on pavement grey

Where you can find the London addresses that were important to famous Irish people and of people who were important to Ireland.

16 Jan 2015

It’s a long way from Tipperary to 10 Downing Street

Dignitaries on the terrace at the Citadel overlooking Quebec Harbour, 18 August 1943. Seated are Anthony Eden (Foreign Secretary); President Roosevelt; the Countess of Athlone; Winston Churchill. Standing are the Earl of Athlone (Governor General of Canada); Mackenzie King (Prime Minister of Canada); Sir Alexander Cadogan (Permanent Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs); Brendan Bracken (Minister of Information).

Photograph: H 32144 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums via Wikimedia Commons. Photograph of No. 10 taken by Leonard Bentley via Wikimedia Commons.

Brendan BRACKEN, Minister for Information during World War II, Private Secretary to Winston Churchill, Privy Counciller and publisher born near Templemore Co. Tipperary 1901 lived on North Street (number required) and, for the duration of the War, at 10 Downing Street. Having led a full and prosperous life (he was a founder and Chairman of the Financial Times), he died in 1958.

Recommend looking up Bracken House, Cannon Street/Friday Street, near St Paul’s London EC4. This fellow blogger has a very authoritative feature, https://baldwinhamey.wordpress.com/2015/01/

Posted in Ireland, politics, Publishing, War and tagged 10 Downing Stret, Bracken, Cannon St, Financial Times, FT, London, London Irish, Minister for Information, North Street, Number 10, Privy Council, Templemore, Tipperary, Winston Churchill, World War II, WW2 | Leave a comment

13 Jan 2015

Nineteen names and a big thank you

A big thank you to the increasing number of followers, commenters and visitors. You make it all worthwhile. Wishing you all the happiest of new years. And, thank you, to many of these other bloggers whose work I am enjoying.

The list of names here so far features a range of great Irish names from diverse fields (and mostly good London addresses!). There are more ready to be posted and yet more under research. I hope they will surprise and inform in equal measure. As a reminder here they all are, in reverse order, not forgetting the thousands commemorated at the Crown, Cricklewood,

William Butler YEATS

Sir Francis BEAUFORT

George Bernard SHAW

Sir Ernest Henry SHACKLETON

Dr Thomas John BARNARDO

Duke of WELLINGTON

Francis BACON

Countess Constance MARKIEWICZ

Erskine Robert CHILDERS

Daniel MACLISE

Oliver GOLDSMITH

Bernardo O’HIGGINS

Daniel O’ CONNELL

John Henry FOLEY

Bram STOKER

Richard Brinsley SHERIDAN

St Oliver PLUNKETT

Katharine O’ Shea

Louis MACNEICE

Posted in literature, poetry, politics, Religion, Revolution, Writers and tagged Anglo Irish, Antarctic, Artist, Author, Countess Markiewicz, Cricklewood, Criecklewood, Explorer, Irish Literature, Liberator, London Irish, Meterorologist, Philantropist, poetry, Saints, Sinner, Statesmen, Writer | Leave a comment

18 Dec 2014

Snow time

Map of 52 Canonbury Park N, London N1 2JT

Louis MACNEICE , poet (born Belfast 1907 died 1963) lived at 52 Canonbury Park South, Islington, N1 from 1947 to 1952. Perhaps a good time of year for his poem ‘Snow’ follow the link below to read it and hear it read aloud it only takes a minute. I hope this is the kind of site that takes you on paths less well trodden.

http://www.thepoetryexchange.co.uk/uncategorized/snow-by-louis-macneice-2/

Photo of house by Spudgun67 on Wikimedia Commons, map from Google.

Posted in literature, poetry and tagged Belfast, Islington, London Irish, poetry, Snow | Leave a comment

15 Dec 2014

Last posting was a saint this one a ‘sinner’

File:KittyOShea.jpg

Katharine O’ Shea (Kitty to her enemies) lived at 112 Tressillian Road SE4. Although born in Essex (1846) to a well connected family, her affair with and subsequent marriage to Charles Stewart Parnell stirred great moral outrage that affected the cause of Home Rule and altered the course of Irish history. A perfect example of not Irish but important to Ireland.

Map of 112 Tressillian Rd, London SE4

Pictures: thanks to Wikmedia Commons and Google

Posted in politics and tagged Charles Stewart Parnell, Essex, essex girl, Gladstone, home rule, Irish history, London, moral indignation, Parnell, politics, scarlet woman | Leave a comment

20 Nov 2014

Born in Meath, hanged drawn and quartered in London

St Oliver PLUNKETT, martyr and Archbishop of Armagh, born Oldcastle, Co Meath 1629. A victim of Titus Oates’ ‘Papish Plot’, he was found guilty of high treason “for promoting the Catholic faith” and was condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Executed at the Tyburn 1681, now 49 Connaught Square London W2. His preserved head can still be seen in St Peter’s Church Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland.

Photos: head of St Oliver Plunkett St Peter’s Church Drogheda, Ireland. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Trounce.

Portrait of St Oliver Plunkett, in writer’s collection.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Canonisation, Drogheda, Head of Oliver Plunkett, Irish Saints, London, Martyrdom, Meath, Oldcastle, Oliver Plunkett, St Peter's Church, Tyburn | Leave a comment

10 Nov 2014

Was ‘A School for Scandal’ inspired by Dublin or London?

A very warm welcome to the new followers of On Pavement Grey.

Please bear with me as I get comfortable with this whole scene. I hope this blog returns at least some of the pleasure yours have already given me.

Among other achievements, today’s notable wrote the play A school for Scandal. He was also a member of parliament and owner of the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane.

Map of 10 Hertford St, Mayfair, London W1J

Richard Brinsley SHERIDAN, dramatist born Dublin 1751 lived at 10 Hertford Street, London, W1 from 1795 to 1802. Buried at Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey 1816 – see the entry for Oliver Goldsmith. To defend the honour of his lover he fought a duel on the site of what is now Apsley House – see the entry for the Duke of Wellington.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Mrs Brinsley Sheridan by Gainsborough and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Posted in drama, England, literature and tagged Apsley House, Brinsley Sheridan, Drama, Dublin, London, Poet's Corner, School for Scandal, Theatre Royal, Westminster Abbey | Leave a comment

06 Nov 2014

‘Dracula’ was born in Dublin but lived among us in London

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Bram STOKER, author of ‘Dracula’ was born in Clontarf, Dublin 1847 and lived at 18 St Leonard’s Terrace, London SW3. He died in 1912 and is buried in Golder’s Green, London.

Map of 18 St Leonard's Terrace, Chelsea, London SW3 4QG

Posted in gothic, literature and tagged Bram, Clontarf, Dracula, Dublin, Golders Green, Stoker, SW3 | Leave a comment

13 Oct 2014

He immortalised the Liberator and is remembered in St Pauls

FOLEY John Henry, sculptor of the O’ Connell Monument, O’ Connell Street, Dublin (born Dublin 1818, died 1874) buried in St Paul’s Cathedral EC4M

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

17 Sep 2014

Ireland’s Liberator, also educated in London

O’ CONNELL Daniel (The Liberator) politician (born Co Kerry 1775 died 1847)

Studied law at Lincoln’s Inn WC2A (Holborn)

Thanks to Wikicommons for the pictures

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Catholic Emancipation, Liberation, Liberator | Leave a comment

07 May 2014

The Liberator of Chile was London-taught with Sligo roots

Bernardo O’HIGGINS, Liberator of Chile and founder of the Chilean Navy (born 1778, the son of a Sligo father, died 1842)
lived and studied at, Clarence House, 2 The Vineyard, Richmond TW10 where there is a bust of him.

As a mark of the esteem in which he is held in Chile, there is a national park and at least one airport named in his honour. He is also honoured in Sligo and has featured on Chilean and Irish stamps. The bicentenary of Chilean independence will be celebrated in 2017.

Any comments or suggestions on this or for others to be included – send them in please.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Chile, Chilean independence, Chilean Navy, Richmond London, Sligo, South America | Leave a comment

Where you can find the London addresses that were important to famous Irish people and of people who were important to Ireland.

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