Back of the Pipes
The Back of the Pipes was the name of a lane and pipe route in Dublin 8, located between Dolphin’s Barn and James’s Walk. The lane replaced a Grand Canal branch which ultimately fed the Dublin city basin (now replaced with Basin Lane / Basin Street) and the Grand Canal Harbour.
It ran behind the houses of Rubens Street, Fatima Mansions, and Mallin Avenue and Lourdes Road, past the “stone sofa” and finally came out at James’s Walk across from the old iron footbridge.
The locality contained the Old Leinster Cinema (later the Dublin Ice Rink, now modern apartments) near Reuben Street and Emerald Square. This part of the Grand Canal has been filled in and the Luas now runs along it. The Guinness brewery visitors’ centre is a few minutes walk away from the other end of the “Pipes”.
The Back of the Pipes was a popular meeting place for courting couples in the 19th century and much later into the 20th century. A place nearby where they would stroll was called the “Stone Sofa”, located at St. James Walk.
In Dublin slang “at the back of the pipes” became a response to an enquiry regarding the unknown whereabouts of an object or person.

Back garden in Reuben Street, where the pipe was located at the end of the garden. Photo copyright Cathy Scuffli
Association with Poddle
The Poddle originated from the Dodder River and flowed through the city, eventually emptying into the Liffey River and was a source of contention between the city and the Abbot of St. Thomas, who owned mills along its course. In 1555, the Mayor of Dublin gained control of the watercourse.
Throughout history, there were numerous efforts to maintain and improve the Poddle water supply. King Henry III requested a water supply for his hall in 1245, and the lead pipes used for this supply were discovered in 1787. The rebels of Silken Thomas damaged the water supply in 1534. In 1721, the City Basin at St James Gate was reconstructed to improve the Poddle’s flow.
Today, the lane where the Poddle once flowed has been incorporated into surrounding properties, but the rampart remains as a reminder of its historical significance.
What the Newspapers Say
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Summary of a new article in the Irish Times on 4 Mar 1879 titled “A Crime Of A Most Fiendish Nature”
An elderly woman in Dublin recently committed a heinous crime. She lured a young girl away from her home and brought her to a place well-known as “the Back of the Pipes” near the Grand Canal Harbour, off James’s Street. Here the kidnapper stripped the poor child and then attempted to drown her in the Poodle river, exposed to view at that point, but lower down is covered over, and passes by means of an arched sewer under Ardee Street, Thomas Street, and Lower Bridge Street.
At the spot where the crime was perpetrated the stream is protected by a wall some six feet high, so that the fall from the top of tho wall to the level of the river, when only half full, would be about eight feet.
Usually the Poddle is a swift stream, and is often four feet in depth. Fortunately the girl was only momentarily stunned by the fall, and there were only about two feet of water in the stream, enabling her to stand up and scream for help. Her cries were heard by a man who lives adjacent, and luckily she was saved.
The motive for this horrific act was merely to steal the child’s clothes as the following morning her clothes were in one of the pawn offices in the city.
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Extract from an article by Frank McNally in the Irish Times on November 27th, 2020, titled “No-Water Quarter – Frank McNally on a part of Dublin whose placenames were overtaken by history”
The area’s hydraulic origins are commemorated too in an old nickname, “the back of the pipes”. This dates from Dublin’s original reservoir (spelt “City Bason” on old maps), which was built circa 1670, and supplied the then much smaller city with water from the river Poddle.
A later, bigger version included landscaping with lime and elm trees and walkways that made it “the pleasantest, most elegant and sequestered place of relaxation the citizens can boast of”, according to one visitor. The basin was approached then through an ornamental arch, and well-off Dubliners went there to promenade in their finery, and sometimes listening to bands or watching firework displays.
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Extract from the Evening Herald, 2 May 1958
At that time the old Blessington Basin was a surface reservoir led from the Royal Canal. Filled in some years ago the Basin supplied low pressure water to the outside-taps and ground level tanks of the houses on the north side of the city and a small supply down to the dock area.
The Poddle was nipped and fed into another Basin behind the convent at the Grand Canal Harbour in James Street. Even today if you inquire at Dolphins Barn for “The Back of the pipes” you will be directed to the lone footpath running our to the Canal bank at the back of St. Kevin’s Hospital. The basin served the portion of the city between the South Circular Road and the Liffey.
I can remember seeing in the basements of old houses in the city iron-handled pumps long disused. These were used to pump from the basin-fed supply to the household cisterns in upper parts of the houses. The basin pressure was not high enough to lift the water to the attics. The was where the household pump came in useful and you were in the money if you had one.
It wasn’t like a TV aerial today, occasionally installed to impress the neighbors even if there is no set in the house. If you had one of the old water pumps it was down in the area or in the basement and could not be seen. You had to be able to afford it and pay the water rate or you didn’t install one. You had also be able to afford a maid to use her muscles on the pump.