Waterford News
3 April 1904
‘Peaceful Dungarvan’ – RIC Vacate Grattan Square H.Q.
‘During the week a noteworthy event took place in the
Old Borough, namely the removal of the Constabulary from their old quarters in
Grattan Square, which they had occupied for a period extending over twenty
years. Their abode henceforward will be the Military Barracks, situated at the
extreme end of the town, and with which are connected many historic incidents
that have often been recounted in graphic style by Sergeant Grace, the barrack
sergeant. The former residence of the police is the property of Mr John R
Dower, the popular and genial clerk of the Union, and it is to be converted
into a branch of the Bank of Ireland. The departure of the ‘black jackets’ from
the locality named, was not, altogether approved of, as the presence of Head
Constable Kidney and the men, under his charge, tended, no doubt, to the good
order and amenities between them and the civilians’.
This account does not match that given by Edmond
Keohan in his Illustrated History of Dungarvan (1924), in which he
states that the RIC barrack was on the site of Flynn’s Hotel, which in 1924 was
Meade’s Restaurant.
Group of people outside Meades June 1951 ( This was the former location of the RIC Barracks in Dungarvan)