Every river floods and this section lists some of the flooding instances that have occurred alongside the Poddle’s banks.

Floods in Dublin
2 Jan 1784Dublin, 2ud January, 1784. The ssudden melting of the snow yesterday, together with the incessant rain, occasioned such floods in and about this city as were attended’ with much damage.…
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The Storm
12 Jun 1822THE STORM Yesterday evening about half-past six, a storm or rather a hurricane arose, that did considerable damage throughout the City and Liberties, and we fear that we shall also…
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Sewerage in the City
19 Jul 1853Pure water and good sewerage are among the chief contributions to the health, cleanliness, and comfort of a city population. “We: cannot say that Dublin is fortunate in the conditions…
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A Glance Backward – Ye Old Citie
31 Aug 1901The Poddle River – It’s Historic Association The following description of the Poddle is taken from an old History of Dublin:—”The great water course which cleanses the Liberties and the…
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Removal of the old houses on Patrick Street
1 Mar 1902A London weekly in commenting on the removal of the old houses on Patrick Street says – “Few of the inhabitants of Dublin are aware of the existence of the…
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REMARKABLE CITY SCENES
21 Feb 1910There was a recurrence of the gale, accompanied by a torrential downpour oi rain, in the early hours of Saturday morning, and generally disagreeable tempestuous weather prevailed for the greater…
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Trail of the Storm
21 Feb 1910Trail of the Storm. Disaster of the Cork coast was the worst consequence of the severe storm which during the latter part of last week raged pretty well all over…
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Seen and Heard – Notes on notions for Men and Matters
20 Jun 1923An adequate supply of clear water is one of the first essentials looked for by colonists, and the early visitors to what is now the city of Dublin found that…
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Relief of Dublin Distress
23 Dec 1924Further details of the comprehensive scheme of works prepared by the Dublin Borough Commissioners for the relief of unemployment, for which the Government has allocated £45,000 to be expended in wages before March 31,…
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Picture stories of the day
6 Feb 1925Owing to tho recent heavy rain a pathway in St. Patrick’s Park, adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, sunk. A boy who was passing at the time fell into the hole…
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Around and about St. Patrick’s Cathedral
14 Apr 1929In his splendid story of O’ Connell and Catholic Emancipation Mr. Michael Donagh quotes the Liberator as stating:—”It was the Union which stirred me to come forward in politics, I…
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Dublin Floods of Former Days
13 Sep 1931The recent disastrous floods recall the many severe inundations that affected Dublin and its suburbs in years gone by. For centuries past residents in the city and Liberties have suffered…
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Cameos of Old Dublin
20 Oct 1932The erection of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the thirteenth century on the site of-the ancient Celtic Church o£ ” St. Patrick in Insula ” can be explained only by the…
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To prevent floods
4 Feb 1933DUBLIN LETTERS Though there may be some doubt as to the usefulness of certain work on which relief grants are expended, there can be none about that beinp carried out…
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When weather is wild it might be worse
27 Jan 1937Stormy Memories Of A Century And A Half Ago WHEN the weather is wicked, it might be worse. Glancing over those chronicles of their times, the newspapers for November, 1787,…
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Telephone Service Dislocated
13 Mar 1937The whole force of the Post Office engineering staff was called out for the task of repairing damage to telephone poles and ‘wires in Dublin and all over the county…
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Cottages Invaded
13 Mar 1937Water entered cottages in Rutland Avenue to a, depth of three feet, when the River Poddle, where it passes underground at Dolphin’s Barn, became choked up late on Thursday night.…
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Make Liffey Beautiful
18 Feb 1938As the volume of water for the Liffey scheme at Poulaphouca was controlled, why not use it to make the Liffey always an ornament, said Mr. Stephen Gwynn, the well-known…
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Saint Patrick’s – Dublin’s Ancient Cathedral
18 Feb 1939The offer of a last resting place for the late Mr. W. B. Yeats in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, has drawn public attention to that ancient edifice, and, this being-…
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Water Underneath
30 Apr 1953While the Church of Ireland General Synod was continuing its meetings at the Synod House at Christchurch Place to-day, water was seeping slowly into the basement of this fine building.…
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Poddle Forced Families Out
13 Dec 1954PODDLE FORCED FAMILIES OUT Because of the swelling of the Poddle at Terenure last week, two families had to be evacuated from houses at the rear of Fortfield Rd. Houses…
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Night of Terror For 4 Families
20 Jan 1965was wet in town I another night •nnri banks at road The A.A. reported flooding in four separate areas—Merrion Gates, the Naas Road at the Volkswagen factory, Santry Road between Santry Road and Collinstown Cross, at Blanchardstown village and 220…
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Combating Floods in Dublin
30 Nov 1965THE possibility of joint proposals from the Corporation and the Dublin Co. Council to deal with flooding in Dublin was mentioned by the City Manager, Mr. M. Macken, at the…
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The night of the big wind
6 Jan 1967By MALACHY HYNES It began at about 10p.m. on this day 128 years ago. A gale swept the country leaving death and destruction in its wake and registering the date…
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Martin’s Lands re-alignment, deepening and regrading
4 Mar 1967It is good news for engaged couples GOOD news for hundreds of engaged couples hunting for sites on which to build—there will be available no fewer than 1,442 sites… but…
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In Marrowbone Lane
11 Feb 1970Liam’s drawing here recalls one of the strangest corruptions that have befallen any Dublin street name. It is marked, but not named, on Brooking’s map of 1728, and seems to…
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Scheme to deal with Poddle river flooding
11 Jan 1972The Department of Local Government is to be asked to approve a £35.000 Dublin Corporation scheme to deal with persistent flooding along the Poddle River during heavy rainfall. Assistant City…
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Old Cross Poddle
31 Jan 1972OLD CROSS PODDLE What we call Dean Street, leading from Patrick Street to the Coombe, in ancient times was known as Cross Poddle. The change of name was made as recently as May, 1826,…
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Bad planning may bury ancient water course
25 Jul 1972THE 700-YEAR- OLD City Water Course — once a complex of the little Dublin rivers and canals flowing through old Dublin and now out of sight underground—has left behind a…
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River Burst
16 Jul 1973RIVER BURST At Mount Argus, the Poddle burst its banks, flooding two houses in Loder Park. Mr. William Walton, who lives there with his wife and four children claimed that the…
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Big Mop-Up After Floods
16 Jul 1973BIG MOP-UP AFTER FLOODS HIT CITY AREAS ST. SWITHLN’S DAY brought the floods yesterday and left many families suffering the after effects of torrential rain. Mopping-up operations still continued this…
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Storms Trail of Havoc Grows Longer
30 Dec 1978Storms’ Trail of Havoc Grows Longer STORMS continued to create havoc yesterday, particularly in the east of the country. Houses were flooded when the Poddle river burst its banks at…
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Flooding: ‘Lack of services’ – call for inquiry
30 Dec 1978AS WORKMEN and householders the damage to homes and property caused by severe flooding days, councillors representing the worst hit areas today slammed the lack of emergency services available. Snow…
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Many homes hit by flooding
8 Dec 1982…… lives in a bungalow opposite the garage, knows the cause off the flooding. He said there was once a river which flowed around Nutgrove Avenue, a tributary of the…
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Poddle surfaces in garden
30 Nov 1985Dublin’s Poddle River — which runs much of its course underground and once supplied the old city’s water needs — claimed a suburban garden yesterday. An astonished Mrs. Maureen Cooke opened the front…
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Gardens Fall Into River
30 Nov 1985Dublins underground river, the Poddle, has reclaimed two more gardens, just a day after the first garden caved in, on the Lower Kimmage Road. Yesterday a gaping hole opened up…
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Flooding work is held up
7 Jan 1986Work to repair sections of Lower Kimmage Road, Dublin, where the gardens of several houses sank in flooding from the River Poddle is being held up because of lack of finance. Assistant City Manager, Mr. Sean…
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Singer, Family Trapped in Flood
26 Aug 1986Singer, family trapped in flood By DENIS McCLEAN OPERA singer Joan Merrigan and her family were today trapped in their home on Harold’s Cross Road as overnight rains and flooding…
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That Sinking Feeling…
22 Oct 1987More houses lost their front gardens to the underground onrush of the River poddle yesterday at Lower Kimmage Road, Dublin
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Viking Dublin
25 Oct 1988A THOUSAND years ago Dublin, though smaller and mainly built on the south side of the Liffey, was as thriving a port as it is today. Viking longships sailed from…
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Claire digs in to save treasures
26 Apr 1990SIMPLE wooden planks uncovered in the heart of Dublin this week hold the key to a map of how the capital city looked several centuries ago! The stout timber barriers…
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Discovering The Poddle
13 Jul 1990Discovering the Poddle I SAW the River Poddle — for the first time this week . about it for years, but never quite unexpectedly. r I have Joe Tiernan of Tiernan Homesteads to thank…
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Pensioner (84) In All Night Vigil To Keep Floods At Bay
21 Oct 2002Pensioner(84) In All Night Vigil To Keep Floods At Bay A DUBLIN woman in her 80’s spent last night with her two grown up children trying to keep the…
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How history flows through Dublin
10 Feb 2004The River Poddle has been known by several different names over the centuries such as the Puddle, Pottle and the Podell. It was known as the Tiber and also as…
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€7m work on Poddle protect 800 homes
11 Sep 2019Sean McCarthaigh MORE than 800 homes on Dublin’s southside are to get improved flood protection with planned upgrade of defences on the River Poddle. Work on the €7m project, funded…
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