Captain Santa Claus

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From top: poster for the Fireman’s Polka (1903) dedicated to Captain Boyle, of the Dublin Fire Brigade, above right, at the WhiteHorse Yard, Dublin in 1890

Captain John Boyle of the Dublin Fire Brigade.

He was the gift that kept giving.

Historical Dubliner writes:

Captain John Boyle served as chief of the Dublin Fire Brigade between 1882 and 1892. On his retirement from office, the Freeman’s Journal wrote of him:

“The lives saved and the property preserved by his coolness, skill and daring, are the best testimony to his deserts. No general in active service in the field discharged duties more onerous or more dangerous.”

His greatest success was partially saving the South City Markets in Clarendon Street from destruction in 1892. Dublin kids, however, preferred to refer to him as “Captain Santa Claus”.

Pics via The National Library of Ireland and South Dublin Libraries

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