Mystery of vanishing old Irish street signs sparks concern in Dún Laoghaire

Irish Independent

3 days ago

Today at 07:59
A series of bilingual street signs, with distinctive Gaelic typefaces, have gone missing from streets around Dún Laoghaire.
Fine Gael councillor Lorraine Hall was contacted by two separate residents' associations in recent weeks about the sudden disappearance of three of the distinctive green-and-white signs.
All three were located within close proximity of each other, on Silchester Road, Royal Terrace East, and Woodlawn Park.
'These lovely, very old green signs with the Irish Gaelic script on them have gone missing in recent weeks,' councillor Hall said.
'They're really beautiful. People really appreciate these signs. They have emotional and sentimental importance, and there's a strong heritage value to them too.'
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has confirmed it was not responsible for their removal, raising suspicions that the signs may have been taken, or stolen, without authorisation.
'We suspect they are being taken because they're quite attractive,' Cllr Hall said.
'They look very nice in pubs or private collections. But they belong to the community.'
The signs, often featuring cló Gaelach, a stylised Irish-language typeface historically associated with cultural resistance, date back to around the 1950s and 60s and are now considered rare.
While some are protected in architectural conservation areas, most are not, and there is currently no statutory provision under the Official Languages Act for the preservation of these original designs.
'These signs can't really be replicated today,' Cllr Hall said. 'They're not just practical markers. They represent something deeper – our shared identity and history.'
Cllr Hall has issued a public appeal, asking residents across the county to check if similar signs have vanished in their areas.
The issue comes as researchers at Trinity College Dublin document the capital's remaining examples of the bilingual signage.
As part of a digital humanities initiative called the CLÓSCAPE project, members of the public are being asked to submit photos of old green street signs to help build a digital archive before more are lost.
This script, once considered a form of 'silent rebellion' against British rule, is used in Irish manuscripts, on shop and pub fronts, and on our distinctive old street signs.
When the Irish state was founded, there was 'huge pressure' to use Gaelic in educational materials, on street signs, and in books as a symbol of reinforcing Irish identity.
Little is known about the roll-out or distribution of these signs, and the project aims to collect photographic evidence, both past and present, to reconstruct the historic placement of Irish typeface signs and preserve them for future generations.
Many signs are subsequently replaced by modern blue-and-white signs with Roman fonts, with no provision for the use of cló gaelach in the current Official Languages Act.