29/05/2023

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.

29/05/2023

Broom Bridge, also called Broome Bridge, and sometimes Brougham Bridge, is a bridge along Broombridge Road which crosses the Royal Canal in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland. Broome Bridge is named after William Broome, one of the directors of the Royal Canal company who lived nearby. It is famous for being the location where Sir William Rowan Hamilton first wrote down the fundamental formula for quaternions on 16 October 1843, which is to this day commemorated by a stone plaque on the northwest corner of the underside of the bridge. After being spoiled by the action of vandals and some visitors the plaque was moved to a different place, higher, under the railing of the bridge.

Given the historical importance of the bridge with respect to mathematics, mathematicians from all over the world have been known to take part in the annual commemorative walk from Dunsink Observatory to the site. Attendees have included Nobel Prize winners Murray Gell-Mann, Steven Weinberg and Frank Wilczek, and mathematicians Sir Andrew Wiles, Sir Roger Penrose and Ingrid Daubechies.[3] The 16 October is sometimes referred to as Broomsday (in reference to Broome Bridge) and as a nod to the literary commemorations on 16 June (Bloomsday in honour of James Joyce).

Reillys Bridge is a Single-arch humpbacked limestone canal bridge, dated 1792, carrying Ratoath Road on north-south axis over Royal Canal. There is a Carved Portland limestone plaque set into both parapets with oval panels inscribed '1792 H.S Reilly Bridge & Lock'. Located adjacent to 8th Lock.

Recently I obtained a Sigma DP3 Quattro but as I have its older brother, the Sigma DP3 Merrill,  I decided to give it a try today because it was very sunny. The Sigma cameras do not perform well in low light and reality it is not possible to use above ISO 100.

The Merrill is a nightmare to use as it has no viewfinder and the display uses so much power that the batteries that I have allow at best 40-50 images and on a hot day not even that many. I has 5 batteries and managed 160 photographs before the last one declared that it was exhausted. It also freezes on a regular basis.

29/05/2023

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.

29/05/2023

The two girls in the photograph appear to be identical.

In 2022 it was announced that Dublin City Council had worked with Google on new plans for Barrow Street in the Docklands, where many of the buildings are owned by the tech giant. The new scheme to redo the street, which runs between Grand Canal Street Upper and Ringsend Road, was expected to cost around €8 million.