Renelagh remembrances

Arising out of a recent thread about "alternative" Ranelagh & Rathmines and similar threads I've come across in other places, I thought it might be nice to have a thread for some medium-old fogies like myself to recall elements of Ranalagh (and maybe Rathmines, but it was always "over there" to me) that have been and gone in the relatively recent past.

My fathers famliy had a shop on Renalagh and I spent a lot of my summers and various periods in the 70s & 80s in Ranelagh, so my memories are built up from that period.

For starters, on the part from the railway bridge to the triangle there were a whole load of old fashioned shops. On the Leeson Street side there were two grocery/dairies - Sullivans and O'Sullivans. One was Ms and the other Mrs, but I can't remember which. I think it was Ms Sullivan nearer town and Mrs O'Sullivan nearer the triangle. The one nearer town was beside the entrance to the old wood yard. I don't think I ever saw the wood yard in operation but it was there and empty for a very, very long time. There was Mr McCarthys shoe shop with his unfeasibly densely packed 'shop floor', which was not much bigger than most bathrooms these days. Or at least it seemed that way to me. And yet he could say to your ma, "Now then Mrs Zag, I have just the pair for young zag here", reach behind him, grab a box, keep all the rest from falling and bring out "just the pair". And at the same time be fitting up another kid on the other side of the shop.

Then there was Marcellas hair salon with seasonal window dressings - Easter bunnies, Christmas trees, etc . . . Everyone (as long as they are female and of a certain age) I talk to about Ranelagh seems to have had their weekly hair appointment there. And Mr Dowling, the shoe repair man. I had forgotten about him until I was trying to picture Ms Sullivans shop there for a second and I saw Mr Dowlings with his 'front room' shop. Come in the door, turn left into the front room for the shop or straight on brought you into the house (behind a door).

Across the road there were two old lads who ran a fruit & vegetable shop. I just remember that front room where they sold from always seemed to have a very low ceiling. I *think* the LUAS station entrance now occupies their spot. I can't remember their name.

Either at the same place or a door or two up, there was a brief experiment in alternative cafe experiences. I can't remember the name of the place, but I remember that it was great fun at some stage in the probably late 80s or early 90s. I remember one particular time when there was an open mike poetry night, just thinking, "dude, why can't other places be like this ?" I have a funny feeling it all came down to economics in the end and it went away like many other places down that end of Ranelagh.

Another thing I remember is the #12 bus going from one of the most frequent routes in the city to just going away one day (or so it seemed to me). It used to come out of town and turn right at the triangle and disappear off into unknown (to me) territory.

I also remember the parking situation going from easy to park, to my aunt having to park her car on the outbound side in the morning and then remember to leave her shop in the early afternoon to put the car on the other side of the road to avoid the clearways. Imagine living on Ranelagh and being able to park your car outside your house every single day without worrying about tickets, clampers, commuters taking 'your' space, etc . . .

That's enough for the moment - anyone else got memories of this end of Ranelagh to recount ?

z