Motoring historian Bob Montgomery rummages in his archives
THE BRUNSWICK LEGACY: Cities evolve to meet the needs of changing times and the advent of the motor car impacted on Dublin in many different ways. By around 1905, an Irish motor trade was well-established and, as with other trades, had begun to favour certain city areas.
Purpose-built showrooms appeared in Grafton Street and Dawson Street as well as around St Stephen's Green, but it was Great Brunswick Street, now Pearse Street, which became Dublin's "Motor Street".
The street became home to many of the trade's more significant motor accessory suppliers, as well as a number of significant motor agents. These included suppliers of Rapson tyres, Exide batteries, Carburine and Glico motor spirits, B F Goodrich tyres, Zenith carburetors and Continental tyres.
Among the many motor agents on the street were Burney Brothers who sold Belsize, Deemster, Studebaker and Lagonda cars, as well as the Brunswick Motor Exchange which was agent for the Case make of car, while Keating & Lundy sold the popular Calthorpe make, as well as Maxwell and Rhodes.
In Shaw Street, which joined Great Brunswick Street halfway along its length, were Thompson & Company, significant suppliers of such commercial vehicles as Albion, AEC, Caledon and Commer, as well as cars from De Dion Bouton, Charron, Inerva and Charron-Laycock.
The street retained its motor trade personality right up into the 1970s when firms such as Stanley Woods & Burney as well as the assembly business of Reg Armstrong were situated there. Today these too are gone.
The only significant relics of the street's motor glory days are the sweep of fine ornate shop fronts from numbers 183 to 187 facing the junction with Shaw Street. Originally built for the motor trade, these premises are today part of the Trinity College complex and, although bricked-up, retain sufficient of their original features to make them eminently re-storable.
Sadly, the archway which extended to the left of No 183 has been crudely demolished, damaging the facade of No 183 itself. Perhaps the trade, through the Society of the Irish Motor Industry might take up the case of this otherwise forgotten part of its history and ensure their survival in a more satisfactory manner.
BENT VERSUS STRAIGHT: Motor magazines of 1958 were full of the latest controversy of the day: Was "bent" glass in windscreens safe? It may seem strange to us now but the hackles of many Irish motorists were raised by the debate about "straight" windscreens as opposed to the "wrap-around" and otherwise curved glass then beginning to appear on an increasing number of cars.
All sorts of cases were made, many pseudo-scientific theories were put forward and many harsh words spoken on the subject. Looking back at the correspondence columns of Motoring Life magazine, it's surprising just how heated some of the exchanges were.
In the end, "flat-screeners" might as well have been "flat-earthers" as the styling possibilities opened up by curved windscreens simply overwhelmed any safety or scientific argument. By 1959 the debate was ended and curved windscreens were here to stay.
THE BUS V THE JARVEY: The first Dublin Bus and the Jarveys: The introduction of the first Dublin Bus in 1908 led to a contretemps between the jarveys and the busmen. It seems that a bus was drawn up beside a Dublin theatre and its presence was resented by the jarveys who maintained that it interfered with their prospects of getting fares. The jarveys asked for the name of the bus driver who, not unnaturally, declined to give it. An acrimonious discussion ensued and words quickly gave way to blows. Two policemen tried to intervene but came off badly in the exchange.
Eventually, reinforcements arrived and the parties, three of whom were later arrested, were separated.