The Iveagh Markets, Dublin’s oldest bakery and the Old Dublin restaurant are just some of the former businesses that Francis Street antique dealer Esther Sexton recalls during her 40 years selling antiques on the street.
Although dubbed the antique quarter, the Dublin 8 street is now home to an aparthotel, the BIMM music institute, several cool coffee shops and a smattering of stylish antique shops. The Tivoli Theatre, which opened in 1934, was demolished in 2019 to make way for the aparthotel.
The street is frequented by tourists, local residents and the occasional shopper seeking out antiques.
Sexton, who first started selling antiques in the Francis St arcade at the back of number 59, moved into her shop at number 51 after this section of the street was renovated in the early 1990s.
“These six shops were derelict until the block was rebuilt on the street. The Iveagh Markets were still open, although it was already dilapidated at that time. Paul Cooke had a big furniture shop and John Keane ran Lantern Antiques,” she says.
After 40 years on the street, Sexton is closing her shop at the end of March. “I’ve enjoyed my time on Francis St. I’ve made some very good friends and I’ve had very good neighbours, which is important.”
Once home to seven art galleries, most of which have closed or relocated in the last decade, Francis Street still has nine antique shops and a large Oxfam outlet selling furniture, books and various homewares.
After lying derelict for decades, the Victorian-style indoor Iveagh Markets on the street awaits refurbishment.
Business was good in the 1980s despite the recession and high unemployment, according to Sexton. “People with money were buying antiques: dining room tables, chairs, sideboards, as investments. It was always very busy before Christmas and then others came in after Christmas to buy what their friends had,” she says.
Sexton specialises in small furniture, bric-a-brac and silver.
She and her husband, Dermot, returned to Dublin in the 1970s from Uganda, where her husband had worked as a history teacher. In an effort to furnish their Dublin home, she picked up pieces at auctions. “I started out of necessity but then I got a passion for it,” she says.
She had an antique stall in the erstwhile Dandelion Market on St Stephen’s Green, where the shopping centre now is. She also had a small shop in Dundrum before moving her business to Francis Street. In her early days in the business, she flew to England to buy from auctions there, relying on Irish shipping carriers to bring her goods back to Dublin.
As one of the first woman dealers on the street, she held her ground when criticised. “There was an attitude that women were taking men’s jobs. Times were tough in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s, but I didn’t put up with bull***t from anyone,” she says.
She developed her knowledge of antiques by buying at auctions and speaking to other dealers. “People had fantastic knowledge then. Now everyone gets their information from the internet, but you learn more from handling things,” she says.
Although she will not divulge details, she admits that like all dealers she bought several duds in her day. “Everyone is duped from time to time but you learn from your mistakes.”
Sexton is loyal to her fellow traders on the street and will not have a bad word said about Francis Street. “Loads of people come in to talk to me in the shop,” she says.
She was never burgled but has caught people trying to steal pieces. “You have to be very careful and very alert; I’m never nervous, we all look out for each other.”
Soon, when the remaining stock has been cleared, Charlie Meehan will move the Zozimus Art Gallery – which was previously in Niall Mullen’s shop a few doors up – into Sexton’s shop.
“Esther has been a rock of common sense and knowledge in the street. We have a working group now to promote the street for art, antiques and design. Footfall has reduced and it needs a lift,” says Meehan.
Sexton’s daughter Rachel is in the shop when we visit. “It was my home away from home,” she says.
“I felt like I grew up on the street. My mother has been an inspiration: a strong-minded feisty woman who had to put up with a good deal of flack. It will feel very strange when the shop is gone.”
