From the wide open spaces of Ballinasloe Fair Green to one of the oldest parts of inner city Dublin today, where we find the premises of Kennan & Sons in Fishamble Street (so named as the are was once a fish market: Fish shambles).

With thanks to the contributors below, especially [/photos/66311327@N05/ B-59], [/photos/129555378@N07/ sharon.corbet], [/photos/20727502@N00/ guliolopez], [/photos/beachcomberaustralia/ beachcomberaustralia], and [/photos/23851618@N07/ dok1969], we learned a lot more about the Kennan engineering works site. Not least that the central archway was once the gateway to Neal's Music Hall - where JF Handel first showcased his famous Messiah in 1742:

 The Music Hall, Fishamble Street, was founded in  1741 [..and in the..] following year, HANDEL performed  there [...] It continued the most fashionable place of  public entertainment until [...] it was in 1868 added  to KENNAN & SONS' Works, and it now resounds again  with the "Harmonious Blacksmith", differently composed

Photographer: Elinor or Reginald Wiltshire

Collection: Wiltshire Photographic Collection

Date: 1967

NLI Ref: WIL 32[1]

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie