At 66-67 Strand St, the former Quaker Meeting House is looking well. The house opened in 1869, 10 years after the better known Meeting House on Eustace St. The latter has a much longer history; since 1662 there was a house on Sycamore Alley with the back entrance was towards Eustace St, but a swap with Joshua Bewley led to the new building opening in 1859.
Strand St was used as a Meeting House until 1924. The building included a Reading Room for men and “Edith M. Wigham and some interested ladies” ran a Drilling Association for women, which included activities like gymnastic classes. Charitable works included “looking after” unfortunate women and girls in the vicinity of Dame St, as well as providing a base for people coming off ships with nowhere to go.
A small plaque on the building commemorates the Friends’ presence.
Reference
Katherine Butler (1991) Friends in Dublin, Dublin Historical Record, 44(1), 34-46.
