A FANTASTIC COLLECTION of films from the 1960s has been unearthed, showing life in Dublin five decades ago.

The footage was shot by Leslie Crowe, a firefighter and amateur historian, who can be heard narrating the footage, with his son Noel playing piano.

According to posts on Facebook by Dublin historical interest groups, the film was hidden away in biscuit tins for years, but the quality hasn’t diminished.

In this first video, Leslie speaks about Dublin City Centre, including everything from the construction of Liberty Hall…

… to the destruction of the Carlisle Building, where O’Connell Bridge House now stands.

Watch in full below:

In the second video released, the once iconic Guinness boats are seen sailing up the Liffey.

Leslie continues to explore the rest of the Liffey and the Tolka:

He continues up to Glasnevin, where a procession is held to commemorate the burial of a statue of the Virgin Mary. He explains:

This is a new statue. The old one, worn and weather-beaten after many years, was buried one night, secretly, by some of the local men, at a spot, somewhere within the green grassy triangle where you see the crowd.

The entire area is almost unrecognisable:

In Part 4, Leslie explores the inside of the Cat and Cage pub in Drumcondra, as well as the Dublin Bird Market:

Part 5 is dedicated to travel, where Leslie mentions the abandoned Drumcondra train station (now in use again), and removing the old tram tracks (which are now being put back down for the Luas).

• More videos are being published on the Lorcan Film Unit YouTube page, available here.

Want more? This colour video brings 1950s Dublin to life >