Dublin

SANDYMOUNT OPEN AIR SWIMMING BATHS

January 29, 2023 by infomatique

DERELICT FOR ABOUT 100 YEARS

Designed by Frederick Morley, the Merrion Pier, Promenade and Baths in 1863. The baths did not operate all year round but were usually open from late May until September. A national publication noted in 1863 that the cost of admittance was well beyond what a labourer could afford, particularly if accompanied by his wife and children.

The baths measured approximately 40 by 40 metres, with a 75-metre pier added in 1884. The pier featured a bandstand halfway along it and summer concerts were regularly held there for many years. By 1920, the pier had deteriorated so much that it had to be demolished. The concrete baths section, which resembles a small harbour, remains.

WHEN WILL CLERYS REOPEN

January 21, 2023 by infomatique

I HAVE NO IDEA

Clerys is being redeveloped into a mixed-use development of offices, retail and leisure called Clerys Quarter. Press Up Entertainment (run by Paddy McKillen Jr and Matt Ryan, and known for a number of pubs, bars and hotels as well as Wowburger and Tower Records Ireland) will operate a boutique hotel which will be called The Clery, with the hotel also including a rooftop bar and a restaurant.

Clerys was a long-established department store on O’Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, a focal point of the street. The business dates from 1853, however the current building dates from 1922, having been completely destroyed in the 1916 Easter Rising. Clerys completed a five-year restoration programme in 2004 at a cost of €24 million. A renovation project is currently underway to restore the building and will include converting the layout from that of a department store to that of various businesses operating under the same roof.

The group also included three “At Home With Clerys” homewares stores in out-of-town retail parks at Blanchardstown, Leopardstown and Naas; and the discount department store Guiney and Co (a different company to the Guineys chain) at 79-80 Talbot Street; all of which closed during the 2012 receivership. There had formerly been a fashion-only outlet in The Square, Tallaght but this had already closed by the time of the receivership.

THE LATEST AND LARGEST STAYCITY APARTHOTEL IN DUBLIN

January 21, 2023 by infomatique

LITTLE MARY STREET

As the street is very narrow it is difficult to photograph this new building. The laneway at the side of the building is Anglesea Row and to the best of my knowledge a former mill was located was located here and it has been completely rebuilt to provide modern office space.

Two or three years ago the Irish Times reported that there about 100 new hotels or similar accommodation developments under construction or in the planning process and that there were already more than 250 hotels in Dublin.

Staycity was established in Dublin in 2004 and to the best of my knowledge the largest and most recent is located on the site of a Keelings owned fresh fruit and veg distribution depot on Little Mary Street. Back when planning permission was applied for However, the potential for human remains on the site had placed a question mark over the development. A City Council archaeologist report found that given that the site is located near to a medieval abbey and that human remains were found nearby, “I consider that it to have high potential for in situ structural remains of medieval date and for burials”.

An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel, or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can “check out” whenever they wish, subject to the applicable minimum length of stay imposed by the company.

An apartment hotel complex usually offers a complete fully fitted apartment. These complexes are usually custom built, and similar to a hotel complex containing a varied amount of apartments. The length of stay in these apartment hotels is varied with anywhere from a few days to months or even years. The people who stay in apartment hotels use them as long-term accommodation; therefore, the hotels are often fitted with most things the average home would require.

DUN LAOGHAIRE WATERFRONT FACING SCOTSMAN’S BAY

January 14, 2023 by infomatique

BADLY NEGLECTED AT PRESENT

Dún Laoghaire is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown.

The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dublin. It was known as Dunleary until it was renamed Kingstown in honour of King George IV’s 1821 visit, and in 1920 was given its present name, the original Irish form of Dunleary. Over time, the town became a residential location, a seaside resort and the terminus of Ireland’s first railway.

John Rennie (1761-1821), who was Scottish, was one of the leading civil engineers of his day. He designed many bridges, canals and docks, including those at Hull, Liverpool, London and Leith. Keeping an effective link between Ireland and England was vital in the early 19th century and Rennie was responsible for the construction of Howth Harbour a decade earlier than Dunleary. He had been asked for his observations on Dublin Bay just two years after Bligh’s survey in 1800. Rennie suggested that: “Dunleary, or rather a little to the east of it was a good site for the construction of a harbour of asylum, for ships which, under unfavourable circumstances get embayed in Dublin Bay and cannot with safety enter the present harbour”.

The Bay between the East Pier and The Forty Foot is now known as Scotsman’s Bay in Rennie’s honour. He died in 1821 and is buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. His son, also John Rennie was a distinguished engineer and he carried out further work at Kingstown [Dun Laoghaire] Harbour.

Dún Laoghaire Harbour and Carlisle Pier were constructed in the nineteenth century for the purposes of sheltering ships and accommodating the mailboat which sailed between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead. The nearby settlement of Dún Laoghaire has also previously been known as Kingstown and also as Dun Leary. Carlisle Pier has been known previously as Kingston Pier and the Mailboat Pier.

YOU CAN RING MY BELL AT THE PANTIBAR

January 9, 2023 by infomatique

PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART ON CAPEL STREET

I really liked Ring My Bell but I could never remember the name of the singer and when I asked anyone (with one exception … @ronanleonard) they would always say Gloria Gaynor and that always annoyed me because I was not a fan of “I Will Survive” after hearing it too many times.

“Ring My Bell” is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for then eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song about kids talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American singer and musician Anita Ward was asked to sing it instead, and it became her only major hit.

“Ring My Bell” went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Disco Top 80 chart and the Soul Singles chart. It also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. It also garnered Ward a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1980 Grammy Awards.