FROM THE ARCHIVES - JUNE 23RD, 1902:KING EDWARD VII, famous for his long list of mistresses and giving his name to an era, was due to be crowned in June 1902, but the ceremony was postponed at the last minute when he became ill with appendicitis. Preparations in the centre of Dublin were well under way beforehand, as this report outlined.
The extensive preparations for celebrating the Coronation in Dublin are still in full swing. Our principal thoroughfares present a somewhat peculiar aspect. Numerous ladders, great lengths of gas piping, and enormous coils of electrical wire cable block the footways at many points, while above men are perched on dizzy parapets affixing those varied symbols and loyal mottoes which will very soon dazzle thousands of spectators with their radiance and brilliancy of colour.
It is safe to say that illuminations have never been attempted in Dublin before on a more liberal scale, and, although there is naturally a general similarity of design, as, for instance, in the Royal monograms and the national emblems, yet in many cases the subjects have been treated with exceptional taste and skill.
The Irish Lights Board offices at the corner of D’Olier street and Burgh quay are fitted with the original design of a lighthouse 30 feet high, outlined in white lights, with two windows outlined with red lights, while waves at the base are shown in green.
There will be a crown at the top of the lighthouse, and the latter will be flanked on either side by “E” and “R”. On the corner of the building there is set up an Irish harp, copied from a drawing in the museum, surmounted by a crown, and the harp will be shown in green lights. Scalloped reflectors are being utilised, painted in different hues, and the whole effect cannot fail in being very striking. It is a good hail from D’Olier street to James’s Gate Brewery, but it would certainly be most unfair to pass unnoticed the very elaborate illuminations which will adorn this gigantic building.
The designs are on a large and liberal scale, and include the crown over a harp and shamrocks, a row of what are technically known as “bucket” lamps and a very handsome ribbon festoon bearing the words “God Save the King”.
There will also be six shamrocks, each 24 inches long. This combination is over the entrance gate, and further on the offices, a new portion of the buildings, will have a six-foot crown, the letters “E” and “R,” each five feet high, and two four-foot stars, making a brave show. Two enormous flags will be unfurled. At the Victoria quay premises a very fine effect will be secured by six crowns placed at proper intervals right along the frontage, and the letters “E” and “R” in the centre, with two splendid stars. The premises of the National Bank, College green, are handsomely decorated with two large festoons of laurel leaves and a magnificent shamrock. The garlands are very pretty decorations by day, but the effect will be doubtless most charming when the light is turned on at night, and the multitude of vari-coloured bulbs and flowers illuminated. Messrs. Dockrell and Sons, of South Great George’s street, who are carrying out this artistic work, are decorating their own premises on a like generous scale. The Royal College of Surgeons, Stephen’s Green, will look well with its crown, harp and shamrock, and a row of brilliant stars; and the Royal College of Physicians in Kildare street will also be lavishly decorated and illuminated. The Empire Restaurant in Nassau street, will have the name “Empire” in open gas work, between two stars, and the Belfast Banking Company, College green, will have the sentiment, “God Save the King,” surmounted by a large crown.
The North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, College Green, will show an electrically-lit crown, six feet in height, and seven large flags. The City of Dublin Steampacket Company’s premises will have as illuminations a large crown and “E.R.,” and the Norwich Insurance Company, Upper Sackville street, have gone to much expense in the matter of decorations. There will be evergreens under the balcony, four trophies in the shape of shields with flags, and the windows will be neatly dressed in purple or crimson “aprons.”
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