O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Yes, here’s the view from Westmoreland St with the hole evident in the middle:
It’s such a great pity there isn’t a distinguished corner to the north Earl St junction – so instead of a grand street with every junction defined, essentially all we have is the single Abbey St crossing highlighted with 3 and a half properly designed corner buildings – such a cop-out.
What a difference it would have made from the Bridge to see the junction of Earl St equally well defined with cupolas or domes. What sight it would have been, and such an important contribution to spatial definition on the street.But especially as Devin says about the pre-1916 terrace being rebuilt to the same low height as before – nothing short of farce on the part of those in charge of reconstruction. If there is one enigma on O’Connell St it is this little terrace – why was it constantly kept small through the ages?! :confused:
As posted before, here it is lower than all the WSC terraces in about 1820:
It may even have been rebuilt again later in the century to the same low height – have yet to find that one out….
The first pic I took with the Panasonic FZ5:
…and Sackville Mall with the Sony TRV2000 Time Machine 😀
It’s a middle-range camera, with a 12x optical zoom which was the real attraction. Only got autofocus though which is the catch – otherwise a decent camera, does the job.
…except when you’re in a rush :o. Some pics of a dark Upper street here. It’s really very strange up there now as for the first time in goodnees knows how many decades you can really appreciate the sheer width of the street, vacant of traffic and clutter – almost as it was in 1800s:
And looking south on the eastern side:
The delight that greets guests of the Gresham 🙂
The new taxi rank emerging – the median proper is absolutely minute to accommodate the cars:
It’s not clear if the tree planting pattern is going to be maintained along here. The paving the cars sit on brings the space out to the width of a regular median.
And the holes for the trees and LEDs already in place behind Fr Matthew:
A fantasic camera alright – alas not all of us have such vast quanities of cash be be splashing about 😀
Yikes those pics are spookily identical! Is that a crop of a wider view you took Morlan?
Hmmm now which is better…..doesn’t need a rocket scientist to work that one out 😉
I’m never on the street that late to even see, let alone capture that beautiful saturating evening sun – the whole city looks so much better at that time. Red brick in particular is spectacular in such light, as above.GPO to become 1916 monument
Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2005 / October 31The General Post Office on O’Connell Street in Dublin will cease to be used by An Post and will be converted into a national monument. Under plans being drafted by the Government, the GPO would become the memorial for the 1916 Easter Rising, along with other aspects of the State’s history.
How can a building largely built in the second decade of the twentieth century be a national monument?
the bar was always 1700 and god knows how many monuments have been destroyed for political expediency;
This is also an attempt to undermine the definition of protected structure this building is already fully protected by virtue of its
1> Architectural merit
2> Social significance
3> Cultural significance
4> Historical SignificanceWhy isn’t a motion passed by DCC to tie its use as the GPO under the Bewleys mechanism?
If this building was anything other than the Central Posts and Telegraphs Office it would not have been the centre of the rising.
Yes. The best historical preservation is to have the building function as it did during the rising – does it contain a museum?
A starbucks in the arcade would be most welcome 😉
The GPO as a monument of national independence (and of the 1916 Rising) would be most appropriate.
Internally, it should be beautiful, simple, austere and where there would be space for private reflection.How very sad that the GPO could be celebrating its 200th birthday with the extinguishing of the very use that brought it into being, and its tokenistic conversion into a sombre chamber of nationalistic reflection.
The GPO is our General Post Office, a place that belongs to the citizens who use it on a daily basis, and should remain as such for as long as we have anything resembling a postal or national communications service in this country. It is not a tool to be used by any political party (I’m guessing this’ll get cross-party support) for the purposes of celebrating their own organisations’ foundations.
The GPO is a staple of O’Connell Street, Dublin city and the country at large, a public place that is as relevant and as much in use as it was in 1818.
The notion of ridding it of its purpose, of its very origins, and replacing it with a museum is quite literally repulsive.By all accounts convert the rest of the vast building to the rear – it’s hardly the most efficient use of An Post’s resources to be headquartered in the contraints of that inner city, traffic choked location anyway.
But to take away the Public Office underneath that great portico would be a criminal act.I agree that this building’s use is as significant as the structure itself and ought to be protected by law.
I absolutely agree. the GPO as a post office has been an integral part of the city for as long as I can be remember. Also with all the changes that have gone on over the past 10 – 20 years it is even more important to have this link to the past. There is plenty of room to the rear for a museum etc.
Its a stupid plan, its such a privelege to have everyday, routine, use of the GPO in its finery: turning it into a museum takes it from a part of the city frabric and turns it into a set-peice, diminishing it. How great it is still in its original use, how silly to loose that. If we want a dedicated museum to the rising, what about the customs house, not currently accessible to the ordinary pedestrian, so we gain, and, well we could have a museum of the civil war there to and maybe even a tourist centre.
Its a stupid plan, its such a privelege to have everyday, routine, use of the GPO in its finery
Absolutely. I challenge anyone who is in favour of turning the GPO into dead museum to go in a buy a stamp and experience the place. It has a unique atmosphere and feel in Dublin; we have so few grand public utilitarian spaces like this. Usually cities at least have one impressive railway station or something of that nature – Dublin only has the GPO.
Why would you take a working public building and turn it into a mausoleum? I suspect it’s another threat to An Post and all semistates that if they go on strike, the state will evict them and privatise them.
i agree. i think they should leave the gpo as it is and where it is.
@notjim wrote:
Its a stupid plan, its such a privelege to have everyday, routine, use of the GPO in its finery: turning it into a museum takes it from a part of the city frabric and turns it into a set-peice, diminishing it. How great it is still in its original use, how silly to loose that. If we want a dedicated museum to the rising, what about the customs house, not currently accessible to the ordinary pedestrian, so we gain, and, well we could have a museum of the civil war there to and maybe even a tourist centre.
nail on head…. its not a good idea… another does of museum-interpretivecentreitius is about to break out I think
@Frank Taylor wrote:
I suspect it’s another threat to An Post and all semistates that if they go on strike, the state will evict them and privatise them.
Ah yes – the classic ‘do as you’re told or we’ll make you into a national monument’ ploy 😀
Yes notjim and jimg sum it up perfectly – it’s the only grand public building in the city that most of the public have access to or have reason to use on a regular basis. The Public Office has an austere but welcoming grandeur to it – as Paul memorably put it, the impressive ceiling ‘floats serenely overhead’ 🙂
Likewise walking in from the street from (almost) underneath the great portico is quite an experience – you get a certain feeling of industriousness and importance walking in to ‘do my business’ 🙂It’s a working building – leave it alone.
😮
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