shaun
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I remember the Pavilion gardens before the new complex was built, it was solely used by junkies, dealers, winos and pot smokers. There is now a theatre and restaurants, are these not for the public ?
The Jurys hotel at Ballsbridge has got to be one of the worst buildings in Dublin, so what is it with Jurys that they have penchant for piss-poor pre-fab crap, shame on them………
Removing the thing is tantamount to blowing it up, it’s a wrong way to go. We all blush and cringe a bit when we pass these things, but it is rather freaky I think. Coincidentally, was it not on this street that another famous statue was “removed” in 1966 because some people objected to it’s presence.
Why are christian and Marian shrines in Ireland usually so cringingly dreadful, you would never dream of tearing down the Marian shrines that adorn Belgian cities. Not that I would like to see any religious statues destroyed, I mean doesn’t anyone remember the Taliban blowing up the huge Buddah statues. Maybe some day we will learn to “adore” the millions of Marian statues around the country, when they become fashionable.
Not only south of Brussels, don’t try and cross at the zebra-crossing in Antwerp ’cause you’ll get driven over. The English are the only ones that respect zebra-crossings, indeed, all in all, the English are the most competent drivers anywhere I find.
Phil,
When I was in Dun Laoghaire in Febuary they were actually building this building, or something very similar………..
Keep the pics coming, b’girl, and may I say that you take an interesting photo, I mean those pyramid topped buildings on the quays, I hated them on my last trip to Dublin, but ya know, they look alright on your photo.
And you’re right when you say that Dun Laoghaire is cool, it was a great place to have grown up in. You will no doubt have noticed the massive piers that form the harbour, they were erected in 1821, when Dubai was a small fishing village and the main activity in the neighbourhood was goat-herding and the biggest export was dates and figs instead of oil.
Phil,
It reads a bit like, Dubai is a glitzy, shiny, new and tall paradise risen out of the sand and Dublin is silly, brown and old and soooo
boring……..only messin’ around with ya b’girl, it’s always good to hear the opinions of foreign residents on our infra-structure.The Mount Merrion garden suburb from the 1930’s will be of interest I would imagine, get off the road and have a trip around the suburb, it’s like another world.
Girl, that hotel or whatever it is looks like shite. Jurys hotels generally look like shite, have you seen the Jurys hotel in Ballsbridge, it looks even worse at the front than that one does from the back.
So what’s your problem with the Spike ? It’s the coolest thing in the whole town, and don’t start giving out about those marks on the base, they look good.
Next time send a GOOD example and a bad example and keep things in proportion.
I agree, a faithful Georgian copy using good materials would be best up on Parnell sqare. Something akin to Mountjoy square, although I have only been up there once since it was saved from complete destruction, and it still comes in for a lot of criticism for being pastiche, or fake.
It’s a pleasure….I gleaned this information from S.Rothery’s “Ireland and the new architecture”, great book. He also adds about this building that “this was the Refuge Assurance building. Polished grey Ballinasloe limestone slabs were used up to the first-floor window-cill level, and grey fossil limestone slabs, attached with copper dowels, were fixed to the rest of the front. The result was a flat shiny elevation with the desired fashionable look.” He calls it somewhat outrageous. Is there anything else like it in Dublin that you know of ? Oh, and yes, it would make my Dublin top 10 easily.
Phil,
I know the building you are refering to, it’s a humdinger isn’t it. It’s a stripped classical front applied to a Georgian facade and the architect was Frederick Hayes, date 1935. It reminds me of London art-deco.
I was in Clearys recently for the first time since I was a kid and the place has got a real vibe to it, much more so than any chic Grafton street estabishment. From the upstairs full length windows you can stand and look down at the Spike and the crowds milling by. I go shopping in Antwerp or Brussels city centers and never you will never see the kind of rushing, busy crowds that make their way through Dublin. In fact, shopping on the Northside of town is so much more exiting than Grafton street etc., the people, the decadence of O’Connell street, the seediness of the streets down to Connelly station, the shabby but teeming Ilac center, amazing places, once glorious Parnell square, these are the places that form the character of town, they’re unique, hope they don’t change too much and become all nice.
If you were to look for a European equivalent of O’Connell street it would have to be the main raiway station quarter, the place where the thugs, hookers and junkies hang out, will they just move further north up the street now.Looks shit hot…….Hope the real thing is as good…..Should help to bolster up Dun Laoghaire and surrounding areas position as being the finest place to live in this island.
Well done to your SPL representatives on Wed. night, turning over the mighty Barcalona, what’ll the score be on Sunday ?
alan d,
Have ya been over to Holland yet, or Belgium for that matter, most of the houses are actually pleasing to look at.
Do most of us here agree that 95% of the bungalows/villas built “down the country” over the last 30 odd years are cringe inducingly shite architecturally speaking and that 95 % of the bungalows/villas that are likely to be built over the next 30 odd years will also be just as offensive to us arty-farty non-rural dwellers.
That is what this thread is essentially about and how in the name of jaysus can the Irish countryside be saved, isn’t it ???
