MORE DEMOLITION UNDER WAY SOUTH OF THE RIVER LIFFEY
The site is bound by Newmarket Square to the North, Ardee Street to the west and Mill Street to the south Including City House and Unit 3, Newmarket, Dublin 8.
The project will consist of a residential / mixed use development totalling 29,570sq.m on a site of c.0.66ha at Newmarket, Dublin 8.
The development includes a Specific BTR (Build to Rent) Development comprising 413 units (comprising 203no. studios, 136no. one bedroom units, 72no. 2 bedroom units and 2no. 3 bedroom units) and associated Resident Support Facilities / Resident Services and Amenities and all associated ancillary accommodation (totalling 28,735qm) in a building ranging from 6 storeys to Newmarket (including set back level) stepping to 9-13 storeys towards St. Luke’s Avenue. The buildings are arranged around a semi-public courtyard and a new internal street linking Newmarket and St. Luke’s Avenue. 5no. rooftop terraces are proposed for residents.
The proposed development includes 3no independent units on Newmarket comprising a 1no. café/restaurants (216sqm) and 2no. retail units (490sqm) and an artists’ studio (129sqm). Lower ground floor / basement level includes car parking spaces (50no.) and cycle parking and facilities accessed from a new entrance on Newmarket Street.
The demolition of all existing buildings on the overall site known as the IDA Ireland Small Business Centre at Newmarket Industrial Estate has been approved and will be carried out pursuant to Reg Ref: 3323/17 (Bord Ref: ABP 300431-17).
The remainder of the overall site bounded by Newmarket, Brabazon Place, St.Luke’s Avenue and Newmarket Street is the subject of a separate planning application to Dublin City Council (Reg Ref: 4743/19) for a Hotel development with 2no. retail/ restaurant units.
The site is bound by Newmarket Square to the North, Ardee Street to the west and Mill Street to the south Including City House and Unit 3, Newmarket, Dublin 8.
KEVIN STREET COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN DEMOLISHED BUT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS SURVIVED
I am trying to locate some earlier photographs of Kevin Street College as it was and I will publish them as soon as I locate them.
It should be noted that the attractive red brick building in some of my photographs is Kevin Street Public Library which officially reopened in 2018 after being closed for five years while undergoing long-needed renovations. The building itself is a modest but important one, and though not a protected structure, it has served as a public library for over 100 years. It boasts beautiful reading rooms that have been hidden from public view for many years. The interior is bright, airy, and charming with substantial natural light.
In 1963, the Minister for Education signed a contract for a new building for the College of Technology at Kevin Street. The project was completed in 1968, with Hooper & Mayne as the architects. It was described as an International Style building, with the administration and entrance block to Kevin Street capped by a wavy canopy on the fourth floor.
In 2021 An Bord Pleanála granted a 10 year planning permission to Shane Whelan’s Westridge Real Estate for the development of 53,110 sq ft of office accommodation in two 11-storey blocks alongside 299 build to rent apartments across three buildings of up to 14 storeys in height. Westridge acquired the 3.57 acre site for €140 million in August 2019 and a report lodged with the plans by EY estimates that the total output that the redevelopment will generate over 10 years is €7.67 billion.
I was 15 years old when I completed my secondary education, too young to begin at Trinity College so my parents thought that it would make sense for me to undertake a pre-university course in science at Kevin Street College. Towards the end of 1965 I was offered a place on a new course due to begin in 1966 and I accepted the offer with the agreement of my parents. However, my Grandmother was furious as she could not understand why anyone would choose a Vocational Institution over Trinity College and unfortunately future events proved her right but that is a complicated story.
The four year course was known as “Telecommunications and Electronic Technicians Wholetime” [WRTT] and there is no doubt that it was an excellent education in every way. What was really sad was that most of the eighteen students on the initial course had to leave Ireland to find suitable employment. One or two went to the UK but the majority went to the USA. To this day I have never, again, met-up with any of the class.
THE BARLEY MOW PUB HAS BEEN DEMOLISHED 92-93 FRANCIS STREET
The Barley Mow was at the corner of Francis Street and Mark’s Alley West. When I photographed it a few weeks I noted that its condition was getting worse at an increasing rate.
Here is an extract from the planning application: “Demolition of the existing structures and the construction of a four-storey, plus set-back fifth, aparthotel consisting of a ground floor community space/ café with 19 suites above and bin store to the rear.”
The Dublin InQuirer featured a photograph of the building being demolished claiming that “Dublin City Council has refused permission to tear down a derelict building at 92 and 93 Francis Street in Dublin 8 and replace it with an aparthotel”.
A few days ago the same publication featured the following headline “Council Both Refused and Gave Permission for Francis Street Building to Be Torn Down”.
A barley mow is a stack (mow) of barley, especially barley that was cultivated and then harvested. Barley is a grain that is commonly malted for brewing beer.
The Barley Mow is a cumulative song celebrated in the traditions of the folk music of Ireland, England, and Scotland. William Chappell transcribed the lyrics in his two-volume work The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time (1855).
“The Barley Mow” has become a drinking song sung while comrades empty their glasses. In one “Barley Mow” drinking game, any participant who fails to sing the song’s (progressively expanding) refrain in a single breath must drink. In another, participants drink just after singing the second line in each verse (“Good luck to the barley mow”); if one’s glass is not empty by the final verse, one must finish the drink after singing the line.
DESTRUCTION AND REDEVELOPMENT AT FITZWILLIAM STREET AS SEEN FROM BAGGOT STREET
These images date from Christmas 2018 I had intended to return every few months to photograph any progress but was unable to do so for a variety of reasons so I decided to go ahead and publish them today. Hopefully I will visit the area within the next two or three weeks.
Little more than fifty years after the demolition of 16 Georgian houses on Lower Fitzwilliam Street the ESB decided to redevelop its headquarters.
The 1964 demolition/development effectively destroyed Dublin’s longest Georgian facade, from Mount Street to Leeson Street and of course that attracted much protest at the time. Dublin Corporation were convinced by the the protests and refused permission for the demolition and development of the site. However, on September 30th, 1964, the day before the new Planning Act which established a national planning system came into force, Neil Blaney, then minister for local government, signed an order overturning the corporation’s decision and the destruction of the 16 houses proceeded.
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