The 70's and 80's in Ireland

jmayo · 28-09-2018 10:23am

whitey1 wrote: »

No North Face Jackets back in them days

Green Army Surplus coats and about 3/4 of the lads in the school wore them

Here you go lads.

I remember they were great and warm when the lining was in but were quite heavy.

Now lets see if i can flecked farah pants, white socks and black slip on shoes to complete the look.

Nearest thing I could find so far...

5398926-1-black?$XXL$&wid=513&fit=constrain

storker · 28-09-2018 10:29am

Speaking of safety films, how could you forget this (courtesy of our next-door neighbours):

jmayo · 28-09-2018 10:40am

And another for the oldies amongst us.

The Green Shield Stamps catalogues from 70s and 80s.

Now the youngsters should know these are film cameras.
They had rolls of film in them that you took down to the chemist or if you were near a big town to a photography shop to get developed.

And some of the others things are Walkmen type cassette players that played music tapes.

greenshield-july-1974-bowie.jpg?w=800&h=981

....... · 28-09-2018 10:45am

^^
Ye gods!!!

The little book of dreams!

ohnonotgmail · 28-09-2018 10:47am

jmayo wrote: »

And another for the oldies amongst us.

The Green Shield Stamps catalogues from 70s and 80s.

Now the youngsters should know these are film cameras.
They had rolls of film in them that you took down to the chemist or if you were near a big town to a photography shop to get developed.

And some of the others things are Walkmen type cassette players that played music tapes.

I had the "walkman" in number 16. How cool i thought i was.

....... · 28-09-2018 10:52am

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I had the "walkman" in number 16. How cool i thought i was.

I didnt have that specific one but I had an alba walkman.

My mother and I developed an in joke whereby if I thought something was "uncool" I would tell her that it was like "having orange ear phones on your walkman". A universal understanding was met - she could see they werent cool.

ohnonotgmail · 28-09-2018 10:57am

....... wrote: »

I didnt have that specific one but I had an alba walkman.

My mother and I developed an in joke whereby if I thought something was "uncool" I would tell her that it was like "having orange ear phones on your walkman". A universal understanding was met - she could see they werent cool.

3 band graphic equaliser? very high tech.

Tombo2001 · 28-09-2018 11:04am

Funny to talk about any era being 'grey and depressing' because the weather in Ireland was pretty much the same then as it is now; if anything it was better.

I think people confuse film quality on 1970s home cinema reels with the way life actually was.

Without doubt the 1970s and 1980s were a highly traumatic period in Irish history - the recent rental so-called 'crisis' isnt in the ha'penny place compared with the socioeconomic impact of record unemployment and a war in the north.

In contrast, the 1990s was a fantastic time in Ireland - the atmosphere about the place was far better then than today I would feel. I'd even extend that to the late 1980s.....from around 1988 onwards.

Examples - the music scene in the late 1980s was brilliant. U2 were the biggest band in the world and the Joshua Tree was out. Sinead O'Connor, The Cranberries, The Pogues, The Waterboys all producing great music and doing well internationally as well as all those bands that were only ever 'big' in Ireland - the Stunning, Something Happens, Four of Us, That Petrol Emotion....absolutely brilliant time for live local music in Ireland.

And then sport - Euro 88 and Italia 90 are probably the best ever sporting events in Ireland in terms of capturing the public imagination.

Count Down · 28-09-2018 11:54am

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Funny to talk about any era being 'grey and depressing' because the weather in Ireland was pretty much the same then as it is now; if anything it was better.

I think people confuse film quality on 1970s home cinema reels with the way life actually was.

Without doubt the 1970s and 1980s were a highly traumatic period in Irish history - the recent rental so-called 'crisis' isnt in the ha'penny place compared with the socioeconomic impact of record unemployment and a war in the north.

In contrast, the 1990s was a fantastic time in Ireland - the atmosphere about the place was far better then than today I would feel. I'd even extend that to the late 1980s.....from around 1988 onwards.

Examples - the music scene in the late 1980s was brilliant. U2 were the biggest band in the world and the Joshua Tree was out. Sinead O'Connor, The Cranberries, The Pogues, The Waterboys all producing great music and doing well internationally as well as all those bands that were only ever 'big' in Ireland - the Stunning, Something Happens, Four of Us, That Petrol Emotion....absolutely brilliant time for live local music in Ireland.

And then sport - Euro 88 and Italia 90 are probably the best ever sporting events in Ireland in terms of capturing the public imagination.

In the 70s and early 80s successive Irish teams were 'robbed' especially in away games by mysterious refereeing decisions. We never won and rarely drew competitive away games.
It changed somewhat under Jack Charlton when we became less of a soft touch and became harder to beat, culminating in Italia 90 when we got to the quarter finals by drawing four games and scoring just two goals!!!

Tombo2001 · 28-09-2018 12:24pm

Count Down wrote: »

In the 70s and early 80s successive Irish teams were 'robbed' especially in away games by mysterious refereeing decisions. We never won and rarely drew competitive away games.
It changed somewhat under Jack Charlton when we became less of a soft touch and became harder to beat, culminating in Italia 90 when we got to the quarter finals by drawing four games and scoring just two goals!!!

Its funny because on the face of it, bringing Charlton in was a game changer - however the team was incredibly unlucky in the 1982 qualifying campaign.

On the other hand, the team arguably was much stronger for the 1982 qualifying campaign; Brady was once of the best players in Europe then - it would be like having Luka Modric or Christian Eriksen in your team. Whereas they were incredibly lucky to qualify for Euro 88.

However - the timing of the 1988 and 1990 qualifications was the big thing. It happened at time when there were a lot of other positive things happening, and it was hugely symbolic and motivational for the country.

....... · 28-09-2018 12:40pm

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Funny to talk about any era being 'grey and depressing' because the weather in Ireland was pretty much the same then as it is now; if anything it was better.

I think people confuse film quality on 1970s home cinema reels with the way life actually was.

For me its more the architecture, not the weather. There was a lot of poured concrete structures getting built (my secondary school was a good example of this), plus our local church - basically a big grey square.

Maybe it was just a style that was popular but I just recall Dublin as being grey concrete.

This was my secondary school being opened in 1985:
https://www.rte.ie/archives/collections/news/21196764-firhouse-community-college/

The local church in the 80s:
http://source.southdublinlibraries.ie/bitstream/10599/4899/2/wm_1843.jpg

Now I appreciate the above pic is B&W but the wall was just grey blocks, these days its covered in ivy and shrubbery.

Tombo2001 · 28-09-2018 12:49pm

Completely get your point, and there is no getting away from the fact that a lot of 1980s buildings were really crap.

However
- all the beautiful buildings in Dublin and elsewhere that are around now, were also around in the 1970s. Trinity college for example.

Around the country, towns were proper towns then. A lot of Irish towns today, especially in the midlands - today the town centre is dead and full of charity stores and poundshops, because of the effect of the big out of town shopping centres.

I do get a fairly strong sense that a lot of Irish towns have gone really down hill since around 2000 in particular.

Wheres Me Jumper? · 28-09-2018 12:52pm

Great days I recall, but there was a lotta sexual repression and anger.
I grew up in a rural smalltown and if you tried to be anyway different, you were immediately classified as a queer.

i remember one poor lad getting the mother of all beatings. his family left the area shortly afterwards.
he was from London, he had an earring, he wore trendy trousers, he listened to the likes of Depeche Mode, he spoke with a weird accent, and he refused to play GAA!

so he was probably asking for it???

Hotblack Desiato · 28-09-2018 1:12pm

The amount of Dublin city centre that was just empty sites in the 70s/80s was incredible. Surrounded by red and white hoardings for years with nothing happening - presumably there were great plans before the 70s huge recession hit.

Sound familiar? I mean there's empty sites today, but there were loads more then.

Some of them were used as (paid) surface car parks. The whole Ilac centre site was a car park surrounded by derelict buildings for years.

storker · 28-09-2018 1:20pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Some of them were used as (paid) surface car parks. The whole Ilac centre site was a car park surrounded by derelict buildings for years.

Sort of paid. I can remember my dad driving into them and saying "We won't be long" to the guy in the booth at which point he would be waved on in with no ticket. On the way out the guy would be passed a punt or two. I doubt that Dublin Corporation ever saw a record of the transaction...

storker · 28-09-2018 1:30pm

Other memories of visits to Dublin in those days...

Visiting Santa and his Magic Chimney at Switzers.
Dirty, blackened stonework on historical buildings before everything got a good sand-blasting.
Guinness-coloured buses
Lots of closed-up shops
Those useless narrow footpaths in pre-pedestrianised Grafton street that you often had to step off with traffic whizzing past.
The Dandelion Market (kids, this is now known as the Stephen's Green Centre)
Jervis St Hospital (kids, this is now known as the Jervis St Shopping Centre)
Platform 5 at Connolly Station - hasn't changed a bit, except for the DARTs and I kind of miss the big orange diesel locomotives.
My mother wanting something from that gardening shop with the arches on Henry/Mary Street, and my dad actually being able to park right outside while she went in.

Big Nasty · 28-09-2018 1:39pm

Cassidys

Floppybits · 28-09-2018 2:00pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

The amount of Dublin city centre that was just empty sites in the 70s/80s was incredible. Surrounded by red and white hoardings for years with nothing happening - presumably there were great plans before the 70s huge recession hit.

Sound familiar? I mean there's empty sites today, but there were loads more then.

Some of them were used as (paid) surface car parks. The whole Ilac centre site was a car park surrounded by derelict buildings for years.

Floppybits · 28-09-2018 2:02pm

Another of the Ilac Surface car parks.

Big Nasty · 28-09-2018 2:03pm

Why's that B&W? That's at least '85.

BBFAN · 28-09-2018 2:04pm

Big Nasty wrote: »

Why's that B&W? That's at least '85.

It was cheaper to get the photos in B&W. Very expensive to get colours one then.

....... · 28-09-2018 2:09pm

Big Nasty wrote: »

Why's that B&W? That's at least '85.

Because thats how we remember the past

ohnonotgmail · 28-09-2018 2:28pm

Floppybits wrote: »

Another of the Ilac Surface car parks.

i want to make sure i am look at this correctly. The image is looking up towards o'connell street. the road to the right is moore street. is that right?

Floppybits · 28-09-2018 2:34pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Floppybits wrote: »

Another of the Ilac Surface car parks.

i want to make sure i am look at this correctly. The image is looking up towards o'connell street. the road to the right is moore street. is that right?

Yep you are looking towards O'Connell Street, you can see the Parnell statue in top of the picture.

ohnonotgmail · 28-09-2018 2:35pm

Floppybits wrote: »

Yep you are looking towards O'Connell Street, you can see the Parnell statue in top of the picture.

i thought that was it. the empty space up from Moore street is now the hotel and that new mall they put in.

Count Down · 28-09-2018 2:43pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

i thought that was it. the empty space up from Moore street is now the hotel and that new mall they put in.

What buildings were on the site of the car parks? There must have been shops/houses right up to the pavements.

Floppybits · 28-09-2018 2:43pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Floppybits wrote: »

Yep you are looking towards O'Connell Street, you can see the Parnell statue in top of the picture.

i thought that was it. the empty space up from Moore street is now the hotel and that new mall they put in.

Yeah barely recognisable now from those days.

....... · 28-09-2018 2:53pm

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

i thought that was it. the empty space up from Moore street is now the hotel and that new mall they put in.

Over on the right hand side, just out of sight in the pic is where we used to buy our Doc Martens off Peggy Keogh - the only place in Dublin (maybe in Ireland!) that you could get them.

I remember leaving Peggys stall proud as punch with my big boot box under my arm. A couple of days later my bruised and bloody feet were cursing Peggy as I broke them in.

Another time I bought an Oxblood pair - fancy schmancy, and then I felt like the were too "loud" (well it was grey times) and I used art paint to paint them in black - it worked too, the oxblood only showed through on scuff marks.

ohnonotgmail · 28-09-2018 2:59pm

....... wrote: »

Over on the right hand side, just out of sight in the pic is where we used to buy our Doc Martens off Peggy Keogh - the only place in Dublin (maybe in Ireland!) that you could get them.

I remember leaving Peggys stall proud as punch with my big boot box under my arm. A couple of days later my bruised and bloody feet were cursing Peggy as I broke them in.

Another time I bought an Oxblood pair - fancy schmancy, and then I felt like the were too "loud" (well it was grey times) and I used art paint to paint them in black - it worked too, the oxblood only showed through on scuff marks.

I remember that stall as well. you must be as old as me

There was a whole load of stalls there.

cml387 · 28-09-2018 3:15pm

BBFAN wrote: »

It was cheaper to get the photos in B&W. Very expensive to get colours one then.

I beg to differ. Even in the mid seventies, colour was the norm. You had get black and white ones specially made.

The 70's and 80's in Ireland

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