Fairview-Marino.com

The Changing Face of Fairview - Programme 5.

The Changing Face of Fairview is a five part documentary series produced by Near fm volunteer John Haughton. The series explores the history, heritage and local organisations & amenities that make up the area of Fairview & Marino.

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Download this program.

Click here for the first three programs in the Near fm series “The Changing Face of Fairview”.

Click here for the fouth program - the variety concert.

In this programme:

Present day students of St. Joseph’s secondary school talk about their Fairview its history and their satisfaction with facilities in the area. In contrast some former students of the past paint a not so rosy picture.

Mairéad Hayes CEO of the Senior Citizens Parliament, Fairview Strand, outlines some of the community facilities in the area. Today, she says, there is more rented accommodation and a somewhat more transient community.

Tommy Condren, a community activist for generations in Marino, recalls memories of Marino past and he outlined the changes which he has seen.  He spoke of the role of the church in that community, where a keen eye was kept on parishioners, their attendances at church and their contributions to its support.  He spoke of the relatively benign Father Flanagan who built the schools and church. In Tommy’s words, ‘Father Kingston made Marino’.

Jim Kelly area manager Dublin City Council North Central assured me of the pending re-building of the Fairview Park Band Stand that was so central to community life in the past.

I talk to a local senior citizens group, Solas, who meet at the local Catholic Church after Mass and hear about the famous Mrs. Lynsky who was choir mistress to the local coral society, and who trained residents for a variety of coral performances. I am brought back to the War days when vegetables were in short supply and locals were forced to grow their own.  I am told of the times when these seniors danced in the Metropole and the Crystal ballrooms. In those days many parents met informally in Fairview Park at the bandstand to exchange knowledge and advice about child rearing problems and experience, informal  get–togethers, where they shared ideas on child rearing, ailment diagnostics and cures.  They tell me that their invaluable meetings  were sometimes broken up by the somewhat ‘feared’ Father Kingston who had an old fashioned view of women’s role and was wont to advise them to stay more in their homes and tend to the needs of their husbands.

Larry Kane who was born in the East Wall area, spoke of how the community has changed in his experience. In the old days there were clubs and dancing a plenty for his age group. For example there was the ‘Ballerina’ Dance hall in Dublin City Centre, with singer Frankie Blowers and the Joe Coughlin Band.  Larry assures me that the Inner City girls were beautiful and the best dancers at the time. He welcomes the contribution which the new immigrants are making to the area and society in general. He speaks of a sense of isolation which contrasts to the old days when there was a more caring community. Larry asked me if he could sing a song and there followed a memorable, poignant and moving rendition of ‘Danny Boy’. This helped to bring closure to the series, the ‘Changing Face of Fairview’. I will leave it to the listeners to judge the relevance of Larry’s choice of song.

In conclusion so much has been lost of Fairview past. The Cinema, the tram, the Charlemont  Estate, Marino House, Croydon house and estate, Fr. Matthew Park, and of course that very view, the ‘Fairview’,  from which the area gets its name. Fairview Strand is now far removed from the sea. However there is a certain positivity upon which community can be built or re-built as the case may be.