14
The Informer
All about Dublin 2
Edited by Zoz
Firsthand History
The Pinking Dindies
In the late 1700s Dublin was infested by an organised body of dissolute young men, individually, you would not suspect them. They normally operated at night and in groups and they were so well prepared for battle that the " ancient and quiet watchmen," of the city were no match for them. The 'pinking dindies' made a rule to be well dressed, and, to a man, they were skilful swordsmen. Their plan of attack was thus:- Two of them, walking arm-in-arm, jostled the victim they meant for prey; then, with their swords in their scabbards, so that the point just protruded, they pricked him in various parts, and if he did not throw down his watch and money, two others came and took it by force; whilst two more in reserve were on the watch to give alarm if any persons approached. In that case they disappeared, and had their hidingplaces adjacent, doors open; so, that if the punctured man was willing to pursue, he knew not where to go, but was glad to get away, bleeding and terrified. The last achievement I recollect of one
of these redoubted champions, was a robbery he committed, at eleven o'clock at night, in Fleet Street, on a merchant, who had reached home, but had not knocked at his door. The robber presented a pistol at him, the merchant delivered his watch and money, and the freebooter escaped ; but the merchant recognised him as a person with whom he had been well acquainted, having been at the same school with him. The next morning he had him arrested and committed to prison. The jury pronounced him guilty and he was sentenced to death, later changed to transportation for life to America. It appears incredible that such a practice should be endured for years without any effort to check it effectually. But the party of pinking dindies were never finally put down until the police was established. That useful institution, though decried by many, was more salutary, and timely to the city of Dublin, than any plan that has been since devised, coercive or otherwise.
n Busáras. Officially it is called Árus Mhic Dhiarmada, after the executed 1916 leader Seán Mac Diarmada, Dubliners just call it Busárus ('the bus building' as Béarla). While Bus Éireann are the most visible tenants, the building is the HQ of the Department of Social Protection, and the bus company merely rents space. Designed by Michael Scott (he also designed Donnybrook Garage and the Abbey Theatre), it was completed in 1953. From 1959 to 1995 Busárus was home to the Eblana Theatre.
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