THE HEADLESS PHOTO BLOG
18 FEBRUARY 2023
Ormond Quay Upper is one of several quays along the Liffey, part of maritime developments within the city stretching back to the thirteenth century. The structure dates from the early nineteenth century and is located between O’Donovan Rossa Bridge and Essex Bridge.
I WILL LET YOU DECIDE
To some extent I have lost track of progress in the Newmarket Area of Dublin so I decided to visit a few days ago and take a few photographs using my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I will revisit the general area using a better camera within a few weeks.
The Newmarket area is currently undergoing significant change. As part of this change, redevelopment of the larger blocks should eventually contribute to the creation of a permeable, active network of pedestrian streets, as identified in the Guiding Principles Map produced by Dublin City Council. In particular, development should deliver active and animated frontages along the building edges, in particular, at the Cork St. and Newmarket Square interfaces. In this regard, development should respond to the emerging public realm improvements at Newmarket Square and surrounds.
In this area, base heights should be 6-8 storeys, where heritage, built form character and residential amenity considerations allow. However, along the Cork St. frontage, heights should respond to the prevailing heights on this part of the street. The opportunity for locally higher buildings up to 12-14 storeys to provide urban design and placemaking benefits to the emerging character of the Newmarket area exists at the identified locations.
Better integration of Newmarket with the Coombe and areas further to the north as part of any public realm works to Cork St. or as part of the BusConnects project will be pursued.
Community and cultural uses at Newmarket Square should be protected into the future.
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.
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.
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.
