HISTORY
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DFB Historian Las Fallon highlights important anniversaries in Dublin firefighting history taking place next year
s I write this in November 2021, the country is still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time that has brought such sadness to so many doors, it may seem insignificant that we have lost two years of very important anniversaries for this country. Hopefully we can begin to plan for next year and the final emergence from this cloud, and it is to that end that I am looking ahead to some possible events and anniversaries which have significance for the DFB in the year ahead.
INSURANCE COMPANIES A block of buildings including The Gresham Hotel burning during the Civil War. ©National Library of Ireland
A motor and augmented crew on Gardiner Street waiting for the ceasefire in order to fight the fires in O`Connell Street at the start of the Civil War. ©Las Fallon Collection
While we are all aware of the significance of 1922 and the start of our Civil War, there is actually another anniversary which is worth remembering. In 1722, the first insurance company fire service was set up in Dublin when the Royal Exchange Assurance (REA) established an agency here to sell fire insurance and to provide a fire service for its customers.
“THE COMING OF THE INSURANCE BRIGADES WITH THEIR TRAINED ‘FIRE ENGINE ESTABLISHMENTS’ CONTRIBUTED MUCH TO THE SAFETY OF THE CITY” FIRECALL WINTER
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