The Times We Lived In: the mystery of the man in the cap

At first glance it might be a John Hinde postcard from the olden days. That old favourite: tranquil scene from rural Ireland in which man with cap and/or Wellingtons stares into the middle distance, against a backdrop of some sort of spectacular landscape, quaint piece of architecture and/or mysterious/comical local feature.

In this case the local feature is this graceful little granite house with its eye-catching horseshoe-shaped doorway. If, like me, you’ve driven past it a million times without ever taking the time to appreciate it properly, you’re probably asking yourself: “Now where have I seen that house before?”

The answer is, in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. If you’re heading south, it’s is by the side of the road at the back of the village; the one which forms the third side of the triangle that is Enniskerry.

Built in 1855 by the Wingfield family, who owned the Powerscourt estate, with the blacksmith’s house alongside, it was the home of a fully operative forge until the late 1970s.

These days the building is privately owned, so if you’re going to have a look, please be polite. It’s also in much better nick nowadays than in our photograph, having been carefully restored, complete with a new horseshoe-shaped wooden door which, in itself, is a sight for sore eyes. (As, indeed, is Enniskerry, which nowadays, although still postcard-pretty, is neither tranquil nor – arguably – particularly rural.)

Having said all of that, our photo is still a mystery. We don’t know when, or why, it was taken.

Is it recording a significant moment in the history of the building, or was Eddie Kelly just experimenting with his own John Hinde moment? Who is the man in the cap? What is the meaning of life?

If you know, feel free to write in and enlighten us.

These and other Irish Times images can be purchased from: irishtimes.com/photosales