ÒA Book Of DublinÓ (19290 was published by Òpatriot and publisherÓ Kevin J. Kenny, whose clients included Arthur Griffith and Patrick Pearse.
It takes us to the Dublin of Ôthe rare auld timesÕ, before, in Pete St. JohnÕs words, Ôthe great unyielding concreteÕ had made a city of his town and Dublin was transforming itself into a capital city.
Bulmer Hobson, the editor, was a man at the heart of the new Ireland and the republican revival in Ulster. Active in the Irish volunteers, he was nonetheless distrusted because of his pacifists Quaker background. He gives lively and informative accounts of DublinÕs early history, its great institutions, libraries, galleries and museums; at the same time capturing a snap-shot of its industries, docklands and commerce.
The entire publication is enlivened by the inclusion of subtle and evocative illustrations by many of the leading Irish illustrators of the day, while a wide range of advertisements give us a flavour of the lifestyle and customs of 1930s Dublin.