CHRISTMAS IN BRAY 1917
LOCAL HISTORIAN JAMES SCANNELL TAKES A LOOK BACK AT EVENTS IN BRAY 100 YEARS AGO
1917 WAS the fourth Christmas of the First World War. Politically, Sinn Féin as a political party was in the ascendancy, overtaking the Irish Parliamentary Party as the voice of Irish nationalism.
Commodities such as flour, sugar, tea, beer and stout, and a wide range of other products were in short supply and householders were concerned about the ever increasing price of various food stuffs. Coal was also in short supply.
The authorities made regular use of the wide ranging Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) to prosecute those who spoke out against war, who spread defeatist talk, impeded the recruitment of men for the armed service, or trained members of the Irish Volunteers.
One house caller people particularly dreaded, was the post office telegram boy who often brought an official message that a family member had been killed or injured or was missing in action, or the postman with Army Form B 104-82 confirming the death of a family member.
Numerous buildings had been commandeered by the War Office and converted into military hospitals. One of these was the former International Hotel, demolished in 1974 after a major fire [Bray Bowl now stands on this site], as the Princess Patricia Military Hospital which was operated by the Red Cross and St John Ambulance Brigade. With accommodation for over 200 wounded soldiers, many of whom were amputees, it was intended to take convalescing soldiers from the Dublin hospitals.
The previous year the War Office had approved the taking over of the Meath Industrial School [now Bray’s St Patrick’s National School] for use as a hospital for limbless soldiers. It became the Duke of Connaught Limbless Hospital where an artificial limb known as the ‘Bray Arm’ was developed by a surgeon and, although excellent for chopping wood and digging potatoes, lost out in favour of the ‘Belfast Arm and Hand’ which was considered more flexible.
On Sunday December 16, a massive gale, which started to develop the previous evening, swept in over the east coast bringing with it hail and snow. At Ballygannon near Kilcoole, the railway line was washed away and resulting in the cancellation of rail services between Greystones and Wicklow on Sunday and Monday until the necessary repairs had been carried out. Throughout the Bray area, trees were blown down and tiles and slates were stripped from roofs, with squalls of hail and snow making it very unpleasant for those who had to venture outdoors that Sunday. The three feet of the top of one of the spires on the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer was blown down and smashed while a large window in Messrs JE Griffin on Quinsboro Road was blown in. The only other serious damage in the Bray area occurred to the Opera House in Woodbrook, where, the previous day, a concert organised by Mrs HN Walker raised £80 for Christmas entertainments and comforts for limbless soldiers and sailors in the Duke of Connaught Hospital. During that Sunday afternoon the train service between Kingstown [Dun Laoghaire] and Bray was suspended due to prevailing weather conditions.
On Tuesday, December 18, Mr JM Magee, chairman of the Bray Urban District Council, presided at an adjourned meeting of that body. During that meeting:
A vote of sympathy was extended to Cllr John Plunkett on the death of his daughter, Miss Eveline Plunkett.
A resolution from the Limerick Town Tenants’ Plotholders’ Association asking the council to request the Government to give facilities for houses and plots to town workers, and to advance loans for this purpose free of interest, was adopted.
A request from the Bray and Kingstown Trades Council asking the council to arrange an adequate supply of milk for the working classes, and that the Maternity and Child Welfare Act be put into force, was referred to the Public Health Committee.
A deputation from the Trades Council submitted an application from the Bray branch of the Drapers’ Assistants’ Association seeking a new order under the Shops Closing Act to have all drapery and boot shops close at 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. on Saturdays. The deputation informed the meeting that eleven shopkeepers had signed the agreement to close and four had not but that they had the requisite two-thirds in favour of earlier closing. The chairman said that as far as he and the Town Clerk were aware, 7 p.m. was the earliest that they could make a closing order for shops under this legislation but perhaps they could do under other legislation. They advised the deputation to see if this was the case, to discuss the matter with the consenting shopkeepers and then arrange to submit a petition which would receive their careful consideration. The deputation accepted this advice and after thanking the council for hearing them, withdrew from the meeting.
A notice was received from the Dublin & South Eastern Railway of the company’s intention to promote a bill in Parliament and obtain powers to make a diversion between Greystones and Wicklow and to widen the bridges in Bray. The Town Surveyor, Mr McCarthy, said that he only received the measurements of the bridges proposed to be erected or altered and that it would be necessary for the council to receive the full plans to ensure that they were properly attended to. It was suggested by Cllr Reigh that the opportunity should be taken to suggest to the company that should make a vehicular underpass from the Quinsboro Road under the railway gates at the station to the Esplanade as people were always complaining about the length of time these gates were closed. The chairman said these gates were a disgrace to the town owing to the way traffic was held up and it was decided to refer consideration of the bill to a committee of the Council.
On Wednesday, December 19, there was a weekly meeting of the Rathdown Board of Guardians in the boardroom of the Rathdown Union Workhouse and Infirmary [the present day St Columcille’s Hospital] at which the chairman, Mr Thomas Clarke, JP, presided. Matters discussed included: An application from Mrs Bahr, working in a Bray hotel and the wife of an alien interned in the Oldcastle Internment Camp who was in poor health and seeking repatriation to the Netherlands, seeking relief to help provide him with nourishing food, was refused on the grounds that she had a sufficient income from her employment to do this.
It was decided that no weekly meeting would take place the following week as it fell on St Stephen’s Day.
The Local Government Board wrote stating that they would not sanction the proposed uniform allowance for midwives as they considered the current scale sufficient. However, the board felt that since the annual uniform allowance of £2.10s was made prior to the war, given the dramatic increase in the price of materials, they decided to write to the Local Government Board asking it to reconsider the matter.
On Thursday, December 20, St Andrew’s NS on Florence Road held its annual concert presented by the pupils which was very well received by all those who attended.
As Christmas approached, it was noticed that supplies of dried fruits were extremely scarce and that the price of currants, which had sold for 3d per lb. pre-war, had increased to 3s. per lb., leading to an accusation of profiteering by those involved in the supply chain.
On Saturday, December 22, there was a sitting of Bray Petty Sessions with Sir Albert Meldon, RM, presiding. He was joined on the bench by Col Rowan Hamilton, Mr W Sullivan, RM, Mr E Watson, Mr M Langton, Mr VC Le Fanu and Mr J Cuddy. The cases heard included: Annie Murphy, Ord Terrace, Bray, was fined £1 plus 12s. 6s in costs for selling milk which had been adulterated with water.
Michael O’Brien, Lehaunstown, was fined 10s and costs for the use of petrol for an unauthorised purpose – he had used a motor cycle to attend a dance in the Arcadia.
In a domestic violence case, a woman living in Hudson’s Terrace, who was living apart from her husband, summoned him for using threatening language against her and sought an order to have him bound to the peace. The husband did not appear and, just after the bench had issued a warrant for his arrest, arrived in court and was told that the case had been adjourned for two weeks and that in the interim was to leave her alone and help to support her.
Henry Pugh, Kilmantin, had a case of permitting his son, John Pugh, to mistreat a dog dismissed while his son received a caution over a separate charge of cruelty to the dog by yoking him to a barrow.
The Christmas period was a quiet one in town, though shops were busy on Saturday, December 22, and Monday, December 23 (no Sunday trading was allowed). For the post office, it was a hectic time sorting and dispatching the outgoing mail and ensuring that all the incoming mail, letters and parcels were delivered on time. Behind the scenes, many parish and relief funds and the Society of St Vincent de Paul provided those considered as ‘the deserving and necessitous poor’ with food and fuel, rather than cash. Past experience had shown that often the cash provided to families for food and fuel was used to purchase alcohol instead.
Christmas Day was a busy one for the clergy of all denominations as they undertook the extra services required for that day. Early in the morning, the St Kevin’s Pipe Band raised spirits by parading through the streets of the town playing suitable airs. After the church services, it was noticeable how quiet the streets were as people retired indoors to hold family gatherings and to receive visitors.
In the Duke of Connaught Hospital, Alderman Moran, JP, Chairman of the Dublin Port and Docks Board, provided a two-hour entertainment concert for patients who received the traditional Christmas fare as well as cigars, cigarettes and other treats. Meanwhile, in the Princess Patricia Hospital, the day started for its 180 patients with the singing of carols at 6.30 a.m. Patients received the traditional Christmas fare augmented by donations of items from local people and the day concluded with a variety concert.
In the Rathdown Union Workhouse, residents received Christmas fare, while a Christmas tree, supplied by Lord Powerscourt, laden with toys was provided for the children by a voluntary committee working with the master and matron of the workhouse.
In Shankill, on Christmas night, two youths assaulted another youth while he was on the way to get milk. Appearing in January before Sir Albert Meldon, they were found guilty and fined 10s each and warned that if they attacked or interfered with this boy again, they would be sent to a reformatory.
St Stephen’s Day saw the annual exodus to the Leopardstown races with normal commercial life resuming on Thursday, December 27, with the Bray Urban District Council officials finalising their accounts for the year ending on December 31 which would then be submitted to the Local Government Board for scrutiny and approval.
Local traders selling butter were reminded under the Maximum Prices (Amendment Order) of October 31, 1917, they were required to display a list of the prices they were charging for the butter that they were selling as long as they had butter for sale. Retailers were reminded that under the Bacon, Ham and Lard (Provisional Prices) Order, dated November 17, 1917, they were required to display a list of prices there were charging for these products as long as they had them on sale. Traders were also reminded that the manufacture of ice cream for sale was now prohibited and that all vouchers issued for the manufacture of this product were to be returned to the Food Control Committee for Ireland immediately and that wholesalers and retailers of sugar were not to supply sugar against these vouchers on or after January 1.
Sinn Fein as a party was growing in strength in the town and county, though as the result of a party rule which prohibited the naming of branches after a living person, the local branch, formerly known as the Desmond Fitzgerald Club, had altered its name to the O’Rahilly Club.
On New Year’s Eve, the St Kevin’s Pipe Band paraded through the streets and, at midnight, in ushered 1918 playing appropriate airs while church bells rang and in Bray railway yard engine drivers and firemen men blew locomotive whistles to mark this passage of time.
The fervent wish on everyone’s lips was for peace.