South of the Moat

South of the Moat

21 Feb 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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