A beanfest at the Bayno

The impressive building that is now Liberties College, overlooking St Patrick’s Park, housed the Iveagh Trust Play Centre for its first 60 years. It’s long been a place to learn and have fun, and was a much loved safe haven for the children of the area.

In 1901, Lord Iveagh, philanthropist and heir to the Guinness fortune, built 250 flats in the Bull Alley area of the Liberties, at a cost of £38,000. The property consisted of two five story residential complexes, public baths, a hostel, and a play centre, which became known as the The Bayno.

The Bayno, which had started in 1909 in Myra Hall off Francis Street, moved to the Bull Alley building in 1915 and was officially named the Iveagh Trust Play Centre, which later became the Beano, and in Dublinese, ‘The Bayno’.

Like the buildings around it, ‘The Bayno’ was built to help alleviate poverty in the area, and to give children the possibility of education and fun, remaining open until 1975.

In his book The Bayno, author Liam O’Meara recalls the great comraderie that developed between kids as they could play football in a large playground, learn to dressmake, sing, dance and enjoy other activities like cookery classes and swimming. O’Meara describes how parents would head to ‘The Bayno’ after school to enjoy shell cocoa and fruit buns.

In the book, Bernie Stafford, a local, who used to go to the Bayno, said she had very happy memories of her visits there, except for the cocoa, which she described as being “sometimes muck and sometimes good”.

Within two years of opening, 4,000 children were recorded as having attended the facility, which was open for children aged from 4 to 14 every evening after school.

O’Meara describes how within certain elements of society, however, it was regarded as a sign of poverty to have to go there, as mothers often did, particularly at war times, when their husbands were away. He says that derogatory terms such as “Bayno babies” would be used for some of the children who attended.

In the book he recalls a time when his sister brought him there out of curiosity, but their mother was not pleased when they got home and told her where they’d been.

He describes how Christmas time was special, with pantomimes and parties with balloons and cakes. Seemingly, it was very difficult to hold on to your presents. Even at that age, as O’Meara describes, there were “gate crashers”, and one little enterprising girl managed to forge her entry ticket!

Although the Iveagh Play Centre was originally set up for underprivileged children living in the Iveagh flats adjacent to it, children from further afield attended too. O’Meara in his book tells us that historian Mairin Johnston recalls a visit to the Bayno in the 1940s when she said “It was very important to get down there in time or else you mightn’t get in, but getting there too early wasn’t the best plan either because there was the danger of getting involved in gang warfare, and some of the regulars would reef you to bits if you looked crooked at them.”

December of 1959 marked the Golden Jubilee anniversary of the play centre, and by then, children from Rialto, Inchicore, and Ballyfermot were also attending. Lord Iveagh was in attendance, and attendees were given cake, along with a broach given to all the teachers.

O’ Meara explains that within a decade the economy began to slowly improve, and tenants began to move to new houses outside the area. That was the beginning of the end for the Bayno. The playschool was eventually taken over by the City of Dublin VEC, and the school there is now known as the Liberties College.

_{^{Pat Garry, former teacher at the Liberties College. Photo: Mary Phelan}}

Pat Garry, a former teacher in Liberties, saw the Bayno from both sides. He went there regularly as a child after school; then as an adult he became a woodwork teacher in Liberties College. He described it as “a magical place”, where he learned to play the piano, draughts, and chess. He saw films too and his biggest regret was that he never managed to get a ticket to the Christmas party.

Garry sings the praises of the Guinness family, citing all the amenities they provided for the local population. He explains that as Patrick Street originally was full of markets, with women mostly trading all day, the Bayno was an invaluable asset, providing a safe, clean and dry place for their children to go after school.

Today, he admires the building itself, stating that it was better built than any hospital. He said “the floors were made of Baltic pine, which is a natural antiseptic, and the same tiles are still there today, with an excellent ventilation system, as TB was a big killer in those days.”

What a testimony to the Iveagh Trust and its builders.