Grave Architecture: Mapping Dublin City Council's Derelict and Vacant Sites Registers

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Mother Redcap's Tavern and Market

Exterior view of front facade, Mother Redcaps.
Exterior view of front facade, Mother Redcaps.
Weather-worn timber sign reading 'Mother Redcaps Market, open Friday Saturday Sunday 10.00 - 5.30.
Weather-worn timber sign reading 'Mother Redcaps Market, open Friday Saturday Sunday 10.00 - 5.30.'
Rear door of Mother Redcaps. Black steel door against a mixed stone and brick wall. Two signs read 'Mother Redcaps Market Entrance.'
Rear door of Mother Redcaps. Black steel door against a mixed stone and brick wall. Two signs read 'Mother Redcaps Market Entrance.



Register number: VS-1077

Eircode: Dublin 8

Past use: The structure onsite functioned as the primary factory for Winstanley Boots from 1875 until the 1980s. Winstanley Boots was founded by English businessman James Winstanley. At the factory's peak, it was "producing 4,000 pairs of shoes a week and employed 400 workers," (Life, Love, the Liberties). Archaeological excavations conducted at Mother Redcaps in 2006 revealed a much earlier history, however - the team unearthed a Hiberno-Norse land fortification, Medieval and Post-Medieval pottery fragments, and a seventeenth-century red-brick wall (Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd 1-2). The latter is likely from Kildare Hall, a Jesuit chapel and college that operated onsite from 1628. Winstanley's factory closed in the 1980s, and was taken over by a 90+ stall market, pub, and live music venue. Some bands that graced the stage include U2, The Hothouse Flowers, Christy Moore (with Donal Lunny and Frances Black), Interference, the Black Velvet Band, Glen Hansard, and Scullion. The market operated until 1999. The pub/venue stayed until 2005 and held a 'Demolition Party' on its final day of operation.

Future use: The property is owned by publican and hotelier Martin Keane. Keane also owns the Iveagh Markets, Blooms Hotel, Oliver St. John Gogarty's Pub, and two derelict houses on Back Lane. In 2020, Keane applied for planning permission to develop Mother Redcaps into a three-star hotel and hostel. This was declared invalid (Dublin City Council). In 2021, Keane faced public scrutiny for his ruinous negligence of the nearby Iveagh Markets site. The Markets were repossessed from Keane by Arthur Edward Rory Guinness, Earl of Iveagh, to seek critical structural repairs. No such repairs have occurred at Mother Redcaps.

Architectural significance: Unique survival of a nineteenth century four-bay two-storey factory building. Its presence within the Liberties is a physical reminder of an industrial and mercantile past that is rapidly being stamped out by demolition and gentrification. Mother Redcaps as "one of the oldest and most cherished pubs and music venues in Dublin," is a successful example of architectural re-use instead of redevelopment (The Hot Press Newsdesk). Some original nineteenth century features include the Flemish-bond brick, iron drainpipes, and a carved keystone above the door reading 'J W 1875.'

Works cited:
Dublin City Council. 4811/19. no. 136937, 17 Jan. 2020, https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/136937.

The Hot Press Newsdesk. 'Mother Recaps Demolition Party This Sunday.' Hot Press Magazine, 20 June 2005, https://www.hotpress.com/music/mother-redcaps-demolition-party-this-sunday-2808754.

Life, Love, The Liberties. 'Those Boots Were Made for Walking.' LoveTheLiberties, 23 Oct. 2022, https://libertiesdublin.ie/those-boots-were-made-for-walking/.

Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd. Mother Redcap's Market, Back Lane and Lamb Alley, Dublin 8. DCAA.01.22, Dublin City Archaeological Archive, https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/media/file-uploads/2018-06/DCAA.01.22_Mother_Redcap_s_Market.pdf. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.

National Built Heritage Service. 'Mother Redcap's Tavern, Back Lane, Dublin 8, DUBLIN.' 28 Oct. 2013, https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080540/mother-redcaps-tavern-back-lane-dublin-8-dublin.