September

MERCER VALE AND NEARBY

September 27, 2023 by infomatique

CASTLE STREET AREA OF CHERRYWOOD VILLAGE

Mercer Vale is named after the Mercer family, who held lands in Cherrywood that were used in 1795 as an encampment for 4,000 men to defend the country from a potential invasion by France into Killiney Bay. The lands were also used as a garrison during the 1798 rebellion. A large burial slab marked Mercer is located in nearby Tully Church.

Mercer Vale, is a new residential scheme located in South Dublin and forms part of the Cherrywood Strategic Development Zone. The scheme consists of a mix of 2 and three storey housing, three storey own door duplex blocks and a 27-unit 4 storey apartment building in the northeast corner of the site.

Fronted onto Castle Street in Cherrywood and with the newly delivered Beckett Park and Tully Park in very close proximity, the variety of house types and varying heights combined with pocket parks and shared surface areas throughout engenders a sense of place for the residents of Mercer Vale within the wider Cherrywood SDZ.

TWO BOATS AND A BARGE

September 24, 2023 by infomatique

SAILING DOWN THE RIVER LIFFEY

The Liffey rises in the Liffey Head Bog between the mountains of Kippure 742 metres (2,434 ft) and Tonduff 642 metres (2,106 ft) in the northern section of the Wicklow Mountains, forming from many streamlets near the Sally Gap. It flows for 132 km (82 mi) through counties Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin before entering the Irish Sea at its mouth at the midpoint of Dublin Bay, on a line extending from the Baily lighthouse to the Muglin Rocks.[citation needed] It crosses from County Wicklow into County Kildare at Poulaphouca and from County Kildare into County Dublin at Leixlip, with the greatest part of its length being in Kildare.

The catchment area of the Liffey is 1,256 km2 (485 sq mi). The long term average flow rate of the river is 18.0 m3/s (640 cu ft/s).

THE 8TH LOCK ON THE ROYAL CANAL AND NEARBY

September 4, 2023 by infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED USING A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO

The 8th Lock on the Royal Canal is a well-constructed canal lock that forms part of a wider collection of locks, bridges and lock-keepers’ houses associated with the Royal Canal on its journey from Spencer Dock to Longford town. Displaying quality masonry skills and early eighteenth-century engineering, it attests to the importance of the canal’s role at the time of construction. Fully functioning, this lock serves recreational use today and remains an important element in the architectural and industrial heritage of north Dublin.

The 8th Lock residential project comprises five sections which are between four and thirteen storeys high and due for completion between October 2023 and March 2025. It is just 300 metres from the new Pelletstown railway station which I also visited today.

The 8th Lock complex, on the site of the former Ormond Printworks (I was an employee many years ago) on Ratoath Road, will eventually comprise 218 one-bedroom and 217 two-bedroom apartments, and 4,200sq m of commercial and amenity space. This will include public plazas, a healthcare centre, pharmacy, own-door offices and a gym. Some 255 car parking spaces, electric vehicle charging points, disabled parking and nearly 950 bicycle parking spaces will be provided at surface and undercroft levels.

The 8th Lock is the first large development In Ireland or in the UK to make use of a pioneering low-carbon product known as CarbonCure. This allows recycled CO₂ to be embedded into fresh concrete during mixing without compromising performance. To date CarbonCure Technologies has prevented over 174,000 tonnes of CO₂ being released into the atmosphere, with millions more set to be sequestered into the future. Ballymore is employing the technology with Kilsaran at the 8th Lock.