Dublin Docklands

THERE IS ANOTHER STATION AROUND THE CORNER ON BENSON STREET

For some unknown reason there is no number plate identify this docking station so I decided to explore the user interface and it showed the location as being Station 117 at East Hanover Quay. There is another docking station very close by on Benson Street.

Housed in one of the last remaining warehouse buildings that were so characteristic of the Dublin Dockands, the new EMEA headquarters building for Airbnb is designed as a workspace for 400 people.

Hanover Quay forms the north boundary of the extensive L-shaped docks that terminated the Grand Canal, next to the mouth of the River Dodder. Constructed between 1757 and 1796, the Grand and Royal canals encircle Dublin city centre and provide navigable waterway connections between the Liffey and Shannon rivers. Despite construction of these deep-water docks, ships continued to berth on the Liffey quays and, with the decline of the Grand Canal, the associated docks followed suit.

Despite alterations to the adjacent quays, the calp limestone walls are retained, in addition to other salient features. The scale and quality of construction of the quay and docks are testament to the ambitions of the Grand Canal Company. It forms an important part of the city’s industrial heritage and is an important reminder of the heyday of the canal era, prior to its demise following the arrival of the railway. The district is now largely redeveloped, focusing on the Grand Canal Theatre.