The Calm Before The Storm [Hurricane Ophelia Is Due To Impact On The City Of Dublin]

The Calm Before The Storm [Hurricane Ophelia Is Due To Impact On The City Of Dublin]

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At the time of posting my photographs local media outlets are reporting that three people have already dies because of the storm.

 Many years ago colleague was killed in a major storm as the result of being struck by a piece of debris while passing a building site. The really sad thing was that his manager insisted that he turn up for work or face suspension.

 Today I had planned to visit a number of locations but because of really high winds I had to abandon that idea almost immediately I left my apartment. I then decided to visit a local Chinese Restaurant and was surprised to discover that the staff were unaware of the approaching storm.

 I must admit that I was surprised by the fact that Bolton Street and Dorset street were more-or-less devoid of traffic. If you zoom in you may notice some plastic bags floating in the sky towards the top of my photographs. I had hoped to pay one last visit to the 'Sculpture In Context' exhibition in the Botanic Gardens as it closed on Wednesday.


PHOTOGRAPHS SUPPLIED BY WILLIAM MURPHY ...  

 

SAINT JOHNS CATHOLIC CHURCH [PARNELL STREET IN WATERFORD CITY]

SAINT JOHNS CATHOLIC CHURCH [PARNELL STREET IN WATERFORD CITY]

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This church, attributed to John B. Keane (d.1859), is an important, monumental exercise in the Gothic Revival style, which has been very well maintained to present an early aspect, both to the exterior and to the interior. The construction of the street (north-west) elevation reveals high quality local stone masonry, particularly to the carved stone detailing which retains its intricacy. The church incorporates many features and fittings of considerable artistic merit (including the cast-iron railings to the boundary), while the exposed timber roof construction is of some technical significance. The church is an imposing feature in the streetscape of Parnell Street and forms an attractive landmark in the locality, identified by the soaring spire that adds incident to the skyline.

 

RETRO WIND SHELTERS IN CLONTARF [DESIGNED IN 1934 BY HERBERT SIMMS]

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 Dating from the 1930s is a number on interesting structures along the Promenade in Clontarf including the wind shelters shown in my photographs.

The shelters were designed by Herbert Simms in 1934. The design and construction such public structures arose from a concern for the welfare of the working class and facilitated a rise in communal outdoor recreation before the advent of modern affordable holidays.

During the 1930s, Dublin Corporation Housing Architect, Herbert Simms, took the dualistic approach to slum clearance of building both new urban blocks and suburban cottages. The flat blocks were considered essential architectural ingredients of the slum clearance project and from 1932 to 1939, twenty-one schemes comprising 1,002 inner-city flats were completed. In 1935 alone 1,552 dwellings were completed.

During the sixteen years he was in office, Simms was responsible for for the design and erection of some 17,000 new homes, ranging from striking blocks of flats in the central city, influenced by new apartment blocks by de Klerk in Amsterdam and J.P. Oud in Rotterdam, to extensive suburban housing schemes such as those at Crumlin and Cabra.



MORE ABOUT SIMMS

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MOUNT ST. ALPHONSUS [REDEMPTORIST CHURCH IN LIMERICK]

MOUNT ST. ALPHONSUS [REDEMPTORIST CHURCH IN LIMERICK]

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The Redemptorist Church at Mount St. Alphonsus, South Circular Road, Limerick is more than 150 years old. It is open twelve hours every day so it is more accessible than most churches in Ireland and it is well worth a visit and if you do visit you will have plenty of time to view it.

The Redemptorists have been in Limerick since 1853 and are known locally as “The Fathers” and they have had a huge impact on life period however there is a very unpleasant event, the Limerick Boycott in 1904, associated with the order.

The Redemptorists first came to Limerick in 1851 to preach a mission in St John’s. Two years later they established a temporary presence in Bank Place and moved to the present site, which they named Mount St Alphonsus, in 1854. The current church was dedicated on December 7th, 1862.

SEAPOINT RAILWAY STATION

SEAPOINT RAILWAY STATION

The station opened on 1 July 1862 and was originally called Monkstown And Seapoint, though this was later changed to just, Seapoint. The ticket office is open between 05:45-00:50 AM, Monday to Friday.

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MORE INFORMATION AND PHOTOGRAPHS...

THE RIVER DARGLE FLOOD DEFENCE SCHEME [PHOTOGRAPHED APRIL 2017]

THE RIVER DARGLE FLOOD DEFENCE SCHEME [PHOTOGRAPHED APRIL 2017]


I had planned to visit Bray at least twice a year but I failed to maintain this schedule which is a pity but to be honest, with one exception, not much has changed since my last visit. The flood defence project is the exception because the is no doubting the fact that progress has been made since my last visit but considering that it started back in 2012 I am sure that many locals are less than impressed.

The River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme is one of the key capital investment projects by Wicklow County Council and the Office of Public Works (OPW) with an investment of €40 million.

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BUST OF DOROTHY WALKER BY OISIN KELLY [1954]

BUST OF DOROTHY WALKER BY OISIN KELLY [1954]

Dorothy Walker (January 16, 1929 - December 8, 2002) was an Irish art critic and a vocal champion of abstract modernism in Ireland.

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New Bridge Construction At Broadstone Railway Station]

Broadstone railway station was the former Dublin terminus of the Midland Great Western Railway.

It is currently the headquarters of Bus Éireann, housing most of their administration and one of their main garages. Nearby on the same property is a Dublin Bus Depot.

The station was closed to public traffic on 18 January 1937 and finally closed on 8 April 1961, having been used as the steam depot for Dublin between 1937 and this date.

The building was one of Dublin's six original rail termini, the others being Westland Row (now Pearse Station) Amiens Street (now Connolly Station), Kingsbridge (now Heuston Station), North Wall and Harcourt Street (now a bar and nightclub complex).

Broadstone will be a Luas stop on the LUAS Cross City Line between Broombridge and St.Stephen's Green. Work on building the line commenced in June 2013 and services are scheduled to begin in December 2017.

The stop will have lateral platforms and be located adjacent to the Broadstone building with access from Constitution Hill. The stop will be called Broadstone-DIT due to it location near to DIT Grangegorman Campus.


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STREET ART AND GRAFFITI AT DALYMOUNT [ REFUGEES WELCOME ]

STREET ART AND GRAFFITI AT DALYMOUNT [DUBLIN 7]

Dalymount Park is an Irish football stadium situated in Phibsborough on Northside Dublin.

It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as 'Dalyer' by fans, it was also historically the "home of Irish football", holding many Irish internationals and FAI Cup finals. It has also hosted UEFA Champions League qualifiers, UEFA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup matches. However, the ground was largely undeveloped between the 1940s and the 2000s, and has now fallen out of use as a major venue, except for the home games of Bohemians.

The stadium has also been used as a home ground by other League of Ireland teams, including Shamrock Rovers, Dublin City F.C. and Sporting Fingal, and will be used by Shelbourne F.C. for the 2017 Season.

Dublin City Council announced in March 2015 that it would purchase Dalymount Park in a deal including the taking back of Tolka Park which it has been renting to Shelbourne F.C.The council completed the purchase in June 2015 for €3.8million. It was hoped that Bohemians and Shelbourne would become joint sub-tenants to the F.A.I. at Dalymount, and that the ground could be redeveloped. It is thought that Bohemians, the Council and the stadium will emerge from the deal debt-free. The Dalymount deal went ahead despite issues with the Tolka Park acquisition. However. in October 2016 it was announced that Shelbourne FC would be moving in, after months of speculation.

In February 2016 Dublin City Council published plans to demolish and rebuild Dalymount on a phased basis at a cost of €20 million. The work is contingent on works on the neighbouring Phibsborough Shopping Centre site, which is controlled by the National Asset Management Agency. It is likely that Bohemians would need to play elsewhere during redevelopment.







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THE TURKS HEAD DUBLIN PUB [PARLIAMENT STREET]

“Bar and late night club with DJs in varied rooms with Gaudi-esque mosaics or painted ceiling domes”


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STREET ART ON SYNGE STREET [OFF THE SOUTH CIRCULAR ROAD]

Synge Street is located in what once was the Jewish quarter of Dublin a part of the city steeped in history. It is claimed by some historians that the street was named after the Church of Ireland Bishop Edward Synge of Elphin who owned property in the area at the time of his death in 1762. The Bishop was a great-great-great granduncle of John Millington Synge, the famous Playboy of the Western World who wrote The Playboy of the Western World.

The famous Synge Street School, founded in 1864 by the Christian Brothers, has been based in the area ever since it was established.

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THE ROBERT EMMET BRIDGE AND NEARBY [ THIS BRIDGE AT HAROLDS CROSS CLANBRASSIL BRIDGE]

Clanbrassil Bridge was rebuilt in 1935-36 and renamed to Emmet Bridge in honour of the 1803 rebellion leader Robert Emmet.

Up until recently there was a ‘Ghost Bike’ memorial located here but it has been removed. As I received a number of messages indicating that the bike had been returned I decided to visit to confirm if this was in fact true. The bad news is there was no sign of it. I have uploaded a photograph to prove that it is no longer there.

• PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GHOST BIKE
• ROBERT EMMET 
• RIVERS AND CANALS OF DUBLIN

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CIVIL DEFENCE DEPOT [NEAR PHOENIX PARK IN DUBLIN]

Civil Defence Ireland is the national civil defence organisation of Ireland. It is operated at local authority level in conjunction with the Department of Defence.

The organisation was established in 1950 in response to the threat of nuclear disaster posed by the atomic bomb following World War II or "The Emergency" as World War II was known in Ireland. Its purpose was to provide aid, assistance and disaster relief to citizens in time of emergency. Today, the organisation runs on the same principle with a focus on effectively aiding the full-time emergency services as and when required.

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GRATTAN HILL AND OTHER AREAS [MONTENOTTY & ST. LUKE’S AREA OF CORK]

On one of my days in Cork it rained so much that at times it was almost impossible to take any photographs. I decided to visit St. Luke’s Wine Tavern and stayed until about 10pm but by the time that I had returned to my hotel room there was a slight break in the weather so I decided to put on my rain gear and wander around the Montenotty area and photograph anything that might be of interest.For various reasons I decide to use my 15mm Voightlander but unfortunately while fitting I managed to introduce some very large dust particles that proved impossible to remove until I returned to Dublin.

Because it was dark and as it was raining and because of the dust problem my photographs turned out to suffer noise and this impacted on the quality of the images.

Montenotte is an area in the north-east of Cork City, Ireland, which had an influx of wealthier merchants and a prosperous middle classes in the early to mid-19th century. Situated on a hill facing south over the River Lee, Montenotte acquired numerous substantial residences, some of them set in miniature estates graced with fine terraced gardens. Its favourable outlook was downgraded by the development of large-scale industry in the Marina area across the river in the early 20th century. Many of the larger houses now have institutional uses, or have been divided into apartments.

Some people would describe the area as ‘run down” or past its best but I must admit that I like the area. Saint Luke is considered the patron saint of painters which is somewhat appropriate as there is an artistic or boho feel to the area.

Wellington Terrace is a short cul de sac dog-leg row at the start of straggling, sandstone ridge-clinging Grattan Hill, beloved of Thackery who wrote lovingly two centuries ago about the vista, aspect, river views and genteel shabbiness and local gayety. All of which it still enjoys, by the way.