Just west of Camden Street, this neighbourhood retains so much of its early Victorian charm...I'd love to be able to magic all the parked cars away just for one night though. This was the only view I could get without any parked ones about.
Busárus
Beresford Place. 1946 - 53, by Michael Scott. ...or so I always thought. From reading Christine Caseys text on the project in Buildings of Dublin, however, seemingly it was designed "largely by his team, principally Wilfrid Cantwell, Kevin Fox, Robin Walker, Kevin Roche and Pat Scott (mosaics)."
Bravo, ye unsung pensmiths.
To me it still stands out as probably the boldest, bravest, ballsiest piece of architecture Dublin has ever seen built. Sure, parts of it are a bit down at heal...but just think of when it was built; Dublin in the 40's. Think of the confidence, the youth, the exuberance that it took to bring that design from mind, to paper to reality.
I'd love a bottle of that.
Flatland
Looking north over Dublin City centre, from a rooftop carpark.
When you get up any height in Dublin it really strikes you just how flat the city really is...church steeples still direct you to the various neighbourhoods, as they usually are by far, the tallest structures in the area.
It can only be a matter of time before specific sites and zones will have to develop vertically, not ever, ever outwards. The city needs it...the market demands it. What's going on now in the city with rents, with homelessness, is madness. The system is broken.
The Celtic tiger consumed so much land around the city it was frightening...feeding the ever increasing frenzy for real estate. Since all that fell asunder in the late noughtys, it's only now that activity in the construction sector has returned to something akin to normality again...and that's only within the pale.
There are student-housing developments currently either under construction or in the pipeline...flying up, all over the place...thousands of new bed-spaces to be filled with the future professionals of the country.
Thats great, but where are the housing developments so badly needed to cater for the thousands of familys who, right now, just need a place to call home, that they can afford?
I've an awful feeling it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better...
Thomas Davis
The statue of Thomas Davis, created by Edward Delaney, unveiled on Dame Street, Dublin, in 1966. The Four Angels Fountain in the foreground is a secondary piece to the memorial; the angels are blowing their trumpets to symbolically awaken the four provinces of Ireland.
Previously, this was the location of one of Dublin's finest equestrian statues, of King Willian the 3rd (William of Orange) on Horseback, by Grinling Gibbons. It was taken down after it was badly damaged in an explosion in November 1928.
Stoneybatter
The derivation of the name Stoneybatter is interesting;
In the second century a 'Royal road', one of the five great roads of Ireland, stretched from Tara in Meath to Glendalough in Wicklow, crossing the river Liffey at the Ford of the Hurdles (near the present-day Church Street Bridge).
Since this road was paved, a rarity at the time, it was known in Gaelic as Bothar-na-gCloch, or 'Road of the Stones'. This subsequently changed over time, with the influence of the English, to Stoney-Bothar, which was later further corrupted to 'Stoneybatter'.
I've lived her for about 14 years...I love the place...always have. Big moves are afoot, however, in the 'batter. The nearby reincarnation of the Grangegorman complex as the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), the largest campus in the country, is acting like a huge catalyst for change in the area.
Locals I've talked to about it are a mix of excited and nervous at the prospect of what is coming...change can be daunting.
The city is always evolving though, this is just another costume change.
Stoneybatter - 1837-1842 (Ordinance Survey Ireland)
Image added May, 2020
Phibsborough Shopping Centre
Another of Dublin's mass concrete relics from the 60's, due for redevelopment in the near future. Surprisingly the existing tower will be retained, refurbished & reclad of course.
That says a lot about the robustness of the tower's construction; it obviously would have taken too long and be too costly to remove and so made more sense to retain it.
One of my earliest memories of Dublin is walking along this shopfront...my sister used to live just around the corner. I think we went to Eddie Rockets.
Bright lights, big city to a wee lad from Cavan.
3 - it's the magic number
Under the Frank Sherwin Bridge - the modern one beside Heuston Station.
I never knew the name of this bridge...and knew nothing of the man it is named after until I had a look at the excellent Bridges of Dublin
The Troop stables
At the western edge of Collins Barracks, Arbour Hill - Stoneybatter
Silo mentality
At Collins Barracks, seen grom Arbour Hill, Stoneybatter - about 2 minutes from my front door.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
In the company of the great and the good. These walls have stood for almost 800 years. Imagine the crowds that gathered here. Blows my mind every time I visit.