O’ Connell Street, Dublin

@Richards wrote:

this facilates traffic from St Stephens Green thru to Merrion Row.

They do give this impression alright, but it is not the case – these lights have always been like this, long before the Green scheme ever came into operation.

Some people take that one step too far though – we’ve all come across the eh ‘irritable’ ones who slam the button in about 20 times thinking it’ll change the lights faster.
In fact, the amount of people who do this is quite bizarre…

To move back north of the Liffey again :), a detail that always seems to fascinate people on buildings is a date inscription, whether it be in masonry, timber, terracotta, Coade stone, metal or whatever.

Why there was a particular fashion for this practice in the early 20th century I’m not sure – does anyone know? Was it the dawn of the new century that caused people to think more about space and time? Was it the resurgence in classicism that encouraged people to almost point out that ‘this time round’ the neoclassical architecture was of the 20th century and not the 18th, or 14th or whatever?

There’s lots and lots of examples of completion dates adorning facades around Dublin, especially from 1910-1930. O’Connell St is particularly rich of course : )
Saying that, one may be surprised at how few there are given the level of rebuilding that took place, and a (perhaps imaginary?) public perception of there being lots of such interesting features on the street given how historic a place it is.

Anyway, there’s six dates in total on the street, with a seventh not relevant to the practice of ‘completion dating’ as it were. Some we’ve seen before…

First up, and perhaps most famous of all is Eason’s 1919 date, beautifully executed on a bronze plaque with copper plated? lettering. A lovely piece:

Presumably this is original, certainly the limestone arch is. I’ve been searching about for an older image of the plaque but to no avail.

Directly across the road and Unity Building (Sony Centre) has a most obscure date, one you’d barely even notice – 1918 AD and the name of the building executed in crisp limestone, along with some intricate elegant carvings:

Probably the first building to be reconstructed following 1916, it was a remarkably fast build. And by no means a rushed job either, it being one of the finest buildings on the street.
The crude floodlight is unfortunate, though at least its weathering has blended it in!

A little further up on the same side, and another date you’d pass by in a second – a quite faint 1920 AD inscription on a raised circular granite plaque above Ann Summers. Some fine detailing here:

Across the road and further up on Upper O’Cll St is the old Revenue? building next to the Garda Station. Up at the very top on a sharp angular pediment is yet another date. The least noticeable of all on the street, it’s really only visible to those who are crawling the thoroughfare with a toothcomb 😮 *whistles looking the other way*

1925 AD, this building was built following the 1922 destruction, along with its two other neighbours (have some more detail on these buildings soon).

Almost across the road, the chunky corner building featured previously has its date emblazoned across the upper façade along with fancy text – how very pompous : )

Similar to the McDonald’s Building on Grafton St, the owners were clearly at pains to point out how established they were, despite the 1922 destruction.

And finally, zipping way down to the bottom again, another highly elaborate carving that is very prominent yet at the same time is well hidden is the 1923 completion date of the splendid Ulster Bank:

It’s most unusual – almost gothic in character – executed in a flamboyant rococo/baroque style, which contrasts with the otherwise rigidly neoclassical architecture of the building.
As with all of the dates, there’s no wide shots going up to show this is on the building, as it’s more fun to find them for yourself : )
We all probably know most of them, but some are quite obscure.

And just to prove the 1923 date is correct, here’s the domeless Bank just about to be topped out in November of 1922!

Also as an aside here’s a date on the corner of Hammam Buildings facing Cathedral St, commemorating Cathal Brugha:

Well there’s been no arguements that have spilt over onto the street yet – well not that I know of anyway 🙂

Yes there’s something very pretentious about sticking dates onto buildings, but it’s a practice that completely mellows with age.
I think it’s always acceptable on public buildings – from ceremonial State headquarters down to the local school, but private developments always seem that bit full of themselves in using the idea.
Particularly private houses, and especially those of ‘lesser’ shall we say merit, or developments like the Gardiner St boxes hinted at at by kefu.
I know of a red brick multi-gable house, PVC bells and whistles etc, that has a granite block erected high up on a gable with ‘1997’ carved into it – a significant moment in the development of mankind I’m sure :rolleyes:
You see these quite often in ‘executive’ housing estates, or one-off mega-piles.

I wonder in the post 1916 and 1922 reconstructions of O’Connell St, Henry St and North Earl St were the builders conscious of how significant the Rising events would be held into the future, and that they weren’t just erecting a building or two but a ‘master plan’ that would be scrutinised in years to come? So they dated their buildings to make them stand out as being of the ‘rebuilding era’ of the early 20th century?

Yes dates must be very handy for the NIAH, esp school buildings etc. I find them so even just from a casual perspective such as the terraced housing around the Synge St area in Dublin: hmmm are they 1820s or later, or maye even a bit earlier… and then bing! a granite date block appears at the end of the terrace – 1832 – and you fool yourself: but of course it’s 1832, knew that all along, like I need a lump of stone to tell me – and then wander off in a huff 🙂
They’re also handy for setting a definite line down to which neighbouring buildings can be more accurately compared – even on O’Connell St this works quite well.

Stop that nonsense!
Though yes I too noticed the new lines on College Green on my way out to Montrose this morning 🙂
And agreed, the crossing is ridiculously narrow – indeed when the lines were missing pedestrians splayed out along the entire kerb length of the Green such is the amount of people here, and yet the lines were just put back in in their original narrow format…

Indeed most of the city centre has been relined and resurfaced in the past few weeks which is very welcome; Kildare St looking particularly resplendent in its new sporting stripes :), and not before time.

The GPO’s scaffolding is coming down now – the north wing is completely unveiled and the portico should be revealed by Monday, while the south wing is just being covered up now to be cleaned.
As expected there’s no major difference in the granite, though some interesting things have been revealed like how warm and rust coloured it is in places, and post-1916 inserted blocks being very apparent.

Maybe it’s best not to post any wides of the building till it’s complete so here’s just a taster of the north wing :).

The portico should look fantastic when unveiled – the windows as above, newly painted an almost black shade of brown look exceptionally well.

Great pictures – and to think you can even see those damn motorcycles from space :rolleyes: 😀

Still have to disagree about the granite Peter; even when viewed from above it still unnecessary even if more palatable that at street level. But it is street level that counts, not the view from space, a helicopter, traffic cameras or whatever – and at street level I think it dilutes the effect that the other elements like pavements, trees and median are trying to generate.
There is a certain logic alright in addressing the Spire side of the Plaza given the prominence of it (though it could more than survive without special treatment), but certainly not the southern side.

CC workers were out today digging more holes in the Plaza paving – more bus stops or signs going in it would seem…