Bullock Harbour or Bulloch Harbour is a small working harbour located near the heritage town of Dalkey on the southeast coast of Dublin Bay in Ireland.
The current harbour quay and walls were constructed of local granite in the early 19th century where previously a rocky inlet had provided a natural harbour. Bullock Harbour is the subject of a specific local objective (SLO22) in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s county development plan.
Bullock, a small fishing village, has been known to many races, since pre-Christian Druids first built a standing stone circle here (since quarried to build the Martello towers). The name is said to derive from the Scandinavian for “Blue Haven” and again from the Gaelic word for a tidal blow hole which existed in the rocks. The land at Bullock was given to the Cistercian monks by an Irish king ‘beyond the memory of man’. Fishing rights came with the land and it was to protect these lucrative fisheries from the Wicklow tribes that Bullock Castle was built in the 12th century and around the castle grew up a tiny town, completely walled and protected at intervals by towers.
A family of seals live at the harbour and like being fed by local children and tourists. Common and bottleneck dolphins have been reported in the vicinity. The diversity of marine flora and fauna reflects that of the Dalkey coastline.
COLLIEMORE ROAD [PHOTOGRAPHED A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE 2008 PROPERTY CRASH
When I visited in April 2007 I photographed at random and did not pay much attention to the upmarket homes so the area may look less impressive that it is in reality.
Colliemore Road has/had some well known residents including the film director Jim Sheridan who placed his seafront modern abode Martha’s Vineyard on the market for €8m.
Victorian Cliff Castle, owned by former Blacktie boss Niall O’Farrell and according to a local that I spoke to the rent was, if you were interested, Euro 10,000 per week.
Broadcaster Vincent Browne sold his seaside six-bedroom home Atlanta on Coliemore in 2011 for €2.6m and during the boom years, Elsinore, the period house where U2 recorded one of their albums was offered for €5.7m.
One of Ireland’s grandest homes, Victoria House on two acres, is located on Coliemore. The house features a large fairytale tower and was offered for sale at auction in 2001 by the Lenehan hardware dynasty but failed to sell but in 2014 it sold for €5.5m.
DALKEY ISLAND AND THE MUGLINS PHOTOGRAPHED APRIL 2007
The rocks to the east of the main island are known as “The Muglins” and are a different group or chain. These form a danger to shipping and have been fitted with a distinctive beacon. The beacon stands on the site of what was once a ‘gibbet’ where the bodies of two pirates, Peter McKinlie and George Gidley were displayed following their execution for the murders of Captain Cockeran, Captain George Glas and his family and others on board the ship Earl of Sandwich in 1765. Their remains lie buried under the concrete plinth base of the beacon.
Dalkey Island is an island for which the nearby village of Dalkey is named. It is an uninhabited island located c. 16 km (9.9 mi) south of Dublin and 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Dún Laoghaire harbour. An important site of pilgrimage for centuries, it has been known as “St Begnet’s Isle” since records began. The earliest reference to ‘Dalkey Island’ is from c. 1782. The island had a population of 8 in 1841.
The island is currently uninhabited but there is evidence of human occupation dating back to the Neolithic period. The remains of field systems, a church, a cairn burial, a gun battery and the Martello Tower still exist.
There are two Holy Wells, one on the western shoreline is known locally as the “Scurvy Well” and is located within a surrounding stone structure. There is also a bullaun stone formed from an earthbound boulder. This may have been used as a pagan altar as it was ‘Christianised’ in the 7th century by carving an early Christian cross on the face. This lies close to the remains of the church. At the northern extremity of the Island there is evidence of a deep ditch or fosse that was the boundary of a medieval Promontary Fort. Located less than 300 metres off the mainland, the island comprises 9 hectares (22 acres).
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