Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- Twentieth Century (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
photograph, glass, wood
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
06/05/2016
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Original Black and White Photograph
Black Frame& mounted
This photo is a donation from Frank Buckley, son of the original FX Buckley.
It depicts the FX Buckley butchers on Moore Street. There would have been a dozen butchers on Moore Street; today there are 2. Francis Xavier Buckley is in the middle of the photo with a white coat and a dark apron. Francis was named after the Francis Xavier Church in Gardiner Street. Castle Catholics, his siblings were called John, Mary, William, Edward and Margaret.
Buckley's family came to Dublin from Buckleigh in Wales in the 17th century. They were butchers from the day they arrived, with premises in City Markets, Bull Alley, Patrick Street, Queen Street and, eventually, Moore Street.
Note the price of a sirloin roast, 6 pence a pound, which is roughly 10 cents a pound in today's money; less than a hundredth of what it would cost today.
On the far right of the picture you can see Tommy Mulvaney. What used to be called a confirmed bachelor, Tommy doted on FX, and worked in the shop he was in his late 70s. When FX said you can't be working here every day at your age, he said, "Oh Mr Buckley you can't be telling me not to come in," so they agreed that he would come in only on Fridays and Saturdays. Tommy had a few trinkets, such as a gold watch and tiepin, all of which were left to Mr Buckley upon his death. He was, says Frank, a lonely man for whom this shop was his life.
