a strange thing.

[Capt Patch]

This started out as a hotel at the harbour which opened in 1807. In 1858 it was taken over by a Catholic order of nuns, who used it as an asylum (St. Mary's) for blind girls. A few years later they successfully appealed to the Guardians of the South Dublin Union for some finance (it cost £10 to keep a girl for a year), though the Irish Times in an editorial frowned upon this proselytising by "Romanists", while they lauded the efforts of the Protestant-run "Home for Orphans" at 7 South Richmond Street (which advertised frequently for "fresh souls to save" in the same newspaper).

Ten years later the Asylum was sold to a Mr. Isaac Cole, who renovated it and returned it to its original function as a hotel, to accommodate 100 persons. It was popular among officers visiting the nearby Portobello Barracks (who would occasionally pop across South Richmond Street to the Grand Canal Tavern for a drink) and claimed it was the nearest hotel to the RDS grounds. A troupe of entertainers on tour were staying there when the 1916 Rising broke out, and Davies pub across the road by occupied by the rebels. They couldn't get a wink of sleep that night due to the excitement. Later the building became a nursing home.

This must be one of the first pictures of the place:

My Grannie died there back in 1958 ! Now I pass it almost daily on my way to the Military Archives.

[Auld Decency]

What a fine day when that photo was taken.The weather was just like I remember all those long sunny days way back then.Don't remember too much rain.Memory's a strange thing.

Sunny days: That's the first thing that came into my mind when I saw the photo. Most of the photos I have of that period and area show bright sun-lit scenes. Of course, it's possible that the photographers took advantage of the good weather to get good shots - I know I do! When we were kids we used to go "camping" on St. Patrick's Day in the Pine Forest. It always rained, the fire would never catch and we got soaked! So my memories of Paddy's day is of bucketin' out of the heavens (or lashin' out of the buckets, as I misinterpreted it).

[Auld Decency]

Not sure of the date of this - late 1980s?

[Auld Decency]

That end of the street now.

[camden]

The South Richmond Street I remember had on one side Burke-Morans The Florists,Caden's Grocery Shop,Joe Mirrelsons Betting Shop and a Ladies Hair Salon.

Can't recall what the other shops were on that side.The other side had the back door to The Band Box.One end of the street had The Harcourt Bakery and the

other end had if I remember correctly The Harolds Cross Laundry.Don't suppose you've got any photos from that time which would have been The Fifties/Sixties.

The only shop I did'nt mention was Maurice for Bargains which opened during the Sixties.I knew Maurice Cully quite well.Sadly he died some years ago,

[dinny]

What about Fitzpatricks shop & Murphys & Christy Birds & Paddy Fays