Declan Byrne -Promoting the Dublin Dockers

Declan was born and grew up in the Dublin 1 area. He had no knowledge of the docklands until he came to work there. He worked in the office of the Dublin Docklands for 27 years, between the years 1973 to 2000.  Although not a docker himself he loved the culture of fun, laughter and dep sense solidarity that existed between the men who worked the docks.

Declan is seen in the portrait holding two publications, Dublin Dockers by Aileen O’Carroll and Don Bennet recording the history of the Dublin Dockers and the other one is a publication by Fighting Words which records the stories of the Dublin Dockers and their families.

Declan is a founding member of the Dublin Dock Workers Preservation Society and he works tirelessly to promote the history of the Dublin Dockers. The preservation Society holds one of the largest historical archives of both documentation and photos of the Dublin Docklands.

He recalls that entering the Docklands area and Sheriff Street was like entering into another world, of a truly emotionally connected and supportive culture of the community that lived there.