Driving Through Dublin – Circa 1982 August 24, 2011
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Uncategorized.Tags: ireland
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Thought this might bring back a few memories. Starting off at Dun Laoghaire, then into town via the Rock Road. A stop in Grafton Street and home again.
Also posted another video Driving in Dublin in 1974
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
Thanks for posting! First thoughts are how little has changed in 30 years. Besides the Blackrock bypass and some parts of the city centre it all looks pretty much the same. Great video.
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Excellent find. Alll those old Renaults and Fiats, and who was that flash Harry in the Jag around Ballsbridge I wonder? Turning onto Stephen’s Green (West?) at the corner of Harcourt St. I thought there might be a glimpse of the shop with the big “Army Boots” sign over it, but it must have been demolished in preparation for the PT&T/Telecom offices that were later built on the site. Dublin has changed a lot in 30 years looking at that, and that’s the posh end of the city. We’ve still a road to travel before austerity returns us to those days, though I doubt it’ll take us another 30 years somehow to roll down that slope…
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Cars in Grafton St – now there’s an idea. The plague of ‘buskers’ makes the idea of de-pedestrianisation more attractive by the day.
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+1
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When and why was Grafton St pedestrianised? I assume it was the businesses that got together to have it done.
Reminds me of an old lyric “The past is so beautiful, the future like a corpse in snow.”
Saw two Guards hassling a busker yesterday on Grafton St. They were telling him he couldn’t use an amp.
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On a related note, I find the introduction of amps to busking one of the most annoying aspects of city life in recent years, especially when a busker can’t sing properly. Great evidence though for the nature of capitalism – you have to continually invest in equipment in order to stay ahead of the cut-throat competition.
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[…] Watch here […]
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Grafton Street was pedestrianised because it was hell for pedestrians and motorists alike to navigate through. In my recollection, the businesses initially objected to the proposed pedestrianisation (as they seem to do even now with every proposal that seeks to curtail privately owned cars entering the city centre). I bet they wouldn’t change back now. Whatever about the amount of noisy buskers, what we need is more pedestrianisation of streets in the city centre.
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+1
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Stephens green, Clockwise before the tram, I was driving a Datsun 120Y.
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That gives me a chill. Studied in kevin st ’73 to ’76, Worked out of donnybrook ’78 to ’81, city centre ever since. The bus with the rear entry, hop on hop off, nowadays health and safety types woul have a fit. The corner of stephens green, just after the winter garden ruins were demolished. The orange P&T vans, when P&T staff were civil servants, had to wear a shirt and tie (allegedly) and used to learn irish as well as telecoms in Kevin St. (now DIT) No dart, no internet, took for years to get a phone put in. The RDS still the same, Leinster played in donnybrook to crowds of maybe 100.
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Actually I shot this in either late 1978 or possibly early 1979
AFN
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Those hop on hop off bus types ended their service in 1982.
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“Those hop on hop off bus types ended their service in 1982.”
… and I was on the last official run which was I think the 23 to Drimnagh. Found some pictures recently, that were taken on the day. I’ll try and dig them up (I think they are in my mothers) and post them in the next few weeks.
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Pretty much the same kip it is today 🙂
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You will see Dublin at its best today all around Croke Park, Heaven.
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Great video, who made it? Very interesting to see what stood where the Blackrock shopping Centre was built…
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I’d love to see a side-by-side comparison with the same route today…except with the driving down Grafton Street! Amazing video, kudos.
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The re-shoot is being worked on. The Camera tests have been done and as it is now not then permissions will be sort. Furthermore some colour stills cibachrome and negatives of the route will be posted soon. I have some gaps in the scanner size as the negatives and transparencies are slightly bigger than I can do at home.
BFN AFN
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Now you’ve made me homesick, but it was so worth it. I used to work in the ESB on Fitzwilliam Street and you sped past many of my old watering holes!
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He parked outside McDonald’s and Boylan’s in Grafton Street on a yellow line, opposite Arnott’s; he didn’t drive in circles hunting for a parking spot — because he wasn’t supposed to park there — but no-one bothered him or gave him a ticket (the old days before law); then he drove SOUTH on Dawson Street!
The fuckin’ pervert — SOUTH!
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Anychance of the original slow version please great video by the way
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Amazing film
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Its definitely earlier than 1982. I would say its early 1978.
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Excellent clip. Its definitely not as late as 1982 though. Its 1978 I would guess.
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[…] ones we’ve posted to date Driving in Dublin Circa 1982 and Driving in Dublin 1974 Advertisement GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); […]
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Here’s a link for a video about Dublin for the 1988 Dublin millennium celebrations. More detail in the video description on YouTube. The old footage might be of some interest to people here.
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Thanks Ronan.
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You do like technology don’t you? I will come back when
I can
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Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point.
You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos
to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
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