refectory

Funnily enough a quieter room than the reading room. The prices are almost certainly in £sd and d's rather than s's in an army mess. These would probably have been snacks and optional extras as the soldiers would have been on rations which they would have eaten in one of the dining rooms in the Curragh Camp. No mention of time NLI or did the clock escape your eagle eye on this occasion??? 14,00 hours I make it? What is the dapper civilian doing in the other ranks coffee room?

Those prices would be in pence, as in £-s-d. Presumably, the cost of eating in their canteen was subsidised?

From my days in uniform I remember there was all ways somewhere other ranks could purchase extra food , drinks/tobacoo products etc. after their daily duties,usually subsidised.So I bet those prices are in pence. The 16th July 1916 being a Sunday would explain why these privates are present in the middle of the afternoon.

Swordscookie Did spot the time, but didn't want to inflict my obsession on ye all! :D

philip ward Thanks for reminding me about the Sunday thing. I've decided from now on to always add the day of the week to the Date part of each photo's description, and to tag the day as well. (Will have to do some retrofitting!) That way we can all search for photos on here by day as well as date, and who knows, the data could be useful...

Hmmm - not one I have any personnal memories of :-) The one gent has got himself a warm spot. It is really well decorated with the wood panelling and the frieze and he paintings.

Maybe that is the superintendant at back left. So very posed with only one inmate allowed to clutter the scene :-(

Such a sad and somewhat tragic image!

There was a honking great Lunatic Asylum on John's Hill (OS 25" link) Flipping between the historic 1905 and modern maps at the OSI, it looks as if all the 1905 buildings are still there. This room may still be in there somewhere, and the round widow is distinctive... The basic layout was there in the 1841 6" map, too.

billh35 Yes I agree. I came across this from Hansard HC Deb 30 June 1910 vol 18 cc1090-1 1090 Captain CRAIG asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention had been called to the last report of the resident medical superintendent of Waterford District Lunatic Asylum, dated 13th June, in which he referred to the unusual number of 1091 assistants who had been confined to bed with various ailments; whether he was aware that one of the attendants had stated that, although the hours of duty performed by the attendants were far in excess of other workers, everything pointed to an increase in that direction owing to the number of attendants on the sick list, and to such an extent were the staff overworked that they were deprived of every third Sunday off, which ran their rest up to the sixth Sunday; and whether, in view of the number of cases which had been brought to light of overworking attendants in asylums in Ireland, he would take steps to ensure that their hours were shortened to something approximating the ordinary working day?