EXCELLENT STREET IMAGES

LONELY BRONZE COW AT WOOD QUAY

February 14, 2023 by infomatique

EXILED FROM WOLFE TONE SQUARE

This bronze sculpture of a cow was relocated to Wood Quay while Wolfe Tone Park was being redeveloped and while this may be a more pleasant location I would prefer to have it at Wolfe Tone Park as it was very popular with local children and at its current location no one appears to notice it

Ag Crú na Gréine “Enjoying the Sun” (2003) by Jackie McKenna

Wolfe Tone Park & Street Environmental Improvement Scheme offers a new destination point for all, as an ever-changing civic space where daily life and spectacle collide. The contextual design offers a thriving and inviting multi-use urban space for all ages and abilities, to be treasured by residents, workers and visitors.

NEW LANDSCAPING UNDERWAY AT RYDERS ROW IN DUBLIN

February 13, 2023 by infomatique

APEX OF THE TRIANGLE BOUNDED BY CAPEL STREET – RYDERS ROW – PARNELL STREET

New landscaping and tree planting at the north end of Capel Street/Ryder’s Row by @DCCParksBiodiv, bounded by new Leinster granite kerbs. It marks the beginning of the Capel Street interim public realm enhancement, to be delivered along the entire street by the start of summer.

In 2022 the City Council had announced that they are going ahead with their plan to pedestrianise Capel Street promising many changes but at the time I could not determine their plan for Ryders Row however I suspected that the sudden demolition of sections of the Bike Yard might be of some importance to the future of the area. At the time it was stressed that the pedestrian and cycle-only zone will stretch for most of the length of the street from Parnell Street and Ryder’s Row at its northern end, to Strand Street in the south.

My interest in Ryders Row [actually the triangle consisting of Ryders Row, a section of Capel Street and a section of Parnell Street] began with the following story 26 May 2004, mainly as I live a short distance from what I have always considered to be a eyesore:

A city centre Dublin street has been closed to allow for the emergency demolition of three unsafe buildings. Dublin City Coucil said Parnell Street is closed from the junction of Ryders Row to the junction of Capel Street “as a matter of public safety”. Numbers 218, 219 and 220 on the street are being torn down after a fire last week left them in “eminent danger of collapse”. “The buildings concerned are a national monument and considerable care has to be exercised in undertaking any demolition with full regard for sound conservation principles,” the council said in a statement.

In 2019 Dublin City Council issues a Compulsory Purchase (Residential/Commercial Development), Order for the following :

67 Capel Street, Dublin 1
11/12 Ryder’s Row, Dublin 1
13 Ryder’s Row, Dublin 1
14/15 Ryder’s Row, Dublin 1
218 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
219 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
222 Parnell Street, (parts of) Dublin 1
220 Parnell Street (parts of), Dublin 1
221 Parnell Street, (part of) Dublin 1
221 Parnell Street, (part of) Dublin 1

Public footpath & roadway (part of), Ryder’s Row from its junction with Parnell Street in a North Westerly direction for a distance of approximately 70 metres to its junction with Capel Street, Dublin 1.

Public footpath & roadway (part of), Parnell Street from its junction with Ryder’s row in a South Westerly direction for a distance of approximately 38 metres to the western boundary of No. 222 Parnell Street, Dublin 1.

Public footpath & roadway (part of), Ryder’s Row from the northern boundary of No. 66 Capel Street in a North Westerly direction for a distance of approximately 14 metres towards the junction with Ryder’s Row, Dublin 1

In 2021 I publish the following comments along with a selection of photographs:

A street named Ryder’s Row is without doubt an appropriate address for a Bike Yard business.

The area is question is a triangle of properties formed by Ryder’s Row, one end of Capel Street and one short section of Capel Street.

There was a derelict site to the right of the bicycle yard which was converted into a mini public-park which immediately became a magnet for rough sleepers at night and students during the day. Daytime users were not a problem but from about 7pm it became a place to be avoided.

Sadly a person believed to be sleeping rough was found dead in the park. This was the second homeless person to die in the immediate area in recent times. One, who died, was a well known local character who wandered the city together with his little dog in a shopping trolley.

The mini-park is currently fenced off and unavailable as a public space.

This semi-derelict complex is behind a house of note on Capel Street. Described as a Dutch Billy it is one of a small number of extant examples of Dublin’s rich pre-Georgian architectural heritage, many of which have now been demolished or unrecognisably altered. In fact, it is one of only a few surviving intact on Capel Street, a thoroughfare once dominated by these structures.

WINDY ARBOUR TRAM STOP

February 13, 2023 by infomatique

GREEN LINE SERVICE FEBRUARY 2023

Windy Arbour (Na Glasáin) is a small suburban village in the Dundrum area of Dublin, Ireland. Situated between Dundrum and Milltown, along the banks of the Slang River (also known as the Dundrum or Slann River).

The name of the area was originally Irish Na Glasáin, “the green land”; this was Anglicised as ‘Glassons’. The name Windy Harbour or Sandy Arbour was later applied, referring to a landing-point on the River Slang. A starch mill was formerly located there. “Arbour” once had the meaning “grass plot, lawn, garden”; it is possible that the name was intended as a direct translation of glasáin.

Perhaps the most famous person to live in Windy Arbour was Irish patriot Robert Emmet, who grew up in The Casino, a manor house that is now known as Emmet House, where the Secretariat of Secondary schools in Ireland is currently housed. It is located next to the Catholic church on Bird Avenue and was formerly known as Carton House.

There is a primary school in Columbanus Estate known as Our Lady’s National School, Clonskeagh. The area is served by Windy Arbour Luas stop and by the number 17, 44 and 61 bus routes.

SOUTH WILLIAM STREET

February 8, 2023 by infomatique

FEBRUARY 2023

South William Street, runs from the junction with Exchequer Street, Wicklow Street, and St. Andrew’s Street on its northeastern end to the junction of Johnson Place and Stephen Street on its southwestern end.

The street was laid out in 1676 by William Williams and was part of Dublin’s 17th-century expansion beyond its medieval walls. The street has one of the largest and most complete groups of 18th century merchants’ houses in the city. However, M’Cready claims the street is named after King William III.

In 2012, the street was rebranded as being the centre of Dublin’s “Creative Quarter”, an area noted for its “independent design stores, fashion outlets and cafes”. The UK’s Academy of Urbanism has noted that the street has transformed “from the bustling heart of the rag trade to a well-known spot for retail entrepreneurs, start-ups and those in search of a good night out”.

The street is dominated by Powerscourt House, the former Dublin townhouse of Viscount Powerscourt. It was constructed in the 18th century for Richard Wingfield, 3rd Viscount Powerscourt, a member of the Irish House of Lords. The townhouse was the Wingfield family’s urban residence when they were visiting from the Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow.

Designed by Robert Mack, it dates from between 1771 and 1774. The court at the rear of the building was created with the addition of three brown-brick office buildings from 1809 to 1811. The townhouse was purchased and redeveloped as a shopping centre between 1978 and 1981 and is now known as the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre.

KING BILLY’S WHITE HORSE ABOVE THE DOOR

February 5, 2023 by infomatique

NOT MANY TO BE SEEN THESE DAYS

When I was young I remember my Grandmother saying as we passed a large house saying that “protestants live in that house” when I asked her how she knew she replied that they have King Billy’s horse above the door. I was a bit surprised by Grandmothers’s comment as her sister happened to be a Protestant.

It is claimed that inner-city Dublin Protestants (especially in the Stoneybatter Area near where I currently live) displayed statues of white horses that, to their eyes, represented William of Orange, while to onlookers they appeared to be merely decorative items – thus allowing them to display important iconography after Irish Independence without exposing themselves to problems with their Catholic neighbours.

The myth is that William, who was dressed in gleaming armour, was riding a white horse while his banner bore the words ‘God and the Protestant religion’. According to historic records the horse that featured in the Battle Of The Boyne was brown.

The Battle of the Boyne is a 1778 historical painting by the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West. It portrays the Battle of the Boyne which took place in Ireland in 1690. West’s depiction of William of Orange on his white horse became the iconic image of liberation from Catholic Ireland; the painting was widely copied and distributed throughout the nineteenth century. The painting itself is at Mount Stewart, Newtownards, Northern Ireland, and is the property of the National Trust.