I must admit that this is my first time to see Clonturk House and that I was not expecting to see much of interest on Ormond Road in Drumcondra.
Clonturk is an area on the Northside of Dublin, in Ireland. It is located in the south of the suburb of Drumcondra, just north of the River Tolka, but previously, Clonturk had been an alternative name for Drumcondra and the wider area.
Clonturk lies within the Dublin 9 postal district. The name Clonturk translates from the Irish as “Pasture of the boars”.There is some evidence that the name originally was Ceann Torc or the “Headland of the boars”, but had changed to Clonturk by the middle of the 16th century.
Clonturk House on Ormond Road was built in 1830 by the then City Architect, as a gentleman’s residence and was one of Drumcondra’s fashionable big houses. It was extensively renovated in 1880 and given its Georgian frontage. The carved stone balustrade which now forms its boundary came from the original Carlisle Bridge (built by James Gandon) and was moved there by the builder of the present O’Connell Bridge (who was living in Clonturk House circa 1880).
For a number of years until 1960 Clonturk House was run by The Presbyterian Church which gave accommodation to girls attending school in dublin both as fee paying and on a susidised basis.
In 1955, The Rosminians were appointed by the Archbishop of Dublin to run services for the Blind in St Joseph’s, Drumcondra, Dublin. The School which became known as St Joseph’s School for the Blind, and Visually Impaired, was residential and was officially opened in 1960 by the Dept. of Education. Until 2009 Clonturk House was a home for blind men.
A number of neighbouring streets bear the name Clonturk, including Clonturk Park, Clonturk Gardens, and Clonturk Avenue, probably as a result of their proximity to Clonturk House. There is also Clonturk Community College, further north on the Swords Road at Whitehall.
NEW STYLE PHONE KIOSK BESIDE A YELLOW DOOR- DORSET STREET
This street already has more than enough street furniture and I was a bit disappointed to see that a new digital advertising platform, disguised as a payphone, has been added.
Back in 2008, when I last checked, there were about 4000 telephone kiosks, public payphones, remaining in Ireland but there were only about 450 at the beginning of this year [2021]. Many were removed because they attracted anti-social behaviour and others were removed because of lack of use.
Earlier this year Eir applied for planning permission to replace 22 replace old payphones in Dublin with upgraded versions that include Wi-Fi, interactive touchscreens and information services for tourists. The new structures were described as “open stand-alone kiosks designed to reduce instances of anti-social behaviour, improve street furniture and provide enhanced services to users including interactive, digital information points.”
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