Welcome to Wexford - a site to supplement my books and share research materials
Do you prefer the old or new quay front?
The Quays By Nicky Rossiter
The North Railway Station (O'Hanrahan Station) was opened on August 12, 1874. Originally the trains only came as far as Carcur. The station itself has been the scene of numerous historic visits to Wexford. Countess Markievic, Michael Collins, Bishop Comiskey and John F. Kennedy have addressed the citizens or arrived here. In the early years of the Opera Festival it was the venue for the Guinness Clock a mechanical wonder. Today hordes of train travelling opera lovers disembark here – it used to be to the music of the Holy Family Confraternity Band. It was the starting point for trips to Rosslare Strand in summer and the emigrant ships at other times. At one time it cost a penny to get onto the platform, so huge were the crowds. Who remembers the machine (red I think) where you could get names punched out on metal strips?
From here we proceed to Wexford Bridge via Wellington Place also known as O'Rahilly Place. This is an area changed beyond recognition with the businesses opened on the sites.
The present bridge was opened to traffic in 1959, but still retains the descriptive "new" when referred to by the local people. It was built to replace the bridge situated in Carcur at Wexford Boat Club that had fallen into a 'perilous state' due to increased traffic and bomb damage during the civil war. The present 'new' bridge is situated near the position of an earlier structure, which crossed the River Slaney, built in 1794. It was made of American oak and was 1554 feet long with twenty-three oak supports. Among the list of people who subscribed to the building of this bridge were names such as: Ely, Grogan, Clifford, Archer, Monck and Redmond, these names were later used to denote streets in the town. Bagenal Harvey, Devereux,Colclough,Taylor, Sparrow, Hay and Lee who were major figures in forming the history of the town, also subscribed. Some of the subscribers lost their lives on the wooden bridge in 1798, when it was used as a place of execution for prisoners of both sides in the conflict.
A portion of the bridge collapsed in October 1827, but as it was a toll bridge and revenue was being lost, repairs were carried out quickly. Within a few years the traffic flow increased so much that a new bridge was needed. It was built at Carcur in 1856 and the oak bridge here was closed to public by means of ditches dug at both approaches. In the summer of 1866 the bridge was demolished.
A courthouse was built opposite the bridge in 1805 replacing one at the Bullring. It was destroyed by three explosions and a fire at 2.00 a.m. on June 18, 1921, during the War of Independence. A portion of the building at the rear was left intact and was later used as a Scout Hall for the 2nd WexfordC.B.S.I. This group vacated the hall for modernised premises at Clifford Street in 1962. It was proposed to build a dance hall on the courthouse site in 1961, but the plan was abandoned. A Service Station later occupied the site and during its construction, some of the piles used for supporting the courthouse were unearthed. They are stated to have been in excellent condition over a century and a half later. This area is now undergoing more development since Dublin Providers moved last year.
The road sections of the quays ahead were in the main built between 1792 and 1826. Prior to that time most ships moored at private wharves jutting at right angles to the present Main Street. In the words of J.G. Kohl a German traveller of 1842 the quays of Wexford were beautiful and the port had more home-registered ships than any other comparable port in the country. In fact schooners often lay three deep along the quays in the early 1800s. At the same period the quays were described as being 60 feet wide and plans were in hand to have them lighted by gas.
The quays of Wexford as seen to-day without the new main drainage addition are said to be, on average, 150 yards further seaward than the original coastline of the region. A great wooden portion was constructed in the early 1800s and removed a little over a century later. This pile wharf, called the 'Woodenworks' facilitated transfer of cargo between railway wagons and boats. It was decided to build this pile wharf at a cost of £20,000 when it was found that the purchase of land to bring the railway around Wexford town would mean an expenditure of £33,000. The Woodenworks were a popular promenade for locals and tourists and are sadly missed but the new award winning quayfront is proving very popular, especially with dog owners.
The corner of Charlotte Street retains a sense of the past with the houses on either corner appearing to be remnants of the original quay buildings. The Centenary Stores is another of the pieces of our quay heritage to be retained with the quayfront portions incorporating the former offices of the late Kevin Morris, former mayor and well-known auctioneer.
Another entertainment complex, which is incorporating old buildings, is Mooney’s. Incidentally this has taken in the premises of the ships chandlery business of Hugh Maguire. Over the entrance to a car park you can see the legend of O’Connor’s Steam Bakery. The present E.S.B. depot was the location of Harry Wilson coal importers head office and depot. The businesses of O’Donohoe Travel and Kehoe’s beautifully retain the facades of earlier buildings.
Moving south we encounter the Bank of Ireland a building that recalls the historic designs of the 1970s. John Keane’s building may not have classic beauty but it holds on to the history of a practical design. Mick Berry’s Wren’s Nest gives us an olde worlde pub feeling in the bar section facing on to the quay. You might even imagine seeing the stevedores getting paid at the bar where the agent expected and usually got a drink out of those wages.
The L&N carpark is a wide-open space where once a number of buildings stood. Remember McCormack & Hegarty’s or Boggan’s Garage.
Custom House Quay is named after the Custom House that stood beside the present Credit Union building. The Wexford Credit Union was previously the Provincial Bank. Custom House Quay was called Wigram Quay in 1840, after the Wygram family.
Take note of the roof of the building housing Corish Auctioneers here.
The imposing building facing on to the Crescent was once the Bank of Ireland. It previously housed the Redmond Bank It now houses Asple’s accountancy firm and adjoins the bar of the same name built in the yards of the old era.
Still called Dunne’s car park is a parking area and development of shops and apartments – Donovan’s Wharf. Just over a century ago malt stores and timber yards covered it. There were 38 malt stores in the Wexford of 1831.
The Crescent is a semi-circular quay and is all that remains of the so-called Deep Pool of ancient Wexford. Like most of the quays it was built at the end of the 1700s and is said to have been at least ten feet above low water mark. The bottom of Crescent is said to be of cobbled stones. Over the years the shifting sands of the harbour have caused the silting of the Crescent. As recently as eighty years ago a schooner could berth within the Crescent. The last
ship to do so was the "Maria Reid" the remains of which can still be seen at the rear of the C.I.E. goods depot. The original Deep Pool before the present day retaining wall may have been even wider and deeper, as the built-up quays are estimated to be one hundred and fifty
yards more seaward than the old coastline.
With the extension of the railway in the 1880s, the character of the Crescent altered dramatically. The bridge carrying the railway track had a section in the centre that by a series of counter weights could be raised and swung aside. This enabled vessels with fixed masts to enter this semi-circular "Safe". The remains of some of the mechanisms were still visible near the water's edge until recent times.
A proposition at a Corporation meeting in 1945 and again in 1949 was that the Crescent be
converted to a swimming pool, drained each night and then refilled by the incoming tide, but its feasibility was very doubtful. One of Wexford's last forge-cum-blacksmith establishments was located in a white washed building at the Crescent. Local people may recall seeing it in operation within the past forty years. If memory is not gone completely, it later housed a second-hand book store operated by a well known film buff.
In 1651 a customhouse was built at the Crescent, situated on the seafront then. In later years the large building housing the Tourist Office was built in front of it to house the offices of the Harbour Commissioners who were a powerful force in the busy port town. The Tourist Information Office is part of the old Chamber of Commerce building. The windowsills of this building in Henrietta Street are worthy of closer scrutiny. The curious contours are not part of the original design. These were traditionally used by sailors to sharpen their knives and over the years this practise carved the sills to their present shape. At the turn of the century the Crescent perimeter abounded with sawmills and timber yards belonging to the Stafford family. Where the "Crescent Mall" is situated today was Stafford’s Sawmill into the 1970s. It had a less salubrious title for one weekend in the early 1970s as The Hippy Hotel.
The bronze Statue of Commodore John Barry dominates the Crescent. It was a gift to the people of Wexford from the American people. Barry who was born at Ballysampson, ten miles south of the town is hailed as the "Father of the United States Navy". The statue was unveiled on September 1956 by President,SeanT.O'Kelly, having been transported via Rosslare Harbour on board the U.S. destroyer 'Charles S. Perry'. Wreath laying ceremonies are held here annually at which American dignitaries honour John Barry. In conjunction with this Wexford mariners killed during two World Wars are remembered.
The laneway immediately behind the Barry Memorial has a variety of names: Morans Lane, Harpurs Lane and Hays Lane. Ask for any of these and you will probably be rewarded with a blank stare! Tell them you want Cinema Lane and recognition will dawn. This phenomenon is quite common in the town where colloquial names often supersede official titles.
At the corner is one of Wexford's old Custom and Excise houses. It is now an art gallery and office complex. The building was topped with a 'belvedere', this provided a wide view of all shipping movements to the Custom and Excise personnel. Next to this building is a row of houses, their slated fronts together with their shuttered window's give a feel of earlier times in this seaport town.
The next section of the Quay is officially Paul Quay but has been called Stafford's Quay after the family who owned numerous businesses in Wexford at the turn of this century. It was in this vicinity that the company's ships had their cargoes of coal, timber and goods of all description unloaded for it’s many enterprises.
Stafford’s were the last major sailing ship owners in Wexford and had sail-making lofts on this quay. The Stafford family bought their first steamships in 1919, named SS 'Elsie Annie' after a daughter, and the SS 'J.F.V.' (James, Francis, Victor) after their sons. By the outbreak of war in 1939, they operated the most modern fleet in Ireland, under the title of the Wexford Steamship Co.
Howard Rowe and Sons had a flourmill here in the late 1800s.
The shifting sand bar of Wexford Harbour caused the closure of the port to freight in the 1950s and much of Stafford's shipping business moved to New Ross.
Beside Stafford's premises, Pierces Foundry had a store for machinery awaiting shipment. In their premises was a social club for their workers and it was from here that a Working Man's Tontine Society was formed. Mr. Pierce brought the idea back from the company's Paris office. In an era of poverty and hardship many people worried about not having the money to provide for a Christian funeral. The Tontine Society provided the solution; a sum of money was collected weekly from the members and repaid at Christmas. When a member died all others contributed a fixed sum towards the funeral expenses. Pierce's idea of the tontine society spread throughout Wexford within a few years. Many locals will recall the queues outside the houses in their area on Saturday nights and after 10.00 Mass on Sundays, as people paid the 'Society' money.
At Paul Quay a rise in the ground indicates what appears to be a bridge. This marks the entry point of the Bishopswater River into the harbour.
The modern Pierce Court is in the site of some beautiful old buildings now only existing in photographs. It was here that the Sisters of Mercy were first housed in the town. It later became a technical school, and then a hat factory. It was perhaps best known as the 'Penny Dinners' (a forerunner of meals-on-wheels), where a good meal was provided at whatever cost the recipient could afford. Members of the St. John of God Sisters provided this service.
God be with the days – 1610 – when the quays had the fabulous names of Pale Quay, Hays Quay, Ffrenche’s Quay, Turnor’s Quay, Morne’s (Moran’s) Quay, Bollane’s (Bollan’s) Quay, Staples Quay and Hassanes Quay. Now those conjure up a busy port and most refer to the merchants who owned them except for Pale which referred to the fort and Staples which meant that staple items like corn, coal etc were unloaded and loaded there.
Those are our quays that with a little investigation provide the keys to our heritage.
The North Railway Station (O'Hanrahan Station) was opened on August 12, 1874. Originally the trains only came as far as Carcur. The station itself has been the scene of numerous historic visits to Wexford. Countess Markievic, Michael Collins, Bishop Comiskey and John F. Kennedy have addressed the citizens or arrived here. In the early years of the Opera Festival it was the venue for the Guinness Clock a mechanical wonder. Today hordes of train travelling opera lovers disembark here – it used to be to the music of the Holy Family Confraternity Band. It was the starting point for trips to Rosslare Strand in summer and the emigrant ships at other times. At one time it cost a penny to get onto the platform, so huge were the crowds. Who remembers the machine (red I think) where you could get names punched out on metal strips?
From here we proceed to Wexford Bridge via Wellington Place also known as O'Rahilly Place. This is an area changed beyond recognition with the businesses opened on the sites.
The present bridge was opened to traffic in 1959, but still retains the descriptive "new" when referred to by the local people. It was built to replace the bridge situated in Carcur at Wexford Boat Club that had fallen into a 'perilous state' due to increased traffic and bomb damage during the civil war. The present 'new' bridge is situated near the position of an earlier structure, which crossed the River Slaney, built in 1794. It was made of American oak and was 1554 feet long with twenty-three oak supports. Among the list of people who subscribed to the building of this bridge were names such as: Ely, Grogan, Clifford, Archer, Monck and Redmond, these names were later used to denote streets in the town. Bagenal Harvey, Devereux,Colclough,Taylor, Sparrow, Hay and Lee who were major figures in forming the history of the town, also subscribed. Some of the subscribers lost their lives on the wooden bridge in 1798, when it was used as a place of execution for prisoners of both sides in the conflict.
A portion of the bridge collapsed in October 1827, but as it was a toll bridge and revenue was being lost, repairs were carried out quickly. Within a few years the traffic flow increased so much that a new bridge was needed. It was built at Carcur in 1856 and the oak bridge here was closed to public by means of ditches dug at both approaches. In the summer of 1866 the bridge was demolished.
A courthouse was built opposite the bridge in 1805 replacing one at the Bullring. It was destroyed by three explosions and a fire at 2.00 a.m. on June 18, 1921, during the War of Independence. A portion of the building at the rear was left intact and was later used as a Scout Hall for the 2nd WexfordC.B.S.I. This group vacated the hall for modernised premises at Clifford Street in 1962. It was proposed to build a dance hall on the courthouse site in 1961, but the plan was abandoned. A Service Station later occupied the site and during its construction, some of the piles used for supporting the courthouse were unearthed. They are stated to have been in excellent condition over a century and a half later. This area is now undergoing more development since Dublin Providers moved last year.
The road sections of the quays ahead were in the main built between 1792 and 1826. Prior to that time most ships moored at private wharves jutting at right angles to the present Main Street. In the words of J.G. Kohl a German traveller of 1842 the quays of Wexford were beautiful and the port had more home-registered ships than any other comparable port in the country. In fact schooners often lay three deep along the quays in the early 1800s. At the same period the quays were described as being 60 feet wide and plans were in hand to have them lighted by gas.
The quays of Wexford as seen to-day without the new main drainage addition are said to be, on average, 150 yards further seaward than the original coastline of the region. A great wooden portion was constructed in the early 1800s and removed a little over a century later. This pile wharf, called the 'Woodenworks' facilitated transfer of cargo between railway wagons and boats. It was decided to build this pile wharf at a cost of £20,000 when it was found that the purchase of land to bring the railway around Wexford town would mean an expenditure of £33,000. The Woodenworks were a popular promenade for locals and tourists and are sadly missed but the new award winning quayfront is proving very popular, especially with dog owners.
The corner of Charlotte Street retains a sense of the past with the houses on either corner appearing to be remnants of the original quay buildings. The Centenary Stores is another of the pieces of our quay heritage to be retained with the quayfront portions incorporating the former offices of the late Kevin Morris, former mayor and well-known auctioneer.
Another entertainment complex, which is incorporating old buildings, is Mooney’s. Incidentally this has taken in the premises of the ships chandlery business of Hugh Maguire. Over the entrance to a car park you can see the legend of O’Connor’s Steam Bakery. The present E.S.B. depot was the location of Harry Wilson coal importers head office and depot. The businesses of O’Donohoe Travel and Kehoe’s beautifully retain the facades of earlier buildings.
Moving south we encounter the Bank of Ireland a building that recalls the historic designs of the 1970s. John Keane’s building may not have classic beauty but it holds on to the history of a practical design. Mick Berry’s Wren’s Nest gives us an olde worlde pub feeling in the bar section facing on to the quay. You might even imagine seeing the stevedores getting paid at the bar where the agent expected and usually got a drink out of those wages.
The L&N carpark is a wide-open space where once a number of buildings stood. Remember McCormack & Hegarty’s or Boggan’s Garage.
Custom House Quay is named after the Custom House that stood beside the present Credit Union building. The Wexford Credit Union was previously the Provincial Bank. Custom House Quay was called Wigram Quay in 1840, after the Wygram family.
Take note of the roof of the building housing Corish Auctioneers here.
The imposing building facing on to the Crescent was once the Bank of Ireland. It previously housed the Redmond Bank It now houses Asple’s accountancy firm and adjoins the bar of the same name built in the yards of the old era.
Still called Dunne’s car park is a parking area and development of shops and apartments – Donovan’s Wharf. Just over a century ago malt stores and timber yards covered it. There were 38 malt stores in the Wexford of 1831.
The Crescent is a semi-circular quay and is all that remains of the so-called Deep Pool of ancient Wexford. Like most of the quays it was built at the end of the 1700s and is said to have been at least ten feet above low water mark. The bottom of Crescent is said to be of cobbled stones. Over the years the shifting sands of the harbour have caused the silting of the Crescent. As recently as eighty years ago a schooner could berth within the Crescent. The last
ship to do so was the "Maria Reid" the remains of which can still be seen at the rear of the C.I.E. goods depot. The original Deep Pool before the present day retaining wall may have been even wider and deeper, as the built-up quays are estimated to be one hundred and fifty
yards more seaward than the old coastline.
With the extension of the railway in the 1880s, the character of the Crescent altered dramatically. The bridge carrying the railway track had a section in the centre that by a series of counter weights could be raised and swung aside. This enabled vessels with fixed masts to enter this semi-circular "Safe". The remains of some of the mechanisms were still visible near the water's edge until recent times.
A proposition at a Corporation meeting in 1945 and again in 1949 was that the Crescent be
converted to a swimming pool, drained each night and then refilled by the incoming tide, but its feasibility was very doubtful. One of Wexford's last forge-cum-blacksmith establishments was located in a white washed building at the Crescent. Local people may recall seeing it in operation within the past forty years. If memory is not gone completely, it later housed a second-hand book store operated by a well known film buff.
In 1651 a customhouse was built at the Crescent, situated on the seafront then. In later years the large building housing the Tourist Office was built in front of it to house the offices of the Harbour Commissioners who were a powerful force in the busy port town. The Tourist Information Office is part of the old Chamber of Commerce building. The windowsills of this building in Henrietta Street are worthy of closer scrutiny. The curious contours are not part of the original design. These were traditionally used by sailors to sharpen their knives and over the years this practise carved the sills to their present shape. At the turn of the century the Crescent perimeter abounded with sawmills and timber yards belonging to the Stafford family. Where the "Crescent Mall" is situated today was Stafford’s Sawmill into the 1970s. It had a less salubrious title for one weekend in the early 1970s as The Hippy Hotel.
The bronze Statue of Commodore John Barry dominates the Crescent. It was a gift to the people of Wexford from the American people. Barry who was born at Ballysampson, ten miles south of the town is hailed as the "Father of the United States Navy". The statue was unveiled on September 1956 by President,SeanT.O'Kelly, having been transported via Rosslare Harbour on board the U.S. destroyer 'Charles S. Perry'. Wreath laying ceremonies are held here annually at which American dignitaries honour John Barry. In conjunction with this Wexford mariners killed during two World Wars are remembered.
The laneway immediately behind the Barry Memorial has a variety of names: Morans Lane, Harpurs Lane and Hays Lane. Ask for any of these and you will probably be rewarded with a blank stare! Tell them you want Cinema Lane and recognition will dawn. This phenomenon is quite common in the town where colloquial names often supersede official titles.
At the corner is one of Wexford's old Custom and Excise houses. It is now an art gallery and office complex. The building was topped with a 'belvedere', this provided a wide view of all shipping movements to the Custom and Excise personnel. Next to this building is a row of houses, their slated fronts together with their shuttered window's give a feel of earlier times in this seaport town.
The next section of the Quay is officially Paul Quay but has been called Stafford's Quay after the family who owned numerous businesses in Wexford at the turn of this century. It was in this vicinity that the company's ships had their cargoes of coal, timber and goods of all description unloaded for it’s many enterprises.
Stafford’s were the last major sailing ship owners in Wexford and had sail-making lofts on this quay. The Stafford family bought their first steamships in 1919, named SS 'Elsie Annie' after a daughter, and the SS 'J.F.V.' (James, Francis, Victor) after their sons. By the outbreak of war in 1939, they operated the most modern fleet in Ireland, under the title of the Wexford Steamship Co.
Howard Rowe and Sons had a flourmill here in the late 1800s.
The shifting sand bar of Wexford Harbour caused the closure of the port to freight in the 1950s and much of Stafford's shipping business moved to New Ross.
Beside Stafford's premises, Pierces Foundry had a store for machinery awaiting shipment. In their premises was a social club for their workers and it was from here that a Working Man's Tontine Society was formed. Mr. Pierce brought the idea back from the company's Paris office. In an era of poverty and hardship many people worried about not having the money to provide for a Christian funeral. The Tontine Society provided the solution; a sum of money was collected weekly from the members and repaid at Christmas. When a member died all others contributed a fixed sum towards the funeral expenses. Pierce's idea of the tontine society spread throughout Wexford within a few years. Many locals will recall the queues outside the houses in their area on Saturday nights and after 10.00 Mass on Sundays, as people paid the 'Society' money.
At Paul Quay a rise in the ground indicates what appears to be a bridge. This marks the entry point of the Bishopswater River into the harbour.
The modern Pierce Court is in the site of some beautiful old buildings now only existing in photographs. It was here that the Sisters of Mercy were first housed in the town. It later became a technical school, and then a hat factory. It was perhaps best known as the 'Penny Dinners' (a forerunner of meals-on-wheels), where a good meal was provided at whatever cost the recipient could afford. Members of the St. John of God Sisters provided this service.
God be with the days – 1610 – when the quays had the fabulous names of Pale Quay, Hays Quay, Ffrenche’s Quay, Turnor’s Quay, Morne’s (Moran’s) Quay, Bollane’s (Bollan’s) Quay, Staples Quay and Hassanes Quay. Now those conjure up a busy port and most refer to the merchants who owned them except for Pale which referred to the fort and Staples which meant that staple items like corn, coal etc were unloaded and loaded there.
Those are our quays that with a little investigation provide the keys to our heritage.
Cinema Lane
Cinema Lane should officially be called Harpur's Lane. In fact it was originally the seaward extension of Hay’s Lane. It is called Harpur’s Lane because that family of business people, some of whom served as Mayor of Wexford in the past, owned much of the land. Alderman Thomas Harpur was first elected Mayor of Wexford in 1886 and was returned to office for a second time in 1887. Born in I846, he represented St. Iberius Ward and was a corn merchant in South Main Street.
The Palace Cinema to give it the proper title rather than our Cinema Palace had been a warehouse before being converted into Wexford’s first proper cinema back in 1914. In that incarnation it was used by the Receiver of Wrecks for storage of salvaged goods. In fact the first function held there was a concert in aid of Belgian refugees fleeing the Great War. As a matter of interest do you know how it became known as the Cinema Palace? It all goes back to the long narrow yellow posters that advertised the week’s films – do you remember them? In fact all cinema playbills were colour coded either by design or accident. The Cinema Palace was yellow, The Capitol green and the Abbey was generally white but sometimes had different ink colours. Anyway the designer was putting the name at the top in fancy script and did the usual thing making Palace the biggest word but to complete the design he put Cinema above this and Wexford below it in smaller letter. With Wexford people having had a good education from the nuns and brothers they read the poster from top to bottom and so it read Cinema Palace Wexford.
No expense was spared in renovating the Palace including raising the roof. It was to be the finest in Ireland and had seating for 600 patrons. Its own generator produced electricity not just for the cinema but also to light the lane outside. The manager of the Palace was Charles Vize, a well-known photographer in the area. He also played clarinet as part of the cinema orchestra, in those days of silent movies. The first film presentation was 'The Old Maid's Baby’ starring a tubby American actor named John Bunny. Newsreels of events of national or even local interest were also shown as supporting programmes. Like the other cinemas, live performances were interspersed with films at the Palace and there was even a boxing tournament there in 1916, with Jem Roche, Wexford's most noted boxer, as contest manager. Despite its name, the Palace was one of the least ornate of the cinemas. The cinema was the magnet for those looking for cheaper second run films but now it is long gone.
The abiding memory of the Cinema Palace is of Jeyes Fluid used to clean the premises. They even advertised the cinema at one time as being cleaned regularly with that substance.
If a stranger walked too quickly he would miss The Cinema. There was no awning, no sign but we knew where it was. In the Cinema there was no separate shop. A young lady with bouffant hairstyle dispensed the tickets, the sweets, crisps and minerals, as soft drinks were called.
Sometimes Mr Byrne was down the building looking after someone trying to upgrade himself or herself. This was important because in this cinema there was no balcony and the division between the two prices of cushioned seats was noted only by different colour upholstery. If so, you dealt with Mrs Latimer at the door. She was the manageress. We knew the pictures were about to start when Mr Byrne walked down the left aisle and started putting the wooden shutters on the windows. Then the lights dimmed and went out. On screen the advertisements started. There were hand made slides for local events and forthcoming films. Then the first film started and a hush descended. Between films we had the national advertising and this was the time for toilets, restocking the food if there was money left or flinging weapons of not so mass destruction into the other sections of the cinema. All was quiet again for the main feature. They were usually westerns or ‘cowboy pictures’ in our day.
Tragedy struck the street some years back when Mr Hannon the owner of a little shop called The Dainty was murdered on March 8th, 1958. Apart from running his little shop where patrons stocked up on sweets and bottles of minerals, Mr Hannon operated a little back room printing concern. His main seller was ‘The Prophecies of Saint Malachy’. This murder was never solved partly because an accident involving a car plunging into the Crescent accidentally diverted people’s attention or perhaps the killer used the diversion to plan a robbery or worse.
There are also tales, unconnected to the murder, of a detective chasing a suspect across the roof of the cinema and being armed at the time. Any readers recall that?
The lower end of Cinema Lane on the left was Staffords Sawmill into the 1970s and at one point was known as the Hippy Hotel. On the opposite side was Staffords Garage where Tesco now opens onto the quay. The rear entrance to the Free Press, the first newspaper in Wexford to print news on the front page, was just behind this. It was from here the papers went all over the world starting their journey on a little hand cart bringing ‘wrapped’ papers to the post office for despatch.
So you see even a little lane like this has hundreds of tales to tell if only we would listen.
© Nicky Rossiter
The Palace Cinema to give it the proper title rather than our Cinema Palace had been a warehouse before being converted into Wexford’s first proper cinema back in 1914. In that incarnation it was used by the Receiver of Wrecks for storage of salvaged goods. In fact the first function held there was a concert in aid of Belgian refugees fleeing the Great War. As a matter of interest do you know how it became known as the Cinema Palace? It all goes back to the long narrow yellow posters that advertised the week’s films – do you remember them? In fact all cinema playbills were colour coded either by design or accident. The Cinema Palace was yellow, The Capitol green and the Abbey was generally white but sometimes had different ink colours. Anyway the designer was putting the name at the top in fancy script and did the usual thing making Palace the biggest word but to complete the design he put Cinema above this and Wexford below it in smaller letter. With Wexford people having had a good education from the nuns and brothers they read the poster from top to bottom and so it read Cinema Palace Wexford.
No expense was spared in renovating the Palace including raising the roof. It was to be the finest in Ireland and had seating for 600 patrons. Its own generator produced electricity not just for the cinema but also to light the lane outside. The manager of the Palace was Charles Vize, a well-known photographer in the area. He also played clarinet as part of the cinema orchestra, in those days of silent movies. The first film presentation was 'The Old Maid's Baby’ starring a tubby American actor named John Bunny. Newsreels of events of national or even local interest were also shown as supporting programmes. Like the other cinemas, live performances were interspersed with films at the Palace and there was even a boxing tournament there in 1916, with Jem Roche, Wexford's most noted boxer, as contest manager. Despite its name, the Palace was one of the least ornate of the cinemas. The cinema was the magnet for those looking for cheaper second run films but now it is long gone.
The abiding memory of the Cinema Palace is of Jeyes Fluid used to clean the premises. They even advertised the cinema at one time as being cleaned regularly with that substance.
If a stranger walked too quickly he would miss The Cinema. There was no awning, no sign but we knew where it was. In the Cinema there was no separate shop. A young lady with bouffant hairstyle dispensed the tickets, the sweets, crisps and minerals, as soft drinks were called.
Sometimes Mr Byrne was down the building looking after someone trying to upgrade himself or herself. This was important because in this cinema there was no balcony and the division between the two prices of cushioned seats was noted only by different colour upholstery. If so, you dealt with Mrs Latimer at the door. She was the manageress. We knew the pictures were about to start when Mr Byrne walked down the left aisle and started putting the wooden shutters on the windows. Then the lights dimmed and went out. On screen the advertisements started. There were hand made slides for local events and forthcoming films. Then the first film started and a hush descended. Between films we had the national advertising and this was the time for toilets, restocking the food if there was money left or flinging weapons of not so mass destruction into the other sections of the cinema. All was quiet again for the main feature. They were usually westerns or ‘cowboy pictures’ in our day.
Tragedy struck the street some years back when Mr Hannon the owner of a little shop called The Dainty was murdered on March 8th, 1958. Apart from running his little shop where patrons stocked up on sweets and bottles of minerals, Mr Hannon operated a little back room printing concern. His main seller was ‘The Prophecies of Saint Malachy’. This murder was never solved partly because an accident involving a car plunging into the Crescent accidentally diverted people’s attention or perhaps the killer used the diversion to plan a robbery or worse.
There are also tales, unconnected to the murder, of a detective chasing a suspect across the roof of the cinema and being armed at the time. Any readers recall that?
The lower end of Cinema Lane on the left was Staffords Sawmill into the 1970s and at one point was known as the Hippy Hotel. On the opposite side was Staffords Garage where Tesco now opens onto the quay. The rear entrance to the Free Press, the first newspaper in Wexford to print news on the front page, was just behind this. It was from here the papers went all over the world starting their journey on a little hand cart bringing ‘wrapped’ papers to the post office for despatch.
So you see even a little lane like this has hundreds of tales to tell if only we would listen.
© Nicky Rossiter
Cinema Lane
Cinema Lane should officially be called Harpur's Lane. In fact it was originally the seaward extension of Hay’s Lane. It is called Harpur’s Lane because that family of business people, some of whom served as Mayor of Wexford in the past, owned much of the land. Alderman Thomas Harpur was first elected Mayor of Wexford in 1886 and was returned to office for a second time in 1887. Born in I846, he represented St. Iberius Ward and was a corn merchant in South Main Street.
The Palace Cinema to give it the proper title rather than our Cinema Palace had been a warehouse before being converted into Wexford’s first proper cinema back in 1914. In that incarnation it was used by the Receiver of Wrecks for storage of salvaged goods. In fact the first function held there was a concert in aid of Belgian refugees fleeing the Great War. As a matter of interest do you know how it became known as the Cinema Palace? It all goes back to the long narrow yellow posters that advertised the week’s films – do you remember them? In fact all cinema playbills were colour coded either by design or accident. The Cinema Palace was yellow, The Capitol green and the Abbey was generally white but sometimes had different ink colours. Anyway the designer was putting the name at the top in fancy script and did the usual thing making Palace the biggest word but to complete the design he put Cinema above this and Wexford below it in smaller letter. With Wexford people having had a good education from the nuns and brothers they read the poster from top to bottom and so it read Cinema Palace Wexford.
No expense was spared in renovating the Palace including raising the roof. It was to be the finest in Ireland and had seating for 600 patrons. Its own generator produced electricity not just for the cinema but also to light the lane outside. The manager of the Palace was Charles Vize, a well-known photographer in the area. He also played clarinet as part of the cinema orchestra, in those days of silent movies. The first film presentation was 'The Old Maid's Baby’ starring a tubby American actor named John Bunny. Newsreels of events of national or even local interest were also shown as supporting programmes. Like the other cinemas, live performances were interspersed with films at the Palace and there was even a boxing tournament there in 1916, with Jem Roche, Wexford's most noted boxer, as contest manager. Despite its name, the Palace was one of the least ornate of the cinemas. The cinema was the magnet for those looking for cheaper second run films but now it is long gone.
The abiding memory of the Cinema Palace is of Jeyes Fluid used to clean the premises. They even advertised the cinema at one time as being cleaned regularly with that substance.
If a stranger walked too quickly he would miss The Cinema. There was no awning, no sign but we knew where it was. In the Cinema there was no separate shop. A young lady with bouffant hairstyle dispensed the tickets, the sweets, crisps and minerals, as soft drinks were called.
Sometimes Mr Byrne was down the building looking after someone trying to upgrade himself or herself. This was important because in this cinema there was no balcony and the division between the two prices of cushioned seats was noted only by different colour upholstery. If so, you dealt with Mrs Latimer at the door. She was the manageress. We knew the pictures were about to start when Mr Byrne walked down the left aisle and started putting the wooden shutters on the windows. Then the lights dimmed and went out. On screen the advertisements started. There were hand made slides for local events and forthcoming films. Then the first film started and a hush descended. Between films we had the national advertising and this was the time for toilets, restocking the food if there was money left or flinging weapons of not so mass destruction into the other sections of the cinema. All was quiet again for the main feature. They were usually westerns or ‘cowboy pictures’ in our day.
Tragedy struck the street some years back when Mr Hannon the owner of a little shop called The Dainty was murdered on March 8th, 1958. Apart from running his little shop where patrons stocked up on sweets and bottles of minerals, Mr Hannon operated a little back room printing concern. His main seller was ‘The Prophecies of Saint Malachy’. This murder was never solved partly because an accident involving a car plunging into the Crescent accidentally diverted people’s attention or perhaps the killer used the diversion to plan a robbery or worse.
There are also tales, unconnected to the murder, of a detective chasing a suspect across the roof of the cinema and being armed at the time. Any readers recall that?
The lower end of Cinema Lane on the left was Staffords Sawmill into the 1970s and at one point was known as the Hippy Hotel. On the opposite side was Staffords Garage where Tesco now opens onto the quay. The rear entrance to the Free Press, the first newspaper in Wexford to print news on the front page, was just behind this. It was from here the papers went all over the world starting their journey on a little hand cart bringing ‘wrapped’ papers to the post office for despatch.
So you see even a little lane like this has hundreds of tales to tell if only we would listen.
© Nicky Rossiter
The Palace Cinema to give it the proper title rather than our Cinema Palace had been a warehouse before being converted into Wexford’s first proper cinema back in 1914. In that incarnation it was used by the Receiver of Wrecks for storage of salvaged goods. In fact the first function held there was a concert in aid of Belgian refugees fleeing the Great War. As a matter of interest do you know how it became known as the Cinema Palace? It all goes back to the long narrow yellow posters that advertised the week’s films – do you remember them? In fact all cinema playbills were colour coded either by design or accident. The Cinema Palace was yellow, The Capitol green and the Abbey was generally white but sometimes had different ink colours. Anyway the designer was putting the name at the top in fancy script and did the usual thing making Palace the biggest word but to complete the design he put Cinema above this and Wexford below it in smaller letter. With Wexford people having had a good education from the nuns and brothers they read the poster from top to bottom and so it read Cinema Palace Wexford.
No expense was spared in renovating the Palace including raising the roof. It was to be the finest in Ireland and had seating for 600 patrons. Its own generator produced electricity not just for the cinema but also to light the lane outside. The manager of the Palace was Charles Vize, a well-known photographer in the area. He also played clarinet as part of the cinema orchestra, in those days of silent movies. The first film presentation was 'The Old Maid's Baby’ starring a tubby American actor named John Bunny. Newsreels of events of national or even local interest were also shown as supporting programmes. Like the other cinemas, live performances were interspersed with films at the Palace and there was even a boxing tournament there in 1916, with Jem Roche, Wexford's most noted boxer, as contest manager. Despite its name, the Palace was one of the least ornate of the cinemas. The cinema was the magnet for those looking for cheaper second run films but now it is long gone.
The abiding memory of the Cinema Palace is of Jeyes Fluid used to clean the premises. They even advertised the cinema at one time as being cleaned regularly with that substance.
If a stranger walked too quickly he would miss The Cinema. There was no awning, no sign but we knew where it was. In the Cinema there was no separate shop. A young lady with bouffant hairstyle dispensed the tickets, the sweets, crisps and minerals, as soft drinks were called.
Sometimes Mr Byrne was down the building looking after someone trying to upgrade himself or herself. This was important because in this cinema there was no balcony and the division between the two prices of cushioned seats was noted only by different colour upholstery. If so, you dealt with Mrs Latimer at the door. She was the manageress. We knew the pictures were about to start when Mr Byrne walked down the left aisle and started putting the wooden shutters on the windows. Then the lights dimmed and went out. On screen the advertisements started. There were hand made slides for local events and forthcoming films. Then the first film started and a hush descended. Between films we had the national advertising and this was the time for toilets, restocking the food if there was money left or flinging weapons of not so mass destruction into the other sections of the cinema. All was quiet again for the main feature. They were usually westerns or ‘cowboy pictures’ in our day.
Tragedy struck the street some years back when Mr Hannon the owner of a little shop called The Dainty was murdered on March 8th, 1958. Apart from running his little shop where patrons stocked up on sweets and bottles of minerals, Mr Hannon operated a little back room printing concern. His main seller was ‘The Prophecies of Saint Malachy’. This murder was never solved partly because an accident involving a car plunging into the Crescent accidentally diverted people’s attention or perhaps the killer used the diversion to plan a robbery or worse.
There are also tales, unconnected to the murder, of a detective chasing a suspect across the roof of the cinema and being armed at the time. Any readers recall that?
The lower end of Cinema Lane on the left was Staffords Sawmill into the 1970s and at one point was known as the Hippy Hotel. On the opposite side was Staffords Garage where Tesco now opens onto the quay. The rear entrance to the Free Press, the first newspaper in Wexford to print news on the front page, was just behind this. It was from here the papers went all over the world starting their journey on a little hand cart bringing ‘wrapped’ papers to the post office for despatch.
So you see even a little lane like this has hundreds of tales to tell if only we would listen.
© Nicky Rossiter
