J. Seerski
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Well if this spire is lit at night when complete, it will no doubt be a spectatcular sight. The spire will be visible from O’Connell Street at night for the first time and will be a spectacular addition to the streetscape. It will be similar to the town hall in Brussels which seems to dominate many views of the old city, particualrly attractive at night. It could act as a draw to go further northside as O’Connell Street seems to offer nothing at night to entice you to go north.
At the other end of Hardwicke Street, a terrace of three houses by Thomas Sherrard remain, with unsual doorcases and in generally poor condition – one to the right being rebuilt inappropriately. While the vista to St. George is amazing, this vista looking the other way should not be ignored, and given the unusual design, especially doorcases and granite string courses should be a priority in conservation of the area.
In order to help improve the atmosphere of the area, improved lighting is crucial, as it is forbidding at night to wander through the area; though it is generally safe to walk, the feel is the opposite.
Continuing with the general area, there is an dreadful waste of a site next to the ‘Black Church’ at St. Mary’s Place – there is a part demolished terrace and a derict corner site next to Mountjoy Street, resulting in a spectacular opportunity for redevelopment and innovative architecture for a unique site.I disagree – the city centre is far too small – one of the great advantages of the Luas (as is) is that it broadens the area what we would call the city centre now from Heuston to Docklands. Bringing the Luas to O’Connell Street would just crowd an increasingly congested space. It would be preferable to have the link away from this area – preferably bygoing down Merrion Square then back up to Customs House via butt bridge (why does everyone it seems confuse Butt Bridge with the loopline?!!!!) It would create less congestion and increase the area of the city centre- in a grid sense – than just one or two streets – not every bloody thing has to cross onto O’Connell Street…. 😮
Also, southsiders do shop on the Northside – stats show that more money per head is spent on Henry St. than on Grafton St., unless you are suggesting southsiders earn less/spend less than the northsiders, in which case they can stay south of the liffey!!! :p
I noticed that the windowsa above Beshoffs were repainted lately – nice job! Same cant be said for Burger King (have to mention it was the one near O’Connell Bridge) – many of the original casement timber windows were removed just recently from the top two storeys and replaced with the usual lovvvvely PVC…. I notice these things – pity the council doesn’t….
Well Well… though I wouldn’t put any bets on this happening any time soon – It is breathtaking that this huge site has been a monumental blunder considering its location and the economic boom over the last 10 years.
Back to the GPO – it was mentioned earlier about the vile shopfronts used on the Henry St elevation – if one looks at the flat arched openings above the door you will notice that in years gone by signs were placed in situ of the limestone (you can still see shadows where the lettering was – this was for all shops on this GPO strip) – something akin to the restrictions on shop signage one would see on Regent Street in London today – a little thought on henry street would really improve this vast shopping strip – one that is generally in perfect nick till you look at ground floor level….
The Eircom/Findlater House building is deteriorating fast at Upper O’Connell St. – I noticed some smashed stonework recently and it is generally filthy.
Hopefully when the O’Connell Street works are complete it might shock the property owners into action, but experience tells me not… here’s hoping!!! 🙂
BTW about the Metropole, it is sad to think of its demise – suprising really when it was less than fifty years old when demolished! It was a classic 1920s revival peice. How on earth such a thing was demolished says a lot about the people of the time and how preservation was seen as a dirty word in the way of ‘progress’….
Cafe Bars is a load of nonsense – really it means ‘mini-pubs’ – and we have quite a lot of pubs already thanks very much – there are over 2000 in Dublin at the moment – so if the question is choice and competition, it is here already, however, I doubt you would ever get price competition if already there is none with 2000 bars…
Its populist nonsense that has already been spouted by the PDs – esp in relation to Dublin Airport – and we know the fine mess that has been made of that! Dont forget, FF, the publican party, would never allow the PDs get such a move passed them…
Bruxelles – the exterior is more victorian, but the lettering is a bit nouveau – and Brussels itself was the home of the Art Nouveau!
Look at the following Stats on O’Connell Street:
Centra – 3 Stores
Spar -1
Mc D’s – 2
Burger King – 2
Supermacs – 1
Eddie Rockets -1
Carrols – 3 – probably four by next week
Amusement Arcades – 4
Abrakebabra -1
Two ‘tat’ shops have opened in the last few months – at the old Gresham News shop and at the old Thorntons Jewellers.
There are now 5 net cafes on the street.What are the bets that the old BOI at the junction of Parnell Sq/O’Connell Street will be ‘Sparified’….
And to think Centra wanted to extend their space on the street already….
Others on streets directly off O’Connell Street (possibly a lot more!):
Spar – 4
Centra – 2
Carrols – 3
Mc D’s -1
BK – 1
Abra Kebabra -1If you went a little further you could say within a half mile radius of the street there are at least 30 Spars, 30 Centras, prob another 5 Carrols…
Has any other city got such a monotonous store-stock? Repitition, repitition….
Taking from good auld James Joyce, could anyone walk through Dublin without passing a Centra/Spar etc etc…. 😮 And to maintain the architectural nature of this thread, in design terms few if any of these stores have any merit in shopfront design or interior….. Bland Bland Bland….
Just when you thought it was safe to walk down O’Connell Street….
ANOTHER CARROLLS OF DUBLIN APPEARS TO BE OPENING!!!!! – beside the Irish Permanent Building.
Why oh why dont other stores/cafes/offices open up on the street…. This will be the FOURTH O’Carrolls on the street…. A pound-shop by any other name…. 😡
Saw this in Paris Gare Montparnasse – Im no good at French, but you can get the jist of it – perhaps it aint no joke?!!!!!
I think the point is missed though – the corporation has had EIGHT years to perfect the O’Connell Street rejuvination yet not only has it been incoherent in places but is also less than half finished! I was 18 when the programme for rejuvination was launched, still sipping coffee in Hilpers in UCD. Now, no hilpers, a degree, a postgrad and five years working (!) eight years later, O’Connell Street is still only just partially finished and many critical elements – shopfronts, shop usage, the Carlton Centre etc. are in the same sorry state as 1997.
I am positive that things are improving, but at an infirm snail’s pace.
Dubin Corporation should be lauded when things go right. In this case they should be berated. This project could have been completed in a year and I will probably be facing retirement before I see the last peice of granite set on the pavement. I fear to ask how much the project has costed so far. For God’s sake lads, massive shopping centres, housing estates, skyscrapers etc etc etc are finished within a year – this repavement of one street has gone on long enough. 😡
Some lamps in Clontarf and Rathmines are unique – they were commissioned for their respective townships when there were autonomous from Dublin Corporation.
New lamps on O’Connell Street – vile.
Yes – maintaining the median seems to be pointless given the present situation of having bikes strewn everywhere – very inappropriate to have this placed on a part of the street they hope to provide with kiosks!
I dont recall any montages of the new median being used as a cycle park in the regeneration plan for O’Connell Street. A few posts back, some mentioned the proliferation of street clutter in the city centre, obscuring many fine public spaces – this must surely rank as the worst and most inappropriate.
Why were the side streets not used for parking bicycles – surely there is adequate space on Parnell Square, Abbey Street, Pearse Street etc.
Can I ask what is the point of having the median maintained? If the idea was to maintain an alternative pedestrian route through the street (which I’m sure it was) then whoever put these bike railings in has messed the whole concept up. I used to walk the median frequently in the old days (1997 lol) and it was then one of the few joys on the street to complete the stretch with minimum obstruction. The new stretch has so many obstructions (and is narrower) that I couldn’t be bothered negotiating it any more.
It is sad to see the opportunity to improve the street already make some stupid mistakes – though compared to its treatment in the past, at least the street is getting some attention.
On Upper O’Connel Street they have removed the old granite kerbing and are reducing the width of the paths. Where has the granite ended up!!!!!! Please let it not be an Irish Bar…. :confused:
And as part of the plan has been completed, I think its possible now to give a critical judgement on it. The standard of the work is very impressive, however I get an entire temporary feel to the works (ie many features will be gone in 10 years). The granite, limestone and marble paths are well finished but I am puzzeled as to why the path sizes are wholly inconsistent – again an example of cars taking precedence over design and indeed pedestrians.
Im sorry guys but I dislike the new lamps a lot – they are crude and generally unsuited to the street. Why the need for ultra modern lighting on a largely neo-classical street? The clash is truly awful. And before anyone goes anti-pastiche, why did the council think it appropriate to replace all the lamps on stephens green with victorian replicas and not do the same on OC Street? Perhaps because they new it would look awful around the green and did the right thing. Pity the same judgement was not exercised on OC St.The new bland and boring lamps are more suited to an obscure dual carriageway heading to monotonous suburbia than a city’s main thouroughfare. One word: Tacky.
To DCC’s credit, the general feel of the street is imroving. It appears less menacing than, say, five years ago. The formal square around the GPO has an almost genteel feel to it. This part – free from clutter, quality materials – and well lit (lamposts apart 😉 ) is a fine example of urban design gone right. I note the usage of buildings has changed somewhat from that of the late ninties, though the fast food outlets and the amusement acardes persist. Some private companies have been lavish in their redevelopment of their buildings (Clerys, the Gresham, Bests would be good examples) but some are still awful – burger joints aside, the RDH, the Centras, Spars, Quirkeys etc etc have done little or nothing to improve there look – then again they would probably improve the street by closing down!
Overall, the street is getting better – and maintained to a better degree than before. But some problems still persist, and some new design features are inappropriate. Perhaps when they finish the rest of the street they will begin to correct the errors of the first phase… :rolleyes:
Did anyone notice on that pic that there is only a two story building to the left of where tha present-day Ulster Bank stands?!!!
I have a copy at home but I aint giving it away! 😉 I think UCD Arch Library has a copy.
Luke 1 started Henrietta Street, Charles started Rutland Square, Luke 11 made more ambitious plans… Mountjoy Square, Royal Circus, Denmark St, Hardwicke St. etc etc….
Luke Gardiner does indeed deserve recognition…
Not only did his property speculation impact on the city, but some Catholic Relief (emancipation) acts are regarded as his work – so he was not an insignificant political figure. He was also intimately associated with John Beresford – they were close allies in political, social and financial circles. With his death went all tight control of property usage in the Gardiner Estate – with long-term consequences. People think the Act of Union was responsible for the northside’s fall from grace but it is often forgotten that the Act of Union impacted on the entire city, and it was only into the 1840s did the northside stall when the southside was ever expanding.
I did a dissertation on this guy – I must publish it! 😀
Hmmm…this can be a tricky one…
Is the old TSB on the Trinity end of Grafton Street made of the same material? Also, is Fox’s Cigar/Wine shop in the same part of town of the same yellowy/brown sandstone? I’d say if the NIB on O’Connell Street was cleaned it would be quite bright.
Speaking of towers, I wonder has anyone gotten access to any of the towers/cupolas on O’Connell Street aka Supermacs, Ulster Bank, Irish Permanent, The Grand Central?
As the thread is about O’Connell Street, it is interesting to note that most of the east side was full of similar Scotch/Baronial architecture, with at least two baronial towers on the streetscape, for some reason disappearing between 1916 to 1922… :p – as far as I know the only ones remaining nearby are those two on college green – what always fascinated me was how they constructed the College Green NIB there beside the bank-now-pub called ‘The Bank’ – the baronial tower almost touches the NIB builing but never quite does.
As for the restoration, is it not a bit over the top? In terms of statues they really are quite new – just over a hundered years for the O’Connell and less than that for the Parnell monument. Maybe in 200 years they might need restoration – though I acknowledge that the works are to ensure there is no need for a restoration job in the future through proper preservation.
Well the picture you use Graham was the pre – 1916 shot of this terrace – it was completely destroyed in the rising – if you want a good idea of what it looked like before the 1970s, picture a copy of the corner Centra building at the nothern end of the terrace being mirrored on the other end. A four-bay roman cement building and a few other small buildings proveided the infill between these corner buildings. This has to be the worst monstrosity on the street. Dynamite please. 🙂
So with Findlaters went the only supermarket on O’Connell Street. I suppose a upmarket supermarket would make a useful addition to the street and not without precedent.
Can I add that I’m 25 and not banking on memory here! 😉
Yes – the Pro Cathedral was proposed for this site – however ferverent opposition from the old protestant ascendancy stopped this from happening. Hence it was built on Marlborough Street – inconspicuous and out of place.
As for your question as to who commissioned the painting of Sackville Street – it was altered by the owners, with the doctored version having a man with a sign standing on the street advertising Delaneys Mart and Imperial Hotel.
There ya go!
If Luke Gardiner were around today he’d relish the opportunity to complete the Royal Circus that he planned nearby and execute it here instead! The Irish Builder periodical maintained that it was the failure to complete this grand scheme that halted the Northside’s social climb and in reality began its development stagnation, followed on by decline….
Build the Royal Circus! Or would it be called Republic Circus now as we are no longer part of the Union?!!! 🙂
Savoy and Gresham Planning Applications were submitted just at the end of December – massive alterations intended for both. The Savoy is going to gut the ground floor facade and make it more like it would have been – the windows are being restored. The interior at the moment is looking really well!
