William Murphy

I WALKED ALONG DORSET STREET AT ABOUT 3PM

June 3, 2023 by infomatique

AND PHOTOGRAPHED AT RANDOM USING AN OLD CANON DSLR

Dorset Street is an important thoroughfare on the north side of Dublin, Ireland, and was originally part of the Slighe Midh-Luchra, Dublin’s ancient road to the north that begins where the original bridging point at Church Street is today. Subsequently, yet prior to the street being given its current name in the 18th century, the road was known as Drumcondra Lane and was shown on maps as such. It is divided into Dorset Street Lower (northeast end) and Dorset Street Upper (southwest end).

The street runs north east from Bolton Street at Dominick Street junction, north of Parnell Square and Mountjoy Square, and leads into Drumcondra Road at Binn’s Bridge on the Royal Canal. It makes up part of the most common route from Dublin Airport to the city centre, and the R132 regional road follows Dorset Street for part of its route. It meets the R135 route at the junctions with Blessington Street, location of the Blessington Street Basin, and St. Mary’s Place; other major roads feeding onto this spine street include North Circular Road, Gardiner Street, Eccles Street, North Frederick Street, and Granby Row.

Physically the street rises up from the Liffey valley at its south western end to its apex at roughly where it meets with Blessington and North Frederick Streets; proceeding north-west the street slopes down again on the approach to Binn’s Bridge at the Royal Canal.

Some early Georgian houses are dotted along the street, primarily identifiable by the stone Gibbsian doorcase entrances, and close to the crossroads with Blessington and North Frederick Streets. Much of the street redeveloped during the Victorian era, with a number of significant buildings built, such as the Gothic style stone-built Dominican priory, designed by J. L. Robinson in 1884–87 at the corner of Dominick Street, while across from it is the red brick Italianette former fire station, designed by C. J. McCarthy and completed in 1903. Much of the street consists of vernacular Victorian terraces, with shops opening straight onto footpaths at ground-floor level. During the latter part of the twentieth century, stretches of the street were again redeveloped by Dublin Corporation for social housing flat complexes near Dominick Street.

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.

PEARSE STREET GARDA STATION

June 2, 2023 by infomatique

POLICE STATION

Police barracks built for the Dublin Metropolitan Police, replacing the former barracks on College Street. Commissioned in 1910, it was built to designs by the Office of Public Works under the supervision of M.J. Burke, with H.G. Leask and A. Robinson as job architects.

Built in a Scottish Baronial style, evident in the gables and mullioned windows. The bow end to College and D’Olier Street reflects the design of the original terrace and of the bow-ended buildings opposite.

The carved figurative stops articulate the separate entrances, one for Inspectors who used the officer’s entrance, and the other for rank-and-file constables who used the main public entrance.

The well-executed rock-faced stone is an example of the fine craftsmanship of the stone masons at Ballybrew granite quarry, Co. Wicklow, creating a stoic, sombre impression.

Following the DMP’s amalgamation with An Garda Síochána in 1926, Pearse Street Station became headquarters of the ‘B’ District. The building is an attractive termination to the west end of Pearse Street and an historic landmark in Dublin’s streetscape.

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.

AT BLACKROCK PARK NEW PUMP TRACK AT BLACKROCK PARK

May 31, 2023 by infomatique

STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

Until today I did not know what a pump track was however some of my photographs from this series show such a feature. A pump track is a circuit of rollers,[a] banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders “pumping”—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the mountain bike and BMX scene, and now, due to concrete constructions, is also used by skateboard, and accessible to wheelchairs. Pump tracks are relatively simple to use and cheap to construct, and cater to a wide variety of rider skill levels.

Skateparks experienced a huge boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, most of them were designed to be used by experienced or professional riders, and thus resulted in many injuries. Many communities looked for a better, more accessible solution. The first new era pump track in the United States was built in 2004 at The Fix Bike Shop in Boulder, Colorado, by professional downhill bicyclist Steve Wentz.

Most pump tracks link a series of rollers to steeply bermed corners that bring the riders back around.[2] They used to be built mostly out of dirt; recently companies have started to use concrete or asphalt. Paved pump tracks also have the advantage that they can be ridden by skateboarders, in-line skaters, and foot-powered scooters.

Blackrock Park has several layers of history that can be clearly read in the landscape. The park is a fine example of Victorian landscape design with features including, and not limited to, the bandstand, lake and pavilion. The Martello Tower is one of the most prominent and oldest built features in the park.

The narrow linear layout of the park provides limited opportunities for field sports. The current masterplan seeks exploit this and incorporate alternative sport facilities within the park to promote more diverse active recreation within the county. The masterplan proposes a skate park, pump track, outdoor gym and bouldering within the park interlaced with meadow and tree planting. The tree planting will provide additional shelter from coastal winds and improve the parks climate change resilience.

It is proposed to remove the existing playground adjacent to the bandstand and the defunct Italian Garden within the park and replace them with new natural play elements to promote free play and imagination. The feasibility of incorporating existing structures as play elements within the park, such as historic follies will be explored in the detailed design process.

A permanent staff facility beside the car showroom in the active area will provide additional supervision and foster a sense of safety as there will be more staff in the vicinity.