Talbot Street could never be described as glamorous, yet it has more character and authenticity than most of Dublin’s increasingly prettified streets. It was the portal to Monto, the city’s vibrant red-light district, and still possesses much of the charm and spirit of its most famous resident Alfie Byrne, 10 times Lord Mayor of Dublin.
Billy Corr has worked at Gerry Keane's wallpaper shop on 14 Talbot Street for 41 years. "There were 13 wallpaper shops between here and Capel street. Now there's just us. The area has been let go downhill. We don't get flower pots here, we get junkies. We feel left behind."
Corr remembers the Ulster Volunteer Force car bomb in 1974 that killed 14 people. “All the shop’s windows were blown out. The army arrived quickly and we were put out the back door.”
After four decades in business, Keane’s is now the biggest wallpaper retailer in Ireland with thousands of patterns in stock from floral and Fleur-de-Lis to velvet flock and fleecy fibre. The grandchildren of the original clients come in.
Another long-standing Talbot Street retailer is Guineys. While Guineys & Co closed in 2012 after 60 years, two Michael Guiney shops remain: beacons for rural folk stocking up on blankets, sheets and underwear on their way back home via Connolly Station. Bargains abound amid the high-stacked bedding, homeware and clothing: a One Direction Duvet set down from €18 to €5, t-shirts for €1.99 and a BMW Mini Cooper baby stroller reduced from €399 to €299.
Hall Cameras have been at 95 Talbot Street, since Bill and Jack Hall opened in 1960 selling Rolleiflex, Zeiss Ikon, Voigtlander. Japanese models soon took over – Pentax and Yashica first, followed by the current triumvirate of Canon, Nikon and Olympus.
Hall’s pioneered the sale of 8mm cine cameras and projectors to schools and for home use, and while it’s all digital nowadays, their sons still develop negatives and convert old cine reels to DVD. The sheer longevity of their experience means customers remain loyal.
These shops, though, are all newcomers compared to the Singer Sewing Centre which has been at 19 Talbot Street for 145 years. Customers follow in the footsteps of their great-grandparents: from local regulars to eager young hobbyists and professional textile designers, who turn here when other shops claim a repair isn't worth doing, or that parts aren't available. An on-site mechanic works away surrounded by vintage and modern sewing machines, leatherette elbow patches and bra extenders.
