January

BOOTERSTOWN AVENUE

February 2, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED 29 JANUARY 2023

Many of Dublin’s best schools and University College Dublin are located within easy reach, including Blackrock College, St. Andrew’s College, Sion Hill and three National Schools. The area is served by an excellent public transport network including both Booterstown and Blackrock DART stations and bus with the QBC within a five minute walk. Blackrock Park at the end of Booterstown Avenue.

Booterstown is a coastal suburb of the city of Dublin in Ireland. It is also a townland and civil parish in the modern county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is situated about 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Dublin city centre.

There is some debate on the origin of the town name Booterstown. Historically known in English as “Ballyboother” the name “Booterstown” is an anglicised form of the original Irish name Baile an Bhóthair, meaning “The Town of the Road”. In its original Irish form it shares the same name as Batterstown in County Meath, as well as Ballinvoher in Kilkenny, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Longford and Mayo.

The area is home to Booterstown marsh, a bird sanctuary which has been leased for many years by An Taisce, who have worked to protect it. Species seen regularly include mallard, Eurasian teal, common moorhen, water rail, grey heron, little egret, common redshank, greenshank, Eurasian curlew, common snipe, Eurasian oystercatcher, bar-tailed godwit, common kingfisher, sedge warbler and dunlin.

The Catholic Church of the Assumption is a focal point of the area along Booterstown Avenue.

Booterstown has a dedicated Circus Field located along the Rock Road, where both Tom Duffy’s Circus (June/July) and Fossett’s Circus (October) are set up once a year.

The Old Punch Bowl pub, which stands at the bottom of Booterstown Avenue, was established in 1779.

Merrion Cemetery is an old cemetery that was used from the 13th century to 1866 and is located at Bellevue between Booterstown and Merrion off the Rock Road.

Booterstown was recorded in 1488 as one of the locations for the boundary of The Pale.

STRAND ROAD IN SANDYMOUNT

February 1, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED 29 JANUARY 2023

Sandymount is an affluent coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Sandymount is located between 3 and 4 km south-east of Dublin’s city centre. At the northern end it begins where Newbridge Avenue meets Herbert Road, running to Church Avenue at the coast, west along the DART rail line, and south to Merrion Gates. Sandymount Promenade runs along the coast road (Strand Road) from Sandymount Strand, down to Merrion Gates. It lies a little south of the Great South Wall in Dublin Bay.

The River Dodder passes nearby to the west, and three streams, the Elm Park, Nutley and Trimleston, come to the coast to the south. In the past, the Nutley Stream came to the coast in what is now Sandymount, and severe flooding occurred on the old course in 1963.

Sandymount Strand is a large strand on the east coast of Ireland, adjacent to the village and suburb of Sandymount. It is part of South Bull – a major component of the south side of Dublin Bay, and part of the Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve. South Bull is a mirror to the North Bull sandbank, which grew into North Bull Island.

Sandymount Strand is a popular place for locals to take a walk. People, and in the past – there is no longer public vehicular access – cars, have been occasionally trapped by the incoming tide. A large inlet of water that remains even at low tide is known locally as “Cockle Lake”.

In October major road works began on the Strand Road in Sandymount with a single lane closure in place until late spring 2023 or later.

Uisce Éireann in partnership with Dublin City Council is replacing a critical trunk water main on Beach Road and Strand Road, Sandymount, Dublin to provide a more reliable water supply for east Dublin, to improve supply resilience across the city and reduce high levels of leakage.

The arterial water main along Beach Road/Strand Road, Sandymount, located between Merrion Gates and Ringsend Park, is a 3.15km strategic transfer main servicing the eastern area of Dublin City. Due to its age and fragile nature, this 600mm water main is currently being operated at a greatly reduced capacity and is prone to frequent bursts and high levels of leakage. The works to rehabilitate this critical trunk water main are planned using engineering techniques which greatly reduce the project duration, truck movements, noise and limit the overall impact of the works on the local community.

Works are taking place on Beach Road and Strand Road from Sean Moore Road to Merrion Gates and will be delivered in phases. Works commenced at the Ringsend Park end of the project at the Sean Moore Road in late September 2022. Works have now progressed to the southbound carriageway on Beach Road/Strand Road.

The works are being carried out on behalf of Uisce Éireann by GMC Utilities Ltd and are expected to be completed in Summer 2023.

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.