Sackville (now O’Connell) Street, Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland.Stolen from Andrew Cusack. Although probably authentic, it appears that an identical image has been vandalised of its true Britishness, no doubt some mildly depraved Irish nationalist removed the Union Flags from this photo in a pathetic attempt to rewrite one of the most glorious episodes of Dublin's history.
It is of course plausible that the opposite is true, that the image above is the one that has been doctored by some overly eager Irish Tory who wanted to embellish its imperial splendour. If true, let me be the first to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that kind of tampering.
Very interesting picture. Both interpretations by Beaverbrook seem plausible. I would assume that if there was a flag in the original photo, its colours were certainly doctored - as applies to some building fronts further up the street twds Parnell Square. As far as I know massive everyday flag flying the way we know it from the U.S. or Scandinavia was not really on in the then UK, so it might well be (or seems more likely to me) that we owe the Union flags to an over-zealous Unionist printer. Whatever - it is a great picture, can't one almost hear the screeching sound of the double decker trams?
ReplyDeleteI would say from the appearance of the Union Jack furthest to the left, and the fact that they appear identical save their size, that the Union Jack picture is the doctored image.
ReplyDeleteI would agree too that it is the flag draped street that has been embellished rather than the other way around. Whatever. Splendour with embellishment.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this photo- it brought back memories of many a drunken night on O'Connell St. With the "floozy in the jacuzzi" practically on the site of where the pillar once stood, the lyrics continue to ring true:
ReplyDelete"The Pillar and the Met have gone,
the Royale long since pulled down,
As the great unyielding concrete, makes a city of my town."