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Irish Town BAR RESTAURANT ENTERTAINMENT T

COFFEE SHOP & RESTAURANT

57 Irish Town BAR RESTAURANT ENTERTAINMENT T. +350 200 70625 HEALTHY EATING IN THE HEART OF /Sacarellos-Coffee-shop 79 Irish Town Tel: 200 75566 Try Our “Just Roasted” Family Coffee & Great home-made food! Email: corks@.net

The architecture of Irish Town No 11 and No 17 No 33 No 57 No 79 No 81 No 91 No 95 brings together the various The winches are a reminder of Inside the shop can be seen a 19th century Merchant House. Inside Corks Wine Bar & Cloister Building Behind the unassuming door The newspaper influences that impacted on the commercial character of the large fan light of coloured glass, The first floor shows theRestaurant, on the north wall, At the corner of Market Lane is lies one of Gibraltar’s four ‘’ was printed Gibraltar’s architects in the old street. and an ornate ceiling. This was large doors through which are two columns of the original a reminder of the church of the synagogues. This is the Ets here from 1885 to 1940. Today 19th century. Parliament Lane got its name once a music hall, the Salon merchandise was winched Spanish Cloister. Whitefriars Convent that stood Hayim synagogue, known it is the Home of the ‘’ At street level, there was a from the original meeting house Ideal. It was also Gibraltar’s first into the upper store room. The The two 16th century columns on the site. The present building colloquially as the Small newspaper. rhythm of arches: doors and of the freemasons, where they cinema, prior to World War I. original winch can be seen in are in their original position dates from 1899. Note the iron Synagogue. It was founded shop windows. On upper would “parley”. the patio of Sacarello’s and also and indicate the width of the drain pipes. in 1759 and rebuilt after the No 97 floors, there were windows the original water tank for fresh convent’s cloister. destruction of the Great Siege of Up to the middle of the 18th with Italianate shutters, The short western section of No 47 water, La Cisterna. No 83 1779-83. century, the house at the corner reflecting Genoese influence. Parliament Lane shows the Note the yellow tiled facade and This was the house of Jerome of Irish Town jutted out into the Windows were traditionally original street level, which is ornate drainpipes. Smith-Imossi Saccone who was the co-founder square. By order of the Governor, British timber sash windows. well below the height of the new was the agent for the P&O line, of the international wine and it was rebuilt and aligned with Some houses had tiled facades, street that was built immediately when it operated its first service spirits merchant Saccone & the adjoining house to create a reflecting Portuguese influence. behind the parapet of the old to Gibraltar in 1837. Speed. regular square. The Cooperage was in this area. city wall. Saccone also owned a private It was where barrels were bank on this site which was made and repaired. subsequently taken over in 1888 They were critical by the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, a for storage in the fore runner of Barclays Bank. 18th century.

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SHOPPING CENTRE is pleased to support this Map of Historic interest members in the UK and Gibraltar raising funds in Irish Town. We organise social events for for various projects supporting Gibraltar’s for various projects supporting Gibraltar’s email: [email protected] www.friendsofGibraltar.org.uk The Friends of Gibraltar 46

Heritage Society

POLI C E OFFICE E Irish Town Further info: Heritage.

No 122 Nos 27 & 32 No 78 This was the site No 10 These two properties echo one When the property was of the public Of note are the two Regency- another, with their combination redeveloped, the owner of No 65

GIBRALTAR’S BEST GIBRALTAR’S baths. There were style balconies, one above the of tiles and fluted cement opposite bought the space above kitchen tools, cutlery & accessories STOCKED COOKSHOP STOCKED other. When a house was built, separate entrances An extensive range of quality cookwear, An extensive range of quality cookwear, the first floor so that he could BIA pilasters. No 32, the more Tel: +350 200 75188 | [email protected] Tel: for men and women and a the initials of the owners were decorative, was built in 1925 and continue to enjoy a view from sometimes sculpted on the #VISITGIBRALTAR choice of fresh and salt water. has fine Art Nouveau ceramic his upper windows. POLICE OFFICE keystone above the front door, in The site was later taken over No 4 tiles lining the corridor from the this case AL (Angel Lavarello). Irish Place No 92 by the Police Department and The casemates of Orange front door to the spacious patio. The Spanish Consulate General The house is dated 1859. An saw several uses, including the Bastion are on the north side The rhythm of arches at street No 12 was at 3, Irish Place. It closed in ornate metal grille opens into Immigration Department. of the open space. They were level, which was a feature of The image above 1954 when Queen Elizabeth II the patio. It was a typical town No 120 In the 18th century, No 120 The archway leading from Irish built in 1799 by General O’Hara, Gibraltar architecture, is best the shop door is visited Gibraltar. house. The front door had a The redbrick Victorian police was the site of the meat market, SUSHI CURRY & CURRY Town to Fish Market Place who was nicknamed The Cock exemplified by the stretch from of a woman with latch which was opened during station was built in 1859 in the known locally as “The Zoco” bears the letters SCG, Sanitary of the Rock. The battery was No 22 to No 66. a halo. It may Note the tiled facades at 1 Irish the day with a latch key in then fashionable neo-Gothic - hence the name Market Commissioners of Gibraltar, the redesigned in the 1870s to take be intended to Place and 68 Irish Town. They the shape of an inverted T. At style. The cells are off a patio at Lane. All the butcher’s waste forerunner of the City Council. large Victorian guns, which can No 46 represent Saint derive from the Portuguese night the door would have been the back. One famous person was thrown over the nearby It was built in 1903, when the be viewed by going up the steps Behind the first floor winch is Anne, after whom tradition, and are sometimes bolted shut. The fan light above held overnight there for being city walls into the sea. The 30 Parliament Lane, Irish Town Irish 30 Parliament Lane, road was built through the behind No 2, and crossing Line a metal gate leading into the combined with Regency style

Tel: 20040932 — Takeaway Available Takeaway 20040932 — Tel: the street was first named. the street door could be opened a vagrant was the author Laurie unhygienic practices resulted in middle of . Wall Road. original store of the property. iron balconies. Lee. INDIAN & JAPANESE CUISINE INDIAN & JAPANESE to provide ventilation. the market being resited.

Engraving & Jewellery Repair COME AND TRY OUR Good Food Great Value CAFE ROJO @lphgibraltar Wide range of gifts Awesome Service Family Friendly at non-tourist prices BAR / RESTAURANT EXTENSIVE THE 36 irish town We buy Gold & Silver Gfiirsbt &r loanglest raunnrin'gs gibraltar MEDITERRANEAN clipper clean eating establishment 54 Irish Town Full Takeaway Menu Available | 5 Large Overhead TV Screens 20061136 / 54015776 60 Irish Town Fully Airconditioned | Private Functions | Serving Traditional Quality Pub Grub DON GOLD Tel: 200 51124 Tel: 200 51738 CUISINE The Clipper 78B Irish Town, Gibraltar Phone: 200 79791 Fax: 200 72250 www.theclipper.gi First Floor Suites, 39 Irish Town, www.liberty-cs.com P.O. Box 466, Gibraltar

Tel: +350 200 72150 PURCHASING · SELLING · RENTING · COMMERCIAL · OFFICE PENSIONS, INVESTMENTS, LIFE ASSURANCE CIMCO Fax: +350 200 74986 www.cimcopartners.com 00350 Email: [email protected] For more information contact us on: Email: [email protected]. Tel: (+350) 200 65065 58009734 www.attiaslevy.gi

L www.montagugroup.com 83 Irish Town, Gibraltar MONTAGU GROUP We shape our buildings, thereafter they us The street prior to Gibraltar of Santa Clara was abandoned The street in the 20th century becoming British in 1704 by the in 1704, and was converted by THE HISTORY OF IRISH TOWN the British into Bedlam Barracks. When the Irish Town is at the commercial heart of the city of Gibraltar. It has always The bustling commercial Irish Town, in In the period when Gibraltar was Spanish, last of the Mercederians left Gibraltar, the the early 20th century, included tobacco Spanish convent of La Merced was taken over enjoyed a privileged location and is today a bustling pedestrianised zone from 1462 to 1704, the street was known as the and home to a number of interesting shops, restaurants, bars and a coffee factories, coffee roasting works, a music hall which incorporated Gibraltar’s first cinema, Calle de Santa Ana. St Anne was the mother shop. But the street has not always been known by this name. of the Virgin Mary. An image of St Anne was and many shipping offices. The street was venerated in a chapel at the southern end of paved with wooden cobbles. It was a noisy the street, which was enlarged as from 1581 bad for discipline. Irish Town then became a Gibraltar was a major port that was open and dusty place. The printing works of and became a Convent. The religious house street of ill repute. to receive British goods for re-export into a Spanish-language daily newspaper, El Anunciador, were at No 95. The newspaper VAT free charges free VAT was known as the Convento de la Merced The location of the street, close to the port, Europe and to North Africa. The value of the Rock as the friars belonged to the Mercederian made it particularly attractive for commerce, of British goods that flowed through the was printed from 1885 to 1940. Today, Order, the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary and so the street was soon taken over by the warehouses in Irish Town was immense. another newspaper, Panorama, is produced 24/7 local customer support customer 24/7 local Tel. + 350 20052200 - www.gibtele.com Tel. from the same premises.

of Mercy which was founded in 1218. They merchant class. The Irish women became a Sir It was time to rebuild and repave the Wining and dining al fresco. ransomed Christians from the Moors in distant memory, but the name ‘Irish Town’ street after the ravages of the Great Siege. Its Public Baths and Police Station 1870. Barbary, modern-day Morocco. The Convent stuck. location next to the cooperage and with easy in the then-fashionable neo-Gothic style. Red For full mobile coverage full mobile coverage For church and its belfry stood at the corner of by the Royal Navy in 1720 as a storehouse and A synagogue was founded at 91 Irish Town access to the port made it a key commercial brick was combined with Maltese limestone. Irish Town and Market Lane. Indeed, the apartments for the victualling clerks. in 1759. It became known colloquially as street. The station incorporated a senior police building that stands there today is known as In the early years of British Gibraltar there the Esnoga Chica, the small synagogue. Its Many fine houses on the street date from officer’s residence, which faced onto Cloister Cloister Building. was little need for streets to have names. formal name is Es Hayim, the Tree of Life. the 19th century. The design of the Gibraltar Ramp. The Police Station was inaugurated The cloister of this Convent was alongside The barracks and officers’ quarters were all It was discreetly screened from the street as merchant house with its Georgian sash on 7 July 1864. It was the headquarters of the the church, and two of its original 16th numbered, because they were important. the Treaty of Utrecht, signed 46 years earlier, police, now the , until century columns can still be seen on the Properties in civilian hands were of little specifically set out that neither Jews nor 1984. north wall of Corks wine bar and restaurant. consequence at first. Moors could live in Gibraltar. Opposite the Police Station, at the corner of

They indicate the width of the original patio As the civilian population grew, and as Gibraltar’s growing commercial prosperity Irish Town and Market Lane, Jerome Saccone

Gibtel Select Select in the cloister. commerce in Gibraltar began to develop, this received a major blow when the Great established a flourishing private bank in the began to change. A nucleus of Portuguese 1850s. Eventually, in 1888, it became the people lived in what is today Crutchett’s Gibraltar branch of the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, Ramp, but was previously called Portuguese a forerunner of Barclays Bank. Saccone was Town. Similarly, a number of Irish people also a prominent wine and spirit merchant. took up residence in the street close to the His heirs and those of James Andrews-Speed sea wall. As a result, it became known as Irish teamed up in 1908 to form Saccone & Speed, a Town. But who were these Irish? prominent wine and spirit merchant in many The most likely contenders were two countries across the globe. The company, large shiploads of Irish women immigrants whose origins date back to 1839, still has a who arrived in Gibraltar in late 1727/early HRH the Duke of Gloucester in Irish Town. presence in Irish Town: it is The Cellar, which 1728. They were sent out to provide female specialises in fine wines. for half a century. windows and Genoese-style louvered wooden The Convento de La Merced in the 18th Century. company for the troops in Gibraltar, who

14 North Mole Road PO Box 83 The entrance to No 92 Irish Town. Unit 5 North Mole Industrial Park Purveyors of fresh fruit & shutters and underground tank for storing vegetables to the artisanal gastronomers in Irish Town Tel: 20072337 | Sales: 20075843 Tel: There was a second convent on the Calle were bored and resorted to drink, which was rainwater is generally attributed to Milanese- The commercial character of Irish Town de Santa Ana. It was for nuns of the Order of The Police Station colonnade. born architect John Maria Boschetti, who took a decided change in the latter part Poor Clares, and was founded in 1587. This lived and worked in Gibraltar for most of his of the 20th century when the street was was the Convento de Santa Clara. The convent Siege broke out in June 1779. It lasted until life. Indeed, the Sacarello merchant house at pedestrianised. In addition to its traditional church and building faced a small square February 1783. Trade practically came to a No 57 was built and owned by Boschetti. activities and its many shops, the street off Main Street, which was built upon in standstill. Even more devastating was the Irish Town became the home in the 19th embraced a new leisure and gastronomic later years. Today, the Sacarello Coffee Shop, intensive bombardment of the city during century for a number of ship owners and character. The bars that had catered to a winery and restaurant is located in what was the siege, which resulted in the destruction of managers, shipping agents and ship chandlers. primarily naval and military clientele, at once a large part of the nuns’ garden. every building on Irish Town. The oldest of these were M.H.Bland, at the a time when Gibraltar was a key military corner of Market Lane, established in 1810; facility, now catered for a new type of The heyday of Irish Town in the and Turner’s, established in 1831, and with more discerning customer. New bars and The street in the 18th century offices at No 65/67. restaurants were established. Irish Town early 19th century became a focus of visitor and tourist interest. Today it has become a gastronomic centre Gibraltar was taken from by an The final years of the 18th century and the Irish Town in the later 19th with its cafes, pubs and restaurants offering Anglo-Dutch force on 4 August 1704. Under first two decades of the 19th century saw the century a variety of cuisine, complemented by fine the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, Spain ceded commencement of Gibraltar’s commercial shops. It is a hub for wining and dining Gibraltar to the British crown in perpetuity. heyday. The policy of of trying to The most significant public building on including al fresco. Echoes nevertheless Most of the Spanish residents of Gibraltar left strangle the British economy by closing off Irish Town is the former Victorian police remain, for those who look closely, of the in the days after it was taken. The old name of ports in Western Europe to British exports station. It was designed by Walter Eliott, the history of the street that spans over 500 years. the street was then forgotten. The original facade of Cloister Building. placed Gibraltar in the commercial limelight. official Civil Engineer of Gibraltar at the time, Looking down on Irish Town from a roof terrace.

LEADING GIBRALTAR LAW FIRM

Triay & Triay, 28 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 72020 • Fax: +350 200 72270 [email protected] • www.triay.com

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