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June 17, 2004
Farewell Dempseys music shop we hardly knew ye
Another small part of Dublin has fallen to the wrecking ball.
OK. The building was in need of a little repair. Well.. the front wall was bulging out in the street a LITTLE. OK, ok, the feckin thing was ready to fall down.
You have to mourn it still though. It;s one of the last original buildings on Parnell street. I'd like to see a balance between history and having enough places to stay.
And for Jaysus sake please say a prayer to whatever god you hold dear, that they dont put up one of those marble-clad monstrosities that seem to be the vogue at the moment.
In ten years time, people will look back at these hideous buildings with the marble missing in patches all over them - because the residents dont want tot pay the exorbitant servcie charges that would be needed to stave off the delapidation - and say to themselves 'wasnt there a nice little Georgian building there before they built this piece of crap?'
And of course by then it will be too late. Dublin architecture will have been raped by the developers and Fianna Fail and none of the history that made Dublin what it was will remain. The decline of our capital city started 20 years ago and shows no signs of slowing down.
Some more images of the building for context
Meant to say (damn never post entries when you are drunk..) that the main reason I am sorry to see it go is that Dempseys music shop used ot be in the bottom floor. Old man Dempsey used to be there rain or shine with a collection of guitars only marginally older than he was. Not that they were worth much.
I always used to like sticking my nose in, sit down on the rickety stool and scratch up the old cherryburst arch top that used to hang in the corner. Ah them were the days!
Comments
Deece
Did this building have a little tiny "extension" sticking out abouthalf way up ? ( it looked like a little tiny wooden umm ...toilet room? ( to call it a bathroom would give the false impression that there was room for any thing else other than a toilet) If it was then Im really sad it was gone , cos one of my friends lived in apartment nearby and we used to go on his roof garden and try and look in, and then there was the incident with the chinese take away ....
Mr 5thPercentile
Ha! I want to know the incident with the Chinese take away!
I didnt know you were a Dubliner - thought you were American, its strange for a local to be browsing blogs or so it seems.
I have put up other images for context - not sure if it helps you place it. the second context image faces toward the top of Capel Street, my back was to Parnell street with the UGC (or whatever its called now..) on my right.
Deece
Damn! i dont think its the same building. thinking about it now I think the building im thinking of was possibly near christchurch. It was totally falling apart and had a funny toilet room extension, and we suspected there were junkies who used to "avail of the facilities" ( the facilities meaning the fact that there were just about 4 walls and a roof and the police couldnt see them). The chinese take away story was more of a study of the aero-dynamic qualities of chicken balls and sweet 'n' sour sauce. I should probably have introduced myself - Im Denise I work with Peter and I briefly met you at some work drinks - best description i can give of myself is short, lots of piercings and i was probably clutching a JD and coke with a slightly manic nicotine-starved look about me!
noel
This was my uncle brendans shop !! I was often in there when I was a boy and have very fond memories of the shop with its small flat upstairs and little repair room just to the right after the shop area .I have not seen Brendan for years now but think he is still in fine fettle (years of using his bike to work)
Posted by dottie at June 17, 2004 12:55 AM
Comments
Did this building have a little tiny "extension" sticking out abouthalf way up ? ( it looked like a little tiny wooden umm ...toilet room? ( to call it a bathroom would give the false impression that there was room for any thing else other than a toilet) If it was then Im really sad it was gone , cos one of my friends lived in apartment nearby and we used to go on his roof garden and try and look in, and then there was the incident with the chinese take away ....
Posted by: Deece at June 17, 2004 10:00 AM
Ha! I want to know the incident with the Chinese take away!
I didnt know you were a Dubliner - thought you were American, its strange for a local to be browsing blogs or so it seems.
I have put up other images for context - not sure if it helps you place it. the second context image faces toward the top of Capel Street, my back was to Parnell street with the UGC (or whatever its called now..) on my right.
Posted by: Mr 5thPercentile at June 17, 2004 11:11 AM
Damn! i dont think its the same building. thinking about it now I think the building im thinking of was possibly near christchurch. It was totally falling apart and had a funny toilet room extension, and we suspected there were junkies who used to "avail of the facilities" ( the facilities meaning the fact that there were just about 4 walls and a roof and the police couldnt see them). The chinese take away story was more of a study of the aero-dynamic qualities of chicken balls and sweet 'n' sour sauce. I should probably have introduced myself - Im Denise I work with Peter and I briefly met you at some work drinks - best description i can give of myself is short, lots of piercings and i was probably clutching a JD and coke with a slightly manic nicotine-starved look about me!
Posted by: Deece at June 18, 2004 12:17 PM
This was my uncle brendans shop !! I was often in there when I was a boy and have very fond memories of the shop with its small flat upstairs and little repair room just to the right after the shop area .I have not seen Brendan for years now but think he is still in fine fettle (years of using his bike to work)
Posted by: noel at March 18, 2006 2:22 PM