26 Fascinating Black and White Snapshots of Dublin Life in the 1970s

The 1970s was a decade full of important events in Ireland and Dublin.

In October 1970, former US President Richard Nixon made his official state visit to the country. On January 1, 1973, Ireland became a member of the European Communities at the same time as the United Kingdom and Denmark. June 1973 marked the official retirement at age 90 of President Éamon de Valera, making him the oldest head of state in the world.

View down North Earl Street, December 1971.

Dublin was also affected to varying degrees by "the Troubles". In 1972, angry crowds in Dublin burned down the British Embassy in Merrion Square in protest at the shooting of 13 civilians in Derry on Bloody Sunday (1972) by British troops. The city, however, did not generally experience paramilitary violence directly, with the exception a period in the early to mid-1970s when it was the target of several loyalist bombings.

The 1972 and 1973 Dublin bombings killed 3 people and injured 185. The worst bomb attacks, however, occurred on Talbot street in 1974. The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings on 17 May 1974 were a series of terrorist attacks on Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland which left 33 people dead (26 of them in Dublin), and almost 300 injured.

View from Talbot Street and North Earl Street, 1971.

In the early 1970s the Irish government canceled the hitherto annual Easter parade commemorating the Rising of 1916 and in 1976 banned it, fearing it was serving as a recruiting tool for illegal republican paramilitaries. Nevertheless, the Provisional republican movement organized a demonstration 10,000 strong on Easter Sunday.

Take a trip down memory lane to Dublin in the 1970s through these fascinating black and white pictures:

A group of children playing on a merry-go-round in Ballymun, August 1970.

Former US President Richard Nixon's motorcade passes the GPO on O'Connell Street, October 1970.

A view of a traffic jam in Dublin, March 1971.

A busy Henry Street with shoppers, June 1971.

Scenes from Grafton Street, June 1971.

Scenes from Grafton Street, June 1971.

The cinema on Grafton Street, circa 1971.

Pedestrianisation of Grafton Street, 1971.

A Lyons tea float taking part in the Community Games parade, August 1971.

The exterior of Trinity College, September 1971.

Thomas Street, November 1971.

Buildings and cars pictured on Meath Street, November 1971.

Pedestrians and shops on Thomas Street, November 1971.

Christmas shopping on Henry Street, December 1971.

Children who were confirmed at the Church of Saints Michael and John, April 1973.

A child making friends with a horse on O'Connell Street, 1973.

The cavalcade for the new President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh on O'Connell Street following the Inauguration ceremony at Dublin Castle, December 1974.

A young man filling up his car from a street petrol pump, April 1975.

Christchurch in Dublin 8, May 1975.

The Sam Maguire at Marino school following the Dublin team's success against Kerry in the 1976 All Ireland Final.

Playground in Dublin, 1970s.

Children perched on the lookout on Killiney Hill admiring the view. Photo by George Bryant.

Switzers department store on Grafton Street pictured, 1970s.

Isaac's hostel on Frenchman's Lane, 1979.

(via Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection)