Hotel, Westport, Co. Mayo
[graphic]
| Main Creator: | |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | |
| In collection: | The Lawrence Photograph Collection |
| Format: | Photo |
| Published / Created: |
[between ca. 1911-1914].
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| Subjects: | |
| Notes: | Additional information about this photograph is available on the National Library of Ireland's Flickr Commons photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/42277517284/ Robert French was the chief photographer responsible for photographing three quarters of the Lawrence Collection. For more information, see the Dictionary of Irish Biography: http://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a3369 Physical description: 1 negative : glass ; 22 x 17 cm Geographic Coverage: Westport, County Mayo, Province of Connacht, Ireland. more |
This delightful shot of an hotel in Westport, County Mayo is a great way to begin a week that promises to be a scorcher here in Ireland. The trees are offering plenty of shade for those who sit and await the departure of the omnibus to ...where? There is a lot of detail in the shot, not least the registration number of the 'bus together with the dress of the people standing about and the piles of leaves should help with the time of year if not the date?
Sometimes it seems that we could have a stand-alone album for our many 'charabanc' images. Or even for this particular 'bus, registration number IM 180, which has been confirmed to be in the service of the Midland Great Western Railway. Other inputs from Niall McAuley, sharon.corbet, sissonni, and Beachcomber help us refine the 50 year catalogue range to less than 5 years in the early 1910s. In this period, the nature of road traffic started to change. And, while it was the 'airbrush' rather than the internal-combustion engine that removed all the manure from a postcard variant of this image, the same cannot be said for the modern StreetView....
Photographer: Robert French
Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection
Date: Catalogue range c.1865-1914. Certainly after 1908 (AA signage). Likely c.1911 -1914 (char-a-banc)
NLI Ref: L_ROY_11179
You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie
Tags:
Robert French, William Lawrence, Lawrence Collection, Lawrence Photographic Studio, Glass Negative, National Library of Ireland, Hotel, Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland, omnibus, charabanc, passengers, loiterers, loitering, chicken, no dog, leaves, commer, County Mayo, North Mall, Carrowbeg River, Railway Hotel, Char-a-bancs, Midland G.W. Railway, Cherrybounce, Lawrence Photograph Collection
Comments
Niall McAuley
Here is IM 181 also in Westport, at the railway station:
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
In the archive, a rear view of todays bus, IM 180, at Leenane.
On the back is painted Tourist Car Clifden Westport, so I imagine they are going to Clifden via Leenane.
Posted: 25.06.2018
Foxglove
to a modern eye the piles of horse manure are more numerous than expected. So neatly gathered for collection, the chicken seems to be getting a god feed of grubs/flies.
Posted: 25.06.2018
sharon.corbet
Both IM 180 and IM 181, along with IM 179 are in the 1915 Irish Motor Book as being Char-a-bancs owned by Midland G.W. Railway, Broadstone.
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
Datewise, we found on some of those earlier shots that the Commer factory in Luton only opened in 1906, so we are 1906-1914 somewhere.
Posted: 25.06.2018
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
There is an earlier reverse view of the Station Hotel (no AA sign above the porch) with some auction posters on a tree - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000322053
Edit - the reverse view was used in an 1896 book via www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/
www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11141769863/
Posted: 25.06.2018
Wendy:
Great sleuthing; as ever!
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
On the Leenane shot, i noted that the Motor Directory for 1911 only went as far as IM 173. (I can't access the directory online today, but I trust myself from 2 years ago :D)
So 1911-1914.
Posted: 25.06.2018
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
"1908 – Due to the difficulty many motorists were having finding reasonable meals and accommodation while on the road, the AA introduces a new scheme to include “about one thousand of the leading hotels” in the next Members’ Handbook; and to indicate these appointed hotels by a newly designed sign."
From - www.theaa.com/hotel-services/about-us/history
Posted: 25.06.2018
sissonni
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley] www.lennonwylie.co.uk/images/IMD19141915/IMD1914088.jpg
Here's the page from the 1914 directory
also wayback machine for the 1911 directory
web.archive.org/web/20170324050552/http://lurgan-ancestry...
Posted: 25.06.2018
CASSIDY PHOTOGRAPHY
www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/
"a week that promises to be a scorcher here in Ireland"
Are you talking like 15˚C and rain?
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/130615039@N05] Looking at that 1914 directory, I see that the IMs go up to 373 as of August 1914.
If the 1911-12 directory was also published in the summer like the 14-15 one, these charabancs were registered in the second half of 1911.
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
In this (earlier?) archive shot, the obscured pub sign Y'S right of the Hotel in this shot says NALLY, which must be Catherine McNally Spirit Merchant.
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
The shop beyond the Hotel, last one before the junction with Castlebar St looks like a saddlery, and the sign might read R. O'Doherty (right at the limits of megazoom).
The census shows one Micheal O'Donnell, Harness Maker.
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
In todays streetview linked by [https://www.flickr.com/photos/66311327@N05] above, the hotel is called Jeffer's Hotel, and in the 1911 census, the Head of Family is Patrick Jeffers.
Also in the hotel for the census:
Harman Willoughby Lance, an Electrical Engineer (!!)
Posted: 25.06.2018
Niall McAuley
This looks like a photoshopped image from the same day as a postcard with all the poo edited out.
Posted: 25.06.2018
sharon.corbet
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley] As a possible confirmation of 1911 -1914, this article mentions that "The Midland Great Western Railway operated a similar motor charabanc service between Clifden and Westport from 1911; this also ceased operation after the 1916 season.
Posted: 25.06.2018
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/cassidyphotography] That might be what we would normally expect but on this occasion we are experiencing temperatures between 23C up to 31C. We are sizzling here in Library Towers and may have to consider opening a window or two soon!
Posted: 25.06.2018
PerfectStills
Fantastic Image and dialogue to go along with it. Thank you to everyone here, it is much appreciated!
Posted: 26.06.2018
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
To further confuse things, earlier streetviews show a bit of recent history -
2009 - with flower boxes etc as the "Westport Antiques, Art & Collectables Centre" - goo.gl/maps/HbicaFjsY8k
2011 - sad, forlorn and for sale - goo.gl/maps/Y7wqJq17iUA2
I think the old-style "Jeffers' Hotel" sign was lurking behind the newer signs. Also at some point the triangular pediment above the porch has gone.
The NIAH says "Closed, 2006. For sale, 2010. Now disused."
And a bit of early history - "singularly large and noble establishment…built and furnished at the private expense of [Howe Peter Browne (1788-1845), second Marquess of Sligo]' (Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland 1846 III, 521)"
From - www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&...
Posted: 27.06.2018
