If Walls Could Talk: Revisiting a long lost street in Limerick city centre

Over the years many streets, lanes and rows have been demolished across the city. Two such areas were Taylor Street and Nolan’s Cottages, the former being in the centre of Newtown Pery in Georgian Limerick, and the latter being situated in Englishtown in the medieval heart of the city.
Taylor Street was built in the 1820s and named after William Taylor, Sheriff of Limerick in 1819/20 and again in 1821/22. The street was connected to Cecil Street Upper and Griffith’s Row and was considered a ‘respectable’ area of the city. Taylor Street consisted of about 12 brick-built houses in terrace form facing each other. Each house contained four/five rooms, a kitchen, a scullery, and a small yard. Pigot’s Directory (1824) listed members of the gentry living on Taylor Street, these included Mrs Alexander Anderson, Mrs Phoebe Bolton, and Mrs Christian Peacocke. Thomas O’Brien, described as a ‘respected architect’ died in Taylor Street in January 1830.
Also listed in Pigot’s Directory was Lieutenant David O’Farrell whose daughter, Anna Maria married Hamilton Connolly Esq, of the Royal Engineering Department at George’s Church (long demolished) in October 1826. The Connollys briefly resided on Taylor Street after which they moved to Glentworth Street until at least 1848 when their youngest son, Villiers Connolly was born. Thereafter, newspaper reports help to track down the Connollys. In May 1855, Charles T Connolly, surgeon of Aldersgate, London and son of Hamilton Connolly Esq, of Dublin, married Emma Jeffries of Wexford. Two years later, their eldest son, William L Connolly married Isabella Gaffney of Wexford. Hamilton Connolly was described as working for the War Department at Dublin Castle.
Though considered to be a gentleman who mixed in upper class circles, Hamilton Connolly was involved in a fracas at the Rotunda Theatre in 1859 in which a mix-up of seats led to a scuffle. Ultimately, the case was settled in an amicable manner. Connolly’s brush with the law was not to be his last. For most of his career, he worked in the Ordnance Department until a decades long fraud that he was involved in came to light. On August 13, 1861, the Evening Freeman printed an article entitled Serious Charge of Embezzlement in which Captain Hamilton Connolly of 12 Holles Street and an accomplice, John McElwaine, builder of Naas were accused of ‘wilfully and fraudulently conspiring together to defraud her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State of the War Department of a large sum of money, to the value of one thousand pounds and upwards.’ The fraud went undetected for over twenty years and amounted to about £1,400. Every detail of the case was carried in countless newspapers and the sensational case was dubbed The Ordnance Fraud. Ultimately, Connolly was sentenced to two years in prison and a £1,000 fine, while McElwaine was committed to prison for 12 months and also fined £1,000. Connolly died June 1, 1870. He was perhaps the most infamous person to have resided on Taylor Street.
Hugh O’Connor was a contemporary of Connolly’s and lived on the street in the 1860s. He was a noted inventor and in 1865 he brought his improved fire escape to the Great Exhibition where it was received with glowing reviews. His innovative design allowed for persons to be safely evacuated from a building within 12 seconds by descending two parallel fireproof ladders. Conversely, firemen could also ascend the ladders in a safe and efficient manner. O’Connor invented other apparatuses including a digging machine, a reaping machine and a churn. In the 1850s, he was employed as a foreman in Limerick Docks. In April 1874, O’Connor was awarded a diploma from the new Edinburgh Veterinary College.
In the 1901 census, occupations recorded on Taylor Street included that of railway porter, pianist, dressmaker, coachman, blacksmith and one or two individuals ‘living on income from house property’, a total of 97 people resided on the street. By 1911, this number stood at 91. In the aftermath of the civil war, Terence Jackson of Taylor Street claimed £260 compensation for the loss of his motor car. Interestingly, his father, John was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. In more recent decades, the street was home to Miss Dina Rowan who ran a small general shop at no. 5 in the 1930s. Good fortune knocked at the door of Michael Kiely in 1954 when he won £70,000 in a treble chance pool in England. He was originally from 12 Taylor Street but went to England during WWII and saw active service with the RAF. Michael was married to Marie McDarby of Edward Street. They had one child. Michael’s father, Benny also resided with them. The story in the Limerick Leader noted ‘on receipt of the good news, Michael took his family on a holiday to Paris.’
Sadly, the demise of Taylor Street was well underway by 1955 when aerial photographs show some of the houses deroofed. In 1978, Rev Cyril Nigel Ross, a Dominican priest was granted an injunction against a builder whose machinery had excavated part of an area close to no. 13 Taylor Street. The Dominican Order held the street in Trust and used it as a car park and for people using the church.
Taylor Street is now occupied by the Engine Collaboration Centre, an enterprise of which Hugh O’Connor would surely have approved.
Dr Paul O’Brien lectures at Mary Immaculate College.