The Memories Made in Dublin City exhibition was a unique celebration of people and Dublin City
Through photos, videos, songs, stories and poems, people from Dublin, across Ireland and around the world shared special moments in time that live long as cherished memories.
From summers in Ringsend to trips to Santa in Switzers, from a tour of Dublin with Luke Kelly to the Phoenix Park ‘Coal Rush’, from first dates to wedding days, the exhibition gave a fascinating insight into life in Dublin over many decades.
This website shares photos, interviews and stories from the exhibition. The memories remind us of what makes living, working in and visiting Dublin city so wonderful.
Memories captured in interviews and stories
Step back in time with this 40-minute video. From romances in dances to the kindness of strangers, from a local Children’s Olympics in 1956 to the simple pleasure of free broken biscuits, these memories capture special moments in time.
Snapshots of life
From 1912 to 2025, this slideshow presents the memories people shared of times spent with each other and in Dublin City.
My mother was a guest in the Mansion House at the 1931 Children’s Party that was hosted by the Lord Mayor, Alfie Byrne. Following in her footsteps, 94 years later I was a guest in the Mansion House, at the Tea Dance, hosted by the Lord Mayor, Emma Blain.
Bennett & Nolan was established by Patricia Bennett and Tommy Nolan in 1952. It was a Grocer and Coffee shop which at the time fed and watered all the thespians who lived in bedsits on Georgian Fitzwilliam St. Fun times.
Going with my sons to see my sister Tara’s art work at the Connecting Artists National Exhibition held in RCSI.
Bringing my son to St Stephen’s Green for the first time.
Cycling with teddy!
My wedding in Croke Park, a place I love and the place where the Dubs lifted 6 in-a-row All Ireland titles. Never to be repeated.
Tenters Group, Inner City Sports Parade, Trinity College. Courtesy of Dublin City Library & Archive
The first photo is me with my brothers, Frank & Ken, taken on Dollymount beach. The second photo was taken by me about 45 years later, it’s my brothers Frank, Alan & Ken on a misty day at Dollymount. We lived in Fairview which is only 3 miles from the beach, I have very happy memories of days spent there-lots of sandy sandwiches!
Watching the ships come into Dublin port with my son from the Poolbeg Lighthouse.
My wife and I have a great respect and affection for Ireland as we both love Irish traditional music and especially the Dubliners folk group. My personal memories of Dublin date back to the 1970s. To set the scene… I was just 23 years of age and had never visited Ireland but always managed to go along whenever the Dubliners were in concert in
Oxford. I was in the front row and at the interval, Luke stayed on stage and called out to me to meet him after the concert. At the stage door Luke asked me what I was doing 10 years ago and I replied I couldn’t even remember what I did yesterday! He then told me that I had been at a junior boxing match and I had walked into a punch from my opponent which put me on the ground and a tall chap had got into the ring to help me out. I said that would have been my Dad and Luke said he and Phil Coulter had been in the area and had been watching the boxing and were sat by my father. Luke said to me “Mick you have the sort of face that should never do a robbery as I recognized you immediately”
Some months later I met up with Luke in Dublin. Luke asked if I had heard The Dubliners song “The Monto” and if I knew what it was about and I confirmed that I did know. After walking a short distance Luke asked me to read a street sign which said Foley Street formerly Montgomery St, Luke laughed and said this was “The Monto” and did I want to stop to which I hurriedly said no, move on! We spent the whole day with Luke pointing out various places of interest, including The GPO, the statue of O’Connell at the foot of O’Connell St with the bullet holes in the angels underneath and recounting various anecdotes of history and interest.
Ringsend’s best kept secrets – lazy summer months down the beach, swimming, crab fishing, digging holes, picnics with soggy sandwiches galore and, of course, a litter pick up at the end of each day. Who can find the most tropical shells? Pelican foot shell always surprises us, never a dull moment on what get washed up on the beach from shar
ks, conger eels, sheep, seagulls – we were always fascinated. Blackberry picking and quick swim in the cockle lake too. We always waited for the spring tides so we could get the wash off, the huge ships passing by. All good fun was had. And, of course, Mr Tilley would bring a bag of chips for us all and everyone was fed. The most happy and simple childhood memories which you can’t buy.
Best day ever – Gavin and Roisin’s wedding in City Hall.
Papal Mass, Phoenix Park. Courtesy of Dublin City Library & Archive
A beautiful sunset stroll in the Phoenix Park, I snapped my son Kyle up at the magazine.
My recently deceased brother, Pearse, and my wife, Lorna, walking across O’Connell Bridge after a great day in town.
Walking the catwalk. Rehearsal for 1,000 years of Fashion at the RDS Dublin 1990.
Discovering a piece of peaceful paradise in the city, kayaking along the Grand Canal on a sunny day.
Proud in Dublin, proud of Dublin.
This is my mam, Joan, and her best friend walking down O’Connell Street, 1954, when she was just 18 years of age.
I’ve watched Olympic Games with my sports mad father since 1972 and this was the nearest I was to being involved in one. When the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay was in Dublin I met sporting heroes including Seb Coe, Ronnie Delany, Ruby Walsh and Henry Shefflin. The day was finished with being invited to Farmleigh House for a dinner hosted by the
Olympic Council of Ireland where I found myself seated beside John Treacy who I had got up early to watch winning the Marathon Olympic silver medal in Los Angeles in 1984. Surreal!!!!
Myself and my granddad, Tom. He was was born and reared in Dublin’s North inner city. This is one of many photos of my cherished childhood. It’s myself and my grandad messing in our living room. We were always up to some mischief. The stories he told; swimming in the Royal Canal or the Tolka and robbing apples from the orchard on Clonliffe Road
.
My best friend and my daughter taking a walk in Chapelizod in April 2014.
I volunteered at the 2012 Tall Ships festival and was assigned to the Stavros S Niarchos which was owned and operated by the Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT). It was an amazing four days with early morning briefings and late night irish dancing and a little bit of madness and getting to meet great people, local and international, in between!!
Rushing over O’Connell Bridge on my first date to meet my now husband of 60 years!!
Connecting communities with bridges and miles of smiles. On a recent return home to Dublin I captured a beautiful photograph of my wife and sister on the Ha’penny Bridge. This photograph created some rich conversations about our rich Dublin and Irish heritage and our migration journey. Memories of toys from Hector Grey, using a ferry boat to cros
s the Liffey and the Guinness boats.
Rui, Vinnie and a friend on St Patrick’s night.
My walk and talk tour with my group, The Usual Suspects. We met on a group on Facebook and we got together to explore Dublin. It’s a fantastic way to learn about our city. This photo was taken outside Dublin Castle.
My grandparents, Jeseppi and Pasquale, emigrated from Spillimbergo, Italy, to find some work after the Great War. They traveled through Ireland, and finally settled in Marino, surrounded by a healthy Italian community. My Nono (Grandfather) specialized in terrazzo and mosaic and did some fabulous work in many banks, churches and hospitals in Dublin
– Holles Street and St Michael’s to mention a few. I have so many memories of visiting Marino as a kid. They were very courageous people to leave their home without a word of English, and as courageous they were, they were met with an equal measure of kindness and hospitality by the Irish, who helped and cared for them on their journey.
I’m proud of my Italian heritage, as I am of the wonderful nation Ireland is. We are a great nation of caring, and inclusive people.
I love this memory because it’s my first ever Marathon with Mam after covid. Dublin city centre is one of my favourite places to go, especially with mam, since I was a little child. Dublin has our heart.
My baby’s first trip to the Dublin Zoo.
1960s and 1970s: A tradition for us was to visit town on special days to have lunch with our Dad who worked in Trinity College – hence the pic of front square for my first holy communion – or our Mum who worked in the Paperback Centre on Suffolk Street. We got to have ‘lunch’ in a Chinese restaurant (The Universal on Suffolk Street
or Kingsland on Dame Street) or tea at the Golden Spoon or Robert Robert’s. We got to see movies at the Grafton cinema or bring home cakes from the Kylemore Bakery.
My brother Ken and two of his boys, Conal & Oisín, home from San Francisco to cheer on the Dubs in Croker.
Student midwife on night duty at the Rotunda Hospital in 1981. Imagine living at the top of O’Connell, coming off night duty, changing out of our uniforms and having breakfast in Sheries restaurant and then going the short walk back to our beds.
The first picture is my Mam and Dad, Emily and Larry, as they travelled from Waterford for the All Ireland final in 1958. This is my Mam, Emily, and I. I have such fond memories of the 1980s. Being given a day off school to get up early and take the bus from Waterford to Dublin to see ‘the windows’. My mother was all about Christmas magic. So e
ach year she would take just me (1 of 6 kids) to Dublin. We would leave early and listen to Gay Byrne and Gerry Ryan on the radio as we watched the countryside disappear behind us. The excitement building, what we would see? The cuppa in Bewleys and the toys in Switzers, the traders on Moore Street reminding us to get our wrapping paper. When mam started to forget about presents and Christmas, we knew she was going down the dementia path and our hearts broke. She is in a nursing home now and can no longer speak. But the glint is still in her eye and the magic instilled in us we pass onto our own children now.
Thank you Dublin and thank you Mam for the amazing memories you made for me. Xx
Our wedding day in the Constitution Room at the Shelbourne Hotel.
Outside the Mansion House with my partner last Christmas after visiting the brilliant light show in Merrion Square Park, absolutely brilliant night.
Walking down Grafton Street on our wedding day.
My mam and dad, Theresa and Peter at the Gresham Hotel, dress dance 1960. My mam borrowed the coat for the dress dance. My mam who was 10 years old and lived in Fishamble Street at the time, she remembers this “The Irish House” pub. It was knocked down and parts sent to America.
My grandfather, John, and his work mate Paddy. They worked for Fanagans Undertakers and were driving down O’Connell Street just outside Clerys on their way back from a funeral in Glasnevin in 1943.
My father, Michael, and my sister, Yvonne, taken at the GPO.
My parents, Michael & Mary, waiting for their ice cream in the Palm Grove Ice Cream P
arlour, O’Connell Street, where they always went after a night at the pictures in 1946.
The Wonder of Woolies
Now 81, my best memory of Dublin City was to go into town to Woolies (Woolworths) in Henry Street. I took the number 20 bus from Clontarf, aged 10 alone, to Woolies (different times!). It had everything – pick ‘n’ mix, comics, clothes toys and much more. Then a Pepsi on a high stool, such sophistication, before headi
ng home, happy as a lark.
This is my granny (Eithne) and grandad (Robert) on O’Connell Bridge in 1939 with my mother, Sheila, and her younger brother, Wilsie.
I’m an autistic Artist. I see my life as a long term performance art piece so every day I choose what to wear based on the colours and shapes I feel I am that day. This day I’d just covered my boots in beads and pom poms and I was excited to wear them out. We were walking down Talbot St and spotted this mural on a side laneway. It matched the e
nergy of my outfit that day so my husband took this photo of me posing in front of Memory Lane.
Registry office wedding in the city during covid!
My mam, Joan from Crumlin, marrying my dad, Dermot from Crumlin, on the 5th of September 1959. The reception was in the Four Provinces. They were married 60 years when my dad passed away. My mam is still going strong at 89 years of age.
After our engagement, St Stephen’s Green Park.
Angela, Maureen and Maura on O’Connell Bridge. We worked until 1pm on Saturdays. And then walked into town.
Maura and her friend from work, Angela, with my baby brother, Colm on O’Connell Street in 1964.
Rory in Dublin.
The Fagan family from Fairview on their annual outing to the Southside to see Santa in Switzers.
My granny and grandad on their wedding day, 14th January 1912. They were married in Saint Catherine’s Church, Meath Street.
My mother on her first communion day in 1943 or 1944. She made her first communion in Saint James Church, James Street.
Me with Imelda May at awards night in Saint Catherine’s Church, Meath Street.
I came to Dublin from Edmonton, Canada to complete my Masters degree at Trinity. The first photo features me in the final throes of writing my Masters dissertation. I was feeling very homesick took a walk to clear my head. Then, over at Bridgefoot Street Park, I found a four-leaf clover. As cliché as that was, something about that moment really ga
ve me hope.
Fast forward to the second photo. I returned to Dublin for my graduation ceremony with my family. Now I am back again, this time to do my PhD – I’ve one year almost down and three more to go.
This photo is my mam and me in the back yard our home in Fairview. My dad painted the design on the wall.
My favourite place walking outside Croke Park, after watching the Dubs win…Heaven.
My brother-in-law had an artist’s studio opposite the Gate Theatre. From upstairs, we had a Bird’s Eye view of the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Dublin é Magnífica. Sou brasileira e adorei conhecer essa linda cidade. Dublin is great!
Ballyfermot Sister Shed’s visits to Áras an Uachtaráin and to Henrietta Street.
Watching rugby at Trinity College.
This is my daughter at our favourite spot in Dublin. We loved going to look at the amazing street art behind the Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street.
With my mother on O’Connell Street.
My favourite Dublin memory is getting married to my fellow Dubliner in December 2022. Dublin has always been a part of our love story and it was so special to have our city as the backdrop for our wedding day.
This is the story behind locked down but not locked up. At the start of Covid, I was isolated at home. I was fearful of going out, not because of Covid itself but being a person with cerebral palsy. I was afraid if I fell I’d have a problem of getting home and would be in serious trouble. Then my met my old friend Eddie who encouraged me to start
walking with him every morning. So our great adventures began.
When me self and James got together on our walks, we started taking photos and after months of walking around the docks / Dublin Port, we accumulated a couple of hundred photos. We decided we would put them into a calendar. Through our walks we met many characters who we included in our calendar, everyone from the local butcher to the guards and many children and families that lived in the area. It became a sense of pride for both of us. But most importantly for me I gained a renewal of a great friendship and it gave me motivation to maintain my independence. Over the years since we have engaged with our community and have heard many stories and through our calendars, we have reinforced the sense of belonging and pride in Eastwall.
The annual Liffey swim that dad competes in every year! Photo taken on Custom House Quay.
My husband, Ben, ran the Dublin marathon in October 2022 for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, raising over €8,000.
Me with my sister, first day of school.
Upstairs on a bus, a great way to see Dublin.
This is me with my mother, Maureen, in 1962 making my first communion at St Louis Primary School in Rathmines. This is my only photograph of my mother left to me and hangs proudly on my wall.
My favourite memory of Dublin is June 15th 2003, strolling down Grafton Street and getting coffee from Bewleys on my first date with Sarah. 20 years to the day, myself and my three boys were back on Grafton Street, suited and booted – making our way to Bewleys to meet Sarah – and walk down the aisle to become the first people ever to ge
t married inside the iconic Dublin café.
This me at my favourite swim spot in Dublin, Poolbeg half moon.
Chloe has been performing at Heuston train station and Grafton Street ever since she started her musical journey. She was well received by Dubliners and tourists.
Eric Clarke
‘Messing with the Mayor’
I always remember walking past this delightfully painted warehouse on Talbot Lane. Something about the brown on this street is excellent.
My Mum and Dad, on their wedding day in Crumlin.
An Tóstal Festival parade, 1953 at the GPO. Queen Maeve in her chariot is me! My late husband, Eamonn, was one of the warriors behind me. One spectator, near Parnell Square, shouted “Give the Lucan Dairy back their milk cart!”, which was accurate, as that is what the chariots were made from!
Michael’s visit to Kilmainham Gaol.
On our way to the parade down O’Connell Street.
A lovely warm welcome on a cold day – with family and friends, playing an escape room at Grand Canal Dock.
Celebrating my daughter’s 16th birthday. After food we took a walk through Temple Bar and got this great photo.
Seeing Damien Dempsey in the beautiful Iveagh Gardens.
On a Friday evening in the late 1960s our Dad would take me and my sisters out for a Friday Surprise. Sometimes we got sweets. We got a tortoise once, gladioli bulbs another time. My favourite memory was making Dad drive in to D’Olier Street so we could see the Donnelly Sausage Neon advertisement where a boy and girl tossed a sausage from frying
pan to frying pan. A happy memory of a lovely family tradition!
I was never out of the Green Cinema in Stephen’s Green when I was young. It was the place to be in the 1960s and 70s. We always went straight into the disco at the back of the café after the show on a Sunday. I even still have my tickets!
Student night, pizza eating competition.
Summer days in the 1970’s piling in to back of my Da’s brown Hillman Hunter with my two sisters and heading to the “Hole in the Wall” beach or to Howth to spend the day swimming or building sand castles in our own “Irish Riviera”.
Nana and grandad first met in 1958 under Clery’s Clock while Christmas carolling. Grandad grew up in Inchicore and Nana in Mountjoy Street. They made their home in Artane and were married for sixty years. Nana is 91 now and has Alzheimer’s for nearly a decade.
Though her memories are faded, her love of Dublin and meeting Grandad, her best frien
d, all those years ago remain strong. “Why would you want to leave when you’ve everything on your doorstep,” says Nana about Dublin.
This is me with my parents at my first St. Patrick’s Day parade, March 17th 1965, sixty years ago. If you look carefully you can see the portico of the GPO and Nelson’s Pillar in the background.
Eric and Stan in Dublin, Halloween.
The black and white photos were taken in Pearse Street. These memories hold onto the fashion, everyday life, and relationships that happened 70 years ago in Dublin.
When Molly met mo mhadra it was a beautiful day in the city. We wandered through town. My dog loves a trip to town and often will walk me down the canal and up to Baggot St to say hello to everyone. To them she’s just a dog, but to me she’s my Ringsend Rose.
One of my favourite memories from my wedding day in Dublin was standing on the steps of City Hall with my dad. I was so nervous, but then all the cars coming up Parliament Street saw me and started beeping their horns and cheering out the windows of the cars, a perfect Dublin moment.
Celebrating the Dubs winning their 6th All Ireland title.
Dublin can be heaven… Dublin is heaven
Our wedding took place on a most Dublin of days, Bloomsday. We cycled through our City, got married at City Hall and celebrated with our family, friends, neighbours and tourists on Prospect Square. We adore our city memories and I find myself now sharing the stories my beloved Dad would tell us about our
City.
Gerard, porter at the Shelbourne Hotel Dublin in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
My first Guinness
My girlfriend Maria and I went to watch “The Milk” in the Abbey Theatre. It was the first time we took a picture together.
Becoming the Birdman of Ranelagh.
Erika was my first friend in Dublin when I moved to the city and we visited Dublin Castle. Almost 6 years on, now we live in different countries. I’ve become a Dubliner and have established my life here. These early memories of coming to a new city and making friends to this day still cheer me on. We both love Dublin and are thankful the good kin
d Irish people have always made us newcomers feel like home. We will forever cherish the time we spent together in Dublin and hope we will meet again at the iconic staircase one day.
The start of over six happy decades together, our wedding day in St Stephen’s Green.
Me and my brother, slurping up every last bit of ice cream sodas on a trip to town.
Memories shared in stories, moments and poems
From the Phoenix Park Coal Rush to The Little Liberties Lad, from watching the 1994 World Cup to summer holidays, this digital publication brings special moments to life in words.
