Girls’ School Sheriff Street

Croke Villas in Ballybough once stood as a tight-knit community on the north side of Dublin — a cluster of flats where neighbours knew each other’s stories and the playground was the heart of daily life. Before the blocks were demolished, I spent time photographing the children who brought energy to those concrete courtyards: kids skipping in groups, racing around on battered bicycles, and sliding down the old playground structures that had served generations. What stayed with me was their sense of freedom. In a place often spoken about in terms of hardship or regeneration plans, the photographs show something different — friendship, play, and the small rituals that bind a community together. These images are not about the buildings that have now disappeared, but about the people who animated them, and the last echoes of a neighbourhood that has changed forever.

Eric Luke is an award-winning Irish photographer with over 45 years’ experience, including a long career at The Irish Times. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with venues ranging from IMMA and The National Gallery of Ireland to World Press Photo Amsterdam and the United Nations in New York. He has photographed major global events — including five Olympic Games and two World Cups — and worked on assignments across Europe, the United States, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Now focused on long-term personal projects, Luke works primarily with black-and-white film, documenting everyday life in Ireland and building an archive that spans five decades. Here is his website for more of his work https://ericluke.com/

Older people stood along the pavement trying on second-hand shoes, lifting pairs from cardboard boxes and testing the fit right there in the street. Others bent to pick through clothes and household items spread out on the ground, looking for something useful or affordable. Children drifted between adults, stopping to watch, while neighbours paused to talk at doorways and shopfronts. Cumberland Street at that time had a lived-in feel — modest homes, a close community, and the everyday rhythm of people making the most of what was available. These moments now form a record of a Dublin that has changed almost beyond recognition.