Courting The Dame

Some of the articles over the next couple of months will include The Story of Sam's Barbers The Stags Head History The Moira Hotel The Exchequer Hotel The Sugar House The History of the Mercantile Dame Street and the lotteries

Connecting No 4 Georges Street with Dame Court is the beautifully appointed and busy public house J T Pim's. Today you will find some of the finest dressed ladies of Dublin in Pim's but forty years ago it was a similarly named business that dressed the ladies of Dublin with the finest garments. The pub gets its name from a large department store that once occupied a large swathe of Georges Street. No 4 Georges Street itself was at one time a travel agents and then a restaurant. In the 19th century you could have added a little sweetness to your life as a confectioner occupied the building. The building that now houses the Dame Court entry was once Phillip Cooney's shop in the late 19th century. Pim's is well worth a visit and its history is rich and varied and why not enjoy a pint and soak up the atmosphere of by gone days in a modern setting.

Throughout the 1920’s the newspapers reported deaths and murders primarily of a political nature whether inflicted by the Irish on the British forces or visa versa but occasionally a traditional murder, a murder investigation and trial took place in those turbulent times. One such fatal occurrence took place in the early hours of October 27 th 1920. The previous night had seen serious disturbances in the Dame Street and a British military curfew enforced to clear the streets. Depending on the newspaper report in competing publications either the cries of a desperate woman alerted a passing policeman or a phone call to Great Brunswick Street police station (now Pearse Street Garda station) from a local directed the police to Dame Lane. When Sergeant John Nelson arrived in Dame Lane at 2.15am he found the body of thirty one year old Elizabeth Carberry. Known locally as Bessie, the unmarried Ms. Carberry lived at 8 Vicar Street and her lifeless body showed signs of a violent assaul...