Thursday 10 December 2015

Maureen O'Hara, Jam Jars and Henry Grattan


The only indication that Henry Grattan’s house, ‘Grove House’, once existed in Rathmines is the name Grove Road. As for the Grattan Spa that drew many people to the vicinity, there is none. The spa was on Grattan’s property in the vicinity of today’s Grove Road. It attracted people with various afflictions for many centuries before Grattan, but eventually, deemed unfit for human use, it was covered in. 
It is in the nature of cities to sweep away the past away over and over again. Isn't it amazing how often, when a business closes, you find yourself looking at  the empty building with  absolutely no recollection of the what was there so recently.
How many people now remember the Princess Cinema in Rathmines? It was just a few doors townside of today’s Swan Leisure Centre. Film  actress Maureen O’Hara remembered going there on Saturdays during her school days in Milltown. It cost three pence to sit on a wooden bench watching  the Saturday matinee. During the war, large jam jars were accepted in lieu of 2 pence, part payment of the 4p charge into the matinee. Wallets were big in those days! The Prinner closed in 1960 though the building remained for many years after that.
It is a pity that some information is not placed at sites that have tales to tell.
 

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