Underneath Dublin?
- This topic has 170 replies, 67 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 12 months ago by
.
- Posts
@bluefoam wrote:
Sorry for the delay in my response…… 😀
The Dalkey tunnel entrance is (if my memory serves me right) at the waterfront, down the side of the school (Lorretto I think). I doubt there is much to see there anymore – it was collapsed quite near the entrance.
No problem Bluefoam. I must check it out.
Thanks
Phil
I read that O’Cll St post recently – wonder if it was dug up during the works, or would they have gone that deep?
Wonder what it was used for – though slightly more pressingly, why the heck was there an ice-cream factory underground on O’Connell St ?!! 🙂The Casino in Marino has underground tunnels too.
These links give some background, and one describes a ½ mile tunnel. The tunnel was useful for cold storage, according to one piece.
http://www.iol.ie/~stdavids/Other_Interesting_Features.html#other
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HistoricSites/DublinArea/CasinoMarinoDublin/
I grew up in the area, and there was an urban legend describing a complicated network of several miles of tunnels. One was supposed to extend as far as St David’s in Artane, about a mile away. As I say, probably an urban legend…
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/property/2005/0428/3555835682RPQUIRKY.html
If the link is blocked, due to no Ireland.com subscription, try nicemove.ie. There is a link on the lefthand side of the page.
I used to work in Centra on westmoreland st on the corner of the building known as Ballast House. From the basement of the shop we had access to one tunnel which went first of all towards the river for about 5m and then turned right at a 90degree angle towards Westmoreland st where it was sealed by a heavy metal door but the tunnel appeared to continue under the street possibly to link with the drains which have bee mentioned previously on this thread. the passage is about a metre wide and lined with fresh looking cast concrete At least about 10 years old judging from its relative cleanliness) which i thought was strange because the building is at least 100 years old judging from the plaque beside the dan oconnel pub.
That is interesting about the tunnel. The building is a pastiche of the Ballast Office which it replaced so is alot less than 100 years. This could explain the newness of the concrete that you are referring to, although it is more than ten years since it was built:
The revival of this thread reminds me- I read recently that the underground jacks in College Green is due to be re-opened on a trial basis. Looks like our museum proposal will have to be shelved.:(
When were these toilets built does anyone know – they seem to have 80s tiling but surely they’re earlier than that? Were College Street and Upper and Lower O’Connell Street the only underground ones to be built?
Strange this is brought up as only today I was observing the Lower mushrooms still in place behind O’Connell Monument – it would appear the toilets are still down there…How would reopening College Street this time round avoid the eh, ‘issues’ of the past?
The little weather station on the site is fun 🙂Afaik there was also an underground toilet at O’Connell Bridge and Burgh Quay which were removed because they were attracting a certain “element”…
Ah yes – here they are in the late 1930s.
I remember reading somewhere that the Ladies were located underground for whatever reason (to the extreme left), with the Mens safely in view above ground in that 30s-looking building (indeed looking at the pic you can just make out the Ladies sign on the railing there).Why not build both above ground – very strange that they were separated to that degree :confused:
The design of the Ladies is also weird – surrounded by intimidating rusticated granite blocks by the looks of it, topped with railings and globed lamp standards presumably to heighten security. All overly complicated, they make for fascinating pieces of urban history 🙂@Paul Clerkin wrote:
Whats the structure on the other bank?
Well spotted. Bike Shed? Bus Shelter?
The Smaller one might have been for the Gardai?
It is also interesting to note the awnings on the shops. I find it interesting that with the smoking ban, and the growth in outdoor seating outside coffee shops they have made big comeback in recent years in Dublin.
smaller structure looks a bit like
http://spain.archiseek.com/balearics/mallorca/palma/almudainapalaceguardpost_lge.htmlLarger Structure looks like a typical Corpo type structure – waterworks, substation etc.
will try to remember where I’ve seen similar before in dublin.Wasn’t there something similar at the top of Smithfield before its facelift? I thought it was a weighbridge / weigh-house sort of thing.
And I think there’s still one in Newmarket, though smaller.The smaller building looks a bit like those pissoirs you get on the continent- Amsterdam, Berlin etc. But that would be unlikely so close to the purpose-built jacks on the south bank.
An early public phone? There have been public phones on that site as long as I can remember, and still there today, I think.On the Casino, Marino issue, the small complex of cold storage rooms are indeed there (a short tunnel ending in a well room, another longer one ending in three rooms), but are all within the boundary of the current Casino property (you can see the vents in the grass down near the O’Brien Institute). They’re not open to the public, though, and are being partly used as overflow storage for the groundmens gear.
The one that ran from what is now the men’s toilet was the tunnel connecting the Casino with the main Marino House (now demolished). By the time of the restoration works at the Casino, though, the O’Brien Institute had been built right splat across its line, so the end were bricked up and the Institute foundations sunk into the middle. I always wondered what happened to the other end though – Marino House was at the corner of Brian Road and Brian Avenue, so I’d say there would be some interesting things under some Marino gardens!
There are a million urban legends about the Casino tunnels, though – the best one I’ve ever heard being a story of tunnels running to the Dublin mountains, which would be some feat! I believe that there are some mentions in Lord Charlemont’s letters of a tunnel running down to the sea, as sea-bathing helped his joint problems, but they’re believed to be from Marino House, rather than the Casino. And Michael Collins was reputedly hiding down there as well (busy man, wasn’t he?). The St. David’s one is new to me, although it’s pretty unlikely, as St. David’s is a 19th century building, isn’t it?
ctesiphon there was a pissoir on the northern quays somewhere as I remember reading about somebody buying the scrap when it was been removed…. just came back to me
@Paul Clerkin wrote:
ctesiphon there was a pissoir on the northern quays somewhere as I remember reading about somebody buying the scrap when it was been removed…. just came back to me
It was on upr Ormond Quay. There is a moody Samuel Beckett photo where it features s in the background, covered in various fliers/posters but I haven’t seen the photo in years
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
