Sir, – I enjoyed Hugh Oram's Irishman's Diary (April 19th) on the disappearing streets of Dublin very much. It brought back memories of my youth, living and working in a shabby but vibrant town, and not yet a city to my mind.
One omission, due to constraints on space, I’m sure, is where I was born. Verschoyle Place and Power’s Court ran parallel to Upper and Lower Mount Streets, just behind the gracious Georgian houses. The houses at the western end on Merrion Square, and the ones on the Grand Canal bank, completed the picture. It was a collection of mostly single-storey cottages, with an occasional two-storey house in between. A self-contained village, with shops, stables, pubs, a laundry, and a shoe-repair establishment, it provided the necessities of life for its closely packed population. Today the area is a sedate neighbourhood of maisonettes for elderly people, most of whom would have no knowledge of the lively history of the place. – Yours, etc,
A JONES,
Mullagh,
Co Cavan.