We have had three walks since the last issue of Sandmill News and they have all been most enjoyable.
March – Tolka Estuary Greenway
The Strollers walk on the first Tuesday in March was along the Tolka Estuary Greenway. This new 4km shared cycling and pedestrian route joins East Park Business Park to the Ferry Terminals and runs along the northern perimeter of Dublin Port on lands reclaimed from the sea in the 1970s. It was officially launched by Minister of State James Lawless TD in September last year and it offers a new view of Dublin Bay, one of Ireland’s UNESCO designated biospheres.
We travelled there by DART and alighted at Clontarf Road to walk the short distance to the start of the Greenway just off Alfie Byrne Road. We were fascinated by the sight of the River Tolka as it flowed into Dublin Bay and the wealth of bird life on the water – Brent Geese, Bar-Tailed Godwits and Terns amongst others. Then we gazed at the spectacular views across to the Clontarf coast (trying to locate Betty’s house!) and enjoying the mild sunny weather. A collection of mature Pine, Willow and Sycamore trees are preserved along the route, with additional planting of hundreds of native trees and wildflowers, which gave a feeling of a country walk through woodland. At various points along the route there are seats, which have reused granite from the Alexandra Basin and Discovery Points with interpretive panels which give the context of the history and heritage of Dublin as a port city.
It was a fascinating afternoon. Some of us left the walk midway through the route at the Circle K Service Station (to avail of their facilities) and then continued home via the Red Luas from The Point. The rest continued to the Stena Line Ferry terminal before heading for home on the 53 bus to alight at the city centre. Thank you Eric for organising this fascinating walk and escorting us along its full length. Margaret Wynne
April – Ranelagh Walk
Ranelagh and its environs was the destinations for this month’s walk.
I had always thought that the name Ranelagh was an English import but according to The Little Book of Ranelagh, the name derives from the Irish title for the area “Gabhal Raghnaila” or the reach of the chieftains, the chieftains here being the fearsome O’Toole’s and O’Byrne’s from Wicklow. These clans attacked the settlers from 1200 right up to the mid-1600s. In 1649 the English finally won a major battle in Ranelagh and this cleared the way for one Oliver Cromwell, Esq to arrive in Ireland, sailing into Ringsend. The less said about that arrival, the better!
Ranelagh thrived in the 1800’s as the Protestant and Unionist ascendancy moved out from the famine stricken and disease riddled city centre to an area under the Rathmines Township authority. Sir Edward Carson described Dublin Corporation as “a sort of Greenwich Hospital for Nationalist wrecks”
We set out in glorious weather through the Ranelagh Gardens archway , the location for extensive Turkish baths in the 1800’s. We strolled through the gardens to the statue of Richard Crosbie who launched the first balloon flight from that spot in 1785. We looked at the cross in the park which commemorates the Carmelite nuns who occupied this area from 1788 to 1975 before selling the land to developers and moving to Malahide. On to Chelmsford Road where Frank O’Connor wrote much of his body of work including An Only Child in 1961. This featured a boy who, when faced with the daunting prospect of scaling an orchard wall, threw his hat over the wall, thereby having to climb over to retrieve it. JFK used this in his speech committing the US to land a man on the moon before 1970.”I’ve thrown our hat over the wall” he said. Other notables in the area were George Bernard Shaw’s father and Rosaleen Linehan. We looked at the safe house used by Michael Collins and noted that the Fitzwilliam Tennis club, one of the oldest in the world, only admitted women as full members in 1995. Ladies were not allowed to play at peak times, buy drinks or play billiards!
On to admire the RMDS school, Mountpleasant Square and one the oldest standing houses in Ranelagh, No 6 Old Mountpleasant which is almost 300 years old. On to the Triangle which was curved to avoid an old Methodist Church, now demolished, and then to Oakley Road. This road was pivotal in the 1916 rising with Padraig and Willie Pearse, Thomas McDonagh and Aine Ceannt living here; as did Mary Holland and Anthony Cronin. We marvelled at the beauty and low key security of the Canadian Ambassador’s residence.
On to Beechwood Avenue (Maureen O Hara, Jim Larkin, Doughlas Gageby, Briscoe family etc), AnnaVilla, Sandford Road and the beautiful Sandford Church and Sandford Terrace (Helen Dillon, Mary Robinson, The Bewley’s, one of whom lived in what is now Gonzaga College and another in what is now High School). Finally to Cherryfield Avenue to acknowledge Maeve Brennan who is now getting the credit she deserved as a writer for the New Yorker and other work. Eamon Morrisey lived in the same house after and only discovered this when reading an article about Maeve while he was working in New York himself.
We adjourned to a lovely corner in the Devlin Hotel and quenched our thirst in various ways! Frank Harvey
May – Dun Laoghaire
We met in Dun Laoghaire and first looked at the modern developments of the striking Lexicon Library and the concrete amphitheatre on the site of the old Baths with its statue of Roger Casement. Dun Laoghaire had regained its original name in 1920 during the War of Independence – sixty years earlier, the harbour had been built and the area had become known as Kingstown following a visit from King George IV in 1821. So during the 1800s, Kingstown developed as a thriving centre for trade and commerce with Italianate villas, impressive red-brick administrative and commercial buildings with its affairs managed by the Kingstown Town Commissioners.
Leaving the seafront, bolstered by Teddys ice-creams, we began to explore this Victorian heritage, the Royal Marine Hotel (free parking on production of our refreshment bills!) and George’s Street with its red-brick shop fronts. The People’s Park had been built on an old quarry (whose stones were used in the construction of the town) and is now a haven for leisure activities, with the original gates, fountains and buildings beautifully restored. However we then looked at a number of neglected, beautiful, graceful buildings which are badly in need of attention – The Kingstown Men’s Christian Institute, Weights and Measures Building, Kingstown Fire Station, Carnegie Library, Harbour Commissioners’ House (which was in good condition) and the Town Hall. Remnants of a time where there was a huge divide between the wealthy residents of the town and the numerous poor inhabitants. This was a most interesting visit to explore the history of Kingstown/Dun Laoghaire.
When: 1st Tuesday of every month. We usually meet at St Philip’s at 1.30pm and car share, or at 2pm at the walk venue. We usually spend an hour or two walking at a leisurely pace and try to end with refreshments. Join us for good company, being in the open air, enjoying spectacular views and keeping up some exercise.
Forthcoming Walks:
3 June – Rathmines (meet at St Philip’s at 1.30pm or Rathmines Library at 1.45pm)
1 July – Iveagh Gardens
5 August – Merrion Square
2 September – to be decided
7 October – The Walls of Dublin
4 November – Cruagh Wood
2 December – Dodder and Orwell Road
Margaret Wynne