DublinBikes

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATIONS AT GRANGEGORMAN – THERE ARE IN FACT THREE

September 19, 2023 by infomatique

DOCKING STATIONS 103 104 AND 105

It is unusual to see a cluster of three docking stations such as this collection of three on the street passing through the TU university campus.

DublinBikes is a public bicycle sharing scheme in Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by JCDecaux and has been in operation since 2009. The scheme has over 115 stations and 42,000 annual subscribers.

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 03 CLOSE UP

July 1, 2023 by infomatique

BOLTON STREET 1 JULY 2023

I used a Sony E 18-105mm lens and a Sony FX30 camera. What worries me is that I do not remember buying this lens and it is my policy to purchase full frame lenses only … so where did it come from?

[UPDATE] I checked with my dealer and apparently it was included as a kit lens as part of a special offer as I was one of the first to purchase the FX30 Camera []

The Sony E PZ 18-105mm f/4 G OSS Lens is a wide-ranging zoom lens that provides a 35mm-equivalent focal length range of 27-158mm, covering wide-angle to telephoto perspectives. A constant f/4 maximum aperture offers consistent performance throughout the zoom range and is especially beneficial when working with greater zoom magnifications in low-light conditions. Also benefitting working in dim light or at the long end of the zoom range is Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation, which works to minimise the appearance of camera shake by up to four shutter speed steps.

The robust bicycles are produced by the French bicycle company Mercier in Hungary and are repaired by JCDecaux. They are three-speed bicycles, fitted with Shimano Nexus gears which can be changed up and down using a twist/grip shifter on the right handlebar. A Shimano hub dynamo in the front wheel generates power for front and rear always-on LED lighting. The bikes are fitted with Schwalbe Marathon tyres. Other components include a locking system, an adjustable cushioned saddle, a front bicycle basket, a kick stand and a bell.

Each station is equipped with an automatic rental terminal and stands for 20 to 40 bicycles. Initially, fourteen terminals have credit card facilities enabling the user to purchase a 3-Day Ticket.

If a user arrives with a rented bicycle at a station without open spots, the terminal grants another fifteen minutes of free rental time. The rental terminals also display information about neighbouring dublinbike stations, including location, number of available bicycles and open stands. A fleet of bicycle-transporting vehicles are used to redistribute bicycles between empty and full stations.

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 07

June 4, 2023 by infomatique

HIGH STREET DUBLIN

DublinBikes, also known as NOW DublinBikes, is a self-service bike rental system open to everyone from fourteen years of age.

Stations are distributed throughout the city centre to enable easy access and optimal use for subscribers. Each station has a minimum of fifteen stands, making it easy to avail of this service.

The service is accessible twelve months a year, seven days a week between the hours of 5am and 12.30am.

High Street is a street in the medieval area of Dublin. The Street runs parallel to the River Liffey, on high ground about 200 metres to its south, with Christ Church Cathedral on its east side, in the heart of Medieval Dublin.

High Street was at the centre of Viking Dublin and Medieval Dublin (9th–13th centuries); Christ Church Cathedral is located immediately on its northeast end. It is south of the Viking settlement site at Wood Quay and east of Dublin Castle; it was the main street in the medieval period. Patrick FitzLeones, who was three times Mayor of Dublin in the late fifteenth century, bought a house on High Street in 1473.

St. Michael’s Church was first built in 1076 and St. Audoen’s Church was built on the north side of High Street in 1190. A marble cistern to contain the municipal water supply was built there in 1308. It was commonly called Le Decer’s Fountain, in memory of John Le Decer, four times Mayor of Dublin, who paid for the construction of the cistern.

The first General Post Office of Ireland opened on High Street in 1688; it moved to Fishamble Street in 1689.

From the 18th century onward the urban core shifted eastwards, and High Street is no longer a shopping street. St Audoen’s Church (Catholic) was built in the 1840s next to the ancient Protestant church.

An excavation took place in 1962–63; found were several Viking pieces of artwork: bone trial-pieces and a gilt bronze disc-brooch of the Borre Style design, a bronze needle case, and a soapstone ingot-mould. The trades practised in the Viking period (10th–11th century) included comb making, leather working and weaving.

The street was excavated again in 1968–71; finds included post and wattle houses, leather shoes and boots, bone objects, metalwork, pottery, coins, animal bones, a Rome pilgrim badge from the early 13th century, a lead seal of Pope Innocent III, a spoon bit, and wood-turning waste.

In the 1970s many of the street’s commercial buildings were demolished so that it could be widened to a dual carriageway. For a period of time following the road widening, the street was mostly derelict and vacant sites. In 1993, Christ Church’s synod hall was converted to Dublinia, a tourist attraction educating people about Viking Dublin.

NOW NOW NOW NOW

May 6, 2023 by infomatique

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 77 WOLFE TONE STREET

Each station is equipped with an automatic rental terminal and stands for 20 to 40 bicycles. Initially, fourteen terminals have credit card facilities enabling the user to purchase a 3-Day Ticket.

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 01 PLUS A WATER-BOTTLE REFILL STATION

April 27, 2023 by infomatique

CLARENDON ROW

In December 2021 Dublin City Council announced that the first water-bottle refill station would be installed on Clarendon Row and at the DublinBikes docking station would return to the street. I was aware that the Docking Station had been installed but I did not notice the water refill station until today.
The scheme was progressed as part of the Grafton Street Quarter Public Realm Plan, which was developed to meet the objectives of the overarching Dublin City Council Public Realm Strategy ‘Your City Your Space’ document. A high quality design was utilised to improve ambiance of the street, with increased greening and wider footpaths creating a quality space to be enjoyed by all.

I was advised that Clarendon Row was named after Frederick Villiers Clarendon but as he died as recently as 1904 I knew that this was unlikely and recently learned that it is named after the Earl Of Clarendon.

George William Frederick (1800–70), 4th earl of Clarendon , lord lieutenant of Ireland (1847–52), was born 26 January 1800 in London, eldest son of George Villiers and his wife Theresa, daughter of John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon.

Frederick Villiers Clarendon (c.1820 – 17 October 1904) was an Irish architect noted for his design work on a number of large public buildings in Dublin, including the Natural History Museum and Arbour Hill Prison.

Frederick Clarendon was born in Dublin around 1820 and received a Bachelor of Arts at Dublin University in 1839. Directly after graduation he was employed by the Office of Public Works, where he would remain until his retirement in 1887. Clarendon died in Mountjoy Square, Dublin in 1904.

Clarendon’s earliest major works focussed on Dublin’s prison system. Arbour Hill Prison was redesigned in 1845 by Sir. Joshua Jebb with Clarendon acting as executive architect, and Clarendon was also co-designer of the “Criminal Lunatic Asylum” in Dundrum two years later. Clarendon oversaw the renovation and extension of the Royal Irish Academy’s premises on Dawson Street between 1852 and 1854, as their existing Grafton Street location had become overcrowded. Clarendon’s most remembered work is Ireland’s Natural History Museum on Merrion Street adjacent to Leinster House, known as the “Dead Zoo”. The Royal Dublin Society had been obliged to use a public architect in order to obtain treasury funding, and the building was taken over by the State in 1877. Today the Museum forms part of the National Museum of Ireland. Clarendon provided his services free of charge to design the Mariners Hall, Howth in 1867. This then served as a Presbyterian Meeting House for over thirty years, services being conducted through the medium of Scottish Gaelic, the language of the immigrant seasonal fishermen of the village.