jewellers

maps.google.ie/maps?q=o'connell+street+dublin&hl=en&a...

Changes since Bona Fide Travellers: The DBC. The tall electric lights (1892 until 1903-1910 sometime). Where is the Gunpowder office signage gone? Railings around the O'Connell monument. Electric trams. Straw hats! Light coloured clothes. Ladies on bikes.

And as DannyM8 spotted, a dust cart spraying the street! We've never captured one of those in action before...

Summer I would think, the few parasols are for the sun rather than the rain. Strong shadows - someone will be able to tell the date and time of day!

DannyM8 Someone thinks 14:43 (?) from the clock (see note). Not 100% sure.

Streetview

The horse trams started in 1879 per wikipedia, and ran (or walked!) until 1918.

I see a swan necked electric light, which suggests 1905+

At left is Alexander Moon's, which remained Moon's until it was absorbed by Brown Thomas.

According to this Kenny's bookshop page: The building dates from c.1870. It opened initially under the name Farquarson, then it became Farquarson and Moon , then Alexander Moon, then Alexander Moon Ltd. Today it trades under the name Brown Thomas, though most Galwegians still call it Moons.

super!

Terrific image with so much movement in it! Hard to do this with digital even! I love the purses on their belts.

It certainly gives a different feel than the more professional photos. Thanks for another great shot.

According to an old advert here www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18350 Edmond Johnson was at 94-95 Grafton Street. And the firm could be traced back to 1760... EDMOND JOHNSON, Manufacturing Jeweller, 94 and 95, Grafton Street; and 46, Wicklow Street, Dublin. The records of Irish commercial enterprise furnish no more striking instance of continuous success than is afforded by the splendid establishment of Mr. Edmond Johnson, which is not only the premier house in the trade in the City, but the oldest established jeweller's business in Ireland. This undertaking was originally founded A.d. 1760 by Mr. James Johnson, Wholesale Jewellery Manufacturer, and was continued by that gentleman until 1791, when he was succeeded by his son, Mr. Joseph Johnson. On the death of the latter gentleman in 1832, the business reverted to his successor, Mr. Edmond Johnson, who held the control until 1863, when it passed into the possession of his son, the present proprietor, a record of continuity in one family perhaps unexampled in the history of this trade in the country. The premises in Grafton Street comprise a magnificent block of building with attractive frontage, elaborately decorated in black and gold, the elevation being four stories in height and commanding a splendid corner position at the junction of Grafton and Wicklow Streets. The noble plate-glass windows are devoted to a recherché display of the highest class gold and gem jewellery in artistic designs, costly gold and silver watches, clocks, and timepieces in rich variety, silver plate, and an immense assortment of valuable articles, objects d'art and bijouterie of the most beautiful description. The interior of the establishment is of lofty and commodious proportions, appropriately in harmony with the external surroundings, and appointed throughout with handsome ebonized show cases exhibiting in glittering profusion an infinite variety of goods of the highest quality of workmanship. Of these special attention is directed to a unique department of the jeweller's art which Mr. Johnson has made peculiarly his own, and which certainly entitles him to rank in the highest grade in his profession–the manufacture of copies of ancient Irish art; and as an art jeweller this gentleman is unrivalled in the three kingdoms, his collection of antique plate (of which he is an expert connoisseur) being the finest exhibition of this class of work existing. It contains numerous authentic specimens of the Charles's, Cromwell, and Queen Anne periods, of rare designs and the richest workmanship, of inestimable value to the virtuoso or collector. The manufacturing departments on the premises are conducted in spacious and well lighted workrooms, in which are produced the magnificent jewellery and diamond work displayed in the establishment. This forms an exceptional special feature of the business, Mr. Johnson having had a lifelong experience in all branches of the jeweller's and diamond setter's handicraft, and many of the skilled operatives employed in the factory have been trained from their boyhood in the establishment. The business throughout is exclusively high class in character, many of the articles exhibited being of fabulous value–one pair of single stone diamond earrings submitted for our inspection on the occasion of our visit being valued at £1,000. and a whole necklace of stones of nearly equal size must have been worth literally a king's ransom. The clientèle established by Mr. Johnson is of a most influential character, including the distinguished patronage of the principal members of the Vice-regal Court and the leading nobility and landed gentry in the capital and other parts of Ireland. Nor is the business confined to this side of the Channel exclusively, many orders being executed for England and elsewhere from clients to whom the reputation for refined taste and highly finished workmanship of every article supplied from this eminently representative establishment has penetrated. Source: Dublin, Cork, and South of Ireland: A Literary, Commercial, and Social Review - 1892

Vab2009 One of those ads is dated 1901, right at the time this photo was taken.