PUBLIC TRANSPORT

All Photographs Supplied By William Murphy

Home » October 2023

October 2023

THE BOYNE VIADUCT AS IT WAS IN 2012

by

RESTORATION WORK WAS UNDERWAY AT THE TIME

I ALSO PHOTOGRAPHED THE VIADUCT IN 2023
OCTOBER 2023 VISIT TO DROGHEDA

A few days ago I published my most recent photographs of the Boyne Viaduct and afterwards realised that I had a selection of photographs of the structure before the restoration had been completed in 2015.

The EU-funded refurbishment of the Boyne Viaduct, won the Historic Structures Restoration Award at the Railway Heritage Awards, presented at a ceremony in London in 2017.

I cannot believe that this October [2023] was my first time in Drogheda since 2012 and back then I used a Sony NEX-7 camera. On October 16th, 2013, Sony changed the game in cameras and for photographers forever. The launch of the Sony Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R were Sony’s first mirrorless-style consumer cameras to have a full-frame sensor. Previously, these large sensors were only found in professional DSLR or expensive rangefinder cameras, until Sony made the decision to feature the sensors in smaller and lighter cameras. I should mention that I still use the NEX-7.

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 71

by

KEVIN STREET ACROSS FROM WHERE THE COLLEGE WAS

For over 130 years, Kevin Street was synonymous with technological education in Ireland, but in 2021, TU Dublin closed the gates of Kevin Street for a final time as staff and students relocate to fabulous new facilities in the Central Quad on the new Grangegorman campus.

Back in the late 1960s I studied Telecommunications and Electronics at Kevin Street College Of Technology and I must admit that I disliked the building which was supposed to be modern and the best thing since sliced-bread. The classrooms were too warm in good weather and freezing in winter and there were many other problems that I will not discuss here.

Dublin Institute of Technology has its origins in the City of Dublin Technical Schools, with a Technical College founded at Kevin Street in 1885. In 1963, the Minister for Education, (future President) Patrick Hillery, signed a contract for a new building for the College of Technology at Kevin Street. The project was completed in 1968, with Hooper & Mayne as the architects. It’s an International Style building, with the administration and entrance block to Kevin Street capped by a wavy canopy on the fourth floor.

The Kevin Street College site was sold in April 2019 for €140 million: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/frank-mcdonald-what-s-not-to-like-about-dublin-s-new-kevin-st-development-quite-a-lot-1.4321803

In 2021 An Bord Pleanála granted a 10 year planning permission to Shane Whelan’s Westridge Real Estate for the development of 53,110 sq ft of office accommodation in two 11-storey blocks alongside 299 build to rent apartments across three buildings of up to 14 storeys in height. Westridge acquired the 3.57 acre site for €140 million in August 2019 and a report lodged with the plans by EY estimates that the total output that the redevelopment will generate over 10 years is €7.67 billion.

THE BEST STATION IF YOU PLAN THE VISIT DUN LAOGHAIRE WEST PIER

by

SALTHILL AND MONKSTOWN

Salthill and Monkstown railway station is a DART station in Dún Laoghaire. It is situated between Seapoint and Dún Laoghaire DART stations. The station has a car park, ticket office, automated ticket and vending machines, and is wheelchair accessible.

The original Salthill station opened in May 1837, built by the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. It closed in 1960 and was electrified and reopened in 1984 with the arrival of DART services.