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Hundreds take a walk through history of Jewish Dublin

Wednesday, 04 June 2008

ORGANISERS of an historical walking tour of Jewish Dublin were taken by surprise last week when hundreds of people turned up for the event.
Close to 300 local residents, tourists, history buffs and members of the Jewish community took part in the tour that was organised by Dublin City Council as part of European Neighbours Day.
The walk proved so popular that members of the Civil Defence had to provide ambulance cover and traffic management for the evening.
According to city council officials similar tours in the past had only attracted in the region of 30 walkers.
Historian and author Pat Liddy led the tour that was launched by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Anne Carter (Lab) at the Barge Pub, Charlemont Street.
The walk included a stop at the Jewish Museum on Walworth Road and went through the South Circular Road and Clanbrassil Street, an area of the city once known as ‘Little Jerusalem’.
The first stop on the tour was The Bretzel Bakery on Lennox Street. Pat Liddy informed walkers that the bakery would have provided many of the Jewish community in the area with fresh bread.
“The bakery has just had a great job done on its exterior, it looks wonderful and its future seems assured,” he said.
“While not still in Jewish hands, I’m told the bakery is still making first class bread.”
Next stop on the tour was just down the road from the Bretzel at number 32 Lennox Street. This building served as a former synagogue to the Jewish community that lived in the warren of small streets that dot Little Jerusalem.
“This would have been a much-used synagogue by the Jewish community who, it has to be said, received a very bad press in Ireland throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s and undeservedly so in my opinion,” said Pat.
Just around the corner from Lennox Street is Walworth Road where the Irish Jewish Museum is located.
Here, the curator of the museum, Raphael Siev, gave a lecture about Jewish Dublin to participants of the walking tour inside the building.
Next stop on the tour was Broomfield Avenue, home of Isaac Herzog who was the first chief rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936.
Rabbi Herzog served as rabbi of Belfast from 1916 to 1919 and was appointed rabbi of Dublin in 1919.
Karol Cronin, a schoolteacher who attended the tour, said she was already looking forward to the next one.
“Due to the large numbers and the poor weather I did not plan to stick around for long but I stayed and found it thoroughly interesting and educational,” said Karol.
The tour then continued through the old Coombe area of Dublin passing many Jewish landmarks en route and on to Tailors Hall, close to Christ Church Cathedral, where a Jewish themed reception was held.
The event provided an opportunity for participants to sample Jewish culture that included a screening of the short film, ‘Blind Eye’, starring Ardal O’Hanlon.
The film tells the true story of a Jewish woman living in Dublin in 1939 facing deportation to her native Germany. The evening concluded with a lively and informative panel discussion about how the Jewish community has contributed to life in Dublin.
Deputy Alan Shatter; Mary Rose Doorly, producer of ‘Blind Eye’; Raphael Siev and respected Jewish expert Joe Briscoe were on the panel.
To mark European Year for Intercultural Dialogue, Dublin City Council is holding the ‘Lets Walk and Talk – New Shores, Ancient Footprints’ initiative.
The purpose of which is to educate Irish people and new communities about other cultures that exist in the city. The council intends organising other cultural walking tours and discussion evenings in the near future.

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