Old Limerick Pictures (Dial-up death)

Chong

I was just wondering has anyone got any pictures of town in the late 80's / early 90's.

billy the squid

iv millions of Limerick in the 30s 40s 50s and 60s.

only one or two of the eighties. I will have a look. but during the eighties Limerick was the most derelict city in the country, a huge proportion of it was falling down and abandoned buildings.

Chong

Still its nice to bring back the old memories of the place like.

Spengman

billy the squid wrote:

iv millions of Limerick in the 30s 40s 50s and 60s.

Ya same here, i've a few pictures of a pretty much derelict rutland st from the mid 1970s!. I agree limerick wasnt exactly looking its best in the 80s, theres actually a funny story from around that time, i think it was the spanish ambassador on a tour of the city who commented that limerick had a lot of "bombed out buildings from the war":D

I think the sad thing about looking back at these pictures is that you realise just how many beautiful buildings were lost over the years, the lower part of o connell st in particular is only a shadow of its former self!

The city centre would look much better if these buildings were still standing!



Old Todds

Theres no excuse in going from that to this:eek:

billy the squid

Our Lady of Lourdes church in Weston under construction


from stroll though memory lane vol 5

and opening day in 1962


from vol 2

both pictures taken from the greenfields(posh) side of the church.

billy the squid

Spengman wrote:

whever designed todds/brown thomas should be taken out and flogged.

1huge1

i was in easons once and they had a book all about old pics of limerick exactly what your looking for
it was volumn 3 so it means theres loads out already cant remember the name though soz

limerick_man

1huge1 wrote:

i was in easons once and they had a book all about old pics of limerick exactly what your looking for
it was volumn 3 so it means theres loads out already cant remember the name though soz

Are you being serious??? Please tell me your ****ting around!
The book is called A Stroll Down Memory Lane, there are 5 volumes.. all the pictures above are taken from those books, except the Brown Thomas one!
Billy mentions the book in every second post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hobie

Was there a bad fire at Todds many years ago? ...... did it burn down? or did they just change the outside appearance after the fire

billy the squid

yes there was. I have a picture where there is an empty space where todds was you can see roches stores from the junction of thomas street and catherine street.

limerick_man, please tone it down mkay.

actually there were two books, I believe the evening echo had one out but it didnt do as well as most of the pictures were of cork.

also I posted up some other stuff from both the series of books and from old editions of the Limerick Leader in a thread on the weather board called "the big freeze 1963" if you are interested.

billy the squid

Hee it is
from Volume 3



the whole block had to be demolished. O'connell Street, William Street Catherine Street, and Thomas Street.

billy the squid

1huge1 wrote:

i was in easons once and they had a book all about old pics of limerick exactly what your looking for
it was volumn 3 so it means theres loads out already cant remember the name though soz

I was giving volume 5 away in a competition a few weeks ago and no one entered

Chong

If u can and u dont mind please post more billy. These pics are excellent.

billy the squid

well I should be telling you buy the book, but I can put up one or two more of the books that are sold out. never to be printed again aparantly.

Chong

Fantastic .

billy the squid

do you recognize this place?



from Volume 1

ah the number 6's... bloody lethal*

yes I know all tobacco products are lethal but these killed you quicker

Chong

When was the last time that place was open?

billy the squid

the book doesn't say. but I am fully sure that I was in that shop when i was yay high. late 70s or early 80s. I could be thinking of somewhere else though.

billy the squid

one last one before I go



The building on the left is the Lyric cinema. It is now replaced with an apartment block. thats taits clock on the right and the dominican church in the centre.

oh and ehres the link to the big freeze thread with pictures and articles from the Leader and the memory lane books.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054850822

hobie

Hee it is
from Volume 3

Wow !!!! ....

1huge1

limerick_man wrote:

Are you being serious??? Please tell me your ****ting around!
The book is called A Stroll Down Memory Lane, there are 5 volumes.. all the pictures above are taken from those books, except the Brown Thomas one!
Billy mentions the book in every second post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

whoops lol

Spengman

limerick_man wrote:

Are you being serious??? Please tell me your ****ting around!
The book is called A Stroll Down Memory Lane, there are 5 volumes.. all the pictures above are taken from those books, except the Brown Thomas one!
Billy mentions the book in every second post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually the pics of cannocks and todds are from some photographic society website that dosent seem to be online anymore, i agree though them books are fantastic, well worth buying!

Anyway I found the article from the limerick leader archives about the todds fire


Disastrous Limerick Fire

BUILDINGS gutted: many workers now unemployed.

ONE of the biggest fire disasters in recent times occurred in Limerick today (Tuesday, August 25, 1959), when the monster drapery house of Messrs William Todd and Co went up in flames.

It was the biggest fire in the history of Limerick.

The outbreak was first detected in the men's wholesale department on the William Street side of the premises and within a matter of minutes this section was a blazing inferno.

Thousands watched as the Limerick Fire Brigade vainly fought to control the flames, but within half-an-hour this huge section of the building was completely enveloped with flames belching through the windows and threatening the adjoining shops until eventually Messrs Lipton and Messrs Burton were also destroyed.

The staff of Messrs Todds busied themselves with salvaging stock and books from the untouched portion of the building, but eventually had to desist because the task became too dangerous with portions of the upper floors threatening to fall in at any moment.

Men and women ran to and fro, salvaging whatever they could lay hands on, and despite a roaring wall of flames at their backs. Books were thrown on to the streets from the office windows.

Thirty minutes after the outbreak was first noticed, it spread to the upper storey of Messrs Burton's Tailors and eventually so great was the heat that the fire engine in William Street had to be removed. One of the hoses caught fire, as volunteer workers were trying to haul it away.

When it was seen that the fire had gained such a grip that it was completely out of control, calls were sent to the brigades at Shannon Airport, Ennis, Rathkeale, and the garrison at Sarsfield Barracks was also quickly on the scene.

In all, 11 brigades were employed, including Cork, Kilmallock, Charleville, Fermoy, Ranks and Tipperary.

For over two hours hoses were played on the blazing four-storied building and on the adjoining shops to little effect. There were up to 30 hoses playing on the fire at 1.30pm. In Bedford Row, at 3.30pm, one hose became disconnected when crossed by a car, and onlookers were drenched.

The entire block of O'Connell Street, Thomas Street and William Street was cordoned off, and hundreds of volunteer workers assisted the brigades in manning the hoses, while all traffic was diverted.

At one stage there was a danger that the fire would spread across William Street to the garda barracks, but the gardai tackled the sparks that came in through the windows. The tyres of a bicycle lying outside the barracks went on fire.

About 15 minutes after the outbreak was first noticed, there was a huge explosion caused by the bursting of a fuel tank in the basement.

It was learned that the probable cause of the outbreak was the bursting of a fuel tank in the basement.

Just one hour after the alarm was raised there was a huge crash, and practically the entire facade of the premises crumbled to the ground. Fifteen minutes later the remaining portion caved in.

The property was wiped out in three hours, causing £1 million worth of damage, but some premises in the block were saved, including Nicholas', Cromer's, Gaywear, O'Sullivan's licensed premises, the Grimsby Fish Stores, and the main offices of Messrs Todd and Co Ltd.

While Limerick Fire Brigade were battling with the outbreak, they were summoned to minor outbreaks at Cornmarket Row and Robert Street, and had to split forces.

Windows on shops opposite Todds on O'Connell Street cracked, and shopkeepers kept a bucket chain going to prevent further damage. The brigade also hosed down the premises.

Roches Stores removed all goods from its front windows, and other shopkeepers followed suit.

About 200 employees of Todds are now out of work, and another 20 from Lipton's, plus others in the adjoining premises destroyed.

Todds fire was a watershed in the history of the city centre. Its stately interior, long and wide mahogany counters, and an all-round balcony with cast-iron ornamental railings, was a showpiece of another era.

Lipton's, the noted general grocers, was noted for its meats and cheeses, carrying on a very old tradition there.

The end of Todds was the end of an era, heralding major changes in the city centre.

I read somewhere else that they were to replace the gutted building with "a modern, state of the art structure", state of the art my arse!

1huge1

a million irish pound back in 1959 that must of been a lot of money

billy the squid

Thomondgate. quilteys pub. From Volume 1
trying out a new scanner I got for christmas, so used this picture to test it out.

Chong

Thats an ace picture, its crazy to think thats what thomondgate used to look like. Keep em coming billy.

1huge1

were is thomondgate? dont suppose its near the stadium
not to great with street names

billy the squid

1huge1 wrote:

were is thomondgate? dont suppose its near the stadium
not to great with street names

sexton street north i think it is called.

Amazotheamazing

Stadium? in Thomondgate? what are you on about? There's no stadium in Thomondgate.

jonski

Amazotheamazing wrote:

Stadium? in Thomondgate? what are you on about? There's no stadium in Thomondgate.

I think he is talking about the rugby ground , not so hard to figure out ? which , if you are from outside limerick is easy enough to assume it is in or near thomondgate , unless you are taking the pi$$ .


And if that is the original Quilty's pub , and I presume it is , then , yes , it is on up the road from where the rugby pitch is . Although the road itself does look like the back road up from Moyross , where there are also pubs ..............

1huge1

jonski wrote:

I think he is talking about the rugby ground , not so hard to figure out ? which , if you are from outside limerick is easy enough to assume it is in or near thomondgate , unless you are taking the pi$$ .


And if that is the original Quilty's pub , and I presume it is , then , yes , it is on up the road from where the rugby pitch is . Although the road itself does look like the back road up from Moyross , where there are also pubs ..............

ya i just didnt know
when im in limerick its either city centre or some of the suburbs shopping centres full stop never in there for anything else

Amazotheamazing

Yeah sorry about that, was pretty drunk when I typed it, I hope it made sense at the time.