Selling Greystones By The Punt

Meh

ublished by La Touche Legacy – with a little help from the local businesses listed therein – a curious little pamphlet from 16 years ago just landed on GG’s desk.

From its crappy cover shot of Bray Head to its potted history of the town, this early fold-out map and info sheet is akin to The Greystones Guide: The Early Years – only without all the wit, style and, hey, sarcasm. That said, this tidy brochure trumpeting our town is nonetheless an intriguing little artifact of our recent history, revealing more than originally intended.

Not only was the old harbour still sailing back then, but there were plenty of businesses – including The La Touche Hotel – still flying the flag for Greystones too.

Even a glance at the Dining Out and the Guest Accommodation lists reveals how much the town has changed in such a relatively short time.

Back then, the no.1 coffee shop in town was Tino’s, whilst The Hot Spot Music Club was still a restaurant, Opresco having risen from the ashes – and the letters – of Cooper’s.

Back then, could we ever have imagined that both The La Touche Hotel and The Wicklow Arms would fall…?

For a little perspective, here’s how we were selling ourselves back in 2000…

Greystones is the second largest town in County Wicklow with a population approaching 14,000 and rising rapidly. It is renowned for its coastal walks over Bray Head. Southwards is a 12-mile path beside the railway track south to Wicklow Town. For leisure and refreshments, there are several golf courses, a score of cafes and restaurants, and on Church Road, the town’s main street, there is the Cherry Lane Art Gallery (01-2017269).
As a fishing hamlet, Greystones first came to prominence in 1875 when marked on Admiralty charts as The Gray Stones. Twenty-five years later, it was a noted for a thriving fishery, which employed 400 people from the Downs an Delgany areas, the latter being the centre for the census. When the Dublin-Bray railway line was extended here in 1854, Greystones developed as a town for holidaymakers.
A harbour was built in 1881, but its fishing industry was already in serious decline. Greystones people adapted their skills in the building trades and provided domestic services for the sudden influx of holiday visitors.
By the turn of the 20th century, the population in winter stood at 200 and in summer, at close to 2,000.
A town council today serves Greystones.
Published by La Touche Legacy Association with Proprietors of Accommodation & Dining Facilities.

Love the burst of Ye Olde English there at the end. Landlords and chippies just wouldn’t sound half as important.

You can check that map above here, and the next big but far less popular Greystones pamphlet campaign here.