This year I decided to avoid the St. Patrick's Day parade so I visited less busy parts of the city.

As you can see from my photographs there are a number of active construction sites in the area the main one being Wilton Park described as a landmark development which will see 5,000 additional people working and living in the neighbourhood when it is fully complete in 2024.

The Wilton Park site has been assembled over a 40-year period in order to transform this part of the city. As well as offices, the neighbourhood’s amenity-rich streetscapes will offer places to eat, drink and shop, and spaces to relax and dwell including a new public square and the restored one-acre park.

During construction, 95% of demolition waste was recycled and offices will use 60% less energy than the average what was typical until now. Two to Four Wilton Park will operate free of fossil fuels, running solely on renewable energy.

I lived and worked here for three or four years and also attended a nearby school for ten years and I have always liked the area but when I was young Wilton Place and Wilton Terrace was to be avoided as it was a very active red light area.

The Grand Canal, connecting the City of Dublin with the River Shannon, was first proposed c. 1715, with work by the Commissioners for Inland Navigation beginning in 1757. By 1804 the canal had been completed. Dividing the towpath of the Grand Canal from the elevated roadway of Wilton Terrace, these railings match those which bound the small park to the north-west on Wilton Place. The two sets of railings were likely erected together, during the early-to-mid nineteenth century, however, elements of the rubble stone base may have been constructed at an earlier date, possibly in conjunction with the canal or McCartney Bridge, c. 1790. The canal is an excellent and well preserved example of late-eighteenth century engineering and is of socio-historic importance to the city. They enhance the setting of the canal and McCartney Bridge.