Sure When Would You Get It?

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George’s Street (now O’Connell Street), Limerick, circa 1900.

Old Ireland In Colour tweets:

From no. 120 on left: O’Mahony & Co., XL Café/Int’l Hotel, GWR Enquiry Office. From no. 26 on right: MacMahon’s Confectionery/Temperance Hotel/Restaurant, Carroll.

(Source: National Library Of Ireland)

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6 thoughts on “Sure When Would You Get It?

  1. f_lawless

    I’m curious about the need for two different types of street lamps – even placed right beside each other in one particular place. Where the larger ones a newer electric type and the smaller ones an older gas type perhaps?

    1. Slightly Bemused

      Disclaimer: the below is all my supposition.

      This looks to me as if the electric ones (the taller with the fancy metalwork and large bulb) used the existing standard pole, just replacing the glass enclosure and adding on the top extension. However, the base pole to the bottom of the glass enclosure appears to be identical in each lamppost.

      If you look carefully at a large zoom of the top of the nearest light in the top picture, you can see the wire coming from the pole, over to just above the bulb, which appears to be hanging rather than fixed. From this, I imagine they used the existing gas channel to run the electric line up the pole, added the top appendage and so had a sequence of electric/ gas/ electric lights. The glass enclosure probably is merely decorative, and may have been included for aesthetic reason to match the existing lamps. Also note that opposite one type of lamp is the other type on the other side of the street.

      I cannot find when Limerick city first got electricity, but when the ESB took over (mid 1930s), they noted that the Corporation had its own small network. Likely they are the ones who did this.

  2. jamesjoist

    It looks as though Limerick had a problem with sulky racing , even back then . Heavyweight division .

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