Freestanding underground public toilet block, constructed c.1900. Carved granite plinth having perforated metal roundels to east and west elevations. Wrought-iron railings with stylised shamrock heads. Cast-iron ventilation shaft with stylised foliage to shaft. Granite stairs with tiled walls leading from street level, with wrought-iron gate.
Located at the Liberties crossroad junction of Kevin Street, New Street South, Dean Street and Patrick Street. At one time the area was known as Four Corners of Hell as there was a pub on all four corners of the crossroads.
This underground public toilet block at the junction of Kevin Street and New Street was one of a number that were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in response to an increasing demand for public facilities in the city. Underground facilities such as this were partially hidden from general view in order to satisfy Victorian perceptions of decency. It retains many of its historic features including railings, gates and decorative ventilation shaft.
It caught me by surprise, when I first paid attention to it about six or seven years ago, especially as I should have been aware that these facilities existed having gone to school in Leeson Street and college in Kevin Street.
There are two separate entities – a small park and an underground public toilet. In 2019 the City Council announced that the building would be brought back into use as a cafe as soon as practical but as you can see that plan did not go well.
When I first noticed the structure I thought that it was an old monument or memorial but upon seeing the entrance I realised that it was an underground public toilet block.
In the 1950s and 1960s there were about seventy public toilets in Dublin but all of them have been closed.
THE OPERA SITE PHOTOGRAPHED 2021 – MUCH HAS BEEN DEMOLISHED
The ‘Opera Site’ is located at the northern end of Limerick’s Georgian Quarter and measures c. 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres).
Below is a description of what was planned but it is possible that there have been some changes.
Project Opera proposes the redevelopment of an existing city block located on the south side of the River Abbey at the confluence with the River Shannon, adjacent to the Hunt Museum and east of Arthur’s Quay Shopping Centre. The site is bounded by Rutland Street and Patrick Street to the west, Ellen Street to the south, Michael Street to the east and Bank Place to the north.
There are two buildings within the site included on the Record of Protected Structures. The Town Hall, Rutland Street, was built in 1805 and is currently vacant and in a state of serious disrepair. The Granary, Michael Street, is one of the earliest known multiple storey warehouses to be built in Limerick, dating from the late 1700s.
The interior was comprehensively redeveloped in the 1980s, with new offices subject to modernisation in 2015. A further eight buildings on the site are included on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH). A number of these are vacant and in various stages of dereliction, despite a significant amount of remedial works undertaken by the Council in recent years to preserve their structural stability and architectural integrity.
The site is also host to the former Cahill May Roberts Building, fronting Bank Place, some existing and unused warehousing/workspace buildings at Bogue’s Yard and Watch House Lane. The southeast corner of the site currently includes a surface car park with approximately 100 No. spaces.
You must be logged in to post a comment.