Portobello, Dublin - Notable Residents

Notable Residents

The earliest written accounts we have of residents in the area date from the 18th century—as the city spread southwards houses on the main roads or in select by-roads such as Charlemont Mall were occupied by the better-off citizens. This trend continued in the first half of the 19th century, but with the development of the smaller streets from around 1860 and finally the artisans' dwellings, a mix of classes ended up in the area. By the beginning of the 20th century, the grand houses that had been erected along the Grand Canal had been turned into poverty-stricken tenements, while more exclusive suburbs such as Terenure and Rathgar became the havens of the rich. The following list shows the range of people that have been associated with the area over the past 200 years.

• The playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) was born on Synge Street.

• Eamonn Andrews (1922–1987), well-known radio and then television presenter, was born on Synge Street and attended Synge Street CBS.

• Abraham William Briscoe, father of the first Jewish lord mayor of Dublin, Robert and later a prominent Dublin political family lived on Emorville Avenue, the family first moved to the area as Russian immigrants.

• Barry Fitzgerald (1888–1961), the Abbey actor who was awarded an Oscar, and his brother Arthur Shields, Abbey actor, 1916 Volunteer and Hollywood actor, were born in Walworth Road.

• Harry Kernoff (1900–1974) was an Irish painter who lived and had a studio under the roof of 1 Stamer Street. He was of London/Russian Jewish extraction, and is primarily remembered for his sympathetic interest in Dublin and its people. Some of his work includes the local scenery such as La Touche bridge.

• Michael O'Riordan (1917–2006), who fought in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War and became head of the Communist Party of Ireland, lived for many years in Victoria Street.

• Chaim Herzog (1918–1997), sixth President of Israel, grew up in 33 Bloomfield Avenue. His father, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, a renowned Talmudic scholar, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, and later of Palestine and Israel. Yaakov Herzog son of Yitzhak was also born and lived with the family in Dublin.

• Ivana Bacik (born 1968), Senator for the University of Dublin constituency of Seanad Éireann is currently a resident of Portobello; her grandfather was a founding member of Waterford Crystal in 1947.

• Immanuel Jakobovits (1921–1999), while serving as Chief Rabbi of Ireland (1948–1958), lived in Bloomfield Avenue.

• Louis Jammet, owner of the famous French Jammet Restaurants longest serving in restauranters in Ireland died in a Portobello nursing home. There was a diplomatic incident with the French embassy when one of his restaurants on Nassau street was vandalized by a group of Radical Irish Nationalists on the outbreak of Victory in Europe Day.

• Jack Lukeman (better known as Jack L) lived for a number of years at the beginning of the South Circular Road, Portobello, where he could regularly be seen loading up the equipment for a gig.

• Captain Jack White DSO (1879–1946), co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army who fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War lived at 19 Harrington St. while he was developing the Citizen Army from 1913.

• Dennis Franks (1902–1967), a homosexual actor of Polish-Jewish extraction, renowned for duelling with Ulick O'Connor on RTÉ's Late Late Show in the 1960s, lived at the beginning of South Circular Road, Portobello until his death on 14 October 1967.

• Jack Butler Yeats (1871–1957) the painter lived for several years before his death in the nursing home at Portobello Harbour. His wife, Mary Cottenham, known as Cottie, had died there in 1947.

• Grace Plunkett (née Gifford) (1888–1955), widow of Joseph Plunkett, died in her apartment in South Richmond Street and was taken to Harrington Street church for a state funeral.

• Cornelius Ryan (1920–1974) was born on Heytesbury Street and served as an altar boy in Harrington Street church. He became a journalist and author best known for his writings on popular military history, especially his World War II books: The Longest Day (1959), The Last Battle (1966), and A Bridge Too Far (1974).

• Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (1911–1978), fifth President of Ireland, lived much of his life in No 15 Portobello Road.

• David Davin-Power grew up on the South Circular Road, corner of Victoria Street, where his father was a doctor.

• Denis O'Dea the actor came from 54 Richmond St., where his mother kept a boarding house. He married actress Siobhán McKenna in 1956 and they lived in the house until the late sixties. They had a son Donnacha O'Dea, who was a pupil of Synge Street CBS.

• Henry Robert Pigott was born in 1838 at 16 Charlemont Street, one of an extended family of civil servants who had connections with St. Patrick's Cathedral. He was living at 27 Lennox Street when he decided to become a Baptist missionary. He and his wife spent 28 years ministering in Ceylon. Their son Henry Pigott was an Australian politician.

• Maurice Levitas (1917–2001), born in Portobello, was an anti-fascist who took part in the Battle of Cable Street and fought in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. He is the father of Ruth Levitas.

• Jack Murphy (1920–1984), trade unionist and politician, was born in 1920 at the back of Synge Street. He was elected to the Dáil in 1957 as the candidate of the Unemployed Protest Committee (UPC).

• William Mulholland (1855–1935) a famous Irish-American Dam Civil Engineer, the first superintendent and chief engineer of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He was brought up in underprivileged circumstances, his family could only afford to rent a house on Synge Street during his youth.

• Arthur Keene (died 1818), a leader of the Methodist community in Dublin in its early days, lived at 46 Charlemont St. John Wesley stayed with him there when he visited Dublin in April 1787.

• George William Russell (1867–1935), the writer and painter known as AE, lived at 33 Emorville Avenue after his family moved to Dublin, and attended Dr Power's school in Harrington Street from 1878 to 1882.

• The Black family (Mary Black, Frances Black and their siblings) grew up on Charlemont Street and attended music sessions in O'Connell's of Richmond Street.

• John Hughes (1865–1941), a notable Irish sculptor, lived in No. 28 Lennox street. Probably his best-known work was a large statue of Queen Victoria, unveiled outside Leinster house by Edward VII in 1904. After independence the statue was stored at various locations before being given to the Australian government by the Irish government and it now stands outside the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney.

• The Mogerley family (who were Mormons), manufacturers of meat products, lived and had their shop near Leonard's Corner, at 62 South Circular Road, Portobello. Maura Mogerley ran the shop. The business was founded by her father Heinrich Mogerley, who came to Ireland from Germany in 1908.

• Cecil Sheridan (1910–1980), actor and lyricist, and his son Noel (1936–2006), painter and performance artist, lived at 65 South Circular Road, Portobello and attended local Synge Street CBS.

• Philip Brady (1893–1995) was owner of the well-known pharmacy at Kelly's Corner and the family house next door. He was a TD for 26 years up to 1977 and was a former Lord Mayor of the city. His son Gerard was also a TD and a cabinet minister.

• The parents of James Joyce stayed at 30 Emorville Avenue in 1881, before moving to Rathgar where James was born the following year. Before their marriage they had both lived in different houses on Clanbrassil Street.

• Paul Smith (1920–1997), writer, some of whose books (The Countrywoman, Summer Sang in Me, etc.) were set in tenements alongside the Grand Canal, was born close to Portobello Bridge.

• Lord Edward FitzGerald, the Society of United Irishmen leader of 1798 fame, had a hiding place at Portobello Harbour, until 13 May 1798, at a house belonging to a widow named Dillon.

• Henry Grattan, the notable parliamentarian, had a house close to Portobello Bridge, which was presented to him by the citizens of Dublin. The widow of his second son resided there after his death.

• John Mitchel, the Young Irelander and editor of The Nation was living with his family at 8 Ontario Terrace (located on the Rathmines side of Portobello Bridge) when he was arrested in 1848.

• The family of Max Nurock, secretary to the first British High Commissioner to Palestine Sir Herbert Samuel and Israel's first Ambassador to Australia, lived near Leonard's Corner.

• Leonard Abrahamson, Gaelic scholar, who switched to medicine and became a professor, lodged with the Nurock family near Leonard's Corner while studying at Trinity College, Dublin.

• Leopold Bloom, the fictional Jewish character at the heart of the James Joyce novel Ulysses, lived at "52 Clanbrassil Street"; a plaque commemorating this can be found on the wall of 52 Upper Clanbrassil Street.