WILLIAM PHOTOGRAPHS RATHMINES

LEINSTER SQUARE [MY GRAND-AUNT LIVED HERE A LONG LONG TIME AGO]

Dating from the early 1840s, this late Georgian square is an oasis of peace and calm even though it is lies so close to the bustling thoroughfare of Rathmines Road [sounds like an extract from a sales catalogue and it fact it is].

When I was young I visited my grand-aunt’s home here at least once a week and I did not like the place because there was always a very strong smell of gas and I was afraid that the house would explode. The rooms were huge and the ceilings were very high and according to my grandmother it was a ridiculous house as it was impossible the heat.

While she was a victorian lady with a position to maintain my grand-aunt, was in fact, a very nice lady and unusually good with children.

I was always confused by the fact that she was a Protestant rather than a Catholic … that was a subject that was not open for discussion back then but that was not a problem as I was more concerned about the possibility of a gas explosion while I was there.

I was surprised by the steps and gateway connecting Leinster Square to Leinster Road because I was not aware of this shortcut until now. Of course my grandmother would never lower herself to using shortcuts.