thestrand

The charming North Queensland town of Townsville has a rich history. The town played an integral role in the war in the Pacific, and many landmarks remain today, just waiting to be explored. Steeped in history, Kissing Point Fort is home to some imposing reminders of World War II: huge guns pointing out to sea from the point. The barracks and guns may date back to the late 1800s, but the new 15-hectare heritage precinct, Jezzine Barracks is the perfect backdrop to explore this notable landmark. 32 public artworks span the area, commemorating the military and Aboriginal heritage of the point. Coastal walkways, including an ethnobotanical walk with traditional flora, offer the ideal vantage to explore. The Army Museum of North Queensland sits in the center of the precinct, with many exhibitions and collections on the history of the Australian Army in North Queensland available for viewing. Source: www.queensland.com/au/en/things-to-do/arts-and-culture/hi...

Townsville Customs House is a heritage-listed former customs house at Wickham Street, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George David Payne and built from 1900 to 1902 by Crawford & Cameron. With its distinctive entrance portico and domed roof the former Townsville Customs House makes an outstanding contribution to an historic and aesthetic streetscape that includes Anzac Memorial Park, the former Queen's Hotel, the State Government Offices, Tattersalls Hotel, and the former Bank of New South Wales. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townsville_Customs_House#External_l...

Townsville's first Queen's Hotel, a two-storeyed timber structure, was erected at the corner of Wickham Street and The Strand in 1872, and was extended along Wickham Street in the 1880s. It early acquired a reputation as one of the best-kept hotels in Queensland, patronised by visiting dignitaries. In 1899 the property and license were purchased by John Henry Tyack. He raised a £14,000 mortgage on the property, and called for competitive designs to replace the timber building with a substantial brick structure. The original design was more modest in size than the final structure, extending along the Strand only as far as the eastern tower, and around the corner of Wickham Street for eight bays. It was erected in stages, with trade continuing from the original hotel on the corner of Wickham Street and the Strand until 1925. In 1901, Tyack purchased an adjoining block (site of the former North Australian Hotel) along the Strand, which permitted construction of the first section of the new Queen's Hotel, comprising the eastern tower and four bays to its west, c.1902. This section was extant by March 1903. In May 1904, Tyack replaced the first mortgage with one for £20,000, which probably financed construction of the second section, completed by 1905. This involved demolition of part of the timber building along the Strand, and the extension of the brick building a further six bays toward the corner of Wickham Street. The contractor was a Mr Boyle, and work was underway in January 1904. For the next twenty years, Queen's Hotel consisted of a brick wing along the Strand, and a corner timber section that continued back along Wickham Street. Source: mstrong.info/qsatwig/historic-places/townsville/queens-ho...

From this doc at the NLI dug up for that previous pic: In early 1919, partly on Collins’ suggestion, Ó Briain was appointed the envoy of Dáil Eireann in Britain, founding its ‘London Office’ which he practically co-ran over the next few years with Fintan Murphy and later Charles Betrand Dutton, an old business associate who was also a prominent Gaelic Leaguer.

The catalogue says the photographer was Lizzie Caswall Smith (1870-1958) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Caswall_Smith www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp60354/lizzie-c...

That doc references this one in the collection: MS 8437 /4 1920 Accounts by various individuals of a police raid on Ó Briain’s office (30 Nov. 1920).

Irish Times article about Art Ó Bríain's files at the NLI - www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/a-lock-of-hair-1.1557975 - including this ...

... One French journalist, Joseph Kessel, who visited Ó Bríain at his office in Adam Street, just off the Strand in London in September 1920, later spoke about the unusual circumstances under which Ó Bríain operated. Kessel remembered visiting a very busy office with lots of mackintosh-wearing young men hanging about. Serene amid all the clatter of the office, a pipe-smoking Ó Bríain was calmly giving orders, scribbling down messages and answering the telephone, all at the same time. Years later, Kessel said that the fact that the Irish had such an office in London at that time would be akin to the FLN having an office in Paris at the height of the Algerian War. ...

This photo is on p. 522 of the brilliant Atlas of the Irish Revolution in Darragh Gannon's chapter 'The Irish Revolution in Great Britain', and the caption gives loads of information on the envoy, his office, and the times that were in it...

"Art Ó Briain's embassy staff: (front, left to right): Liam Moore, Fintan Murphy, Art Ó Briain, C.B. Dutton; (back, left to right): Seán Molloy, Maeve O'Brien, Paddy Codyre. In March 1919 Ó Briain was officially appointed Dáil Éireann envoy to Great Britain. His bureau located off the Strand (City of Westminster) employed a small 'embassy' staff, while 3 Adam Street became an Irish centre of the metropolitan web of anti-imperial nationalists. Burmese, Catalan and South African representatives all converged on the 'London office' in search of Irish republican support. Significant international relations were developed. Between 1919 and 1920 Ó Briain met with and advised Saad Zaghloul, the Egyptian revolutionary and statesman, in the latter's negotiations with the British government. He also became a close associate of the Indian nationalist and communist Shapurji Saklatvala. Ó Briain also collaborated with Scottish National League leaders William Gillies and Ruaraidh Erskine of Marr. The Dáil had additional diplomatic missions in New York, Washington DC, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Brussels and Geneva, and representation in Genoa, Buenos Aires and Santiago. Roving envoys were also present in Australia, South Africa and the Soviet Union at different stages."