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unbuilt Ireland
9 spectacular Irish buildings that were never built
The designs range from a proposed raised railway along the Liffey, to a railway terminus in Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo to an unbuilt design for St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.
The images are all from Archiseek.com, a website dedicated to Irish architecture, particularly historical buildings that either never were or that have now vanished.
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From a proposed raised railway along the southern Liffey Quays, Dublin, to a railway terminus in Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo to an unbuilt design for St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, we can but only daydream as to what these buildings might have been like.
Paul Clerkin founder of Archiseek.com takes us one step closer to the structures that never were, through competitions lost, unrealised commissions or unappreciated designs.
So, here are nine spectacular Irish buildings that were never built:
1856 – Design for Wellington Testimonial, Phoenix Park, Dublin. “Of all the public monuments raised in honor of the Duke of Wellington, that of the citizens of Dublin is, if not the most graceful, at least the most colossal and magnificent. It stands on very elevated ground in the Phoenix Park and consists of an unadorned Obelisk, resting on a pedestal 56 feet square and 24 feet high, which is accessible by a pyramidal flight of steps, making a total height of 205 feet. The pedestal is intended to be ornamented with bas-relief medallions, representing the chief battles won by His Grace, and an insulated pedestal on the east side, is intended also to support an equestrian statue of the Hero of Waterloo. For those embellishments, the requisite funds are as yet wanting. The sides of the Obelisk are inscribed with the names of the several victories gained by the Duke. The whole monument is of cut granite, and was raised at an expense of about £20,000.″ (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1862 – Unbuilt design for St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork. The design was published in The Building News, 11 October 1872. In February 1863, William Burges was declared the winner. The Cathedral accounts records show the payment of the winning prize was £100 but the design greatly exceeded the stipulated cost, which really annoyed people at the time. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1769 – Design for the Royal Exchange, Dublin, now City Hall, was executed by Irish Architect Francis Sandys for an architecture competition to design the building. There were approximately 61 entries from architects in Ireland and England. Thomas Cooley won the competition and James Gandon was runner-up. Cooley’s design was built and can be visited today. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1814 – Design for a drum and dome on completed General Post Office on Sackville (now O’Connell) Street. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1915 – Railway Terminus, Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo. An unbuilt proposal for a large railway terminus to serve as a transatlantic liner terminal that would have seen Liverpool ousted not just as the transatlantic departure point for British passenger traffic, but for Scandinavia too. As one commentator put it: “Make Ireland the highroad of traffic between Canada and the United Kingdom and between the Eastern and Western Worlds". With the provision of rail ferries from Holyhead, it was predicted that Londoners would leave Euston Station and not have to set foot outside their carriages until Mayo. From The Building News, 13 October 1915: “The construction of the building is intended to be carried out in reinforced concrete. The main feature is the concourse, which forms as a waiting-place between the platforms and the harbour." The architects are Messrs. E. B. Hoare and M. Wheeler, FF.R.I.B.A., of Portman Street, Portman Square. W. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1787c – Unbuilt elevation design for west front of Irish Houses of Parliament in Dublin. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
A proposal for a Roman Catholic University of Ireland in Clonliffe. First published in the Dublin Builder, 1 April 1863. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1883 – Science and Art Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin. An illustration for the competition to design a museum for the Royal Dublin Society on Kildare St by Ernest C. Lee. The winning design was produced by T.N. Deane & Son and published in The Building News, 5 October, 1883. (Image: Archiseek.com)
Unbuilt Ireland
1837 – Proposed Railway Colonnade, Dublin. This illustration was originally included in the report: “Plans of the Several Lines of Railway in Ireland. Laid Out Under the Direction of the Commissioners. Part I: Through the South and South Western District, by Charles Vignoles. Part II: Through the North and North Western Districts by John MacNeill, 1837. Presented to Both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty”. Charles Vignoles is remembered for his work with the Dublin to Kingstown Railway, and for his work during the period 1836 to 1838, when he served as engineer to the royal commission on railways in Ireland. Most of the railways surveyed and planned during this time were completed by William Dargan, but some of the proposals were not followed up, as they were too ambitious for Ireland at the time. This scheme was designed to link the different railway termini through the city by building a raised railway along the southern Liffey Quays. (Image: Archiseek.com)
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@Sean Parker: every comment on other journal pages all he puts it LOL, when you reply to him he gets aggressive with his replies, threw one at me this morning about my mother, she died 2 weeks ago, he’s not very intellectual
@6gRrQtLn: it’s easy to act the big man and insult or disrespect people from behind a keyboard. Likely wouldnt say boo to your face. I’m sorry for your loss and I hope you are doing OK.
@Michael Fielding: “Oh wise one”…and you don’t even offer an alternative? Apart from BoD, who comes close to him? And leave the LOL to the kids….using it, doesn’t shine much on your intellect.
@Hugh De Payans: I don’t post negative comments on the journal because it’s widely known as blind boy says to be the gutter of the Internet and you sir are the epitome of it.. How childish to mock a persons loss. If you take pleasure from that then I’m really sorry for you.
My sympathies to that man who lossed his mother.
Well done to Ireland for making us believe by the way.
@Hugh De Payans: 5th place in Irish Caps. 8th place in Irish Try Scoring. 1st place in Irish Point Scoring… If not our best player surely 1 of our best.
You put everything into the game and pushed to the end. You will always be a legend to the people of Ireland. We are proud of you and the rest of the team.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: You said Ukraine and Israel/Palestinian war is devastating but that’s not the topic here.
They are beyond devastating and horrifically upsetting but you can’t compare them on a thread about rugby.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Exactly. Losing vicariously through the team you’ve decided to support is a voluntary extension of your identity. So what if ‘they’ lose a game, YOU neither contributed nor risked anything real or actual in that game.
It’s just a flutter of chemicals in the brain. You’ll be grand.
As the saying goes, sport doesn’t build character, it reveals it.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: yes the word devestating is now confined to use only in the context of the Ukrainian or Palestinian wars. Somebody ring oxford there and get them to update their dictionary.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Really?, the goldfish have all forgotten about Ukraine now seeing as there a bit of action in the mid east again. I think what’s really got people confused is what flag to put on their avatar these days. Just support the current thing. The current thing for us this morning is we got booted out of the WC by not playing at 100%.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: “Devastating” in rugby terms and in the personal terms of JS rugby career. You’re one of those perpetually offended people. To be avoided at all costs.
We put in a massive shift against South Africa and beat a better team despite what the rankings say. I think they would’ve beaten us if we met again.
And the French would’ve hammered us given they annihilated a poor New Zealand.
Ultimately we are nowhere near good enough to win a World Cup.
@Argus Romsworth: Agreed, we are in the top 4 for sure and in good company, but number one is no good when you get zip for it. The IRFU must have cashed in big time this year though, tonnes of merchandise sold.
What a career it was + what service he gave both Leinster + Ireland / gave them so many great days. People can debate the “greatest ever” moniker but the guy is a legend either way – hope he enjoys long + happy retirement.
We lost by 4 points in a game that was probably 50/50 before it started. If it a hiding I’d understand but people need to relax. They’re should be an app with a breathalyser and be under the limit before some people post here or on social media.
Should have been replaced 20 minutes to go. Didn’t have the stamina and speed to be effectively creative in the last 20 minutes… He is his age.. And much as I would have liked a better result for him and the team, his limits should have been respected
The fear coming in to the World Cup was that Ireland were too reliant on Sexton. That ended up being the case yesterday, but it wasn’t because he was unavailable. New Zealand gave him no room to play at all. His weakness has always been his kicking game and Ireland needed a bit more of one against New Zealand. They addressed it at halftime but then Hansen got injured.
Unfortunately time catches up with everyone. We had a few of those players. We made too many mistakes, line out poor, Management needed to make changes sooner. Yet they were so near. But it showed we are not good enough to win world cup and I don’t think New Zealand are either.
@padraig o heanachain: At 7.55pm last night, we were realistic candidates to win the World Cup. WOW!! Now we are a a bunch of badly managed old men. How quickly some people forget the great memories and great heights, this great IRISH rugby team brought us all too. Reading some of the comments, you would think that we were beaten by Chile, not by the greatest rugby country of all time. It says a lot about some of the Rugby crowds psyche, Win at all costs otherwise you are useless.
Sexton, apart from his performances for Centra, (betcha sales went down), along with the many many Great Irish players, got us to No1 in the World, inspired thousands of young kids and beat NZ in NZ. Not bad for ‘ Old Men’. Tiocfaidh ar la!!!
Apart from the fans misunderstanding of the words of Zombie, they were magnificent and were rewarded with great memories. Some might think ‘ Up the R.A.’ means Royal Academy bit given our now diverse culture We are still all proud to be Irish today!!!!!
@Adam Gorey: Never played a rugby match less probably never been to one. People using ‘bottlers’ can think of nothing constructive but use cliched clutch phrases to describe something of a complexity they can’t fathom.
He seems like a decent human being with young a family, hope he moves on and gets into something he likes doing. He’s a professional and always expected himself to hit high standards, made some mistakes along the way but we had some pretty great days cheering on this team with him at the helm. Some of the comments I’ve seen about him are pretty low and a bit too personal.
Back to drawing board for ireland. No where near good enough to win world cup. Kucky against boys who should have won but left some penalties and conversions behind. We just don’t have enough in attack in these crucial games. Bundle aki was the only back that stood out in every game. I missed game last night and saw highlights later. Couldn’t believe how passive our attack was when the clock was in the red. They look clueless and ran out of ideas, all lateral and going nowhere, we wouldn’t win tea cup never mind world cup playing like that. They never git the running game going
@Eddie Mc Loughlin: They were good enough to win it, but so are New Zealand, France and South Africa. The game was close, a held up ball over the line from the Maul is all that was in it. If that touched down we would be facing a pretty average Argentina next week with one eye on the Final.
Definitely the best Irish Rugby team ever up to this point. A series win in NZ followed by a Grand Slam and denied a World Cup semi final spot by a Barrett (irony) hand under the ball.
For a country which has a very small Rugby playing presence compared to GAA and even Soccer it is very much a minority sport with a bandwagon following that belies it’s real position in the sporting life of the country.
When the New Zealanders throw dirt on social media they don’t understand that it’s their South Pacific Islands selection versus the products of a few private schools.
They punch well above their weight.
Seems to be a lot of bandwagoners commenters bearing their low I.Q.’s to sl@g off the team at the 1st opportunity. Well you can get back into your box again till 2027.
The association is the reason Ireland are not in a semi final, the draw that was made way back was absolute fiasco, to have 4 best teams in the world in one side, Ireland would easily have beaten any of the teams in the other half by a mile, and be fresher going into a semi. We had very tough game v Scottish to win pool, and then having to lift ourselves for all blacks in quarterfinals, whereas all blacks had training sessions
How dare anyone call those players chokers, shame on you. If anyone conducted themselves with that dignity and commitment in the soccer team we’d love it. Time will tell how Sexton ranks in people’s memories, not being involved is going to be hard for him
What bs. Most of ye have never played on any team in any sport after primary school. Just a bunch of chubby middle class voyeurs making a tit of yerselves lol
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