The Dublin Fruit Market is a hidden gem in the back streets
behind the Four Courts building. It was purpose built in 1893, and still
operates to this day. It is a wholesale fruit site, supplying restaurants and
small grocers/shops, but plans are underway to develop part of the building to
accommodate small traders and artisan cafes.
The Dublin Fruit Market 3 February 1959 |
The building is a fine example of Victorian architecture,
with ornate facades masking the interior steel structure. A sharp-eyes passerby
will notice decorations signaling the goods traded within: carrots, fruit,
fish. Statues over the colonnaded front
entrance were designed by Charles Harrison.
Some of the produce available at the Fruit Market 3 February 1959 |
The redevelopment of the site is part of the overall
regeneration of the markets area. Smithfield Square has already been overhauled
to great success, and the city council’s intention is to bring people and
businesses back to the empty buildings that remain between Smithfield and Abbey
Street.
Bargaining at the market 3 February 1959 |
But back in 1959, when this series of photographs were taken
by the Lensmen photographers, the market was still an essential part of a city
centre Dubliner’s life. These photographs show the traders, the customers and
the produce being bartered over on the morning of 3 February 1959.
Purchase framed photographs and prints @ Irish Photo Archive
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