It is long accepted in Dublin that Bull Island did not exist until the building of the North Bull Wall – which was built in an effort to reduce the silt ending up in Dublin Port and as a result this silt was diverted elsewhere to North Bull. In 1871 the island was estimated at around 2km long, and now in 2020 it is about 5km long and 1km wide.
The North Wall Quay light house was sort of built in and around 1820. Except that the location where it sits did not exist. We are not even certain when the existing version of the lighthouse was built. Was it really in 1904? This article is also a minor celebration of the work of the great lighthouse hero Peter Goulding
For many years I have walked over a bridge, without knowing I was on a bridge. The small red brick Donnycarney Bridge, which was built in 1896 and stands just beyond the Collins Avenue and Malahide Road junction, replaced an ancient stone structure called Scurlogue’s Bridge.
Luke Kelly Bridge (formerly Ballybough Bridge) may have been the site of the Battle of Clontarf.
Monuments need to be reconsidered in order to see them in a fresh way. But as we have seen from other articles here, they are very much part of their time, and often related to tourism. The Spire was installed in Dublin in 2003, and was hated by more people than it was loved. Now sixteen years later, many Dubliners will walk past without noticing it – yes, even though it is 120 metres high. This summer I wanted to take some photos so I could rediscover the essence of what is the Spire.
Annesley Bridge is further away from the sea than when it was first built in 1797. There was a time you could stand on the bridge, and easily see Clontarf Island only a few hundreds metres away. But now Clontarf Island is no longer visible, because it is not there at all!
Storm Emma was a snow storm blizzard that hot Ireland in March of 2018, having arrived from the direction of the Bay of Biscay in France. It was the worst snow storm to hit Ireland since 2009, and brought the country to a slowdown for two working days. It is not often that Dublin experiences such level of snow. And here are some photos from the week when Emma dropped into town.
Laughanstown, Wedge Tomb
The Wedge Tomb in Laughanstown is about 50 metres from the junction of the M50 and Cherrywood. This once stood on high ground with great views to the south but the new road is 30 metres higher so the view is no longer clear
References
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/1664/laughanstown.html
Hedge Bindweed – Portmarnock
I came across the Hedge Bindweed between the car park and beach in Portmarnock. This October (2017) has been quite mild, and it seems many flowers are still around towards the end of their survival range of dates.
Baily Lighthouse, Howth
Baily was the last Irish Lighthouse to be unwatched, when during 1996-7 the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation.