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100 years of ugly buildings? A new book begs to differ

A new publication from Dublin City Council looks back at architecture in the city during the 20th century.

SOME PARTS OF Dublin are much admired by those with a keen eye for architecture.

The Georgian period is often spoken about as a high-point in the development of the city, with it still evident today in prominent buildings like the Four Courts and the Custom House.

There is also a strong Victorian influence around the city, with BBC historical drama Peaky Blinders using the streets of Dublin to recreate post-WW1 Birmingham.

A perhaps more overlooked period are the buildings that have gone up over the past 100 years.

Hoping to change that is a new book, ‘More than concrete blocks: Dublin city’s twentieth-century buildings and their stories’, a three part series that looks at how the buildings around the city tie into its political, social and economical development. 

The first volume is edited by Ellen Rowley has been published by Four Courts Press in conjunction with Dublin City Council and covers a period from 1900 up to 1939.

Twenty-six case studies are covered in the book, and here are just a few of them.

Iveagh Trust Housing Estate   

paul tierney Iveagh Buildings in the Patrick Street area Paul Tierney Paul Tierney

The Iveagh Trust Housing Estate in the Patrick Street area of Dublin was built after a slum clearance, with construction getting underway in 1901.

The building takes its distinctive height from a need at the time to house the former residents whose homes were lost in the clearance.

On the façade of the buildings a number of more decorative features can be spotted: it’s doorways have an ornate design and its roof holds some distinctive copper domes.

The Guinness Storehouse

One of the best known buildings included in the book, Guinness first established themselves on the site in 1759 and saw major expansion during the 20th century.

It is described as not only being a “hugely significant urban industrial site”, but also noteworthy because of how it provided housing for the people working there at the time.

paul tierney Market Street Storehouse (The Guinness Storehouse) Paul Tierney Paul Tierney

The building of the storehouse is believed to be the first steel-framed multi-storey building in Britain or Ireland and was built with the intended purpose of fermentation.

paul tierney The inside of the Market Street Storehouse Paul Tierney Paul Tierney

R + H Grain Silo

Far from the prettiest structure, the imposing bulk of the R + H Hall Grain Silo is graciously described in the book as having a “considerable visual impact on its surroundings”.

If perhaps not the most aesthetically pleasing, this building has certainly played its part in ensuring Ireland’s food security.

Ireland has long imported its wheats and other grains, and this building helped to store them during economically difficult years of the 1930s.

Amazingly, the building is still in use in its original purpose today.

paul tierney R + H Hall Grain Silo Paul Tierney Paul Tierney

Drumcondra Library

Constructed during a push to build more libraries in the 1930s, Drumcondra Library has an Art Deco style with a “modest and finely detained” exterior.

When building the library its designer had a a focus on the distribution of windows on three sides of the buiding to ensure the interior of the building is well-lit by sunlight.

paul tierney Drumcondra Library Paul Tierney Paul Tierney

Read: Planning approval given for Dublin’s tallest office building

Also: We’ve spent €1.7 billion more building houses this year than 2014

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23 Comments
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    Mute Gerry Fitz
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:11 PM

    Drumcondra library is the exact same as Ringsend library… maybe they had standard plans for libraries.

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    Mute Glascott Symes
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:39 PM

    Same architect. I think he did some other libraries in Dublin.

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    Mute Cosmo Kramer
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    Jun 6th 2016, 7:26 PM

    It might be TJ Byrne.. I know he designed the Library’s in Ballyboden and Clondalkin. Plus a lot of houses and cottages that were built around the early 1900′s

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    Mute JP McGrath
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    Jun 7th 2016, 6:25 AM

    And Inchicore library

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:43 PM

    Liberty hall should be wiped off the face of the earth. Grim.

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    Mute Camroc
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    Jun 6th 2016, 7:47 PM

    Agree. Some would argue with its inhabitants still inside.

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    Mute AdijazzJohnson
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:32 PM

    The R and H Grain Silo is a beautiful building. Get rid of the industrial stuff at the front, give it a lick of paint and it looks like a grand old Manhattan hotel.

    This book is about seeing thing with fresh eyes, which you seem a bit reluctant to do.

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    Mute Póilín Ní Ghralaigh
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    Jun 7th 2016, 9:20 AM

    Where in Dublin is the R&H grain silo?

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    Mute Maurice Frazer
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    Jun 7th 2016, 9:24 AM

    On the north side docklands

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    Mute Al Ca
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:20 PM

    In the 60′s, I remember as kid in Drumcondra Library only being allowed to take books from the children’s section…it used to grind my gears…there was only so much ‘Cat in the Hat’ a kid can take before breaking.

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    Mute Mindfulirish
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:38 PM

    Not a lot changes in Dublin — they known buildings like Hawkins house(won a prize at the time) and replace the square glass clad building with another square glass clad building. In the week just gone the planners decided to allow high rise inside the canals, not too long ago they demolished Ballumum and Dolphin House blocks. They said the Flats were not suitable for families yet now smaller apartments are going to be the order of the day. Corruption is the only reason this is happening.

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    Mute Eamon Mac Gowan
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    Jun 6th 2016, 6:38 PM

    It’s not just Dublin, the countryside is blighted by ugle McMansions everywhere.

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    Mute Get Lost Eircodes
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    Jun 6th 2016, 7:16 PM

    Nowt pretty built down south since the brits left…

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    Mute Cez Miname
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    Jun 6th 2016, 9:45 PM

    In ireland Brit built is is better built for sure!

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    Mute Proinsias O Foghlù
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    Jun 6th 2016, 10:57 PM

    That is the one great thing the Brits did, they built some awesome buildings that stood the test of time. Courthouse Tralee, Kerry Protestant Hall, Denny Street. Some stunning stonework in railway buildings and schools.

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    Mute njh
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    Jun 6th 2016, 8:29 PM

    I don’t think it is too complicated. Buildings are now built to maximize returns for developers which was not a factor hundreds of years ago where buildings were made by the elite classes for grandeur and prestige where expense or Labour was not as much a factor. Time will tell but I think it is fair to say the modern architects have not and will not develop buildings that will be revered in 20 or 30 years in Dublin. It will be interesting to see whether Dublin is know for Dun Laoighaire library in 75 years. Doubtful

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    Mute Ger Sweeney
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    Jun 6th 2016, 8:18 PM

    Showing the whole “Dublin” thing does not represent Ireland so let those abroad experience what this country is all about and see what happens… There is huge beauty beyond the Red Cow

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    Mute Nucky
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    Jun 6th 2016, 8:44 PM

    Get over yourself ger. Stop the bitterness.

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    Mute Ger Sweeney
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    Jun 6th 2016, 8:47 PM

    Lol….. Bitterness? Seriously? Life’s too short for that shit…. One day you’ll know.

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    Mute Mark Boyle
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    Jun 6th 2016, 8:48 PM

    Why so you read articles about Dublin when they annoy you so much? Do you read them just so you can reply and tell us all about life outside Dublin,

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    Mute Kizzi Yeates
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    Jun 7th 2016, 2:42 PM

    The eye of the beholder?

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    Mute Paddy Lynn
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    Jun 7th 2016, 8:14 AM

    Kodak House in Rathmines is a fine Art Deco piece of architecture.

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    Mute Kizzi Yeates
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    Jun 7th 2016, 2:44 PM

    Howth yacht club is a blot.

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