The scaffolding dissappears…
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I see the church is mentioned in the Irish Times today in a less than glowing article on the governments record on conservation.Maybe this will shame them into acting, the goverment usually reacts to any negative publicity by throwing money at it…. a restored spire flood lit at night would look magnificent
@fergalr wrote:
North Great George’s St is lovely. Walked up and down it for 6 years on way to and from school.
The Doorways of North Great Georges Street
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/great_georges_street/index.htmlfergalr wrote:Do you not think the area will need to be re-gentryfied as well?From the top of O’Connell St. there is a pointless vacuum of city until you get to Phibsboro.
I’d say, given proper investment and it’s own HARP (Historic Area Regeneration Programme-remember those??) the area could take on a whole new lease of life, would give purpose to the top of O’Connell St (it leads to nowhere at present) and would link Phibsboro properly to the city centre.I for one am sick of this kind of vacuos petit bourgeois crap being written about the North inner city. Please be more objective in your comments. I don’t come up to Howth denigrating your neighbourhood so please don’t do it to mine.people relate to urban character in different ways relative to their background,life experiences and personal tastes… Down with your Belvo bred snobbery!
Fair enough Tommyt, perhaps living in the suburbs gives me a bit too objective an opinion on inner city communities..
But I think the rest of my points are valid.Any sign of completion on this?
Hi all.
This is my first post and I hope I am doing it right. My query is about St. George’s Church, Hardwicke Street. I would like to know what the old clock chimes sounded like. When I say old I mean pre-1951 when the old clock stopped working after 123 years (the present clock dates from the mid-sixties).My query arises from James Joyce’s Ulysses, where this clock strikes at 10.45 a.m., and Leopold Bloom interprets the sound as
Heigho! Heigho!
Heigho! Heigho!
Heigho! Heigho!
Some commentators think this represents Westminster Chimes, but I’m not too sure about this.Graham,
Where do you get all of those fantastic old pics of Dublin? Is there a website or do you just scan them in?
Well if it isn’t Zap after all this time 🙂
A bit of both really – books and the internet, most widely available. It’s coming across the less well-known ones that proves most interesting – there’s a rank of cliched pics of ‘aul Dublin’ that get churned out every five minutes and have been examined to death, but the real gems are those that rarely get seen, the Hardwicke St one being a case in point – part of a set of about five pictures taken in about 1848, probably the first ever professional set taken in this country. The Upper Yard of Dublin Castle was another of them.
The National Library online catalogue has some great photographs too:
look like the scaffolding is finally coming down for good …. standing at the bottom of Westmoreland Street the spire jumps out.. it would look fantastic flood lit when it is finished
Yup – indeed they started taking it down about a month ago I think. Saw a wonderful elevated view of it from the railway bridge on East Road the other day – it really stands out in so many parts of the north city.
The current scene on Hardwicke Street:
There’s a long way to go yet; the lower building hasn’t been touched at all, externally at least.
The spire:
Looking in great condition. It’ll be interesting to see what the lower sections are like when unveiled, as these were quite badly weathered.
And the view from O’Connell Street 🙂
Floodlighting is going to be spectacular, as the bone coloured Portland stone will stand out dazzlingly bright on the night sky.
Today’s Irish Times wrote:Steeple of landmark St George’s church restored
Frank McDonald, Environment EditorAfter spending nearly a quarter of a century shrouded by scaffolding, one of Dublin’s most significant landmarks, the triple-tiered steeple of St George’s Church in Hardwicke Place, has finally been revealed in all of its glory.
The steeple, which is nearly as high as Liberty Hall, is the only church spire which can be seen from O’Connell Bridge. It is also the first landmark to greet visitors on their way in to the city centre from Dublin airport.
The former church dates from 1814 and is acknowledged as the masterpiece of Francis Johnston, architect of the GPO in O’Connell Street and the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle. It was deconsecrated in 1988 due to lack of patronage.
Its structure had been suffering from the same problem that hit the Custom House. As a result of water penetration over the years, the iron cramps holding its blocks of Portland stone together had expanded, splitting the stone.
Four years ago, Dublin City Council issued a dangerous buildings order requiring Galway-based Redgrove Properties Ltd, which then owned St George’s, to remove all the loose stonework in its steeple and wrap it in wire mesh to prevent any more falling off.
In December 2004, the property was acquired for a reported €1.25 million by Navan-based property developer Eugene O’Connor, who had already restored the former St Kienan’s Church in Duleek, Co Meath, as The Spire, a successful restaurant. Saying he was committed to bringing St George’s back to life, Mr O’Connor’s first task was to remove the rusty scaffolding erected years earlier by Rainey]
Good newsWas up that way last Friday night. The steeple looks magnificent, hope someone on here with a digi camera will be up that way soon to take a few pictures. The Mater’s repointing of a few townhouses on Eccles St. and their two infill builings (pretty decent) on Nelson St. bring the whole neighbourhood up a notch or two, slightly cleansing their dirty bib over the mater private/Leopold Bloom’s gaff travesty..
Here’s a couple snaps;
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large version here, if it you want to examine the spire; http://www.flickr.com/photos/58086761@N00/2330313925/sizes/o/in/set-72157600177298026/
I dropped into Eason’s a few days ago and noticed a book I hadn’t seen before about the architectural history of Dublin. I don’t know if it’s a new book or a new edition. I just flicked through it – now I can’t remember the name or author- I think maybe it had ‘urban’ in the title, so maybe ‘an urban history’, anyway, at the back of the book is printed an old photograph of the interior of St.George’s as it appeared while still a church, with all it’s fittings etc. Along with it by the way are similar pictures of other Georgian and later Anglican churches.
Perhaps if someone has it maybe they might add the picture to the thread?
Also some of you might be interested to know, if you don’t already, that the original altar rails from S.George’s are now in St.Iberius’s church, Wexford town, a small Anglican Georgian church. Here they are;
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This maaaaay have appeared on other threads which I haven’t seen, but there’s a piece in today’s Irish Times which should be of interest to the readers of this one.
I never had the opportunity (or upbringing?:p) to use it as a church, I liked it as a theatre/concert venue, and I hope it will be a great success in its new role.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2009/0325/1224243361396.html
It’s hard being churlish about this and at least the externals are preserved, but is its conversion to ‘offices’ – however skilfully done – does still seem a loss of a valuable ‘public’ space. I do remember once having heard the bells ring out over North Dublin, but I suppose the Northside’s loss is Dundrum’s gain. What a home for small-scale music performances this would have made; I think there was such a proposal once, but the main objection was that Southside nobs would not park their Volvos in such an area. (!)
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