In 1980 new branch premises were dedicated in Dublin. For many years the branch building had been cramped. Fred Metcalfe explains how the lack of space created some difficulties: “Sometimes we had to use the dining room table for typing and other office work. We had to go down to the end of the garden for literature for the congregations. The shed there was the only suitable storage space we had.”

After 12 years of searching, the brothers located and purchased a suitable piece of land, for which the Witnesses in Ireland contributed most of the funds. A fine branch office was built that gave bigger and better facilities for handling the growing volume of work as Ireland experienced an upsurge in the ingathering work. The Kingdom Hall that was incorporated in the branch building not only provided a much needed meeting place for growing congregations but also awakened interest in building other Kingdom Halls and set new standards for them.

[Pictures on page 130]

Present branch building in Finglas, Dublin,