Cabra History.Com

Did you know that Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of Pawnbrokers? Seemingly he came across three young girls one day who hadn’t a penny between them and gave each of them a gold coin and that’s how the three brass balls came about. Almost every street in Dublin had a pawnbrokers, Marlborough Street, Capel Street, Gardiner Street, Dorset Street, Clanbrasel Street, Queen Street…am I leaving any out? The Ma’ used to go to the one in Dorset Street and get off the bus at the stop after the pawn in case anyone saw her going in but so did every other mother from Cabra.

I once pawned a guitar in Rafter’s in Gardiner Street so my brother could go out on a date with the money. One time the brother and his pal robbed a coat off the back seat of a car and pawned it. My granny used to pawn her husbands waistcoat and good trousers every Monday and redeem them on the following Friday. And how many of those Charm Bracelets were pawned over the years or egagement rings when things didn’t work out?