North Wall

NORTH WALL QUAY

February 23, 2021 by Infomatique

NORTH WALL QUAY AS SEEN FROM SIR JOHN ROGERSON’S QUAY

Every time I visit the skyline has changed.

North Wall is an area east of the inner north side of Dublin, along the River Liffey. It contains the entire north side of Dublin Docklands and includes the International Financial Services Centre, Spencer Dock, and further east the main part of Dublin Port.

The area is dominated by a combination of older housing, dockland activities and new development through the Docklands Strategic Development Zone Planning Scheme, including extensive construction of new retail, residential and office spaces.

Transport in the area includes the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (Docklands railway station on Sheriff Street), the LUAS (red line stations George’s Dock, Mayor Square, Spencer Dock, and The Point, and 8 dublinbikes stations (at Custom House Quay, City Quay, Excise Walk, Lime Street, Guild Street, Convention Centre, New Central Bank, and The Point).

CENTRAL BANK

September 8, 2020 by Infomatique

THE CENTRAL BANK BEFORE THE STAFF MOVED IN

I photographed this building in February 2017 not long before it became operational

More than 1,400 people work at the eight-floor North Wall Quay building and approximately 300 staff at Spencer Dock.

The Central Bank was based in the Dame Street Tower from 1979 until 2017. They also had offices in the nearby Commercial Buildings, on College Green and in Iveagh Court, near Harcourt Street.

When the Central Bank needed more accommodation, it examined various options including investment in their existing city centre properties. It was finally decided the most cost effective option was to locate staff to the Dockland district.

The Central Bank bought a partially constructed building at North Wall Quay, for €7 million in 2012. Spencer Dock was an office block building the Central Bank had rented since 2008. In November 2015 the Central Bank purchased this building for €104 million. All staff in the existing city centre locations moved to the Dockland Campus in spring 2017.

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VALLENCE AND McGRATH

September 7, 2020 by Infomatique

VALLENCE AND McGRATH AS IT WAS 6 FEB 2017 ESTABLISHED 1908

The pub in my photographs has recently been replaced by a new pub trading as The Bottle Boy.

There has not been a new pub on the North Wall Quay for a very long time and all disappeared over an extended period of time. The last remaining was Vallence & McGrath which was established in 1908.

The owners describe their new business as follows: The Bottle Boy began life in 1860, and was primarily known as a Spirit Grocers. A quirk of a Spirit Grocers was that you couldn’t sit down and beer was sold in bottles brought to you by The Bottle Boy. Whilst we’ve retained tonnes of the original detail – like the cornices, fireplaces, flooring – we’ve added in cosy snugs and lots of seating, perfect for a pint of plain.

The Bottle Boy is actually within the Mayson Hotel complex and it is in fact the Vallence & McGrath pub which has been renovated.

The original building where Vallence & McGrath were based was described in 2011 as follows: This building is a late Victorian townhouse with a public house inserted to the ground floor. The house retains its original fenestration pattern, roof materials and overall composition. Now derelict, the panelled shutters are visible and suggest an intact interior to the upper levels. Now standing as the last remaining residential structure on North Wall Quay, this former house thus has added significance. It was also a popular meeting place for the local community until quite recently.

If you are interested in the history of the Mayson Hotel and the pub you should visit themayson.ie/the-story-of-the-mayson/