A new book offers a loving history of the characters and villages along the south Dublin coast, writes Tim O'Brien
Blackrock, Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey is the somewhat misleading title of a lovely new book on the history, and historical characters, of south Dublin's coastal "villages".
Lavishly illustrated by the artist Tom Roche, the subtitle, Paintings and Stories from Along the Coast, is probably more accurate, as Ken Finlay's text takes us through the origins of not just the three urban villages of the title, but all places in between as well.
For the historians among us the book is mainly concerned with the period from the fifth century, although most of the information concerns the period after the Norman arrivals in 1171.
But don't expect a dusty old tome. As Finlay writes in the acknowledgements, "for some reason Flann O'Brien plays a larger part than I had ever envisaged".
Alongside articles such as The Coming of the Railway and the histories of the villages themselves, the reader will find a trove of information, including an in-depth study of the older pubs in the locality.
Among those researched by Finlay are The Purty Kitchen, which was known as the Dunleary Inn in 1728, The Punch Bowl (1742) and the Queen's in Dalkey (opened as the Red Crowe in 1745).
"They Lived Here" concerns the famous and infamous who have graced the seaside retreats.
Samuel Beckett, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Eamon de Valera, Roger Casement and Count John McCormack are recalled, but the best bits are the snippets such as that on Jem Casey who may or may not have been a figment of Flann O'Brien's imagination, but whose immortal poetry included:
When things go wrong and will not come to right
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night
A pint of plain is your only man.
Other chapters include sections on Booterstown Marsh, the Circus Field, Monkstown Castle, and public sculpture. The range of historical subjects is broad; The Cottage Home for Little Children (1887) is still going in Dún Laoghaire, as is the town's Carnegie Library and, much to her own satisfaction no doubt, Vera Breslin's fishmonger's stall at the junction of lower George's Street and Convent Road.
There is always something new. Dalkey, a Norman town, though the Church of St Begnet was of course earlier, was once walled to defend against the marauding hoards of O'Byrnes and O'To-oles from Co Wicklow.
This is not, however, the reason that the top floor windows in the Queen's pub are false. They are false because of the window tax, a forerunner to our stealth taxes, which was popular in exchequer quarters more than 200 years ago.
All of these are charted not just by historical record and anecdote but in Roche's evocative watercolours. Finlay and Roche were brought together by the Co Down based Cottage Publications as part of its series on the history and cultural associations of villages and towns across the island. Earlier Dublin-focused publications included Dundrum, Stillorgan and Rathfarnham and Blanchardstown, Castleknock and the Park.
Finlay, who is better known for his work with local newspapers in Dublin over the past 20 or so years, is currently editor of the Southside People. "Tim Johnston approached me and asked me to recommend a good writer to help put this book together. I did that but he came back and said he wanted me instead."
Finlay is a serious historian and already maintains an award-winning website, detailing the social history of Dublin, where the text of many out-of-print books may be found. He has also written extensively in pamphlets on aspects of Dublin's history, although he says this is his first book.
Forty-two watercolours, from large canvasses to small details, were included by Roche. The view of the Town Hall showing the Pavilion Gardens was obviously completed before the Town Hall became the County Hall, or the gardens gave way to the Pavilion Centre.
But each painting is tremendously evocative, from the snow covered central DúLaoghaire to the feeling of warmth from an old stone wall in summer. Old Blackrock College boys will want to get their hands on the timeless image of rugby being played in front of the castle, while the summer's evening in Monkstown, without traffic, will induce nostalgia in the most cynical of us.
The bad news is that most of the paintings are already sold; as collectors' items they went within hours during the book launch. But they are still available as illustrations in the book which would make a delightful Christmas present for anyone connected with the coast or the "old borough".
Ken Finlay lives in Dún Laoghaire, e-mail: kfinlay@indigo.ie. Tom Roche also lives in Dún Laoghaire, e-mail: tomrochestudio@eircom.ie.
Blackrock, Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey, is available in local bookshops for about 25, or by post from Cottage Publications, 15 Ballyhay Road, Donaghadee, Co Down, BT21 0NG.