You may notice many hawthorn trees [whitethorn] in my photographs so I should mention that traditionally, no one cuts the lone hawthorn tree as this is the meeting places of the fairies. Through history many planned roads and pathways were re-routed to avoid cutting one down. Hawthorn is generally seen as a tree which brings good luck to the owner and prosperity to the land where it stands. My family always referred to them as May Bushes.
I actually went to the wrong location so did not manage to photograph the actual spa but I will visit again within a few days.
The waterfall was not very exciting exciting and as there had been a thunder storm just before I arrived the ground was very slippy and muddy in the immediate area.
The Leixlip Spa situated close to the Royal Canal, Ireland at Louisa Bridge was discovered in 1793 by a group of workmen excavating for the canal. William Conolly, who acquired Leixlip Castle in 1732, planned to develop the spa into a classical thermal spa, but to no avail.
The spa waters bubble from the ground at a constant 23.9 degrees Celsius (75 degrees F) and drain into the Rye River below. The spa was widely used over the years[when?] but since the 1960s it has fallen into disrepair. To preserve the spa, a committee was set up from members of Leixlip Town Council, Kildare County Council, An Taisce, Duchas and the Irish National History Museum.
FIRE STATION 9 – DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE BLANCHARDSTOWN
Known as Number 9 Station within Dublin Fire Brigade.
Dublin City’s first municipal fire engines were delivered in 1705.
Throughout the second half of the 18th Century, insurance brigades were the primary source of firefighting for the city, operating independently for buildings bearing the mark of their respective insurance companies.
Eventually the brigades began to co-operate on a competition basis with the first brigade on scene being the highest paid. It wasn’t until 1862 with the enactment of the Dublin Corporation Act, that the city had an organised fire brigade.
Dublin man J.R. Ingram became the first superintendent of the brigade, having worked as a fireman in New York and London. The brigade consisted of 24 men with a makeshift fire brigade station on Winetavern Street in The Liberties. In 1898 the Dublin Fire Brigade Ambulance Service was established. The turn of the century saw the brigade have its first fire stations and permanent headquarters built, with the first motorised fire engine coming on stream in 1909.
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