Dublin

PHOTOGRAPHS OF SIR JOHN ROGERSON’S QUAY IN DUBLIN

June 2, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED IN MAY 2023

In 1713, Dublin Corporation leased lands on the Liffey to Sir John Rogerson, who was a developer and had been Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1693 to 1694. The lease of 133 acres (54 ha) on the south bank of the river (described as ‘betwixt Lazy Hill and Ringsend’) was conditional on Rogerson constructing a quay on the land. As part of the privately funded development, a quay wall was built facing the river, with a second wall built further inland. The gap between these walls was filled with sand and gravel dredged from the Liffey. The project commenced in 1716, with the initial phase completed by the early 1720s.

John Rocque’s 1756 map of Dublin shows Rogerson’s quay as largely developed by the mid-18th century. During the early 19th century, the quay serviced larger freight vessels, including colliers which brought coal (from ports like Whitehaven in England) to feed the coal and gas works at nearby Hanover Quay. By the 20th century, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay was home to a number of shipbuilding and shipping companies, as well as several storehouse types, including cold stores and ‘campshire’ sheds. At the beginning of the “Lotus-Eaters” episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses, set in 1904, Leopold Bloom, one of the novel’s protagonists, walks along Rogerson’s Quay. Joyce describes it at the time as busy with lorry traffic, and notes some of the businesses along it—a linseed crusher, the postal telegraph office, and a sailor’s home.

As of the early 21st century, the previously functional maritime buildings and features of Sir John Rogerson’s Quay have been redeveloped for heritage tourism, and newer office buildings built on the quay. This has included redevelopment of the quay’s ‘campshire’ warehouses (associated with the historical use of the quay as a military ‘camp’), and the renovation of a mid-19th century diving bell made by Grendons of Drogheda. The diving bell has been a feature of the quays since the 1870s, and was used to build and maintain many of the walls of Dublin’s quays.

WILLIAMSTOWN MARTELLO TOWER

June 1, 2023 by infomatique

TOWER 15 IS NEAR BOOTERSTOWN TRAIN STATION

The Williamstown Martello Tower, located in Blackrock Park, was built between 1804-1806. When the tower was built, it would have been surrounded by sea water at high tide as it was built in the inter-tidal beach area. The tower became isolated from the sea when the construction of the railway took place, but sea water still flowed into the area at high tide. It wasn’t until the filling in of the area to form the Blackrock Park that the tower was to be on dry land. That part of the tower which is visible today is actually the first floor as the ground floor is buried underground.

The tower at Booterstown was originally slightly offshore as the site had to be located to enable it to signal effectively, by flags, to its neighbouring Martello towers at Sandymount and Seapoint. A little larger in width than the norm to accommodate two guns, it was built roughly 2 kilometres from its south eastern companion tower – No. 14 – at Seapoint and 2.4 kilometres from its north western companion – No. 16 – at Sandymount.

The 1,700 metre range of its two 24 pounder cannons ensured that, in conjunction with the intersecting firing radii of its neighbours’ guns, any attacking ship could be at least severely damaged, or indeed sunk.

Currently, the tower is not occupied, but the intention was expressed in 2013 by the local authority to restore it, and thus enable it to be used by the community. This work has not yet commenced. The tower is located on a large grassed area bordered by a coastal walkway with the Dart line to its east, and can be seen to have degraded, due to the ravages of both time and vandals.

March 28 2013] A Martello tower in south Co Dublin is to be restored to allow it to be open to the public. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will spend €100,000 restoring Williamstown Martello tower, on the coast close to Blackrock.The tower is one of 16 built along the coast between Sandymount in Dublin and Bray, Co Wicklow. The coastal fortifications were constructed during the Napoleonic era and not all are still standing. A spokeswoman for the council said conservation and maintenance works, under the direction of the architects and culture department, are currently being proposed to restore the Williamstown tower and to make it available for “exhibitions and appropriate civic uses”.

Martello towers (or simply Martellos) are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards.

They stand up to 40 feet (12m) high (with two floors) and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15–25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. A few towers had moats for extra defence. The Martello towers were used during the first half of the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Many have survived to the present day, often preserved as historic monuments.

BUILDINGS ON GRANGEGORMAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

May 25, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED USING A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO

Today I obtained an unused Sigma Quattro DP3 camera and, believe me, it is more than difficult to use for multiple reasons. The first problem that I had was that the internal battery was exhausted and I could not change any settings, I could not even set the date and time. The second problem was that AF would not work so I had to focus manually which was difficult without a viewfinder.

The biggest problem is that LightRoom does not recognise the RAW files and there is no point in using the JPG files and to complicate life one needs not to use any setting above ISO 100. Alto the battery life is the worse that I have encountered.

The Grangegorman site is an area of approximately 73 acres located in the Arran Quay Ward of Dublin in the district of Grangegorman. It is north of the River Liffey and south of the Royal Canal, and approximately 1.5 kilometres from Dublin’s City Centre. The Grangegorman site is bounded by the North Circular Road to the north, Prussia Street and Stoneybatter to the west, and Brunswick Street to the south.

It is unique because of its location in the core of the city and, other than the Docklands and the Poolbeg peninsula, is the last remaining large undeveloped land bank in the city.

The site is divided into two precincts known as St. Brendan’s West (54 acres) and St. Brendan’s East (19 acres), on either side of Grangegorman Road Upper. The eastern edge of the site is beside the Broadstone and Phibsborough bus depots, property used by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann under the auspices of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE).

Much of the site is still undeveloped and can be considered brown-field, however part of St Brendan’s West has been redeveloped and is now in use by TU Dublin. There are also large areas of public realm accessible to the community, including a children’s playground. These lands contain many mature trees together with an array of protected buildings under the current Dublin City Development Plan, all of which date from the nineteenth century or before.

There is a high boundary wall which surrounds most of the site which means access to the lands is restricted. The lands are elevated on the north eastern part sloping gently down towards the south west. The Grangegorman site has a diverse architectural, historical, and land use character, however the area is fragmented and cut off from surrounding residential neighbourhoods. These factors have served to limit expansion and to discourage the coherent development of the area.

BUILDINGS ON GRANGEGORMAN UNIVERSITY CAMPUS [PHOTOGRAPHED USING A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO] 026

SOME OF THE DERELICT BUILDINGS REMAIN

May 7, 2023 by infomatique

RICHMOND STREET SOUTH

I refer to the street as South Richmond Street rather than Richmond Street South. In case your are wondering about it there is a North Richmond Street but it is on the North Side of the city (O’Connell Secondary School is located there).

When I was young I visited the street once a week as it was home to the Caroline Record Shop a few years later I opened my own record shop in Bray County Wicklow and then moved on again to work for Memorex (magnetic tapes) in California.

A number of years ago I mentioned South Richmond Street was at the same time interesting and ugly mainly because there were so many buildings that are derelict or in very poor condition. Some of the derelict buildings have gone but the street has not become less ugly.

The 1837 Ordnance Survey map showed one building on the western side of Richmond St. (excluding property belonging to the Portobello Hotel), which corresponds to no. 34, which was the Caroline Records shop (closed in 2003).

The hotel at the nearby harbour was opened in 1807 (the architect was James Colbourne). In 1858 it was taken over by a Catholic order of nuns, who used it as an asylum (St. Mary’s) for blind girls. A few years later they successfully appealed to the Guardians of the South Dublin Union for some finance (it cost £10 to keep a girl for a year), though the Irish Times in an editorial frowned upon this proselytising by “Romanists”, while they lauded the efforts of the Protestant-run “Home for Orphans” at 7 South Richmond Street (which advertised frequently for “fresh souls to save” in the same newspaper).

Ten years later the Asylum was sold to a Mr. Isaac Cole, who renovated it and returned it to its original function as a hotel, to accommodate 100 persons. It was popular among officers visiting the nearby Portobello Barracks (who would occasionally pop across South Richmond Street to the Grand Canal Tavern for a drink) and claimed it was the nearest hotel to the Royal Dublin Society grounds. However, it was slow in providing catering facilities – in 1871 a Rathmines businessman, in a letter to the Irish Times, lamented the absence of restaurants in the neighbourhood, and enjoined upon Mr. Cole to provide same, preferably a two-course meal for two shillings (the price to include beer and punch).

A WALK ALONG WEXFORD STREET AND CAMDEN STREET

May 6, 2023 by infomatique

ALSO PHOTOGRAPHED THE BLEEDING HORSE PUBLIC HOUSE

ABOUT THE BLEEDING HOUSE PUBLIC HOUSE

Camden Street links Ranelagh/Rathmines (Dublin 6) to the southern city centre of Dublin via Wexford Street. It is divided into Camden Street Upper (southern end) and Camden Street Lower (northern end).

The name is likely derived from the Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden (1714-94). The fact that the street name first appears on maps in 1778 would rule it out as originating from his son John Pratt, Marquess Camden (1759-1840) who became Lord Lieutenent of Ireland in 1795. An attempt to connect the name to Saint Kevin (Old Irish Cóemgen) is regarded as spurious.

A prominent company located on Upper Camden St for over a century was Earley and Company (1861–1975). They were ecclesiastical furnishings and stained glass manufacturers and retailers. The firm was one of the largest and most prestigious ecclesiastical decorators both in Ireland and the U.K.

An intact Edwardian shop interior existed at number 39, Carvill’s Off Licence until the early 21st century. The Bleeding Horse pub is also a notable building, with a public house sitting on the site since 1648. It is mentioned in the work of Sean O’Casey, and both James Clarence Mangan and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu were patrons.

There were two cinemas on the street: The Camden Cinema and the Theatre De Luxe. The Camden Cinema was located at 55 Upper Camden St., where the headquarters of Concern Worldwide is now located. It closed around 1912. The Theatre De Luxe was opened in 1912 by Maurice Elliman, a Jew who escaped the pogroms in Eastern Europe. The first building was designed by Frederick Hayes, MRIAI, and built by George Squire & Co. It was enlarged and rebuilt in 1920. The exterior was remodelled in Art deco style in 1934. It closed in 1975. The building is now a hotel, Hotel De Luxe, and a night-club.