For many years there was a derelict building between Paradise Place and Mountjoy Street and beside it is the famous Black Church.
It is now being redeveloped as the “Black Church View” project, which will consist of 114 shared accommodation units, a café, gym, co-working space and indoor and outdoor recreation and amenity spaces.
Below is a somewhat idealised description of co-living.
Each floor is seen as a single community and private resident rooms feed into shared residential communal facilities. According to the developer apartment sizes will be well in excess of the minimum floor area required under current planning regulations.
Co-living is a residential community living model that accommodates three or more biologically unrelated people living in the same dwelling unit. Generally co-living is a type of intentional community that provides shared housing for people with similar values or intentions. The co-living experience may simply include group discussions in common areas or weekly meals, although will oftentimes extend to shared workspace and collective endeavours such as living more sustainably. An increasing number of people across the world are turning to co-living in order to unlock the same benefits as other communal living models (such as communes or co-housing), including “comfort, affordability, and a greater sense of social belonging.”
Co-living as a modern concept traces its origins to shared living models of the 19th and 20th centuries such as tenements in the UK, boarding houses in the US, and chawls in western India, yet ancient forms of communal living such as the longhouse date back thousands of years. Its contemporary form has gained prominence in recent years due to a combination of factors including increased urbanisation rates, a lack of affordable housing options, greater rates of disability requiring group home or assisted living arrangements, and a growing interest in lifestyles not dependent upon long-term contracts.
The Viking house and its garden has been built to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the battle of Clontarf and is a permanent installation. The house is open to school and public tours to educate visitors on Viking life in Dublin 1,000 years ago.
The Viking house is a replica based on a 11th century type one Dublin house excavated in the 1980’s by Patrick Wallis and his team at Wood quay. The house is 8mtrs long and 4mtrs wide, with a ridge height of 3.5mtrs, it has an Oak trestle frame and a door at each end.
The Battle of Clontarf took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard, King of Dublin; Máel Mórda mac Murchada, King of Leinster; and a Viking army from abroad led by Sigurd of Orkney and Brodir of Mann. It lasted from sunrise to sunset, and ended in a rout of the Viking and Leinster armies.
It is estimated that between 7,000 and 10,000 men were killed in the battle, including most of the leaders. Although Brian’s forces were victorious, Brian himself was killed, as were his son Murchad and his grandson Toirdelbach. Leinster king Máel Mórda and Viking leaders Sigurd and Brodir were also slain. After the battle, the power of the Vikings and the Kingdom of Dublin was largely broken.
The battle was an important event in Irish history and is recorded in both Irish and Norse chronicles. In Ireland, the battle came to be seen as an event that freed the Irish from foreign domination, and Brian was hailed as a national hero. This view was especially popular during English rule in Ireland. Although the battle has come to be viewed in a more critical light, it still has a hold on the popular imagination.