If walls could talk: Busy city quay that was once fit for a queen

These days Charlotte’s Quay is home to very few people and businesses, a scenario much different from its heyday in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

During this period the quay was a lively and bustling commercial and residential area of Limerick city.

By the 1790s, Charlotte’s Quay had become a prosperous shopping street, with several silk, woollen and drapery establishments. It was named after Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife to George III.

John Ferrar’s History of Limerick (1787), notes that this new quay was 'speedily occupied by an elegant range of houses built by Messrs Russell and Vokes’ and in 1770 the Assembly House was built at a cost of £4,000.

The front was composed of brick and stone. For a time, the quay was known locally as ‘the Mall.’

The Assembly House played host to several music and theatrical acts including Miss Byrne of the Theatre Royal, Dublin who performed a ‘vocal concert’ on Thursday July 9, 1817.

Particulars of events were ‘expressed in hand-bills’ for the public. In 1824, the proprietors of the Assembly House agreed to let the premises to Mr Clarke who converted it to use as a theatre, as Swinburne’s Hotel on Sarsfield Street was more commonly used for public balls.

According to Saunder’s Newsletter, Miss Gabbett, sister of General Gabbett died at her house beside the quay in December 1793, her death suggesting that the area was lived in by the upper echelons of society.

The residential offering along the quay was significant, and most houses were described as ‘extensive and in excellent order’ as was the former home of DE

Fitzgerald’s which he offered for rental in 1817. Another resident, Patrick Goulding, town councillor died at his house along the quay in February 1846.

In September 1804, Marcella Higginson of Charlotte’s Quay offered her ‘fashionable and convenient’ lodgings for rental advising the public that the rooms were ‘available for the year or for the races.’

Some of her neighbours were not as lucky and a few months later Thomas McGrath was declared bankrupt and forced to sell his premises and dwelling-house on Charlotte’s Quay.

It was producing a healthy rent of £44 per year. From 1801-04, no4 Charlotte’s Quay was occupied by Charles Massy who operated a grocery shop while living overhead. At no15, James Gilmor sold ‘woollen, linen, muslin, and calico’ at his shop.

Another shop on the quay at no9 was William Fosbery & Co. who offered everything from ‘livery cloths, cocked hats, servant’s hats to gold and silver laces’ to the public.

Fosbery was a very successful merchant whose daughter, Georgina, married the Hon Rev Musgrave Alured Harris, youngest son of Lord Harris, on June 16, 1835.

The couple lived in Kent, outside London. By 1806, William Fosbery was Mayor of Limerick and he gave permission for exotic animals to be exhibited in the commercial buildings on Patrick Street.

The animals were a lion and lynx, the former was described as ‘an astonishing animal (in an infant state), with limbs superior in size and strength, he is the finest and largest kind of noble lion in the known world.’ The Lynx was described a ‘a curious creature.’ Admittance to view the spectacle was one British shilling.

William Fosbery died at his house on George’s Street in August 1825, aged 71 years.

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The exotic sounding, Joseph Riboldi advised the public in September 1810 that ‘prints, looking-glasses, convex mirrors, barometers, and telescopes’ from London were available at his shop on Charlotte’s Quay in 1810.

The quay was a bustling part of the city and featured a wide mix of commercial enterprises including Henry Lee at no9, a grocer who sold spices, prime porter, Fermoy Ale, soda water, Berkeley Cheese and Cagagee Cider (products that would not be out of place in today’s Milk Market). Lee’s shop operated from c.1810-1820.

As with many lanes in the city, Howley’s Lane has disappeared under modern developments. It connected Bank Place to Charlotte’s Quay at the end of Michael’s Lane, that ran parallel to Michael Street.

Who was Howley? An interesting story appeared in Limerick and Clare Examiner on July 23, 1851. A visitor who entered McNamara and O’Brien’s shop on the corner of Charlotte’s Quay and Howley’s Lane had a strange request. He identified himself as Sergeant Howley (1789-1866), a judge and stated that he was born in the house, and wished to ‘see the room where he first saw the light of this world.’

The Howleys were Catholic merchants from Limerick city who prospered in business. He was granted his wish and toured the building. He asked the workers if they had discovered his name etched on a window. They had not. Howley led them to the window and pointed out the following inscription written in his own hand: ‘JB Howley, June 2, 1810.’

The peculiar discovery formed the topic of conversation at the court for the day. In August 1865, John Bourke Howley was knighted. He died the following year and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Though it has changed much over the years, the history of Charlotte’s Quay is rich and varied and continues to reveal its secrets and tales.

Dr Paul O’Brien lectures at Mary Immaculate College.