Tony Dignam and his nephew Jimmy O'Keefe

In photo no 1. This is Tony and his nephew standing  on the docks in front of the Customs House. In the background can be seen is the lack of a retaining wall, where the ships would pull straight up to the dock wall and unload its cargo onto the quay side.

Behind the two little boys the steps down to the river are out of sight, however the second photo taken from the bottom of these steps shows the easy access to these steps, the river and the massive ships so regularly moored there. There is a second set of steps on the other side of the river just at Butt Bridge.

In the background stands the old gasometer.  A great Dublin land and seamark. It was here that gas was stored and the smell was added to it for safety reasons, to alert people to a gas leak. The stench permeated the streets all around it and once off the ferry on route to my grandparents flat in Pearse House a combination of running whilst holding one’s breath was the only way to pass without breathing in the foul air.