Tracing Dublin's Renowned Characters

Abraham

Whatever happened to Dublin's renowned characters of the past ?
I speak of Bang-Bang.....Johnny FortyCoats......Jack Plant......Paddy Cummins.

What is known of their origins ? Their real names ? What happened to them ?
Is anything known of them ?

billy the squid

Bang Bang is buried in the cemetary in St. Joseph's School for the visually impaired in Drumcondra.

EDIT: I think he died around 1981 or 1982 or thereabouts.

Abraham

BillyTS......thanks for that snippet. I think that graveyard was closed/moved some years ago. I seem to recall some controversy about people buried there who were completely unrecorded with unmarked graves etc. There were some horrendous stories of destitute people having no last resting place until the nuns there helped out. Part of our history, I suppose.

Any advance from anyone on info about the others ?
One source is telling me that Johnny Forty Coats and BangBang were one and the same person but that is not true.

billy the squid

The last time I was there each grave had a little black celtic cross with a number on it, the names that go with the corresponding numbers were on one of the walls as you enter the cemetary.

wasnt aware it was moved and can't seem to be able to locate it on Google earth. I know where it is on the grounds of the school, or where it used to be, but the quality isnt good enough to tell me if it is still there or not.

Bang Bang and johnny 40 coats have wikipedia pages.

Oh, and the schools number is 01-8373635. If his grave has been moved someone there might be able to assist you

Abraham

Tks Billy. Am I right in thinking that the entrance to that cemetery is or was via a gate from the narrow laneway at the rear that links St Alphonsus Rd to Hollybank Rd ? Will do a query there sometime soon.

Anyone remember Jack Plant ? He was an actor who lived in a single room flat in Moore St and who used to wander the city centre late at night with a large but placid Alsatian on a lead which kept the boyos at bay. He was a Shakespearean actor who spoke always as if he were delivering lines from McBeth. He seemed to have a troubled domestic life with constant warring in the sittingroom-ala-bedroom-ala-study. On the street, he would confront perfect strangers and ask them to make judgments about his treatment on the domestic front by that 'denizen of the deep' (his female companion).

He would recite 'what she said' and then deliver the ripostes that he had made in putting things to rights after her verbal onslaughts. He was some character and I heard that he had crossed the Great Divide sometime in the early 1970's. Would love to know what happened to him, how he ended up etc,.

billy the squid

Abraham wrote: »

Tks Billy. Am I right in thinking that the entrance to that cemetery is or was via a gate from the narrow laneway at the rear that links St Alphonsus Rd to Hollybank Rd ? Will do a query there sometime soon.

Anyone remember Jack Plant ? He was an actor who lived in a single room flat in Moore St and who used to wander the city centre late at night with a large but placid Alsatian on a lead which kept the boyos at bay. He was a Shakespearean actor who spoke always as if he were delivering lines from McBeth. He seemed to have a troubled domestic life with constant warring in the sittingroom-ala-bedroom-ala-study. On the street, he would confront perfect strangers and ask them to make judgments about his treatment on the domestic front by that 'denizen of the deep' (his female companion).

He would recite 'what she said' and then deliver the ripostes that he had made in putting things to rights after her verbal onslaughts. He was some character and I heard that he had crossed the Great Divide sometime in the early 1970's. Would love to know what happened to him, how he ended up etc,.

I only remember one entrance to the cemetary, and you had to transverse the school's grounds to get to it.



legend of map

1. Visitors Entrance. This will take you to Drumcondra Castle, where the reception area is.
2. Second entrance, usually where employees will park there cars.
3. Drumcondra Castle
4. The location of the cemetary, (if it hasn't been moved)
5. Pobailscoil Rosmini entrance, This leads to the cemetary. probably the easiest way to get to it.
6. Pobailscoil Rosmini
7. A third entrance,

All entrances are on Gracepark Road

Abraham

Tks Billy....that's a superb response to my query and tells me all I need to know. I shall pursue in course.
Best Wishes.....Abe.

Lockstep

best character would be Emporor Norton I

Duvlin

Yes i remember Jack Plant and was a friend . Much of you details are wrong. The bit about actor ,night walking dog,and a great raconteur is right. He rests in Prospect cemetery and would have enjoyed the turn-out if only he could stand for it. E.M ex Moore St butcher.

Fuinseog

Abraham wrote: »

Whatever happened to Dublin's renowned characters of the past ?
I speak of Bang-Bang.....Johnny FortyCoats......Jack Plant......Paddy Cummins.

What is known of their origins ? Their real names ? What happened to them ?
Is anything known of them ?

there are two books out on the subject, although the charcters they describe mostly lived pre 1950. on the subject of charcters does anyone know where i can get the lyrics to Billy in the Bowl?

Abraham

Anyone remember Paddy Cummins who sold papers at the old Metropole Cinema (now gone) on the corner of North Princes St (that's the cul-de-sac beside the GPO leading to the arcade). Paddy was a wonderful Dublin character. He had a straight leg, i.e. he could not bend it at the knee, yet he cycled to his paper pitch in O'Connell St 6 days a week and home again every evening. Still can't figure how he did it but believe me, he did. I think he lived in Phibsboro or in Cabra.
Paddy was the physical manifestation of 'Dublin in the Real Oul' Times' !