Re: Re: Dublin Street Lighting

1936-39
Huge change is ushered in with this period with a vast amount of lamppost up-rooting on O’Connell St and the city centre overall. It saw the installation of the city’s trademark brown, arched, double-headed aggregate concrete lampposts along many major streets including O’Connell St, O’Connell Bridge, Westmoreland St, D’Olier St, College St, College Green and possibly Dame St and Parnell Square – at least 70 posts.

A total of approximately 32 posts went up on O’Connell St, exclusively along the side pavements resulting in a magnificent marching procession of posts far into the distance along the thoroughfare. As with by now established tradition, four models were also installed on O’Connell Bridge (though in a slightly different position than previously), as well as four mini-lamps on the corners of the plinth of Nelson’s Pillar:

Art Deco in design, these posts featured a large tapered concrete base which was stepped at the top, a tall hexagonal concrete shaft, and were topped with two half-arches with attractive ridged detailing, from each were suspended a charming copper-roofed lamp comprised of a delicate metal frame fitted with frosted glass:

They proved especially effective in lighting the streets, casting light both downwards and outwards.
Considering they went up just before the War, I wonder why concrete was used as presumably metal shortages hadn’t kicked in yet?…
Concrete posts of a different style also went up on the quays and all over the city subsequently.

1961-66
During this period rather crude utilitarian posts of the kind seen in older shopping centre car parks went up along the disjointed median space of O’Connell St, presumably to light what had itself largely become a car park by this stage.
These survived until around 1980, if not until 1988: