If Walls Could Talk: The Mont de Piété

AN architectural masterpiece once graced the banks of the Abbey River in Limerick and for a time funded Barrington’s Hospital before it was unceremoniously pulled down in the late nineteenth century.

In 1829 Sir Joseph Barrington (1746-1846) founded Barrington’s Hospital on George’s Quay, spending over £10,000 on its construction and fitting out. His son Matthew (1788-1861), a solicitor, continued the family tradition for generous acts of philanthropy directed towards the welfare of the poor of Limerick.

He established the first Mont de Piété in Ireland or Britain, a charitable pawn-shop which supplied loans at low interest rates.

Such was Barrington’s commitment to the endeavour that he sent John William Hobbs Haynes, manager and Archibald Douglas, inspector and secretary of the Mont de Piété, to Paris in 1836 to ‘acquire a thorough knowledge of the system of management’ of similar enterprises in the French capital.

Barrington’s loan office was based on examples found in Italy, France, and Belgium. The funds raised by the Mont de Piété were intended to support the neighbouring hospital.

The building was designed by William O'Hara, an architect based at 40 Mary Street, Dublin, and who trained under the renowned Richard Morrison (1767-1849).

The classically designed building featured an impressive domed structure that faced the Abbey River and must have fast become a landmark in the city. The noted Limerick historian, Maurice Lenihan described the building as an ‘object of architectural ornament.’

The Mont de Piété opened to great fanfare on March 13, 1836 (188 years ago). Although initially successful, Barrington’s enterprise ultimately failed. He covered all outstanding debts.

After its swift commercial failure, the Mont de Piété was offered for rental. The notice in the Limerick Chronicle, October 1, 1845 described the concern as ‘a handsome building with a garden in the front surrounded by iron railings.

It is surmounted with a copper cupola which rests upon twelve metal pillars, and is completely fitted up for the pawnbroking business.’

It noted that over £2,500 was expended on the building since its construction. The notice advised would-be tenants that the premises would also be well adapted for use as a bank, loan office, or sales’ room for an auctioneer. The building was still for rental in March of 1846.

The Mont de Piété became a temporary fever hospital and subsequently a police barracks, rented for about £50 per year. It must have been the most fanciful looking police barracks in all of Ireland.

The building continued to be known by its original designation until at least 1848. An outbreak of fever during the Famine in 1847 saw Barrington’s Hospital take over a portion of the Mont de Piété for the reception and treatment of patients.

In the same year, the Rev John Brahan PP St Mary’s and Pierse Shannon of Corbally House made several attempts to establish a soup depot at the Mont de Piété building.

Their efforts came to fruition and they sold wholesome and nutritious soup and bread at one penny per quart. Their charitable actions saved the lives of hundreds of people from starvation.

The Society of Friends distributed boiled rice, with spice sauce, to the poor at the building. They stated that the poor were ‘suffering from dysentery.’

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Following its use as a fever hospital, the Mont de Piété became officially known as George’s Quay Police Barrack.

In 1853, the Clonmel Chronicle reported on a riot in the George’s Quay area of the city. It came about as the result of two London missionaries, the Rev Dickenson and the Rev Lewis who set-up stall and began to publicly read from the bible.

The report continued ‘before five minutes had elapsed Rev Dickenson was set upon by an infuriated mob, who dragged him from his position and threatened to throw him over the battlements of the bridge and into the river.’

The crowd swelled as it approached the market house in John’s Street and a loud chant could be heard: “Imp of the devil.”

The newspaper described the crowd as ‘vendors of the tripe and pudding’ who rushed forth in a demonic way with intent to murder Rev Dickenson.

The police appeared on the scene from George’s Quay station, under head constable Joynt. Eventually the crowds dispersed and the two clergymen were taken to safety.

The police barracks operated until 1890 and in the words of Lenihan, the ‘remarkable object with its cupola, pillars, railing, and grass enclosure’ fronting onto George’s Quay was ingloriously demolished in 1892, after being upright for just over fifty years.

John WH Haynes, manager of the enterprise described the building as a ‘handsome and convenient structure – one of the chief ornaments of the city.’

The Mont de Piété was one of the most remarkable buildings in nineteenth century Limerick and would not have been out of place in an Italian city.

The story does not end there. In 2002, archaeologists working on the site discovered extensive remains of the Mont de Piété; a detailed report on the findings was written by Colm Moloney and published in the North Munster Antiquarian Journal in 2007.