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THE TEMPLE BAR PUB

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IT IS NOT THE OLDEST PUB IN TEMPLE BAR

SOUTH OF THE RIVER LIFFEY
THE NORSEMAN IS AN OLDER PUB
UNUSUAL SIGN IN TEMPLE BAR

Visitors are inclined to cluster here maybe because they do not understand that Temple Bar is an area rather than a specific building. Of course the pub in my photographs capitalises on the confusion and who can blame them. Personally I have never visited any pub other than The Palace Bar [about 40 years ago] so I am not in a position to recommend, or otherwise, any pubs in the area. If you are interested in eating out Capel Street across the river might be a better choice especially if you have junior family members with you. Note: During the day Temple Bar is ideal for children but it is a very different place at night and on holiday weekends.

I came across a claim that the Temple Bar Pub was one of the oldest in Dublin but when I challenged this claim I received the following information:

“I apologise, while the Temple Bar pub is a popular and iconic establishment in Dublin, it is not one of the oldest pubs in the city. In fact, there are several pubs with claims to that title, depending on how you define “oldest.”

Here’s a breakdown of some contenders:

Officially oldest: The Brazen Head holds the official title of Dublin’s oldest pub, with evidence of an inn operating on the site since 1198. The building you see today dates back to 1754.

Oldest licensed premises: The Norseman claims to have the oldest pub license in Temple Bar, dating back to 1696.

The Palace Bar, established in 1823, holds the title of being one of the oldest pubs specifically in the Temple Bar area itself.

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GOOGLE NOW OWNS THE TREASURY BUILDING

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LOWER GRAND CANAL STREET

I have not visited this area for a few years and today I was surprised to discover that the Treasury Building is currently a construction site.

When I returned from California in the 1980s I lived at the corner of Eblana Villas and Lower Grand Canal Street and at the time the building was the Hertz HQ in Ireland. There were three apartments but mine was the only one that was occupied. I think that the building is now named Wentworth House and it may have been home to a language college. I was offered all three apartments at a very good price but decided against buying as there was serious anti-social activity in the immediate area.

Google bought the Treasury Building from Ronan Group Real Estate for €120 million in early 2020 to further expand their Silicon Docks campus which is nearby. In February 2022 Dublin City Council granted planning permission to Google Ireland to increase the height of the building from six to eight storeys.

The Treasury Building was the headquarters of the Irish government’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) for many years. Redeveloped by Ronan Group, the Treasury Building was described as a landmark six-storey Grade A office building that previously housed Boland’s Bakery. This historic building was occupied by Éamon de Valera, later President of Ireland, during the 1916 Easter Rising.

Following its purchase in 1984, a major redevelopment saw the building stripped back to its concrete framed structure and reimagined for a new commercial future with the first 20,000 sq ft floorplates ever delivered in the Irish market.

Rowan Gillespie was commissioned to create a sculpture for the outside wall of the building. The statue, named ‘Aspiration’, was originally of a naked man climbing the outside wall, but Johnny Ronan insisted that the sculpture be changed to a woman. The statue was made of fibreglass. The sculpture was removed in 2020 when the building was sold.

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WEST ARRAN STREET – BENBURB STREET – HENDRICK STREET – QUEEN STREET

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SMITHFIELD AREA OF DUBLIN 17 FEBRUARY 2024

The weather was not good today and it got worse as the day progressed.

Hendrick Street was named after its developer, William Hendrick, who bought up land in the area in the 1720s and leased it to builders. In the 19th century, Hendrick Street became known for its leather and hide businesses.

Queen Street is named after Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1714

Benburb Street was once named Barrack Street, reflecting its proximity to the former Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks). The section closer to Queen Street was called Tighe Street, while the part near Smithfield was known as Gravel Walk. Historically the immediate area was associated with prostitution due to its location near the barracks, a reputation that lingered until the late 1990s.

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FRANCIS BACON LIVED HERE

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HE WAS BORN IN 1909 AT NUMBER 63 LOWER BAGGOT STREET

A few days ago I mentioned that Francis Bacon was born in 1909 at 63 Lower Baggot Street and today I was asked if I could supply any photographs of the house. As luck would have it I photographed the house and the plaque less than a week ago.

Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures

Baggot street runs from Merrion Row (near St. Stephen’s Green) to the northwestern end of Pembroke Road. It crosses the Grand Canal near Haddington Road. It is divided into two sections:

Lower Baggot Street – between Merrion Row and the Grand Canal. It was called Gallows Road in the 18th century.
Upper Baggot Street – south of the Grand Canal until the junction with Eastmoreland Place, where it continues as Pembroke Road.
Lower Baggot Street is distinguished by Georgian architecture, while Upper Baggot Street has mainly Victorian architecture with a few buildings of 20th century vintage. The Royal City of Dublin Hospital, Baggot Street, opened in 1834, is on the east side of Upper Baggot Street, just south of the junction with Haddington Road. Cook’s Map of 1836 shows the north side of Upper Baggot Street and Pembroke Road almost entirely built on.

The Sheares Brothers, members of the Society of United Irishmen, who died in the 1798 rebellion, lived at no. 128.
In 1830, Thomas Davis, the revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organiser and poet of the Young Ireland movement, lived at 67 Lower Baggot Street.

Catherine McAuley, a nun, founded the Sisters of Mercy order in 1831 and built what is now the Mercy International Centre on Lower Baggot Street where she later died in 1841.

In 1909, Francis Bacon was born at 63 Lower Baggot Street.

The poet Patrick Kavanagh frequented Baggot Street and regarded it as his favourite place in Dublin. In his poem “If ever you go to Dublin Town” Kavanagh addresses Dubliners 100 years after his own time and tells them to “Inquire for me in Baggot Street/And what I was like to know”.

Singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor has a property here.

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HOW DARE YOU CALL ME KITTY

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BRONZE LIONESS BY DAVIDE RIVALTA IN THE UPPER COURTYARD DUBLIN CASTLE

I photographed this again as I really like it. It looks black but up close it is obvious that it is bronze.

Original sculptures by Italian artist Davide Rivalta are on display in Dublin Castle and Lucan.

The exhibition, called Grazing in Lucan is a collaboration between Rome’s National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art and Dublin Castle.

Bronze buffalos are ‘grazing’ in the green park of Lucan House, the residence of the Ambassador of Italy in Ireland, while the courtyard square of Dublin Castle features a bronze lioness.

Davide Rivalta is an Italian artist who was born in 1974. Numerous key galleries and museums such as La Galleria Nazionale have featured Davide Rivalta’s work in the past.

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