O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Before anyone else jumps on the ‘I always thought the bullet holes were fake’ bandwagon I invite you to look at these two pictures (if I can attach them). They show the pillars of the GPO after the rising. Looking closely it is clear that the pillars in fact only suffered minor damage and they are exactly as they are today. In other words no new blocks of stone were considered necessary and in the rebuilding of the GPO they were not replaced. The scars we have were made in 1916. You can zoom in a little and see on the southernmost pillar the two clear examples. A chipped area about two thirds the way up, probably from a shell, and equivalent to head height from the bottom a dark hole. I know from looking at it before now that it is about three inches deep and angles towards the SE. (Sadly the pictures are too large to upload as I have them, I have to reduce them, which will make it harder to zoom in, but the point should still stand).
Conor KostickHi Conor – I agree with you about the bullet holes, without a doubt there is firing damage to the columns in particular other than the many drill holes also there. As far as I know, none of the Portland stone of the columns was replaced for obvious reasons – very minor, almost unnoticable damage, and the structural difficulties in replacing it anyway.
But on the first picture you posted – here’s a modern comparison with your picture. Where is that damage today?!
If it has been repaired, it was exceedingly well done!
But seriously there must have been only a few bullet holes and this cannot be sufficient reason not to clean the facade; all heritage buildings of this stature have to be cleaned extremely carefully.
The16 Moore St situation raises an interesting consideration in that the forces attempting to dislodge the occupants of the GPO must have been quite distant for two reasons. Firstly if they were closely surrounded it would not have been possible to reach Moore St at all and secondly the overall level of destruction to O’Connell St was most certainly not caused by standard issue rifle fire.
I note that the bus stop has disappeared from O’Connell Bridge.
The Taxi rank also seems to be taking shape; It will be interesting to see if the Northern end can be completed by Christmas. If one were a bookie what odds would one give?
I think the destruction of half of the north inner city should be ranking that bit higher than some flaky damage to six columns 🙂
As for the Upper end being finished, if one considers Christmas in terms of city centre retail, i.e. December 1st onwards, it’s highly unlikely.
There’s so much to be done with the side pavements thats it does seem like it won’t happen. Think how long it took to do the Lower end: 18 months-2 years?
Hopefully the busier west pavement will be finished in time though.Some (dull) images here of the newly exposed views of Upper O’Connell St – you can much more easily make out the pattern of the townhouses that formerly lined this stretch:
And for all of the fenestration faults of the Royal Dublin, it does fit in very well to the Upper St, brick colour aside of course (though I must admit a secret liking for 60s sand and 70s brown brick :o).
There’s a nice vertical emphasis at work on the facade, perfectly suited to the terrace, and the brick as a material is quite effective.
The proposed facade is very disappointing in this respect – it makes no effort to reflect the vertical nature of all the units making up Upper O’Cll St West, despite the architects’ babble about ‘references’ to Georgian Dublin’s ‘fenestration courses’ or whatever.Another ‘interesting’ detail revealed by the trees’ removal is this replica Victorian chimney re-erected as part of the construction of the RDH!
What a strange looking yoke executed in such brick, especilly with the apparently orginal pots! Hmmm, so more demolished than just the Aer Lingus buildings…
Completely as an aside – what is that secuirty camera on the Garda Staion doing pointed across the road towards the Gresham bedroom windows?!!! 😮
The grandeur of O’Rourke’s c1924-29 terrace is now wonderfully evident – a surprisingly symmetrical composition, you could only barely make this out before with the opposing elements like the balconies etc dropping hints. Much clearer now.
This previously concealed corner building built in 1925 is now one of my favourites on the street – what a fine chunky piece 🙂
Do the Gresham own this too or do they just lease the ground floor? The forbidding looking terrace on Cathal Brugha St is in dire need of cleaning (though it would make a great film location) – if the Gresham own this too hopefully it will be tackled in the upcoming refurbishment of the hotel.
Nice work again, Graham. I was never even aware of the almost perfect symmetry of that terrace- was it meant to be symmetrical / was it originally symmetrical? I can spot only a couple of variations between the two halves (roof urns and a couple of ‘missing’ windows to the north of the Savoy).
I walked up O’Connell Street on saturday night and for the first time ever I began to have a feel for the end result. I don’t mean this as either a compliment or a criticism, but it really did feel like a street in another city. It’s amazing how much the removal of the trees has changed the feel of the place. Surprisingly, it actually felt more enclosed than before, which was the opposite of what I was expecting- something to do with both sides being visible simultaneously?
One thing, though- it still looked like the aftermath of a kids party with all the rubbish. 🙁Fear not Graham…The guests of the Gresham can continue to leave their nets furled neatly.
What appear at first glance to be Camera`s as in the “Yoke” atop the OCS Garda dugout is,I Believe,referred to as a Micro Wave Link Generator.
These devices are dotted throughout the city and apparently allow for easier interconnectivity between the CCTV Camera Units.
I`m unsure whether they service ALL the Cameras or merely the Garda one`s.
However one thing IS certain….Big Brother is Watchin…..at least if he`s awake !!! 😉@Graham Hickey wrote:
The grandeur of O’Rourke’s c1924-29 terrace is now wonderfully evident – a surprisingly symmetrical composition, you could only barely make this out before with the opposing elements like the balconies etc dropping hints. Much clearer now.
And here it is in 1935, from Fr. Browne’s Dublin. The Hammam Buildings’ urns have since gone missing. Strange about the almost-symmetry, as ctesiphon was noting. The piece to the south of the centrepiece (Savoy) is slightly longer than the piece to the north, and the Gresham is slightly longer than its corresponding piece, the Hammam Buildings.
But aside from the few variations, it must be one of the longest blocks of symmetrical street-architecture in Europe (?).
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And, as the book is in my hand, here is the cleared site in 1925.
Interesting to note that everything destroyed in 1916 – i.e. from Eden Quay up to Cathedral Street – had been rebuilt by this time.
Interesting to note the absence of the urns; one must wonder did they make it into 1967
Wow, fantastic images Devin *mutters*…and he decides to post them only now …*mutters* 😀
Yes the urns are an extraordinary revelation – they just leap off the page as the first thing you see!
I’d often wondered if these were originally here as the Hammam Buildings (building) looks so much more austere than the Gresham without them.
These must be the first element to be tackled in this terrace when private works start being proposed!The Gresham’s urns are very fine – there’s a close-up of them in some archive footage from the 60s that shows them as being carved in a swirled manner (like the pattern on a cheap 80s porcelain teapot :D)
That’s very spooky how the modern day picture was taken on virtually exactly the same spot! – makes it easy to compare the two.
Interesting to see nasty modern top-hung windows in-situ in much of the terrace – not all is perfect! The casements of the Gresham were so much more attractive. It is ironic in a way that for once modern movement windows were removed in the 1970s in much of the terrace and replaced with the traditional sash model, allbethey in aluminium and mirror glass :rolleyes:
It is questionable as to what should replace these in the near future…The last overhead view posted is interesting in showing the previously mentioned corner building under construction out on its own – spot on in 1925! It’s always fascinating to see buildings we now percieve to be old in their infancy, but especially while under construction, often quite humbling to see like the photo of the Palace of Westminster in the ST last week if anyone saw it.
It has often been said that Horace O’Rourke wasn’t in the least bit pleased with the nature post-1916 redevelopment – I can only deduce from this that he wanted palatial facades and uniform parapet levels for the whole Lower St, considering what was built is overall a pretty decent standard (though one can imagine his rage over the mini-terrace next to Clery’s :)).
By and large he got his way with the Upper Street, though as has been said the terrace isn’t completely symmetrical, but in the context of this being Dublin where the architectural or visual culture has never been strong (the crumbling of the WSC designs anyone?), and the financially difficult times of the 1920s, what O’Rourke did achieve was no mean feat.
Just some dates regarding the terrace – the northern corner building was built in 1925, the Gresham was finished in 1927, and the Savoy in November of 1929. Hammam Building is probably similar to the Gresham: c1927.
And would`nt ye know it…..Judgin by the Presence of the well laden Army Lorries and the harried looking peeler the feckin Bus Men were on strike….!!!!!
What a great set of Pics…….We really do owe a great depth of gratitude to the memory of Father Browne…….Nobody else appears to have been interested in wat the great unwashed were doin for their normal days work ?Yes a fantastic collection – as important as its vast size.
Here’s that close-up of one of the Gresham’s urns in glorious technicolour 🙂
(Had to splice two frames together hence the dodgy join)
It holds a remarkable similarity to those pots I think you’ll agree 😀
Annnyway – as was mentioned before the Gresham seem intent on replacing all of the aluminium windows in their facade with steel frames as when built, as outlined in their planning application – wonderful news.
Here they are in the 1950s – inward opening casements mostly, even including the ground floor which today of course are fixed frames.http://fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/kf/history/002/pcd-gresham-hotel.jpg
Hmmm – and as can be seen even more clearly in this fjp picture, the Hammam Buildings’ urns have already been removed – in the 1950s!
http://fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/kf/history/002/pcd-oconnell-st-north.jpg
Surprisingly early removal.
Yes the Gresham should look great with the original design of steel windows reinstated – It’s costing a fortune I believe. Otherwise there’s a lot of dodgy windows in the terrace. But some lovely originals in the 1st floor of the Savoy. Graham, didn’t you have a picture of these in nice light? – you might repost it.
Alek, you’re right. The caption with the photo says: Emergency Services in O’Connell Street, 1935. The busmen were on strike from March until May and Army lorries were called into action…
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