O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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@crestfield wrote:
I was wondering what happenend to the proposed bridge from Marlbourgh St. to Hawkin St.
It’s actually Hawkins St 😀
Not to treat the bridge issue as ‘covered’ or ‘cleared up’by changing topic, but I’ve some images here to get rid of :). It can be hard to avoid agenda setting due to the nature of the board, so just to say on my part at least – any change in topic isn’t an indication of something seemingly being ‘finished’ as it were!
Anyway, I finally got round to making up ‘before and after’ images of O’Connell Street’s monuments. The finished articles are quite simply sublime.
I held off saying anything about them till I got some pics, which in turn was dependent on my getting a new camera, with a ridiculously large 12x optical zoom. I was quite surprised how nobody but Greg in the interim commented on their finish – it is truly outstanding, especially O’Connell Monument, one of the best conservation jobs I have ever seen. But we’ll save that best part till last :).Just to say at the start, all ‘before’ images were taken on film in March of this year, whilst the ‘afters’ were taken, well, today, on digital so they have slightly crisper advantage. Some more later of Parnell and Fr Matthew and the Upper Street, but somehow I think these’ll do for now… 😮
So to begin with, here’s Sir John Gray before and after:
This image doesn’t do the change justice; the marble is bone white now, compared to a very dirty grey appearance beforehand. Arguably the most elegant statue on the street, it was unveiled in 1879.
A closer shot of the very fine detailing:
William Smith O’Brien next; the change more noticeable in this pic. I was never a fan of the tea-like stains on the granite plinth, unlike those of antique paving where they’re more suited 🙂 – so now I think it looks much better. Again the marble is now gleaming in the sun, an extraordinary change:
As we know, he was originally erected at the entrance to D’Olier St in 1870, but moved to O’Connell Street in 1929 to facilitate increasing volumes of traffic.
Here’s some detail:
Finally some views of them at their best at a raking angle:
Overall a magnificent job, especially Sir John Gray – he really has to be seen to be believed!
Now for the big one :). The work executed on O’Connell Monument is as magnificent as was the scale of the task in hand. It has been transformed beyond recognition, no exaggeration. If you weren’t overly familiar with its condition prior to the works, you can still see here how splendid it now is.
The limestone plinth now has a much warmer buttery glow, whilst every element of bronze now has a scandalously luscious silky black finish :D. Perhaps a little too much, but looks great all the same.Here’s a before and after of the winged Victory Fidelity and the drum in the background:
What a difference! The same can be said of the limestone – look at the change in its appearance!:
And a comparison of the Monument as a whole:
…followed by O’Connell himself – got some detritus running down his head already :(:
Most impressive of all perhaps is the level detail originally sculpted, and how intact it still is today. It’s in pristine condition. Here’s some wonderful up-close details from the drum – this little fella’s my favourite 🙂
A rather pompous-looking man here:
And either a bishop representing the Church, or St Patrick 😀
The drum has always been my favourite feature, a lovely classical feature. It must have been painstaking cleaning all of the frieze figures, nearly 30 of them up there:
Just below is the Vitruvian scroll in all its crisp bronze glory – I always thought this was part of the stonework it was so dirty!
Here’s the magnificent level of detailing on Patriotism – the folds and pleating are so lifelike, and the finish is so rich and glossy as to border on indecency 😀
Finally to finish off, here’s what is really a trademark feature of the Monument, an olive wreath-adorned head of one of the Victories – this pic is of Fidelity. It perfectly reflects the Monument as a whole, the beauty of Foley’s design, the quality of execution, and one of the most splendid and worthy conservation projects in the city in recent times.
Congratulations Dublin City Council and Contractors!
Some of the dates are taken from Yvonne Wheelan’s insightful ‘The Iconography of Sackville Street/O’ Connell Street’
Yeah, I like the way the river is treated in Frankfurt too but it feels like the river is on the periphery of the city which contrasts with the relationship between the Liffey and Dublin – it’s the central artuary of the city.
The river park idea ‘though reminds me of a photomontage in one of the Sunday newspapers recently (in the last few months) where they showed what it would look like if Burgh Quay were covered in grass. It was startlingly attractive and oddly enough didn’t look at all unnatural. It’s an unfortunate fact that the quays in Dublin are vital for traffic which severely limits what can be done with them. The boardwalk plan annoyed me when it was announced – it affirmed that the quays are reserved for traffic and suggested that the planners were too timid to remove some of the roadspace for pedestrians.
Yes, that’s what I get from the Boardwalk concept too. Were the images printed from An Taisce’s ‘Dublinspirations’ Jimg? As fanciful as some of them are, it still looks as natural as anything to have grass covering up the roadways and running right up to the quay walls!
Hi Graham. Sorry for cutting you off on the O’Connell St. statues; we must have started typing simulataneously. I haven’t seen the Dublinspirations publication; it looks very interesting – I must get a copy. From reading a description of it after a quick google, it seems likely that it’s the source of the image.
Now, back to admiring the monuments.
@jimg wrote:
Now, back to admiring the monuments.
That is always the danger of releasing so many high quality images at once.
It is too late to discuss them now I’ll do it tomorrow 😀
You should talk to desire media about having a lot of the images uploaded into the buildings of Ireland section of http://www.irish-architecture.com
That’s that then! – All the trees at the top of O’Connell St have been cut down. I was walking over Parnell St and had to look twice before I realised what had happened. I got a bus on Parnell Sq and it looks strange, as it headed down O’Connell St, being able to see straight down the full length.
I can’t wait to hear the frenzied debate on the likes of ‘Liveline’ today!
In this instance the trees had to go ….its a venial sin……whats unforgiveable are the Green Party twats who chained themselves to them claiming that they were great buddies of Padraig Pearse. Would have been awful for the street had they put the new paving around the gnarled old things.
I agree, it would have looked pretty ridiculous to keep the old trees on the upper street now that the planting on the lower part is complete. According to the Indo phase 2 of the improvement works will take 10 months to complete.
Also a story about Joe O’Reilly acquiring the Royal Dublin Hotel, I wonder if it’s now going to be refurbished as well as had previously been planned. Wasn’t the Gresham also to be upgraded to a five star?
sorry to go back a few posts but I have to say that there is plenty of grounds for justifying the O’Casey bridge (opens todays btw). the distance between phase 2 ifsc and pearse st station will be halved by the new crossing not to mention the improved access to the docklands.
The uninterrupted river stretch between the Matt talbot and the east link was far too long and added to the artificialdivision of the city between North and Southside.If any one is interested theres an exellent survey and history of the statues of O’Connell St., that you can get free at http://www.dublincity.ie/images/O’Connell%20Street%20Statues%20Survey_tcm35-10452.doc, it can be downloaded. It has detail and quality, if it were in book format and sold in shops you could expect a high enough price.
If the direct link dos’nt work just go through the website its easy enough to find.Yes this is a good document – though Yvonne Wheelan’s is more extensive and offers a better context. Both works though could do with a little more detail about the structures themselves.
Sob – I can’t believe what you’ve just said emf, so they’re finally gone :(. Has to be welcomed in the context of the street as a whole of course, but it’s still a sad day.
Still a bit shell-shocked though, cause the images below were only taken yesterday with no knowledge of their impending demise! Spookily probably the last photographs ever taken of O’Connell Street’s London Plane Trees……….A view from the south:
From Parnell:
A view mid-way down the line:
And poignantly the straggling remains of the Christmas lights that so much delight to children and adults alike :(:
http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com
EDIT: Just seen weehamster’s pics on the Trees thread! 😮
I wonder were they chopped overnight/early morning?@jimg wrote:
Yeah, I like the way the river is treated in Frankfurt too but it feels like the river is on the periphery of the city which contrasts with the relationship between the Liffey and Dublin – it’s the central artuary of the city.
Agreed, Frankfurt seems very removed from the Main. Indeed the city uses its river very actively, perhaps more-so than Dublin – it offers extensive restaurant-ferry facilities, walkways, waterside parks etc – but it never feels like an active particpant in the city’s day to day life. The city seems unbalanced in favour of the Northern Bank.
The Liffey is very much at the heart of Dublin, though its usage seems less extensive, its presence is undeniable. The development of the city over the centuries has given a good sense of balance and allowed for a rich architectural tapestry to evolve on both banks.
I wonder what ever happened to the idea of putting a salmon weir into the liffey!!?!! Never mind anymore bridges for now, It would have been great to have a means of keeping the water level at a certain mark to keep the shopping trolleys n sludge below the water (better again – dredge that muck out & install a weir) as far up as heuston station. that would make a great difference to the way people look at the river. i know its tidal and there would still be low tide and high tide marks below the weir but i for one thought it would be great.
as for the river and amenities go, i believe CHQ is opening soon and i guarantee as soon as the grand canal basin starts to come online there will be a big change. if the event centre/theatre and so on get built, there will a lot to see and do on the quays and about time too.
plus on the opposite side around the point depot, crosby has plans for a massive development too with apts cinemas bars etc etc…so things are looking up!!!Council View:Moore Street’s future, according to Dublin City Council’s executive planning manager, Ciaran McNamara, is dependent on the redevelopment of the Carlton cinema site on O’Connell Street, currently the subject of an appeal from the High Court to the Supreme Court.
Dublin City Council has a duty to get it right for Moore Street, he says, and has done everything possible “to advance the Carlton site. Once it’s sorted things will begin to happen,” he says. “Moore Street has always been a central plank in the O’Connell Street development plan, a very important facet. But our hands have been tied.”
Rose is a damn good journalist to extract those comments from a little local consultation
I think after the current O’Connell Street area IAP is finished one should be drawn up to tackle the quays. They could be a great feature of the city but are largely a mess at the moment. Unfortunately it would be hard to deal with the traffic that chokes them up, though the port tunnel should help on that front.
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