THESE PHOTOS SHOW pubs and shops around Ireland in the decades leading up to the 1980s.
Many have since closed – and the streets around them show a time when our towns and cities looked quite different.
What links the businesses? Each of their signs was hand-painted by signwriter Kevin Freeney, who worked in and around Dublin for decades before his death in 1986.
Kevin’s son Paul Freeney now maintains a Flickr account dedicated to his father’s work, A Gentleman of Letters, where more examples of his signage can be seen. Paul writes:
We (Kevin’s family) do sometimes come across his work that we had not known about, but as time goes on and Dublin changes it happens less and less.
Paul now works as a photographer himself, specialising in capturing moments of street life in and around Dublin. His work can be seen on Flickr here.
For more information on Paul’s photography, visit paulfreeney.com.