Re: Inner Sunset Time Capsule Opens

04/27/08 - posted by Angus Macfarlane

Jack: Your home on 10th Avenue may not be the oldest house in the Sunset. I would guess that the Little Shamrock on Lincoln is the grandfather of buildings in our neck of the woods.

BUT: Your home has a connection with the Little Shamrock that you may not know about. If you should drop in at the LS and look at the photos along the wall opposite the bar, you'll see turn-of-the-20th century photos of the LS with the name JP Quigley above the entrance.

JP Quigley was James Patrick Quigley. He married Julia Herzo after her husband, Antoine, died and "inherited" the LS, which was established in 1893 to slake the thirst of the workers who were building the mid-winter expo across the street in Golden Gate Park.

James came from a large family: at least seven kids who lived with their parents in a large house situated on the triangle of land in Golden Gate Park today bounded by Lincoln, Kezar Way and the northern extension of Arguello into Golden Gate Park that passes Kezar Stadium. James's father, Patrick, was the superintendent of construction in Golden Gate Park from the early 1870s till he died at age 84 in 1912. As an essential park employee, he got to live in the park.

One of James's brothers was Doctor John M. Quigley. Dr. Quigley lived in your house at the time of his death in 1917.

Ironically, Patrick Quigley supervised the construction of the roads in Golden Gate Park, but two of his sons, including Doctor John Quigley, died in automobile-related accidents on the roads in Golden Gate Park. Dr. Quigley died when his car overturned at 7th Ave. and Martin Luther King drive.

Ten year earlier, brother Charles Quigley was struck and killed by an unknown driver while walking at night on the Waller Street extension into Golden Gate Park.