O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Findlater House sold
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=302&si=1485953&issue_id=13123Interesting. Will they wait till 2011 when Eircom’s lease expires before revamping I wonder?
Whatever about the design, it is in poor condition too at this stage, especially the ground floor.
There are no signs of life whatever regarding Musgraves’ plans for a supermarket here – the ground floor has been dismally derelict for a long time now, maybe even running into a few years.
Is that mansard yoke what they call a ‘penthouse suite’ nowadays? :rolleyes:
@Richards wrote:
Since they got rid of the trees that building is far more prominant.
All the buildings down there are much more prominant; one wonders if architectural awareness will increase as a result of so many buildings becoming more exposed in such a heavily used location?
Well judging by the amount of people now standing at bus stops on the street hopefully so 😉
When you look at O’Rourke’s unified terrace of Upper O’Connell Street, it will come as no surprise that there was strong legislative clout behind it to get it to look as it does.
Similar to an Act that was introduced post-1916, the ‘Dublin Reconstruction (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1924′ makes for a fascinating read. In the days long before planning permissions this was quite an ambitious Act, introduced with the aim of giving Dublin Corporation powers to rebuild Upper O’Connell St after the Civil War (what is described as ‘recent disturbances’ :)) in a coherent fashion, essentially according to the City Architect’s own vision and taste.
It’s available in its entirety online on the Statute Book’s website , but a couple of key design extracts include:
“Where…the Corporation require to purchase land…for the purpose of widening, opening, enlarging, extending or otherwise improving streets in the City of Dublin in connection with the reconstruction of areas, streets, houses or buildings destroyed or damaged in the course of the recent disturbances, they may be authorised to purchase the land compulsorily by means of an order submitted to the Minister.â€
“If in the opinion of the Corporation and the Minister the site or sites of one or more buildings which were destroyed in the recent disturbances is or are, by reason of narrowness of frontage or inconvenient arrangement, incapable of being built upon so as to harmonise with the general scheme for the reconstruction of the area, the Corporation may be authorised to purchase such site or sites compulsorily…â€
Most importantly for the City Architect Horace O’Rourke, and what led to the palatial façades we have today:
“If it appears to the city architect, having regard to the nature and situation of the site of the proposed new building, or of the building proposed to be restored or altered, or the external design of any buildings erected or in the course of erection in the neighbourhood of that site, that the character of the proposed new building, restoration, or alteration is such as would be injurious to the amenity of the street which the front of the proposed new building or the building proposed to be restored or altered faces, whether on account of the proposed external design, the proposed line of frontage, or the materials proposed to be used in the external walls facing that street or in any portion of the building which will be visible from that street, he may require such reasonable alterations to be made as respects the design, line of frontage, and materials as he thinks proper, and may require the plans, sections and elevations to be amended accordingly.â€
Compensation to building owners was paid directly to them by the Minister for Finance with funds allocated by the Oireachtas via the ‘Damage to Property (Compensation) Act, 1923’. From what I can gather Dublin Corporation provided mortgages to some owners who wished to avail of one to reconstruct their buildings which was also sufficient to cover legal bills etc, and this was then paid back by the owner presumably using the State compensation funds that were perhaps issued upon completion?
It’s fascinating to note how the street was literally frozen in time by the authorities:
“No… building or house destroyed, nor any such building or house when rebuilt, shall be liable to be valued under the Irish Valuation Acts at a sum larger than the valuation in force on the first day of April, 1922, in any valuation coming into force before the thirty-first day of March, 1930.â€
“No building or house destroyed, nor the land on which the same stood, shall be assessed or liable to any local rate before the 31st day of March, 1926, except such rates as shall be imposed upon temporary buildings…â€
“In the case of any public-house, hotel, or other licensed premises in the City of Dublin, which have been destroyed or damaged in the recent disturbances, and in which business has in consequence been suspended during the period of rebuilding or restoration, the licence…shall be deemed to continue in force up to the time of the completion of such rebuilding or restoration…â€
Also an interesting little sign of the times:
“Upper Sackville Street or Lower Sackville Street (commonly known as “Upper O’Connell Street” and “Lower O’Connell Street” respectively).†😉
@Graham Hickey wrote:
When you look at O’Rourke’s unified terrace of Upper O’Connell Street, it will come as no surprise that there was strong legislative clout behind it to get it to look as it does.
Those bus stops always had a poor visual appearance; to think it could have been a metro long before the RPA monster was hatched
I wonder would any City official be given such power over privately held developments today? It certainly worked very well then and raises the point on what is the point of pre-planning consultation if the issues aren’t sufficiently clarified.
The spike has severe drainage problems
I noted yesterday that after a days rain that the spike has no drainage at its base; a large amount of water collects in the ruts and I saw a couple of people nearly land on their ear whilst crossing the slippery metalic base. Surely someone in the design team could have seen this coming.
These are from a few weeks ago. Quite a bit of progess has been made since as there’s a kerbline already in for some if not the whole length. Paving is now starting to be laid.
Hopefully the grand pillar box in the first pic will go back in – restored.
I notice that Fingal CoCo have vacated their offices on OConnell Street. Theres a notice up advertising a sale of furniture and property if anyone is interested. Has the building been sold off. There are a couple of urgent revamps due on the street and this building is one. The Royal Dublin Hotel, Findlaters House and JWT and National Irish Bank on the corner of Henry St as well.
Progress on the paving seem,s to be coming along nicely. I think thje median should be complete by the end of the month (its almost there) and the side pavements are being made ready. What chance of a fully completed project by Patricks Day (and obviously definately for the new 1916 parade)Urban Legend Alert: perhaps they’re trying to finish it in case CJ Haughey dies, so that Bertie can give him a state burial and parade down O’Connell Street?
are they granite kerb stones in your picture Graham? would be good if they could be recycled for some other scheme
Yep – they line all of Upper O’Cll St too. Presumably they’re all going into CC storage yards for reuse elsewhere.
I wonder if they are original to the street, i.e. from the 19th century commercialisation of the thoroughfare, or if they were put down by the Corporation in the 70s or 80s having been dug up from elsewhere in the city?Good news about Fingal – have a feeling it just may have been sold off a few years ago, perhaps as part of the Carlton wrangling, with a lease-back arrangement – not sure though.
They werent too careful about lifting them though…..guys were working around them for quite a while oblivious to whether they got damaged or not. They should be reused – maybe on Capel Street which is due a repaving or even OConnell Bridge itself.
@Graham Hickey wrote:
Good news about Fingal – have a feeling it just may have been sold off a few years ago, perhaps as part of the Carlton wrangling, with a lease-back arrangement – not sure though.
It was bought by the McGettigan family (of Baggott Inn fame) a few years ago and was being rented to fingal for a while until their new place in Swords was finished – don’t think its changed hands since then though
Ah – thanks. There were plans floating about for a hotel in the shell of this building about three years ago – don’t know if it was a concrete proposal or if it’s still alive…
Isn’t one of the great sights of Dublin, and easily the best of O’Connell St itself the fantasy skyline of the Lower street?
It’s so exciting approaching from College Green and Westmoreland St, with the imposing architecture, theatrical cupolas and the intimidating Clery’s with its proud array of flags standing upright along its heavy parapet all emerging in the distance 🙂The theatre of light you constantly see here can be great to observe as the sun plays on the bold features with heavy dark clouds looming over the city:
And Himself too:
It’s such a crying shame the terraces abutting North Earl St weren’t redeveloped in such a grand fashion as the Abbey St junctions – they barely even acknowledge the corners at all, let alone feature any type of skyline interest. The drop from Clerys down to the Ann Summers terrace is also a shame, it lets the street down significanty when viewed from the south (though does exaggerate the scale of Clerys as some consolation).
Likewise having such small four storey buildings in the centre of the city’s main street is disappointing.
Interestingly, when you see pre-1916 photos / prints showing that part of the street, there is a similar mini-terrace of Georgian buildings where the Ann Summers terrace is – so there was a precedent. I often think that even now, the addition of an extra storey onto that terrace would be a big improvement for the street. And it wouldn’t affect Clery’s – even with a storey added onto the terrace, Clery’s would still dominate the block.
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