Whalleys' house - No. 1 St Patrick Street |
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16/10/1927 |
Whalleys’ house – No. 1 St Patrick Street, which was then within the county became an inn owned by the famous Timothy O’ Brien. The worthy Boniface, it is said, was equal to distilling a decent drop “of the mountain dew”. By the way this performance in the same street was recently practised and punished.
The Poddle which caused through O’Briens cellar was proved convenient for the disposal of suplusages. A partiality for indented measures which thereby lessened his potions, earned for this publican the soubriquet of “The Knight of the Battered Naggin”. When Queen Victoria came to Dublin in 1849, O’ Brien as Lord Mayor presented here with the keysof the city at Baggot Street and was proffered a knighthood. Preserving his powder he later entitled himself to the prouder distinction of a barometry.
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Removal of the old houses on Patrick Street |
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01/03/1902 |
A 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 River Poddle. It in no way adds to the beauty of the city, and in chiefly remarkable for flooding the basements and cellars in Patrick street before it finds its way into the Liffey at Wellington quay. This same Poddle, if we are to judge by the old chronicles of Dublin was an important landmark in the time of the Pale, and a meeting place for the washerwoman of the city in the times of the early Georges. Now built over and forgotten, except when in flood, it is no more than an evil-smelling drain, alike dangerous to life and property. The information, though interesting is hardly novel; and the real gem consists in describing a river a landmark”.
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Interesting discovery at St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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27/06/1901 |
HISTORIC SITE UNEARTHED BY MR. HARTY.
In a litter to the Dean of St. Patrick’s, Sir Thomas Drew draws attention to a very interesting discovery just made at St. Patrick’s Cathedral —namely, the finding of the undoubted site and record of the ancient well of St. Patrick, from were this most ancient church’s foundation had its origin.
It occurred on the 18th of June, and by the vigilante of Mr. Spencer Harty the City Survevyor. The occasion arose in the progress of the Corporation drainage works, and Mr. Harty, to quote Thomas Drew’s words, soon found the ancient causeway of Patrick street lower by 6ft. than the present ‘one—within a few feet of the spot instinctively indicated. The record of the well was at once verified by the finding of a very ancient cross, or, rather, two cross, inscribed in light relief on a great granite stone. The wall itself had disappeared Mr. Harty, with me, attribute this to a diversion of the Poddle by an arched culvert, which directed the waterpower along the west front of the Cathedral, turned a corn mill built against the west front of tho Cathedral itself, and gave its name to the Cross Poddle, and went on to grind at each other mills. This diversion and its great stone culvert were probably made in the time of Charles II. and eliminated the well itself, all could be no mere coincidence that this remarkable stone found by Mr. Harty built into the north wall of the Poddle culvert was on the exact spot where, St. Patrick’s Well was looked for. It has seen the light once more on June 18th, after centuries of oblivion
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The recent discovery at St Patrick's - an old drawing |
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27/07/1901 |
ANCIENT DUBLIN
THE RECENT DISCOVERY AT ST. PATRICK’S – AN OLD DRAWING
In the inclosure of the Church of Saint Patrick, not far from the Tower we have seen that fount of Saint Patrick at which Dublin neophytes were baptized, lately enclosed among houses and choked up.”—Archbishop Usher , 1580.
The stone recently brought to light during the reconstruction of the old waterway of the Poddle River deserves more attention than it has yet received. Sir Thomas Drew’s report to the Dean is, I hope, the forerunner of interesting articles on this subject by students of old Irish remains.
Archaeology is a long word and ono that is apt to scare sway tie general reader, yet from tuno to time in the lives of many Irishmen opportunities occur of discovering or preserving long-sought records. Pay attention, then, to every stone in your neighbourhood that, bears strange markings. Many valuable stones have been broken up for building or road-making, or used aa gate-posts or rubbing-posts for cattle
A verv good idea can be obtained from figs. 1 and 2, the first being a portion of the drawing given by James Malton in his ” Picturesque and descriptive view of the city of Dublin,” pnblished in the year 1795. He states that the well was under the stall shown in the picture in front of the building. The second is from a plan by Kendrick, 1750. We have the steeple, the Poddle river, and a gateway. The stone was discovered six feet under ground on the old level of Patrick street, and a few feet to tie left of where tie gateway is marked, in the western wall (that nearest us). Sir Thomas Drew had already calculated that this should be the precise spot where the well was located, and the finding of the stone, is another — in the chain of evidence.
Malton says: – “The piece of rain, seen on the left of the Tower in. the view, was once attached to the Cathedral The street in the continuation is called Patrick street, which has been very irreverently made, and still continues, a butchers’ market, notwithstanding a (very convenient place has been fitted up on the opposite side of the street, with the express intention to take them from their present very improper station. Under tie stall contiguous to the ruin is the Well of St. Patrick before mentioned, wherein he baptised the people on his first coming to Dublin, and which was the origin of this cathedral.
“The well is still” choked up,” and has not been found.
OBUBCH OF ST. PATRICK IN INSULA.
“Saint Patrick,” writes Malton, “the great Irish Apostle, after breaking up the-Synod held at Armagh in the year 448, is said to have the velled towards Leinster and come to Dublin, then known by the name of Bally-aith-cliath_, where in a fountain of fine water he baptised the people, and Alpin, the son of Eochaid, King of the place, near which fountain be built a church, called after him, on the foundation of which this pile was erected by John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, in the year 1190.” Comyn’s predecessor was the celebrated Laurence O’ Toole.
PODDLE RIVER
The relation of the Poddle river to the Cathedral can be seen by a giance at Fig. 2. The plan is taken from a volume in (Marsh’s Library) that contains many ancient survey maps of properties of the Cathedral—their date is somewhere about 1750. On one of the maps the name of a person named Rotton appears as holding the lease of the plot of ground on which the houses seen on Fig. 1 are situated.
W. GREGORY HODSON.
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Liberty of St. Patrick's - as it was and as it is. |
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30/01/1901 |
YE OLDE CITIE
LIBERTY OF ST. PATRICK’S – AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS.
A most excellent suggestion was made weeks ago by a correspondent in tie columns of the “Daily Independent”. It was to effect that the memorial cross to
THE FOUR MASTERS
now hidden by an overgrowth of tree at the North side of the city, be places in a prominent and variable position.
St Patrick’s Park appeats to fulfil all the conditions and the historic association of this locality would full justify the selection as a site for the memorial. See Plan No. 1.
The original laying out of the grounds may be seen at a place on reference to Plan No. 1 The products of St. Patrick’s in Insula was at first part of the Lordship of St. Sepulchure’s Archbishop John Comin granted it to the Cathedral, describing it as “Eight void spaces adjoining the cemetery”. The amount of ground to granted to about 4 acres and 2 roods.
The division of the Northern Liberties, as seen on the portion given in the pike, was in existence for many centuries. Prebendaries Canona, and other connected with the Cathedral resided on their several allotments but gradually they removed to other parts of the neighbourhood, and tenants came successively to reside in their houses, or proceeded to build their own dwellings on obtaining leases from the Cathedral economy.
THE PRECINCTS WERE AN ACKNOWLEDGED SANCTUARY
It is difficult to discover from what early period the Right of Sanctuary was enjoyed, as the oldest records have been lost. It is however called a sanctuary in the Roll of 34., Edward I.
From the same document the clear distinction between the Liberties of St. Patrick’s and those of St. Sepulchre’s can be inferred. “The Sheriff of the county being required to attach Walter Kenely, and having communicated the writ to the Bailiff of St. Sepulchre’s, he received for answer that the aforesaid Walter was resident in the Sanctuary of St. Patrick’s nor had within the liberty of St. Sepulchre’s anything to distrain.
The portion to the west was occupied by the Deanery and garden, the Archdeacon of Dublin’d ground, the churchyard, etc. of which a separate description most fellow latter for the sake of brevity and clearness.
In the year 1824 M was purchased by the Commissoners for widening the Dublin streets and removed.
ST PATRICKS OF THE VALE is mentioned in a close roll dates November 7, A.D 1200. The valley of the Poddle promises to become as notorious as that in the county Wicklow – at any rate, the many meetings and partings of the its waters would furnish good maternal for a modern poet of the slums; it’s sweetness is beyond dispute.
Seriously, the Poddle has associational historical, ecclesiastical and Pagan, second to no stream in Irelan, form its source in mysterious spring near Tallaght to the junctions with the Anna Liffery. I have met with many historical remains and traditions of exceeding interest. And, further, the connection madebetween the Dodder and the Poddle for the purpose of supplying Dublin with water dates as far back as the year 1244, or a littler later as appears from the Corporation records.
Lord Iveagh is the magician whose “golden wand” in transforming – and, I venture to any will further transform – the old valley. Mr O Kayill says “Sure he is only one”,
“More’s the pity” I answer.
In the year 1665 a statute of the Parliament held in Ireland reads so like what might be written of this portion of the city in its remaining unimproved parts that I may venture to quote it.
STATUE AD 1665.
“Whereas several pieces of ground now in a manner lying waste commonly known and reputed yards and gardens belonging unto the houses of the precentor, other called the chantor and the treasurer of the Cathedral Church of St. Patrick’s Dublin, and abutting on the street commonly called St. Bride street, withing the suburbs of the said city of Dublin which said street, although already build and paced on the east side, is become very noisome is a … to his Majestys’ subjects that are frequently passengets through the same by reason the other side… is not built or paved, or have convenient passage for water and common shote, which is how a very great and apparent annoyance and whereas there is a parcel of ground, known and reputed, the yard and garden belonging to the Archdeacon of Dublin, lying and being on the Poddle, a place unprofitable to the church, and offensive to the neighbouring inhabitants and unto passengers that way … also for beautifying that part of the suburbs of the city of Dublin. Be it enacted … that it shall be lawful … within the space of five years next ensuing the making of this Act to set demise or make leases of any part of parcel of the said yards and gardens belonging unto each of them, … and not exceeding the term of three score years”.
A very good reason “why” the suburbs of Duvlinn, Black Pool or Poddle Town became so derelict was because of the constant rads made by the “Wilde Irishe” from the neighbouring mountains. According to some deeds executed in the latter portion of the 13th century, the English colonist had their exchequer in the neighbourhood; a raid Boer fashion was made upon it, and the treasure appropriated. Thereupon the treasury was removed to a safer place within the city walls.
The Rev. WG Carroll in this book on St Bride’s Parish, confirms a previous suggestion – “Swift was not born in Hoey’s court at all, and that he was born in Bull Alley of Bride Street”.
He adduces the following evidence: –
1. St. Bride’s Burial Register and Vestry Accounts show that about this time and for many years after Counselllor (Godwin) Swift and his family lived in Bull Alley.
2. There is no contemporary evidence to show that Godwin Swift ever lived in Hoey’s court.
3. Dean Swift, in this essay upon the life of Dr. Jonathan Swift, says expressly that his grandfather, Counsellor Godwin Swift, received the widow with great affection into his family, where, seven months after her husband’s death, she became the mother of her second shelved, the famous Jonathan.
4. Spence in and article reproduced in “Notes and Queries” in 1861, accepts Mr. Deane Swift’s natural and probable version withers hesitation.
5. Nichols, in his “Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century” vol p381, prints Mr Deane Swift’s letter to himself as determining the question. The litter, it should be remembered, was written with a view to silencing the scandal about the Dean being the illegitimate son of Sir William Temple – the same sort of scandal as was current about Stella. Mr. Deana Swift effectually displaces the scandal by an account of time – i.e., by asserting, as a fact known in the family, that the Dean’s mother directly on her widowhood, was received into Godwin’s house. He speaks of the family house as if he knew it as well as any man would know his grandfather’s houses. The uncle Godwin was certainly living in Bull alley while Swift was at Kilkenny School and while he was at college: and Godwin’s family was living there after Swift, had received, and reformed his first Irish prebend. It was probably in this house that Godwin’s son. Deane was born, and when Deane afterwards moved to Roper’s Rest he brought his don Deane, the author of the Essay, to be baptises in the St. Bride’s our of remembrance, no doubt of the house that he regarded as the cradle of the family. The house in Bull Alley was assuredly the house that Swifte knew as his uncle Godwin’s and the same house was the one that Dean Swift junior knew ad the house of his grandfather Godwin.
6. The “Quarterly Review” (1876) in a well-informed article reviewing Forster’s “Life of Swift”, says that the Dean was born in one of his uncle’s houses in Bride street, and if this be so, the Uncle Godwin’s house must have been one of the corner houses of Bride Street and Bull alley
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Three persons killed |
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15/09/1882 |
THEEE PERSONS KILLED
Yesterday, shortly after noon, without a moments’ warning, one ‘ of the huge buttresses of the north chancel of St. Patrick’s”Cathedral fell to tho ground with a terrific crasb, the force of which smashed the pile of masonry into a groat heap of-debris. Tho adjoining portions of tho building were considerably damaged. We regret to say but the catastrophe involved the death of three persons – a young girl and two boys, who were overwhelmed by tons of stonework and also tho dangerous injury of a baby, who is not expected to recover. The details of the occurrence are shocking in tho extreme. It produced in tho thickly populated district around the Cathedral the intensest excitement, and when the news spread tho excitement extended with it throughout tho metropolis, giving rise to the most disturbing rumours, Almost immediately an enormous crowd of people gathered to tho scene, and within the succeeding half hour the multitude became of such vast proportion that the intervention of the police was necessary to keep tho people at a judicious distance from the building lest other portions of it should give way and in their fall produce further loss of life. Captain Talbot, Chief Commissioner of Police, on arriving took charge of the force, which numbered about fifty men. These were sufficient to induce the excited crowd to move back from Patrick’s-close, into which tho buttress had fallen, and chains having been laid across tho thoroughfare, at each end, the work of searching for the human beings who were known to be beneath the debris commenced, and resulted in the shocking discovery of three bodies, two of which wore crushed and severed into atoms, which made identification almost an impossibility, and added heartrending scenes to tho catastrophe.
The buttress which fell so suddenly was near seventy feet high. It and three other buttresses were erected to support tho north wall, which rum alongside Patrick’s close, a very wide thoroughfare, occupied almost entirely on the side opposite tho cathedral by small shops for the sale of secondhand furniture and articles of a very miscellaneous description. The side of tho street nearest to the Cathedral has no houses erected upon it, and beyond the narrow footway are tho boundary iron railings of the Cathedral grounds. Inside these railings on the north side tho grounds are not wide—probably about fifteen or twenty feet from the railings to tho base of the buttress. These ware built of solid masonry, topped by a heavy pinnacle in cut stone, -weighing many tons. The buttress which fell spread across the entire space between its base and the opposite shops.
The Cathedral is built upon the lowest ground in tho city, and almost since its partial restoration after fire in the latter part of the fourteenth century its base was subject to the disastrous effects of water lodging around the foundations. The Poddle River, which runs beneath the building, is the cause of the lodgement of water, and frequently causes an inundation of the grounds. The excessive damp which, spits of all efforts, could not be overcome, made it absolutely necessary that steps should be taken to strengthen and preserve the foundations, and at the beginning of last June the Cathedral was closed and placed in tho hands of contractors for the execution of the necessary improvement. Messrs Duckrell & Sons, Martin, and Co. undertook contract for the laying down of encaustic tiles throughout the floor, and Mr. Stephen Adams, of Bishop-street, undertook excavations for the purpose of laying down suitable apparatus.
Mr. J H Pile, of Great Brunswick street and Abbey street, was entrusted with a construct form underpinning and concreting the endangered foundations. A moat had been dug along the north wall. The excavations were carried to a depth of a few feet below the base of the foundations. Mr. Pile’s workmen, it is said, commenced underpinning the first of the butresses a few days ago. On Wednesday last this buttress they state, gave indications of not being safe and yesterday morning five or six of Mr. Pile’s workmen applied props to the foundation, and the proceeded as expeditiously as possible with the contract work.
Shortly after twelve o’clock, the man being in tho excavated moat, their attention was attracted by a trembling motion in tho butress, and seeing, when they looked upwards, the nature of the occurrence that was about to take place, they jumped out of tho moat, with a shout of alarm, and rushed into the graveyard. The next moment supplied simple proof that their escape from death was close and providential. Down fell the buttress with a dreadful crash. The base of the masonry sunk into the excavation underneath, but the main portion of the column, without perceptibly losing any of its solidity until the crash occurred, spread across the graveyard and the street. A section of tho iron railings was smashed, and tho dwarf wall dislocated by tho tremendous force of tho fulling stonework, Two enormous masses of stonework and mortar lay in the centre oi the street. The topmost part of the pinnacle fell upon tho roof of a one storey house on tho opposite side of the Close and burst through it into the yard at the rear, fortunately without injury to any persons. Near this house the heavy entrance gate of a yard was smashed by other portions of the descending pinnacle. Here two children who had rushed to the shelter of the archway lost their lives, their bodies being almost crushed into pulp and a girl named Sarah Egan, in whose arms was a child two years old, was also knocked down and died a short time afterwards from her injuries. The infant was not killed, but received very serious injuries—a fracture of the skull and several bruises on the body. An arch, shaped like an ellipse, which spread from the buttress to the north wall of the building, fell almost simultaneously with the buttress, and crushed through the slated roof beneath, but the groined arching below the roof proved sufficiently strong to sustain tho weight of the debris, and thus saved tho grand organ.
The Dean of tho Cathedral was in tho building at the time of this occurence, when the dreadful nature of the accident was realised by the people, efforts were immediately made to remove the debris and recover the bodies of tho persons it had overwhelmed. The work was carried on with rapidity under tho directions of Mr. Harty, Assistant City Engineer, and Mr. Kenny, Inspector of drainage works for the Corporation. Soon the workmen who were engaged searching for bodies, came upon some portions of human remains. They were crushed fully two feet into tho earth. The sight which tho mangled bodies presented was horrifying, and caused great sensation.
They were of themselves quite unrecognisable, and tho identification of tho bodies was only secured by means of the clothes which they had worn. The remains were found to have been torn asunder. The legs and arms were almost wholly severed from the trunk, through which the intestines protruded. Their headB were almust reduced to pulp, and the brains were visibly scattered about. Tho hair and blood were mixed with clay and stones. Description cannot picture the shocking spectacle. Subsequently at tho hospital the remains were identified as those of, James Bolger aged nine years, of 27 Bride street, and John Ward, aged ten, of 26 Bride-street.
They had been playing, it was stated, in the Close where the buttress commenced to totter, and were unable to escape. Some minutes after the finding of those mangled bodies, the body of a young girl was discovered, “When tho debris was removed from her life was not extinct. Two compound, fractures were upon, her skull , her thigh was also fractured, and her right foot almost severed from her leg.
In her arms was an infant (“very seriously injured, but also alive), which led to her identification as Sarah Egan, aged sixteen years, of 41 Bull-alley, and the infant which she had been carrying when the buttress fell upon them was identified as Francis Mooney, aged two years, tho child, of one of her relatives living in 73 Patrick street. “Without any delay both were conveyed to the Adelaide Hospital, Peter street, Dr. B. W. Richardson and Dr. Blanchford, resident, administered restoratives, and did everything possible to sustain life. Bub her strength rapidly departed, and tho poor girl died within five minutes after her arrival at tho hospital. Previous to death, however, tho last rites of tho Catholic Church were administered to her by Kev. Father Ward and Father Slattery, of St. Nicholas’ Church,’ Francis street. The infant was carefully treated, but little hopes are entertained of its recovery. The remains of the two boys were gathered together and placed in a coffin, which was removed to the Adelaide Hospital, and from thence to the Morgue, to await an inquest. The body of Sarah Egan was conveyed to the same place during the evening*
The scene at the hospital was very pitiable. An immense crowd assembled outside and remained for a considerable time. Many of them were relatives and friends of the deceased. When the parents of tho children, by means of the clothes, recognised the mangled remains which had been collected into one coffin, they lost all control over their feelings, threw themselves upon the ground and wept bitterly. The boy Ward was identified by his mother; the girl Egan by her brother. The Registrar, Mr. Hunt, was most courteous in the communications to persons interested in making inquiries regarding the lamentable accident. The bodies of tho two victims were so dreadfully mangled that the experienced surgeons of tho hospital at first believed that there was ;t third male victim.
At two o’clock Mr. Park Neville, City Engineer made a careful inspection of the foundation of the fallen buttress and of the foundations of tho buttresses adjoining, as some apprehensions were expressed lest the calamity should be repeated. The foundations of tho whole of the northern flank walls of the Cathedral are exposed in the excavations which are being into with u view to carrying out necessary improvements in tho drainage of the building. Sir. Neville expressed an opinion that it would be well to put up supports to the buttress next to that which has fallen. This, of course, will he done at once. Mr. Peter Wilkinson coachbuildor, status that shortly after eleven o’clock he was looking out of the window of his residence, which is exactly opposite the buttress which fell, when she suddenly saw that portion of tho building give a slight shake, and than the large muss of stone fell. He saw a woman with a child having a narrow escape. They were walking, and seeing the heavy tons of masonry coming down, they rushed into his yard and uninjured, although large stones were falling about them all the time.
When darkness fell last night the debris had but all been cleared away. A noteworthy fact connected with tho accident is that the high buttress fell out in one block from top to bottom. This was caused by the elliptical arch which crashed through tho roof forcing tho whole mass outwards, when that part of the structure tottered. The buttress came clean away from that part of the wall which it was intended to support, and with which it might or might not have been dovetailed. As a buttress simple and pure it should staud as a support without incorporation. As an ornamental buttress it might be incorporated with the wall.
No steps have been taken to strengthen or prop the other buttress, subsequently the people residing opposite are in a stats of terror, and have in many _instances left their houses. Many of them, including children and women, with babies in their arms, passed the night under the heavy rain. The debris has fill been cleared away, and teo thoroughfare is stopped by chain, whilst watchmen are on the spot.
The following account o£ the manner in which the girl Egan met her death is told by her late neighbours, as well as by persons who witnessed the affair. She was walking along the street with, the infant Francis Mooney in her arms, when a horse yoked to a van took flight on hearing tho loud rumble which, occurred a few seconds before the buttress tumbled. She did not appear to be aware of any danger save that of the runaway horse, and ran back right to tho place where the buttress fell. In a moment she was overwhelmed with the falling mass. She received terrible injuries.
The ankle and thigh of her right leg were fractured, in addition to which she sustained numerous wounds and contusions about the head and shoulders, whilst her back was broken. The infant escaped with severe injuries about the head, and though it was at first thought that he could not recover are now entertained that ha may survive. An incident, painful in one sense, but which is more than compensated for by the humanity displayed by a gentleman connected with tho Adelaide Hospital, had come to light in connection with tho child, and is given on good authority. It appears that there in a rule existing that institution that no Catholic is allowed to remain a patient, we the infant would have had to be removed last night had not the gentleman referred to given up his own room and bed, and consequently changed tho little patient into n visitor. Tho inquests on tho three bodies will be held to-day at twelve o’clock.
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Around and about St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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14/04/1929 |
In 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 was maddened when I heard the bells of St. Patrick’s Cathedral ringing out a joyful peal for Ireland’s degradation, as if it were a glorious national festival. My blood boiled, and I vowed on that morning that the dishonour should not last if I could put an end to it.” Indeed to all true Irish hearts St. Patrick’s Cathedral can always appeal. There is the tradition that it covers tho sanctified ground on which our National Apostle constructed a small wooden church in the year 448. Adjoining, was a holy well, where those won from paganism were baptised Father Myles Ronan, in his compilation on “The Poddle River and its Branches,” has shown that olden memories are often accurate. In the year 1901 an ancient stone was found in front of and a little to the north of the Cathedral. On it were inscribed Celtic crosses. Attention is drawn to Sir Thomas Drew’6 comment in his copy of Mason’s St. Patrick’s bearing on this remarkable discovery:—
The Well of St. Patrick, June 16, 1901. — The site of this was discovered in course of opening up the old arched course of tho Poddle on tho east side of Patrick’s Street.’by Spencer Harty. City Surveyor to build a new tunnel (with concrete). It was identified by Archbishop Usher’s description – (1590) and J. Malton’s reference (1795) as published by me 1889, within ten feet of the spot indicated by me. It was marked by an ancient granite stone marked with two crosses in high, clear relief, one within a ring with rays at tho upper cornerstone a plain cross. This was built into the west side of the tunnel. It was removed to tho Cathedral June 19, 1901.
Concerning the Well itself Sir Thomas Drew observes.—
The Well had disappeared. Mr. Harty. with me, attributes this to a diversion of the Poddle by an arched culvert which directed the water-power along the west front of the Cathedral, turned a cornmill built against the west front of the Cathedral itself , and gave its name to the “Cross Poddie,” and went on to grind at other mills. This diversion, and its great stone culvert, was probably made in the time of Charles II., and eliminated the Well itself. It could be no mere coincidence that this remarkable stone found by Mr. Harty built into tho north wall of the Poddle culvert, was on the exact spot whore ft. Patrick’s Well was looked for St. Patrick’s on the Island.”
Thus it was that mindful of such hallowed associations, the Anglo-Normans begun the erection of their famous fane. Otherwise the site was not prudently selected. Although not until 1245 were the waters of the Poddle and Dodder rivers mated, the embracing arms of the Poddle in St. Patrick Street, so often swollen by mountain torrents, secured for the new edifice the description of “St. Patrick’s in insula.'”
From the pages of Sir James Ware to the tonic of Monk Mason there is a great deal of matter dealing with this temple. On occasions the archbishops seemed desirous to transfer to it the metropolitan see. Rivalries were, therefore, begotten between it and Christ Church, particularly during the thirteenth century.
The basis of a compromise was reached under Pope Boniface VIII., in the year 1299, when Dublin was left in its extraordinary possession of two cathedrals, that of the Holy Trinity being regarded as senior and superior.
[continued in PDF]
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Cameos of Old Dublin |
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20/10/1932 |
The 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 fact that the place was held in special veneration by the inhabitants of Dublin at that time, the belief being held that St. Patrick preached and performed miracles there. The truth is that the location, on a “marshy island of the Poddle. River (which now runs underground), was most unsuitable for such a pretentious building. Subsequent events proved this, for in the Cathedral records many notices appear of inundations due to the overflowing of the nearby river.
In 1437 a commission was appointed to inquire into the obstruction or the water coming near the Cathedral. . . In 1493, on the representation by the Dean and Chapter of the damage which was being done by the overflow of the Poddle River, Parliament enacted that the inhabitants of the precincts were to be held responsible for keeping the drains clear. A record of the year 1664 reveals a further invocation of Parliament, while in 1687 the whole city suffered from great floods, the, water rising above “the desks” in St. Patrick’s. Boats plied in the adjoining streets in 1701. In 1744 the Chapter were obliged to ask for the use of the sister Cathedral of Christchurch for their Lenten Services, as St Patrick’s was “dangerous to assemble in from the late floods.” There were five feet of water in the choir in 1762. Other floods are recorded during the years 1778, 1791, and 1795. It was said that, within the last half of’ the eighteenth century, there were five great inundations ” allot which took place on a Saturday.”; ‘The water of the Poddle still runs below the floor of the Nave, but a proper drainage system operates,
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Floods in Dublin |
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02/01/1784 |
Dublin, 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. Tho rivers Liffey and Dodder overflowed all the low ground contiguous to them, and tho Toddle watercourse, as usual, covered Patrick’s Street, the Close,in the first of which places seven cows were drowned in a dairy. It is to be lamented that some expedient is not devised by an overfall, or tho enlargement of the great sewer, to obviate the frequent inundating of that watercourse To the above account we are sorry to add that a coach containing two ladies and two gentlemen was overset in the inundation near the Poddle, and tho four drowned. Their bodies were taken! up at four o’clock this morning. The coachman and horses escaped
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Make Liffey Beautiful |
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18/02/1938 |
As 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 author, in a broadcast from Radio Eireann. He suggested the placing of a sluice gate across the river with a passage for barges and a bridge at the Custom House through which traffic from the North Strand could flow direct to Westland Row. The effect, he said, would be to bring the life of Dublin further seawards towards the clear airs of the Bay, as Beresford had done in Grattan’s time. The men who built the Four Courts and the Custom House, he said, might be accused of extravagance, as Grattan accused Beresford but Beresford and the rest were right. The best tribute Dublin could pay them was to imitate their feeling for noble structures and a splendid capital.
VIEWS OF BAY.
Dublin was on a bay whose beauty was a proverb. It was not easy to arrange for a view of Dublin Bay because they were on flat ground. The authorities_, however, have done a good deal. From Dun Laoghaire a fine roadway commanded a perfect view of the Bay: and. on the North side. Dollymount had a fine esplanade in the _making from which one could see the culmination of water and mountains which made up the scenery of Dublin. Referring to Grattan’s time. Mr. Gwynn said that when Beresford began his work there was no place nearer the sea than Grattan (then Essex Bridge). Beresford moved the Custom House nearly half a mile down the river. At the same time Westmoreland St. was cleared from College Green to the Quays and Upr. O’Connell St. (then Gardiner’s Mall) was carried down to Bachelor’s Walk. Carlisle Bridge was built to connect the two.
OLD-TIME FLOODS.
In 1795 Henry Grattan as a member of the Committee of Dublin, said Mr. Gwynn introduced a measure to deal with the floods at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where people went about in boats when the river overflowed. Grattan called it the Dodder: he did not think the Poddle a euphonious name. He knew that the Poddle was merely a lead carried from the Dodder about Templeogue. That was a piece of engineering done about to give the city a supply of running water
In 1795, more than one person had been drowned near St. Patrick’s. Some years earlier, a man was drowned in the same watercourse just outside the castle walls, where the stream was held up by a dam. which gave its name to Dame Street.
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Saint Patrick's - Dublin's Ancient Cathedral |
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18/02/1939 |
The 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- so, a brief historical sketch of a church that has close associations with St. Patrick cannot fail to be interesting. The cathedral was built on the site of a church dedicated, at a very early period, to St. Patrick, who in 448 converted to the Christian faith Alphin Mac Bochaid, King of Dublin, and his subjects, who were baptised at a fountain called, after the National Apostle, St. Patrick’s Well, near the place where the cathedral now stands. The prevailing architectural character of the exterior is that of the early pointed style, with occasional innovations, not sufficiently numerous to render the edifice incongruous. INTERIOR AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE BUILDING. The interior is divided into a nave, with side aisles and south transept, comprising: the chapter house, choir; it has lateral side aisles, and St. Mary’s Chapel to the eastward of the choir and chancel. The building measures 308 feet ‘ from the west gate to the east wall of St. Mary’s Chapel—once known as the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the breadth of the nave is 67 feet, and that of the transept 157! the height of the square tower is 120 feet, and of the-spire a further 101 feet. It may be mentioned that a large statue of St. Patrick was discovered in clearing away some of the ruins when the church was being restored, and it was placed at the northern wall of the nave. An English writer, referring to St. Patrick’s, says:—”This edifice, although, inferior in grandeur and dimension to many of the cathedral structures of England, Is an extensive, commanding, and an interesting fabric.” The history of St. Patrick’s Is, of course, linked up with that of Ireland as a whole; but there- are many episodes peculiar to this Metropolitan cathedral.
VISIT OF SCOTTISH JONG.
It is related, for instance, that in-890 Gregory, King of Scotland, in an expedition to Ireland, made a solemn profession to perform his devotions in the church; that in a Bull of Pope Alexander IV in 1179, the church Is particularly named, and that It was then “insulated by two streams of the Poddle River.”
In 1100; from being a parish church, it was erected by Archbishop Comyn into a “Sacred College,” and consecrated by him and the Papal _Legate, Mgr. O’Heney, commissioned by Pope Celestine m, -with great , pomp and ceremony in the following year; and in 1219 Archbishop Comyn established. the Deanery and Chapter.
The remains of two Anglo-Norman Archbishops were deposited in the Chapel oi the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Cathedral towards the end of the thirteenth century; they were -the, brothers Fullce de Saunford and his brother, John,, and to the last named the English King, the first of tjie Edwards, gave lands called wastes in Connacht, for which he was to pay into the Treasury in Dublin £34 per annum. ECHO OF THE CRUSADES. There is an echo of the Crusades in the statement that in 1921 Pope Nicholas TV wrote to the Bishop of Meath and the Dean of St. Patrick’s, directing them to collect the tithes of the ecclesiastical revenues which had been granted for six years. to King Edward towards his expedition to the Holy Land. English monarchs claimed monetary assistance from St. Patrick’s as early as the fourteenth century. For instance, it is recorded that in 1306 the prebendaries of the cathedral were revalued for the purpose of being taxed one-tenth for service of the State; and that in 1322 the Dean and Chapter were “commanded to levy two years’ tenths of all ecclesiastical beneficiaries, as imposed for the service of the King.’.’ Education occupied the attention of the ecclesiastical authorities in those far-off days, as history records, that in 1311 Archbishop Lech procured a Bull from Clement V, confirming his establishment of a University within, the cathedral
REPRESENTATION IN THE LEGISLATURE. The Church was represented In those days in the legislature, as the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick’s were summoned in 1315 to attend a Parliamentary assembly in Dublin, which is described as “the greatest that, for rank and quality, had ever met in Ireland.” The spire of the church was destroyed in a tempest in 1316, and in the same year the edifice was set on fire by the Mayor and Commons of the City of Dublin ” on account of the advance of Edward Brace, whose army then lay at Castleknock,” and it is added that some robbers, in the confusion, “despoiled the edifice of Its treasures and ornaments.” In 1362 St.” Patrick’s was burned down, ” by the negligence of the sexton.” Nothing of note occurred until the so called “Reformation”; in 1559, the first year of the reign of “Good Queen Bess,” English Bibles (of the revised version, o course) were placed in St. Patrick’s, and also in Christ Church, hot far away. WILLIAM OF ORANGE. In 1690 William of Orange attended divine service In the cathedral and returned thanks for his victory at the battle of the Boyne. Coming down to the last century, it may be noted that St. Patrick’s was renovated in 1865 by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, then head of the famous porter firm, at a cost of £150,000, and some years later a ” flying buttress ” of the building collapsed; killing several children who were playing close by. Such, in brief outline, is the story of St. Patrick’s, which has been linked with the story of Ireland through so many centturies
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Appeal launched for St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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24/03/1972 |
ST. PATRICK’S Cathedral in from the 5th Century, and which has withstood the ravages of lime and even Cromwell, is now being attacked by a new and hidden enemy — pollution. Atmospheric pollution is penetrating the walls and stonework of the fine old building and playing havoc in particular with its plasterwork and ornamentation and water from the River Poddle which flows underground beneath it. In all, a total of £250,000 is required in order to put St. Patrick’s back in proper order again. ¦
For this reason, a national appeal has been launched by the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral. A number of luncheons ._j .re being * held around the country, in an effort to explain to businessmen and people in public life the nature of the appeal, and the urgency of the need for funds ‘o carry out the renovation and restoration work. One such luncheon was held in Waterford on Tuesday last, and there, the _De-in of St. ‘ Patrick’s, Rt. Rev. Victor G. Dean Griffin explained what the appeal was all about.
NATIONAL
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he said, was a national Cathedral with a link in every diocese in Ireland, both North and South. It had an important part to play in promoting mutual understanding and reconciliation between all irishmen, for it was the meeting place within its walls of the ethos ol both the Celtic and Anglo-Irish traditions. In this ecumenical age. we must work and pray for the time when St. Patrick’s would cease to belong exclusively to any one denomination, but would be shared by all the main Christian traditions in this island, thereby becoming a visible witness to ;>ur unity and brotherhood in Christ. The Choir of St. Patrick’s, heir of a long tradition of over 500 years was renowned for its singing, not only on Sundays but at the daily services throughout he week. Many visitors from near and far of all denominations, uplifted by the Choral services, constantly expressed their sense ol appreciation and gratitude. To have to curtail this centuries old witness to characteristic of Saint Patrick’s, due to lack of the necessary finance, would impoverish not only worship, but the Church and would remove from the life of the nation a tradition and all that it had meant for 500 years, thereby leaving us all the poorer.
St. Patrick’s, he added, had uu parishioners and therefore there was non-one to whom in particular they could appeal for help. They relied on the interest _und generosity of their friends Jnd well-wishers of all denominations everywhere.
BUILT ON SWAMP
The Cathedral, lying in the heart of the old city of Dublin, is built on low swampy ground. On this site it is believed that Saint Patrick baptised converts to the Christian faith. Because of its intimate association with St. Patrick, the church had stood there since the 5th century, in spite of the fact that it is a nightmare ‘or builders. Archbishop Comyn, the first English Archbishop of Dublin, made the church into a collegiate establishment in 1191 ” to encourage the study of religion and learning in Ireland,” and m 1213, under Henry the Londoner, Comyn’s successor, St. Patrick’s became a Cathedral. It has been a fortress, a prison, a Court of Law and a University. Court martials and councils of state have beep held there. Oliver Cromwell stabled his horses there. After the Restoration of 1660, at one service, twelve bishops were consecrated and the great Jeremy Taylor preached the sermon.
The Huguenots had the use of the Lady Chapel for worship from 1666 to 1816. and in 1690. alter the Battle of the Boyne, King William III attended a Thanksgiving Service. His general Schomberg, is buried in the Cathedral. Jonathan Swift was Dean of St. Patrick_’s from 1713-1745. His remains lie in the nave beside his beloved Stella, and the epitaph. which he himself wrote, cut in deep black
nearby. Memorials abound in [tie Cathedral, remaining of of our heritage. They include John Philpei Curran, lather of Sarah, the beloved of Robert Emmet; Carolan, the last of the old Irish bards ; the songwriter, Samual Love:; Lecky. the historian and Ualfc, the composer. The colours of many Irish regiments are also preserved in the Cathedral, and the banners of the Knights of Saint Patrick, an order of Chivalry founded in 1783.
ORGAN MASTERPIECE
The penl of eight bells installed in 1670 has been recast and enlarged through the years, and there are now fourteen bells in the ringing peal, the largest in this pan of the continent. The present massive Willis organ was built in 19dO2, an is considered to be Henry Wallis’ masterpiece.
In 1865, the generosity of Sir Benjamin Guinness saved the building from ruin. He not only completely restored the fabric but ensured that the original plan and design with its perfect symmetry, which had been obscured for centuries past would once again of evident. Thus the Cathedral as it now stands, preserves the mam architectural features of nearly 800 years ago.
A breakdown of the amount of money required for the restoration of the Cathedral is as follows: Cathedral Exterior, £60,000-. Interior, £40,000: Cathedral School £100,000: Organists and Lay Vicars Choral, £40,000; and the Deanery, £10,000.
The immediate target of the appeal is £250,000. which, the Architects and advisers have said, is the minimum amount which will be required. Already, there has been a generous response to the Cathedral appeal in Dublin, but as the Bishop of Cashel, Emly, Waterford and Lismore, Rt. Rev. Dr. John Ward Armstrong, said in Waterford on Tuesday, Dublin cannot be expected to foot the whole bill, for this one of our greatest national treasures.
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Place of Worship since the time of St. Patrick |
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25/01/1974 |
THE FOLLOWING is the full text of the late President’s proposed address:
“We are worshipping this evening to commemorate yet one more episode in the history, and indeed the survival, of this great St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the national cathedral.
“A place of worship has stood here since the fifth century for a millenium and a half and St. Patrick, the national apostle, is believed to have baptised his converts on an islet of the River Poddle close to this Cathedral. “Nearby was St. Patrick’s Well, mentioned as late as the 12th century by Jocelyn, a monk who spoke of St. Patrick’s cures of the sick. An earlier foundation was a Collegiate church in 1191 and this became a cathedral in 1213. “The present Cathedral with its noble proportions was built between 1220 and 1260—largely from native limestone and granite. “OPPRESSION1 * “Our country suffered religious oppression and pillage during centuries and St. Patrick’s was not spared. “During the last seven centuries this great church has been successively a prison, a fortress, a court of law and a university. Councils of State and Court Martials have been held here. Cromwell desecrated the Cathedral and stabled his horses here. The Huguenots, escaping from religious oppression, worshipped here. “GREATEST DEAN” “The greatest Dean of St. Patrick’s, Jonathan Swift, holding office from 1713-1745, left a legacy of literature of protest against misrule almost unique among great churchmen. We recall Dean Swift’s humane understanding of mental illness and his bequest for the foundation of St. Patrick’s Hospital. Many scholars say that he was without an equal in the writing of English prose in his day. Hilaire Belloc wrote of him: ‘A solid piece of comfort is the persistence of Swift; he alone of all the great masters survives one level in spite of hostile or enthusiastic mood. ‘He laboured to encourage the use of Irish manufactures. He condemned the practices which brought destitution to the people of Ireland. He spent a great part of his income on charity. The Drapier Letters are almost unique in their laceration of the social and political evils of the day. “His epitaph will be forever remembered: ‘Here lies the body of Jonathan Swift, Dean of this Cathedral, where fierce indignation can no longer tear the heart. Go traveller and emulate if you can, if you are able, one who did a man’s part in the vindication of liberty.’
“Swift wrote: ‘By the law of God, of nature and of nations and of their own dear country, they are and they ought to be as free as their bretheren in England’
“GENEROSITY”
“And so we pass through the centuries to the years when the Guinness family saved St. Patrick’s from total degeneration and undertook great restoration, and we recall their generosity and dedication.
“We recall also at this time of commemoration the magnificent choral tradition, the unique and only choir school of St. Patrick’s in this land, who sing the praises of God accompanied by the great Willis organ and the great peals of
St. Patrick’s bells. Addison, friend of Swift, wrote: ‘Music, the greatest good that mortals know And all of heaven we have below.’
“And again he wrote: ‘Through all eternity to thee_, A joyful song I’ll raise, For, oh, eternity’s too short To utter all thy praise.’ ” And so we pass to a time of challenge, of re-thinking as to the future of this great Cathedral. ” History is littered with the debris of destruction, of lost hopes, of illusions blasted, because mankind is always slow in preparing for the future, fails to watch the inevitable results of mortal frailty, fails to answer the blasts of mindless cynicism. Yet mankind shows great powers of resilience, great capacity to think and act in a Christian spirit, and there is no reason to despair provided our faith is great enough.
‘SEEK FRESH LIGHT’
” St. Patrick’s, because of the departure of people from the city centre and because of many other causes, while still the great national cathedral of the Church of Ireland with Canons appointed from every diocese, must seek fresh light from Heaven, fresh inspiration in this new and terrifying world of the ‘seventies and ‘eighties when every noble, unquenchable doctrine is being attacked by the disillusioned and bv those of little faith.
“For the preservation at’this great, beautiful Cathedral, dedication and generosity are needed and restoration was essential if St. Patrick’s is to play a great role in the future. ” We recall John . Betjeman, writing about King’s College, Cambridge: ‘ File into candlelight four choristers Lost in the shadowy silence of canopied Renaissance stone In blazing glass the dark glow shines on thrones and wings Blue, ruby, gold and green between the whiteness of the walls And with what rich precision the stonework soars ani springs To fountain out a _spreading vault, a shower that never falls Join choir and sreat crowned organ case in centuries of song To praise eternity.’ ” To’preserve, to ennoble this place of worship the work of restoration has been partly completed and we are _celeorating this achievement today. For the next century ” people can come to the wonderfully inspiring devotions in this Cathedral, to the daily choral offering of worship and St. Patrick’s will be fulfilling its spiritual destiny ” But let us be visionary in our approach. Is there not a greater purpose to be served at this time ? Have we not _soen proceeding steadily all over the world the growth of Christian fellowship between all those of the Christian tradition who follow the teaching of the Gospel ? ” Have we not a recognition even by the most protesting of young people, an admission that no one on earth has ever provided a philosophy for living equal to the teaching of Christ, if only people’s spirits can be enlivened ?
Do we not face the reality that even as many of us hold to a particular tradition, many of the younger generation have to be won back to the Church, and they do not accept the often stubborn rejection of one tradition by the believers in another tradition ? ” May I quote the words of Dean Victor Griffin, so passionate a lover of St. Patrick’s: ‘ This setting of St. Patrick’s in a national context is we believe a very good and wise thing, for it affords a point of meeting and unity between North and South . . . ‘ Further, St. Patrick’s embodies many diverse traditions — Celtic, Anglo-Norman. Mediaeval, Anglo-Irish. ‘Because of its identity with many traditions, I believe St. Patrick’s has a unique part to plav in this ecumenical age when the emphasis is, rightly, on learning from and understanding each other to our mutual enrichment and deepening insights into the vast riches of the Christian Gospel. ‘ Therefore I am convinced that the most effective witness which St. Patrick’s can give is by ceasing to be used exclusively by any one denomination, for in a very real sense it is greater and nobler than any of us. I feel it should be shared by all. I would like to see the Cathedral made available at certain t times by mutual agreement for worship according to the _ rites of the main Christian traditions in this land, and further 1 would like to see in St. Patrick’s Christians of each tradition joining frequently in. the worship of other traditions. In this way I believe we can learn from each other, contribute to each other and help to bring nearer the day when all shall be visibly and organically one. St. Patrick’s can be a powerful force to heal the wounds of division and at the same time to witness to our common underlying unity, brotherhood and reconciliation in Christ.’ ‘ As President I have accepted every request for my presence, subject to being free on the day encerned, wherever the people join together for worship for the restoration of a church for proclaiming together the belief in peace and reconciliation.
“I trust that all those concerned are studying the proposals in the document entitled: ‘A Modern Euoharistic Agreement.’
“Surely we would like to see this great Cathedral, this offering in stone so beautifully shaped to the glory of God, filled with people witnessing their faith in the Sermon on the Mount and proclaiming that— now abideth Faith Hope and Charity; but the greatest of these is Charity.
“Coleridge wrote:
‘He who begins by loving Christianity better than truth will proceed by loving his own sect better than Christianity and end by loving himself better than all.’
“We face in the next 20 years much confusion, bitterness, strain and stress, as the technological explosion and the super consumerist society reach their climax.
“In every country there should be some great cathedral some holy place where people come to worship together in search of peace, of assurance of God’s love, and to proclaim Christ’s teaching. I believe that St. Patrick’s Cathedral can surely become such a place. “St. John said: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.’ “We will have to make a tremendous effort if, at the end of the century, we are still the branches bearing fruit, for there are many fierce winds blowing everywhere.
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Dreaming Spires |
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21/12/1979 |
A view from St. Michael’s Close, Dublin, of the Minot tower and spire of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so named because the tower was built by Archbishop Thomas Minot. Dean Swift’s good taste later averted a proposal to put a brick spire on top of the tower. The present spire bring the height of the cathedral to about 240 feet, but its great height is hidden by the fact that the Cathedral stands below street level.
Actually it is built beside the underground River Poddle, and there is water a mere seven feet under its floor. The reason for this overtly unsuitable site being chosen is that it is the location of a holy well traditionally linked with St. Patrick. The original Wicklow oak floors in the tower have been replaced by concrete. The tower bore one of Dublin’s first three public clocks, put up on the orders of Queen Elizabeth the First.
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The castle moat |
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05/04/1968 |
At the Epiphany, 1591, there was the usual extra beer issue to the garrison of Dublin Castle, high revel in the officers’ quarters, sentries numb -with cold on the high turrets, thinking only of their relief. Three figures slipped from the shadow of the Bermingham Tower, swam the dark moat, and headed south for safety in the Wicklow Mountains—which safety only Hugh O’Donnell was destined to reach.
To-day the moat crossed by the three fugitives is a tarmac road, beneath which the Poddle River still runs and a small footbridge links the one-time State Apartments with the ground, once the Viceroy’s garden, laid out after 1700, except for the training school.
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South of the Moat |
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21/02/1975 |
THE clock in this clock-tower doesn’t work (but that is not so unusual in present-day Dublin), but the building beneath it has been, for quite a few generations, a ‘busy place indeed. This is one of a group of late 18th century buildings, standing south of the original moat of the Castle. This moat, provided by the obliging river Poddle, still runs beneath the roadway seen in the foreground of Michael’s drawing, and the Castle expansion went on steadily southward. The last big acquisition was about 1805, when the authorities, alarmed at the daring plan of Robert Emmet to seize the stronghold, began moves to isolate the Castle from the city. This block rises on the site of a Powder House, a gunpowder store of course, shown on Gomme’s map of 1673. John Rocque, in 1756 shows the present building, which was long.the office of the Ordnance Board, and today houses the office of the. Accountant General of Revenue.
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The face of Dublin |
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10/01/1963 |
THE worst castle in the worst situation in Christendom A was how one of the Duke of Ormonde’s relatives described Dublin Castle in the 17th century. In the middle ages when it was built, it was a badly sited castle defended on its landward side only by the mean trickle of the Poddle stream.
Today very few evidences survive of it being a castle at all and the whole complex is a rather sorry mess of building styles. Of the medieval portion only one tower, the Record Tower, remains fairly intact and that was recased and re-Gothicised by Francis Johnston early in the last century. Another of the corner drum towers, the Bermingham Tower, survives in an attenuated form and one of the gate towers is embedded as the core of the gracious cupola which crowns the Genealogical Office.
Otherwise the Castle we see today is very much a growth of the 18th century. Upper CastJe Yard coincides with the layout Of the medieval fortress but it is now surrounded by solid Hanoverian brick buildings, collegiate in their harmony of brick and stone dressings instead of by corner towers linked with curtain walls. The one really satisfying grouping is the north side centering on the Genealogical Office whose handsome rustic loggia, surmounted by a columned minstrels’ gallery and crowned with the cupola we have mentioned is flanked by two robust gateways, statue crowned like triumphant archways. The south range facing it is undistinguished on the outside save for a really ugly awning of glass and cast-iron. Inside, though, are the State Apartments which preserve some of the pomp and elegance of the viceregal age and have been handsomely furnished and adapted to the ceremonial uses of a democratic state.
Principal among these apartments is St. Patrick’s Hall, formerly the investiture hall of the Knights of St. Patrick and in medieval times it was the site of the original castle Hall and the original Irish parliament house; now it is used for the inauguration of the President of Ireland.
It is a high noble apartment with gilded Corinthian columns flanking the terminal galleries, and corresponding pilasters compartmenting the walls. The fine cornice and coved ceiling are rich with gilt and on the flat of the ceiling are three huge historical paintings by Vincent de Waldre of Vicenza, a noted painter of the 18th century:
The circular Supper Room in a delicate Gothic style occupies part of the Bermingham Tower and from it one passes through the delicate oval Wedgwood Room to the Picture Gallery, on its panelled walls hang portraits of past viceroys. Now it is used as a dining room for State functions. This group of apartments is closed by the Throne Room, a richly decorated apartment with the gilt throne and canopy still in situ. The classical pictures on the circular wall panels have been attributed to Angelica Kaufmann, but are probably the work of Vincent de Waldre.
The Chapel Royal, now the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Francis Johnston’s early Gothic essay, is so interesting that it deserves separate treatment. Its woodwork, exterior carving and interior plasterwork are all excellent and well worth the visitor’s attention.
The State Apartments are open to the public daily at 10′ a.m., 12 noon and 3 p.m. There is an admission charge of 6d. and the services of an informed guide are available to visitors. s the paschal fire at Slane,” Vincent de Waldre’s painting in St. Patrick’s Hall.
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The Revenges of Time |
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25/01/1931 |
Dublin Castle and it’s modern uses.
THE whirligig of time certainly brings revenges. Amongst the latest news is that of the purposes to which Dublin Castle is to be devoted. There are numbers who could have wished that the institution should suffer the fate destined for the “Kilmainham Hotel.” On consideration, however, there are good reasons why, at least, parts of the fabric should be preserved.
Cork Hill’s Citadel
Following the Scandinavian conquest of Dublin, a “Dun” is said to have been erected adjacent to where is now Cork Hill. Later came “the iron lords of Normandy,” and in compliance with the desires of King John, Henry de Loundres (the Londoner), Archbishop of Dublin, and Lord Justice of Ireland, “builded the King’s Castle . . . four square or quadrangular wise.” The object was to serve as “a depository for the King’s; treasure, and also as a convenient place for administering justice to the City, or defending it according to occasion.” This citadel has vanished. So has the fosse, filled with water from the Poddle, that encircled- its sides. Opposite the Municipal Buildings formerly rose the imposing entrance. As well as a drawbridge, there were ‘two gate towers, in which was a portcullis. The western tower remained standing until the 18th century. It was connected by a high curtain wall with what was eventually termed the Cork Tower, convenient to the northern end of the passage called the “Castle Steps,” leading into Little Ship Street tinder the archway that has superseded St. Austin’s Gate.
Similar strong curtain walls were linked to the Birmingham Tower. In the southern defence of the bastille were included two smaller towers, between the Birmingham and the Wardrobe Towers. Near the former was a sallyport towards Ship Street, while an additional sallyport was contiguous to the Store Tower nearby Dame’s Gate. Provided with loopholes for sharpshooters, the fortress in the 16th century, after its restoration by Sir Henry Sidney, must have menaced aggressors.
Within the Castle’s ambit was once a chapel, a mill, and a mint, as at in Trim. Controlled by a Constable, whom it was decreed must be a full born ( Englishman, Parliaments withinits circumvallation frequently legislated against “the mere Irish.”
Amongst other strange performances in the Castle were a form of gladiatorial contests. Thus in 15S3, it is told, “Connor MacCormac O’Connor appealed Teig MacGilpatrick O’Connor before the Lords Justices, Adam Loftus “reformed” Archbishop of Dublin, and Sir Henry Wallop and Council, for killing his men under protection.” Stripped to their shirts, the combatants fought fiercely with sword and target. The appellant having slain his enemy, a,- contemporary chronicler, Hooker, naively remarks, “that the combat was L managed with such valour and resolve- a lion on both sides, that the spectators wished that it had rather fallen on the whole sex (sept) of the O’Connors than I upon these two gentlemen.”
For Faith and Fatherland.
Sad as any associations of Dublin Castle are those of the latter half of the sixteenth century and succeeding years. The City has then been described as being ” little better than a slaughterhouse.” The head of Shane O’Neill ” the proud” and others of his compatriots , grinned scorn from the Castle’s gates. Confessors like Dermot O’ Hurley, Cornelius O’ Devaney. Peter Talbot, Oliver Plunket, were here tortured in dungeons. Red Hugh O’Donnell’s escape was as a light shot through this gloom. “Silken Thomas,” Emmet, and “the men of 98,” were of those who desired to consumate what is now being wrought.
Of the original stronghold, little of account endures. The portcullised tower has been replaced by a ” gateway, surmounted by a stone statue of justice. A short distance beyond is the Bedford Tower. Here were once apartments for the Dean of the Chapel Royal, the Chamberlain and the Aides-de-camp of the Viceroy. Quite recently certain of the rooms were TOMAS.S. CUFFE portioned as winding-up courts of Sinn Fein.
The Lower Castle Yard.
Dean Swift, although innocently enough, was amongst the agents who harmed the Castle. While in occupation of some rooms, he caused a fire through his careless practice of reading in bed. The Lower Yard at one time contained a coveted armoury, 60,000 stand of arms, as well as pikes and other weapons taken from the men of ’98, and those who in later periods battled for freedom. The Wardrobe Tower, which was utilised as a prison for five hundred years, is still notable for its walls that in parts are nineteen feet thick.
The neighbouring Birmingham Tower was likewise, a prison. Destroyed by an explosion of gun-powder, it was rebuilt during the Viceroyalty of the Earl of Wharton. Addison, the celebrated essayist, was his secretary. Priceless documents were removed from the top story of this structure, to be lost through the burning of the Four Courts. The second part of the structure used to serve as a supper room, and the lower portion as a kitchen during the Viceregal seasons.
St. Patrick’s Hall Paintings
Already the contemplated change of St. Patrick’s Hall from a Law Library to its former purposes, has attracted much notice. The noble room with its gallery for musicians was ingeniously decorated by an artist named Waldren. Impanelled in three compartments, the central allegorical picture of the ceiling depicts George the Third supported by Justice and Liberty; a second is an illustration of St. Patrick converting the native Irish; while a third was intended to represent the submission of the petty kings of Ireland to Henry the Second. The last portrayal moved a witty Irish lady to remark upon her visit to the Castle.
“By my word it would have Won a poor religious subject to so with St. Patrick at the other side and nearer the truth to have shown Henry’s own submission to the whips of the monks at Becket’s tomb.
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The scene of tonight's reception |
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21/06/1932 |
Thousands of visitors who will attend the State function at Dublin Castle to night, and who have never been within its precincts before, may be interested in some notes on its ancient history.’ Yesterday many workmen were busily engaged laying carpets, putting shrub, and flowers into place, and doing other in preparation for to-night’s event.
As the visitors drive through, the Cork Hill gate, which is the entrance for all vehicles they -will cross the site of the Ditch and on the right will pass the main guard, now the office of the Ulster King of Arms, in which are traces – of the original gate tower. A space on the left in which is a found – to was a site purchased in the middle of the 18th century for a replica of the Main Guard but the completion of what would have been an imposing entrance was never completed.
THE UPPER YARD
The buildings of the Upper Yard, which when entered, represent the limits of the Medieval castle, erected at the beginning of the 13th century, the only visible trace of which remaining is the Wardrobe Tower, sometimes erroneously filed the Berminqham Tower, over which was the national flag, and which retains practically all its original appearance. The Storehouse Tower, to the north-east, at Cork Tower, to the north-west, have disappeared. the site of the latter being now occupied by the Post Office buildings. However, the foundations of the Berminqham Tower under the Round Room, which supper will be served to certain the guests, can still lie descerned.
OCTAGONAL ROOM
There is also a trace of the original Castle in the charming octagonal room through which the majority of the guests will pass going to the marquees, and under the bridge the well-known River Poddle still runs, although now confined to what night he termed a brick sewer.
ST. PATRICK’S HALL
St. Patrick’s Hall, which is the scene of the reception, was built in 1747, and beneath it still remains the thick curtain wall which formed the outer defences of the Castle. The ceiling of St. Patrick’s jail is adorned by interesting paintings depictions St. Patrick converting the Irish, Henry II – receiving the submission of the Irish chieftains. George III. being endowed with attributes of liberty and justice and other allegorical representation.
The wall of the Upper Yard was rebuild at the close of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries, and as the male visitors are depositing their cloaks in the temporary cloakroom they will notice that the arches which formed this colonnade have been filled in.
THE CHAPEL ROYAL
In the Lower Castle Yard, brilliantly floodlighted, is the Chapel-Royal, which is comparatively modern, as it was built in 1814 by the architect Johnston at a cost of £42,000. It contains, in Tullamore limestone, the heads of the Kings of England, and in the coloured glass windows are the arms of the Lord Lieutenants of Ireland. To those who remember the State apartments many years ago, it will he interesting to see them restored to their original character, a heavy task that has been carried out by the Office of Public Works in a very few weeks. The portraits of
a ion” line or Viceroys again adorn the walls of whom it may be said with Andrew Maxwell, “There are the good, the bad, and these, mixed everywhere.”
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Dublin Castle Tunnel found |
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02/02/1961 |
DOES some of Dublin’s heaviest traffic run across a seven-foot high tunnel only a few feet beneath the road surface? This startling question is being asked following the discovery of a section of “forgotten” tunnel in the Upper Yard of Dublin Castle.
Workmen probing for rock level just inside the Cork Hill entrance to the Castle this week came across the tunnel at a depth of only about two feet. It was about seven feet high, nine feet wide and bricked up at each end. The tunnel was roofed over with brick and a gas main had been laid over it without it being discovered. Mr. L. Miller, of Cementation Co. (Ireland), Ltd., where employees found the “lost tunnel,” told an IRISH PRESS reporter: ” I’m told that, when Cork Hill was being resurfaced, bricks like those roofing the tunnel were found under the setts, so it is quite likely that it runs right across the street.”
He added: “I believe that a number of such tunnels have been found in the past, like this one, unmarked on Castle plans. There is’ a theory that, at one time, the Castle was surrounded by a moat supplied from the underground River Poddle. Perhaps this tunnel was part of the exit for the water.”
Engineers probe
Board of Works engineers are to investigate the surface oi the Dublin Castle yards to see if the uncovered tunnel is an isolated instance or one of a series, perhaps linking with forgotten dungeons and vaults. Traffic passes over the tunnel area and workmen have filled it in. A spokesman for C.I.E., which daily runs dozens of buses along Cork Hill, said: “The road surface has been surfaced and resurfaced countless times in the past and no tunnel has ever been, found. I am sure that, at some time, Corporation engineers would have come across it; when the street was made, its foundations must have been probed. In any case, if there was such a tunnel, surely it would have caved in long ago.” Vindication note: The most puzzling aspect of the tunnel find was the presence of five tons of the best coal. Then older Castle employees recalled that, some years ago, a coal company employee found himself in trouble when a load of coal he was to deliver was missing. The man claimed he had dumped it down a coal-hole and, at that time, there must have been a manhole leading to the tunnel, which he mistook for the coal cellar.
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The Irish Rebellion |
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06/06/1931 |
Some Outstanding Events The Opening Attack.
One of the most prominent buildings on the south side of Dublin was Dublin Castle, situated at the western end of Dame Street on the eminence known as Cork Hill. At one time a little stream, known as the River Poddle, and it was across this that King John of England had erected a four-towered castle as a protection for the people of the Pale, and as a stronghold of his government in Ireland. While but one of these towers remained and a number of more modern buildings had been added, the system which had oppressed Ireland in the days of King John had altered little with the passing of the centuries.
The Castle was always garrisoned. In the lower quadrangle were situated the barracks of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, and there were, in addition, several companies of British soldiers quartered in the various buildings. On the morning of Easter Monday (April, 1916) a large force was on duty, waiting for the arrival of other soldiers from the Curragh to begin the programme planned by representatives of the Government.
Alongside the Castle, but standing out from it and facing Parliament St., was the City Hall, erected originally as the Royal Exchange in 1709, but adapted to municipal purposes in 1362. Across the street on the corner in Parliament St., and Dame Street were the offices of the Daily Express and the Evening Mail, two English newspapers owned and controlled by Lord Iveagh. It is not without interest to recall that, on the Friday before the Rising, the Daily Express, in the course of an editorial article, called on the Government to accomplish the ‘speedy and happy dispatch of the National leaders.”
A little before noou on Easter Monday morning the Countess Markievicz marched with her boys of the Fianna mi Eireann up to the outer gate of the Castle, facing Parliament Street. The sentry on duty, a man named Breen, noticed the parade and seemed interested.
When the Countess, leading the Fianna led the way directly to the gateway cf the Castle, the sentry, suddenly assuming a militant attitude, brought his rifle across his hip and faced the invaders. The Countess told hm to get on one side, that war had been declared, and that he would be shot if he resisted. At this he began to use foul language, and put his weapon to the breast of the Countess. Without a second’s hesitation, or moving an inch from her perilous position the Countess fired her revolver point blank into the body of the sentry. He fell where he stood, killed instantly. With a cheer, the others followed their intrepid leader into the quadrangle. The sound of the shot brought out a score or so of the military, who, seeing that an attack was in progress, retreated into the barracks of the police and of the armoury. The barracks was carried on the run by the Fianna, before those inside had time to close the doors, and a number of prisoners made, those inside preferring to surrender rather than to fight. Immediately after a fusilade of shots burst from the Armoury and several of the Fianna, who were still in the open, dropped to the ground. A rapid exchange of shots then took place between the Fianna in the barracks and the military in the Armoury. This lasted for some minutes, when it was decided to storm the armoury and gain possession of it, thus making the capture of the entire Castle a comparatively easy matter.
A slight lull in the firing from the armoury gave the desired chance. One of the Fianna made a dash across the yard and putting his revolver against the lock blew it to pieces. This was the signal for a general attack, and, with .a cheer, the boys, led by the Countess in” person, charged for the broken door. A scattering volley met the charge, but the shooting was and, and resulted, in only two of the attackers sustaining slight wounds.
But, at the moment that the charge was made there was a clatter of horses hoofs in the quadrangle, and the Lancers who had run away from O’Connell Street had appeared, covered with foam, dashing through the gates of the Castle. This sudden attack in the rere discomfited the rebels, and the appearance of the rebels came as a shock to the Lancers. That the.v would have again turned tail and fled is very possible, but their speed carried them on, and as they dashed towards the Fianna the latter fell on either side and allowed the horsemen to go past. The Countess realised that her little force was not able to cope with the situation, and, not knowing that other reinforcements might also be coming up behind, she ordered the Fianna to fall back towards the gateway. Keeping up a running fire they ‘made their retreat towards the entrance.
While the editor of the Mail, standing near his window, was working himself into a perspiration over these, events, the most of which he could only guess at, he was further amazed to see another force of Irishmen advancing in the direction of the Castle. Hearing the firing they came along at a run, and arrived on the scene just as the Countess succeeded in making her retreat. Seeing what was happening, Sean Connolly, who led the newcomers, commanded his men to charge into the Castle. This again turned the tide of war. and the Lancers turned at the arrival of the- rebel reinforcements and dashed out of the Castle through the Ship Street entrance. There they vanish from.the history of the Rebellion.
The quadrangle was strewn with the bodies of the dead and the wounded, most of these being Britishers, including SUM of the Lancers. The barracks was again occupied, and a fire kept up on the armoury that made the appearance at the windows of any of the British dangerous. At the same time a number of the Irish had established themselves in the upper quadrangle, so that, with the exception of the armoury, the Castle was virtually in the possession of the rebels.
Seeing that this was the case, Sean Connolly returned to the Parliament St. entrance of the Castle and led his men into the City Hall. As this building was vacant at the time, the occupation of it was merely a matter of walking in and taking possession. While this was in progress a number of the Republicans began the occupation of other buildings which \Vere to constitute this line of the defences. The Countess meanwhile then marched with her Fianna in the direction of Stephen’s Green and took up her quarters at the Royal College of Surgeons. The Republicans took over and occupied the offices of the Evening Mail, and the Empire Theatre, situated at the corner of Dame St. and Theatre St. They took up positions on the balcony of the theatre, facing Dame St., and also in the rear, where they were able to guard against a. surprise from Essex St. It was while they were making these arrangements that a disaster took place in the City Hall. After entering the City Hall the Volunteers proceeded to the roof, from which point they could bring a further line of fire on the remaining defenders of the Castle, and command Dame Street and Lord Edward Street. One of the first to appear on the roof was the leader, Sean Connolly. He carried in his arms the green, white and orange tricolour of the Republic, and went directly to the flagstaff, where the municipal flag was flying. This lie pulled down and ran up the Republican in its stead. As he was tying the last Tfriot a sudden volley rang out from the upper quadrangle of the Castle, where some of the defenders were still holding their own, and Scan was seen to fall flat on his face whore he had been standing. He had been killed almost instantly.
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The Bermingham Tower in Dublin Castle |
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16/01/1931 |
State Prison and Court of Law
THE present month witnesses the migration of the Courts from their temporary abode in the Castle to the re-arisen Four Courts. No more shall the anxious litigant, as he toils up the slope of the Lower’ Castle Yard, gaze with feelings of awe upon the massive Bermingham Tower, with its grim associations with the famous Irishmen who have languished in its’ dungeons.
ERECTED about the year 1213, the Tower has weathered the storms of Irish history from Anglo-Norman time’ down to the placid waters of our own day. It takes its name from Sir John de Bermingham, who was appointed Justicean of Ireland in 1321
The Tower has not survived to us in its original state – Tracing back its history, in 1557 we find the Master of the Rolls sending a memorial to the Lord Deputy, in which it is stated: . ” Because there is no place so ” meet to keep the King’s treasure as in His Grace’s Castle of Dublin in the Tower called the Bermingham Tower,” it is convenient that the said Castle be repaired.” In 1622 so ruinous had it become that part of the Tower fell. Two years later Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, subscribed the sum of four hundred and eight pounds towards the completion of the repairs. In 1775 a explosion of gunpowder in a neighbouring store greatly damaged the Tower, and it was found necessary to pull most of it down and rebuild it. So strong was the mortar binding the stones that the – workmen could only dislodge it with the aid of hammer and chisel. It was rebuilt in the lighter style in which it now appears during the Viceroyalty of the Earl of Harcourt, and was called for some time thereafter the Harcourt Tower, eventually reverting to its older name.
O’Donnell’s Captivity.
So well constructed was the Old flower that, like the present Dartmoor Prison, it presented a well high insurmountable barrier to the escape of those incarcerated in it. Yet “where there’s a will there’s a way,” says the old proverb, and the way was discovered on two memorable occasions by the intrepid Hugh Roe O’Donnel], lord of Tirconnell. In 15S7 O’Donnell was trapped on board a vessel anchored off Rathmullen and brought to Dublin, where he was thrown in the Bermingham Tower. A quaint description of his captiviiy _is given in ” The Annals of the Four Master” which says: ” The Lord
.Justice and Council were rejoiced at the arrival of Hugh, though, indeed, not for love of him. They ordered him. to be put into a strong stone castle (the Bermingham Tower) which was in the city, where a great number of Milesian nobles’ were in chains and captivity, and also some of the. old English. The only amusement and conversation by which these beguiled the time by day and night -was lamenting to each other their sufferings and troubles, and listening” to the cruel sentences passed on the high-born nobles of Ireland in general. For three weary years O’ Donnell and his friends languished in prison. Eventually they managed to secure a rope by means of which they climbed down to a drawbridge and made their escape towards the “Wicklow Hills. Their feet were lacerated by stones and briars, and their bodies, weakened by long enforced inaction, quickly became exhausted. • Hugh O’Donnell sank by the’ wayside, but his companions fled ‘onwards, leaving- him alone with his servant.
In desperation he sent the servant to seek aid from Phelim O’Toole at Powerscourt. O’Toole had always professed friendship to O’Donnell, but in the’ hour of need he proved himself a man of straw. Fearing that he would incur tho displeasure of the English if he harboured a rebel, O’Toole delivered him hack to the hands of his
The Second Escape.
So for another year Hugh Roe O’ Donnell lay “in durance vile.’.’ Then, in December, 1591, he made’ a successful bid for freedom in company with Henry and Art O’Neill,- sons of the great Shane O’Neill. Once more it was O’Donnell’s faithful servant who procured and smuggled a rope in to them. Striking off their fetters, they managed to lower themselves through a tunnel into the river Poddle. Thence they dashed to the mountains.
To pass through the tunnel they had been compelled’ to cast off their outer garments. The weather was bitterly cold, and rain was falling. As the night advanced the rain gave place to snow. On the side of Slieve Roe they sank exhausted in the snow, while Turlough Roe O’ Hagan, who had been in waiting to.. -help .them. . on their journey, hastened on to Feagh O’ Byrne at Glenmalure in search of aid.
When he returned with assistance he had great difficulty in finding the young men who were almost buried in the snow. Art O’ Neill had succumbed to the cold and teas buried where he lay. O’Donnell was borne on a litter to O’ Byrne’s house ; in Glenmalure. Thence, when restored, he proceeded by devious ways to .his own people at Ballyshannon. So severe, however, had been his exposure on Slieve Roe that the doctors were compelled to amputate his great toes.
The Bermingham Tower, has imprisoned the King’s enemies. It has housed, the King’s treasure. But “the old order changeth.” Its regal’ functions have given place to the democracy of the law. Now, with sublime indifference, it awaits the next change in its story.”‘
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Crown Forces and Sewer Arrangements Near Castle |
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29/06/1921 |
RIVER PODDLE
Crown Forces and Sewer Arrangements Near Castle
The report of the Improvements Committee of the Dublin Corporation to be submitted to the quarterly meeting on Monday states:
A reports was received from the Engineer in Charge to the effect that on the 8th March he was taken under duress, from his residence to his office by Crown forces in an armoured car, and compelled to disclose information regarding certain of the ordinance sheets and plans showing the river Poddle and sewer arrangements in the vicinity of Dublin Castle.
Office Searched
His office was thoroughly searched and certain to the plans and maps taken a receipt for which was given. On the following day he was compelled to accompany a military officer through portion of the Poddle. We were also informed by the superintendent of the Clontarf pumping station that Auxiliary forces visited the station on the night of the 16th March that the prized open the drawers of the drawing hole and also four of the men’s lockers in the engine house and examined the contents.
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Lord Iveagh and the Poddle |
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21/02/1902 |
The Improvements Committee met on Tuesday, the 18th March, the Chairman (Councillor Jones), and subsequently the Lord Mayor presiding. There were also present:—Alderman Delahunt, Alderman William Ireland, J.P.; and Councillors Altman Reigh, Charles Kelly, Noble and Cox. The Committee had under consideration a letter from Messrs. Sutton and Sons, ‘notifying .’that Lord Iveagh had decided to place, at tho disposal of the Corporation a sum of £1,400 to enable them to complete the works at the Poddle River from tho point where tho new channel recently constructed by Lord Iveagh terminates (at the North-west corner of St. Patrick’s Cathedral) to the junction of the two branches of the Poddle River. Tho Committee instructed their Secretarv to tender their best ‘thanks to Lord Iveagh for his generous gift, and also deputed the Chairman (Councillor Jones) to bring the matter forward at next meeting of tho Municipal Council, so ‘that an expression of thanks may come from the Corporation to Lord Iveagh for this additional proof of his public generosity.
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LG Board Inquiry |
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09/12/1901 |
To-day Mr. P. C. Cowan, M. Host., C.K., Chief Inspector to tho local Government,so held an inquiry at the Council Chamber, City Hall, with reference to the application made by the Corporation for sanction to the following loans:—£3,105 for carrying out new sewerage works; £16.000 (supplemental) an connection with tic Bride’s Alley Area Scheme, under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts; £300 for the erection of a urinal m the Glasnevin Ward; £14,543 Os. 6d. for paving, asphalting, flagging, and concreting works; £5,060 for carrying out repairs and underpinning in connection with the Poddle River; £820 (supplemental) for carrying out.new sewerage works, and £300 for the purpose of defraying private improvement expenses in connection with works at Coady’s Cottages, West Road.
Mr. H. Bonass appeared for the Corporation, and Mr. J. Williamson (instructed by Mr. R. J. Pilkington) for the House’ Owners’ Proecttion Association, who objected to the granting of several of the loans.
The Corporation officials present were Messrs H. Campbell, Town Clerk; Spencer Harty, City Engineer; C. J. McCarthy, City Architect; .1. p. Kerrigan, City Accountant, M. M. O’Reilly, Secretary Improvements Committee; K Eyre, City Treasurer. The members of the Corporation in attendance were:—cThe Lord Mayor, Aldermen Joyce, Dowd,: and McCarthy; Councillors Sir J. Downes, O’Neill, Altman, Lawlor, TaJlon, and Jones.
Mr. J. P. Kerrigan, City Accountant, was first examined. He submitted a statement showing the valuation and sanitary indebtedness of the city and the added area, from which it appeared that the margin for borrowing amounted to £612,328 8s 9d, as worked out upon tho gross valuation of the district, and *o £587,313 12s 9d, as worked out according to the method approved by tho Local Government Board. The Inspector remarked that if the -work could be curried out from the current revenue they would save the interest that they would otherwise have to i>av. Alderman McCarthy gave evidence to the effect that the convenience for which tho loan was required at Glasnevin was absolutely necessary in tho township.
Colonel Gore Lindsay, a memo of the former Urban District Council of Drumcondra, deposed that tho plot of ground on which it WM proposed to erect, the convenience had been the property of that body, whose urban rights were now vested in the Corporation Ho thought tho sire was a suitable one.
Replying to Mr. Williams, witness said ho did not think there were any title deeds for this property.
Mr. Williams asked was not this only a squatter’s or grabber’s title? Was not any title to this ground a title of occupation alone? Witness said it had been in their occupation for the past seventy or a hundred years. The adjacent lands on both sides “were his.
Mr. Spencer Harty, Borough Surveyor, deposed that the site was a suitable for the accommodation that was proposed. It was proposed to expend £500. Witness gave details of the proposed expenditure.
Mr. Richard Jones, T.C., deposed to an arrangement made with the Tramway Company to the effect that tho company would subscribe the sum of £25 to tie cost of erecting the convenience at Glasnevin. There was not the _slightest fear that the Tram Company would _attempt to back out of that arrangement. This was a piece of common ground which was made a kind of a dumping ground for all kinds of rubbish. It was an absolute nuiance in -the neighbourhood.
In connection with the proposals to obtain loans for sewerage works, f. Spencer Harty, Borough Surveyor, deposed that the first item was the proposal for a sewer in Patrick street. At present, the sewerage ran into the Poxldle river. The scheme was to carry out a re-construction of the system, whereby they would form a connection with the main drainage, and the sewers would not run into tho Poddle river in future. The total length of the sewer would be 310 yards, and the estimated cost of it would be there be seven manholes.
Tho Inspector observed that the prices appeared high, and asked was there any intention of putting the work up for contract.
Mr. Jones, T.C., said there was no intention on the part of the committee of putting the work up for contract. It would have to be done by order of the Council. He was sure an expression of opinion from tho Inspector would have weight with them.
Tho Inspector—£3 a yard is an extraordinarily high price for a twelve-inch pipe.
Mr. Jones—The prices do seem very high.
The Inspector — This is eminently a work for contract.
Mr. Jones— The prices do appear high; but we were assured by tho _engineers who draw up the prices that they were low prices. There was a strong expression of opinion that the works should be let out to contract, and on the other hand there was a strong feeling that the Corporation themselves ought to do the work, and that possibly they could do it cheaper. If a contractor, as the London Council had been able to do.
The Inspector— It appears to me that the two ways of working should be behind and put into competition with each other. You have not tried what contractors would do it at. It is time you tried it. It would check your experience as to ehat tho cost would be, if nothing else.
Mr. Jones—There has not been anything done in the nature of ordinary lower work except by the Corporation for the past fifteen years.
The Inspector — Well, it is time you commenced it, especially when the rates of the city are the rates that they are. These prices startle me, and convey to my mind very sharply the idea that yet ought; to test them by asking for contracts. Mr. Williams said these price’s were on the basis of their experience of working these matters themselves. They would not be _asking for such loans if the matter was contracted tor in a commercial way.
Mr. Jones said he would bring before the committee the purport of the Inspector’s remarks with revered to the matter.
The Inspector – You have not tried the market for the prices. They are very high. You would cheek your experience by asking for contracts.
Mr. Jones assured the Inspector that his remarks would received tho attention of the committee.
Mr. Harty proceeded to give formal evidence in reference to the various sewers.
The Inspector — Are the sewers in Dublin self-cleansing?
Mr. Harty – It would be almost impossible for the sewers in Dublin they keep themselves self-cleaning when you find that the people.
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Bull Alley Improvement Scheme |
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19/06/1900 |
less rotten and the foundations were over the river Poddle. HE assessed the value at five years purchase. With regard to the ground rent he valued at 15 1/2 years purchase of £3.
Mr Leech submitted that the evidence was in favour of a substantial award.
Mr Sutton pointed out that a house only a couple of doors had collapsed. In connection to the scheme he said that Lord Iveagh was prepared to spend from £5000 to £10000 in rebuilding the whole thing.
Mr Harrison objected on behalf of Colonel Ford to the award in respect of two houses in Anderson’s court and Patrick street.
Mr Dudfeon, examined by Mr Oulton said the buildins were in bad condition. He explained in detail the valuations arrived at.
Mr. Battersby stated in reply to Mr. Harrison, that he inspected the houses and made valuation. The figures arrived at were considerably in excess of the arbitrators’ award.
The inquiry was adjourned for a fortnight as it was understood that some further claims were to be made to respect of the awards.
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Gossip of the day |
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05/03/1900 |
In connection with the building of the Bride’s Alley area artisan dwellings an interesting work is being performed. This is the changing of the course of the River Poddle that flows underneath the streets of the Coombe district, under Dublin Castle and enteres the Liffey at Wellington Quay. From the time it enters the city the river is in reality nothing but a big sewer. It flows down the Coombe and the neighbourhood of St. Patricks Cathederal it is divided into five or six channels, several of which flow underneath rows of tenement houses that are densely populated. This water impregnates the subsoli with sewage and is highly dangerous to the health of the people living in the vicinity. When the work now in hands is completed the river will cease to flow into the channels referred to but will go underneath the center of Patrick street. The unhealthy subolu water will then be pumped out.
The sinking of the foundations for the Bride’s Alley area houses is proving an extremely laborious operation. The ruins of ancient cellars and kitchens are constantly being discovered as the men dif down, and sometimes it happens when they think they have arrived at terra firma they find the they have been mistaken.
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Bull & Bride Alley Improvement |
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20/01/1900 |
The important improvement scheme in connection with the district known as the Bride alley Area, and about beginning which some delay has taken place., owing to the requisition by Lord Iveagh of the adjoining property, has now been finally entered; importantly by the Corporation. The entire of this district, sometimes referred to as the Poddle Valley urea, is a most insanitary one, owing to the fact that an underground river, the river Poddle, flows through it.
This river ran under the old houses and some of its branches: were unknown. “The course of the river is now being diverted for part, of its length, so that it will not run under any of the new houses to be built, by the Corporation and the work in connection with the foundations and drainage of the new streets is ‘already in progress. All the sewers now running” into the Poddle will be dealt with under the Main Drainage scheme and will no longer discharge into it, so that this river will become a comparatively clean stream. This work of dealing with the Poddle and the old sewers is a very troublesome and tedious one and has necessarily delayed considerably the carrying-out of tho more constructive part of the scheme.
As soon, ‘however, as it is somewhat farther advanced tho Corporation hope to be in a position to start upon the building of some, at least, of the proposed new houses. The new building plan, which was substituted for the previous one on Lord Iveagh’s decision last year to carry out an improvement scheme on the adjoining the Bull alley—area, provides for the construction of twenty-nine block buildings ,-containing accommodation for 210 families, of-whom 112 will be housed in three-roomed Hats, and 98 in two bedroomed flats.
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Parish of St. Nicholas Without |
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27/04/1963 |
The Parish of St. Nicholas Without, is one of the most historic parishes in Dublin City. It is a long narrow strip between New Street, and the Poddle, and is of great antiquity.
The first church stood near Limerick Alley (between Patrick Street and Francis Street). But for a long time the north transept of St. Patrick’s Cathedral was in use as the parish Church. The transept was in ruins from 1784 till 1825, when it Was re-roofed. In 1861 it was reunited to St. Lukes (which had been formed from part of it), and both parishes now occupy the same church.
The Church of Ireland parish of St. Luke was formed by Act of parliament in 1708. Then a new church was built. Those of the Huguenot weavers who conformed to the Church of Ireland were already accommodated in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s, but the new parish church was needed as an overflow from this.
It stands back from the Coombe at the head of a pleasant tree-planted avenue, almost opposite the old Weaver’s Hall, It was re-roofed in 1835, re-opened after extensive repairs in 1884 (when the galleries were removed) and was re-modelled at the East end in 1907, in the classic manner.
The present North porch is not original, but traces of the old entrance can still be seen. Internally, the most noteworthy feature is the West end.
Some handsome old stairs lead to the gallery, in which is the organ, with gold gilt cherubs’ heads. At the Southeast corner is the vestry, a panelled room which dates from the first building.
It contains a chest of, perhaps, the latter part of the sixteenth century and a set of fine chairs circa, the Wiliam III period. William was, of course, Prince of Orange, the man who beat James at the Battle of the Bovne.
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The Liberty Watercourse |
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22/03/1968 |
The Poddle River at Harold’s Cross makes almost its last appearance before going underground. This was part of the old Watercourse serving the Liberties of St. Patrick’s, dating back to at least 1244, when a weir was built on the Dodder at Firhouse, from which the city Watercourse was diverted. By means of a stone “Tongue” near the present Sundrive Cross Roads the waters divided again, two-thirds going by Harold’s Cross, the remainder making for Dolphin’s Barn and Thomas Street. Aided by the stream from Tymon (near the Green Hills) the Poddle served as the city’s main water supply from 1244 to 1775; when use was made of the canal water, but the Mayor” in early times, had power to divert the city supply to fill the Dublin Castle moat.
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Crosstick Alley |
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15/01/1971 |
This is Crosstick Alley, which leads from Francis Street to Meath Street, by way of Garden Lane. Liam’s drawing shows the final section, just before you emerge into Meath Street, between numbers 66 and 67. All this area was outside the walls of Old Dublin.
In the Liberty of St. Thomas, afterwards the Earl of Meath’s Liberty, and is described in old documents as “in the suburbs of Dublin”.
It is tempting to think that this Alley’s name comes from some forgotten shrine on the Abbey of St. Thomas’ boundaries, and I have heard a suggestion that it might have come from a crossing place on the ancient Poddle (but Father M. V. Ronan’s detailed maps of that historic river, published by the ‘Journal’ of the Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 57, do not support that theory).
The Primary Valuation of South Dublin, in 1854, preserves the following family names in Crosstick Alley — Patrick Cramer, the Hannigans (who owned four houses here), Andrew McGuirk, Thomas Sharkey and Patrick Clarke (the latter owned the two houses of highest valuation).
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Left from the tannery |
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15/09/1973 |
THIS SLENDER factory chimney, with an elaborate coping in the Industrial Decorated ” style of the 19th century, stands in Cork Street, behind the premises of the Court Furniture Company. It was originally part of the tan-yard here, owned by J. and T. Ord, which afterwards became a dye-works for Eustace Brothers.
Some interesting aspects of old Dublin industrial life were found when changing the place to its present use. Around this yard, were found several deep vats, dug out either for the tanners or the dyers, some of them were full of ox-skulls (surely a trace of the tannery!) Both these industries required plenty of water, so I was not surprised to hear that the River Poddle flows under this yard though it is not shown on a map of the underground rivers of Dublin, made about 1860 by Parke Neville, the City Engineer . But of it,late Father M. V. Ronan knew and showed it on a map he made for the journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. This stream is a branch of the Poddle, called the Commons Water, and it flows down to link up with the Poddle again at Ardee Street. Also in this yard there were once sundry bunk houses for the Wexford men who drove their cattle up to the tannery.
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A liberty street |
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29/10/1973 |
This is Mill Street which is a street truly in the Liberties as it runs from the top of New Row across to Clarence Mangan Road which was once top of the Crooked Stall, now Ardee Street.
This is all within the Liberty of Donore all part of the Earl of Meath’s Liberties that once belonged to the Abbey of St Thomas. Doubtless it was from the successors to the Abbey mills on the Poddle that Mill Street took its name. We first hear of Mill Street in 1711 in the will of Isaac Vaneau whose name should thoroughly Hugenot, and whose descendants are still with us (as tanners) about 1780. In Mill Street, industry has prevailed for near a century and a half. About 1830 we find four tanners including one specialist in Morocco leather, plus a solitary “fancy weaver” here, while a generation later there area five tanners and a parchment maker. O’ Keefe’s arrived by 1880’s when there area still two tan-yards going strong – (Molloy & Co. and Hayes Brothers) Today a walk down Mill Street can sometimes be an education for any nose. for when your are about halfway along near Mill Lane you are assailed by the rich smell of a sweet factory and at the same time there comes the equally rich but less pleasant odour of O’Keefe’s.
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Industrial Liberties |
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21/01/1973 |
LIAM took his stand to make this drawing just about where Dowker’s Lane comes in from the right, to meet Blackpitts. In the distance you can see the silvery outlines of the Matlings above New Row (“K.Y.D.,” 7-11-73), while on the left are the gable ends of houses in Warrenmouth Place and Dowker’s Lane comes In on the right, Blackpitts is mainly an industrial area today, Indeed, it has always been so, and the name (found in 1728 on Brooking’s map) may refer to the many seasoning pits used by tanneries along this part of the Poddle’s branch course through the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore. Dowker’s, or pucker’s Lane seems to have originally been Tucker’s Lane (“K.Y.D.,” 1-1-71), but a more recent name is Warrenmount. This comes from Nathaniel Warren, Lord Mayor in 1782, also an M.P. for Dublin City, a by-gone magnate, who was also said to be a friend of the notorious Sham Squire, and a partner with him in the equally notorious gambling house “The Sham,” maintained in defiance of the law, near the site of the modern Dolphin Hotel.
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To the Commissioners of the Paving Board |
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20/01/1814 |
An inhabitant of the Cross Poddle begs leave to call your attention to that great thorough-fare, or rather tunnel, to which six principal streets lend, which causes the greatest confusion and distress, to different carriages continually meetings without being able to pass each other or return. The expense of removing the entire of the-snow in that short street, which consists of but 17 houses, would be very small. If the viewers and dairy men, who are much interested, would remove but one cartful each, it would be cleared in less than two hours. The writer of this, who would make himself known when the work 1$ begun, and will most cheerfully pay his proportion of the expense, even from a motive of humanity, let it be removed in whatever manner you please.
If a similar mode was adopted in every leading street, it would fully compensate the inhabitant of such streets by the influx of trade which would be the immediate consequence, from the facility it would give in approaching their houses, while those possessed of less spirit, would continue literally blocked up.
Poddle, Jan 18, 1814
PS The Commissariat carts and waggons were lately detained several hours, before they could pass that way.
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Co. Dublin Land Cases |
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18/01/1905 |
Yesterday Mr. Justice Fitzgerald; with Mr P. Callan as assessor, sat in the Receivers Court, four Courts, and continued the hearing of county Dublin fair rent cases.
Mary Ida Clayton tenant; Sir Frederick Shaw landlord.
The tenant holds 22s. 1d 13p of the lands of Perrystown of which the valuation was £73 1s and the rent £125.
She appealed for an order dismissing her originating note on the ground that the lands were incorporated with her demense of Kimmage House.
Messrs TM Healy KC, MP and DM Walker(instructed by Messers Hayes and Sons) appealed for the tenant.
Messrs JAmes Chambers K.C. and Garrett WAlker instructed by James Gordon and Son) appeared for the landlord.
Mr Healy said the holding was originally in a holding of the late Sir Frederick Shaw. He held two holdings; of Perrystown he was tenant for life and he held Kimmage House on which the residentce related and which adjoined Perrystown, under a fee farm grant from Mr. Felix McCabe. They were held from two seperate landlors and the question was could Frederick Shaw make this into the into the demesne of another landlord. Did he incorporate this into the demesne of another landlord and if he did could not the tenant understand it? It must be under the 5th section of the Act of 1896, a demense at the time of the making of the application, so that even a dismissive from demesne to-day would be estopped to a fresh application tomorrow if it was understood in the meantime. The two holdings were sold in the Landed Estates Court in the matter of the estate of George Shaw GB to Mr Ernest Wilmot Chetwode in 1878 Chetwodes interest was afterwards sold in the Landed Estates Court to the Scotish Ami? Insurance Company for £1500. They sold it for £1000 to Charles E Johnson in 1893. Mr Johnson sold to the present tenant Mrs Clayton of Kilmacud Stillorgan for £3,620. Kimmage Manro was admittedly a gentleman’s residence, but it is run down and Perrystown was now used for dairying and salting of mills. The two holdings were separated by the Poddle River over this there was a bridge. There was no demesne wall round Perrystown and she had of the bridge that the gardens were in Perrystown and not, counsel submitted, constitute an incorporation with the demense. The tenant took Kimmage Manor as a residence for herself, and Perrystown for the purpose of setting her son up in business as a dairy farmer. Why should Sir Robert Shaw counsel said get the benefits of improvements made on Mr McCabe demense? Sir Robert Shaw wanted to “barnacle” himself on to the interest of Mr. McCabe as a parasitic demesne owner. A covenant to keep up a greenhouse on agricultural fam did not prevent the tenant from undemesning that farm. Mt Thomas Clayton, the son of the tenant, said the land was used for grazing dairy cows and tillage. There were the remains of a garden, about three-quarters of an acre, on the land. No use was made of the greenhouse. There was a gate lodge, and an avenue on the land going up to Kimmage House but the entrance on the Whitehall road was the one that he used principally as it was shorter.
To Mrs Chambers – There was three bridges across the Poddle. There was an ornamental timber on the land, he had cut down some beech and other trees. Hos father was a director of Brooks Thomas and Co. Witness kept dairy cattle and sold milk in town. He took other land from Sir Frederick Shaw for grazing.
Mt P J O Connor, auctioneer and valuer of Queen street said the surrounding land was used for tillage and grazing and fair rents had been fixed on lands near the town. The holding consisted of three fields two of which were in the first crop this year. The other was laid down ready for seeding. It had all the appearance of an ordinary agricultural farm used as such.
Mr. Walker submitted that wholly irrespective of the question of demesne the lands of Perrystown were no agricultural. Sir Frederick Shaw, the Recorder had lived in Kimmage House up to his death using Perrystown as part of this demesne.
Mr Samuel Gordon, solicitor for the landlord, gave evidence as to the dealing with the title of the land. Sir Frederick Shaw and Mr JJ. Graw of Messrs. University and Co.were examined as to the physical aspects of the holdings.
Judgement was reserved.
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St Catherine's Parish - New National Schools |
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28/10/1901 |
LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE
The foundation stone of the new National Schools for the Catholic Parish, which are already in progress of erection on a very handsome site in Donore Avenue, South Circular Road, was successfully laid on Saturday afternoon’by his Grace the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, who with accompanied on the occasion by Lord .lustice FitzGibbon and the Mayor of Dublin. There was u. large company present at the function, which wa- viewed with a great deal of interest. The schools are being designed to accommodate 490 pupils, and will supply a very pressing educational need in the parish.
The Rev. Mr. Greer, the energetic Rector of the Parish, read a. statement of the work already done in connection with the schools The old scbool in Thomas Court, he stated, were condemned as useless, and, consequently, they were compelled to provide new ones. Dealing with the site, he said that it was admirable but for one drawback, and that was the uncovered condition of the Poddle river. This defect, it appears, will be soon removed, for the Corporation are alive to the necessity of covering tie. river, and the Municipal representatives of the ward, Mr. J. Cox in particular, are very active in the matter. The total cost of the new school* will be about £305, of which the Commissioners have already subscribed £1,846. The balance, is to be obtained by means of voluntary contributions.
The stone then lowered into it place and his Grace, luring been presented with in ornamental mallet and silver trowel bearing an appropriate inscription, performed the ceremony, concluding with. the words: “I declare this stone well and truly bid, andwell and truly laid and I pray that God may pray and prosper the work.
The Lord Mayor, in seconding the vote of thanks, said there was one observation of his Grace to which he felt it was his duty to give his most hearty concurrence, and if was this, that in Ireland, however broad their differences might be on other questions, they all would stood firmly by each other on their position that education should not be divorced from religion (hear, hear).
And this country and every section of its people whatever their religious views might be, would refuse to accept the doctrine that- the education of youth and the training of youth for the future battle of Iife should be divorced from the instructions which they received in religion and in morality.
The Archbishop and the lord Justice had referred to the position in which the school was situated, and the Lord Justice reminded then that one of the troubles of the situation was the proximity to the Poddle river. He (the Lord Mayor) confessed that he was very much interested to know —and, of course they could have it from no better authority—that the difficulty about the Poddle river was an very ancient; but he thought one of the things could promise on behalf of the Corporation was that though the Irish and the British Parliaments might have failed in settling that very troublesome question, the Corporation of Dublin were going to put an end to it (hear, hear)
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Loans for Improvements |
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28/11/1902 |
The local Government Board also writes conveying its sanction to the borrowing by the Corporation of the following sums:
— £2,563 in respect of the proposed loan of £3303 6s 6d for concreting and asphalting; £450 in reciept of tho proposed loan of £1,850 for covering the Poddle River at Donore Avenue; £2,500 for tho widening of Wicklow street; £2,250 for purchase of ground at Castle Street; £1,105 in respect of the proposed loan of £1,510 for seweage works; £2,543 14s 4d for private improvement expenditure; £2,409 for erection of dwellings in Drumcondra £4,000 for tho purchase of a site Kilmainham for erection of similar dwelling and amounting to £1,010 to fund the Corporations to make advances under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899.
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Position Of Short Term Tenants |
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06/10/1937 |
REVISION OF LAW IN REGARD TO COMPULSORY ACQUISITION FORECAST
SUGGESTED revision of the law in regard to the compulsory acquisition of houses, held under monthly and weekly tenancies, was foreshadowed by Mr. I. Rice, Corporation Law Agent. at a sworn inquiry into the Donore Avenue and Crumlin Road Compulsory Purchase Orders, held by Mr. E. O’Maie, assistant chief engineering inspector, Local Government Department, at the City Hall, yesterday.
The matter arose on an objection by two monthly tenants, Mrs. Susanne Fox and Mr. Thomas Byrne, 12 Dolphin’s Barn Street, to compulsory acquirement.
Mr. Brendan T. Walsh, solicitor, who appeared for the tenants, argued that despite the present position of the law, no compensation was provided for in the case of acquisition of the interest of a monthly tenant.
He submitted that his clients’ position was such as to justify them in law and in equity in claiming as much compensation as an ordinary leaseholder,. because as the law stood now his clients had the protection of the Rent Acts. In addition, there was the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1931, under which they would be entitled to even further protection after the expiration of a fixed period.
The net effect was that although from one point of view the law afforded them absolute security of tenure, when it came to compulsory acquisition, that security became valueless owing to the survival of the older law which regarded a- monthly tenant as having no valuable interest.
“FULL MARKET VALUE.”
Mr. Rice said that, unfortunately, they could not carry through these schemes without inconveniencing somebody. At present there was a friendly case stated, pending in the High Court, as to whether there was power given by those Acts to compensate weekly and monthly tenants. Nobody would be better pleased than the Corporation if there was power to compensate in those cases.
He would say, however, that suggestions had been put forward by him to the Department for the amendment of the law in that respect in the next Local Government Bill which they were bringing forward. When the Inquiry opened Mr. Rice stated that the Corporation was prepared to pay the full market value of the property which they proposed to acquire compulsorily.
LAUNDRY TO BE ACQUIRED?
Mr. J. A. Costello, S.C. (instructed by Messrs. Arthur O’ Hagan and Sons, solicitors), entered an objection on behalf of Mrs. Annie Day, whose premises at 74 Donore Avenue the Corporation propose to acquire. Mrs. Day, said Mr. Costello, had carried on for many years a successful business of dealing in and selling thoroughbred horses and polo ponies, and had a considerable trade with foreign Governments. The premises comprised 3 acres and were laid out with a track for training the horses and ponies. ¦The goodwill would be destroyed if the Corporation took the premises, and the compensation necessary would, in his opinion, render their scheme uneconomic. Mr. David Harvey, Mrs. Day’s son-in-law, gave evidence regarding the nature and extent of the business.
Mr. C. S. Campbell, S.C. (instructed by Mr. S. H. Watson, solicitor), objected on behalf of the Mirror Laundry, which it is proposed to acquire compulsorily. If they had to move to another centre there would be serious interference with the economic life of the city. Mr. N. Watson, Managing Director of the laundry, stated that he had considerably enlarged the premises at great expense since 1916. Of every pound they got from the public they had to spend 10/- in wages. The cost of moving the plant alone would be about £2,000. The most serious. loss would occur in the interval of leaving the present premises and moving to another site.Mr. M. O’Brien, Dublin Corporation Housing Committee Engineer, said that the Corporation were going to spend £250,000 developing the area, and if they left the laundry there it would foe an eyesore.
Mr. H. G. Simnis, Housing Architect, Dublin Corporation, said that the scheme was something more than a housing scheme. It contained many new features of modern town planning, including the widening of some existing roads. The Poddle river would probably be diverted. If they left the Mirror Laundry there it would be facing one of their new main roads. They were prepared to provide them with nearby alternative accommodation and they would not be asked to move for about two years, during which they could be preparing the new building.
Mr. Stanley A. Joyce, giving evidence in support of his objection to the acquisition of his dairy farm and house, said that, thanks to the present Government, the trade had come into its own for both master and man. Compensation would have to be on a much higher scale than if it had occurred a few years back. The Inquiry adjourned until 11 a.m. to-day.
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New flat scheme for Dublin to cost £250,000 |
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11/01/1938 |
A new housing scheme for Dublin which will cost approximately £250,000, forming part of the Corporation’s recently-announced £7.000,000 plan, is to be proceeded with immediately. The scheme provides.for the erection of 55G flats, which will accommodate 550 families. The site lies between Dolphin’s Barn St. and Donore Ave., S.C.R. As practically none of the land has been built upon yet, only ’10 families will be displaced from the few “houses now on the site.
THE NEW FLATS.
The buildings will be comprised of 165 four-roomed, 36O three-roomed, and a small number of two-roomed flats. They will contain all modern amenities,’ including hot and cold water, baths, and up-to-date sanitary accommodation. While termed two-roomed, these flats will be provided, in addition, with a large scullery, and will have ample accommodation for small families displaced by slum clearance. They will be let at the following rents:
—Four-roomed, S/-; three-roomed, 6/-; and two-roomed, A I- per week.
The scheme in lay-out provides for road widening to Dolphin’s Barn St. and Donore Ave., which will be connected by a 50-ft. wide road.
It also includes the diversion of portion of the River Poddle, which runs through the site.
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Claire digs in to save treasures |
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26/04/1990 |
SIMPLE 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 used by 13th century Dubliners will help archaeologists to draw a map of the medieval city which was not mapped until four centuries later.
The planks, known as “revetments”, were sunk along the edges of the Poddle River in Patrick Street to contain the flow of the river and stop it from flooding the nearby Si. Patrick’s Cathedral. They were also used to help bring water into the city.
Revetments have been found in other places but these particular ones show that the medieval city of Dublin extended fur further than originally thought.
OAK BEAMS
Claire Walsh, the archaeologist in charge of the site, explained that the containment of the Poddle is one of the largest engineering works of medieval times, with the channel made from huge oak beams packed in with tons of soil to reclaim the surrounding marshy land.
The discovery at Patrick Street was made by a strong archaeological team led by Claire, who have been employed by Dublin Corporation to investigate the site before the completion of a new £1,5 million sewer and drainage scheme.
The Patrick Street excavation is the first on the southside of the city outside the old city or Dublin walls. The archaeologists hope that tree-dating of the old timber will enable them to pinpoint an date when the work was carried out. Dublin Corporation senior executive engineer, -Mr. Jack Keyes. said that the Corporation was spending £500,000 on the archaeological dig. A time limit of five months had been set on the the actual dig with a further nine months to catalogue and analyse the findings.
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Poddle treasures found |
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13/01/1906 |
ARCHAEOLOGISTS excavating the bed of the River Poddle alone the route of the new Dublin Corporation main drainage scheme near the city’s Christchurch Cathedral have uncovered finds of “extreme archaeological Interest”, it emerged last night.
Among the significant finds is the first corn mill of its kind found close to the old city. It was uncovered in the past fortnight by a team led by archaeologist Claire Walsh, who is under contract to the Corporation. According to Ms. Walsh, the only other such mills are at Ferrycurrig,’Co. Wexford, and at “Bunratty Folk Park; between Limerick and Shannon Airport. She told the Sunday Independent last night: “This Is the first medieval mill found in and around the city. All the others were rural. It is a highly-significant find”.
The Dublin mill runs for ten metres along the bank of the river, which has also thrown up many artefacts. Among them arc leather shoes in a good slate, of preservation, oak beams that walled the waterway, 12th century coins, decorative bronze stick-pins and a couple of skeletons. One — a female — was found inside a former lime kiln.
Timbers from the digs are being sent to Queens University in Belfast for dating. The excavations, which began in March, will continue until April.
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Old corn mill find needs excavation |
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16/07/1990 |
By HELEN QUINN
THE discovery of a 13th century corn mill by archaeologists excavating the bed of the River Poddle is very important and time and money is needed to excavate the area to capacity, the director of the National Museum said today.
Viking expert Pat Wallace said this discovery, by archaeologist Claire Walsh, would reveal important information about life in ancient Dublin and contribute to the city’s tourist industry.
The excavation team, led by Ms. Walsh, discovered the mill remains near Patrick Street along the route of a proposed sewer pipe which had been put out’ to tender by Dublin Corporation.
The find was a surprise because there is no written record of a mill in that area. It is believed the mill was built in the 13th century and destroyed in the 15th, using a combination of wood and stone. The Poddle was diverted at that time towards both sides of what is now Patrick Street.
However, the area will not be preserved, according to Dublin Corporation spokesman Noel Carroll. The purpose of the dig is to investigate the source of the old Poddle and document and record findings.
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13th century corn mill find |
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17/07/1990 |
13th century corn mill find
THE DISCOVERY of a 13th century corn mill along: the bed of the River Poddle in Dublin’s Liberties is of major importance, and time and money is needed to excavate the area to capacity, the director of the National Museum said yesterday.
Viking expert Mr. Pat Wallace said that the discovery by archaeologist Claire Walsh would reveal important information about life in ancient Dublin and contribute to the city’s tourist industry.
However the area will not be preserved, according to Dublin Corporation spokesman Noel Carroll. “The purpose of the dig is to investigate the source of the old Poddle.
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Two level streets |
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14/05/1970 |
A clear explanation of how Dublin has spread east at the expense of Dublin Bay is seen now when you stand in East Essex Street and look towards the Liffey and Wellington Quay, looking out under the new building now nearing completion. There you see people walking and traffic passing along the quay, well above your own level, and you realise that only the quay walls keep the Liffey from reclaiming what was once its own territory, marshy sloblands at the mouth of the Poddle, once 1610, when John Speed made his house between Dame Street and the river, which was then (if Speed’s “Scale of Paces” can be relied on), as wide as from St. Audoen’s to the. Synod Hall now it is less than one-third that distance. Wellington Quay was called Custom House Quay up to 1817 It was sealed off by buildings at the eastern end as late as 1797 when Faden’s map shows the Liffey as the present Metal Bridge, where Crampton Quay begins.
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Where's Standfast Dick? |
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26/08/1971 |
When walking along Wellington Quay at low-tide, look over the quay wall and you will see this outcrop of limestone rock extending far out into the bed of Anna Liffey, just upstream of the metal bridge.
Some authorities say that this is the rock which once was called “Standfast Dick,” and which, for builders in old Dublin made a welcome contrast with the soft peaty soil in other areas. The weakness olfthis theory is, that if this is part old Standfast Dick, which reputedly provides good foundations (or the Castle and City Hall, how does the Poddle come down so smoothly into the Liffey, al its iron grating, just upstream? (“Know Your Dublin,” 4-10-’67).
Also, the rock here must have greatly hampered shipping moving up to the original Custom House (now replaced by Dollards and the Clarence Hotel), while we know that before Capel Street bridge existed, ships used Merchant’s Quay and Wood Quay, so I would look for Standfast Dick, up around Father Matthew Bridge (the original bridge ol Ath Cliath) at the head ol navigation
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Road Repair |
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19/07/1924 |
The following work was passed provisionally at the quarterly meeting of the Council held on the 15th April – No 1981 – To repair and maintain 140 perches of the road leading from Captains Lane to the last of the council’s cottages known as Poddle Park cottages, Kimmage.
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Cottages Invaded |
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13/03/1937 |
Water 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. Many people in Rutland Cottages had to leave their homes. Others spent the night baling out the water.
The cause of the flooding, residents in the area said, was the clogging of a grating just above Rutland Cottages, through which the Poddle flows underground for about-400 yards until it discharges into the Grand Canal near Dolphin’s Barn Bridge. Mrs. McNamara, 5 Rutland Cottages, told an Irish Independent representative that the floods entered her home from tho front and rear. “Most of tho night,” Mrs. McNamara said, “I spent carrying my children, one aged 3 years, and the other G months, round the house, holding them above the water, which at times was three feet high in the house. “Meanwhile my husband was working at the back trying to stop the onrush. This morning, knee-deep in water, I made him his breakfast be/ore he went to work.”
Other residents in tho cottages described how the water had risen in their homes to a depth of over three feet, destroying bedclothes and other household goods.
Flooding of houses at Larkfield Rd., Kimmage, also occurred yesterday evening.
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Telephone Service Dislocated |
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13/03/1937 |
The 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 after Thursday’s _^ storm, the men working in many cases all through the night in snow and rain. It is expected that if the weather continues to improve a reasonably normal trunk service in the Free State will be restored by Monday.
Of the three telephone lines to Liverpool only one remains. The two lines to London have broken down. Calls to London have had to be put through via Liverpool. There was a serious break-down in the Six County area, only one line being free to Belfast.
Dublin Fire Brigade was called out yesterday to pump water from houses in low-lying parts where flooding had occurred, in Rutland Avenue, Larklield Road, Kimmage, Harold’s Cross Green, Mount Argus, and Ashtown.
Water entered cottages in Rutland Avenue to a depth of three feet, when the small River Poddle, where it passes underground at Dolphin’s Barn, became choked up about midnight on Thursday. Residents remained up all night endeavouring to make passages for the water to escape. A workman had to climb through a window to get to his work yesterday morning.
[continued in PDF]
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Street of the Tanners |
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25/04/1969 |
Not so long ago, geography consisted of a simple smattering of seemingly unchangeable economic facts—Dublin for porter and biscuits, Belfast for linen and ships, Cork for cattle and butter that was Ireland’s economy wrapped up.
We have changed all that, with a vengeance, but there was an excuse for this old rigid attitude, when you think of the tremendous continuity in the location for married women at men’ of some Dublin trades. Here Liam looks at Dolphin’s Barn, looking towards Cork Street, with the Leinster Cinema that was on the left In the 1840s, no-less than four tanners had their premises, side by side here in what was then Dolphin’s Barn Lane (there names were James O’Neill, at 35; Patrick Ledwidge, 42 to 44; Peter Byrne, 50; and Margaret Jones, at 51; and maybe their raw material came from John Kinsella, at number 52, cattle dealer). Gilbert’s “Calendar of Ancient Records of Dublin” says that in earlier times, the tanners of Dolphin’s Barn were in dispute with the City, for their alleged Interference with the Poddle water supply, upon which Dublin then depended almost entirely.
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Public health in the saorstate |
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07/11/1931 |
….
So early as the year 1492 a Sanitary Act was passed relating to the two rivers at Dublin called the Poddle, which were filled and stepped “as well by the inhabitants of houses … as dung of beasts, the great hurt and damage of the dean, chapter and college.”.
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Dublin - Alarming Statement Denied |
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27/04/1910 |
DUBLIN. ALARMING STATEMENT DENIED. FURTHER LARGE OUTLAY REQUIRED.
One of the Dublin evening papers yesterday published an alarming statement to the effect that the Main Drainage machinery of the pumping station at the Pigeon House Fort- had broken down in many important parts and that in consequence a considerable part of the sewage is being discharged into the Liffey.
Inquiries made last night by representatives of the “Irish independent” in various quarters, however, elicited the reassuring information that such is not the case. An official connected – with the Pigeon House Pumping Station said there was no breakdown in the machinery except such as might be occasioned by ordinary wear and tear.
Further particulars were furnished by a prominent member of the Corporation, who stilted authoritatively that no leakage from the main drainage into the Liffey ha3 occurred; that whatever silting has taken place is due to the flow from the old drains and the incomplete condition of the drainage scbeme, but that this silting, if it occurs, can be dealt with by constant supervision of the Engineering Department, and that since measures have been taken to cope with the old sewers the 8-foot drain has been perfectly satisfactory. The reports of the engineer furnished to the Commiitees of the Whole House at Monday’s Corporation meeting with reference to the silting at Hawkins street, and other portions about sis months ago showed that constant supervision has been exercised, and that with ordinary care such a state of affairs will not occur. ”
“NO DEFECT”
There is absolutely no defect in the sewer and flow leakage has been discovered,” said our informant “and if any part of the pumping machinery has worn out it’ is due only to ordinary wear and usage, and not to defective material or construction.” The silting at Hawkins street and other portions might be explained, he added, by the defective state of the old drains and the accumulation of such matter was not detected” sooner because men were forbidden to, go down into the drain owing to the Bad fatalities a few years
Another reason was that as the entire main drainage system is comparatively a new one, siltings were allowed to take their course. This defect of silting has now been successfully coped with, and’ there is no probability of a recurrence.
Ald. Farrell, who was formerly chairman of the Improvements Committee, stated emphatically that there was nothing materially wrong with the system. Since the recent cleansing operations—which became necessary owing to the fact that no flushing took place for three years — the main has been regularly under observation, and a man has to walk the sower every month. In addition, the manholes have been protected with a wire netting apparatus, which, prevents sand and other soft substances from getting through. “You may take it,” he said confidently, that the main drain is working” all right.
MORE REQUIRED
There had been no breakdown at the Pigeon House, he said, with the exception of the breaking of a tidal gate, which cost about £300. “As to the pumps,” he added, “they are not powerful enough to deal with heavy rainfalls. We have now to cleanse Pumps, which will cost about £3,000, to deal with the storm’ water.” He estimates that, in addition to the schemo which has been sanctioned of £A00,0QQ to deal with certain small areas not included in the previous scheme it will be necessary to expend another £100′,000 to include what is known as the Poddle area, which takes, is; a big district extending from Dolphin’s Barn into the very heart of the city.
Another prominent Councillor expressed serious misgivings with regard to the system, but for the present declined to go into details.
It was rumoured that legal proceedings are threatened between a prominent official and a member of the City Council, based of certain statements alleged to have been made by the latter. In other quarters it is stated that a sworn inquiry may he called for.
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Mysterious Precautions |
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18/06/1881 |
For tho past two days workmen have been engaged in cutting the only subterranean communication with the Castle which existsin tho city. Most people in Dublin have noticed a large archway, visible at all tides, opening out into the River Liffey, almost opposite Swift’s-row. The outlet of the Poddle River, which flows under Crampton-court, Dame street Exchange court, the Castle, Ship-street, and many other places, until the Castle is reached.
Between tides an adventurous men, whose ankles and nose were steeled respectively against rats and poisonous smells could travel along tho bed of the Poddle. The archway all along is lofty, but the tide ascends to the keystone in many places. At the river wall there was no barrier to prevent a person entering the Poddle, but yesterday a high iron grille or portcullis, with massive locks and bars, was placed across tho aperture.
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The Corporation of Dublin's public sewers |
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04/05/1878 |
The Committee No 1 will on or before FRIDAY, tho 10th May, receive Tenders from competent persons for the construction and also for the repair of Main Sewers in the following streets and passages:
NORTH SIDE
CONTRACT NO. 1. Phibsborough road, from Circular-road to near Westmoreland bridge.
CONTRACT NO. 2. Lower Dorset-street, Drumcondra-road_,and Williams’. place.
CONTRACT NO. 3. Cavendish-row, Rutland-square East, North Frederick-street, Gardiner’s-row, and Groat Denmark-street.
CONTRACT NO. 4. Little Strand street, Blessington-lane, Brady’s-row, Circular-road, near Blackhorse-bridge.
SOUTH SIDE.
CONTRACT NO. 1. South Circular-road and works on Poddle River, from near Belview and Forbes’ lane.
CONTRACT NO. 2. Bridgefoot-street, Coleman’s Brook, and Cope street.
CONTRACT NO. 3. D’Olier-street, South Gloucestor-stroet, Paterson’s-Iane, HolIes street, George’s-street East, and Coppinger’s row.
Tile said several Works must be executed according to the plans and specifications prepared by Parke Neville, Esq., the City Engineer, now ready for inspection in his office s at the City Hall. The lowest or any Tender will not necessarily be accepted, and solvent security will be required for tho duo fulfilment of the proposed contracts, the cost of preparation of same to be borne by the contractor. Tenders to be sealed and addressed to tho Chairman of No. 1 Committee, endorsed “Tender for Construction of Sewers.”
By Order, J. BEVERIDGE_, Secretary. City Hall,2’Jth Ami!, 1S78. 545S
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Purification of the Liffey |
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15/10/1874 |
Tho following is the report of Messrs. Price, Cotton, and Palles to the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Dublin :—
“Mr Loud and Gentlemen. In accordance with the resolution passed by you on tho 17th of August, 1S74_, appointing three independent Irish engineers to examine and support upon all the plans placed before the Council, or any other plan that they may suggest for the purification of the River Liffey and the abatement of the nuisance arising therefrom, we, tho undersigned, to1 whom |the matter was referred, have tho honour of presenting the following report, embodying tho result of our investigations:—The plans which have come before us ate in number 57 ; they have been explained by plans and models in some instances, by written statements alone in others, and also by both combined. In a few cases they have had considerable pains evidently bestowed on their elaboration. We should have been glad to have been able to report that there was one among these plans that we could recommend for adoption as being efficient and within reasonable limits of expense.”
After examining these plans in classes, and rejecting each and all, they go on to explain their own plan, thus :—
…..
By taking up the Swan Water the Dodder will be relieved from the sewage of Rathmines. We propose to divert the Poddle river as designed by Mr. Neville. The drainage from the Kilmainham township may be taken partly into the south sewer, but we do not propose to take the entire of it. We think the. mode of separating storm waters from the ordinary flow of sewage, proposed b3 the author of plan No. 31, Mr. T. D. McCarthy, may be usefully adopted in some of the sewers, and we recommend its being tried.
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Sewerage in the City |
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19/07/1853 |
Pure 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 that contribute to the ‘well-being of the citizens, but with all the drawbacks, Dublin still enjoys an exemption from mortality denied to cities more salubriously circumstanced. Much has “bees done within the last few years to repair tbe evils arising from the construction of our sewers, which are far too few and too small for the wants of such a population, and especially adapted to their ends from their connection with the river and the pollution which it entails. That, however, cannot at present be remedied. The expense of diverting the sewerage of the city, as suggested by engineers more romantic than practical would be far too great, with the taxation of the city at its present high point. That improvement must wait for more prosperous times, when taxes shall be less than thirty per cent, on the rated value. Meanwhile, partial improvements proceed on a tolerably extensive scale, and the officers of the Corporation are active in enlarging and maintaining the different works of the city.
From the last report of Mr. Neville to the Corporation much useful knowledge may be derived relative to works in which every citizen must feel an interest. Les us first describe the Main Severs. On the north side, and at the west of the city, the first great line of sewer is that in North Brunswick street, which passes in an easterly direction, to the Liffey through Kedcow-lane, Smithfield, and West Arran-street. The second main sewer is the Bradogue-river, which” enters the city boundary -where Grangegorman-lane meets the Circular-road. From this it flows, to the river under the Penitentiary, near the Midland railway terminus, by Bolton-street, Halston-street, and East Arrau-street. This sewer receives the drainage of a large district, extending to Blessington-street. The third main sewer, into which is discharged the sewerage of Old Dominick street and. Granby-row, is in that part of Great Britain-street between Sackville and Capel streets, and reaches the river through Jervis-st. The fourth begins in “Upper .Dorset-street, takes a long course, and is finally discharged in the river near the Royal Canal lock on the North Wall. This is the sewer, remarks Mr. Neville, which floods the Custom-house and Newfoundland district. .The fifth and only remaining chief sewer to the north is one which receives the drainage of Upper Gardiner-street, Ecclesstreet, and, running parallel with the Canal to Newcomen-bridge, is discharged into the docks. On the south side, from west to east, the Cammack drains the district round Old Kilmainham, and meets the river at the Cashel station. There are three other sewers, apparently insufficient for the large and populous district they are intended to drain;: but the chief sewer is the Poddle, which receives the sewerage of a district having a catchment area of 450 acres. The river runs uncovered for a considerable distance, but is arched over from a point near where New-row joins Dean-street. Mr. Neville reports the works to be in tolerable repair , but requiring a regular outlay each year to maintain them, as well as to cleanse the deposit which constantly accumulates. The current of the water is injuriously obstructed by several mills which impede in consequence, liable to flood after heavy rains.
The next main line rises on the west side of Harcourt street, and, passing north through Williamstreet, Wicklow-street, through College-green, near the National Bank, enters.the river by Hawkins street. This sewer receives the contents of another, which drains Stephen green, Dawson, Nassau, and Grafton streets. The last we shall describe runs in a northernly direction, by Cardiff s-lane, into the Liffey, after having drained part of Nassau and Leinster streets, and the district between Hamilton row and the river. This sewer is joined by two others which drain the large district between the east of Stephen’s-green and the Grand Canal from Leeson street to Macquay-bridge. The large-size sewers are generally in good order, but all have more or less suffered from want of cleansing, neglect, and particularly from the careless manner in which branches and openings for house drains have been made into them, The inferior class of sewers, marked (S) by Mr. Neville, are described as in a very bad state, and the majority must be ultimately rebuilt. The levels are also very defective in many cases, even in some of the first class, built within a few years. Mr. Neville proposes a plan for the general improvement and extension of the city sewerage 1st. To construct two lines of big level sewers one on the north and the other on the south of the Liffey to relieve the districts at present liable to flood. – 2d. To construct new sewers in all streets and avenues where there are none at present, or where they are insufficient in size, or laid out on wrong levels—by such means extending over the city a uniform system of sewerage. July. As a necessity involved in the foregoing improvements two great trunk sewers, one on each side of the Liffey, to receive all the sewerage and convey it to the most easterly point. “Let us now look at the expense. Mr. Neville calculates that twenty-four and a half miles,\or 43,207 lineal yards, of new sewerage will be necessary for the north side district—cost £41,530. To this must be added .£3,691 in repairing nearly four miles of existing drains. Total for north district, £45,221. – ‘…-For the south district, 35,481 yards, or a little over twenty miles, will be necessary, at an estimated cost of £31,907, to which add £2,901 for repairs of existing sewers. Total £34,808. … For north side sewer district – … £45,221 – ” South side ditto … – … … 34,808
Total for the whole city … £80,029 From this, however, should be deducted a sum of £5,682 ordered to be “laid out this year by the Council in improvements, which are included in Mr. Neville’s general plan;—-thus’ reducing the amount to £74,348!
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The watercourse |
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01/05/1972 |
THERE has been much useful representation about preservation of national monuments, street facades, canals, open spaces, etc., in relation to urban life. What prompts this letter is the first blow dealth this month to another type of monument—The Ancient (City) Watercourse. For seven hundred and twenty-seven years, from 1245 to the present day, this miniature canal connecting the Dodder and the Poddle has remained unchanged and uninterfered with, semi-miraculous in view of the fact that this is now within the city boundaries. This was due to enactments which obliged the Corporation to keep it in good repair right up to 1867 the city of Dublin depended on it for its water supply when the Vartry supply replaced it
But on April 7 it was reported that the biggest single planning permission granted to a developer in recent times was that for 323 houses at Wellington Lane. The Watercourse is in the way (and in any case has outlived its original purpose) and the Corporation has worked out the necessary diversion. Perhaps the only way to preserve it for posterity in view of its connection with early Norman Dublin would be in film, photograph, sketches and texts. It would be good to think that some such interested body as The Old Dublin Society (which has already published valuable information about the Watercourse from time to time) is recording this “brilliant engineering conception”, as a Corporation report has it.
It will not be long now until the growth tentacles of Tallaght touch those of Wellington Lane, strangling not only the Watercourse, but the countryside between Whitehall road and Balrothery (the “head” of the Watercourse and for which there is another residential planning application awaiting approval)
The Watercourse is not marked on the Draft Development Plan as an item for preservation and one can’t help thinking that apart from its historical associations could have preserved as amenity. After all, the Cam at Cambridge is not much wider than the Poddle at Kimmage And anyone who can afford it is willing to pay for an artificial fountain, pond or lake.
But there is a flow of water already available from the Dodder and is it to be turned off? As it is, the Watercourse has been put to beautiful use in at least one place. But already it may be too late. Events move swiftly. For instance, I took a photograph of the Mount Down Mill at the end of the Watercourse, but for some reason it did not print well, and when I went to retake, it has been razed and has entirely disappeared.
(Sr.) ANN DOMINICA FITZGERALD, O.P Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
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Bad planning may bury ancient water course |
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25/07/1972 |
THE 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 piece of tangible history.
Is it to be covered up and lost in building development?
This reference to it—the small canal flowing between the growth tentacles of Tallaght, Templeogue, Cyprus Grove, and _hitehall Road East—may be in the nature of a farewell, as it is doomed to go.
BRILLIANT CONCEPTION
The water course is the ,work of 13th century engineers, described in a Corporation report as “a brilliant engineering conception”, and came about by the needs of medieval Dublin which depended on ‘the under-nourished Poddle for its drinking water.
As the city grew more thirsty, engineers solved the difficulty by inducing the Dodder to feed excess water into the Poddle flowing parallel about a mile away. It solved the problem for about 500 years, not only for drinking water, but for the ‘power for mills. There were 40 mills on the Dodder and the Water Course in its heyday. Twenty-four of these were still operating in 1844 twelve of them on the Water Course, so that when the-city changed to the Vartry supply in 1867, the rights of mill owners were still there to stay the Corporation’s hand. The law said that the Course would have to be maintained.
Now, because part of its course has been acquired for housing development at Wellington Lane, that little canal first dug out in the year 1245 has to be diverted, and culverted. The first move in 727 years . . .
While Dublin seems to be apathetic about the fate of this historic Water Course, one lone fighter is trying to awaken the citizens to the need to preserve it, and save it from the fate of so many other Dublin rivers. Sister Ann Dominica Fitzgerald, O.P., Muckross Park, Donnybrook, has drawn attention to the danger of the Water Course disappearing. She believes, that side by side with the building development, it can be preserved as a public amenity. Sister Ann Dominica has been engaged in making a series of photographs of the water course, in case it should, disappear without trace or record. Among those who/have been attracted by her appeal has been Mr. John Gleeson, of “Journey down the Barrow”, the prize-winning film soon to be shown on RTE, who is now engaged in filming the old Ballyconnell Ballinamore canal which originally linked the Erne and Shannon systems.
WRITE NARRATIVE
Mr. Gleeson is making a 16mm film, of the water course, and has completed that part near Wellington Lane now being diverted. Sister Ann Dominica will write the. narrative for the film. Welcome interest and support has also come from Mr. Sean Rothery, chairman of An Taisce.
Where . . is this ancient water _counse?
On the ordnance map a thin blue line, marked Mill Race, is “seen to join the Dodder to the Poddle. The head is at the weir at Balrothery. The course passes under the Tallaght road near Spawell House, and on towards Templeogue.
“Not sufficient attention has- been paid to the amenity value of our ‘small rivers,” Sister Ann Dominica said to me. “The result.’ is that Dublin’s small rivers have vanished. At whose door the blame should be laid varies with the period of history but developers, Co. Council, Corporation, and an apathetic acquiescent public all nave something to do with it.
The Draft Development Plan and maps are already out of date, as developers who acquired the land years ago have been straining at the leash—-die leash appears to have been the . Dodder Valley drainage works and provision for flood plans for the unpredictable Poddle. “You can say good-bye to the water course anyday now. As soon as the plan for re-routing is completed, the builders will be off the leash.”
MORE COMPLICATED “Of course, it is easy to blame the Corporation, but to save a thing like this is more complicated than it looks. It is not a case of waving a magic wand—an immense amount of coordination and co-operation is needed from everybody”, she said. “One might wonder, though, why this should not have been kept as an amenity if rows and rows of new houses are to go there.”- She added: “The interesting thing is that this is the first move in 727 years, and officially, to touch the man-made part of the water course. There were many unofficial and private courses taken off the main channel, but the full force of the law was brought to bear on the offenders, by the Corporation, so that the main supply reached the city.
Can we hope to keep the remaining little rivers? It will not be long now before the spaces in between will be built on. Butterfield Road residents, Dundrum Heights and others have seen the net closing in, and protested. One river at least cannot be touched, fortunately included in the Hermitage grounds when Margaret Pearse left Scoil Eanna to the nation. But what if it should be used as a drain further up? Would the Whitechurch river and its pretty glen be polluted?
WORSE PLANNING “The Poddle, now chastened and drained, should not be despised. If it behaved badly it was due to bad planning, and if it is buried now it is due to worse planning.” Incidentally the water course has had many names. Some of the following are in ancient documents: The Dother (Dodder) Water,’ the City Water Course, the Glib, the Pirnlico River, Coleman’s Brook, the River of Thomas Street, the City Water, the Swan, the Earl of Meath’s Water Course, the High Pype, the Mill Race, and the Poddle.
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City Watercourse |
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05/01/1973 |
ABOUT six months ago you published a letter from Sister Ann Fitzgerald, O.P., concerning the future of the ancient City Watercourse (the 700-year old canal linking the Dodder at Firhouse to the Poddle at Kimmage. This remarkable medieval construction — “a brilliant engineering conception,” a Corporation survey calls it — supplied the city with water up until 1776 and has survived intact since 1259. Alas, the end of 1972 saw the beginning of its demise, for I find that a developer (Parklands Ltd.) is just completing the destruction of the section on his site at Wellington Lane. It is sad to see house purchasers paying to have young shrubs and trees planted about their new homes , not knowing that with proper planning a much greater natural and historical amenity could have been incorporated in their new estate. Instead it k being filled in.
Just before it reaches this area, the watercourse flow through the grounds at Templeogue House, where it has been turned into a a beautiful water garden by previous owners, an example of what could have been done for the whole of its 1.25mile length. However, another developer (Crampton), has acquired Templeogue House and lands from the Columban Fathers, so it seems only a matter of time before the entire canal is eliminated. Intending residents of these estates are, understandably, usually a too involved in the cruel mumbo jumbo of modern house purchasing to give thought to the future environment of their new community, but surely someone can stop this destruction? Are we as a generation to go down in history as some sort of belated barbarians, busily bulldozing our way through tradition and heritage?
I’m sure future citizens will find it hard to accept the excuse of miserable materialism or just plain planning laziness for our failure to keep in trust for them, this important relic of our ancient city.
– JOHN GLEESON, Tvrconnell Park. Inchicore Dublin 8
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City Scene |
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02/01/1973 |
IF DUBLIN SHOULD forget all about the Liberties it certainly won’t be the fault of the Liberties. What they’re at now is compiling a book which is due out any day now. It will cover not just ‘he history but various other aspects of the area, through the medium of some 15 different sections, articles or contributions.
It is a kind of corporate effort expert historians, current politicians, people who have just jived there and people who are just interested having come together to offer what they know, deduce or have experienced. The book is to contain 150 illustrations and to come in hard-and-paperback.
LIFE WITHIN
It begins at the beginning with an account of Viking Dublin by Breandain O’ Riordain.
He calls his chapter “Life within the Walls” and the next chapter is, logically enough, Patrick Healy’s account of the City Walls of Dublin.
Various personages appear in the course of the book — Dean Swift, of course, and Robert Emmet and there’s a most intriguing invitation to information in a piece by Peter Walsh entitled “Dutch Billies in the Liberties.” I can hardly wait to learn all about that.
Another title that interests me greatly in prospect is “Down the Old Poddle” which is written by Ann Dominica Fitzgerald, O.P. / know the Poddle is still wandering around somewhere under- Winetavern and/or Dame Street just first where or why I don’t know but I would like to. I hope to that Sr. Ann Dominica will be telling us how she came about her finding through deduction from historical evidence, or by going round the streets sounding the lead. Dr. Tim O’Neill is contributing a piece on “A Bad Year in the Liberties”.
Photo: The last open stretch of the River Poddle near St. Patricks Cathedral – about 1890 – a picture in the Liberties Festival programme by courtest of Maurice Gorham from the “Dublin from Old Photographs”.
Note taken from:https://www.facebook.com/vintagedublinphotos/photos/visible-as-late-as-1973-the-mill-pond-at-the-historic-double-mill-of-st-thomas-a/514838028943887/ regarding photo.
Visible as late as 1973, the Mill Pond at the historic ‘Double Mill’ of St Thomas’ Abbey is of special interest; located within hailing distance of St Patrick’s Cathedral and embedded in the urban fabric of inner city Dublin which swelled around it. Like much of the Liberties, the immediate surrounding area owes much of its existence to the booming industry of the late 17th century, which this pond would have been designed to feed. Known as ‘Busby’s’, ‘Manor’s’ and ‘Double Mill’ at different times or references, the mill produced both oil and flour. Its pond was fed by combined sources of the stream coming from another mill at Greenmount Terrace, and another open branch of the Poddle down Sweeney’s Lane. The quality of the water is questionable, with the first source even labelled ‘factory water’ on the estate map of the Earl of Meath. In November 2003 an excavation was carried out at number 10 Mill Street, a site flanking Mill Street, Sweeney’s Lane, Warrenmount Lane and convent grounds, where it was expected that portions of the retaining wall for Mill Pond would be uncovered. No structural features were evident, however, indicating that the filling in of the millpond was rapid and deliberate.
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Up the creek at the "Poddle Millrace" |
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03/06/1973 |
Sir —
Your columnist Des Hickey is respectfully a bit up the creek when he writes of his “new” discovery of the Poddle millrace in William Talbot’s back garden at 6 Sweeney Terrace. Anybody would have thought he was Stout Corte or something tripping upon it for the first time. Anybody, however, living around there could have told, him that it has been a favourite paddling pool, fishing ground and general playground for local gurriers over the centuries.
A man is rumoured to have drowned in it, not twenty years ago. And I’m afraid it isn’t the Poddie alone, either: it is the confluence of the watercourse connecting the Dodder to the Poddle, upon the site of the mill built by the monks of St. Thomas the Martyr after the remorseful” Henry II granted them the Liberty, of Saint Thomas in Becket’s memory.
So there y’are. You can reach it from the back of Warrenmount Convent as well, and Des Hickey is entirely right when he says it’s in a bit of a shocking state and in need of some loving care. But then, so is the, rest, of the Poddle. I pointed this put when I followed the course of the Poddle from Tymon Lane with Sister Ann. Dominica FitzGerald, O.P., the well-known Poddleologist — in an issue of Women First, the “Irish Times,” last January.
Ann FitzGerald, by the way, has;written the story of the Poddle from earliest times and through all its wanderings in “The Liberties of Dublin” (E. T. O’Brien) —- which is coming out in a fortnight. I suppose I ought to add that I edited it not to mislead – you over my interest.
I’ve been told there’s a trapdoor in the Olyrnpia’ Theatre which you can raise and see the Poddle on its last run under Dollards the printers before merging with the Liffey. I never succeeded in seeing it’ so I don’t know if this is true, but I’d love to find out.
—- ALGY GILLESPIE 31 Westmoreland Street, Dublin.
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A nun who dipped into history and got wet |
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16/06/1973 |
I FELL IN LOVE with a nun last night Sister Ann Dominica Fitzgerald endeared herself to me forever when she grinned with fiendish glee and described how she fell in the River Poódle — twice — while tracing the course of the long forgotten stream which_passes, mostly underground, through the old Liberties area of Dublin and reaches the Liffey at Wellington Quay. You see, Sister Ann is a ‘Poddleologist” — a decided expert on the course and history of this strange little watercourse which clever Sister Ann and a select few other enthusiasts can talk about for hours in torrents of information — clogged conversation.
She has written one of the fascinating pieces in a new book “The Liberties of Dublin – It’s History, People and Future” published in hardback and paperbook – E. and T. O’Brien.
In her exhaustive study of the stream, she asserts that the River Poddle is one of the reasons for Dublin’s existence — “artisans settled around its banks for their trades.” Sister Ann even claims that it was the Poddle rushing into the Liffey which caused the deep – blackpool which gave Dublin its name — “Dubhlinn.”
Her article, ” Dovvn the Old Poddle,” appears alongside pieces by such people as Breandan O’Riordan, J. B. Malone, Bishop Wyse Jackson, G. A. Hayes-McCoy and Dr. Tim O’Neill, among a terrific collection of photographs, old and new, drawings and etchings. The book is edited by Dublin journalist Elgie Gillespie.
Major study
AT A RECEPTION last night in Archbishop Marsh’s Library — ‘the first public Library in Ireland, built by 1707 — Sister Ann spoke with great gusto about her study. Her research of the River PoddJe is only part of a major study of the River Liffey and the history of life around it.
She has been working on it for four years now and hopes to produce a book on the subject in the near future. She sees the Liffey, the Liberties area and the Poddle course as being of major significance in the social history of Dublin. “There are no source books on my subject,” she explains with the air of a pioneer.
Her work is divided between trudging around back alleys and laneways and even longer hours poring over records in the National Library and elsewhere.
Sister Ann is an all-action nun. Even in her role as a teacher at the Dominican Convent, Muckross Park, Donnybrook, she prefers to bring her classes out and about whenevér she can.
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Follow me says Sister Ann |
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07/03/1976 |
AT THREE O’CLOCK this afternoon, Sister Ann Dominica, a black-and-white garbed Dominican nun, will lead a tour along Dublin’s secret river, the Poddle.
This years Dublin Arts Festival has Medieval Dublin as a theme, so the Dominican’s walk along the course of the city’s 13th century river is topical.
She’ll start the tour at Mount Argus where the little river tongues, as they say and she’ll finish at Warrenmount on the fringe of the Liberties. The Poddie flows into the Liffey below Parliament Street —and was carried across the Liffey as a conduit to the north side of the city in the Middle Ages.
It was at Warrenmount just three years ago that an old Dubliner a descendant of Huguenot weavers, showed me the hidden spot where the river could be seen above ground — a rare sight in the modern city. Unfortunately, the mill pond at the site has been cemented over. “That’s already history,” says Sister Ann. A local firm spent a year draining the pond before filling it in. “One could get angry about this,” she says. “But I don’t blame the firm. I blame the planners who won’t leave breathing space in our city.”
Sister Ann first became fascinated by the Poddle when preparing a textbook for schools on the Liffey some years ago. “I couldn’t have taken on a more difficult subject. There were absolutely no books or material available. She has timed today’s walk (which will provide another tantalising glimpse of the Poddle at Harold’s Cross and a preview of the underground Poddle Shaft which is soon to divert the Poddle into the Canal’. “I’ve done it in an hour. But we’ll start sharp at three and latecomers may get left behind.” If you don’t feel energetic enough today she’ll repeat the tour next Sunday.
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Our Lady's Hospice - new wing |
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23/10/1963 |
New wing
SITUATED on the banks of the little known Poddle river at Harold’s Cross is a group .of buildings now known as Our. Lady’s Hospice, founded in 1845 by Mother Mary Aikenhead, foundress of the Sisters of charity. These buildings were later to provide refuge and shelter (for young and old where, when all human aid had failed, they might receive nursing, care, consolation and resignation in their closing days.
Unlike the little river, however, Our Lady’s. Hospice has kept abreast’ of demands. Today it is providing succor and refuge and a service which the vast organisation of a modem welfare state could never provide.
The buildings have been extended ‘ to provide greater accommodation and beds and a new wing was added a few years ago.
To keep such an establishment going, the Sisters’ labour day and night, their lives dedicated to the service of God through their service to the poor, the aged and the infirm.
But the means have also to be provided to keep such an establishment going and a measure of our appreciation will be our generosity in helping them by donations and gifts to continue their noble worn. To this end a sale of work will be hold in the Marymount Hal! in the Hospice grounds next Friday and Saturday_, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Will you help?
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Drinking habits old and new |
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04/05/1967 |
[more in PDF…]
Faced with figures like that I had to admit that Paddy had certainly done his home work on this aspect of Dublin culture. But, apart from this stuff which the Government i knew all about, there were taverns like Sir Timothy O’Brien’s pub in Nicholas Place where many customers “were enticed by the poteen made on the premises through the convenience of the special facilities provided by the River Poddle which flowed underneath the cellars.” It seemed that into this river could be’ poured all the waste arising from the illegal distillations. No wonder Baranaby Rych was so ill-disposed in his writeup of his Dublin visit.
[more in PDF…]
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Residents a help to St. Peters |
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13/08/1971 |
OUR SUMMER SERIES on Schools’ League champions takes us this week to one of the most recent additions to the League, St. Peter’s N.S., Walkinstown, who are holders of the Clonmore Cup, the award for Division III in junior football, the school’s first League trophy.
Opened in January, 1965, Scoil Naomh Peadar caters for the comparatively new housing estate north of the upper reaches of the River Poddle, roughly east of Greenhills Road, and stretching from Walkinstown Cross towards Tallaght. Pending the construction of the present school, prefabs were utilized and indeed, though the main school has been occupied for almost two years now, the pre-fabs are still necessary in this expanding area.
[continued in PDF]
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A chronicler of Oliver Cromwell |
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16/05/1972 |
[additional information in PDF….]
triumphant make at the time in any war, and. which becomes the raw material from which the historian moulds his history. One of the first to . discover the rich abundance of material waiting for the skilled attention of the historian was John P. Prendergast who in September, 1848, was given permission by the Lord Lieutenant to study the records in the Tower of Dublin Castle: “It may be imagined with what interest I followed the porter up that dark winding staircase of this gloomy tower, once the prison of the Castle, and was ushered into the small central space that seemed dark even after the dark stairs we had just left. As the eye became accustomed to the spot, it appeared that the doors of five cells made in the prodigious thickness of the walls opened on the central space. From one of them Red Hugh O’Donnell is said to have escaped, by getting down the privy of his cell to the Poddle River that runs round the base of the Tower.”
[continued in PDF….]
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High-heeled shoes damage Cathedral |
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19/11/1985 |
Women in high-heeled shoes do more damage to St. Patrick’s Cathedral than the heavy traffic on the adjoining road, a meeting of Dublin City Councillors heard last night. The submerged Poddle river, flowing between the old Cathedral and the busy road, acts as a “shock absorber”, sparing the building from damaging vibrations. But high-heeled shoes striking the pavements and the stone floors of the Cathedral are far more damaging, according to a report by the IIRS. “They must be talking about a very heavy lady,” commented Fianna Fail Cllr. Ned _Brennan, “I think I’ll take this report with a pinch of salt —it’s the greatest load of hogwash I’ve heard in along time.”
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From Tolka to the Poddle |
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12/01/1985 |
BRENDAN GRACE crosses the Tolka and the Liffey, and gets as near the historic Poddle as makes no matter, when he brings on Tuesday for three performances his panto, Bottler in Nipperland, to Our Lady’s Hall, Mourne Road, Drimnagh before setting out next weekend on provincial tour. Meantime, the panto will have its final Drumcondra performances tomorrow in St. Patrick’s College Theatre.
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Body of infant found |
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25/09/1931 |
The body of an infant was found in the River Poddle at Dolphin’s Barn, Dublin, last, evening, by a boy named Rooney, of Rutland Avenue.
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Dublin Rescue |
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06/03/1960 |
Mr. Michael Byrne (31) of Kildare Road, was “under observation” in the Meath Hospital today after he had been rescued from the River Poddle in Harold’s Cross.
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A crime of a most fiendish nature |
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04/03/1879 |
A crime of a most fiendish nature was attempted within the last few days in the city a crime which makes the blood chill, when remembering that it was the robbery of a couple of shillings worth of clothing which impelled the perpetrator — a woman to hide all trace of her act by attempting the diabolical murder of an unoffending child.
This dreadful creature, a woman advanced in years, a few days ago enticed a nicely-dressed little girl, about four years old age, away with her from the neighbourhood of Pill Lane. She induced the unsuspecting child to accompany her over town, it being then dusk, and eventually 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 even to her little chemise, and then endeavoured to forever put an end to all evidence against her by drowning the infant.
Close to tho spot where the old villain denuded the child of her clothing runs tho river Poddle, which is here exposed to view, but lower down in covered over, and passes by means of an arched sewer under Ardee Street, Thomas Street, and Lower Bridge Street, till it empties itself into tho Liffey, near Bloody Bridge. At the spot whore the outrage was perpetrated the stream is protected by a wall some six feet high, so that tho actual fall from tho top of tho wall to the level of the river, when only half full, would be about eight feet.
Usually tho Poddle is a swift stream, and is often four feet in depth. Owing to tho groat incline the current if very strong, and anything thrown into the river where it is open would soon be carried down into the cowered culvert beneath tho city street, and thence into the muddy Liffey. The old barbarian took the naked child, hurled her over the wall into tho river, and then slunk off in the darkness. Fortunately the little girl was only momentarily stunned by tho fall, and there were only about two feet of water in the stream, whereby enabling the little creature to gain its legs, Its dreadful cries were heard by a man who lives adjacent, and he at once proceeded to where the screams came from.
He found the half-drowned little girl grasping the back in a death-like grip, and almost dead from fright. Speedily he rescued her, and, conveying her to the house, had restoratives applied with tho best success, so that the child is now progressing admirably. The police having been communicated with, the little girl related her story to the officers, and detectives once set to work to find tho monster who had endeavoured to murder the helpless infant. The following morning the clothes of the child were found pawned in one of the pawn offices in tho city, showing that it was merely for the sake of plunder that the awful crime had been attempted. Tho police are vigorously engaged in pursuit of the would-be assassin.—Irish Times.
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Two centuries ago |
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03/01/1788 |
Such a fog as beshrouded this City last Saturday night (Dec. 29th) was never seen, felt, smelt, or remembered by man, woman, or child. It would be difficult to convey a competent idea of it. It felt upon the back and body like a wet blanket, and smelt like a combination of charcoal and sulphur.
To the eyes it seemed like a cloud of impenetrable smoke, and to the lungs, at least of old and asthmatic people, it caused them to play just like the valve of a bellows. Such a number of accidents as that occasioned is without parallel; some persons walked into cellars and broke their bones, others plunged headlong into the Lifiey, and some into the Poddle …. fine such a variety of falling, plunging, dismay and consternation never occurred in this, nor, may we venture to pronounce in any other country.
— Dublln Evening Post, January 3, 1788.
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Drowned in a public street |
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26/02/1876 |
On Sunday evening, a poor woman, named Catherine Duffy, living in one of the numerous courts off Marrowbone lane, met her death under the following circumstances :—It appeared that beneath the court where she lived, tho Poddle river flows, and the people of tho neighbourhood are in the habit . of raising water out of it through a wooden trap in the courtyard, which lifts for the purpose. The deceased in stooping to raise the bucket of water, over-balanced herself, and fell into the river, which was flowing swiftly in consequence of the heavy rains of the morning. Several neighbours who saw her disappear rushed forward, but they were too late, as she had been carried off down the dark narrow passage, and was beyond all aid. Yesterday morning excavations were made in different streets along the course of the river, in the hope of finding the body, but no trace of it. could be discovered. No doubt it was caught in some of the crooked windings of. the stream, where it will remain until devoured by the rats, which abound in the adjoining sewers and drains.
— Daily Express.
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Rescued man better |
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22/08/1955 |
Mr. James Wood, 186 Stannaway Road, Kimmage, who was rescued from the River Poddle at Captain’s Road, Kimmage, after he had fallen over the low embankment on Saturday night, was discharged yesterday from the Meath Hospital.
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Inquest |
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27/08/1877 |
Mr. Harty, county coroner, held an inquest on Saturday at 20 Rutland Avenue, Dolphin’s-barn, on tho body of a child named Eliza McMahon, who was accidentally drowned on the 24th inst., when she fell accidentally into the Poddle, near her residence. The jury found a verdict to that effect, and appended to it a request that the attention of the Corporation should be called to the state of the river.
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Great fire in Dublin |
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22/06/1875 |
Further Particulars
As might he expected, the scene of the conflagration was visited by many thousands of the citizens on Saturday and Sunday. From the report of tho police, it appears the estimated loss to the owners of the property consumed amounts to £30,000. There were in the bonded stores 5,000 hogsheads of whiskey, brandy, and casks of wine, of which only 61 were saved. The casks were rolled into the Coombe, and the result was that six men were arrested in a beastly state of intoxication several more being conveyed to hospital.
It is stated that cupa. porringers, and other vessel were in great _requisition to scoop up the liquor as it flowed from the burning premises, and disgusting as it may seem, some fellows were observed to take off their boots and use them as drinking cups. What was the result?
Eight men were carried in a comatose state to Meath Hospital twelve to Jervis street. Hospital; three to Stevens’ Hospital, and one young man to Mercer’s Hosp. over these numbers do not represent the entire of the persons put hors de combat by the drink. Most melancholy of all, however, it is to state that two young men named Matthew Healy aged 28 of 124. Church-street, and Thomas McNally of Bridgefoot street, about the same age, have succumbed to the fatal influence of a overdraught, and have meet an untimely end.
Healy died in the Meath Hospital yesterday morning at 3 o’clock’ and McNally only survived till half past 9. They were both corn porters. It is reported that a third fatal case has occurred in a private house. In the other cases the patients were treated in tho usual way, and having recovered were discharged on Saturday morning, perhaps, sadder and, it is to be hoped, wiser men. There is a rumour that one man has died in bis own residence from the effects of drink and it is not at all improbable, if the whole truth were known, that many more have suffered from the effects of drinking the whiskey that flowed from the burning premises.
The liquors stored in the warehouse belonged to several owners, but the heaviest loser will be Mr. Malone. It appears that the Bonded Stores were inspected by an excise officer at 4.45 p.m., and at that hour all appeared safe and well. At half-past eight the alarm was given. With the promptitude that is always displayed by the members of the Metropolitan force on occasions of emergency, Acting-Inspector Dowse and Police Constable Luke Toole, hailed a car, which happened to be that of John Conway, badge 1,200, and they drove like the wind to Winetavern street to give notice to the Fire Brigade. It will give some notion of the celerity with which tho movements of the police and the brigade were conducted to state that in 15 minutes Captain Ingram, Lieutenant Boyle, and the men of tho force, with one steam engine and four baud engines were on the spot. As stated above, they were of little use, the Captains of tho Brigade wisely abstaining from using his hose on flaming whiskey.
It is a matter of some surprise that the fin did not melt tho soldering of the gas pipes, and so cause new complication and increased danger. On Saturday Mr. North, Inspector of the District, and Mr. Waterfield, also an inspector, attended, with some labourers, and cut off tho service pipes as a measure of precaution. Hold the liquid fire permeated down and caused a breach in one of the gas mains, the result would, no doubt, have been awful, by causing explosions and spreading the flames in such a thickly populated portion of the city. Providentially, we are spared the harrowing task of reporting the horrors attending tho loss of human life—if we except tho cases of the two unfortunate men who unfortunately yielded to tho temptation offered by the flowing whiskey, and for too free libations paid the forfeiture of their lives.
It may be mentioned as a curious circumstance that, the whiskey let loose from tho exploding casks, percolated tho Boil, and covered the waters of the Poddle River, which runs underneath Ardee street. The flames being communicated to the alcohol created explosions, which laid tho long-hidden portion of the rivulet bare. We are happy to state that Mr. Malone’s portion of tho property destroyed, including both bonded stores and their contents in Cork Street and Chamber street were more than covered by insurance. Apropos here, it may be mentioned that on Saturday the insurance office had almost more than they could to receive forms of application for insuring. The Lord Mayor, who was present during the fire, was greatly pleased with tho conduct of tho military, the police force, and the vast multitude of citizens who were attracted thither. At ten o’clock the stream of burning liquor, two feet, wide and six inches in depth, which ran along the channel on one side of Millstreet, had reached fully a quarter of a mile from where the fire broke out. The flaming fluid then extended to a house opposite Worrenmount Mills. The water played only added to the flame. His Eminence Cardinal Cullen has written to the Lord Mayor expressing his sympathy with tho sufferers by the fire, and enclosing a subscription of £10.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT
On Saturday crowds of people passed through and examined the streets marKed by the ravages of the conflagration, and it is questionable it in scene of such shocking desolation has ever been observed in Dublin. The road and pathways in Chamber-street, Cork-street, Ardee-street, and Mill-street were almost completely blocked up with loose bricks, charred woodwork, mud, tar, and general bricks. Most of tho places where the flames had taken greatest effect were very properly fenced in to prevent tho near approach of curious visitors, for the house fronts and walls in many quarters were in a tottering, crumbling. and very dangerous condition. The bonded stores of Mr. Malone have been completely destroyed; not a vestigo of the building remains safe here and some of the more massive iron supports, girders, or pillars, and the stone wails.
The general space within is covered to depth feet with iron hoops, tho only remnants of the whiskey hogsheads which they encircled; but by far the most melancholy spectacle which tho district presents is tho appearance of the gutted and blackened houses which adjoin. The windows, roofs, doors, and in many places the complete fronts, have been burned away, and inside may be seen traces of the little comforts of the late occupiers.
In one case nothing is left but a charred and broken chair or pallet; in another an empty bird’s cage, a few cups, a shattered ornament or flower-pot, and other such side, suggestive signs.
Many houses, although but little marked, are in a perilous condition, and it would unquestionably be a wise and charitable act if something were done to better tho condition of the poor people of this district by improving the wretched dwellings which they inhabit. What caused the fire has not up to the present transpired, and probably it never will.
Various statements are made, but none amount to more than mere rumour and speculation. It is even doubtful where it originated, and whom first observed tho flames covered a considerable space. A narrative of the facts, collected from the most reliable sources, will be of interest. At a little after half-pa3t eight o’clock word was brought ta the Newmarket police station that a fire had broken out in Mr. Lawrence Malone’s bonded whiskey stores in Chamber Street, which, it may be mentioned, cover an area extending from tho latter street to Cork Street, and in which 5.000 hogsheads of whiskey were stored, together with a considerable number of wine and brandy flasks.
It is stated that. Mr. Lynn, Supervisor of Excise, locked up and left the stores in apparent safety on the previous evening, at about a quarter before 5. Acting Inspector Dowd, 13 A, and Police constable Luke Toole, were the first who received official intimation of the occurrence, and tho latter was promptly despatched to the Fire Brigade Office, Winetavern Street. Captain Ingram, Lieutenants Boyle, Byrne, and the men of the brigade, were “and other quickly on tho scone with the steam engines, and four lines of hose attached.
Water was plentiful. In fact, the burning promises were surrounded, so to speak, with a supply; it was to be had at Cork Street, Chamber Street, and the corner of New Street; but the flames had worked their way with fearful and uncontrollable violence and rapidity; tho hogsheads had burst, the spirits flowed from a hundred channels into the streets, and tho application of water would but have added to and aided the inevitable destruction which ensued.
Meanwhile, every effort was made by the captain, officers, and men of the brigade to stem tho torrent; the ground was cut up, intercepting channels were formed, and with a most commendable bravery and fearless activity they worked as hard as men could work to retard the progress of the blazing liquid which flowed irresistibly onward. A dense crowd of citizens had flocked from all sides, attracted by the intense glare of tho light which covered the sky with a purple hue, and it is gratifying to he able to say that unlike tho displays of disorder which characterised the occasion of the Thomas Street fire, the mass of people wore most peaceful and orderly, and, when opportunity afforded, of offered rather than impediment to the police and officers. Of course, there were, as there must over be some exceptions; but the exceptions in this case were astonishingly few; when the vastness of tho crowd is considered. Neo words can describe the terrible effect of the burning vessels of whiskey, forcing their way along, amid the cries and shouts of the people, and the sudden booming of exploded hogsheads, he bursting of which at intervals reminded the hearer that fuel was be in each moment added to tho fire.
The stream of spirit flowed on with horrid rapidity through Cork street, Chamber street, Ardee street and Mill street, carrying instruction in its course, and here it may be said that, had this matters wore, it was by the merest accident that the destruction of property was not ten times greater than it was. Had he breeze been stronger or in a different directiou it is terrible to think of the havoc which must have inevitably followed the sea of flame. In Mill street, for instance, there are, in the direction of tho side fortunately escaped, extensive ten yards the Warrenmount Mills, stores, and immensity of woodwork, all of which are surrounded by clusters of small houses and other buildings, or the safety of Warrenmount Convent the gravest apprehensions were entertained, aid many and anxious inquiries were made as to its position, but it fortunately was nninjnred.
Of course tho brigade was helpless to save the houses, and their exertions were necessarily confined to prevent, if possible, the onflow of the whiskey. In Mill street a plan was adopted which proved as effectual at least in keeping tho destruction within bounds. On the suggestion , we understand, of Mr. Crolton, jun., supervisor of waterworks, an embankment formed of wet tan and stuff token from neighbouring yards was placed in front of the approaching spirit, and in this way the burning stream was kept back. Similar steps were taken elsewhere, and thus the devastation which could not be prevented was as leas held in limit, and then the fire burned itself out, eating up with fearful and ravenous avidity everything that came within its range.
The whiskey lay in many places in deep pools, and many of tbe crowd men, women, and indeed, it must be added, even children, eagerly lapped up the scorching drink. This, however, was the only matter in which the conduct of even the lowest and roughest people present was reprehensible. Tho Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, who was summoned from the Gaiety Theatre at 10.40. attended immediately to received word of the occurrence, and remained until an advanced hour. Two of the brigade men had a narrow escape. They were occupied on the upper story of a house beside the bonded store, helping each other to pass up a hose. Whilst thus engaged the roof fell with a crash, one of the men escaped by jumping down the staircase, the other was jammed in the window, but providentially got down without suffering anything more serious than a severe shock and a few bruises
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Serious fire outbreak in Dublin |
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17/09/1906 |
Our Dublin correspondent says —A big blaze occurred in the small hours of the 15th inst. in Messrs. Barnatt’s food stores, Fumbally’s Lane, in the Liberties, west of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It broke out in the upper lofts of an extensive range of buildings, 150 feet long, which formed part of a brewery about twenty-five years ago.’ The fire brigade got the alarm in good time to save the structures. Under the chief and his lieutenant two detachments of the brigade soon deluged tho heart of the fire, checking its progress. In an hour they reduced the burning mags to a smouldering state, and the efforts of a couple of firemen were continued till the fire was quenched outright. A large quantity of hop and foodstuffs for cattle were destroyed but, fortunately, the many barrels of oil used in making up the foodstuffs escaped altogether.
The last great fire in the immediate neighbourhood occurred about twenty-five years ago in the bonded stores at BlackPitts, which were demolished, while the River Poddle and the street surface channels were flooded with burning whisky. Seven men who drank to excess died in hospital. A singular case of mistaken identity arose in one of the victims taken to the Meath Hospital. A young man was identified by father and mother and his young wife, who mourned his loss and followed his remains to Glasnevin Cemetary but in a fortnight afterwards the son and husband supposed to have been dead and buried_, turned up alive and well, quite recovered from the effects of the over indulgence in whisky, for which he had been treated successfully in another city hospital. The late Dr. Arthur Wynne Foot, the senior physician of the Meath Hospital stated that is was a remarkable occurrence.
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Labourer's finger crushed |
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17/02/1913 |
To-day, at the Courthouse, Green street, before the Right Hon. the Recorder, John Roche, a labourer in the employment of Messr Moran and Sons, contractors Strand, London, claimed compensation for injuries which, he alleged, he had received whilst employed at the drainage works below the Castle Yard, the contract for which was being curried out by the respondents.
The applicant was examined, and stated that whilst he was working in the river Poddle in tho Lower Castle Yard, on the 12th June, the second finger of his right hand was crushed and blood poisoning set in. He was treated in Cork street Hospital for two months and returned to light work with the respondents on the 27th Aug. last. He remained with them till the 12th January, when he was dismissed on account of slackness of work. He still complained of headaches, dizziness, and nervousness.
Dr. Day stated that in his opinion the applicant would not be able for heavy work until from six to two months had elapsed.
The Record held that the respondents were liable, and awarded £40 compensation with his costs and £1 for 1s witnesses expenses.
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Interview with the minister - satisfactory result |
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03/01/1932 |
Referring to the result of the interview which tho deputation from tho Corporation had with the Minister for Local Government (Mr. S. T. O’Kelly), an Irish independent representative says employment will be given to a number of men from to-day,’ Also numbers will be gradually increased. It was ‘stated by a member of the deputation that “the Minister’s was a fine gesture, one of the finest yet made.” The deputation placed before him a number of schemes, directly concerned with drainage, clearance of sites tor housing, and the cleaning up of a number of rivers around the city, including the Poddle, the Dodder, and the Camac. There are numerous other smaller schemes of a less outstanding nature, and is expected that when the Corporation moves, within ‘a few days, starting to-day on the enrolling of men, work will be given to about 200’. This figure, which is a very low estimate, and deals only with a bare fraction of the unemployed people in Dublin will be increased after the reading of the Budget by Mr. MacEntee, who will, it is revealed include.provision for the granting of a substantial sum to Dublin municipal bodies for the relief of distress.
The Minister for Local Government, because of his long experience as a member of the Dublin Corporation, was familiar with the problem. He discussed it at some length with the deputation, who included the Lord Mayor (Aid. A. Byrne, T.D.), Messr. E. Bow, J. Larkin (sen.), and Sherlock (City Manager and Town Clerk). Speaking from personal experience while visiting tho homes of the workless during tho past fortnight, the Lord Mayor dwelt with the. Misery caused by poverty and hunger, and tho added (hardship caused by evictions).
SECOND DEPUTATION.
The Minister also received a deputation from the Dublin Board of Public Assistance with reference to further grants for the relief of tho poor, and to this deputation Mr. O ‘Kelly also gave, a satisfactory assurance, declaring that grants will be provided. In this latter instance, however, nothing may be done until after the Budget, but the hope is held out that any grant to be made will be substantial. The members of the deputation were Kettle, Chairman; Mr. J. J. Farrell. who also represented Rathdown and Balrothery Boards
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Water is life |
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19/07/1970 |
IT IS IRONIC that with the announcement of the publication of a new booklet, “Water is Life” by the Water Pollution Advisory Council it should at the same time be reported that Dublin County Council has been fined £300 for polluting the Dodder and the Poddle, and that polluting phosphorus is seeping into the Lakes of Killarney. The Council, set up under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, has a primary function to advise the Minister for the Environment on water pollution matters. As part of its task it is collecting all available information on the state of rivers, lakes and other inland waters.
It would not be unkind to suggest that the Council is late in beginning its task of looking for pollution, and that it will not have far to go to find it. It is not the Council’s fault that in the face of almost despairing appeals from Mullingar and the eventual withdrawal of development by the Inland Fisheries Trust, the Government dithered until Lough Ennell, one of the finest trout lakes in Europe, was reduced to a stagnant, phosphorous-poisoned lake. Happily, at the last minute, an attempt is now being made to restore it. Starting off with the advantage of a country relatively free of heavy industrial development, we have done little else but crow about clean water. We kept up this pretence until eventually, in an annual report, Bord Failte threatened that it would no longer tell the world a lie about the quality of Irish water. The principal aim of the booklet “Water Is Life” is to create an awareness of the need to safeguard our rivers and lakes and to foster an appreciation of clean water- The booklet will be circulated widely, particularly among schools and youth bodies. It is excellently produced. Notably, it concentrates not on how good we are, but on how good it is to have clean water, and how everybody can help to cherish it. The Council must have had its tongue in its cheek when it included among those who will receive the booklet, the local authorities. It is on the shoulders of the local authorities, as administrators, that the success or failure of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act ultimately rests.
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Heavy penalties proposed £200 pollution fines |
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25/06/1970 |
A PRIVATE Member’s Bill that would impose a fine of £200 a day on anyone continuing to pollute waters after caution from a local authority will be introduced in the Dail by Mr. Luke Belton, chairman of the National Waters Conservation Association.
Mr. Belton told a meeting in Dublin yesterday that his Bill would replace the present “useless and archaic” legislation covering pollution and would be a serious step towards saving huge areas of Irish sea and inland waters before they were destroyed. He appealed to all parties in the Dail for support and said it would empower the Minister for Local Government to require a local authority to, take immediate steps to purify waters where he is satisfied pollution had occurred. Mr. Eoin Taggart, press officer of the association, charged that the worst polluters of Dublin rivers were the Dublin Corporation and Dublin City Council. He instanced the lower reaches of the Liffey, Tolka, Camac, Poddle, Swan and Dodder as being “already dead” and added: “If this Bill does not go through the Dail unopposed, this Conservation Year will be a laugh and nothing more.”
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High Time for action |
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10/10/1970 |
The National Waterways Conservation Association have asked Dublin Corporation to set up a special Department to deal with the increasing pollution of Dublin rivers and waterways.
A spokesman for the Association said it was “high time” that something was done about the “blatant polluting” of waterways in Dublin.
“Over the years some of our city’s rivers, including the Camac, Poddle and the Swan, have gone underground and others have been culverted (filled in). The problem is getting worse, and it is high time something was done to control the huge loss to the city,” he said.
The Association’ was heartened by the announcement at a recent meeting of Dublin Port and Docks Board which condemned t!he “disgraceful” state of rivers and waterways in their catchment area.
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War against pollution |
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22/07/1978 |
New measures to prevent pollution in Dublin’s rivers and waterways are being prepared, it was learned today. Extra funding and more sophisticated back-up are being positively considered for the city’s only anti-pollution task force the Dublin Board of Fisheries Conservators. It is hoped that the new measures will bring pollution prevention and prosecution up to standards already established in other European cities. Prosecutions relating to pollution at the Liffey, Dodder, Camac, Poddle, Tolka and Broadmeadow river estuary have ‘been successfully brought by the Board this year. The main pollution culprits were the city’s local authorities, who allowed domestic effluent into the rivers, and heavy industrial concerns who permitted seepage of noxious waste into the waterways. Fines ranging from £10 to £70 were handed down by district justices. The actual prosecutions cost hundreds of pounds to process. The new measures will make it easier for the Board to identify sources for pollution; to stabilise river health, and to set up an accurate river pollution monitoring service. Meanwhile, Dublin Co. Council intend to carry out major anti-pollution work at four locations countrywide following convictions in the courts.
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Water pollution could lead to disaster |
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06/09/1978 |
‘WATER, water everywhere. Nor any drop to drink.” The cry of the Ancient Mariner, may well be true of Ireland in the not-too-distant future if the pollution of drinking, water, lakes, rivers and seas continues to grow at its present rate. And looking ahead there is little reason to believe that much, will be achieved. It is true that the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1976, is coming into force but there is good reason to believe that it will be less than effective. For instance many local authorities do not possess the staffs necessary to enforce the law and there are loopholes which allow the most outrageous poisoning of rivers and streams to go unchecked.
The whole question is not academic and your, personal health and your family may already have, been affected by, water-carried substances in your food and your drinking supplies.
[more in article]
Dublin County Council was also fined for the pollution of the Dodder and Poddle Rivers and the situation in the Broadmeadow estuary near Swords has been highlighted in a report commissioned by local farmers and residents. The report laid the responsibility for pollution on the shoulders of the Council because it failed to check on discharges into the waterway. It is almost farcical that this local authority will be charged with a good deal of responsibility under the new Water Pollution Act.
It has, however, been alleged that the new Act will protect local authorities from prosecution in many cases and the First Schedule to the Water Pollution regulations exempts sanitary authorities from control in relation to “Trade effluent discharged … in the course of the performance of its powers and duties other than from a sewer. Neglect, stupidity and, in some cases, corruption have led to a situation around the country which, according to chairman of An Taisce, Philip Mullaly, is bringing us, “within striking distance of the pollution load of a densely populated country like Britain which has experienced 150 years of industrial development.”
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Polluted river 'gave girl gangrene' |
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10/10/1979 |
12-year-old girl has contracted “Gas gangrene” — a rare and serious medical condition — from Dublin’s heavily polluted Poddle river, it was alleged yesterday. The polluted river, which flows through the new urban developments at Tallaght and Templeogue, should be culverted as a matter of urgency before a major healt hazard is created, say Dublin County Councillors.
The deteriorating state of the Poddle was raised at yesterday’s meeting of Dublin County Council’s mid-west committee, where five members claimed to have, medical evidence of the “gas gangrene” incident Committee chairman, Cllr. Joe Connolly (Lab.), produced a petition from 102 mothers living on a housing estate built on the banks of the river, urging the authority to take action. County administrator, Mr. Philip Murray said it would be necessary to identify the more dangerous stretches of the river before culverting designs could be prepared. He expected this work could not be carried out until next year. It was emphasised last night by V Prof.
Brendan O’Donnell, Dublin’s chief medical officer that there was no chance of an epidemic of gas gangrene breaking out in housing estates along the Poddle. The infection could come from a polluted river, but would only thrive if it alighted on dead tissue,’ such as that surrounding something as serious as a gunshot wound.
It was agreed by yesterday’s regional committee to refer the matter for report and urgent. consideration to November’s full Dublin Co. Council meeting.
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Days of Liffey smell numbered |
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24/12/1981 |
Multi million pound cleanup
The foul state of the River Liffey has for years been the source of jokes for Dubliners. It has been said that if you fell in you would die of poisoning before drowning. But all this is soon to end as the giant Dublin sewerage scheme nears competition. It will be a much cleaner river.
The project is a joint venture by Dublin Corporation and County Council. Conceived in the mid 1960’s the scheme is intended to take the burden of the city’s domestic and industrial sewage from the old overworked system that has been used for decades.
Large areas of Dublin county will also be served and the system can be extended if need be to the rapidly emerging and expanding satellite towns around the city’s peripheries. –
The hub of the new system is the now completed Grand Canal Tunnel running from Inchicore to Maquay Bridge on Grand Canal Street. In addition there is i connecting tunnel to a pumping station and sewage treatment works in Ringsend.
After treatment the outfall will be discharged, in what, the experts describe as a highly diluted “healthy” state into Dublin Bay.
It is predicted that the condition of Dublin Bay will improve dramatically as a result of this process. Any remaining sludge left over after treatment is to be dumped far out to set by ships.
The cost of the Dublin Sewerage Scheme was estimated initially at a little over £6 million. Current estimates have raised that figure to just under £36 million. The final figure when the scheme is complete in about two years time is expected to exceed £40 million.
The scheme, officially entitled “The Greater Dublin Drainage Scheme”, centres OE the Grand Canal Tunnel Sewer This runs alongside the Canal and is the main artery into which dozens of smaller tunnels and drains will connect.
The minor tunnels will serve existing and planned townships around the city. In addition existing sewers will be connected to the new system. The Grand Canal tunnel is roughly the size of a railway tunnel.
One of Dublin’s chief sewers is in fact a river. The River Camac runs into Dublin from the west of the county. It passes through Clondalkin and on to Inchicore, much of the time underground, where it flows under the level of the canal bottom.
The various studies commissioned by Dublin Corporation including the comprehensive Crisp report, blamed the Camac for much of the pollution so evident in the Liffey. It enters the Liffey alongside Heuston Station.
For years it has borne the brunt of foul waste emanating from old industries along its course, mainly paper mills. Now all that foul waste will be diverted into the canal tunnel along with waste that has been pumped into ‘Other Dublin rivers including the Liffey itself, the Dodder, the Tolka and the tiny Poddle.
“With new system coping with foul waste Dublin’s environment and waterways in particular will receive a tremendous boost.” says a spokesman for Dublin Corporation.
“A clean Liffey is a few years away yet, probably not until the middle of this decade. But the improvement to it and other rivers will be ongoing. It will certainly be an awful lot better than it is now,” he adds.
Much of the present discharge into the Liffey. is surface and rain water from the streets which passes through the drains. This will still be discharged into the river but what it termed “foul waste” will be diverted to the new system.
The main tunnel will also swallow up a lot of surface water. Its capacity is sufficient to cope with what meteorologists call “a 200 year storm”. This is a storm of such intensity and high rainfall that it is likely only to occur once every two centuries.
About three quarters of everyday waste discharged into city sewers is surface water, the rest being foul waste. The tunnel is designed to cope with separate inflows of both. It will collect the foul waste from two smaller tunnels coming from Blanchardstown and Clondalkin (Tallaght has its own system which follows the River Dodder and is to be connected to the new Ringsend treatment plant.
The two tunnels merge at Goldenbridge in Inchicore and a little further on link with the main Grand Canal tunnel.
“The capacity of the main tunnel is vast,” says Chief Dublin City and County Engineer Kevin O’Donnell.
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Litter Louts |
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14/03/2000 |
A CENTURY ago according to James Joyce, the Poddle was pouring a “tongue of sewage” into the Liffey estuary. Nowadays one does not have to go that far downriver to find appalling pollution. Most of once-sweet Anna Livia is polluted. So are 70pc of the historic Boyne and 32pc of the glorious Suir. Most of the household effluent discharged untreated into the three rivers goes into the estuaries, but upstream the quality of the water extracted for drinking does not meet adequate standards.
Meanwhile, visitors to our capital city see signs in English, French and Italian reading “Welcome to Dublin — excuse the litter.” The signs are the bright idea of the Irish Business Against Litter Campaign. If water pollution can and does harm human health, litter can and does harm tourism.
The culprits? The usual suspects. For the filth of our cities and towns, extending into the countryside, individuals. For the filth of our waters, partly individuals again, but public authorities, industry and agriculture are more blameworthy. And the remedy? Householders, farmers and industry, says the Environment Department, can take responsibility for the pollution they generate. The same department’ sees “a huge improvement in local authority action on Utter”, especially in Dublin: a remarkable feat of eyesight and imagination. The only answer is stringent law enforcement.
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Pollution of Liffey |
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10/07/1957 |
POLLUTION OF LIFFEY
Sir, During the past four days 16 dead salmon and grilse have been taken from the Liffey river at the Custom House Dock by Mr. J. O’Reilly, of Sandymount. None of these fish bore a market of net, gaff or hook. All died of poisoning during their bid to get from the sea to the fresh water through the awful cesspool of pollution which extends now from Islandbridge to the Pigeon House. Mr. O’Reilly picked up just 16 salmon; goodness knows how many more have died. There is much ballyhoo nowadays about tourism and how to attract wealthy anglers from abroad to fish our rivers and lakes. It has been boasted that in Dublin, the capital city of the Republic, one could fish for and catch a salmon within a threepenny bus ride from O’Connell Bridge. The Liffey was at one time a great salmon river and could be made great again, now that netting has ended at Islandbridge. It can be written off, however, like the Tyne and other once great English rivers, if industrial pollution is to be allowed wipe out the adult fish returning to spawn. The Liffey and Its tributaries in and around Dublin — the Tolka, Dodder, Poddle and Camac are a disgrace to the City. Each year in the Dodder alone hundreds of brown trout
sea trout and salmon are poisoned.. Protests are made, acknowledged and apparently forgotten, for nothing seems to he done to remedy the situation. For the past month or more the pollution has been particularly bad and how the citizens stand the disgusting smell of it is a mystery.
The rights of Liffey fishery owners and fishermen, who have to pay rates, rent, licence duties and other charges, are being grievously injured. The responsibility must lie somewhere, but it is common gossip that in this regard the ” buck is being passed.” Surely it must be the duty of some higher authority to pin-point the responsibility and insist that the existing mess be cleaned up and pollution prevented for the future.
RICHARD RICE,
Hon. Secretary National Salmon Anglers’ Federation, August 9. 1957.
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Dublin Floods of Former Days |
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13/09/1931 |
The 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 loss of life and property from the overflowing of rivers and rivulets. In this respect it must be said that, while the Tolka and Camac can be been violent at times, yet they have been well-behaved streams in comparison with ‘the tumultuous Dodder or the tortuous Poddle, or the majestic Anna Liffey till she was kept in her place.
Judging from the scanty records that have come down to us, the flood of March, 1670, must have caused great damage. A storm from the South-East, accompanied by very heavy rain, caused the Liffey to overflow over Mr. Hawkins’s new wall up to the College,” and the river “flowed very high into the city, and did much damage.” Seventeen years later another Liffey flood took place, due to excessive rains and a violent storm at new moon. Part of Essex Bridge, which had been built just eleven years before, was carried away and boats plied in the low-lying parts of the city, where the water rose as high, as the first floor of the houses.
A Midsummer Storm. In June, 1754, floods caused great damage. The heavy rain which, fell on June 14 and the preceding night “exceeded anything of the like nature that can be remembered.” Potato fields were ruined cattle were carried away and lost in the torrents the lower town of Bray was flooded, and the bridges of Enniskerry, Tinnahinch and Rathfarnham were broken down by the flooded waters.
Thirty years later floods again caused much damage and distress in Dublin and the vicinity of the metropolis. The heavy and incessant rains which fell in January, 1784, caused the Poddle to overflow, the water rising to six feet at the Cathedral. Ship Street, the.Lower Castle Yard, and Dame Street, as far as Sycamore Alley, were covered, and the torrent flowed through Crampton Court and Crane Lane (filling the cellars and kitchens on the way) until it joined the swollen waters of the Liffey. At the same time” vast has been the destruction of the River Dodder, having almost swept away everything before it.”
When. Five Liffey Bridges Fell.
Early in December, 1802, a tremendous! flood swept Dublin, and the suburbs. Rain fell for over thirty-six hours, and the Liffey rose to a height unprecedented in the memory of the oldest inhabitants.” Ormond Bridge was swept away but happily no lives were lost. The Four Courts were inundated, the water rising four feet in the room where the barristers’ robes were kept. The Poddle overflowed to a greater height than was ever remembered, causing great distress to many poor persons, who were banished from their habitations, particularly to those whose misfortune it is to reside in cellars.” These floods caused the destruction of the bridges at Ringsend , Clohskeagh, Lucan and Celbridge.
River’s 7ft. Rise in 25 Minutes.
Dr. Boate, author of “Ireland’s Natural History,” writing over 250 years ago. about the great tendency of the Dodder to rise suddenly, observes that although the bridge at Rathfarnham was so high that a man” on horseback could ride under it, and the water was so shallow that a child could wade through it, yet the river rose so rapidly that it often flowed over the bridge. This statement received striking confirmation in November, 1834, when heavy rain ” produced an immense flood in “the Dodder”. On Nov. 7 the water rose .seven feet in twenty-five minutes, so great and so sudden was the flood; and then as now “the poor people were severe sufferers.”
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To prevent floods |
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04/02/1933 |
DUBLIN 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 here to prevent the flooding of rivers at both sides of the city. The schemes are being executed by the Corporation with the help of of unemployment relief grants. The rivers Camac, Poddle, Tolka, and Dodder are so email now that the mention of them causes amusement, but they become formidable in rainy seasons, and cause those floods of which so much is heard. Poor people living near the banks are the sufferers. The banks are being raised and strengthened, the beds deepened and cleared of the obstruction which impeded the free flow of the water, weirs lowered, and all other necessary steps taken for the prevention of inundations.
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Picture stories of the day |
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06/02/1925 |
Owing 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 and narrowly escaped injury. The river Poddle runs under the spot.
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When weather is wild it might be worse |
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27/01/1937 |
Stormy 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, we are scared by their stories of the savagery of the gales.
As in our own days, the country was concerned with projects of construction. On the mountains men were hewing stone for new spannings of the Liffey. Alongside the western wing of the Custom House plans were prepared for tho building of a dock or basin. Private owners,, like Mr. Talbot at Malahide, had occupied themselves with such schemes as the completion of a circular canal, into which the sea flowed and turned several mills for spinning cotton.
When the tempests were loosed, it is therefore no cause for wonder that the directors of the Grand Canal praised the engineering skill which saved their enterprise between Dublin and Monasterevin.
Startling phenomena had already been observed. Without any heavy fall of rain rivers had burst their bounds. Unaccompanied by storm or hurricane the sea had unusually swelled. Then came the dreadful earthquake which shook Lisbon to its base and affected Port Royal Harbour in Jamaica. Around the Cove of Cork and other Southern havens ships were torn from their anchorage and became the mockery of the winds and waves.
[more in PDF]
BRADOGUE, DODDER AND PODDLE
Squashy, surely, was the state of our capital. The Bradogue, of no note since the effacement of Sfc. _JIary_’s Abbey, babbled over Green. Street. The Dodder spread like a sea, and defied man or beast to wade through it.
Then the Poddle and its tributaries sent the inhabitants from New Street to Bride’s Alley, or afterwards from New Row to the lower end of Meath Street, fleeing to the tops of their houses. Gradually it meandered to Crampton Row and Palace Street, until it at last startled dwellers even in the Lower Castle Yard. Yes, we have reason to be truly grateful for our calmer days.
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The night of the big wind |
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06/01/1967 |
By 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 of January 6, 1839, in the memory and folklore of the country as “The Night of the Big Wind.” Raging over the land, the gale toppled houses, ripped the roofs off barns and churches alike and caused fires, floods, shipwrecks, death and injury. No part of the country escaped the force of the wind as slates flew, buildings collapsed and fires were fanned to fury.
Premonition of doom gripped many of those who still could think, reeling though their senses were with, the terror of title berserk elements, their forebodings of a supernatural visitation being heightened by the ghastly gleams of the Aurora Boreals’s uncanny hues, which now and then were seen between rifts of crazily-flying clouds reddened by the lurid glare of all the country-wide conflagrations below. Even hardened reporters were _unmanned by what they witnessed on that “Night of the Big Wind,” as history has since named the onset of that storm, and so it was not until days later that their papers dazedly started to sift-out of the ruins and the ashes bits and pieces of their localities’ tragedies, and, too, the sublime heroism and humanitarianism these evoked.
On the following Tuesday the Freeman’s Journal reported:
“At an early hour on Sunday evening the wind freshened and by 10.30 p.m. it raged a furious gale, intensifying until after midnight it blew a most fearful and destructive tempest. Not a soul dare venture into the streets: the lamps were without almost any exception extinguished: and amidst the roaring of the hurricane, which threatened to sweep every obstacle before it from the surface of the earth, the pealing of the fire-bells, the sound of falling chimneys and windows breaking and slates and tiles flying through the streets were fearfully audible; and sometimes the still more dreadful shrieks of the alarmed inmates of tottering houses reached the ear, while the rocking walls and falling roofs threatened them momentarily with destruction”.
Whirlwinds
First, the storm blew almost directly from due West but changed about 3 a.m. to southward, with violent rain squalls. Sweeping up and sometimes down the streets the blasts collided and formed whirlwinds that quaked houses at their foundations. After 4 a.m. the storm slightly abated, yet still it raged furiously until daybreak, when it sank back to a heavy southwesterly gale that catastrophically continued throughout the remainder of Monday.
The crashes of those unnecessarily lofty chimneys, still an ominous feature of Dublin’s old-style architecture, caused many of the fatalities and much of the general damage. When the chimney of the Collins home at Sydney Avenue, near the railway, toppled, two of the servants were killed. Another, at No. 23 Clare Street, buried Mr. and Mrs. Whiston; he was killed: she was not expected to live. Chimneys killed an impoverished woman at Cork Street, a mother and child at New Row, on the Poddle, and two women at Williamstown. Many were tumbled in exposed areas such as St. Stephen’s Green and Merrion and Fitzwilliam Square. Throughout the country, too. the deathtoll row.
“Scarcely a house in the city has not been injured,” the Freeman’s Journal stated. All along Sackville (O’Connell) Street almost every roof was stripped, while slates and tiles whirled like blizzard-blown snow-flakes. Banged down by a gust, two men sustained broken legs there. Alone amidst the shambles of that thoroughfare. Nelson maintained his stony imperturbability, casting the blind eye on the tempest’s furious threats to down him. as he so invincibly did throughout the great storm of 1S22.
Trees ripped
On the gales roared. In Phibsboro almost every house was a total wreck. A portion of the wall at Botanic Gardens was burst outwards, crushing to death a policeman sheltering near it. Nine horses of Guinness’s brewery were killed when the wall of an adjoining yard was pelted into ‘heir stable. Thousands of trees were ripped up in the Phoenix Park. Others were torn from the banks of the Grand Canal. A storm-lashed Fly Boat foundered on the Grand Canal’s Portobello Harhour. Seriously hurt, two people were dragged from the ruins of No. 40 Dawson Street when the roof caved in.
In Dublin, as elsewhere throughout the country, the gale seemed to be singling out houses of worship for special damage. On its assault on Phibsboro church, great stones, each weighing over two cts., were blown far and wide. Part of the steeple of Donnybrook church was knocked down, and swept away was the ball on top of the spire of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Most horrifying of all the havoc in Dublin on that night of terror was the fire the storm blew up at the Bethesda church and schools, near Granby Row. It was feared that the entire area would be burnt down, and plans were afoot to have the structures blown up by artillery but these were later cancelled. At one o’clock on that morning the house across the street was levelled by the hurricane. Every vestige of the church and schools, as well as the residence of the Rev. Mr. Gregg was destroyed. Three artillery men were severely injured, and Inspectors Prendeville and Murphy grievously burned.
Burned
At Esker, near Lucan, the gable-end of a house Mas blown in, killing a mother and three children. Fire then broke out and a father and his son were terribly mangled and burned. A poor man in the neighbourhood, having saved all his family, excepting one child, after their home fell down on them, was carrying the little one away when both were blown to their deaths in a drain. A wake was being held at the home of the Gaynor family somewhere in that same locality when the house wen’, on fire. The corpse was cremated before it cou~d be dragged out. Also in the suburbs, Liord castlemaine was killed: he had been ill at his residence and was trying to fasten a window against the gale when a gust hurled him backwards to his death.
Escapes
Miraculous escapes occurred all over the capital. Part of No. 23 Holies Street was blown out into the road. No. 15 Erne Street was entirely demolished and with it portion of the adjoining home, yet no fatalities were reported from either wreck. When the roof of the china shop of Daniel Lawrence of 9 Nassau Street was blown in. the entire premises was smashed, burying his wife and children in its debris, yet all were rescued alive. Within four days the lucky Lawrences benefited from the generosity of their Dublin admirers to the extent of the then high sum of £400 and the subscription was still rising. Two families were uninjured when the Geraghty house in Aungier Street fell on them.
Remarkably lucky, too, were the soldiers in the guard room of the Vice Regal Lodge (now Aras an Uachtarain), for they still lived when a great tree tore down on it. When a squall whirled over the sentry box on Military Road, the soldier in it. also survived.
Strangest of all the escapes amidst the great gales in the wake of The Night of The Big Wind was this recalled by the Freeman’s Journal. As the mail packet Shearwater was steaming into Dublin Bay from Liverpool, the Captain saw near Dalkey’s rocks a plank, and clinging to it, a little boy. Picked up, the lad, about six years old. had recovered sufficiently at Kingstown on the following day to tell that both his parents had been drowned in the Irish Sea off a Liverpool vessel bound for New York, wrecked, as the paper said, about five hours earlier in the late awful hurricane. It was estimated that he had been drifting on those wild seas for about five hours.
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Many homes hit by flooding |
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08/12/1982 |
…… 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 Dodder. The principal trouble spots yesterday were along the Poddle river, in the North County, and along the Dargle in the South County. Many residents were left without electricity in the worst affected areas.
On the Cherrywood Estate, Clondalkin, one of the hardest-hit places, only the showhouse had “any supply at teatime last night. The majority of residents were without electricity.
continued in PDF
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€7m work on Poddle protect 800 homes |
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11/09/2019 |
Sean 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 by the Office of Public Works, is expected to begin in mid-2020 and will take up to 24 months. Dublin City Council’s south-east area committee was told the scheme would lower the risk to human life.
HURRICANE
During extreme weather, the Poddle has flooded four times in the past 35 years, includingduring Hurricane Charlie in 1986, with 80 households five commercial premises hit. In 2011, one person was killed and more than 50 properties suffered major damage after flooding in Kimmage, Harold’s Cross, Mount Argus, Mount Jerome and Gandon Close when more than 90mm of rain fell in six hours.
The Poddle, which rises in Tallaght, runs underground for much of its course as it flows Tymon Park, Harold’s Cross and Blackpitts before entering the Liffey at Wellington Quay.
The main element of the scheme, being overseen by the Office of Public Works, Dublin City Council and South Dublin Council, is a containment area for floodwater in Tymon Park. Other containment areas are proposed at Whitehall Park and Ravensdale Park, Kimmage.
Other measures include raised earth embankments, sealing off manholes and cleaning culverts. Building a 1.5-metre defence a wall in Poddle Park, Kimmage, will result in the loss of up to 20pc of its trees. A planning application for the scheme is expected to be submitted to An Bord Pleanala next month and will be followed by public consultation.
Labour councillor Mary Free Councillor Mary Freehill hill said the scheme was “a long time in the process” since the through flooding of 2011 and would take some years to complete. “People in the Harold’s Cross area can’t get insurance cover,” she said.
The council has said it will provide “letters of comfort” that householders can show insurance companies when seeking cover for their homes.County ment.
Independent councillor Mannix Flynn said a lot of the flooding was due to no maintenance. “The Liffey is a pure and absolute sewer,” he said.
The Poddle with links to 15 other watercourses was the main sources of Dublin’s drinking water until the 13th Century.
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Liffey bridge architect hits back at objector |
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12/04/1995 |
THE proposed new footbridge over the Liffey will be totally accessible to the disabled and parents with buggies, its architect said.
The 48 metre, canopied Poddle Bridge is designed to join Lower Ormond Quay on the northside and Wellington Quay to the south.
Today an oral opened hearing on the at An Bord Pleanala.
The applicants Temple Properties ure appealing against decision by Dublin proposal. Corporation veto the proposal.
Among the objectors are the Irish Georgian An Taisce as well as planners and a number residents in the area.
The architect who designed the bridge, Michael McGarry said the structure followed guidelines from the NRB (National Rehab Board) as regards accessibility for the ambulance, disabled, those in wheelchairs and parents with buggies
“There are no steps” Mr McGarry explained.
He said the bridge had been designed to blend in with the muted colours of the city and would have a hardwood deck and a copper canopy which would give a “spatial and acoustic quality”
An Taisce object to impact on the character of the River Liffey and the Quays especially because of the roof.
Corporation planners believed that the bridge qould constitute a dense netow of tubular steel making it appear “heavy” rather than light.
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Bridging the gap: what Dubliners think |
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29/10/1994 |
It has been nicknamed the Drunken Bridge and The Wave Across The River due to its controversial design. It will cost £750,000 of European money to build and will span the Liffey on the stretch between the Halfpenny Bridge and Capcl St. Bridge. Within the next month, Dublin City Councillors will decide the future of the proposed Poddle Bridge, so-called because it would be situated at the point where the Poddle river enters the Liffey.
Dubliners have had a say in whether or not this new bridge goes up. At exhibitions at City Hall and at Temple Bar Properties’ Information Office
their comments have been welcomed and will be passed onto councillors before they make their final decision.
Needless to say Dubs are divided in their opinions about the look of the bridge and the need for it. It’s an unusual construction to say the least. Designed by architect Michael McGarry and his partners, it curves in the middle, has a copper cover and features timber and steel, materials typical of Dublin’s architecture. If the plan goes ahead, the bridge will cut right through an existing building on Wellington Quay, finishing up on a new Temple Bar square called Meeting House Square. One man viewing the exhibition at City Hall said it looked as though was about to fall down, while others have said it’s just plain ugly. “It looks like something that’s been put up as a temporary construction,” said John Forrest, from Stillorgan, when we showed him a model of the bridge. “And as for the artistic value of curving it in the middle, I think it’s awful. It’s pretentious and in total contrast to the other Liffey bridges. There is no geographical construction in Dublin that could parallel it. It’s a distortion of architecture.” Added Temple Bar shopkeeper Pat Cleere: “It’s as though we’re expecting Russians or something. You certainly wouldn’t want to be twisted crossing it at night. The question I ask is why they’re building another footbridge between the Halfpenny Bridge and Capel Street. It is as though someone is building a bridge for sake of it, it’s obviously European money or else it wouldn’t be going up.
Those behind the planning of the bridge are quick to defend it. Laura Magahy of Temple Bar Properties comments: “The purpose of the bridge is to link Temple Bar with the northside Basically, it will pull Jervis Street, Henry Street and Mary Street closer to Temple Bar. “It’s needed because the Halfpenny Bridge is already over-crowded and is unsuitable for buggies or the disabled people. The new Poddle bridge has no steps and features a safe landing area so it can used by everyone. Also, the part of the river where the bridge will be is actually th elongest inner-city stretch without a bridge. “It has been controversial but do you know that when the Halfpenny Bridge originally went up, councillors had a vote on whether or not to take it the take it down because they is hated it so much?”
The look of the bridge has come in for most criticism from local Dubliners. “I think it’s awful,” remarked Mary Cleere from Temple Bar. “Obviously, it’s been designed to match the arty look of Temple Bar, but it looks completely out of place with the Halfpenny Bridge. I don’t think it’s needed, people will just continue to use the Halfpenny Bridge anyway.” Bernadette Barrett, who works in the area, agrees; “Call me an old-fashioned girl but I think it’s horrible. It’s too sci-fi looking. It’s out of character with the other bridges and I don’t think it should have a roof on it.” Architect Michael McGarry is optimistic about the bridge’s future, despite some negative reactions and the fact that 75% of all councillors must vote in favour of it for planning to go ahead.
the “Crossing a bridge should be a pleasant, enjoyable and safe experience. It isn’t at the Halfpenny Bridge where you’re dumped onto a very narrow, dangerous footpath when you come down the steps.” he says.
“The Poddle Bridge is completely user-friendly. It has a very gentle slope, it’s very low and close to the water in order to highlight the whole idea of crossing over water. “The materials we’ve used have a pedigree in Dublin. They match the neutral shades of the city’s architecture And we’ve used timber because the sound of footsteps on timber over water makes a very particular noise that Dubliners will remember from the time when the Halfpenny Bridge had timber.
“The banks on either side of the Liffey are different heights, but the curve in the middle of the bridge is purely a matter of design. “It’s not critic;)! to the structure of the bridge. So far, we’ve had 75% favourable responses and the rest negative.”
And at least two people we spoke to are in favour of the bridge.
Paddy Dunning, from the Ormonde Multi-media Centre on the quays says: “I’m all for it. Any link between the southside and northside is a good thing. Also, the Halfpenny bridge is totally congested with queues of people waiting to cross it every day this bridge will serve thousands of people who walkdown_the quays every day and will also improve safety.
Aoife Woodlock, also from the Ormonde Centre, sums up the viability of the bridge like this: “If it leads me directly to the Norseman pub, it is perfect for me” she says.
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Councillors vote down bridge |
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16/12/1994 |
TEMPLE Bar Properties’ controversial Poddle pedestrian bridge was torpedoed by Dublin city councillors at last night’s full monthly meeting of the council when they failed to give the project the necessary three-quarters backing.
Most of the councillors present, 24 to 18, actually approved the copper-topped bridge, a model of which went on display to Dubliners in City Hall last month. However, as the building of the bridge would have been a material contravention of the city’s Development Plan, approval by at least three-quarters of the councillors was necessary.
The vote effectively kills the proposal. However, a number of councillors said last night that they might approve a bridge at the site linking Wellington and Ormond quays if there was a new design.
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Liffey bridge plan appealed |
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13/01/1995 |
TEMPLE Bar Properties has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala against Dublin Corporation’s refusal of planning permission for a footbridge, to be called Poddle Bridge, over the Liffey at Wellington Quay and Ormond Quay .
“Poddle Bridge is a critical pedestrian route to link the North and South Quays and channel people in and out of the heart of Temple Bar,” said Temple Bar Properties managing director, Laura Magahy.
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Appeal ©n Dublin footbridge plan |
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13/04/1995 |
The designer of a proposed pedestrian bridge, between Ormond Quay and Wellington Quay, Mr Michael McGarry, said the Poddle Bridge could do for the city what the East Link did to open up the docks area.
Mr McGarry was speaking at an appeal being heard by An Bord Pleanala against a decision by Dublin Corporation to refuse permission to Temple Bar properties for the controversial bridge.
Supporting Dublin Corporation’s objections are An Taisce who believe the structure will interfere with the view of Dublin’s most historic landmarks along the Liffey, including the Halfpenny Bridge itself. The hearing continues today.
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River Poddle Tax |
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01/08/1829 |
Yesterday, pursuant to a requistion which appeared in the Journal of the 31st inst., a meeting was held at the Tailor Hall.
GEORGE FLETCHER, Esq., was called to the Chair. Joshua Morris acted as, Secretary, Mr. Morris read a correspondence which took place between him and the Lord Mayor, as well us the Dean of Patrick’s, on the neglect of the assessment. After some discussion of a general nature, it was resolve that a case should be prepared for Counsel on the subject and a Committee formed to prepare subscriptions to any expenses that might be incurred in procuring an equalization of the tax.
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River Poddle Tax |
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31/07/1929 |
PURSUANT to Resolutions entered into by the several Householders, who met at the Tailors’ Hall on the 18th inst., relative to the above Tax, I hereby request a Meeting of all Persons liable to the same, to meet on THIS DAY, 31st inst., at the aforesaid Hall, at Twelve O’ Clock, for the purpose of laying before them a most important Letter, received from Dean Dawson, Treasurer to said Fund.
The following Finishes are requested to produce their respective Rector’s Income, viz. Catherine’s (Earl of Meath’s Liberty only) (Liberty of Sepulchre), Kevin’s, Luke’s. Nicholas within and Nicholas without, Bride’s, Werburgh’s, and Andrew’s.
JOSEPH MORRIS, Secretary
29. Brunswick-street,
31st of 7th Month, 1829.
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Two centuries ago |
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21/04/1752 |
Yesterday morning about nine o’clock, the Liberty Boys being informed that several Pieces of English Cloth were sent out of the City to the Clothiers in Chamber Street and Weavers’ Square, in order to be pressed and otherwise made ready for Sale for the Shopkeepers, associated togcther in great numbers, and forcibly took out of the houses of the Clothiers upwards of 10 pieces of Cloth, 5 or 6 of which they burned or tore to pieces but were soon after dispersed the Poddle Guard.
—Pue’s Occurences, ‘
April 21st, 1752.
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Two centuries ago |
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08/08/1752 |
Last Tuesday (4th) the Liberties and Franchises of this City were ridden and perambulated by the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, and City Officers, and by the, 24 Corporations who all made a very”fine appearance. But some unruly Vagabonds at the Poddle took the City Sword and one of them ran away with it, upon which the Poddle Guard was called to prevent mischief and the Fellow who stole the Sword was taken and sent to Newgate…. The Coopers-had a lusty jolly Man, with a very comely-face, to represent Bacchus, bestriding a Tun, at one end which sat two Trumpeters, who played several Bacchanalian Tunes, which gave great _Pleasure …
— Faulkner’s Dublin Journal,
August 8th 1752
As Dublin is allowed to be the dirtiest City in the World, and as all Methods which have been tried to make the Contractors for cleansing the Streets for which they are paid such large Sums, have proved ineffectual, it is hoped the Wisdom of the Legislature will Interfere to relieve the in habitants of this Complaint.
—Hibernian Journal,
November 8th, 1777
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Two centuries ago |
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01/06/1751 |
Friday night, one William Jackson butcher in Kevin Street, attempting to scale the wall of the Bishop of Elphin’s garden, was shot by a Person appointed to watch, as his Lordship’s pantry had been robbed about three months before. On the Monday night following the Bother and Father of the Man that was shot entered the Bishop’s House attended by Hundreds and seized the Man who shot the deceased, and would have given him Gallows Paul’s fate, were they not prevented by the Poddle Guard, who were brought by Justice Drury.
– Dublin Courant.
TFH
June 1, 1751.
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Two centuries ago |
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12/09/1730 |
Last Tuesday night, two Sharpers after they had gotten a Prey, adjourned in the New Row on the Poddle, in order to share the Booty, where disagreeing, they drew their Knives and fought. One of them was killed on the spot, and the other so desperately pounded that his Life is despaired of. But it seems the good old proverbial – Saying was not verified in them, for the honest Man that lost his Purse, had not the Fortune to get it again.
—Faulkner’s Dublin Journal,
September 12th, 1730.
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Cider gangs terrify residents |
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05/07/1978 |
RAMPAGING teenagers high on cider are terrifying residents in Poddle Park, Kimmage, according to Fianna Fail T.D. Gerard Brady today.
He said that teenage cider parties on waste land in the area had run out of control and local people were being terrorised by nightly orgies of violence.
“These nightly cider parties by huge gangs of young people are causing immense distress to the older people in the suburb,” added Mr. Brady.
He said that he was meeting the Minister for Justice, Mr. Collins to complain about the ¦problem and to urge stricter enforcing of the licensing laws relating to the sale of drink to teenagers.
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What a caveman did to a quiet suburban road... |
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05/08/1979 |
.. and complaints go unheeded
IS IT any wonder our capital is a _disgusting sight when a suburban road is allowed to become a knacker’s yard for old cars?
Poddle Park in Kimmage was a suburban backwater until a car man began to develop his business there — with the consequences shown in my photograph.
One resident told me: “We have complained time and time again to the Gardai and the Corporation, but the situation only get worse.”
When I tried to drive through Poddle Park the other afternoon there was a traffic jam. Wrecked cars on each side of the narrow road had reduced the traffic flow to one lane.
All I know is — I wouldn’t like to own a house in Poddle Park.
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7 horses dead after suspected poisoning |
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03/08/1990 |
By DONAL MACINTYRE
FIVE horses were put down and two died in a suspected poison attack at Poddle Park, in Kimmage. Dublin_, last night. Officers of the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were at the scene and are awaiting further results from tests being carried out at Dublin’s Veterinary College before they can confirm that the horses were in fact poisoned. “The circumstances are very suspicious”. Maurice Byrne of the DPSCA told the IRISH PRESS. Another horse is being treated at the veterinary college and three others including two foals are being monitored in case of contamination.
BY STEPHEN O BRIEN
BROKEN-HEARTED animal lovers were today preparing to bury seven ponies who died in agony from poisoning yesterday at Poddle Park, Kimmage.
Vets and-animal lovers are anxiously awaiting the results of a postmortem being carried out today on an eighth pony to discover what killed the much-loved pets.
The post-mortem is being carried out at the Veterinary College at UCD. It is suspected that the animals died from mouldy bread or paraquat.
Tom Farrington, the vet who had to put down five of the animals when he found them still alive but in great distress, said today that locals had found three bags of old bread in the area and that these were to be analysed.
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"The Phantom's" Last Stand - In his shirt |
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01/08/1954 |
If the sentence of five years penal servitude passed last Friday on 30-year-old John Broe, stated to be a native of Templeogue, Co. Dublin, has put an end to the career of “The Phantom,” as he was popularly known, the credit is mainly due to three Roscommon-born Gardai. A detective officer and two uniformed men, they were responsible for his capture in the early hours of July 15.
As a result of a “999” call on the preceding night, a team of squad cars set out to search the Rathfarnham – Templeogue district. In one of them was D.-O. Christopher Lang, a native of Balinlough, Co. Roscommon. The search extended through the fields where D’ O Lang. by this time alone, spotted a man lying under a haycock in the Wellington Lane – Rathfarnham area. When the man saw the officer he ran; Lang gave chase and finally brought his quarry to bay in the River Poddle.
Broe resisted strongly and it was about 20 minutes before Lang succeeded in subduing him.
The bank of the river at this point is high and having captured his man, Lang was now faced with the problem of getting him out in order to “bring him in.” There was only one narrow opening wide enough for one person at a time, through the river bank to the field above. Lang finally solved the problem by forcing force to undress to his shirt and then making him climb the bank. The officer’s troubles were not over, however. As Broe climbed up through the opening he thrust backwards with his bare foot, tumbling the detective back into the river. When D/O. Lang finally climbed up to the field Broe had made his escape in his shirt.
GOT REINFORCEMENTS
Making his way to Templeogue House D./O. Lang got in touch through headquarters with one of the squad cars, manned by Gardal John Egan. of Sundrive Road Station. and Walter Dowd, of Rathmines Station, both also Roscommon-born.
On Lang’s directions as to where he had last seen the wanted man and after a search of about half an hour, they discovered Broe lying in a ditch a short distance from where he had made his escape_.
It was the end of the line for “The Phantom.”‘
Photo Caption: GARDA WALTER DOWD was the man who, with Garda J. Egan, helped to catch ” The Phantom, ‘ the Dublin burglar and housebreaker whose Raffles-like escapades had set the police wondering for some months. ” The Phantom “—a man named John Broe—was captured by the two Guards after a fight in the Poddle River at Rathfarnham.
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Wanderly Wagon |
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09/01/1971 |
Most people know the Liffer and the Dodder, but few know the Poddle. Appearing in person the Poddle says: “I’m the oul river Poddle. _Yez’d know by me waddle . . . Yez don’t see me around, ‘cos I flow underground. I’m the Poddle.”
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City painter inspired by drains project |
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17/03/1995 |
Artist’s life in the gutter
Corporation carpenter Frank Connolly, who shares the site with Michael, approves of his new artistic colleague. He says the ‘drainage work “is the kind of work the public might not always see.”
Two other artists are also doing projects with, the corporation and the museum. Liz McMahon is working in the local authority’s mapping office and drawing how the city has changed through the years. – And Aaron Fowler is doing a project on Bull Island.
KNEE deep in water in the city’s drains may not”. seem the most inspiring place in the world. But Dublin based artist Michael Lyons produces works of art there. The 36-year-old from Crumlin is drawing the drains and the people who work in them. “I basically spend the day on site working with Dublin Corporation drainage department and at night 1 work in a studio in the Irish Museum of Modern Art.”
It is part of a project with the local authority and the museum which are both funding it. And what might seem a damp, unappealing environment attracts the artist.
“The water is clear there are no rats and it’s not smelly. “The idea is that I would work for a year and then I would have an exhibition in the museum and in the Civic Offices.”
Michael is now working in Harold’s Cross where workers are extending the cover of the Poddle river which runs under the city. Corporation carpenter Frank Connolly, who shares the site with Michael, approves of his new artistic colleague. He says the drainage work “is the kind of work the public might not always see Two other artists are also doing projects with, the corporation and the museum. Liz McMahon is working in the local authority’s mapping office and drawing how the city has changed through the years. – And Aaron Fowler is doing a project on Bull Island.
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Open modern bottling premises |
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02/10/1962 |
MESSRS. Earl Bottlers Ltd. have opened in Earl Street, South, Dublin, what is claimed to be the most modem and scientific bottling premises in Ireland. At a time when the Irish economy is steadily improving and the consequent demand for wines and spirits is increasing, this, new business fills a need for a modern bottling operation to keep pace with that demand and, la particular, to facilitate wholesalers and retailers of wines and spirits who need a first class bottling service. Earl Bottlers Ltd. operate in a bonded premises under the supervision of the Customs and Excise Authorities. This means a greater economy because excise duties make up approximately seven-eighths of the cost of spirits and when held and bottled in bond there is a minimum capital and interest outlay on them.’
ESSENTIAL SERVICE
BOTTLING can be described as a necessary expense but is. in fact, an essential exercise in packaging products which are both difficult to handle and keep. Spirits and wines quickly lose their condition and value if not handled and packaged properly.
Today, properly means scientifically and Earl Bottlers Ltd. have taken a completely modern and scientific approach to the problem. Briefly, their customers are now being offered the highest quality bottling.
To attain this quality and to maintain the standards once set necessitated the installation of the most modern bottling – machinery available today. This has been done. Its operation Is being supported by the best technical brains In the world on filtration, bottling, labelling and packaging.
The filtration materials used by Earl Bottlers Ltd. comes from the most experienced filtration manufacturers in the world. And it is surely more than coincidence that these suppliers are also the biggest in the field of filtration.
SOPHISTICATED
LABELLING plays a very important part in this.
A general view of the bottling plant, showing sterilizer in background, then inspection of bottles, filling and corking wine and spirit world, and labelling in quantity can be a problem because of the many different drinks, the dozens of bottle shapes, and the multitude of label shapes and sizes. The labelling machinery installed by Earl Bottlers Ltd. is so “sophisticated” that it is capable of dealing with anything up to 400 different types and shapes of bottles and labels!
The layout of the new bottling store has been planned to the smallest detail. All pipes, carrying the various products, are colour coded to avoid any possible error in bottling. p1Ve Vate, three of 1,000 gallons capacity, and two of 500 gallons capacity are made of fibreglass. Experience has shown that this very modern idea for vat construction results in a completely inert container which cannot rust, or deteriorate m any way and which remains completely impervious to the various liquids which it must contain from time to time. Production capacity of the plant is 200 dozen bottles per hour. This means that in one hour something like 400 gallons of any liquor can be fltered, bottled, labelled and cartoned. The pattern of the whole operation for any type of liquor is basically the same
HOW IT’S DONE
FIRST the liquor is pumped from its cask through a high pressure filtering machine to the already prepared vat or vats. Customers bottles which are normally delivered to Earl Bottlers Ltd. in one dozen size cartons are placed on a mechanical conveyor.
The bottles are disgorged into the sterilising unit, where they are all thoroughly washed and sterilised. This procedure is carried out for all bottles, new and old. Sterilised bottles are inspected at the rate ot two hundred dozen per hour. No bottle is allowed pass unless it is perfect in every respect. The bottles are then filled with the filtered liquor, corked and sealed.
The seals are spun on for neatness. Bottles then pass through an infra-red drying oven to remove moisture from the visk-rings.
The bottles arc labelled. Next they are packed into the cartons from which they were removed at the beginning of the process. The whole operation is fully automatic so that the liquid product is not touched by hand, at any point.
AN ADVANTAGE
THE building in which this most up-to-date bottling plant is situated is about 250 years old. While this may seem somewhat paradoxical, it is in fact a distinct advantage. Beneath the solid steel-tongued, four-inch, oak floor boards of this new spotless, and colourful plant is a labrynth of bond stores. In these tens of thousands of gallons of whiskey is maturing under perfect conditions. There is an atmosphere of peace and quietness, the air is still, the floors have long since been lost under an inches thick carpet of the dust that time alone can form. This dust is one of the stores greatest assets. It acts as the perfect temperature controller for the maturing process going on in the whiskey casks. Beneath this still and peaceful store flows the Poddle, a river seldom seen, or if seen, rarely recognised by Dubliners. So Earl Bottlers, the most modern and high speed scientific bottling operation in Ireland is married to perhaps the oldest and slowest art in the world, that of producing perfect drinks. Dawsons, suppliers of the washing and sterilising equipment, modified to suit the needs of Earl Brothers Ltd.. as well as being the suppliers of the conveyor system and the carton sealing machines are one of the oldest and best known bottling plant suppliers in the world.
Erben—specialists in closures are one of the original thinkers in the field of the spinning process that- in which the capsule is moulded on to the bottle top making it absolutely air-tight and at the same time pilfer proof.
Erben also supplied the big fibre glass vats which are inert and not subject to rusting or to causing any detrimental effects to the various liquors.
The following are Directors of ‘Earl Bottlers Limited: Messrs. Anthony Dillon, W. Campbell, N. Beamish, T. MacAnaney and E. M. Semple.
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Two centuries ago |
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20/08/1778 |
An extensive and uncommon system of fraud was yesterday discovered on Dame Street. At the rere of a house in that street, under some warehouses which are entered from Sycamore Alley, a clandestine distillery was found at work. The place in which the still was placed is a vault thrown over the River Poddle, and only to be entered by a trap door. So singular an occurrence engaged a good deal of public attention and many persons descended to view the place. But the hot steam of the distillery, the nephric vapours of the vault, and the filthy odour of the Poddle, formed such a compound of smells as to overcome everything like curiosity.
—Hibernian Journal, August 20, 1778.
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Porter or Stout? |
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26/03/1957 |
Pressure on space lopped-off my little paragraph on the riddle of: Which came first – Porter or Stout?
Mr. Leslie A. Luke (now P.R.O. to St. James’s Gate) supplements the story most Interestingly – from the Dublin angle. According to this, brewing was blooming in Dublin as far back as 1300 – when women were the principal brewers along the banks of the rivet Poddle! Three centuries later in Charles time – Dublin boasted no. fewer than 1,180 ale-houses and 91 brew-houses; and this at a time when the population was just over 4.000 families.
But what is more Interesting is that at this period—and until the first quarter of the 18th century—”almost every housewife of importance may be said to have been her own brewer,” and every wealthy citizen seems to have had his own brewing-plant.
In the early years of the 18th-century Porter was introduced into Dublin from London; and as the century proceeded so did the imports of porter, until in 1763 the Dublin brewers Joseph ‘ and Ephraim Thwaites petitioned the Irish House of Commons for help in the brewing of porter which they claimed to have brought to perfection “after repeated and expensive experiments.”
But the imports built up and favoured as they were by the English Revenue Laws, soon began driving Irish brewers out of existence. (The tax on imported porter was only one shilling per barrel as against 5s 6d. per barrel on the Dublin brew). Long before the end of the century the number of breweries in Dublin had declined from 70 to less than thirty.
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Great heritage work of catholic lay teachers |
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20/07/1935 |
At the annual Congress of the Catholic Truth 8ociety in Kilkenny, Very Rev. T. Corcoran, S.J., D. Litt., University College, Dublin, read the following paper:—
The outstanding sources of guidance and of power for the Catholic worker are the express teachings of the Holy Bee concerning the duties and status of such work, and the record of how the work has been done in- the past, under Catholic rule and order. Both of these sources are amply available in the service of the Catholic lay teachers of Ireland, for guidance to their professional lives within the Catholic order to which they essentially belong.
Each of them affords many practical lessons for the immediate future.
Developed all over our country at the epoch of the rise of European Universities, and solidly established long before the movement of Renaissance culture and learning, the Gaelic system of lay professional teaching in literature and law, in philosophy, history and medicine, was unique by reason of the prestige it accorded to the national language as the medium, conjointly with Latin, of the most advanced forms of Instruction and of creative scholarship. The scholar-families, such as Mac Egan, O’ Davoren, O’ Clory, O’ Mulconry, O’ Daly, thus served our people. In many cases for twelve and even sixteen generations. They were high in social position; such groups wore a large part Indeed of the old aristocracy of the land; unlike all other aristocracies known of in human history, they gave, by hereditary duty, the nationwide service of literature and learning, general alike and professional. They were fully maintaining their splendid work, when, In the greatest of all the centuries for Irish learning in Ireland and in Europe, the Ulster, Stuart and Cromwellian confiscations cut the economic of that work. With the Annals of the Four Masters, and the fine body of teaming and ft writing evidenced Jn the numerous other Irish centres of scholarship’ such as Louvain, Florence and Rome, their close was fully worthy of their honourable record over more than four centuries before. Not less worthy work was done in our schools of the later Renaissance centuries, by men of Norman as well as of Gaelic stock, which were so highly esteemed by the Catholics of Ireland ever since the English State severed all connection with the Church Catholic—centre of culture no less than of unity. The Salamanca records at the close of the 16th and the opening, of the 17th century, to take but on a instance of limited range, give us the names of scores of devoted teachers. So do the Stuart State documents, which tell of their arrest and Imprisonment because of such service;, .there is available the order book of the Cromwellian Army Government at Dublin Castle, which decreed the transportation . Into penal1 servitude for life, of every Popish schoolmaster. Had wo the carefully prepared list which gave not only their names, but their times and places of teaching •service to their country, we should have, for the years 1653 to 1658,’ an unexampled roll of Irish Catholic lay teachers, confessors of the faith even unto bondage Cor life, by reason to their very work.
Some such liets we have—for certain parishes in the city of Dublin. Just over two centuries ago, for the counties of Limerick and Kerry a decade earlier. The Limerick list an Assize List, lor transportation; it contains in its Very Incomplete state some twenty names or more. With It let us place the illegal teachers of people’s forbidden schools, for Just one- mediaeval parish of Dublin. Prepared by the Anglican church Wardens of St. Luke’s in Donore, and reported to the Colonial House of Lords at College Green in 1731. it tells of “Popish schools. In Mill St., kept by Catherine Anderson in New Row, on the Poddle River, by Catherine Hanley.
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Two centuries ago |
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02/07/1795 |
Auctions
One of those quizzing Auctions for which the Sky Merchants are becoming famous, is advertised for this day. The Catalogue announces for Sale, a large quantity of Bordeaux Vinegar, which by the bye never crossed the Channel, though it did that of the Poddle from the manufactory at Roper’s Rest. . . . It is a wonder that lathy Sky Merchant has introduced no Durham’s Mustard from the manufactory in Thomas Street on the bill of fare; or some Malaga Wine with honest Larry’s Mead from the same street, as these are very profitable “Goes” for the Sky Merchant tribe.
—Freeman’s Journal, July 2, 1795.
Dennis Kelly of Barry in the County of Longford, has a Son, by Name John Kelly, aged about seventeen Years, who is very much inclined to be Extravagant. Said Dennis Kelly begs that no Friend, Relation, or Acquaintance, will Credit or take any Notice of this young Fellow, otherwise let it be at their own Peril.
Faulkner’s Dublin Journal,
January 12, 1742.
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Why are they writing? |
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30/04/1930 |
I’d like to see a bust to my own old friend, Alderman Tom Kelly, the man who was Dublin, and I’d like to see some honour paid to another great old Dubliner, also dead, Val Jackson, who was a mine of information about the city and its watercourses including the secret river Poddle.
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Crucifix for Council Chamber |
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12/02/1952 |
A LARGE Crucifix, four foot long and two and wide, now hangs on the Dublin Corporation four feet Street a half feet wall of the Assembly Chamber over the Mayoral Chair. The Crucifix, presented by Senator A. Clarkin, Lord Mayor, and members of the Council, was blessed yesterday by Very Rev. John Redmond, P.P., SS. Michael’s and John’s, before being placed in position by the Lord Mayor. The attendance included the City Manager, Dr. P. J. Hernon; Mr. J. J. Rowe, Clerk of the Council, and members.
In ceremonial dress, speaking before the blessing, Father Redmond said that it was fitting that the Cross of Christ should be enthroned in the Chamber of the City Council, first, because it was their duty, as Christians, to give the place of honour in all public assemblies to our Crucified Saviour; secondly, because, during 300 years of religious persecution our forebears kept the Faith.
In all reverence, they could trace the Crosses erected from early Celtic churches on the Poddle – St. Michael’s Le Pole in Ship Street, St. Brigid’s in Bride Street, St. Patrick’s in Insula, St. Kevin’s, St. Martin’s, near Werburgh Street to the Danish Cathedral Trinity, on Christchurch, on the Hill. St. Nicholas” Trinity, on Christchurch, on the Hill, St. Nicholas” of the Holy St. Michael’s. St. John’s, down to the days when St Laurence O’Toole built his Church of St. Marie del Dam in honour of the Mother of God, near the mill dam under the Castle, close to the site of the City Hall. In the mediaeval churches within the walled city, the Crucifix stood above the Rood loft revered by hundreds of generations down to the 16th century, when the Crucifix and the Mass that continued the Sacrifice of Calvary were outlawed from our churches.
At the junction of Skinner’s Row now Christchurch Place – and High Street stood the High Cross of the City, where, on the ringing of a bell, the citizens assembled and proclamations were read. “To-day,” he said, “three hundred years later, the High Cross of the City no longer exists, but we are privileged to set up and revere once more the Image of Our Crucified Saviour in our city’s public assembly chamber, and to grant Him His rightful place at our public meetings and deliberations.”
When, faced with important problems and decisions, the sight of the Image of Our Redeemer would remind them that all plans of social or economic reconstruction must be based on Christian law and that” all things will be added to you if you seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice.”
After the ceremony the clergy, members and officials were entertained to tea by the Lord Mayor and Lad Mayoress.
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Olympia gets reprieve |
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04/03/1971 |
Olympia gets reprieve
The proposed development plan for the Olympia Theatre site in Dublin, and adjoining buildings, will probably have to be scrapped following the decision of Dublin Corporation to turn down the planning application on no less than a dozen different counts.
It appears from the reasons given for rejecting the plan that no cognisance was given by the planners to the fact that two branches of the River Poddle run through culverts under the theatre, and, according to the Corporation, “the levels of the river culverts are higher than the lower basement floor levels of the proposed development.”
The principal reasons given for turning down the application were: The plan is not consistent with the provisions which will be included in the overall development plan, providing for the preservation of the Olympia as a place of social and cultural amenity.
The plan does not comply with the requirements of the chief medical officer in relation to ventilation and other matters.
The plan would be inconsistent with the scale of surrounding development and would therefore injure existing amenities, and did not comply with the requirements of the chief fire officer.
The development, says the document turning down the plan, would interfere with Crampton Court, which is a public road in the charge of the Corporation. The boundaries of Crampton Court are not retained in the plan as they are at present and therefore the area of public street would be reduced. It states that Sycamore Street and Crane Lane would be of, inadequate width to cope with the increased traffic, and therefore the proposed development would cause serious traffic congestion. Five other reasons are also given for rejecting the proposed plan. The owners, Olympia Theatre Ltd., were last night not available for comment on the decision but their Cork architect, Mr. Brian Wain, said the company would immediately appeal the decision to the Department of Local Government. Technical conditions were among the reasons for the rejection of the company’s plan, he said.
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And whatever the fare it flows |
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15/02/1975 |
The Olympia Theatre has some unusual features, including a stage that is situated at the front of the building, instead of the back.
But until this week, when I went to see for myself, I didn’t know that a river ran underneath the stage, a flight down.
The river, or rather stream, is the famous Poddle, which rises in the Tallaght Hills and joins the Liffey at Wellington Quay after flowing under the Liberties, Dublin Castle and the Olympia. A manhole in a tiny room leading off one of the many passages under the Olympia stage gives access to the walled up Poddle. The underground course of the river is passable, on foot, to Harold’s Cross, two miles away. Some Dublin stories say that during the War of Independence Michael Collins’s men used the Olympia’s manhole to escape from the Black and Tans. William J . Stapleton, a 1916 veteran and a member of the G.H.Q. staff responsible to Collins, tells me the Poddle line of retreat was well discussed at a few meetings, but to his knowledge was never officially used, although some of the 3rd Battalion of Volunteers may possibly have traversed the course. “We knew the Poddle ran under the Castle. There was talk on one occasion of putting a time-fixed bomb on a piece of timber and floating it down the stream under the Castle,” he added.
Under Castle
Lorcan Bourke, a director of the Olympia, has been down the manhole and went some of the way on the path beside the stream, and as recently as last December Richard Hallinan, another director, traversed 700 yards right under the Castle. Gaseous fumes prevented further exploration. The interior of the theatre is a vast network of steel scaffolding, as word is awaited to start repairing the damage sustained in the fall of a girder last November. At a recent press conference John Slemon, manager of Che Abbey, echoed John Donne’s¦famous lines, “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee” when he said that the Abbey and other Dublin theatres would be the poorer if the Olympia were to disappear. The special Abbey performance of “Purple Dust” last Sunday evening brought more than £500 to the Restoration Fund, and tomorrow night Cecil Sheridan—who has been almost fanatical in his endeavours to win support for the Fund — has arranged a performance of his show,”The Good Old Days” at the Eblana. The cast and staff are giving their services free.
Indeed, support is coming from all over the country, as not only theatres in Cork, Limerick and Waterford but entertainment centres such as the Embankment in Tallaght, Clontarf Castle, the Drake Inn, the Old Shieling and Gulliver’s Inn, are arranging benefit shows.
From America
Kevin O’ Morrison, the Irish-American dramatist, whose play, “The Morgan Yard”, was seen at the Olympia during the 1974 Theatre Festival, -writes to me from New York: “I do hope that Dublin — and those of us fortunate enough to be visiting theatrical craftsmen — will not lose the Olympia. It is one of the finest theatres I’ve ever had the pleasure of working in. Its loss would be a sad, personal one to me.”
The Olympia was where Cecil Sheridan began in 1940. “I love every stone of it,” he says. Like Lord Longford in the 1950’s, collecting for the restoration of the Gate, Cecil makes a collection for the Olympia at the end of each show at the Eblana. It strikes me that when the theatre is restored a bust of Cecil should be placed there.
“Purple Dust”—Sean O’Casey’s irrepressible comedv satirising the English — and the Irish. At the Abbey. “The Tailor and Ansty” – Magical story-telling, and an unforgettable picture of a delightful Co. Cork couple. At the Peacock. “The Good-Natured Man” Gate gloss, Gate style, applied to Goldsmith’s benign comedy. MacLiammoir magnificently Dickensian. At the Gate. “Robinson Crusoe” — Set sail for Maureen Potter’s Never-Never land. At the Gaiety. “The Good Old Days” — The great songs of the day before yesterday. Sheridan and O’ Callaghan distribute the nostalgia.
At the Eblana, “Dear Janet Rosenberg, Dear Mr. Kooning” — Comedy of letters. Transfers on Monday to Eagle, Glasthule, from Focus. “Christmas Capers”—It’s a long way to, or from. Christmas , but Chris Casey pretends it isn’t. At Clontarf Castle, “The Killer”—Eugene Ionesco’s tragi-comedy about a mysterious and murderous presence is having its Irish premiere at U.C.D. (opens Mon.).
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You're a model for a coddle if you toddle up the Poddle |
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15/02/1979 |
Does your mother know the Poddle?
Will she take a dish of Coddle
The oul’ dish that Dublin ate
When days were thin ..:, ”
THUS HEAD Lee Dunne’s invitation to a coddle reception in the Parliament Inn last night to announce details of his own production of his own dramatisation of his own novel, Does Your Mother, which opens at the Olympia on Tuesday night next. It is against my principles as a Munster man to partake of that most revolting of dishes, no matter how trendy it has become.to do so. I feel about coddle as a French chef of my acquaintance felt when, shortly after his arrival in this country, lie was introduced to mashed turnips. “This,” he exclaimed, “is an excellent food—for cows.”
But Lee Dunne is the most unpretentious of men, and he is the author I most like meeting on these rounds. His work arouses great passions, and his last theatrical venture sent the Dublin drama critics into a tizzy of rage and vituperation.
“They really put the boot into me, and I was quite hurt by some of the things that were said,” he told ‘me last night. “But it was great for business, and, with God’s help, they will have an even bigger go at me this time.”
Goodbye to the Hill was slammed by the critics as one of the worst plays ever staged in Dublin. But, Dublin being Dublin, the punters loved it, and.it was one of the box office successes of 1978. That was at the 300-seat Eblana. Now Lee and his Trio Productions are moving to the 1,200-seat Olympia, where the rent is nearly £400 a week. Add to this an initial bid of about £10,000 to get the show of the ground, and by Dublin theatrical standards you are right into the big time. Lee and fellow directors John Rushe and Vincent Smith are confident. “We promise a good evening’s entertainment, and we won’t let the people down,’ ‘says Lee. “That was our promise with the Hill, and the people responded to it.
Lee has himself bid goodbyes to the hill in that the lease of his house in the Dublin mountains has run out. He is now living in Co. Wicklow and writing steadily eight hours a day, six days a week
“..ger shall flourish, the native shall perish.” This became one of the most quoted lines in Limerick, used whenever ‘anyone from outside the city boundary was picked ‘to play for Garryowen,. or when a nonlocal achieved high office in the gasworks. I can reveal that RTE is soon to announce the appointment of local boy Kevin O’Connor as their Limerick correspondent. As there are two journalistic Kevin O’ Connors from Limerick, I had better explain that the RTE one is not him of rugby and tennis fame, but the author of The Irish in Britain” and the 1976 Dublin Theatre Festival play, Friends.” RTE Kevin is a city boy who was active in amateur theatricals around Limerick in the late 1950s, spent some ten years in London, and returned to Ireland to make a name for himself as an RTE producer.
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On the Poddle |
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23/07/1979 |
Dan Lowry built his music hall on the River Poddle — it actually runs under the theatre. Seemingly, he was anxious to have an entrance from Dame Street arid it was his ambition to change the position of the stage. But the river proved an obstacle.
So now when we pass under the rococo canopy in Dame Street, we have to go on through what in fact is a tunnel under the stage, to enter the auditorium which stands in ornate, if somewhat tatty, splendour as it did when the Empire reopened in 1897.
It’s a theatre built in the fashion of fable, a tumbling dream-house _straight out” of Victorian fantasy. And its story has been an integral part of_. Dublin’s,rich cultural heritage.
One of the most colourful characters associated with the early theatre, according to Seamus de Burca, writer and Olympian extraordinary, was one Barney Armstrong. It was he who introduced to Dublin’ the beautiful Madge Clifden, perhaps the most famous principal boy ever.
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Memories of the Liberties |
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07/10/1980 |
Memories the Ul Liberties
Zoz by Joe O’Donnell: Olympia
The Christmas spirit came early to the Olympia last night when the ‘ghosts of the ‘Liberties’ past floated up from the waters of the Poddle which flows under the theatre. The playful skits of the ‘Liberties Birds’ centre around the figure of the blind balladeer, Michael Moran, known to posterity as Zozimu. This troupe of colourful eccentrics added a dash of colour to the population of the Liberties in the early nineteenth century. They did something of the same last night when Joe O’Donnell’s life of Zoz trod the boards above the Poddle. The intention was grand, the style flavish but in the end it stuttered over, its own flimsy material. The author was unable to graft the plot from the unseens of the radio to the visual caresses of the stage.
The songs and recitals of Zoz were not all penned by Moran and his notoriety depended on his eccentricity to make his name. This facet was well carried by Frank Kelly, relishing the difficulty and challenge of a role which demanded that not an eye (of his) be opened during the entire performance. Moran’s recitals were witty without ‘being exciting, and none of them appeared to stir the audience last night. Fortunately he was steered well away from the pit-by the silent antics of his dumb companion Owney (Gerry Lundberg) who arrived his deformities to good intention.
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Canal may be closed soon |
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02/10/1963 |
The Minister for Local Government, Mr. Blaney, may soon be asked by Dublin Corporation to introduce legislation to enable the Corporation to close 5 miles of the Grand Canal, from Blackhorse Bridge to Ringsend, for drainage purposes. ‘A meeting of the Corporation’s Streets Committee yesterday adopted a comprehensive report from the assistant city manager, B O’ Brolchain, seeking such action. The Grand ‘Canal project, as prepared by the city engineer, outlines a “city only” scheme and a “city and county” combined scheme. If the latter is implemented the cost will be more than £1,300,000. Forty per cent, of the cost would be borne by the Government, the remainder being met by the local authorities concerned.
If the Corporation adopts the Streets Committee’s recommendations, meetings will be held between Mr. Blaney and senior officials of the Corporation and Dublin County Council.
The “city only”‘ scheme proposes the construction of a foul sewer along the bed of the canal from Blackhorse Bridge to the grounds of the main pumping station, Ringsend, at an estimated cost of £353,900.
In conjunction with this scheme, the laying of a surface water pipe from Blackhorse Bridge to Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, and the culverting of the River Poddle (from Kimmage Manor), are also proposed.
The cost of these surface water schemes is estimated at £654,500; The total estimated cost, for the “city only” project is £1,008,400.
Alternative
The “city and county” combined scheme provides for drainage facilities for 3,830 acres in the county area south-west of the city, in addition to the ” cits only” scheme. The total cost of this scheme, apart from the cost of the sewers in the county area, would be £1,262,000:
An alternative scheme, which would provide for drainage of 1,370 acres in the county area, could be
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Combating Floods in Dublin |
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30/11/1965 |
THE 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 special meeting of the Dublin City Council. The meeting was held to deal with a long list of resolutions which could not be reached at the ordinary monthly meeting, but in fact only three resolutions, one of which had already been debated in part, were dealt with.
Mr. Macken, who presented a factual report of the extent of the flooding, said there would be consultations with the Dublin Co. Council so that a dual engineers’ report could be presented to the City Council.
Various schemes
The City Engineer, Mr. E. J. Burke, replying to a debate which followed, said that the flooding arose outside their area. He had in the past ten years submitted various schemes running into £2,000,000 tor dealing with flooding and he had written a book about the Tolka. They had been informed that the rivers were the business of the Board of Works. The Board’s scheme for the Tolka would not be until 1967-68. They had a duty to the residents in the area and after two years negotiations had got a grant for the drainage- work there. They had already spent £65,000. Only, 5 percent of the Tolka was in the City area. Referring: to the flooding’ from the Dodder, Mr. Burke said that as far as he could see the Dodder would go on flooding for the next 100 years. No one could propose an economic scheme for it. He thought that they would have to acquire lands including the cricket pitch and the tennis courts in Anglesea Road to be used as a flood plain.
Watery Lane
He said the basement houses in Richmond Road could not be protected against floods. They could not spend half a million pounds for the sake of a few houses. The position in Watery Lane was that the houses there would have to be demolished. The rents there were low, and the people Jiving there did not want to get out but were prepared to take the chance of being flooded, say, once in 20 years in ‘ order to keep their houses, which were only 5/ per week. Mr. Burke told the Council that he had told them, two years ago that a drain would have to be constructed about the houses at Grand Canal.
The Poddle, which ran into the Liffey, underneath Dublin Castle, was able to carry 3.000 cubic feet of water. During the recent floods it would need to carry 12,000 cubic feet, so that the question was where the 9,000 cubic feet were to go. When the plan for diverting the Wad was completed it would take the surplus water from Ballymun area to the Tolka without causing flooding.
After other members had mentioned various types of flooding in the city areas, the report was referred to the General Purposes Committee.
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Deputy Lemass will not submit to threats |
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30/11/1967 |
Sir – In July 1961 approval in principle was recommended by the Streets Committee of the Dublin, Corporation to a proposal to use the line of the Grand Canal for a new interceptor sewer from “Blackhorse Bridge to Ringsend Outfall, and a surface water drain along the same route discharging into the Liffey at Grand Canal: Dock, If and when the: City-portion of the Canal ceased; to be available for navigation.”
The city Engineer reported in a meeting that the Committee on October 1st 1963, in his report dated September 3, 1963: “The only economical solution and the only engineering scheme that I could put forward with confidence that it was a proper solution, required, ‘that these large drain pipes should be laid at a grade in the .bed of the canal, and that, the canal would have tape abandoned as a stepped high level waterway and: become a graded underground culvert with a grade sewer alongside.’ The scheme included the culverting of the river Poddle (long, overdue). The City Engineer also assured the, Committee that, if the canal (Grand) through the city were to” be closed, the proposals would not interfere with the negotiation of the canal from a point westward of Inchicore and that arrangements could be made for this. The Committee approved of the outline plans and estimates for submission to the Department of Local Government as soon as possible, together with a request for the enactment of the necessary legislation for the closing of the city portion of the Grand Canal.
continued in PDF
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Assurances on canal doubted |
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12/02/1968 |
Assurances on canal doubted
MANY societies which work towards the preservation of the Grand Canal at Dublin are not prepared to accept Dublin Corporation assurances regarding reopening of the canal after the laying of sewage pipes along its bed.
Speaking at a U.C.D. ‘ Literary and Historical Society meeting, Dublin’s Assistant City Manager, Mr. Ruari O’ Brolchaln, insisted that those canal would reopen.
And he asserted that it would be a waste of time to make out a detailed estimate of laying sewage pipes along any alternative- route.
Housing needs
Mr. O Brolchain said that the proposals for the drainage scheme on tho canal bed had their origins in the needs of existing residents living mostly south of the canal line and the needs of many others for housing and employment to be provided west and south oft the city. The extensive building in areas like Terenure, Walkinstown, Crumlin, Kimmage with the quicker run-off of surface water from hard surfaces, had overloaded the sewers which pass, under the canal. Those sewer’s overflowed into the Rivers Poddle and Swan.
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Proposal to let public to see plans |
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24/11/1973 |
Proposal to let public to see plans
THE CITY Manager will asked by Mr. George Butler a: the next meeting of the City Commissioners if he make weekly lists of planning applications available for examination in the public libraries through which local groups or individual could keep a watching brief on developments within their areas and if copies of the Development Plan may be available for scrutiny on request at the libraries
Mr. Butler will also ask the City Manager if he will take steps to prevent the dumping of rubbish in the River Poddle at St. Martin’s Drive, Kimmage, and if he will investigate the amount of oil which appears in the river at weekends. He will suggest that a concrete bottom be paid on this section of the Poddle.
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Residents Clean Up |
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27/09/1974 |
AN ARMY of residents moves out tomorrow to launch a clean-up of the River Poddle. Volunteers will join forces with Dublin Corporation lorries, men and clean-up equipment.
The campaign is spearheaded by St. Martin’s Residents’ Association, which incorporated Poddle Park, St. Martin’s Park and St. Martin’s Drive.
After a big meeting of residents it was decided to clean up the Poddle in the area once and for all. Now the Association has produced a ten-point plan will ensure the river is kept clean once the initial effort is made.
NOTICE BOARDS
The residents want notice boards erected forbidding dumping and_ pollution of the river and its banks. They point out that the pedestrian bridge at Bangor Road is dangerous and unsuitable for use by old people and young children. A suggestion that steps might slow down cyclists is made. Cement walls beside the bridge are broken, and now there is no protection for toddlers. The Association alleges there is oil pollution in the Poddle from at least two industries in the area.
TREES PLANTED
It is hoped that the river will be cleaned regularly, flowers grown on the banks, and grass and weeds controlled. It is also suggested that trees be planted_.
The commercial use of the river should be inquired into, and if the sluice at Firhouse is not serving a purpose it should be closed, the Association says
They urged an inquiry as to whether a new bakery extension has been approved by the planning authorities.
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Martin's Lands re-alignment, deepening and regrading |
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04/03/1967 |
It 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 not immediately. This was announced at a meeting of the Housing Committee of Dublin City Council.
Sites are so scarce that applicant for them have to take the luck of the draw. The names are put in a hat, and the only priority is to tenants of Corporation houses and to families on the priority list for Corporation housing.
It was learned that 500 sites would be ready for handing over in the coming financial year and another 700 to 1968-69. _The sites are in Coolock (390), Kilbarrack (352), Finglas Ballygall (54), Milltown (14), Baldoyle (300), Kimmage Martin’s Land (52), and Howth (50).
The Housing Committee approved the development plan for Martin’s Lands, Lower Kimmage Road, where it is proposed to carry out re-alignment, deepening and regrading of the Poddle to eliminate flooding.
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Opposition to Hibernian Trust's Kimmage plan |
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06/02/1970 |
Opposition to Hibernian Trust’s Kimmage plan
PLANS HAVE BEEN made for the development of a site of approximately 11.5 acres adjacent to Kimmage Road West, Dublin, where Hibernian Trust Ltd., propose a housing and flat development for St. Anne’s.
The scheme has, however, run into difficulties already as the local residents, from Whitehall Gardens, Whitehall Road, Wainsfort Drive and Kimmage Road West are protesting to the Dublin County Council and intend making representations to the Minister for Local Government, Mr. Boland, to prevent the development taking place.
The Glenane Sports Club lose its headquarters and grounds which are within the area for development. This is one of the points in the objection and another is the. despoliation of the trees. Outline permission has been refused already. It is proposed, if planning permission is granted by the Dublin County Council; to culvert the river Poddle and so change its course. It would enter the culvert and rejoin its original course at the ends of what now is a semi circle made by it. The consulting engineers for the scheme are Moloney and Millar, 140 Lr. Baggot Street, Dublin 2. Another scheme mooted for is at Rathfarnham where Brennan & McGowan, Ballinguile, Eglinton Road, Dublin 4, have applied for planning permission to build 255 detached houses at Grange Road. A stream will also be culverted here also and new roads constructed to serve the development. _, Mr. John E. Collins, A.R.I.B.A., 26 Burlington oRad, Dublin, is the architect, A ten acre site at Knocklyon is the subject of an application to build 96 semi-detached houses by Knocklyon Estates Ltd., at BaHyculIer Road. The site is situated at the rear of Knocklyon Castle. Application has been made to the Dublin County Council for permission to build. The architects for this development are Downes, Meehan & Robson, 37 Leeson Pk., Dublin .
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Two authorities ban plan |
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10/01/1974 |
DUBLIN development company found itself yesterday afternoon in a verbal planning battle with both Dublin Corporation and Dublin County Council at the same time.
Both bodies had refused planning permission for development of a 10-acre site at Kimmage Road West. The site is bisected by the River Poddle, which forms a natural boundary between the Council and Corporation areas. The developers. St. Anne’s Estates, Ltd., propose to build three blocks of three-storey flats containing 108 units.
Mr. E. M. Walsh, S.C., for St. Anne’s Estates, said, that there was an impasse as both the Corporation and the County Council had refused planning permission. But recently both authorities had reopened the matter, following the serving of a claim for compensation. They had resubmitted applications but were dismayed at the comprehensive nature of the subsequent refusals. Mr. Walsh said that it appeared to be accepted by everybody that there should be development. The form of development was in dispute. They were anxious to reach agreement and were prepared to have the Minister act as arbitrator. Among grounds for refusals were the county area zoned as public open space; the proximity of the Poddle; and a proposed Tallaght-Kimmage cross road bus-lanes.
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This building survives in paintings |
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22/04/1960 |
Church and the pool of Round tower of Dublin By Dr. George A. Little
At Eastertide the Liturgy of the Festival focuses attention on the Church. The season’s special quality of spring light renders the lines of Church architecture plain and renews its four dimensional significance. Perhaps it is from these influences that memory of St. Michael de Le Pole’s in Dublin becomes compelling.
A plaque above the archway which covered the way into St. Michaels Cemetery (now prosaically No. 15 Great Bridge St.) states: “Here anciently stood the Church and Roundtower, adjacent lay the Mill Pond or ‘ Pool’ which gave name to these buildings and to the Old City Gate in Bridge Street.” It might have added, and to the City watercourse the Poddle.
John O’Donovan recognised the founder of this church as the eighth century Aengus Mac Thail (son of Dergan), a bishop of Old Kilcullen in Kildare. He then argues from a reference in the “Annals of the Four Master” that St Mac Thail was regarded in the tenth century as a Patron of Dublin. Similar churches of Rathmichael, near Carrickmines and that of Diset Tola in Westmeath are credited to him and believed to perpetuate his name. St. Michael de Le Pole’s Church consisted of a Roundtower and ruined Church; it survived until the eighteenth century was in its destructive youth. The character of the building material used in their construction may be seen in the large uncut stones which now form the wall on the right, the entrance to what was the ancient burial grounds. Records prove that this was built from the stone’ the demolished tower.
Pictorial records
Several drawings were me of this building thus making it the earliest ecclesiastical foundation in Dublin of which we have pictorial record. Two of these pictures are really important. The first, dated 1751, was copied by J. Huban Smith in 1857 from an anonymous drawing then in possession of Sir William Beetham.
The second picture had been executed in wash by the Franco-Dutch artist Gabriel Beranger in the year 1766. This second picture and its ambiguous caption was the cause of grave errors in dating and in recognition of an architectural period; errors which continued to our time.
The first drawing shows the Roundtower, built of unworked stone and apparently (in the manner of so many similar structures) unattached to any other building. It is in the early style of these buildings. In the picture’s foreground there is a ruin of a much later ecclesiastical building, apparently that of the Benedictine Convent founded by Dame Butler In October, 1688.
In contrast, Beranger’s picture shows the ancient tower in cut stone and is an integral part of a rectangular building of two stories. This picture originated the opinion that this Church was similar in. architectural design to that of Glendalough known as St. Kevin’s.
Le Pole’s Church in Dublin
This opinion cannot be valid since none have challenged the view that this Church of St. Mac Thail was built no later than the early ninth century and it has been agreed that the Glendalough tower-addition was a conceit of the XII century.
That this latter objection was pertinent and true of the church in Ship Street is attested by the following records: An Act of the (City) Council in 1682 ordered of Michael’s de Le Pole’s Church that it be, “… forever hereafter enclosed up and preserved from all common and profane uses.”
Built school
Early in 1706, the Rev. John Jones, ” an eminent Latin master in Ship Street” solicited the incumbent and parish authorities of the controlling St. Bride’s Parish for permission to use the material of the old Church ruin for the purposes of erecting a school. This Indulgence was granted him conditionally.
He built a large and lofty school-room; with three small rooms, at the top of a flight of stairs in the tower.
The tower was, as it has always been, an entity separate from’ the other building. Its sole function, in the eyes of Dr. Jones, was to supply a stairway to the upper room of his school. This “separateness” of the tower is of great importance ‘as evidence of its age, and the nationality of its builder.
It was in this school, under the discipline of Dr. Jones’ ferule that scholars of such diverse gifts as Henry Grattan and John Fitzgibbon, who was to become first Earl of Clare_, studied.
In spite of public protest, vigorous and influential, the City Council took down the Roundtower. in part, in 1778, and demolished the remainder, together with Dr. Jones’ School, in 1789.
Dublin is indebted to the anonymous artist of the picture of St. Michael de la Pole’s Church and to Beranger also. The need for such records was great and that need remains-Epitaph
Perhaps the words Hrabanus a poet who flourished when St. Michael’s was _abuilding must remain forever true. The verse is translated by Helen Waddell thus:
“No work of men’s lands tut the weary years Besiege and take it, comes its evil day; The written word alone flouts destiny_. Revives the past and gives the lie to death.
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A Dublin Street in the Olden Days |
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10/06/1924 |
Famous and Fashionable
In the account of the landing of human remains under the walls of 7-8 Upper Stephen’s Street, it was stated correctly that, this was in former times a fashionable locality. It was, moreover, the most important and populous suburb of the city from early Anglo-Norman times, and is certainly the most interesting from an historical point of view. Being in close proximity to the Castle, it shared in its life, its joys and its vicissitudes.
The High Road.
St. Stephen’s Street, named after the church and hospital of St. Stephen for poor lazars or lepers, was, down to about the year 1630, the. only thoroughfare or high road connecting the old ” Kingdom of Dalkey, and its thriving harbour of Bullock, and Carrickbrennan of the Monks (Monkstown), with the southern suburbs of Dublin.
The. city walls, pierced with gates and towers, admitted the inhabitants and travellers on this side by the Pole, or Poddle, gate at St. Werburgh St. In Great Ship (Sheep) St. stood the quaint round towered church of St. Michael-la-Pole (St. Mac Thail) whose history is the most interesting of all our Dublin churches- At the top of Upper Stephen St., near the spot now acquiring notoriety, the Whitefriars of old gave entrance to their enclosed church and lands by a strong gate. Green fields and woods stretched to the south until they merged in the Dublin mountains.
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Near Poddle Mouth |
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30/10/1973 |
Looking down Little Ship Street, towards the Castle gate, you are looking at one of the most historic spots in old Dublin.
The division of ancient Ship Street into “Little” and “Great,” seems to have taken place about 1700, as it is undivided on Sir Bernard Gomme’s map of 1673, but property in “Little Ship Street” figures in the will of Isaac Vauteau, of Dublin, dated April 1711. The street name here is Vicus Ovinus in mediaeval documents, na Caorach, on modern name-plates, linking back with the days when shepherds brought their herds here to the Poddle’s banks, to bargain and trade with the foreigners, in their new fortress on the ridge, protected by the Liffey on one hand, the Poddle on the other. I believe myself that the hollow you still see today, where Little and Great Ship Streets join, is the original pool, or puddle, or Poddle, from which Dublin’s most historic river took its name.
Gomme’s map of 1673 shows a pool here, but even more to the point is the Statement of Case made in 1678 by the authorities of St. Andrew’s Parish, in their dispute with St. Werburgh’s. in which it was said “the Sea did anciently flow up as far as Ship Street, where it met the stream that came down under Pole Gate Bridge”. Here, the Poddle was checked by the tide, long before the ancient harbour of Dublin (on the site of Parliament Street) was filled in.
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Norse Dublin |
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05/01/1918 |
More about Our Ancient City Churches
By W.A Henderson
Outside the Dublin walls were circumvallated with groups and lines of churches and monasteries. Many of these diminutive buildings were little more that oratories about the size of Killiney Church or the Kill of the Grange, but still the number of churches, their endowments, and the frequent celebrations of numerous feast day all demonstrate the profound religious character of the citizens
Last week we left an imaginary pilgrim at the gate of St. Mary le Dam ready to start on a visit to the sacred edifices outside the wall-enclosed area. Halfway between the gate and St Andrew’s Church he crosses a wooden bridge over the Poddle River and stops to watch the mill wheel in motion. St Andrew’s stood near the Poddle in the midst of the fields. It has been already described, but it may be further noted that the site of the church was transferred in the year 1670 to its present location in St. Andrew street. The ground was previously a bowling green near a range of buildings known as “Tib and Tomb”. It was called the Round Church and is remembered by the old citizens.
continued.
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Relief of Dublin Distress |
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23/12/1924 |
Further 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, are now available
In the Crumlin district excavation work is already in progress for providing a sewerage system to complete: the main drainage of the area, comprising about 12,000 acres partly in the city and partly in the county. Actual and prospective housing developments in the district rendered undesirable further postponement of such a scheme. The grant enables the preliminary work to be proceeded with, and it is proposed to complete it out of loan later.
WATER SUPPLY
The construction of settling tanks at the 5th and 8th Locks of the Grand Canal is proposed. Brewers and distillers obtain supplies of water from the Grand Canal through the Corporation’s system, which provides for the filtering of the water at these points. During recent years motor boat traffic has increased to such an extent that the existing arrangements have been taxed to their fullest capacity, and the works are designed to cope with existing conditions. Normally provision is made in the estimates each year for the cleaning of .water mains which become-corroded. It is proposed_; to take advantage of-the grant to increase tho extent of this work throughout the city. It has already been begun. A new sewer will be constructed along the Tolka Valley connected with the existing main drainage at the North Strand to provide additional draining facilities for Drumcondra and Glasnevin districts. The addition is rendered necessary owing to the demand on the existing sewer having increased to such an extent, and still more so in view of the large housing schemes in. contemplation for these areas.
DlVERSION OF PODDLE.
A diversion of the Poddle river is projected to prevent the entry of river water into the sewers. The work when complete will effect a saving in the cost of pumping. The Poddle at the rere of Messrs Wm. Clarke and Son’s new tobacco factory is an open watercourse. In view of the ercetion of the factory and dwellings for the employees, and the fact that it is proposed to build a new church in the neighbourhood, it has been decided to cover in the water course and so form a culvert at this point. Portion of the former course of the river under the west side of Patrick St. is no longer used, and this will be filled in to prevent an accumulation of stagnant water. Other works include the substitution of a modern pipe sewer for an old drain, which replaced an-open ditch, at Upper Diumcoudra Rd. The work will prevent the frequent flooding, with consequent damage to property, which now occurs periodically.
OTHER WORKS.
At Vauxhall and Cork St. the existing watercourse will be converted into a sewer, and here, again, flooding will be prevented. Road improvement, “which building developments in the vicinity have rendered necessary will be undertaken at Cliftonville Rd. and Fairfield Rd.
About 225 men will be employed for three weeks in the cleansing of lanes and side streets not in charge of the Corporation. Already about this number have been employed to assist the ordinary cleansing staff.
Negotiations are in progress with the Grand Canal Co. for taking over the thoroughfare on the canal bank from Parnell Bridge to Dolphin’s. Barn Bridge, and there a very fine road will be constructed.
The schedule includes the making of a new breakwater at the Pigeon House. The coast wall adjoining the harbour there has, in course of time, suffered considerably from erosion, and the works which have been commenced, are necessary to prevent further injury ‘resulting ‘ from tidal action.
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Letter from the Minister for Local Government |
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25/02/1925 |
The following letter has been received by P.S. O’Dubhghaill T.D., from the Minister for Local Government, in reply to an inquiry relative to the providing of relief work.
Ministry of Local Government,
Upper Merrion St., Dublin.
February 20, 1925.
A. Chara—With reference to your letter of the 14th inst, together with enclosure I am directed by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health to forward for your information a copy of the schedule of approved works under the scheme to be carried out by the Commissioners of Dublin County Borough through the medium of the relief grant of £45,000. The total cost of tho works mentioned amounts to £84,583, and in sanctioning the grant of £45,000 the Minister for Finance, to whom these proposals were submitted, stipulated that the Commissioners should undertake to bring the works to completion. The works were selected by the Commissioners in November last as those most likely to give immediate employment.
ln accordance with the promise contained in Mr. Burke’s letter of December 17 last to you the matter of the roadway from Rialto to the Third Lock was brought specially under the notice of the Commissioners, and on December 23 an engineer inspector from this Department visited the locality with the chairman of the Commissioners. It was found, however, that DETAILED SURVEYES AND LEVELS should first be taken, specifications and estimates prepared, and it was expected that the necessary legal formalities would involve delay.
In the circumstances it was not considered practicable to include the repair of this roadway in the scheme submitted in November apart altogether from the fact that the cost of the new proposal would have to be added to those previously submitted and upon which the sanction of the Minister for Finance has been obtained to the grant of £45,000.
I am also to say that vou are, no doubt, aware that a grant made from the Relief Grants Vote is available during the financial year, ending on the 31st prox.
I am to add that it is understood that the Commissioners are making arrangements to have a scheme ready for the work in which you are interested as soon as any additional grants may be made available.- Mise, le meas,
M. J. GILLIGAN.
Runaidhe Airde.
The following are the revised proposals: Waterworks—Construction of settling tanks at 5th and 8th locks, £8,360; cleaning watermains throughout the city, £3,000. Drainage-Crumlin tunnel, £20,500 ; Crumlin cut and cover, £13,020; Tolka valley sewer, £11,500; diversion of Poddle, £2,000; extension of sewers, £1,500; culvert on Poddle, at Clarke’s Factory, £2,600; sewer Upr. Drumcoiidra road, £2.000; piping watercourse at Vauxhall and Cork street, £2.000; filling in disused portion of Poddle, £1,550. Road Construction-Parnell road- construction; £3,000; Marino clearance, first section, £1550; Cliftonvile road and Fairfield Road, £625. Cleansing;—Cleansing lanes. £1,000; new breakwater, Pigeonhouse, £9750.
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Dublin Relief Works |
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26/02/1925 |
£45.000 To Be Spent.
(From Our Reporter). Dublin, Wednesday.—The Commissioners of the Dublin Corporation have received the sanction to the expenditure of a grant of £45.000, out of an applied for grant of over £84,000, on relief works. The proposals are:— Waterworks.—Construction of settling tanks at the 5th and 8th locks, £8,309. Cleaning watermains throughout the city, £3,000. Drainage—Crumlin tunnel, £20,500. Crumlin cut and cover, £13.020. Tolka valley sewer, £11,500. Diversion of Poddle, £2,000. Extension of sewers, £1,500. Culvert on Poddle at Clarke’s factory, £2,600. Sewer Upper Drumcondra Road and Cork Street, £2,000. Filling in disused portion of Poddle, £1,250. Road Construction. — Parnell Road construction, £3,000. Marino clearance, first section, £l,550- _Cliftonville Road and Fairfield Road, £625. ” Cleansing.—Cleaning lanes_, £1,969. ‘New breakwater Pigeonhouse, £9,750.
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Terenure Sewage |
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24/05/1907 |
Terenure Sewerage
Proposed loan of £20,000 to carry out the scheme
Local Government Board Inquiry
Yesterday, in the Recievers Court Mr PC Cowan, Chief Engineering Inspector of the Local Government Board, held and inquirt in reference to an application by the South Dublin Rural District Council for a loan of £20,000 for the purpose of carrying out a sewerage scheme for the Terenure portion of the rural district. By an agreement between rural district, the area of charge to be the rural district. By an agreement between the Rural District Council and the Coportation the Council were not to discharge or allow to be discharged into the city watercourse at any place any drainage of liquid from their sewers.
…..
In reply to Mr Meredith, Mr Healy said he was preparted to abandon the proposed storm overflow on the Kimmage road if the local Government Board captured that is was unnecessary.
Mr Merefith and Mr. Darley then left the inquiry .
Mr George Chafterion said that he had never been in favour of the storm overflow into the poddle on the Kimmage Road.
….
He saw no objection of an overflow into the Poddle during heavy rain.
…. [more in PDF]
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Culverting of Poddle River at Kimmage Road Lower |
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23/05/1986 |
CULVERTING OF PODDLE RIVER AT KIMMAGE ROAD LOWER TENDERS are invited from competent Civil Engineering Contractors for the construction of a pre-cast concrete culvert over a length of 250 metres and ancillary works at Kimmage fload Lower, Dublin 6. Tender -Documents may be obtained from Corporation of Dublin. Engineering Dept, 28 Castle Street, Dublin 2, on payment of a deposit of £200, returnable on receipt of a bona fide tender not subsequently withdrawn and on the return of all the documents. Sealed tender endorsed “Tender for Culverting of Poddle River” should be lodged with Corporation of Dublin, Engineering Department, 28 Castle Street, Dublin 2, not later than 12 noon on Friday, 20th June, 1984. The lowest of any tender need not necessarily be accepted and the acceptance of any tender is subject to the approval of the Minister for the Environment. It is a condition for the award of this contract that the successful tenderer must produce promptly a tax clearance certificate (unless be holds a sub-con tractor’s C2 certificate). Non-resident tenderers must produce a statement of suitability from the Revenue Commissioners.
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CULVERTING OF PODDLE RIVER AT KIMMAGE ROAD LOWER |
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20/06/1986 |
CULVERTING OF PODDLE RIVER AT KIMMAGE ROAD LOWER
The period for submission of tenders for this contract has been extended. The new closing date Is 12 noon on Friday, 18th July, 1986.
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That Sinking Feeling |
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22/10/1987 |
More houses lost their front gardens to the underground onrush of the River poddle yesterday at Lower Kimmage Road, Dublin
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Gardens Fall Into River |
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30/11/1985 |
Dublins 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 in the garden of Mrs. Maureen Cooke, in number 9, as much of her garden fell into the river underneath. Her neighbours had been complaining to Dublin Corporation about footpaths which had been subsiding, but no action was taken, they said.
Then two of their gardens fell in, at numbers 11 and 13, with parts of their garden walls and front railings goimg down too.
Corporation workmen were rushed to the scene, and they were advising other householders in the area to remove parked cars from their driveways, in case of further subsisdence.
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Poddle surfaces in garden |
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30/11/1985 |
Dublin’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 door of her red-bricked home at No. 9 Kimmage Road, yesterday morning to find a ten-foot square hole where part of her front garden once stood.
“I was flabbergasted when my neighbour Mrs. Forde told me about it. I do not know whether to be worried or not about the house — I just do not know what is going to happen next!” the Dublin widow said, still suffering from the shock of it all.
The culvert which carries the river, running less than six feet beneath the front gardens of the neat two-storey houses on Kimmage Road, collapsed yesterday morning because of subsidence.
Mrs. Cooke’s neighbour, Mrs Charlotte Forde, had complained to the Corporation recently about a “dip” In her front path and city engineers had been out investigating. Now the Corporation plans to repair and restore the gardens soon — but not too soon, the neighbours mused; last summer the Poddle’s rising caused floods up to their front doors.
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Flooding work is held up |
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07/01/1986 |
Work 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 Haughey, told a council meeting last night that major repair work would be necessary, but the Corporation was awaiting approval from the Department of Finance for funding. Meanwhile council engineers were examining what remedial action could be taken.
Councillor Michael McShane (FG) said people were lucky not to be “drowned on their own doorsteps over the Christmas period” because of flooding.
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Found-The Missing River Poddle |
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13/05/1973 |
Found..The Missing Poddle
My discovery of the week was that the River Poddle still flows above ground in the heart of Old Dublin. The members of the Old Dublin Society who will lead the walking tours of the Liberties this afternoon, as part of the Liberties Festival could well make the Poddle part of their itenary.
The spot where the famous old river runs for a fast 30 yards above ground is at the back of Sweeneys Terrace, at the southern corner of Mill Street. And William Talbot, who lives in a house beside the Poddle, is a descendant of an old Dublin Hugenout family of weavers.
William Talbot remembers the Hugenout houses that stood on the site of the present row of modernish house. His mother had told him how the river had been used for tanning purposes. Indeed, he showed me stored in an old cow byre, (yes, a cow byre), a piece of wood from one of the Hugenout tanning tanks. “Tanks as big as a room,” he says.
Larry Dillon, perhaps the most vociferous spokesman for the LIberties, should push the Corporation or An Taisce, or whatever body can take action, to turn the poddle above ground into one of Dublins sights.
Most of us thought it hadnt been seen since Dean Swift was around.
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Fill Her Up Please-With Water |
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02/05/1958 |
The ratepayers of Dublin are in business, says the “HERALD”. Man with the Inquiring Mind-exporting water of all commodities!
Fill Her Up Please-With Water
I had the telephone directory in my hand, and I was running my finger down the long list of departments under the heading “Dublin Corporation” when the entry “Shipping Turncock” stopped me with a jerk. I knew that running a big city was a complex task but it did seem to me to be a land-based job and the Corporations connection with ships seemed a bit hard to find. This time my curiosity was really aroused and I put through an Inquiry to the City Hall. I always find them very helpful up on Cork Hill—they even run a free reminder service for citizens, who are getting a bit behind with their rates payments. As usual, I got every help to find my quary and l found myself back at the Waterworks Head-quarters once more.
Core of Dublin
Every time I go up into the area around Christchurch Place mind runs back over the two thousand years or so during which this spot was the core of Dublin. Even if I hadn’t civic history in mind when I called into the Waterworks Engineer, I would have been reminded of it as soon as I mentioned the purpose of my call.
Almost every service operated by the Corporation seems to be merely a present-day extension of rudimentary functions exercised .by the. City Fathers at some earlier period in Dublin’s long history.
So it is with the city water supply and in the course of finding out who is the Shipping Turncock and what he does I found out a bit more about the water supply of grand father’s day just before the Vartry scheme brought pressurised water supplied to the growing suburbs of Dublin.
Back of pipes
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. Tlie 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
/[continued in PDF]
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St. James Gate |
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24/03/1960 |
St. James’s Gate,
been a favourite district for breweries. The situation was particularly suitable for the industry as it lay on the main thoroughfare to Dublin from the corn-growing districts of the central plain. The main supply of-water to the city, derived from the River Poddle passed through the district on its way to the city, and became -a great convenience to the early brewers of the Parish of St. James.
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Two Centuries Ago |
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15/11/1735 |
TWO CENTURIES AGO
Wednesday last two more of the Cavan Rioters were whipped through the Liberty. In the Procession one of them, as the Car came to a dirty Slough, was pleased to present the Hangman with what they call a ” Poddle Hole Step,” which is to give the Foot a sudden plunge in the gutter and bespatter those the favour is intended for; which so enraged Jack Ketch that, notwithstanding the Mercy he, through his great Humanity might have intended to show them, he then began to redouble his blows, and warmed their Jackets very plentifully. One of them, however, had the impudence, as they passed up Francis Street, on their way to Newgate, to get upon the Car and dance and sing—Hey ho! how little I value you.
Dublin Evening Post,
15th November, 1735.
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Two Centuries Ago |
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13/09/1770 |
Sunday evening, to the amazement of many people, several hundreds of Herrings were taken up alive from the Poddle Hole water that runs under the House at the Sign of the Royal Oak at Nicholas’ Gate.
Dublin Chronicle,
September 13th, 1770
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Bull in Poddle |
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01/10/1789 |
On Monday night the people of a tavern in Essex Street were much surprised with the roaring of an animal under their kitchen; wnen raising some flags (beneath which the Poddle Water runs) they discovered a fine young bull, which they took up and preserved its life for the owner, of whith they have yet heard nothing. It’s not known how it got into the sewer, but it is supposed to have been swept down the Poddle Hole.
—Dublin Chronicle
October 1, 1789.
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The Poddle at Mount Argus |
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08/04/1967 |
The Poddles principal claim to fame is that its waters once formed the moat at Dublin Castle, and provided some part of the water supply for the ancient city. Today the Poddle is one of Dublins hidden rivers, travelling underground to join the Liffey, almost all the way from where Liam Martin has sketched it, in the pleasant grounds of Mount Argus.
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Mount Argus Harold's Cross |
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22/04/1967 |
The twin towers of the Passionist Fathers great church have been a feature of the landscape along the course of the Poddle River since 1878. Now quite surrounded by vast building schemes, St. Pauls Retreat (to give its official title) , thanks to a belt of green fields, and old mill buildings along the river, still has a rural air, as Liam Martin here shows.
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Beside the Poddle |
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31/12/1970 |
Liams drawing shows a quiet little oasis within a stones throw of the historic Poddle, the group of old houses in Loader (or Loder) Park, adjoining former mills on the Poddle, at the southern end of Mount Argus Road. This is now a Cul-De-Sac, but according to a map of Dublin and environs, issued in 1834, there was then a bridge over the Poddle, by which you could get back from thr Mount Argus Roadto the present Kimmage Road. The mill here seems to date from about 1830. It was later owned by a Captain Harvey, who leased it to a James Whelan, as a flour mill. Mr. Whelan had a shop at 13 Thomas Street, in the 1880s. A generation later, the mill is owned by a Mrs. Fanagan, but does not seem to be working. The name Loder, or Loader, came originallky from Dorset and does not appear to have an Irish connection.
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Parishes Face Problems |
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17/08/1974 |
Parishes Face Problems
By PATRICK MURRAY
THE-months ahead are full of problems for the parish priests of Dublin’s two newest parishes. Although the new parishes of Priorswood and Mount Argus appear to be totally different, both have presented their new pastors with major tasks.
The most serious and urgent problems are in Priorswood, off Malahide Rd., where Very Rev. Colga O’Riordan, O.F.M.Cap., has been appointed parish priest.
At present, he has no church, no school and no community centre. Fewer than one in nine of the houses in the parish are inhabited. There are 50 old houses in the parish and 400 new ones, of which only six are occupied.
NEW FAMILIES
But soon there will soon be 1,400 new families living there. Father O’ Riordan hopes to get a house in the parish before the new parishioners arrival “I would like to be there to greet them,” he said.
For the moment, Father O’ Riordan will operate his new parish from Donnybrook parish church. No plans for the new church and school have yet been made; but he said that the first task he will face will be to have talks with an architect. When this was done, and plans for the school and church drawn up, a fund-raising campaign would be started.
When the proposed new housing estates are occupied, Father O’Riordan will get two curates, also Capuchins, who will help run the parish.
YOUTH FACILITIES
The problems facing the new parish priest in Mount Argus, Very Rev. Ralph Egan, C.P., may not seem to be as immense: he has a church, and the parish does not need schools.
“But there are no facilities for youth in the area,” Father Egan points out. “This, I think, will be the first major task I face. I would like to get a community centre of some sort built. But I will work in close co-operation with the nearby parishes of Harold’s Cross and Clogher Road”. Father Egan does not believe the Church has enough manpower or resources to tackle the problems of youth on its own. “For that reason, I will work a!so in co-operation with the statutory bodies who are already working in the. area.” he said.
OPINION POLL
The first item on the agenda for Father Egan and his two curates, Rev. John F. Morris, C.P., and Rev. Raymond Kearns, C.P., will be to visit all the families in the new parish. They have been “moved” from older parishes mostly from Larkfield Grove. Kimmage, Crumlin and Poddle Park.
As well as getting to know the new parishioners, Father Egan and the curates hope to carry out a sort of opinion poll to find out what the Parishioners consider to be the major needs in the new parish.
The creation of the two new parishes brings to 157 the number of parishes in the Dublin diocese.
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Mount Argus Gets Go-Ahead |
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07/02/1986 |
SERVICE charges criticised as “penal” have been substantially reduced in a new grant outline permission for residential buildings on land owned by the Passionist Congregation at Mount Argus in Dublin.
A levy to cover the cost of surface drainage and landscaping around the River Poddle now stands at £250,000 but Fr. Brian D’Arcy of Mount Argus described the new permission as much better than the original.
The 12 acre stretch of land surrounds the church and monastery at Harold’s Cross, where Fr. D’Arcy has spearheaded a fund-raising campaign recently to repaid and restore the buildings. So far, the restoration fund has raised nearly £900,000 he said, but efforts are continuing to bring in badly needed money for the costly work of treating dry rot and replacing whole segments of the buildings.
Originally estimated to cost £1.1million three years ago the repair is now expected to cost nearer £1.5 million and much of it remains to be done. Fr. D’Arcy said that around £1.3million had been spent already. Lead was stolen from the church roof for example, adding to the dry rot problem by allowing damp to seep into the building. All plaster had to be replaced on the walls inside and work cost £650,000.
With the new grant of permissions for developments on none out of the 12 acres, the way is now open to sell the land as originally planned, to raise money for the current restoration and support of the monastery. The planning go-ahead for over200 flats and 71 houses was granted to Monte Argentina Trust with represents the Passionists.
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Mount Argus |
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16/07/1986 |
I first discovered Mount Argus way back in another lifetime when we used to climb the Dublin Mountains on St. Patrick’s Day. I think we took the wrong turn coming home and instead of going down Sundrive Road we continued on until we came to the big black gateway.
The sound of the Poddle River was close by so we knew we were not lost because we knew the route of the Poddle went to the Barn and onto the Liberties. Mount Argus wasn’t one of our seven chapels that were visited on Holy Thursday, so it was sort of special, a new place, a mystery with a fine avenue to explore. The distance from the Gate to the Church is fairly short but to us on that day it seemed long and uninviting. However, we journeyed on and we soon saw a few garden statues and a small Grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes. All of a sudden the Church House of Retreat and the graveyard were standing in front of us. I remember it was like seeing Rome for the first time. Over to our left was the huge House of Retreat where the priests lived and over to our right was the old graveyard. In the centre was the Church. It was beautiful.
I never saw so many statues over a church in my life, on the top of the church roof there was a huge golden angel. If he was the fellow who was my guardian angel I would not be afraid of anything. There wasn’t a soul in sight as we crept into the church to make our visit.
The other day I went for a ramble up Harold’s Cross and into Mount Argus. It hasn’t changed much except for the beautiful new black and gold gates, which were donated by the Garda Siochana. The Poddle lake looked bigger and different and it was full of ducks. The church buildings and graveyard looked the same. I studied the ten statues of the Saints and the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Virgin, and later in the church I saw the names and addresses of the people who donated each statue. The thing that struck me most about the list of names was the fact that they were spread all over Dublin and that one statue was donated from Kildare and another was from Cork. There was another list of donors of the statues inside the church and among them was one from Belfast. The restoration work is in full swing but they still need lots of money.
In a way it is sad to see a house of prayer with its altar cut off by planks of wood and long blue and white curtains, and the Tabernacle on a side table and the air filled with dust and damp.
I came out the church door and I stood in the yellow sunshine looking up at the beautiful frontage with its statues and tower spires. If I was a parishioner of Mount Argus, this is where I’d like my Mass to be offered up with St. Paul of the Cross looking down.
– Eamon MacThomais
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Mount Argus . . . £20m. scheme launched today |
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18/05/1990 |
Mount Argus . . . £20 m. scheme launched today
By Cliodhna O’Donohue
The land surrounding Mount Argus, the headquarters for Fr. Brian D’Arcy’s mammoth fund raising activities, in Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6, has been transformed into a top class £20 million residential development which is officially being unveiled today.
Constructed by Tiernan Homesteads, the leading building firm purchased the 18 acre site last year for £3.5 million from the Passionist Order a total of 240 units are planned and the first phase consists of 54 three and four-bedroomed homes.
Entered through a four acre parkland area on which over £500,000 was spent on landscaping, entrance piers and water fountains from the River Poddle_, the three bedroomed townhouses are priced from £67,950 while the semi-detached version of the same costs £3,000 extra.
The Passionist Fathers will continue to occupy the 1856 monastic headquarters and church nearby which was recently the subject of a major refurbishment. Prices for the four bed-roomed semi-detached house begin at £85,000. An additional £10,000 is being quoted by selling agents , Ross McParland four bedroomed detached home and viewing is today from 3-7 p.m., tomorrow and Sunday 2-5 p.m.
Joe Tiernan of Tiernan Homes, who is the current Chairman of the National Housebuilding Guaranteed Company, built his first scheme of houses in Rathcoole in 1969. At the time the three-bedroomed semi detached homes with a garage cost £4,000. Since then the firm has built homes in virtually every part of the city and is currently negotiating planning permission for a £40 million scheme of nearly 500 homes opposte Finnstown House in Lucan.
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New Homes Choice |
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25/05/1990 |
MOUNT ARGUS is perhaps one of the finest landscaped developments to come on the market in the area for a long time.The River Poddle has been brought through the parkland and, with the ornamental bridges and fountains, the whole effect is quite splendid.
Situated just two miles from the city centre in Harold’s Cross, Mount Argus is set in four acres of landscaped .parkland which has been enhanced by the creation of two ponds complete with a 40-ft. floodlit fountain, weirs and pedestrian bridges.
Since its opening last weekend, sales have topped the £3m. mark and there are just seven _4-bed semi-detached houses left: The house design blends in well with the surroundings, and the combination of redbrick, tile and plasterwork facades is pleasing. Cobblelock driveways give good clean lines to the gardens.
Inside, the standard of design and layout cannot be faulted. Corner baths, in the three-bed houses lend a touch of class and luxury as do the kitchens which overlook the front gardens and are bright and well propositioned. Glass panels over doors and velux windows in the roofs give additional light to bathrooms.
Inside, the standard of design and layout cannot be faulted. Corner baths, in the three-bed houses lend a touch of class and luxury as do the kitchens which overlook the front gardens and are bright and well propositioned. Glass panels over doors and velux windows in the roofs give additional light to bathrooms.
Fitted kitchens and wardrobes are well finished and storage has not been .skimped on; Teak balustrades, Georgian style connecting doors, bathroom and kitchen tiling which are all standard, combine to produce a quality effect. Fireplaces which are also standard are of excellent design. There is a wallpaper allowance of £600 and an offer of interior design package and full fitout for an addtional £6,500. There are hardwood double-glazed windows throughout and natural gas fired central heating. Houses all qualify under Section 27 and are eligible for £2000 first-time buyers grant. In addition houses will be wired to suit purchasers requirements.
MOUNTARGUS – THE DETAILS:
DEVELOPMENT: The first phase of 68 detached and semi-detached three/four bedroom houses currently on release are part of the overall long term development of 230 houses on the Mount Argus site. BUILDERS: Tiernan Homesteads. ARCHITECTS: John F. O’Connor Associates.
HOUSE LAYOUT: In.the three bedroom house, the kitchen is just off the hall overlooking the front garden. The large sitting room to rear has patio doors leading onto the garden. Off the hall there is a w.c. Upstairs tha master bedroom is to the front. In the four bedroom house, the sitting room leads onto the dining room which runs from front to back of the house with the kitchen off the, dining area with the master bedroom overlooking the front garden.
PLOT LAYOUT: Access to the development is through an impressive iron balustraded entrance with cut, stone pillars. To the right is a large open area beautifully landscaped and surrounded by trees leading to the Church at Mount Argus. Ornamental bridges have been placed over the River Poddle which flows across the land. At night the fountains, light and water produce an almost magical effect. There are no shortage of open spaces and over £500,000 will be spent on landscape and parkland.
FEATURES: Without doubt there are some exceptional features in these houses. In the three bedroom, the kitchen is really well fitted out with off-white units running the length of the side wall and across the back. There are nifty touches such as the natural wood shelf for plants or plates running overhead and the wine rack built into the floor units.
AMENITIES: Located as it is so close to the city centre, Mount Argus has a range of facilities from churches , schools to shopping centres right on its doorstep. The River Poddle flows through Mount Argus and there is a rural and tranquil feel to the development. With greyhound racing in Harold’s Cross, the canal just minutes away, and the vast facilities on offer at the new shopping centre in Tallaght. Mount Argus is ideally situated.
HOUSE SIZE: Three bedroom semi-detached is 900 sq. ft. The four bedroom semi-detached is 1000 sq. ft.
HOUSE PRICES: Three bedroom semidetached, £67,950; four bedroom semidetached, £84,950.
PRICE PER SQ. FT.: £75 approx.
SELLING AGENTS: Ross McParland.
SOLICITORS: Finbarr Cahill Co.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN: P. C. Roche Associates.
VIEWING TIMES: Sat. and Sun. 3-5 p.m. Weekdays: Wed 3-7 p.m.
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Discovering The Poddle |
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13/07/1990 |
Discovering 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 for it . . . and it highlights, once again, the tremendous strides that have been made in landscaping and general planning of developments over the past three or four years in Dublin.
The new Mount Argus development which this building company first put on the market some six weeks ago is located just beside the headquarters of the Passionist Order in Harold’s Cross.
The River Poddle, which runs through the lands has been treated with the greatest sensitivity. Portion of it has been diverted through a four-acre landscaped parkland, and has been enhanced by the creation of two ponds, complete with a 40 ft. floodlit fountain, weirs and pedestrian overbridges.
In all over £500,000 will be spent on the landscaping and parkland here. This preservation of our past, in addition to the style of the houses themselves, makes this one of the most exciting developments in the country at the present time.
There will be 240 houses here altogether, and they have been arranged in a
1 the original source of water for Dubliners — . . in the course of duty. I had been curious set about finding it. Then I came across it_.
horse-shoe shape around the impressive Monastery. At the moment there are four house types, 3-bed town house, 3-bed end house, 4-bed semi-detached, and 4-bed detached, and these range in price from £67,950 to £95,000. There will be a 2-bed house type later.
The front elevations of the houses are in special “Old Dublin Brindle” — very much in keeping with the turn-of-the-century houses in the area. Gardens have iron railings and there are hardwood double glazed windows throughout, with granite style window sills.
In the three-bed style the kitchen is to the front of the house, with a large lounge to the back. The four-bed is more traditional, with double doors separating dining and sitting rooms, and the kitchen at the back.
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Mount Argus |
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16/10/1956 |
THE original Mount Argus was a tall, red-brick building on a few acres of land through which the River Poddle lazed, owned by a Mrs. Elizabeth Byrne, a widow, and a cousin of Cardinal Cullen. Through the suggestion of Father Matthew Collier, then a curate in Rathmines with the consent of Cardinal Cullen. and the. co-operation of Very Rev. Father Meagher, Parish Priest of Rathmines, the Passionists established their new retreat there in 1856. The original house and temporary church stood on. what is now the Cemetery for Religious at Mount Argus.
The first Mass was celebrated there on August 1856 by Father Paul Mary Pakenham, born in Dublin in 1821, son of the second Earl of Longford, who had been a Captain in the British Army up to the time of his conversion.
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Big Mop-Up After Floods |
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16/07/1973 |
BIG 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 morning following flooding in Dublin—the worst hit area, in Baldonnel area alone nearly an inch of rain fell. 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, blamed the flooding on the Corporation because they have not cleaned the river.
A widow and her two children had rheir house, next door to Mr. Walton, also flooded. Mrs, Eileen Kavanagh claimed her house is often flooded.
ROAD FLOODED
Sheriff Street area ot Dublin was also flooded and people in St. Laurence OToole tlats could not cross the road because ol three to’ four feet ot water.
In Benburb St.. Mr. lohn Smith and bis wile wer» forced to remove their two children from their beds after water came through the roof of their single apartment home. -\
Dublin Fire Brigade was called to 20 cases of flooding and a fireman todav said: ” We were kept going the whole night long wi’h these.” Many sporting fixtures were cancelled or badly affected by the weather. Attendance at the V&I Doonican competition at Woodbrook Golf Club was greatly reduced. Other parts of tlie country were not as badly hit as Dublin and some spots avoided the deluge altogether. “* The weather is still unsettled and outbreaks will occur again but not as bad as yesterday, ” said a Meteoroloelcal Office spokesman coda;. A_.A. WARNING An A_^A. spokesman warned motorists to took out tor fallen branches In country areas At Rosslare Harbour Meteorological Station, one quarter of an inch was recorded in the space of an aour. The rain accompanied by a north-easterly gale, caused die postponement of many sporting fixtures in South Wexford.
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River Burst |
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16/07/1973 |
RIVER 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 Corporation would not clean up the weedchoked river which runs past the rear of his house. He said that the weeds which are hindering the flow of the water are a major contributory factor to the flooding.
“I was flooded the same last year,” Mr. Walton said, adding that __ it cost him £62 to have repairs done to his home after the last flood. Units of the fire brigade _mimned the Poddle at Mount Argus Church late last night to stop it overflowing in the Church vard. Thev eventually got it under control. _*-.„- .- Next-door to ¦ Mr.–Walton, Mrs. -Eileen ‘Kavanagh, widow. with two. children had her house also flooded. Mrs. Kavanagh claims that her home is flooded often and that the area is rat infested. She pointed out several rat holes in her- home.
There was also some flooding near the Gardai station at Cabra.
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Night of Terror For 4 Families |
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20/01/1965 |
was 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 yards beyond the village.
After a four hour hold-up the mail ooat Hibernia was able to land at Dun Laoghaire. Heavy seas rammed the ship into the pier when she
attempted to land at the usual time. The 206 passengers were pitched about. Fifty feet of belting was torn from the pier.
Many of the passengers complained that the long wait would have been endured with more patience had they been told what exactly was happening.
The River _Poddle burst its of heavy rain and
Mount Argus. Kimmage.
In Loughlinstown fields were flooded to a depth of six feet and at Stradbrook traffic was slowed down, after water poured through a- wall, from a small river, which had overflowed its banks.
There was also extensive flooding in South Co. Dublin and North Wicfclow.
Meanwhile in the cMy centre four families living in the one house at Blackhall Street were shocked when their rooms became flooded and big. gaping cracks appeared in the walls.
The first danger signs came shortly before one o’clock when water started to drip from holes in the roof into the rooms of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kelly, who have two young children, David (3 ! 2) and twoyear-old Linda. arrived as the floods winds
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REMARKABLE CITY SCENES |
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21/02/1910 |
There 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 part of tho week-end. Flooding continues in many parts of the country, and in some places serious damage is reported.
Some remarkable scenes were witnessed in the Harold’s Cross district of suburban Dublin on Saturday owing to the little River Poddle overflowing its banks on high grounds near Mount Argus. The water rushed in a torrent down the upper and lower Kimmage roads, the water in some places being three or four feet deep. Residents in Mount Argus had to travel round by Terenure from the Rathmines district, but fortunately none of the houses were inundated. During the afternoon a “float,” provided by the Rathmines Township’ authorities, arrived on the scene, and was kept busily engaged all through the evening in ferrying passengers from “shore to shore” along the Kimmage roads.
IMPROMPTU FERRIES.
Worshippers attending Mass in St. Paul’s. Mount Argus, yesterday, had some unpleasant experiences. All round the upper entrance was flooded to the extent of several feet, and it became a matter of necessity for those who declined to walk round a considerable distance to the other entrance to charter lorries and carts which were in attendance to convey them over the “roads,” which were turned into rushing torrents. Some novel incidents were witnessed, and in particular when nervous folk were obliged to take up uncomfortable positions on the lorries and carts.
During the day the rushing water from the river and the Kimmage quarries abated a good deal, and late last night the overflow had been reduced to a considerable extent. A prominent meteorological expert seen yesterday afternoon said that the glass had fallen in a remarkable manner during Saturday might. The barometer then stood at 28, a position which was indicated prior to the big storm of 1903. If the conditions did not alter a very “heavy storm, might be expected within 24 hours.
[continued in PDF]
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Across The River... |
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04/06/1970 |
We crossed the Liffey last night from Capei Street to Wellington Quay to visit the new offices of the Irish Life Assurance Company, who were holding a small party to open the building. After wandering around and about for a while testing the lifts and the water founts we found the party in the conference room.
The building is built over the tunnel that houses what was the River Poddle. Now, little more than a sewer. The Poddle had once been the fresh water supply for old Dublin. After the party, on our way to another reception, we drove past the old Dublin city walls just across from Christchurch, so I could say after all these years in this city I had at last seen the city wall.
Michael Tierney of Irish Life gave me a potted history of the company. It began in 1939, which was not a brilliant time to start selling life insurance. However, it has done so well, both at home and now in London, that we can regard Irish Life as one of the more stable things of life in Ireland, like Guinness or potatoes.
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New Dublin District Office For Irish Life |
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09/06/1970 |
LATEST and most impressive milestone in the continuous progress of the Irish Life Assurance Company Limited is the opening of the company’s new Dublin District Office at 16/19 Wellington Quay.
Rising high in the sky the modernly designed four-storey building considerably enhances the area adding a handsome new dimension to the river frontage. The broad frontage of the building runs parallel with the River Liffey and was built over the spot where the River Poddle enters the river. This occasioned many engineering and architectural problem, the construction of giant culverts, etc. All these were succesfully overcome by the architects, Lardner and Partners, Dundrum, Co. Dublin; the consulting engineers Ove Arup and Partners, Wellington Road, and by the main building contractors, Hugh O’Neill & Co., Inchicore.
Total floor area is 13,000 sq. ft. and occupying the greater portion of the ground floor is the General Administrative Office in a beautifully proportioned hall outstanding in decor and architectural embellishments.
Here too is the District Manager’s Office and other executive suites. The second and third floors are divided into four _divisional offices and district executives offices while the fourth floor leaves scope for further expansion efficiency and make intercommunications more easy, ‘but will provide enhanced facilities for both customers and staff. The handsome and also very modern Irish Life Headquarters building on Mespil Road opened in 1962, is still one of the most outstanding buildings in the Ballsbridge area and of recent months a comprehensive modernisation plan has been in operation in the organisations various provincial centres at South Mall, Cork, Athlone, Carlow, Galway, Letterkenny, Limerick, Tralee. More modern offices are now being built at Waterford and Sligo and plans for a similar modernisation in the Dundalk Division are already on the drawing, board. The Company’s outstanding success story commenced in 1939 by the amalgamation of the Republic of Ireland business of five large British offices — Prudential, Pearl, Britannic, Refuge, and Liverpool Victoria, together with the businesses of four small Irish offices. Company more competitive and more successful. One has only to recall that in 1939 there was a staff of 2,750 and today, with more than ten times the business, the total staff barely exceeds 1,000.
Additionally in recent years the large scale data processing operation has been receiving considerable attention _expecially since 1965 when it was decided to install a large third generation computer. This was a carefully planned operation and today Irish Life is one of the few life offices with the whole of its Industrial Assurance business (involving one and a half million policies) on one master file.
That marketing is regarded as of prime importance is indicated in innovations which have taken place in the types of policy the Company* services. In 1964 it successfully launched its Blue Chip Policy, the first unit trust linked life assurance plan available in Ireland. This has had a remark able success and is now well established and popular. which emph’ asises a basic fact of life assurance—the money is always paid back either to the individual when the policy matures or to his dependants if he should die at any time before the maturity date. In spite of keen’competition from the fourteen other life offices operating in Ireland, Irish Life’s share of the market has grown steadily over the years. Today Irish Life underwrites approximately one third of all the Ordinary Branch business, approximately two thirds of all the Pension Scheme business and almost half the Industrial Branch business transacted in the country. Irish Life is by far the largest single long-term investor in the Irish economy. Balance sheet values show that 40% of Irish Life’s investments are in equities and 11% are in property. The Company is also a largeinternational investor with equity portfolios in the United Kingdom, U.S.A, Europe, Aus tralia and Japan. In 1967 Irish Life augmented its _subtantiai U.S.portfoil with a $3 million loan
In 1969 the yield on policyholders’ funds increased again to £6-13-9% on the Ordinary Branch fund and £6-19-7% on the Industrial Branch fund.
PARKING
There is ample parking space In areas around and underneath the building capable of containing 50 cars.
Into this new central and most modern district office, the Irish Life District offices and other departments, which up to now had occupied buildings in Pearse Street, Dolphin’s Barn, North Strand and Dun Laoghaire, will be gathered together, a long planned for step which will not only increase
BUSINESS
The Company transacts Ordinary Branch life assurance and Industrial Branch (home service) assurance business, but not General Branch business.
Funds in 1939 were £4,700,000 and growth was slow in the early years. Indeed the first ten to fifteen years were difficult. It was no easy task to bring together the staffs of nine different companies with nine different systems, especially against the background of wartime restrictions and lack of investment opportunity.
INCREASE
In 1959 the name of the Company was changed to Irish Life and since then the growth has been remarkable. In the last five years only three British offices have had a faster rate of growth. In the 1960’s the life assurance funds have risen from, £29 millions to nearly £75 millions, a growth of 160% or an average of 10% per annum compound. Premium Income has grown to £10 millions per annum representing an average growth rate of 8}% per annum compound. Continuous efforts have _aL ways been made to make the
NEW POLICY
In the following year, Irish Life introduced a Marriage Savings policy for young women starting work. The policy was designed to give a dowry on marriage or an endowment assurance if they did not marry.
One of the most successful ventures of the Company was the pioneering and development of Employee Deduction Schemes which enables premiums for any type of policy to be deducted regularly from wage packets or salaries.
In 1969 Irish Life introduced another winner to the life assurance market — Property Modules Saving Plan and Property Modules Bond. In the first six months of operation these plans have shown a remarkable 7% growth for policyholders.
In keeping with a lively marketing policy the Company is continually researching and investigating new types of life assurance plans and further new policies are in the pipe line.
PENSION SCHEMES
It is not generally realised that Irish Life underwrite approximately two thirds of all the insured pension scheme business in Ireland. This business is fiercely competitive and Irish Life’s success reflects not alone very competitive rates but also an unparalleled standard of service to brokers and clients.
ANNUITES
In recent years Irish Life have been frequently quoted as the leader in the tables of immediate annuity rates available in the British Isles. Since 1967 they have been in the top five. Currently an’ annuity of £1,424 per annum payable half yearly in arrear can be purchased for £10.000 by a man aged 65.
MARKET SHARES
For the man in the street it is difficult, to visualise the size and cope of Irish Life’s activities. In addition to the Chief Office in , Mespil Road there are fifteen district teams operating from eleven district offices and covering every part in Ireland. With over one and a half million policies in force the Company plays an important role in providing a very convenient savings medium with the added advantage of financial security for dependants in the case of death of the breadwinner. In fact the range of policies has been designed to meet the needs of every man, woman, child and family in Ireland. Over £20,000 is paid out in claims every day, a statistic
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Punishment For Stealing Meal |
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01/02/1766 |
Dennis Sullivan was whipped from the Cross Poddle to Harold’s Cross for [s]tealing Meal. Mr. Justice Drury attended, who caused a Bag of Meal to be tied round the Delinquent’s neck, and the Sentence properly executed.
— Faulkner’s Dublin Journal, February 1, 1766.
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Former Alley Corner |
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26/01/1972 |
This hostelry, on the corner of Dean Street and New Street South, stands at a much-changed spot. What is now Dean Street was called Cross Poddle, until May, 1826, when the name was changed by the Wide Street Commissioners, and the wide space, where New Street meets Patrick Street and Dean Street, was formerly a narrow gut, known as Freestone (or Three Stone) Alley, with a large block of buildings standing on the site of the present massive public convenience, with its accompanying trees. A still older name for the former alley is Freeman’s Stone, as is on record in the Liber Albus (“White Book”) in the Dublin Corporation muniment room in the City Hall, where under the date 1603, the riding of the Francises by the Mayor, the Aldermen and more than three hundred of the citizens is described. Gilbert, in Volume [?] of the Calendar of Ancient Records of Dublin, describes how they rode “beteen the Coombe to the Freeman’s Stone, standing in the street . . . and rode along through the Coombe near the houses.” The Stone nvust have been a mark on the boundary between the City jurisdiction and that of the Archbishop. Charles Ryan presided at this corner house, about 1850 to be followed by John Mealy, J. Vaughan and
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Old Cross Poddle |
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31/01/1972 |
OLD 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, by the Wide Street Commissioners. Before they set to work this was one of Dublin’s worst bottlenecks, less than twentylive feet wide, wall to wall, on the evidence of John Rocque’s map of 1756 (which calls the street merely “Poddle”). The “Cross” in this name must have been either from the fact that here Cross-land (that is, Church property) was entered, or simply because the old Poddle coming in from Harold’s Cross, had to be crossed here. To Iive on the Poddle was once a distinguished address in old Dublin, and the stream was here the boundary between the lands of St. Thomas’s Abbey and the possessions of the Archbishop. The only reason for building a great cathedral in formerly marshy ground alongside the Poddle was the tradition that here St. Patrick himself blessed a well (Know Your Dublin, 14/8/68), but this has caused the Cathedral to suffer down the years as the Poddle floods came down. At Intervals from 1437 all this area was under water; boats plied for hire in the streets In 1701, and there was five feet of water in St. Patrick’s Choir In 1762.
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Pensioner (84) In All Night Vigil To Keep Floods At Bay |
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21/10/2002 |
Pensioner(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 rising flood waters at bay. Mary Byrne (84) who lives in Poddle Park in Kimmage, was up until 3am trying to stem the flooding which invaded the kitchen of her home. Her son Peter along with his sister Maura told how they battled the elements against 18 inches of flood water. Peter said his mother was exhausted and was crying all night because she was afraid she was going to lose the contents of her home.
Truck driver Peter, who had to take today off work, said the flooding around Poddle Park was a regular occurance and said his mother had been badly affected by Hurricane Charlie in 1987 when the downstairs of her house was completely ruined.
“There are other houses badly affected as well. The water has gone down today but I took the day off because I don’t want mum cleaning up on her own,” said Peter.
“We contained it to the kitchen and got some of it cleaned up last night. My mother was a bag of nerves. It’s been going on for years — the Corporation keep promising to do something,” he said.
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A Forgotten Dublin Parish |
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09/04/1934 |
A FORGOTTEN DUBLIN PARISH.
To the Editor ” Irish Independent,”
Sir—Information is sought on the records of the forgotten little parish of St. Mary, whose church of St. Mary La Damo stood at the Dame Gate, also called the Eastern Gate (taken down in 1698) nearly on the site of the site of the present City Hall. The parish contained most of the Dublin Castle grounds and a strip Iying without the east wall of the city between it and the Poddle River, and with St. Andrew’s was later joined to St. Werburgh’s, and remained absorbed, though St. Andrew’s was, in 1665, separated by Act of Parliainent. Subsequently St Mary’s Church became a secular building and was leased to Sir George Carew, Earl of Totnes, and later to the adventurer, Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork. Thus it became the Cork House, which gave the name of Cork Hill o the ascent to the Upper Castle Gate.
William MacArthur
Blessington Hou[se], Upper Blessington St.,
Dublin
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Operation Clean-Up on the Poddle |
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13/07/1976 |
Operation Clean-Up On The Poddle
Children from Greenhills parish, Dublin, removing debris from the Poddle river at Greenhills under the watchful eye of Timmie O’Neill, organiser of the clean-up.
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Singer, Family Trapped in Flood |
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26/08/1986 |
Singer, 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 on the underground Poddle river turned part of the area into a lake.
Eight vehicles were abandoned when they came to a halt in the floods on the main road, and there was a huge traffic pile-up as buses and lorries slowly weaved their way between the abandoned cars and through the flood waters, which came up to almost two feet in places.
From her house at 21 Harold’s Cross Road, Joan spoke through the window, and said that she could not open the front door or the back door, for fear of the water level inside the house rising.
She lives in the house with her mother Mrs. Ann Merrigan, and her brother, Paul, and she complained bitterly that she had been asking the gardaí to stop all traffic passing along the road as the waves they were creating were sending the water pouring through her front and back doors.
The Merrigan’s next door neighbour, 85-year-old Evelyn McEneaney was forced to abandon her home completely as the flood waters poured in.
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Call for inquiry |
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30/12/1978 |
AS 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 fell heavily in Dublin today and the weathermen warned of icy weather and snow showers in some parts of the country over the weekend.
Today, representatives of the worst-hit area. Willington Estate in Templeogue, and Delvin Rd., Walkinstown, where over 70 families had to be evacuated, accused the local council of being ill-prepared to cope with the emergency.
A call for an investigation into the Council’s lack of emergency equipment, and their delay in getting relief to stricken areas came today from Fine Gael T.D., Mr. Larry McMahon. .
WERE WARNED
“The council were warned that there would be bad flooding as far back as last Saturday,” he said, “I told them about it myself but despite that, precautions were not taken to protect the homes from damage.
“I believe that many of these houses could have been saved if the pumping equipment and sandbags had been brought in more quickly”. Water flowed through most of the houses on the Willington Estate yesterday. And when the Civil-Defence were called in last night, they began pumping out the flood waters at a rate of 900 gallons a minute.
Mr. McMahon was joined in his criticism of emergency equipment and manpower by another local councillor, Mr. Joe Connolly, who represents the Tallaght and Walkinstown areas.
” INADEQUATE ”
“In view of the huge demand on manpower and equipment caused by the situation, it is quite clear that our services are totally inadequate,” he said. Cllr. Connolly has asked the County Manager to clarify how many emergency calls were received, and how the council workers coped with the situation. The representatives said that hundreds of pounds worth of damage had been caused to all the-houses in Willington Estate. And they claimed that householders would not be covered by insurance for storm damage. They called on either the local council or the government to set up an emergency fund.
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Storms Trail of Havoc Grows Longer |
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30/12/1978 |
Storms’ 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 Templeogue, Co. Dublin, and in Bray and Wicklow town where high seas were responsible for damage to homes.
A Meteorological Office spokesman said yesterday that the storms would gradually lessen today and tomorrow. Train services were also severely affected by flooded lines, and telephones and electricity supplies were hit in some parts of the country. Train services between Belfast and Dublin were also disrupted yesterday. Flooding on the line at Scarva resulted in the service being suspended and passengers were ferried by bus between Dundalk and Portadown. The Rosslare-Dublin train service was also disrupted at Ballygannon, south of Greystones, by floods. Passengers were brought by bus from. Dublin to Arklow after trains from Dublin were cancelled. Telephone services were also badly affected, particularly in North Co. (Dublin, and in some areas repair work cannot be started until the water subsides. Services to Britain were also affected for a period due to a fault in London but were later restored. There were also floods at Clonsilla village, on the Navan road, outside Blanchardstown, and at the Ward road, between Mulhuddart and the Ashbourne road. Houses on the Ailesbury Estate in Tallaght were also flooded and Gardai diverted traffic. The fire brigade in Bray were almost powerless in the face of massive seas which broke over the Esplanade and swept into houses along Fitzwilliam Terrace, including the Fitzwilliam Nursing Home. “We can’t pump back the tide. We need King Canute here. All we can do is try to minimise the damage by using sandbags,” a spokesman said.
Spectacular seas also broke over the sea-wall along the south Dublin coast at Williamstown, Blackrock and Seapoint.
A CIE spokesman said the line “looks like a canal” and all services were stopped from 10 a.m. onwards as the flooding increased when the tide rose.
One train was stuck in Blackrock station but as the waves broke as high as 30 foot over the public baths the train was backed up towards the city to avoid damage.
The sea was hitting cars about 30 yards inland from the shore near Blackrock and lumps of driftwood were thrown ashore by the waves. I was afraid that the house would be flooded. There wax three feet of water behind a wall at the back of the house.” Mr. Peter Smith, a native of Co. Cavan, and his wife Kathleen, from Co. Carlow, who have been living at Osprey Drive for three years, were prepared for the flood, the third in the past few weeks. “We took up our carpels on December 8 because of the floods here. Many people with young families left their houses today because the electricity was off and because of the water in the houses,” MK. Smith said. “We have a dipstick to put down through the floorboards in our front room to see how high the water is underneath.” Mrs. Smith added. Mrs. Smith said that nobody was available last Saturday when people tried to contact the County Council Emergency Services when they feared floods which have only affected the houses this winter.
“Our neighbour loosened his carpets on Saturday but when the floods did not come he did not take them up. He slept in this morning and when he came down the carpets were floating about in the house.” Mr. Smith said.
“The water came into our house although we had the bags against the doors since Saturday. It just came up underneath,” he added.
Councillor Sean Walsh, TD, said that many residents blamed the flooding on the diversion of the river Poddle but he thought that a culvert at Willington Lane was insufficient to drain the flood waters from the large new housing estates. He said the County Council services were under * great pressure because of the flooding in the county, TD, was also at the scene last night, and he said that he had to contact the Army to get sandbags to protect some oi the houses. The Army supplied the bags and the County Council filled them with sand and brought them to the estate.
A JCB was being used last night to deliver sandbags to some of the houses as water was being pumped away from the flooded streets in darkness.
Mr. McMahon said that the County Manager had succeeded in setting up a temporary emergency service for the area under an Administrative Officer of the Council, Mr. Dan O’Sullivan. The County Council is to make an investigation into the cause of the flooding.
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Poddle Forced Families Out |
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13/12/1954 |
PODDLE 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 in Watery Lane, Finglas, were also flooded when a nearby stream overflowed.
Another area affected was Clonliffe Road, where basement houses were flooded to a depth of four feet.
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Poddle River To Be |
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13/04/1967 |
PODDLE RIVER TO BE DEEPEND
Mr. R. Ryan, in the Dail, asked Mr. Boland, Minister for Local Government, when the Corporation would start and complete the deepening of the Poddle River at Kimmage, and whether the open space at the corner of Lower Kimmage Road and Ravensdale Park would be developed as a public park, and car park.
Mr. Boland said he had been informed by the Corporation it proposed to start work on the Poddle River in the present financial year, and that the work relates to the stretch of river between Clonard Road and the Derrington paint factory.
No information was available as to the projected use of the open space.
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Poddle Poses Problem |
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27/06/1969 |
CONTRACTORS who will start on Monday morning to reconstruct Patrick Street will have a problem. They will uncover for the first time in centuries the Poddle River.
The river runs underneath Patrick Street near the Cathedral and is too close to the surface of the road.
The reconstruction will demand that the whole base of the road should be dug up and carted away. This will lay bare at least part of the culvert. The reconstruction will cause the diversion of traffic and rerouting ol buses.
PROBLEM
Mr. }. J. Doran, principal officer. Engineering Department, Dublin Corporation, said that in spite of all the precautions taken and the care with which the traffic problem had, in conjunction with Supt. Davis of the Traffic Control section of the Gardai, been studied, he feared there would be some hold up on the route to the south.
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The Storm |
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12/06/1822 |
THE 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 have to add great disasters in the Channel. Several chimnies were blown down, many sky-lights broken, and some roofs forced in. The squalls were so sudden and violent, that the strongest work could hardly resist the repeated shocks. Amidst the confusion of reports, we cannot state any particular fact upon authority; but we have heard that a man was killed in Henry Street by the falling of a chimney, that a house in Clarendon-street has been seriously injured, and that one in the neighbourhood of Sackville Street has fallen. The chimney of a house in New Row, Poddle, and of one in Mapas street fell, but we have not heard of any lives being lost by these accidents. The Gas was every where extinguished by the violence of the wind. The glazed tool of the Arcade suffered considerably; and the extensive sky-lighted roof of Mr. Jones, on Cork-hill, although constructed on the best and most permanent plan, was nearly destroyed. Almost every shop was closely shut up at an early hour—indeed this was rendered necessary by the great difficulty of keeping in the lights—gas, lamps, candles, all were extinguished.
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Cllrs Oppose Plans on Poddle Cover Up |
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19/05/1993 |
PLANS to put more of Dublin’s Poddle River underground are being opposed by city councillors. The Corporation is evaluating tenders for the erection of concrete culverts over a section of the rivet running through a hospice at Harold’s Cross. Much of the river has already been covered as the city has become more built-up. But Councillor Eric Byrne (DL) said: “This runs through idyllic surrounds and we should get a full report on why tenders are being sought.” Councillor Ciaran Cuffe [GP) said: “It’s a great pity the river is covered in most built-up areas. We should think carefully before culverting any section of the stream. It can have great amenity value if it’s left uncovered.” Now Assistant City Manager William Soffe has agreed to give the city council a detailed report of the proposal. In the mean time a decision on tender has been deferred. A portion of the river which runs through the heart of the city has been exposed during road works by Corporation workers near Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
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Notices to Motorist-South City-Grafton Street |
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23/01/1988 |
Notice to Motorists — South City-Grafton Street
To facilitate the culverting of the Poddle River, at Kimmage to close to vehicular traffic, the section of Grafton Street from Chatham Street to South Anne Street from 8 a.m. Sunday 24th January 1988, for approximately three weeks. Southbound traffic will be diverted via Anne Street South, Dawson Street, Molesworth Street and Kildare Street to St. Stephen’s Green. Access to that section of Grafton Street from Chatham Street to St. Stephen’s Green will be from Chatham Street. The section of Chatham Street from Balfe Street to Grafton Street will operate one-way to Grafton Street tor the duration of the works. Dublin Corporation regrets any inconvenience caused by these works.
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The River Poddle |
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22/04/2010 |
Forget the Liffey: the Poddle is the reason our whole city is here. This river, which rises in the Dublin mountains, provided drinking water for early settlers and even formed the dubh linn, a dark pool of water which gave us our name. As the city grew, it was forced underground and now runs beneath the south city and Dublin Castle. It emerges at Wellington Quay – so the grate you see there is not a sewer pipe. In case you ever wondered. Interestingly, much of the lower length of the Poddle is in a large brick tunnel; you can actually walk along it for almost three miles from Harold’s Cross to the quays. In the 1990s, D6W locals were surprised to see their gardens suddenly sink by 10 feet; it was actually due to the collapse of these underground Poddle tunnels.
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Watery Ways - when the Dodder helped out the Poddle |
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03/10/1990 |
Indeed, Dublin has had an organised water supply system for nearly 750 years. When the medieval city was only 50 acres in extent, the river Poddle served the people’s needs, but the source soon proved to be inadequate and, in 1244, the City Sheriff was mandated to improve things.
He did so by entering an agreement with the Priory of St. Thomas, which owned a weir on the Dodder at Balrothery: as a result, Dodder water was diverted to augment Poddle water and a supply, crystal clear and adequate, was maintained.
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How history flows through Dublin |
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10/02/2004 |
The 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 the Salach, meaning dirty, or the Soulagh. This latter name has been immortalised by the Dubliners in the song Down by the River Saile.
The Poddle, which rises in Tallaght, was at one time the main source of fresh water for the medieval Dublin. As the city expanded the demand for water increased. In April 1244 Maurice Fitzgerald, Justiciar of Ireland, commanded the sheriff of Dublin “without delay to make inquisition, with advice of the Mayor and citizens, as to whence water can be best and most conveniently taken from its course”.
Dublin Corporation entered into an agreement with the Abbey of St Thomas which owned the rights to the Dodder at Balrothery to reroute water from the Dodder into the Poddle.
It was diverted using a two mile man-made canal that came to be known as the City Watercourse, which was in use until 1775. Parts of it can still be seen in the Dodder Valley Linear Park near Tallaght.
The Poddle, now mostly underground, flows into Dublin via Templeogue and Kimmage where the river divides into two at a place called The Tongue near Mount Argus. One strand which supplied the City Watercourse flows down through the Liberties and the other flows down through Harold’s Cross.
The two streams reunite at the junction of Patrick’s Street and Dean Street. It flows past the cathedral, turns east and flows down under Ship Street and Dublin Castle to merge with the Liffey at Wellington Quay. St Patrick’s Cathedral is built on a small island between the two strands of the Poddle — referred to in a document in 1179 as St Patrick’s in insula or St Patrick’s on the island. There was also a holy well dedicated to the saint and this is now covered over by the park adjoining the cathedral. Legend has it that Patrick himself performed baptisms at this well.
This stretch of the Poddle was very prone to flooding and the cathedral was inundated many times over the centuries. In 1687 it was reported that the cathedral was flooded to a level above the desks and on another occasion it was flooded to a depth of five feet while boats sailed on the swollen river outside.
The present-day junction of Dean Street and Patrick’s Street was until 200 years ago called Cross Poddle. This was obviously one of the main crossing points over the Poddle either by way of a bridge or ford and was the place where local women gathered to wash clothes.
It’s not clear when exactly the name of Soulagh or Salach was applied to the Poddle but there were certainly many reports written over the centuries in relation to its filthy state.
The main culprits seem to have been the many industries and mills that lined the banks of the river who contaminated the water with bleach, refuse from the skinners yards and other materials, which made the water undrinkable. The city section of the river was eventually covered over during the 18th century.
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Underground |
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22/04/2000 |
At the time – the end of the last ice age – sea levels were 45m lower and Dublin’s rivers, including the Liffey, Poddle. Stein and Camac, cut deep gorges down into the rock. Dr. Philips says. “As the ice melted and sea levels rose, the rivers slowed down and gutted those channels with sand and gravel.” In fact, what he describes as a “mini Grand Canyon”, with bedrock cut by the River Stein (now a sewer), once dipped 100ft below the front of Trinity College. Gathering together with the Poddle, the Liffey and the Gallows stream at the current site of thc Screen Cinema on Hawkins Street, the rivers formed a pool in which marauding Vikings used to moor.
Thankfully, this is not the case with the scene of another planned heist. Encountering the Poddle once again, this time through a manhole near Marsh’s Library, reminds one of Orson Welles’ adventures in The Third Man. It was here, in a large foul sewer that charts a course to the Liffey beneath Patrick Street, Werburgh Street and Temple Bar, that a team of bank robbers almost pulled off the big one. Crossing the watercourse beneath what is now the Millennium Park, they burst into Allied Irish Bank on Dame Street, almost 6m below ground. Luckily for AIB. a raucous set of alarms scared them off; but ever since, for security reasons, Gardai carefully monitor the culvert.
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The Dublin rivers that vanished from sight |
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14/08/1984 |
THE PODDLE RIVER was the most important to old Dublin. It came down from above Tallaght, through Templeogue and Kimmage and Harold’s Cross, through the Coombe, and Bride Street, to the Liffey below Cork Hill. You can see the heavy iron grating in the quay wall below Wellington Quay, where the Poddle enters the Liffey. In its time the Poddle supplied water to Dublin’s households, served numerous mills and was the great industrial river of the city, and for long the only water supply for Dublin’s citizens. When the city fathers turned to new ideas for water supplies, and mills and tanneries in Dublin declined, the Poddle was gradually arched ever, its banks neglected, its streams becoming hidden. It still flows from the hills to the Liffey, but many people are unaware of its existence.
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Viking Dublin |
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25/10/1988 |
A 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 here to places as far away as Newfoundland, Constantinople and Russia, trading goods and forging links with the (hen-known world. Dublin was part of an international trading network. A Viking settlement had become a Viking city.
Within the country itself Dublin was an important point in a web of ancient Irish roads. By 988 Viking and Irish lived together in the city.
The picture shows a view of the city, looking southwards, with the River Liffey in the foreground and the Dublin mountains in the distance. The river flows from the right of the picture eastwards to the sea. This is the area of which Christ Church Cathedral, the new Civic Offices and Wood Quay would today form the centre.
On the left of the picture the river Poddle flows into the Liffey, widening out at one point into a large pool — thc Linn Dubh or black pool from which Dublin is named. This pool provided safe anchorage and was probably used for building -and refitting ships as shown here. The main thoroughfares of the city weave their way up from the riverbank linking with a well developed network of streets and alleys. Each house stands on its own ground, detached from its neighbour.
The houses were made of timber planks or wattle and roofed with straw. They are all of a similar style. A fireplace was built in a central position in each house, the smoke rising through a hole in the roof.
In the top left-hand corner stands the biggest building in the city — the first Viking stronghold, from which the city would have originally spread.
The city wall was made of timber and earth anil provided some protection from enemies.
As well as its lively port, Dublin also supported a thriving crafts industry with bone carvers, wood turners and leather workers plying their trade.
By 988 Dublin was alive and well and here to stay
Viking Dublin circa 988, looking southwards from above the river Liffey. The pool, centre left, provided safe anchorage and was probably used for refitting and building ships as shown here.
Key
Course of modern Fishamble Street.
River Liffey.
River Poddle
“Linn dubh’ or black pool, from which Dublin is named.
First Viking stronghold.
Site of St Patrick’s Cathedral on an island in the river Poddle; previously a Gaelic foundation.
Part of the tower of St Michael-le-Pole (90ft. tall) also a pre-Viking relic.
Site of modern Civic Offices.
Medieval Dublin
THREE hundred years later, the same view as above, more or less the same size, but now a Norman city in the grip of a harsh, cold, medieval winter.
The Anglo-Normans have arrived in Ireland and Dublin has become one of their conquests. Immediately we notice the results of the Norman talent for building solid stone structures. The city is dominated by three major buildings.
The Viking stronghold has been replaced by Dublin Castle, a fully-fledged Norman construction with towers, gate and massive outer wall. Begun in 1204 on the orders of King .John it provided a strong military base.
Christ Church Cathedral rises up in the centre of the city. Originally a wooden structure begun in 1038 by the Viking Sitric Silkenbeard, it has been rebuilt in stone. Further south, outside the city walls, St. Patrick’s Cathedral has been built on flat ground that was previously an island on the river Poddle.
The old Viking city wall is now a solid stone one with towers and city gates.
Inside the city, the houses are more tightly packed together and of a timber-framed construction. Gone are the individual viking houses on their own plots of land. Here and there the richer inhabitants have built themselves larger stone-constructed houses.
Land has been reclaimed from the river, providing space for the building of warehouses. The riverbank has taken on more the look of a quay. This reclamation had the effect of narrowing and deepening the river, making it possible for larger ships to anchor.
Dublin has taken on a new image and is already providing us with landmarks that exist today.
2000_04_22_01_Irish_Independent
At the time – the end of the last ice age – sea levels were 45m lower and Dublin’s rivers, including the Liffey, Poddle. Stein and Camac, cut deep gorges down into the rock. Dr. Philips says. “As the ice melted and sea levels rose, the rivers slowed down and gutted those channels with sand and gravel.” In fact, what he describes as a “mini Grand Canyon”, with bedrock cut by the River Stein (now a sewer), once dipped 100ft below the front of Trinity College. Gathering together with the Poddle, the Liffey and the Gallows stream at the current site of thc Screen Cinema on Hawkins Street, the rivers formed a pool in which marauding Vikings used to moor.
1990_10_03_Irish_Independent
Indeed, Dublin has had an organised water supply system for nearly 750 years. When the medieval city was only 50 acres in extent, the river Poddle served the people’s needs, but the source soon proved to be inadequate and, in 1244, the City Sheriff was mandated to improve things.
He did so by entering an agreement with the Priory of St. Thomas, which owned a weir on the Dodder at Balrothery: as a result, Dodder water was diverted to augment Poddle water and a supply, crystal clear and adequate, was maintained.
2000_04_22_02_Irish_Independent
Thankfully, this is not the case with the scene of another planned heist. Encountering the Poddle once again, this time through a manhole near Marsh’s Library, reminds one of Orson Welles’ adventures in The Third Man. It was here, in a large foul sewer that charts a course to the Liffey beneath Patrick Street, Werburgh Street and Temple Bar, that a team of bank robbers almost pulled off the big one. Crossing the watercourse beneath what is now the Millennium Park, they burst into Allied Irish Bank on Dame Street, almost 6m below ground. Luckily for AIB. a raucous set of alarms scared them off; but ever since, for security reasons, Gardai carefully monitor the culvert.
2004_02_10_Evening_Herald
The 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 the Salach, meaning dirty, or the Soulagh. This latter name has been immortalised by the Dubliners in the song Down by the River Saile.
The Poddle, which rises in Tallaght, was at one time the main source of fresh water for the medieval Dublin. As the city expanded the demand for water increased. In April 1244 Maurice Fitzgerald, Justiciar of Ireland, commanded the sheriff of Dublin “without delay to make inquisition, with advice of the Mayor and citizens, as to whence water can be best and most conveniently taken from its course”.
Dublin Corporation entered into an agreement with the Abbey of St Thomas which owned the rights to the Dodder at Balrothery to reroute water from the Dodder into the Poddle.
It was diverted using a two mile man-made canal that came to be known as the City Watercourse, which was in use until 1775. Parts of it can still be seen in the Dodder Valley Linear Park near Tallaght.
The Poddle, now mostly underground, flows into Dublin via Templeogue and Kimmage where the river divides into two at a place called The Tongue near Mount Argus. One strand which supplied the City Watercourse flows down through the Liberties and the other flows down through Harold’s Cross.
The two streams reunite at the junction of Patrick’s Street and Dean Street. It flows past the cathedral, turns east and flows down under Ship Street and Dublin Castle to merge with the Liffey at Wellington Quay. St Patrick’s Cathedral is built on a small island between the two strands of the Poddle — referred to in a document in 1179 as St Patrick’s in insula or St Patrick’s on the island. There was also a holy well dedicated to the saint and this is now covered over by the park adjoining the cathedral. Legend has it that Patrick himself performed baptisms at this well.
This stretch of the Poddle was very prone to flooding and the cathedral was inundated many times over the centuries. In 1687 it was reported that the cathedral was flooded to a level above the desks and on another occasion it was flooded to a depth of five feet while boats sailed on the swollen river outside.
The present-day junction of Dean Street and Patrick’s Street was until 200 years ago called Cross Poddle. This was obviously one of the main crossing points over the Poddle either by way of a bridge or ford and was the place where local women gathered to wash clothes.
It’s not clear when exactly the name of Soulagh or Salach was applied to the Poddle but there were certainly many reports written over the centuries in relation to its filthy state.
The main culprits seem to have been the many industries and mills that lined the banks of the river who contaminated the water with bleach, refuse from the skinners yards and other materials, which made the water undrinkable. The city section of the river was eventually covered over during the 18th century.
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Two Poddle bridges |
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16/10/1972 |
Through the courtesy of the White Swan Laundry, Liam was able to make this drawing from a foot bridge over a branch of the Poddle, where the ancient river disappears under a second bridge, beneath Donore Avenue, once known as Love Lane. This branch ol the Poddle was taken off near the modern Mount Jerome, for the use of St. Thomas’s Abbey, which at the suppression of the monasteries, 1540, was found to have four waterrrrills worked by this stream, the Wattle Mill, the Wood Mill, and the Double Mills.
Father Myles V. Ronan, in a paper he wrote on the Poddle and its branches, puts the date of the making of this stream as between 1245 and 1324, for of course the whole line of the Poddle is an artificial stream, a very remarkable bit of mediaeval engineering. After the Reformation, when the Brabazons took over the lands of St. Thomas’s Abbey from the Augustinian Canons of St. Victor, this stream was known as “the Earl of Meath’s Watercourse”.
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The Danes in Dublin |
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01/09/1971 |
The Scandinavian towns, Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Wexford, have suffered from the fact that they have all continued as cities up to our time, the modern houses covering up the traces of the Viking settlements.
Dublin is probably the only one which repays study. The modern town and its harbour are built on both sides of the estuary of the Liffey, now a narrow river confined between
In olden times the tidal river was certainly much wider, especially at its meeting with the tributaries on the south side, the Poddle and Camac. The erratic course of the Poddle, which nowadays runs below the streets, has been carefully studied. Coming from the south and meeting the long low hill which bordered the Liffey, it spread out in a vast marsh with a few islands of higher ground. Then, at the eastern end of the hill, it joined the Liffey, the confluence probably forming a small natural harbour. This harbour and the marsh were referred to as the Black Pool (Dubh Linn).
The hill is one of the boulder clay moraines left by prehistoric glaciers which are so common in the central Irish plain. As they drain easily they were favourite sites for raths in the early Middle Ages. This was probably the case here, and the eastern end of the hill seems to have been the site of an establishment combining the characteristics of rath and crannog as it was threatened with infiltrations of water at the spring tides, To overcome this disadvantage, its floor was probably covered with mats of wattle similar to those which covered the platform of the Ballinderry crannog. Nearby, a ford made it possible to cross the river at low tide on the way towards Tara and Armagh. The name of the place—Ath Cliath, the ford of the wattles—may derive either from the structure of the rath, or from the presence of wattles in the ford itself.
There was, on one of the islands in the marsh of the Poddle below the hill, a small monastery which took its name from the Black Pool. Very little is known about it, though it figures twice in the Annals of the Four Masters. In 650 they relate the death of St. Bearaigh, abbot of Dubhlinn, in 785 that of another abbot, Siadhal. Onfe oi the churches of the monastery was probably on the very site where a dedication to St Patrick has survived to oui own day, in the thirteenth century cathedral.
The present building stands only a few feet from the subterranean course of the Poddle, but the original lay-out of the ground is well defined by a twelfth – century text which mentions “Ecclesia s. Patrick de Insula—the church of St. Patrick of the Island’. Another neighbouring, church, whose Norman name ‘was St. de Pole, was dedicated, not to the archangel but to MacThail, a sixth-century saint, so that it also could be a very old foundation. Both churches probably belonged to the monastery in the island of the Poddle and were no doubt re-erected in the eleventh century, after a century and a half of Viking occupation. It is possible that some carved stone slabs which have been found on various occasions near St. Patrick’s cathedral, may be all that remains of the early foundation.
Some distance upstream still on the south bank of the Liffey, theeo was another small monastery Cill Maighnenn (Kilmainham) also going back to the sixth century. The death of a “sage” belonging to it is recorded at the end of the eighth century, but nothing more. Its site is marked by the shaft of a curious stone cross. Further to the south-west, still to the south of the Liffey, stood the monastery of Clondalkin. and, near the spring of the Poddle, that of Tallaght, founded at the end of the eight century by Maelruan, which, around 800, together with its twin monastery of Finglas, had been a great centre of spiritual and ascetic activity. We have seen that the latter, which was about two miles north of the Liffey, disappeared shortly after 860. The imposing plain stone cross there may then date back to the end of the eighth or the first half of the ninth century. Further to the north-east, at Swords, there was a Columban monastery of considerable importance.
It is in this diffuse pattern made up of different types of establishments that the Scandinavian colony of Dublin took its place. In 836 the Four Masters say that “Ath Cliath was taken for the first time” by the Norwegians. In 840, the Annals announce that the “foreigners” are building a fort at Dubhlinn. This fort probably superseded the Irish settlement of Ath Cliath, but may have covered from the start a much wider portion of the promontory. It was already a walled city and it is probable that, at the time or shortly afterwards, it occupied the same area as the medieval city which was enclosed in fortifications of which some much re-built and restored fragments still subsist below the church of St Audoen and along Lamb Alley. It stretched from there as far as the place where the east wing of the castle was erected in the thirteenth century, that is to say on a length of about 560 yards and a width of 330 yards.
The other excavated site, at the corner of High Street and Nicholas Street, has yielded the ruins of houses whose walls were built of wattle and which probably belong to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, perhaps even to the late tenth. Underneath was an earlier layer which contained a few Scandinavian objects, amongst them a spear-head of a typical shape and a lead weight decorated with a gold stud. This layer lay directly on the boulder clay, so that it seems that the Irish eighth-century settlement did not spread this far.
From these excavations which may still have surprises in store for us, one can begin to get some idea of the appearance of the town in the first centuries of its existence; a city of elongated shape, more than 600 yards long, watching over its harbour from the top of a promontory surrounded by water on three sides. It probably consisted chiefly of houses built of planks like those in Scandinavia, crowded along narrow streets. We do not so far know anything of the wall which surrounded them, nor of the habitation of the kings of Dublin which is also likely to have been built of wood, nor of the wharves where the goods brought from the four corners of the world were piled up.
A complement to our knowledge of the city and its inhabitants is supplied by the Viking tombs discovered from time to time about a mile upstream near Kilmainham, which seems to have been the burial place of the citizens of the new town.
So we see that Dublin was always a Viking or Danish city. In due course it did become the political metropolis of the country, but that too was the decision of foreigners, for the Normans, when they came here in 1166 also based themselves upon Dublin and in that way the city became the political capital of the Pale and subsequently of the whole country. That was the position when Dail Eireann was founded in 1918 and Dublin has remained the capital of Ireland to this very day and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
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The Scandinavian Kings of Dublin |
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31/08/1971 |
The place where Aulaf fixed his residence the Irish called “Ath Cliath” or “The Ford of the Hurdles” from the wicker bridge by which the great road from Tara was continued across the Liffey into Cualann. The Scandinavians called it “Dyflin”, a corruption of the Irish name for that inlet at the confluence of the Poddle and the Liffey, which formed a harbour where ships were moored, and which the Irish called “Dubhlinn” or “the Black Pool” from the dark colour given to the water by the bog which extends under the river.
[Other text – omitted irrelevant]
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Historic Irish battles |
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30/10/1930 |
Brian’s men had been plundering the country lying between the River Liffey and Howth. Sitric, the Norse King of Dublin, marched out to oppose them from the little town which his forefathers had built on the south bank of the Liffey, where the Poddle enters it in the vicinity of the present Dublin Castle. [Other text – omitted irrelevant]
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Restoring Dublin's Old City Wall |
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25/08/1970 |
If you can obtain a copy of Speed’s map of Dublin, 1610—probably the most authentic with which to follow the outline of the lost walls of Dublin — an interesting and speculative afternoon ramble can be enjoyed in trying to assess their location. Claudius Ptolemy, an eminent Alexandrian geographer, mathematician and astronomer who flourished early in the second century, is credited with being the first writer to mention Dublin. He records it as “Eblana, a city.” He may have heard the name from Mediterranean mariners who had sailed the Irish coast and so the word could be an oriental rendering of the ancient Irish Dubh linne, or the Latin Duvelina. Ptolemy’s manuscript was first translated into Arabic in A.D. 827 and then into Latin about A.D. 1230. It is quite possible, therefore, the initial letter “D” got lost somewhere.
The infant city of Ptolemy’s time stood on the high eastern extremity of the isthmus between the confluence of the Liffey and the Poddle, and may have taken its name from the dubh linn, or “black pool” formed by the latter river which stretched over a large area from the Castle garden to St. Patrick’s Park. Like all ancient cities it probably had a wall of some kind around it, but hardly one of greater defensive strength than that of a stockade or bawn.
[Other text – omitted irrelevant]
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Complex piece of Irish history |
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14/04/1969 |
“The city stood on the high ground between the Liffey and the now subterranean Poddle extending along the ridge from Christ Church westward as far as the end of High Street and eastward to about where the Olympia Theatre now stands.”
[Other text – omitted irrelevant]
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Full Tide |
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12/02/1962 |
“An arm of the Liffey” continues this writer, “came through Crampton Court to Lower Castle Yard and beat at full tide against the rising ground at Ship Street. On the northern side the same river swelled up far in Fishamble Street; and the Poddle, before it was confined, overflowed Bridge Street so that the ancient rathe was peninsular and formed about 800 feet on each side.”
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We growl often about the rain |
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18/09/1962 |
CAPEL STREET Bridge is of Kippure Mountain, where it is easy to find, being only a short walk from O’Connell Bridge. Well near it you will see water coming out of a kind of sewer in the river wall. Sad to say, that is a famous river called the Poddle. It rises out near Tallaght, and at one time supplied water for the monastery there.
CAM UISCE, or Crooked Stream, was another name for the Poddle; and some think that !the name Kimmage comes from Cam Uisce. It does flow through Kimmage, and Harold’s Cross, and at one time supplied water to [fill the ditch or moate around Dublin Castle. It was a real waterway; and I remember reading how a Bishop escaped from the castle in a boat on the Poddle. DUBLIN WATER in the very early times (700 years ago) was supplied from that Poddle. Later on as many as thirty-two mills had their wheels turned by the same poor river. Nowadays :the stuff that flows out at Capel Street Bridge does not look too nice. But then, even in the 13th century (700 years ago) it was called Glascholach: from the Irish “Glas” — a Stream, and “Salach”—dirty. It may improve yet, as I hoped yesterday.
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Dean Swift - His Association with St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin |
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18/09/1954 |
One of the earliest references to be found to the Irish-settlement of Dubh Linn (Black’ Pool)’ is in the eleventh century life of St. Kevin of Glendalough who flourished in the 6th century A.D. The settlement was on the banks’ of the River Poddle, where it entered the River Liffey. It had four churches —St. Michil-le-Pole, St. Brigid’s, St. Kevin’s and St. Patrick’s. All four churches were built on the banks of the Poddle and within a few hundred yards of the “Black Pool, the junction of the two rivers which gave the City its name. The Ath Cliath (Ford of the Hurdles) from which the Irish name of Dublin (Baile Atha _Cliath) is derived, was near the present Queen’s Street Bridge, the narrowest point of the Liffey, and the great road—the Slighe Cualann – Tara passed over the Liffey at the Ford. The ancient church of St. Patrick was on the island of the Poddle (the present Patrick’s Street). In 1179 the church was confirmed among other parochial churches of Dublin diocese, to St. Lorcan ua Tuathail by Pope Alexander III. Archbishop Comyn, the first Anglo-Norman Bishop in Dublin, was the successor to St. Lorcan. Prince John during a visit in 1185 granted to Comyn a. forest area (Coilllaicht) in the upper basin of the River Dodder. This grant made him a feudal baron with the right to hold courts in his lordship. At the time the Archbishop’s residence’ stood beside the Priory of Holy Trinity (now Christ Church) Cathedral, and was subject to civic jurisdiction. V/_lien Archbishop Comyn received a grant of a Carucate (120 acres) outside the walls of Dublin) he transferred his residence there and called it St. (Holy) Sepulchre’s. St. Patrick’s on the island stood adjacent, but was too old and small for an archiepiscopal church. Comyn built the new Cathedral in its place, and consecrated it to “God, Our Blessed Lady Mary, “and St. Patrick.” on St. Patrick’s Day, 1192. The Papal Legate, Matthew O’Heney, Archbishop of Cashel, is said to have been present on the occasion. “Perfect Symmetry and Simplicity ” A new structure was erected in place of Comyn’s Cathedral in the early 13th century. It was modelled on Salisbury Cathedral, the design “of perfect symmetry and simplicity, was of Latin cross embodying naive, choir and transepts, on the lines of Comyn’s church, but all having aisles.” The Annals of Ulster tell us that it was consecrated in 1254 A.D. It suffered considerably through the centuries and was “restored”on many occasions. It was set on fire in 1315 by the citizens to check the Bruce invasion and its spire was blown down in 1316. It suffered more seriously from a second fire in 1362. By 1560 the whole church was in a decayed and ruinous state. It was then renovated to some extent, and a. granite spire was added in 1705. By 1787, however, it was again in a state of decay, and was finally renovated completely in 1864, The most famous Dean of St. Patrick’s was, of course,’Jonathan Swift. -Born in Dublin of British parents, on the- ; 30th November, 1667, he was educated at Kilkenny School, and proceeded to take his B.A. degree in Trinity College, Dublin. In 1692 he completed his academic studies with an M.A. degree at Oxford. In 1699 he became a member of the Chapter of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “The Tale of a. Tub,” one of his first satirical tracts, » was published during his visit to London in 1704, but ho continued_^ to devote himself to ; ecclesiastical matters until 1709. In that year he returned to England where he began the political pamphleteering which brought him into the public eye with a series of attacks on the Whig Viceroy in Ireland, Lord Wharton. .It was during the period of this visit that he . began the famous ” Journal to Stella” in 165 letters of which he mirrors _tha politics and social life of his time, , and his character and private life at the height of his political career in London. The journal ended in 1713, the year in which he was made Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral [more information omitted but might be useful in St Patrick Cathedral section]
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Oliver St. John Gogarty |
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23/12/1944 |
In St. Patrick’s time the site of what is now the City of Dublin, the Seventh City of Christendom, was called the Ridge of the Hazels. Hazels were largely distributed over the land, and they formed the principal woods: thus Silva virgulti on the shore of Strangford Lough , the Wood of tho Wattles, which were so useful for house-building as it was practised in the Ireland of old. The wattles or laths were woven between upright poles and plastered with clay. This made the ” “lime-white mansions” and the roofs were thatched.
Later, maybe, perhaps contemporaneously, what is now Dublin was called Ath Cliath , Hurdle Ford. Archbishop Healy writes:
The Ford of the Hurdles, which gave its Irish name to Dublin, was a rude bridge over the Liffey, somewhere near the head of the tide near Kingsbridge.
This, as I have reason to know , is somewhat inaccurate. The Liffey is tidal right up to Island Bridge, where the weir at the boat-house of the Dublin University Rowing Club holds back and deepens its stream. The Ford of the Hurdles was at the end of the great road which ran south from Tara through Batterstown (a corruption of Boher, the road) and crossed the Liffey where the Ridge of the Hazels was highest, and where afterwards the ships could find fair harbourage on the north side of the river at tho Dark Linn. This, Black Pool or Dark Linn was at the junction of the little river Poddle with the Liffey, and from it Dublin derives its name.
The road from Tara crossed the river there, and, as anyone who lives in Dublin can see, the river must have been fordable at low tide through any point of its course through the city. This is so even now, when its current is fathered so well by the great granite walls built by Grattan’s Parliament.
The road from Tara crossed the Liffey at the Hurdle Ford, and the road from Tara, passing through “Batterstown”, reached Stoneybatter, and crossed the water at the Hurdle Ford to go on to Bohernabreena , where the public hostel ar caravanserai of tho Derga was at Bohernabreena , the “Road-House” or hostel of De Derga on on the river Dodder. This is portion of the Archbishop’s- account of St. Patrick’s visit to our city:e
Here we must pause to consider the question whether or not. Patrick really visited the place called in his time Ath Cliath, but known as Dublin to tho Danes or Ostmen. We have already referred to the brief and suspicious reference in tho Homily on St . Patrick in the Lebar Brece to this alleged visit of the Saint to Ath Cliath. But Jocelyn gives
…
[rest omitted due to irrelevancy]
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When Dublin Monks had trading fleet - City's Ancient Rivers |
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22/11/1938 |
Much of the interesting history of Dublin’s old rivers was told to a meeting of the Old Dublin Society by Miss Lily M. O’ Brennan . when she dealt with the rivers Poddle. Bradoge, Swan, Camac, and Coleman’s Brook.
All those rivers, she said, had almost disappeared from view except the Camac.
CITY’S WATER SUPPLY.
The Poddle supplied the city with water until the 13th century, when a supply was taken also from the Dodder. Both rivers flowed as one stream to the Tongue Fields, where one-third of the water supply was diverted to the Basin in James’s St., the remainder flowing by St. Paul’s Retreat, Mount Argus, Patrick St. the Castle, to the Liffey a little below Cork Hill.
The waterworks in James’s St. was a fashionable resort of the citizens during the 18th century, and bands and concerts were provided.
The Camac and the Poddle turned the wheels of innumerable mills in their days. The Bradoge rose in Upper Cabra, flowed by Grangegorman to the Liffey at Ormond Quay. It’s little harbour belonged to St. Mary’s Abbey, and the Community had a fleet of trading vessels which sailed to France and England. The Bradoge was an open river in 1817.
Old residents of Rathmines still remembered the Swan and when water was sold at 1d. a puncheon. The population of Rathmines in 1836 was only 1600, and the township did not develop until the middle of the 19th century. Coleman’s Brook flowed across Thomas St. down Bridge St. and Cook St. to the Liffey and turned a mill at Mullinahack. Old citizens still referred to St. Augustine’s St. as Mullinahack.
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Commentary on Crumlin Cross |
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30/06/1929 |
Father Ronan has computed that the watercourse of the combined Dodder and Poddle Rivers formed between the year 1245 and 1254, supplied a daily average of 613,200 gallons to the old capital. Another purpose of this water service, as D’Alton remarks, was, “that after having been tossed and netted in the service of some rural mills, it glides into the Liberties to render its last service to the dyers of that district.
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The Rathmines of the past |
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09/03/1928 |
On the coming of Christianity churches sprang up along the River Poddle and were dedicated to Irish saints, distinguishing them from later Danish foundations.
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The Story of our Nation |
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26/10/1927 |
The uncovered Poddle acted as a sewer.
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Bubbles about Dublin - Fountains |
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30/01/1927 |
Ancient Water Supplies ‘By ” TOMAS S. CUFFE
WATER , in our Niobe of a nation,forever a seasonable subject. As early as the year 1254 water was conveyed to Dublin from the Dodder by an which still exists. Passing by Templeogue the course is later swelled by a stream called the Poddle, which : owes its rise to a spring at Tymon.
The Cistern of Cornmarket.Affecting this subject there is an interesting announcement in Camden’s Annals. It relates:—
“In this year (1303) a noble cistern was made to receive the water from the conduit head (the city watercourse) in Dublin (such as was never seen here) by the Mayor of the city, John Le Decer, and aid at his own expense.”
This useful structure stood at Cornmarket. Engravings of it are still extant. An illustration appeared in the second volume of the “Dublin Penuy Journal.” It was the copy of the then Ulster King-of-Arms, Sir William Betham, whose office contained a very ancient facsimile. A/rain, it should be asked when will a great benefactor of our capital, Le Decer, be commemorated in our street nomenclature?
“Liberties” Luckier Than City.
In its earlier evolution our watercourse is frequently mentioned in olden records. For centuries a proprietorship in it was vested in the Corporation of Dublin by the Earls of Meath, as lords of the Liberties of Thomas Court at Donore. The population of the latter locations was then bigger than that of the city proper.
Much power was also required for driving the wheels of their mills and aiding the industries of the Coombe. Thus (the stream was brought by way of Kimmage and Larkfield to the “Tongue,”where two-thirds of it composed the classical Poddle and the other third circulated to the city reservoir about Mount Brown.
During the year 1760 an Act of the Irish Parliament (6 Geo. I.) empowered the Corporation of the City of Dublin to lay down mains, branches, cocks, fire-plugs, etc., through the various thoroughfares. Commencing with (he old elm mains and until the construction of the cast-iron metal mains, the oddest ways were adopted for the distribution of required water. At times the “old goose quill tubes” were the gauge for the supply to a house. Then came small lead service pipes of about an inch in bore
The privilege was also granted for the construction of additional reservoirs of two acres each. These were placed at Portobello and the northern end of Blessington street. Lamentably enough after the1 new pipes were laid it was discovered that they were without flanges. No security from leakages was therefore forthcoming. Consequently the new system had to be taken up and recast. The cost £100,000 for years harassed; Dublin’s unfortunate householders with an awful water-rate.
A Domville ..Defies Dublin.
Despite the last financial millstone matters were mending. Our ancestors were gradually leaving an era when -water was as scarce as light. It. was no longer possible for the citizens to be compelled to parch when a Domville was annoyed by the Corporation. The water supply of Dublin long passed through the lands of this family at Templeogue. Thus when they willed they could cut the current. Upon a certain occasion it was deemed necessary that the Lord Lieutenant should despatch a force of horse and foot to beat back the Domvilles’ retainers from their attacks on the city’s water needs. Again there is the tale of a Compton Domville defeating the “aims-of-justice”. His nephew. Lord Santry, had been sentenced to death for Ihe murder of a poor man named Loughlan Murphy. But the irate Sir Complon saved his relation by the threat that if he perished the people of Dublin would thirst. Repetitions of this performance of 1739 were no longer possible when the Grand Canal commenced its supply in 1775.
Fountain Before Nelson Pillar.
Affairs had to await real correction until the advent of our Vartry system. In 1867 its introduction to the Liberties cost the Corporation £5,000 in compensation to the Earl of Meath. What had previously lightened privations wero public fountains. The young Duke, of -Rutland was bibulous and assuredly he sowed seeds of discord amongst Volunteers, but for others he was a believer in the water cure.
The first creation he proposed was opposite to the Rotunda at the northern end of O’Connell (Sackville) Street. He was dissuaded from his purpose by the Right Hon. Luke Gardiner, subsequently Lord Mountjoy, who was then prospecting the improvement of O’Connell Street, by the removal of its Mall. Two years later, in 1787. Dublin’s third public fountain was raised adjoining the statue of Lord Blakeney. Both it and the monument to the soldier were removed to make way for Nelson’s Pillar in 1808.
[Omitted rest of article due to it be irrelevant]
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A Quaint System |
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12/08/1923 |
A QUAINT SYSTEM
ACCUSTOMED as we are to a plentiful supply of water at high pressure, and, in cases of fire, to the services of. a, skilled brigade, it is difficult to realise the clumsy contrivances of our ‘ancient Civic Fathers when they ordered twelve graps of iron for pulling down houses that might chance to be’ on fire, and eleven buckets of leather for carrying water to quench it. But still, in those early days, those Fathers were not without foresight and consideration in organising a supply of water for the needs of the small city that Dublin then was. .
THE DODDER RIVER.
As early as “?” the discussion of a water supply had been taken up by the King’s Justiciar, or Viceroy, and the citizens, feeling it a pressing want, voted money. But the construction of the water-way was nearly as slow as the construction of our second reservoir of today. It took ten years to accomplish it, even though the King – was most anxious to have his supply in Dublin Castle. But even the King had to wait on the will of the Civic Fathers, as it was their business. Curious to relate, the source selected by them, for tho supply was that selected by the Rathmines Council in later years for the supply of their exclusive township.
This was the source of the River Dodder above Bohernabreena in Glasnamucky. The river flowed until it came to Balrothery, opposite Firhouse, south-east of Tallaght, where a dam of stone—called the “Head”—was erected, by which the water supply was diverted from the river —the river continuing its natural course. The artificial water-way ran north-east to the ancient churchyard of Templeogue, and then joined the springs that are the source of the river Poddle, near Tymon. In this the Fathers showed wisdom, for the Poddle skirted the ancient city of Dublin in its tortuous flow. From Tymon to Mount Argus the water-way and the Poddle were one stream. But here they parted. A stone-pier, at an acute angle, called the ” Tongue,” divided tho stream, the water-way being carried west, and the Poddle going its natural course through Harold’s Cross. The Poddle itself, after leaving the “Tongue,” branched off into two streams, one going by Marrowbone Lane, Pimlico. Ardee St., Warrenmount, and the rere of New Row, through the grounds of St. Thomas’s Abbey, enclosed St. Patrick’s Church on one side, while the parent stream flowed down from Harold’s Cross to enclose the other side, thus making St. Patrick’s Church a church on an island. The two streams again united after leaving St. Patrick’s, and flowing by the Castle walls, and under teo present Empire (or Olympia.) theatre, emptied itself into the Liffey.
ANCIENT WATER-WAY.
But our concern is with the water-way diverted at the “Tongue” at Harold’s Cross. It skirted St. Jerome’s cemetery, and, through a beautiful stretch of land, continued to Dolphin’s Barn, and reached its great cistern or High Pipe, now familiarly known as the “Back of the Pipes,” near St. James’s Gate, where the present City basin was afterwards erected.
Tho Civic Fathers were wise in their selection of this high ground for their cistern or reservoir, for the city then stood on a height, between James’s Street and the Castle, and the flow of water was natural from that spot. From James’s Street to the city the water-way ran through Thomas Street and High Street to the conduit opposite Christ Church and the Tholsel or Town Hall.
The course down Thomas Street and Hight Street was an open stream, with gross banks, up to a certain point not clearly located, from which point the water seems to have been conveyed in open wooden troughs to the public conduit. Several small cisterns were supplied by it en route. From the conduit at Christ Church and the small cisterns leaden pipes conveyed. The water to the residences of such of the citizens as had special grants from the Corporation.
COMMONERS CATERED FOR.
But the common folk were not neglected, and in many instances the wealthier burgesses were allowed sufficient to supply the want of their poorer neighbours, who came and drew from these private fountains. Sometimes a landlord supplied his tenants from his own cistern by a number of pipes. The Corporation, however, expressly laid it down that these pipes should not be thicker than a goose quill. This shows that the water was kept continually flowing, as we see today in many Continental towns, and there must have been tanks or vessels to receive it. The inhabitants along Thomas Street helped themselves furtively, liberally, and free of charge cut of the running stream, whilst those who lived near the stream between Kimmage and Dolphin’s Barn ingeniously made holes in the banks to supply their fields.
REPAIR AND SUPERVISION.
To keep such an open water-way in proper repair and condition was no easy matter. There were many mills along its course, the owners of which did not hesitate to dam tho stream for a better flow of water to turn them, much to the damage of tho supply to the citizens. The banks and troughs – were constantly in need of cleansing and repair. The care of the stream was, therefore, entrusted to two individuals. From the “Head” to the “Tongue” was entrusted to some substantial yeoman resident in the neighbourhood of Templeogue or Tallaght, and from the “Tongue” to the city cistern to the care of one of the Corporation officials no less a personage than the Bearer of the Footmen Banner, who also received the honourable name of “keeper of the town grounds called the Pipe-grass” namely, the grass along the banks of tho troughs. To pay these guardians of the course the Corporation exacted tithes of corn from all the mills in and about the city for the supply of water to them. They also directed that the fee of 12d. (present value about 30s. or 40s.) payable by each person admitted to the City franchise should be applied to repairing the leaden pipes in the city, and to scouring them where they joined the conduit. But each householder was bound to open up the street and lay his pipes initially at his own expense, and to do it ” speedily.” so as not to interfere with the convenience of tho passers-by, and also to open up the street for repair of the pipes and to pave it decently. He was to pay a rent of 6d. (about 15s. or £1) yearly for his water supply, and the neighbour who was favoured with the goose-quill pipe paid 1d. a year.
GRANTS OF WATER
Considering the primitive contrivance of wooden troughs, etc., it was an easy matter for Silken Thomas in the year 1534, with his forces assembled in Thomas Street, to cut the pipes and starve the citizens of their fresh water. This system of open wooden troughs lasted until late In the 18th century, when wooden pipes were introduced, but these gave way in a short time to a “curious system of metal and wooden pipes.” It was not until 1802 that an important improvement was made in the structure of the pipes; “it was found that those of wood rapidly decayed, and iron tubes were then laid.”
The religious communities, at Thomas Court. St. John’s outside Newgate, and Christ Church, with their hospitals, guesthouses, and alms-house, got their pipes laid from the stream and the conduit in the very first year (1254) of the supply. But the most interesting instance of the anxiety to profit by it is afforded by the house of the Friar’s Preachers, St. Saviour’s, which stood on the site of the ill-fated Four Courts. To carry the water from High Street across the Liffey was no easy matter in those days. Yet they succeeded.
They were allowed to join their pipe to the city pipe at the New Gate(Cornmarket), which, passing through municipal and archiepiscopal land, arrived at the river. Here they brought it across the river, but they were solemnly warned by the Corporation to do no injury to the old bridge.
FRIARS’ PRIVILEGES.
The diameter of the Friars’ pipe was to be five inches, and within their house it was to be so narrowed that its opening might be stopped by the insertion of a man’s little finger. The Friars were to keep’ up the pipe at their own expense, and the Mayor and citizens agreed, that should they be at any time molested in respect of the city conduit pipe, the Archbishop of Dublin, by stopping the pipe where it crossed through his lands, might restrain the citizens.
The districts on either side of the ridge of the city also received a water supply – through overflow streams. The citizens were not permitted to wash clothes in the overflow that ran through Thomas Street, except in the special place reserved for the purpose, which was by St. John’s Poorhouse (site of present Augustinian Church), and tripes and puddings were not to be cleansed in the same on a penalty of 12d. to be paid by anyone so offending.
MUNIFICENT MAYOR
We cannot close without mentioning an item that was considered at the time (year 1308) to have never been equalled, at least in the experience of the citizens of Dublin. The Mayor of the time John le Decer, was an eminently charitable man and munificent citizen. He and built the bridge across tho Liffey at St. Wolstan’s, near Celbridge, a chapel of Our Lady at the Friars Minors of Francis Street (where he was buried), repaired the church of the Friars Preachers, and every Friday “tabled ihn Friars at his own cost.” As well as providing cheap corn in times of death. But the great work for which he is remembered in muncipal records is the great marble cistern at Cornmarket, called the “High Pipe” for the greater convenience of the citizens who wished to introduce pipes from it into their houses. Taking it ail round, with its primitive methods, its difficulties, and its disadvantages, the old water supply tor the growing population of the ancient city of Dublin does credit to the enterprise’ and foresight of the Civic Fathers of those days. The new reservoir is no less an indication, in changed circumstances, of the possession of these qualities by the present guardian of the interests of the burgesses.
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Seen and Heard - Notes on notions for Men and Matters |
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20/06/1923 |
An 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 the Liffey, while supplying lots of water was not suitable owing to floods and other causes. They, therefore drew their first supplied from the Poddle a clear stream which rose at the foot of the Tallaght hills and flowed down what is now Cork Hill into the Liffey. Until 1200 the citizens of Dublin secured all the water for the City from the Poddle and whatever wells extended from James’s Gate to College Green, east and west and from the Coombe to the Liffey north and South
The Poddle and The Dodder
As the population increased and the boundaries extended somewhat, this supply became inadequate and in 1244 a watercourse was constructed from the Poddle to the Dodder. This watercourse, still in existence, started from a weir at Firhouse flowed across fields, under the Tallaght road, through the grounds of Templeogue House and turned northward joined the Poddle at a lower level near Whitehall cross roads. From this the united streams flowed on to “The Tongue” at Kimmage.
Here they were divided and the wedge-shaped stone or tongue is still there. Two thirds flow through the original course to the city by Goodbody’s factory through Blackpitts, past St Patrick’s Cathedral and down Palace and Castle streets to Wellington quay, where the stream joins the Liffey. The remainder flows to Dolphin’s Barn and thence by the rampart known as “The Back of the Pipes” to the old City Basin at James’s street.
Private Supplies
The parts of these streams running through the city are, of course, underground and are seldom hear of in former times they frequently flooded low-lying districts, while St. Patrick’s Cathedral was often much damaged by the floods. In the beginning the citizens drew their supplies direct from the stream but in 1254 water was supplied by means of watercourses to the public fountain and by pipes to private houses. The watercourses were open and the water flowed along the street in wooden pipes to the houses specially supplied. It was only the wealthy or important people who have water supplied to the house, and it was usually stipulated that the diameter of the pipe supplying the water should not exceed the diameter of a good quill.
Necessary Precautions
Naturally this was not a very abundant flow, and as there was no taps in these days the water flowed into a tank. In 1325, the rent for such services was 6d a year for a subsidiary supply from another person’s cistern the charge was 1d a year. As may be imagined it was difficult to prevent the water from being polluted and the city records contain many statues wit the matter. One of these prescribed a fine of 12d for “washing puddings and tripes” in the water course.
A gigantic task
With the addition of another conduit erected at the Cornmarket, this was the only method of supplying water until the canals were opened little over a century ago. The canal water supplied, however, was only intermittent and had very little pressure. In 1850, Sir John Gray and Alderman Kinahan were requested to select an engineer to advise as the best way to obtain an abundant supply of pure water. From the time onwards Sir John Gray devoted himself with remarkable zeal and energy to the problem. Many schemes mentioned before it was finally decided to impound the waters of the river Vartry at Roundwood. The work was commenced in 1863 and completed in 1868. Ten years afterwards the citizens of Dublin erected the statue of Sir John Gray, which stands in the O’ Connell St. at the junction of Middle and Lower Abbey Streets
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Die-hards ignore B and T Office |
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27/10/1922 |
The butter buttons referred to in this column reminds a correspondent of the Tongue fields, where a button manufactory flourished fifty years ago, with waterpower from the River Poddle. This stream, which rises in the Dublin Mountains, is divided by a stone structure in the shape of a tongue at Kimmage. Portion of the water is diverted down Harold’s Cross, while the other section proceeds by Dolphin’s Barn, Marrowbone lane, Pimlico, Blackpltts, and into the Liffey, near Grattan Bridge. In the 18th century the Bomville family had rights over this water. Their relative, Lord Santry, was about to be hanged for murder when they threatened to cut off this water supply from Dublin if their kinsman was so badly treated. So Lord Santry was not hanged.
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Dublin Civic Maps in the National Gallery |
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12/10/1907 |
[In relation to John Speeds Map 1610]
One feature, however, is missed in the latter. The Poddle in the days of Queen Bess and Pragmatical King James did not sneak beneath streets and houses as if ashamed of itself. ‘It boldly entered the city at New streete, swept around St Patrick’s, washed the sides of the Castle, near Ship street, and fell unconcernedly into the Liffey close to Damas Gate. The Coombe had the full benefit of its mellifluous in those halcyon days.
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Trail of the Storm |
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21/02/1910 |
Trail 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 Ireland, and in parts of England as well. “February fill dyke” is well known, and with tho usual heavy rains there often, come storms of considerable violence. But it is seldom that a gale in these countries lasts so long as tho present one, which indeed has not yet quite spent its fury. Besides the poor sailors who perished in the shipwreck, other lives have been lost in tho storm during the past few days, and the injury done to property has been very considerable. The accident to the Larne-Stranraer mail train on Saturday night near Carrickfergus, though serious enough was fortunately unattended by loss of life. Presumably the landslide which threw three coaches off tho rails and precipitated one of them into the sea was caused by the unusually heavy rains of the last few days. Indeed, many parts of the country are flooded, and the scenes which were witnessed in the Kimmage district yesterday were move like what we read of as having been caused in Paris a few weeks ago by the flooding of the Seine than what might be expected to result from the overflowing of a little stream like the Poddle.
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Health of Dublin |
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26/05/1900 |
CHARLES A. CAMERON,
Medical Superintendent of Health, Public Health, Office. Municipal Buildings,
Cork Hill, 12th May, 1900
The following letters were also _before the Committee—
Letter from the Town Clerk re improvement worka, Coadys Cottages and
Jane’s Ville from Cleansing’ Committee re cleansing depot at Marrowbone lane,
from Grand Canal Company re road along Canal bank from Forbes’ lane to Rialto Bridge,
letter from Local Government Board re appointment of Medical Officer of Health for the No 4 South City District.
The following reports were submitted to the Committee and the necessary orders issued thereon
Report by the Assistant Law Agent re procedure to be adopted’ in connection with the’ taking over of private streets, re painting Tara street Baths,
report by Sir C Cameron re condition of Granby place,
report of subcommittee appointed by the Public Health Committee to inquire into the proposal of diverting the Poddle River, and report by Sir Charles Cameron with reference to premises in Grenville street.
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Scheme to deal with Poddle river flooding |
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11/01/1972 |
The 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 Manager Mr. F Feely told the Commissioner Mr. Garvin. at his meeting yesterday that it would be necessary to culvert eventually the entire 1000 metres section from south of Kimmage Manor to the Grand Canal.
The culvert immediately in question is about 240 metres long from Greenmount Lane to the Grand Canal. Mr. Feely warned that the present one was structurally weak and a collapse at one or more points along it was possible.
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Cottages and land known as "Perrystown" |
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19/10/1911 |
Modern Residence
COTTAGES AND LANDS known as “PERRYSTOWN”, WHITEHALL ROAD, KIMMAGE, CO. DUBLIN.
We are instructed by John B. Hoe Esq. to SELL BY PUBLIC AUCTION AT 33 SMITHFIELD, DUBLIN, on THURSDAY NEXT, OCT. 26 1911, at 1:30 sharp, hist Dwellinghouse, two Cottages, Large yard, Extensive Out-offices, comprising Stables, Shed etc.
The Dwellinghouse comprises five apartments kitchen and pantry and sheds on a small plot of ground, away from the other buildings.
The two Cottages and one Stable area let on a weekly tenancy, and about four acres of land are let on the seven months’ system. There is a never-failing supply of water on the lands, the River Poddle, forming its southern boundary.
At present, after paying all rates and rent, there is a surplus of £1 12s 0d, decides leaving the Dwellinghouse 2acres of land, entensive yard and all the out-houses, except one stable, absolutely free from all rent and taxes.
About 1 1/2acres are in tillage, and are at present under a crop of turnips and potatoes.
The property stands on 6 acres and 25 perches statute measure, held under Lease dated 6th May 1910, for 75 years subject to a yearly rent of £27. Rates and taxes are about 20 minutes walk from the Terenure tram.
Further particulars and Conditions of Sales may be had of Messrs J.H. Walsh and Co. Solicitors having Carriage of Sale. 1 Lower Ormond quay, Dublin (Phone 324) or from E & D Carton, Auctioneers and Values,
33 Smithfield Dublin
Phones 2875 and 2876
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In Marrowbone Lane |
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11/02/1970 |
Liam’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 be distorted from “St. Mary le Bourne,” perhaps because the great Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary’s, on the North side, had some South side possessions here. The “Bourne” or stream, is of course, the Poddle, or a branch of same, which has been carefully mapped by the late Rev. Father M. V. Ronan, the historian, in an article he wrote for the Journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (Volume 57). Long since put underground, the Poddle still flows beneath the north side of Marrowbone Lane, between Robert Street and Price’s Row, and early in the last century, there is a record of a poor woman being drowned In Marrowbone Lane, by falling through the rotting floor of a cellar and being swept away by the Poddle In flood. Marrowbone Lane Distillery (Jameson and Robertson’s) is shown on the corner of Forkes Lane, on the 1847 Ordnance map, there was a tremendous fire here in 1875.
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Mills at Kimmage |
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12/11/1970 |
The course of the Poddle is generally traced to the Green Hills beyond Drimnagh (now largely removed by the gravel men) or to the hillock on which once stood Tymon Castle, demolished before 1960. From the Firhouse Weir, on the Dodder, another ancient supply was brought in to meet the Poddle on the borders of Perrystown and Templeogue townlands. The united stream did double duty, supplying water power to mills and drinking water to the citizens, so not surprisingly, there are early complaints of pollution. Handcock’s “History of Tallaght” 1877 says that because of the paper mills then in action near Tallaght, this watercourse was the colour of porter, produced foam like Guinness XX, and that cattle and horses died from drinking it. Liam’s drawing shows the Larkfield Mills, just outside the city boundary, opposite Sundrive Cinema. William Danford, had his corn mill here about 1880, but the next generation knew this as Larkfield Roller Mills, run by Harron, Connolly & Co. By the 1930’s St. Kevin’s Paint Works were located here, making “Kevolac” paints for Derrington & Co. while today the premises serve the colour printing trade.
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£20,000 claim against corporation |
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29/10/1952 |
Evidence was given before Mr Justice Budd, in the High Court, by Peter Cullen, Mount Down House Templeogue, in his action claiming £20,000 damages and injunction against Dublin Corporation for an alleged interference with an ancient water-supply to his premises.
He claims an undiminished supply of water from the city weir, an artificial stream, leading from that Dodder at Firhouse to the Poddle, which dates back to 1244.
The Corporation deny any diminution of the supply and that there ever had been sufficient water to drive a mill, and they also deny that Mr. Cullen had a right to just the water. The hearing will be resumed today.
Plaintiff said his father bought the lands in 1916, and the family went to live there in 1917 or 1918. The mill was then tn a ruinous condition, but they put on a new roof and carried out other repairs Originally, there had been a waterwheel in the mill, and they operate a turbine, shafting and a dynamo, and the power generated was used for the working of machines such as a thresher, a bean crusher, a saw bench, and a churn.
Light and heat were supplied to the dwelling house and light was supplied so the out-houses. At that time there was sufficient water there to operate the turbine, and that was the position until 1938 when he noticed ,hat the water supply began to diminish.
LETTERS OF COMPLAINT
In October, 1936. he wrote to the Corporation complaining about the diminution of the water-supply and they replied that it was due to a stoppage by -weeds and they cleaned It up. He made the same complaint in August, 1937, and a Corporation official asked him what he would take to have the E.S.B. current installed and to take away the water. He told the official that the Corporation could install the E.S.B. current at the same rate at which the water passed through the place, that was free for ever. The official then left.
In 1944 the water supply became worse and the position at present was that he had not sufficient water to turn the turbine. Cross-examined by Mr. Fitzgerald S.C. who with Mr. McGonigal. S.C. and Mr. T.P. Bacon (instructed by Mr. D.M.P. Walsh), appears for the Corporation, he said he did not go to his solicitor, until 1948 because he was not in a financial position to institute proceedings.
Henry Connolly, auctioneer, said he valued the premises, with waterpower, at £10,000, and without it at £7.000.
Mr. Powell. S.C., Mr. Bell, S.C., and Mr. J. R. Heavey (instructed by Mr. J. J. O’ Dwyer) are for plaintiff.
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Brendan and Christy |
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14/06/1986 |
I STOOD at the fine granite tomb in St. Marys Churchyard, Crumlin Village, and read the details in the stonework.
Sir Frederick Shaw Bart Recorder of Dublin. Died 1876.
He was the man who built Kimmage Manor on the banks of Dublin’s old watercourse. The Poddle River flows by the Manor down to the Stone Boat, where the late Christy Brown, paddled and splashed in the brown waters on fine summer days so long ago, now it seems like another world.
Christy was another genius of Dublin, the kid who wrote poems and stories with his left foot I can see his mother pushing him in the pram and Christy’s head rolling around admiring all the hall doors and knockers and nice gardens on the Kimmage Road Storing it all in his memory until his mother showed him the way to write with his left foot Not far away from Christy’s house was another young fellow, Brendan Behan, who was another Kimmage genius, but no one knew it then, least of all myself. I never knew he was a genius until he died … Does a man in Dublin have to die before he is recognised as a genius?
Why didn’t someone tell us of Brendan Behan’s genius so that we could have listened to him, talked to him and praised him, instead we just ran away when we saw him coming! We return to the Manor and find the Shaw family moving out to Bushy Park. The Manor House was let to several families and in 1911 it was sold to the Holy Ghost Order and became a Missionary College. The sons of many local families joined this order and are giving great service to the Church and the Foreign Missions.
After my halfpenny black babies school-days I became a member of the Kimmage Manor Burse Organisation, with Michael O’Neill and the O’Brien family. Some of my happiest days were spent working for the foreign missions with the congregation of Kimmage Manor.
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Stage which Poddle flows |
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01/06/1961 |
Standing on.a stage under which the Poddle River flows, a cast of 53 past and present members of St. Gabriel’s Boys’ Club, Kimmage, will sing for their holidays for the rest of this week. On the success of their annual show will depend whether _the 120- club members will have a holiday camp by the sea or in the country this year.
Cost of the holiday would be about £120 and it takes a lot of singing to raise that much.
Last year there was no holiday camp because the funds were not available. Title of the show in the only theatre in Dublin with its own private river is appropriately “The Gondoliers”.
Long before the club was formed there 17 years ago by Rev. Father Christopher, C.P.. of nearby Mount Argus, the premises was a flour mill. The old water wheel is still there but the millpond and river have gone underground.
For most of the year the theatre is the club’s gym hall occupying the whole of the ground floor’ of the two storey building.
Basketball
Where once the great millstones ground the wheat into flour, boys play basketball or indoor soccer, box or do physical training —and prepare for life. The club runs an employment bureau—and _boasts that none of its members of working age is idle.
Recently the upstairs section was partitioned off into two games rooms, canteen. drama room, record library, choir room and oratory.
Many more boys want to join the club—but there are not enough voluntary workers.
Run by the Legion of Mary, with, Rev. Father Joseph, C.P of nearby Mount Argus there are eight volunteer youth leaders, all old boys of the club. One of them. Mr. P. Griífin, of Ferns Road, Crumlin. now the Club President, saïd: “I joined the club as a boy of 15, a week or so after it was founded. All of us who are now working as youth leaders feel that in that way we are paying .back some of the great debt we owe. to the club. Four leaders are on dutý each night and the club is open every night except Saturday. At weekends a leader looks after the four football teams entered in the Catholic Youth Council League.
On Sunday nights there ls a teenage social for boys and girls of the Crusaders of the Cross Confraternity. Next September the club hopes to start a musical and dramatic society for boys and girls aged from 16 to 20 and to put on more shows each year. There are also tentative plans for a cycling club.
The club has entered two plays for the Youth Council Drama competition. Ex-Abbey actor Mick O’Connor produces.
Officers
Mrs. May Spinks is musical director of the Gilbert and Sullivan show and leads the club’s boys’ choir all the year round. Mr. A. O’Loughlin, a civil _servant, is producing his eleventh show. Phillips supplied the lighting free. They rank high in the club’s list of benefactors with the local people who donated 15 oil heaters last month. Mick Hayes of the Stadium as P.T. instructor vlce-president ïs Mr. B. Griffin, a brother of the Club President; hon. secretary’, Tony Nolan, Stannaway Road, and treasurer, T. Freeman, Lismore Road. Other’ leaders are C Fenlon, Stannaway Road; D. Hiney. Cashel _Avenue, T. Downes Harold’s Cross and S. Gillican, Lismore Road.
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Anglers Take The Biscuit |
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05/11/1995 |
Anglers take the biscuit
Mention the Poddle River to most Dubliners, and they’ll look at you blankly — because it has been built over.
Years ago, while fishing on the Liffey I met two lads who worked as boilermen in Jacobs Biscuit Factory (now gone) in Aungier Street. The Poddle flowed under the factory. When things were quiet, the boys would lift a manhole and drop two baited hooks into the river.
An input of £300,000 for five projects under the Tourism Angling Measure of the Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-2000 has been announced.
WE we have 150,000 anglers of our own to accommodate on water at present, sometimes it can get fairly crowded. Granted, not at all as crowded as the English waters where they are practically elbow to elbow.
Now that the trout and salmon season is over, the whole emphasis is on sea fishing and coarse fishing. Here’s one amusing incident, among many which have filtered back to me. Fishing with skipper Mary Hughes, from Newport, an English angler brought to the surface a 13lbs skate — with a ‘lady friend* attached in a very compromising position indeed. Ardour apparently cooled at that stage and (he lady detached herself. The male was released to resume his love-making . . .
At the Belmullet Sea Angling Club’s seventh and final leg of the Master Angler, competition secretary, Tony Lally came out on top.
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Harolds Cross-Ancient and Modern |
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09/10/1927 |
At a single bound one horse village of Harold’s Cross the so-called has sprung into fame and the limelight. The dog controversy has centred the attention of John Citizen on the historic neighbourhood. And soon it would seem, the People’s Park—still called “The Green” by the “rude forefathers” and their children will separate thousands of 100 per cent, live racing enthusiasts from thousands of other good folk who sleep peacefully beneath the elms and yew trees in the nearby cemetery. Be that as it may, however, Harold’s Cross has a past – and a good one.
Situated right athwart the’ Pass from Dublin Castle to the Marches beyond the Pale, the villagers of old glimpsed day-by-day colourful pagentry mixed with stark realitv.
To Meet the Warlike 0 Byrnes.
There hardby the Green in days gone by fierce Norman warriors clattered with poised lance or dangling sword hastening mayhap to repel some fresh incursion or attack from their inveterate and wily foes the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles; returning later with grim blood-stained head on lance, or corpse on bier, as evidence of success or failure in the wild foray.
There too, many an English Knight at Arms or humble “soldier” got his first—and very often his last glimpse of tho rich wide-spreading Vale of Dublin, which stretched in pleasant prospect to the foot of the Blue Hills beyond.
Here also, in the year of Our Lord 1253, many a hefty “Harlonian” toiled at the making of tho City Watercourse, which meandering through the village under the name of the Poddle, formerly supplied the citizens with water.
The Trooper’s Loss.
A few years ago an extremely rare and unique Scottish halfcrown, issued in the year 1605, was found in the vicinity, it’s existence would seem to prove that at least one of King James the First’s soldiers suffered a serious personal loss.
Still later and prior to the troubled times of ’96 two patriot Irishmen —one of deathless fame— made Mount Jerome House (tho present residence of Sir Simon Maddock) their rendezvous, and there planned and discussed together the liberation of Ireland. John Keogh of the United Irishmen was one; peerless, hapless Wolfe Tone the other.
Another few years pass the gentle though Warlike Robert Emmett might e descried pacing slowly through the village towards Rathfarnham, deeply thoughtful the while of his project for Ireland’s – freedom, and which ended alas in his capture at Harold’s Cross by the minions of the notorious Major Sirr and his subsequent execution in Thomas Street.
Other incidents we glean from history’s pages. There on the Green in former clays stood the grim gallows from which many a malefactor danced a double-jig in a suspended staff.’ Of more pleasant memory is the ribboneiecked Maypole round which in the “Merry Month” the lads and lasses of the village tripped gaily to tho tune of some olden folk song.
Scarce “twenty paces from the main entrance to the contentious do” racing track farmers from the wilds of Glassamueky Brakes, Glenasmole, and Tallaght made merry with the locals in the tavern known as the “Royal Oak”, The Cat and Bagpipes” and “The Cherry Tree” taverns were also renowned for their “hospitality.” ‘No longer children will fear and dread rush past the dark by-way known as Hell’s Lane. The “Buggy Barracks” now renovated and modernised, still gives the local wit occasion for quip or jest.
But the days of the locally raised infantry detachment—the fearsome, awe inspiring Uppercross Fusiliers are gone for ever. Yet amid tho bustle of-the busy world a certain quaintness, aloofness, or quietiness — call it what you will —pervades the district, notwithstanding the march of time with its noisy amenities and improvements.
As I write the w-hole question is more or less in the air. Even so, and whatever the result of the controversy may be, it is well to remember that ” down through the grey centuries many an erstwhile, honest, upright, blue-eyed, tin-whiskered son of Harold’s Cross took the bit (or sup) between his teeth and went—to the Dogs!
Tully say_=—”Only those who have been in exile can realise the passionate longing for home news that trouble’s every traeller who, like myself, has been for a long time awav from the Old Country. The great event or the week for me “is the “Bilati Dak” (English mail), and the fortunate recipient of a home newspaper is envied by all the ranks.
“My battalion (the 1st, Battalion of the Rifle Brigade) is stationed at Londi-Kotal. one of the important_strategic points in the main defensive system by which India is protected from invasion and also from the raids and depreciations of tho warlike’ tribes on tho North-West Frontier. *
Though I am on foreign service, the heart is always turned to Ireland. I can honestly- s«y the only paperI am interested in is the Irish Weekly Independent.
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On Sale- Spy Marys Old Estate |
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12/09/1986 |
On sale – Spy Mary’s old estate
A LARGE slice of old Dublin housing stock, with quaint washing rights in the River Poddle, owned by a British Great War spy. has just come on the property market.
The remainder of the estate of Mary Agnes Hammond, the Irish-born spy, comprises 26 _two-up, two-down terrace houses in the Liberties.
Mary Hammond was the daughter of a Catholic builder and Is believed to have worked as a spy with the British secret service on mainland Europe during and after the First World War.
On her coming of age In 1902 she inherited 150 houses and cottages from her father who built the artisan tvpe dwellings in the 1880s. At the time thev fere valued at £1.000 12s. 8d.. a far cry from their _nreint value_, but a lot of money 80 year ago.
The 26 houses are located in the Blackpitts and Emerald Square, Dolphin’s Barn. Then arc in Hammond Street, scene of the death of Dolores Lynch, her mother and aunt In January 1983 when their home was burnt down maliciously.
The typical type of terrace house in this sale are two storey with two bedrooms, a front Hvirgroom and rear kitchen with external toilet ard small backyard. Many of the properties were d-cupicd by Gujnness Brewery wortkers who _benefited from the first Rent _Restrictions Act in 1915. Indeed, many of the houses are oexcupied today by descendants of the original tenants.
Solicitors for the trustees, Buckley Man noon and Co., confirmed that the old ‘ease of the Blackpitts area was from the Eail of Meath.
The lease included the quaint right of occupiers of . Blackpitts houses “at _reisonable times «nd upon necessary occasions for the purpose of cleansing and scouring,” to use the River Poddle.
The new owners will, however, have difficulty In exercising that right, for the Poddle has long been underground.
Born in Bangor Co. Down- Mary Agnes Hammond was the daughter of Arthur Hammond who died in 1891 with an undress at Talbot St., Dublin and a “country reidence” at I Morehampton Road, Co. Dublin. She never married and died _aSed 79 In Lausanne, Switzerland, tn December 1956\ Her total estate, which was substantial, was valued then at oly a fraction of the £100.000 which her trustees may expect when the _remaining properties are sold in early October by tender through solicitors, _Bncfcirv Mannion St Co., D»«dnim.
These properties are being sold with occupying tenants and are considered as Investment properties_, and it Is probable that the houses will he sold in bulk.
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Riverside, Poddle Park |
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06/06/1999 |
Poddle Park, Riverside
New Development of 18 one Bed Apartments. Highest quality, secure parking
8 Only Remaining.
Macarthy Auctioneers
Ph 4904666
www.macauc.com
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A Glance Backward - Ye Old Citie |
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31/08/1901 |
The 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 old parts of the city is called the Poddle. This is a stream of considerable magnitude, which rises near the Dublin Mountains, and is augmented by several land drains from the ground near Tallaght Hill. After communicating with the Dodder, it enters the Liberties at Pimlico, where it divides, one branch passing through the Upper and Lower Comb, and the other through Black Pitts, near the end of Fumbaling lane, and so through Three-Stone alley, and meeting the first, under the cross-poddle. The united stream runs under Patrick street, Ross lane, Bride street. and one side of Ship street, through the Lower Castle Yard, where it once formed the moat of the fortress, and passing under Dame Street, and between Crampton court and Sycamore alley it empties itself into the Liffey, under the old Custom House yard, now Wellington quay.
This water in some parts of the Liberties is not covered in, but, runs through the streets, from which it is only divided by a parapet wall, and is used for the purpose of manufacturing; from thence, however, it is arched over, and forms an immense sewer, carrying off the filth in its current, and purifying the streets under which it passes.
“It occasionally, however, bursts from its caverns, and immediately the vicinity to a considerable extent, particularly Patrick street. Ship street, the Castle Yard, and Dame street, where it has been sometimes necessary to use boats till the flood subsided. This subterraneous river has thus been the occasion of much mischief, and many Acts and regulations have been made to restrain it.*
In the year 1814, a boy fell into the current from an arch which they were erecting over it in the Castle. Yard. He was carried by the stream under Dame street to the Liifey, and was taken up just as he had emerged from the subterraneous passage into the river. Two Mills were recently turned by this current in Little Ship street, and Ross lane, but they were removed in 1796 by Act of Parliament.”
Inasmuch as the present main drainage system of: Dublin embraces this district, and the admirable reconstruction work is almost completed, it will be of interest to many readers that I give an Act of Parliament, passed in the eighth year of the reign of Henry VII. for cleansing the water-course: – “At the supplication of tile dean and chapiter of the cathedral church of St. Patrick, Dub lin, inasmuch as he said church and college is of the foundation of our sovereign lord the King, and the said church and close is situated and standeth in a low valley, notwithstanding by the grave consideration and diligent provision of the said dean and chapiter, fearing the violence of the waters and floods, to their great charge and cost for the safeguard of said church and close, have made divers issues and gowts (gowt: go-out, a drain or gateway bridge over a watercourse) for the free avoidance of such sudden floods, also there was of old time, and now there are two rivers or passages of waters, one upon every side of St. Patrick’s street called the Poddell, through which all such waters had a lawful course, and large passage without any impediment, until now of late that the said rivers and poddells be filled and stopped, as well by the inhabitants of houses inhabiting upon the said Poddels in estopping or casting of stoppance out of their houses, as doing of beasts, as by tanners making ditches or damns to water their skinnies, insomuch as they have estopped both parts of the Poddell, that the water may not have its lawful free course and passage, so that within a few years and late -days the said church and college have been surrounded with great superfluities and abundance of waters, to he great hurt and damage of the said dean and chapiter and college: -the premisses considered, it is enacted, established, and adjudged by authority of this present Parliament.
“That every, man which doth dwell, or inhabit, or hath a house or shop upon the said Poddell , upon every part thereof, shall cleanse and scour the said precinct of his tenement or inheritance to the said channel, as it was of old time, within two months of this present Act past, upon pain of twenty shillings, to be levied by the proctor of the cathedral of t. Patrick aforesaid, for the time being, without any.other authority, or impediment , and hence forth upon the said pain in like manner to be levied by the proctor of the cathedral of St. estoppe nor disturb the course nor free passage of said water.”
In a research of this kind it is usual to hunt up the oldest inhabitant. He is Mr. Thomas O’Cahill, of Little Ship street, under the houses of which the Poddle used to run. Mr. O’Cahill ii well over eighty, and Mrs. O’Cahill once upon a time, while digging a hole to let her ducks have a puddle, nearly got a ducking herself,’ as the ground caved in and she nearly went with it He has been “often in it himself,” and “was a patriot at ten years old.” ‘”Lots used to fall in at the Coombe.”
Mr. O’Cahill well remembers Major Sirr and his funeral at St. Werburgh’s. The Major at times badly broke the Sabbath Day by “kicking’ loose coals into his cellar'” and “though not showing the “mark” this interesting old inhabitant ” lay for three days after getting the blow of a stick from one of the Major’s men.” A relation died some time since at 107 years .age.
W. GREGORY HODSON.
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George Bernard Shaw and Dolphin's Barn |
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06/09/1938 |
George Carr Shaw and George Clibborn, trading as “Clibborn and Shaw.” of Jervis St.. Dublin_ merchants, secured a loan on the ” mill_ mill pond, mill machinery, water wheel,” and ground and premises bounded on the east by adjoining and frontage to Hall’s Lane, and separated therefrom by a large field held by Mr. Fairbrother, all in Barony of Upper Cross and County of Dublin. Hall’s Lane does not appear as an entry in the modern directory, but it would seem likely that it has been swallowed up in the ” Fairbrothers’ Feld ” area, and no doubt was originally on the Poddle in or about the neighbourhood of ” Black Pitts.”
Sir — Kindly allow me space to reply to “Donnycarney ” re G.B.S.
It is quite true to state that George Bernard Shaw played at Dolphin’s Barn, and that his father was a miller in that locality. In fact the ruins of the mill still stand.
The writer’s father was well acquainted with G.B.S., and recalls an incident in which G.B.S. came to his assistance when he was getting the worst of a schoolboy scrap.
My father, who is older (SO years) than G.B.S. and quite energetic, has no doubt about the above facts, and remembers G.B.S. very well. He refers to the old mill as “Shaw’s Mill.”
I might mention that he was born at Dolphin’s Barn, and still resides there, at this address
Brian P. Murphy.
4 Crumlin Rd., 4/8/38.
Sir — A letter from me regarding the site of the mill once in possession of George Carr Shaw, father of George Bernard Shaw, appeared in your issue of Monday last.
My assumption therein that the premises stood in the neighbourhood of Black Pitts is not correct. I have since become aware that Hall’s Lane, where the mill is. is now known as Rutland Avenue and is only a short distance from the south bank of the Grand Canal at Dolphin’s Barn. “The City Watercourse” a branch of The Poddle from “The Tongue” at Kimmage, supplied the requisite water power.
G. H. Dublin, 5/8/38
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Letters to the editor - The Grand Canal |
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15/11/1963 |
Letters to the Editor THE GRAND CANAL
A Chara— With reference to the remarks of W. A. Newman in your edition of the 9th Inst., I wonder if he is serious in his suggestion that the Grand Canal be purified. To extend his arguments as he did mine, would Mr. Newman also agree that we purify the dangerous quarries, the rivers Camac and Poddle?
Legislation has been introduced tot make the roads safer. Legislation is on the way to ban airguns and to fill in the dangerous quarries. The Camac and the Poddle are to be culverted. The Corporation has taken the sensible view, which I hope will be endorsed by Dail Eireann. I am sorry about Mr. Newman’s stomach. I am also sorry about Mr. Newman’s temper, about which he wrote today. But what about his temper when traffic becomes congested.
It is hard to know what is best to do for him. If the canal is reclaimed his delays due to congested traffic will diminish. If not, they are bound to become, worse. It is not often that 1 agree with Mr. Newman’s views but 1 would not dare to compete-with him as a writer. Commonsense is against him this time, and no flourish of his pen can alter that position. .
NOEL T. LEMASS,
T.D Dail Eireann.
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Old water pipes found |
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09/11/1970 |
TIMBER water pipes believed to be about 250 years old were found about five feet below ground level by Dublin Corporation workmen at Weaver’s Sq., off Cork Street.
The pipes were found as the Corporation employees excavated part of the square to lay new pipes. In all they unearthed about seven feet of pipes and two steel joints.
Mr. John Roche, overseer with the Waterworks Department, said: “The pipes appear to be of oak. They are about seven inches in diameter. On a number of previous occasions we have found old wooden pipes in various parts of the city, but never before have we found any as big as these.”
The other men who located the pipes were Messrs. Tommv Conway, John Burke, Peter Foran and Paddy Dunne, all of the Waterworks Department.
It is thought that the old pipes may have been carrying water from the Poddle River, which 20 years ago was an open river supplying many parts of the old city area.
Image: Thomas Conway, left, Church St., and John Burke, Ballymun, showing part of the wooden water main which they unearthed during excavations at Weaver Square, off Cork St.
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Challenge of Poddle overcome |
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16/06/1999 |
Dublins old city walls and the Poddle River are some of the challenges which Dublin Corporation is taking on with its plans for a new five storey office development adjacent to No 1 Werburgh St. in Dublin.
“Private developers weren’t interested in the site because of these difficulties,” a spokesperson for the Corporation explained.
We were also concerned that any development should allow access to the wall for tourists and the public, and that the design should be in keeping with the historic character of the area.”
When the offices, which are near Dublin Castle, are completed the Corporation will consider leasing the space to the commercial or other tenants.
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Firhouse Weir |
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02/08/1972 |
This is the Firhouse Weir on the River Dodder which was of vital importance to every citizen of Dublin for the best part of eight hundred years. This remarkable piece of early engineering must have been standing before 1244 as in that year an inquiry was held to find the best way to bringing a water supply from the Dodder into the city; a channel was cut above this weir from which the water came down to the “Stone Boat” at Tonguefield in Kimmage, and was there divided to serve both St. Thomas’s Abbey and the rest oi the city around the Castle and St. Patrick’s (“Know Your Dublin,” 30-10-70 and 14-11-70). It has been suggested that this weir was originally built by the Augustinian Canons of St. Thomas’s Abbey (which had been founded in 1177). It anyhow was so far back that the name of its original designer is lost. Significant, too, is the fact that the whole area around the Firhouse Weir is in Templeogue townland, which here comes right across the Dodder, like an ancient property boundary. The Poddle itself, after rising in the Green Hills, joins into this City Water Course and I suggest that Tymon Castle, which survived till less than twenty years ago, was intended to defend the Poddle sources. The Firhouse Weir gave Dublin its only water supply until 1775, when the Grand Canal water was brought into operatlon.
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Water Underneath |
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30/04/1953 |
While 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. It is a seepage which is causing some concern to those responsible for the maintenance of these beautiful o!d structures in the ancient heart of this city. The assembled clergy and laity were told by Mr. C. G. Carson, Hon. Secretary of the Synod’s Standing Committee, of the efforts of a water diviner who was called in to try to locate the water which is flowing under Christchurch Cathedral itself. The diviner found water 21 feet under High Street, but when Corporation workmen dug down 18 feet under the Synod Hall, they could not find any. Yet it continues to seep into the basement. Some people who have considered the matter are of opinion that the source of the seepage is the River Poddle which flows underground in ‘the locality of the Cathedral, but another theory is that it is a secret spring which has suddenly come to life. The next move by the Church of Ireland authorities will be to enlist the services of a water diviner again.
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It's a proud day for Irish amateur boxing |
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02/03/1939 |
IT’S A PROUD DAY FOR IRISH AMATEUR BOXING
New Luxury Stadium Stages First Show To-night
Last night the New Boxing Stadium in Dublin was officially opened with all the usual ceremony connected with such occasions.
By Seconds Out
To-night we get down to brass tacks, and the building-, which, is the result of seven years hard work by boxng officials, will begin to serve a useful purpose by housing- the National Championships.
PERFECT VIEW. As regards the building itself, it surpasses the most _optimistic expectations. I don’t think fans will find anything to grumble about. The seating is comfortable, and even tho back benches have a perfect _vie-w of the ring. There are no galleries; the rows of seats slope steeply away from the ringside,to the roof, giving the impression of a huge bowl lined -with seats, with the ring at the bottom. Dressing rooms for boxers and offices for the Association- are situated under the slopes, so that the whole building is very compact. Seating: capacity (2600) may be a bit on the small side, but It should be ample to satisfy all ordinary requirements. It has been a gigantic task. Difficulties and snags have followed fast upon each other. Money had to be raised, a site to be found, and all the while time pressed as the need for the building grew more acute. A unique thing about the building is that it is constructed over a river. This river may give an unusual touch to the stadium, but it gave those behind the scheme a few very anxious days. Plans for the building had been completed, the site secured and railed in, when it was discovered that the River Poddle, flowed across the site a few feet under the ground. A feverish examination followed to discover the exact course of the river and it was found that, fortunately, it only affected one corner of the proposed building. If it had flowed straight across the site it would have put a sunken ring out of the question, thus altering all the plans, and we probably wouldn’t leave our stadium to-day. As it was, it added considerably to the cost of the building, because a huge concrete platform had to be constructed across the river before building commenced. But for this snag cropping up the stadium would probably have been completed months ago.
Boxing clubs-wishing to hire the stadium for their tournaments will be required to pay 15 per cent of their takings to the Stadium fund. When the money borrowed for the scheme has been paid off, the buildings will become the property of the Boxing Association. Fans and boxers may miss the time honoured buckets of sawdust and water at the ringside, because running water has been laid on to the ring. The weigh-in for the championships takes place to-day at the Stadium from 2.30 to 10.0 and from 1.30 to 2.0.
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School in Blackpitts |
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14/08/1969 |
St. Kevin’s National School for boys was built 1894-’95, and officially opened on April 20 in the latter year. The directories give St. Kevin’s as fronting on to Blackpitts, a street name found on Brooking’s map of 1728, but as Liam’s drawing shows, the school wall butts on to Donovan Lane, a name shown on maps of 1821. The boundary between the possessions of St. Thomas’s Abbey (afterwards the “Earl of Meath’s Liberty”) and the possessions of St. Patrick’s Cathedral (afterwards the Liberty of St. Sepulchre) ran down the middle of Blackpitts because this was the course of the original Poddle, altered sometime between 1245 and 1324 in order to drive new mills for St. Thomas’s Abbey. Father Myles Ronan’s researches have established that this Abbey mill stream went from Harold’s Cross to Donore Avenue, around by Pimlico and Ardee Street to Warrenmount and rejoins the old course where Blackpitts meets New Row.
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From Boater to Bishop |
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24/02/1969 |
Bishop Street is hemmed in between the bulk of Jacob’s factory on one side, and tall flats built about five years, on the other. Back in 1610, John Speed’s map shows the little offset that still exists, between the line of Upper Kevin Street and the line of an unnamed street, which a record of 1577 calls “Butter Lane” and which by 1756 (on Rocque’s map) had become twisted into Boater Lane. This may well have been no more than ‘Bothar’ in the first place, for very likely some ancient track led east from St, Patrick’s Well in the Poddle glen, to the Dodder and the sea. The “Dublin Gazette,” in December 1774, made the change official, from Great Boater Lane to Bishop Street, perhaps because of the nearness of the Cathedral, or the fact that much of the ground here belonged to the Protestant Archbishop. At the Kevin Street end of Bishop Street, Rocque’s map shows a Watch House (almost exactly where Liam stood to make.this drawing). This was one of the [page cut]
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Historic Palace is now Garda Station |
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01/09/1967 |
In a few years time a main road will pass over part of what was once sacred and historic ground in Dublin. Nowadays hundreds of peopl padd the spot every day oblivious as to the significance.
When Bishop Street is extended in the Central Dublin Plan it will continue across Bride Street and padd behind the large impressive gateway of Kevin Street Garda Station.
This building was once the Palace of the Protestant Archibishop of Dublin but was handed over to the British Government in 1806 during the ??? of Charles Agar Earl of Normanton.
The place was ancient even then. The Palace of St. Sepulchure was build by Archbishop Comyn, the first Anglo Norman to rule the see of Dublin and Glendalough and successor of St. Laurence O’Toole, probably between 1186 and 1191 before he built the Cathedral of St Patrick (consecrated on St Patricks Day 1192).
Small Church
On the land, where both buildings arose there had always stood a “small church dedicated to Ireland’s national spirit, on the traditional spot where he was Said to have stood when making converts in the area. The Palace got the name of St. Sepulchre from the efforts of the Crusaders to recover the Holy Sepulchre from the Muslims. Heraclitus, Patriarch of Jerusalem had gone to England in 1184 to interest Henry II in the project for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Palace was ideally situated at the time, for it was beside the ancient Slighe Cualaon (the highway to Tara) whioh crossed the Ford of the Hurdles near where Queen Street Bridge now stands, went on to the Coombe. eventually reaching the Da Dearga’s hostel at Bohernabreena.
Fortification
As it was a time when clergy and laymen buckled on their armour, the Palace was originally fortified, the River Poddle serving as a barrier between its . walls and. the countryside to ‘the south, from where the native Irish, might attack.
An account in 1326 says: “It contained a stone nail, badly roofed with shingles and weak, a kitchen, a chapel badly roofed, valued at nothing, and a certain prison now broken and thrown to the ground.” This damage was caused by the fighting during the Bruce Invasion or 1315.
The Palace was the main residence of – the Archbishops throughout the centuries, although occasionally they lived in their manors of Swords, Finglas, Shankdll, Oulenswood or Tallaght. The lands of St. Sepulchre extended from the Palace up to Harold’s Cross and Rathmines throughout Oulenswood and Milltown to Taney or upon reaching Donnybrook on the east and Crumlln on the west.
Mill on river
Adjoining the Palace was what was the suburban district of Patrick, Kevin, and New” streets. In-the 14th Century the Archbishop held: 56 holdings in Patrick Street, and a mill on the Poddle, 41 buildings in New Street,- and about 34 in Kevin-Street with a mill. The occupiers were all English, with the natively Irish having been squeezed out, of the most famous residents in the Palace was Archbishop Marsh who lived there at the time of Dean Swift and which became the first public library in Ireland and England (called after him) next door,
After the police took over the building it eventually became the headquarters of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force, and they, did their training on the grounds inside, the gate. The large handball alley was also built for them. This patch of ground was originally the graveyard of the old- St. Patrick’s Church, and during repair work some years ago, some skeletons were found.
There are few traces of the old St. Sepulchre’s left to-day, but on the lefthand side, over a 16th Century window, there are traces of’ several coats of arms of Archbishops’, at least one going back to the 13th Century. This is part of the original wall, and was where the original gateway to the Palace stood. Part of the vaulted kitchens also may be seen.
Most of the main building dates back to the 16th Century and there is fine wooden, staircase, leading to what was, the Archbishop’s drawing room and dining room “(the present I recreation hall for the Gardai in residence). The doorway to this is elaborately carved with ornate fruit.
One hopes that when the new street plan Is put into operation this ancient, section will be preserved, though it would possibly be too much to expect that the massive 16th Century gateposts will be re-erected.
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Proposed New Footbridge |
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31/03/2004 |
Proposed New Footbridge over the River Poddle at Poddle Park, Kimmage, Dublin 6W. Planning and Development Act 2000 Planning and Development Regulations 2001-Part 8 Pursuant to the requirements of the above, notice is hereby given of the proposal by Dublin City Council to construct a new footbridge over the River Poddle Park, Kimmage, Dublin 6W. It is proposed:
Demolish the existing footbridge over the River Poddle adjacent, to Bangor Road
Construct a new footbridge on the upstream side and adjacent to the existing footbridge
Realign footpaths through Poddle Park and approaching the new footbridge together with a new layout of the barriers at the Bangor Bridge.
The plans and particulars for the proposed work will be available for inspection for a period of four weeks from 31st March 2004 to 30th April 2004 (inclusive) at the following venues:
Dublin City Council, Public Counter, Planning Department, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8. (9.30a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Monday to Friday).
Dublin City Council, Crumlin Area Office, 13 Crumlin Village, Dublin 12, (10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Monday to Friday).
Dolphins Barn Library, Parnell Road, Dublin 8 (During Library Hours).
Submission or observations in relation to the proposed development dealing with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area may be made in writing to the Executive Manager, Dublin City Council, Planning Department, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 before 5 p.m. on 17 May 2004.
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Vandalism |
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06/09/1968 |
Vandals’ have destroyed the new footbridge across the river Poddle at the top of Bangor Rd. The concrete and tubular- steel bridge which was used as a shortcut by hundreds of factory workers was built to replace the stepping stones across the river when it was deepened some time ago.
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