Remembering Peter Brannigan 1939 - 2025

Memory is at the heart of social history and one month on from his passing we would like to remember former resident of 14 Henrietta Street, Peter Brannigan.

Peter’s storytelling was grounded, humble and never dramatised, and his voice became central to the development of the museum at 14 Henrietta Street.

Peter’s father, Harry Brannigan was born in 1904, the same year as his childhood sweetheart Molly Cleary, whom he married. They had thirteen children - five girls and eight boys. The Brannigan family lived at 14 Henrietta Street, initially in the basement room of the house. Born in 1939, Peter was the middle child and the only one amongst his siblings to be born in the house. As Peter recalled “I was born in the basement. And the story goes, was that there was no electric light as you now, and down in the basement there was no gas light at the time, there was gas light upstairs, but it was lamplight or candlelight. The rumour is, so my eldest sister was telling me anyway, we had to move over to where the light was a neighbour seen me before my father did.” Soon afterwards the family moved upstairs to the parlour room - a room partitioned from the hallway, and which is now the reception area of the museum.

The family lived in the house for another ten years before moving out to Donneycarney in 1949. Although having left Henrietta Street Peter still went to school in nearby Denmark Street, visited friends there and stated that he ‘never left Henrietta Street in a sense, spiritually, I came back every year’.

In 2013 while on a visit to Henrietta Street, Peter popped in the front door of number 14. Unknown to him there was a theatre piece happening in the house - Living the Lockout, an immersive site-specific play by ANU Productions. Greeted with “Are you here for the tour?" Peter sparked up a conversation with a member of the team and talked about his connection to the house. This marked the beginning of what was to become a very special relationship between Peter and the museum.

Peter was the first former resident to visit the house. He contributed greatly to our oral history programme, Your Tenement Memories, which helped inform the script for the guided tour which we still give today. He was also a member of the Museum Advisory Group and a regular guest at our Teatime Talks and Neighbours Day. Peter always generously gave his time to chat with our tour guides and answer any questions they had about the house or the people who lived on Henrietta Street.

Peter’s memories are a reminder of why capturing oral history is so important. His stories painted everyday life in number 14 and the wider street in a way that a photograph or book could never capture. His humour, kindness and strong sense of community always came through when he spoke, and by sharing his experiences, Peter helped preserve a part of Dublin’s history that might otherwise have been lost.

Peter’s contributions have added an invaluable authenticity to the museum's interpretation of tenement Dublin. His words, heard both literally and figuratively in the rooms and stairways of 14 Henrietta Street, honour the residents of Dublin's Tenements and hold up a mirror for us all to reflect on the type of Dublin that we want to live in. They will continue to be heard at number 14 for many, many years to come.