It is difficult to find information on businesses in the village from the 19th century, save for a few clues from receipts and personal knowledge from family histories. So as a gift to future historians of the village, I thought it would be useful to try to list the businesses that have existed in the village from current memory. The table below lists in each cell the current business (March 2011) and in reverse chronological order businesses that have been in that location previously. This is a first draft, which was compiled with help of my sister, who has a memory for these things. There are gaps, and we only go back so far. If you can, help with older businesses, plugging gaps, and the hard part – filling in years of operation! The end product will be a map of the village with all of the businesses that have existed…
[table id=4 /]
Before Brennan’s Newsagents was Keating’s Newsagent (late 60’s, early to mid 70’s) and before that the Acton sister’s ran it
Primrose Antiques was Church Hill House Boarding Rooms (Wogan’s) up to 1930’s
There was a part time bank during the 70’s (not sure if it was AIB or BOI) in the private house where Enniskerry Trading Company is (a mobile bank came to village before that)
The Post Office used to be where Poppies is
The corner shop opposite Troy’s was Matt Cummins Newsagent
Enniskerry Pottery was directly opposite the Bog Meadow from 1970’s up to 1990s
Pat Seery’s mobile Chip Van was a very popular business in the village in the 70’s/80’s?
The bank was the AIB run by Mrs Stuart.
Pat Seery also had the Bridge Takeaway prior to the van.
My Granddad John Stuart (father of Scott, Robert, Heather and Ivan) ran the bank in the village on a monday, He owned the House later to be known as Enniskerry trading Co.this was two up from Jack Winsdors
Thanks for that. Oh yes – forgot about the chippers! I have a photo somewhere. It was a building – “The Bridge Take-Away”.
– There was a Buckleys where Poppies was (or to the left of it – seen that in the old Lawrence photos. Someone has shown me postcards that show the post office to be where Cocobelle’s is now, with the sign “Oifig an Phoist” over it. Was it in Poppies after that?
– And how could I forget Enniskerry Pottery?! Was that “The Factory” that was on that site too?
– Also Windsors was to the right of the building (where Jenny Turners is now) before moving to the left. And there was a “Wayside Cafe” to the left of it – it must have led upstairs to the first floor?
– When you mention the Actons, do you know if they had “Confectioners and tea rooms”? Another postcard shows that sign in that location.
This is turning out to be harder than I thought! We will build it up though, thanks for the information, and the updates I’ve put here are thanks to Nivrum who sent on lots of information!
Michael
This is a photo we have of the Bridge Take-Away – how could you not want to go in and have chicken and a mineral?!
The factory next to the “chipper” wasI believe used as the office and garage of the wicklow hills bus lines before C.I.E was formed,and after that there was a sewing machine factory called Pinnock Sewing machines,and on a personal note, the chipper was used by a local skiffle group to practice in ( the practice never really helped) the members of the group were Colm Cochran, George Mc Nulty and Seamus Doyle,they were the ones with musical talent, then there was yours truly, Kevin O Conner, Noel Keogh and Dick Seery. We did cut a record. The recording enginner was Colm Cocoran and to be honest we sounded like a bag of cats being tortured to death.
Tommy
Hi Tommy thanks for that! We’ll have to find that record!! Thanks for sharing the memories.
Michael
Michael thanks for publishing my few notes, now I am going to tweek my memory which requires more effort as we grow older.
Tommy.
I had forgotten about it too, I enjoyed many a fine meal here back in the early 70s
That’s a great photo, I don’t remember the Bridge Takeaway.
The Factory was further up from the Pottery, where the houses are now. It was a sausage factory initially and then a fish factory.
Actually remembering now, there were garage doors where Poppies is (I remember we would annoy the dog behind the doors, who would bark incessantly) so maybe the Post Office was further along).
Also the Forge was still a working Forge into the 70’s as I remember watching horses being shod and being sent there with scissors and shears to be sharpened. At some time after that the building opposite the Forge was a Tack shop.
Another memory – Barney Doogan ( I think) had a horse and trap (he lived in the cottages at the bottom of Kilgarron Hill, where we’d leave stale bread for the horse). He would charge for rides around the village (us local kids got free rides) and Powerscourt.
As far back as the early 60s I can remember a pony and trap outside Doogans, the pony often wore a hosebag.
In addition to the Butcher shop Magee’s had the Abattoir in the yard, a bit of rope on the hooks, when not in use, made great swings!
The meat factory was call Vienna Meats
The Courthouse was the original Donald Davis fashion outlet. There was a fire in the Open Door Cafe (where Primrose Antiques was) in 1971. As we lived above the Cafe myself and my sister, the only two not yet in school, were brought to Davis’ shop while the fire brigade dealt with the fire.
I have a vague recollection of a bookies in the village for a while (70’s and 80’s)…maybe even more than once in different incarnations. I think where Kingfisher is now, but definately along there somewhere. Have the name Fox in my head, but I could be making that up.
Think the bank might have BoI. The AOH hall doesn’t seem to be mentioned along Church Rd or is it there under different name?
Also is it worth mentioning the couple of doctor’s surgeries that were in the village, if not on the roads mentioned.
Dr Deely and Dr Kenny and I’ve been told there was a Dr Blood that lived in Stokes’ gatehouse
Doesn’t count as a business but Nurse Gallagher was in the Dispensary at Knocksink
Also, Cummins’ used to be a B&B. The Post Office was in (or beside) Windsors for awhile
Thanks everyone for all that! Logging it all as it comes in. Una, nivrum, thanks – that is really brilliant stuff.
Paul – yes forgot about doctors (current and past!) and current businesses over pharmacy. Also, I don’t know if I am imagining it, but was AOH a Victorian sweet shop at one stage? I think I remember reading that but am not sure!
It was a Victorian Sweet shop for a few days when they made a ‘Quality Street’ advert there. We got loads of free sweets! Unlike the time they made the big Rollo roll down Church Hill and threw a half packet to the starving children.
That’s gas!
Does anyone remember the Silver Vale hotel ? I think it was near where the Summerhill hotel is now.
I don’t remember it, but there was a hotel near where Summerhill is, parallel to the Summerhill avenue at the end of the private lane. It is very close to the Summerhill. I think this is it:
Cookstown Hotel at the National Library
Also, I’m nearly sure I have come across old references to a hotel at this site, but can’t quite place them at the moment.
Well remembered!
It’s not marked as a hotel in this 1840 map, but I think the hotel would have been the building between the text “Cookstown Upper” and Summerhill.
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,722543,717156,7,7
My Aunt recalls the Silver Vale being right about where you show on the map.
She also recalls Buckley’s shop next to where Poppies is now and confirms that Poppies was Buckley’s garage. Also that ‘Brennan’s’ shop was run by the Acton sisters at an earlier date. She said that Prossers had a little grocery shop at one point just above the pub, next to Tallon’s yard
Thanks Úna – that’s great. What was Buckley’s shop do you know? Interesting about Prosser’s too – I suppose that would have been common enough though wouldn’t it?
She said she used to buy her sweets in Buckley’s so I guess it makes it a newsagent/grocery/sweet shop??
When I said Prosser’s had a shop above the pub I meant an Irish ‘above’ as in further up the street rather than an upstairs ‘above’
🙂
Great. Also noticed in the Lawrence photo around 1890, an archway between Leicester Arms(Prossers) and archway still there beside Courthouse had “Enniskerry Livery” on it. I guess this is now the garage doors between Teddy’s and Nancy Murphys.
I am the new landlady of The Old Forge Inn (nancy murphys) and was looking for any history of the pub that I can get
Fox’s shop was where Kingfisher Cafe is – used to be a sweetshop where the hen’s roamed freely!
Great memories of ‘Prossers’. My Autie Anne McNulty was a kind of nanny/babysitter to the Prosser children. I was sent from England to my Grandparents house, on Church hill, for the summer holidays and would spend practically every day with the Prossers.
This was late 60’s, early 70’s and nobody worried about ‘where the children were’ beacause Enniskerry was a very safe place indeed.
That didn’t mean to say that we didn’t get up to any mischief……we did, all the time. Didn’t help that my Nana , Mrs Mac lived next to The Garda House.
We’d spend hours at the Dargle. I sometimes went fishing with my Uncle Noel, somehow I think it may actually have been poaching! Oh well, the trout was wonderful with freshly picked mushrooms. Mmmmm! can still taste it now!!
Great memories of a perfect village full of fantastic people.:)
Lorraine Rimmer (nee McNulty)
Beside the courthouse was also Harvest Home Coffee Shop run by Moore Family in the 1990’s
Thanks Ricky, yes I think I just about remember that!
Michael, where pandan restaurant is now there was d’lish restaurant before that and there was also another sweet shop there run by rod back, can’t remember the name but it was about 17 years ago or more, ask your cousin Alison, she’ll remember the name she worked there
Where boylans shop was beside the veg shop there was another shop owned by the cantwells (i think) another kind of gift shop
Thanks Rachel – I’m hoping to get going on this again so all information gratefully received!
Michael
The house to the left of the Garda station (when facing station) housed the Jubilee Nurse. The Jubilee Nurses was a charity that provided trained nurses to make house visits for the first time in late 1800’s. I’m not sure when the nursing post was first established in Enniskerry but there was a Jubilee Nurse in the village well into the 1960’s.
Bank in village was AIB and was open on a Monday
My father’s step mother Sarah Mossman was a Jubilee Nurse in Enniskerry in the 1920’s and lived in the house near the Garda station from where she met my grandfather
Hi Sarah Mossman was my great aunt…I was actually thinkin gof writing to your family to dind out more about her because I dont know very much. Are you able to help? thanks
My Granddad John Stuart (father of Scott, Robert, Heather and Ivan) ran the bank in the village on a monday, He owned the House later to be known as Enniskerry trading Co.this was two up from Jack Winsdors
James I remember the bank being there. I think the bank was robbed at some stage?
wonder does Ingrid know about the Jubilee nurse??