William Murphy

THE CANTON HOUSE CHINESE RESTAURANT

August 31, 2023 by infomatique

IRISHTOWN ROAD

Irishtown is an inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the south side of the River Liffey, between Ringsend to the north and Sandymount to the south, and is to the east of the River Dodder.

Irishtown Nature Park is a small park with a walkway which offers several kilometres of walking trails along the Poolbeg Peninsula.

ANOTHER VISIT TO GREAT STRAND STREET

August 30, 2023 by infomatique

THIS TIME I USED A CANNON 5D MkIII

Today I could not get the GPS unit on my Canon 5D to function correctly so when I thought I had solved the problem I visited Strand Street in order to test it. Unfortunately it was intermittent but when I got to the end of the street I decided to purchase a pack of batteries and much to my surprise replacing the battery resolved the apparent problem.

There is also a Little Grand Street, off Capel Street, which could be described as a continuation of Great Grand Street. While the street appears to be nothing more than an ugly back land it may well become much more important when Liffey Street and Capel street become fully pedestrianised and because a large nomber of hotels are expected to become operational within the next year or two. Also the area in general is becoming an alternative to Temple Bar on the other side of the river.

Strand Street formed part of the Jervis Estate formed by Humphrey Jervis, Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1681-3, who laid out the area around Saint Mary’s Abbey after buying much of this estate in 1674. Jervis developed a network of streets arranged in a nine-square grid, including Jervis Street, Stafford Street (now Wolfe Tone Street), and Capel Street, as well as building Essex Bridge.

The Strand Street Institute was built in 1868 by John McCurdy for the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), at a time when working and middle class education was being promoted throughout the country in the form of working men’s clubs and institutes like this one.

The nineteenth-century meetinghouse is bounded to the north, east and west by modern late twentieth and early twenty-first-century apartment blocks and offices, each matching the tall height of the meeting house. It is an important building to conserve on this street where twentieth-century buildings threaten the historic eighteenth and nineteenth-century industrial character. The building’s unique identity is preserved in the overall form and fenestration layout and through the retention of a number of important roof elements such as the timber eaves brackets. The quality of the rubble stone walls which, while not cut or shaped, have been drawn to regular courses, stands as a testament to the engineering of local craftsmen.

SEAN MOORE ROAD AND THE GLASS BOTTLE SITE

August 28, 2023 by infomatique

AUGUST 2023 VISIT TO THE AREA

To be honest, even though I undertook freight forwarding work for the Irish Glass Bottle Company in the 1970s I never really knew where the factory was located until I passed by the site today. As for Sean Moore Road I would describe it as ugly and unattractive.

Almost 20 years after the closure of the Irish Glass Bottle factory, the potential of the site is finally to be realised with the development of Glass Bottle – a vibrant waterfront community strategically located between Dublin City and Dublin Bay.

The creation of this new urban quarter will be see the transformation of approximately 15 hectares of a former industrial site into an integrated and vibrant neighbourhood with a balanced mix of residential, offices, retail, hotels, cultural and community facilities, leisure, restaurants, bars and open-air public amenity space within walking distance of Dublin City Centre.

At the heart of Glass Bottle will be approximately 3,800 new homes, providing housing for up to 9,500 people including 10% social housing and 15% affordable housing.

Ardagh Group is a Luxembourg-based producer of glass and metal products that has grown in the past two decades into one of the world’s largest metal and glass packaging companies. Founded in 1932 as the Irish Glass Bottle Company in Dublin, the company expanded through a series of acquisitions after Paul Coulson acquired an initial stake in the company in 1998. In North America, the company currently operates two of the oldest continuously operated glass container plants in the country: Dunkirk, Indiana, opened in 1889, and Winchester, Indiana, opened in 1898. It purchased Rockware Glass in 1999. In 2011, it purchased the metal packaging company Impress Group for €1.7 billion and Fi Par for €125 million. In August 2012, the company acquired Anchor Glass Container Corporation for $880 million. In January 2013, Ardagh Group agreed to acquire St-Gobain’s Verallia North America for €1.3 billion. In 2012 it purchased the Rexam Glass Division. The company launched an initial public offering (IPO) in March 2017 on the New York Stock Exchange, raising just over $300 million. In 2022 Ardagh Group successfully concluded its strategic acquisition of Consol Glass, Africa now known as Ardagh Glass Packaging – Africa.

In July 2021 Dublin City Council in conjunction with the National Transport Authority proposed to provide cycle facilities along Sean Moore road to provide a safe cycle route between Pigeon House Road and the GAA club and Sean Moore Park. Back then there were no cycling facilities on Sean Moore Road.

The main aim of this scheme is to provide protected, safe and continuous cycling for all ages and abilities along the route.

Key points:

Two way segregated cycle route between Pigeon House Road and a Toucan Crossing at Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA club
Bollard protection southbound cycle lane to be provided
Staggered pedestrian crossings to be replaced with single direct movement Toucan crossings and guardrails to be removed
No changes to traffic movements, large hatched median to be removed and vehicle lanes realigned
New kerb protection to be trialled using “RediKerb”, the same kerb that has been used for footpath extensions for outdoor dining.
There will be an inner and outer kerb with a 300mm wide asphalt median between them.
Potential advantages include install time, no excavations required and flexibility depending on site locations.

Seán Moore (19 May 1913 – 1 October 1986) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician.

Moore was born in Dublin in 1913 and grew up in Irishtown, Dublin. He was educated at the Vocational School in Ringsend and University College Dublin where he received a diploma in Social and Economic Science. He worked as an official with the Alliance and Dublin Consumers’ Gas Company before becoming involved in politics. Moore first held political office in 1950 when he was elected to Dublin City Council, a position he would hold until 1979. He served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1963 to 1964. Moore was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) on his third attempt at the 1965 general election, representing the Dublin South-East constituency in the 18th Dáil.

In 1979 Charles Haughey came to power and Moore became Government Chief Whip. His health declined during this period, so much so that the Assistant Chief Whip, Bertie Ahern, was doing most of Moore’s work. He served in that position until Fianna Fáil lost power at the 1981 general election and remained in the Dáil until he lost his seat at the February 1982 general election. He fought one further general election in November 1982 but failed to be elected, and subsequently retired from politics.

Seán Moore Road and Seán Moore Park near Irishtown are named after him.

PIGEON HOUSE ROAD IN RINGSEND

August 28, 2023 by infomatique

A COMPLEX OF STREETS RATHER THAN A SINGLE STREET

Pigeon House Road is a residential area and reports from elected Councillors and members of the public outlined that there were on-going issues of speeding, congestion, rat-running, noise and air pollution. Dublin City Council proposed a scheme to promote cycling and pedestrian transport while make the neighbourhood a more liveable community where conditions are better for all residents in the area. In August 2020 temporary traffic calming measures were implemented to create a pedestrian and cycling friendly zone on Pigeon House Road.

The trial closed a section of road to motor vehicles and retained access for pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency vehicles through the use of bollards and planters east of the Poolbeg Quay apartments and north of Ringsend Recycling Centre. The trial also included the appropriate traffic and road markings and signage. The trial commenced on the morning of 16th August 2020 for an initial period of four weeks, and was extended as agreed by elected Councillors for a further period of 12 months.

It is important to note that emergency services continue to have access through the filtered permeability measures in cases of emergency and this was one of the critical design briefs taken into consideration at initial design stages.

Based on observational surveys of the Pigeon House Road Area and research into the impacts of filtered permeability measures, the following positive impacts of the trial were observed:

Cut-through traffic (rat-running) has been eliminated on Pigeon House Road so that drivers are no longer able to use this local route as a short-cut from Sean Moore Roundabout to Ringsend via Pigeon House Road, and vice versa.
Less traffic has created a safer space for local residents, pedestrians, cyclists which include children attending local schools in Cambridge Road and surrounding areas.
Permeable neighbourhoods benefit the public health by encouraging walking and cycling, interaction and inclusion.
Reduction in motorised traffic has led to improvement in local air quality and reduction in noise pollution.
Safer cycling routes to the local Ringsend Park and the local amenities it offers.
These measures have created a safer and more liveable area for residents of Pigeon House Road, Poolbeg Quay Apartments, Cambridge Avenue, Ringsend Park, Cambridge Road, York Road, Thorncastle Street, and other local streets.
Local vehicular access to Pigeon House Road has been retained.
Access through the bollards has been maintained for emergency vehicles.
Positive health benefits.

The following negative impacts were observed:

Local residents who travel by car are required to take a more circuitous route.
Drivers who used to travel down Pigeon House Road to access to the Sean Moore roundabout (and vice-versa) have to take a longer more circuitous route on the Arterial roads.

THE MEETING OF FOUR STREETS

August 28, 2023 by infomatique

CAMBRIDGE ROAD – RINGSEND PARK – YORK ROAD – PIGEON HOUSE ROAD

I do not know if this was a water fountain at some stage or maybe it housed a religious statue. Note one of the streets is Ringsend Park but nearby there is a public park also named Ringsend Park.

The Ringsend Irishtown Local Environment Improvement Plan (LEIP) was adopted at the June 2017 South East Area Committee meeting. Four main focus areas were identified while making the plan: 1. Library Square, 2. Ringsend Park, 3. Cambridge Road and 4. Improving links

Cambridge Road was identified by residents as a priority project for a village wide improvement plan. Cambridge Road has two schools and a college . Despite the width of the carriageway, it is full of parking spaces, most of which are used by commuters to the city centre. Despite its width, the lack of visibility makes it dangerous for users in the morning, and especially school children, walking through Ringsend park. It also connects two major cycling routes, namely the Sandycove to Sutton and Dodder cycle routes.