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Dún Laoghaire
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Dún Laoghaire (in Irish ; sometimes spelled Dún Laoire; Anglicised as Dunleary, ) is a suburban seaside town and county seat of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland.
The town is situated some 12 kilometres south of Dublin city centre, and is a major port of entry from Britain.
town's name derives from Laoghaire, a 5th century High King of Ireland, who chose the site as a sea base from which to carry out raids on Britain and France.
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Encyclopedia
Dún Laoghaire (in Irish ; sometimes spelled Dún Laoire; Anglicised as Dunleary, ) is a suburban seaside town and county seat of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland.
The town is situated some 12 kilometres south of Dublin city centre, and is a major port of entry from Britain.
Etymology
The town's name derives from Laoghaire, a 5th century High King of Ireland, who chose the site as a sea base from which to carry out raids on Britain and France. Dún is a Celtic word meaning fort, and traces of a fortification of that period have been found on the coast. King Laoghaire is famous for having allowed Saint Patrick to travel the country and preach Christianity.
The town had been officially renamed Kingstown in 1821 in honour of a visit by King George IV, but reverted to its ancient Irish name by resolution of the town council in 1921, one year before Irish independence. The original Irish spelling is now almost always used in preference to its anglicised forms.
History
The present town of Dún Laoghaire dates from the 1820's. An earlier town of Dunleary was located around the area where "The Purty Kitchen" pub is now located. Dunleary had a coffee house, and a small cove, both of which is shown on a number of old maps. It may have had a salt mine, and the name Salthill is close by. At that time, the area on which the town is currently located was a craggy, rocky pasture area with some quarries.
The events of the night of Nov 18/19 1807 were to lead eventually to the transformation of the area. On that night, two ships, the "Prince of Wales", and the "Rochdale", both of which had departed from Dublin, were driven on the rocks between Blackrock and Dunleary with the combined loss of over 400 lives. This disaster gave new impetus to an existing campaign for a new harbour to be constructed near Dublin. By 1816, the legislation was passed authorising the construction of what is now called the "West Pier". When King George IV came to visit the new port under construction, the name Dunleary was dropped, in favour of the name "Kingstown".
Some maps show the commencement of a small town centre along what is now Cumberland St, close to the junction with York Road, but from the 1820s the harbour brought new business to the area, and a new town centre began to form along Georges St. That street may originally have been laid out as a military road connecting the Dún Laoghaire Martello Towers, both of which have long disappeared. (One at the "Peoples Park", the other near near the end of the West Pier).
Ireland's first railway from Dublin to Kingstown opened for business in 1834, and terminated near the West Pier. It established Kingstown as a preferred suburb of Dublin, and led to the construction of elegant terraces. By 1844 the new-fangled "Atmospheric Train" (designed by Robert Mallet) connected Kingstown to Dalkey, leading to further development. The Atmospheric Train ceased in 1854, but was replaced by the extension of the railway, which was subsequently extended to the ferryport of Rosslare.
The main road to Dublin, through Monkstown Village and Blackrock was the sole road connection to the city of Dublin until 1932. In that year, the Eucharistic Congress, held in Dublin brought thousands of visitors to Dublin, and plans indicated that most of them would come through Dún Laoghaire. The road was considered inadequate, and a new coast road was created by connecting some short segments of road and closing some gardens. This road is now Seapoint Avenue. An agreement with the local residents to restore the area to pre-congress condition was never fulfilled.
There is an anchor, recovered from the wreck of the mailboat which was torpedoed over the Kish Bank in 1918, with the loss of over 500 lives, located adjacent to the Carlile Pier, overlooked by the National Maritime Museum of Ireland.
Dún Laoghaire was once part of the borough of Dún Laoghaire, and remains the only town in Ireland to have its own Vocational Education Committee. It is considered part of the Greater Dublin Area.
Dún Laoghaire was hit by a stray German bomb during World War II, the bomb landing near the People's Park at Rosmeen Gardens. Damage from the bomb was limited to buildings.
Features
The harbour, one of the largest in the country, and base for a major car ferry route to the United Kingdom, is notable for its two granite piers. The East Pier is particularly popular with walkers, and was featured in the 1996 movie Michael Collins, where Liam Neeson (as Collins) and two of his co-stars are seen walking along a seaside promenade, which is actually the Dún Laoghaire East Pier. A band is seen playing on a bandstand in this movie scene, and this is the actual bandstand on the East Pier. In July 2007, the bandstand, which stood for decades, was removed, and a restoration project was begun by the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company in order to return it to its original condition.
It took 42 years to construct the harbour, from 1817 to 1859. The obelisk near the old ferryport terminal at the harbour commemorates the construction of this harbour.
A lighthouse is located at the end of the East Pier, while the new headquarters of the Commissioners of Irish Lights (the General Lighthouse Authority for Ireland) is located on Harbour Road.
South of the harbour is Scotsman's Bay, where there was a Victorian seaside amusement area, with walks, shelters and baths. The walks and shelters are largely intact but the Dún Laoghaire Baths have been derelict for many years. Plans for restoration of this area are much debated, and some of the more ambitious ideas have been highly controversial.
The National Maritime Museum of Ireland is housed in "Mariners' Church", which formerly served the British Navy, and is situated in the town centre, alongside a spiral walk, pond and public bowling ground. Mariners' Church is currently undergoing major refurbishment. A new central library will be built alongside it.
A Carnegie public library, with a modern extension, is located on Library Road, and hosts the county library headquarters.
A traditional Victorian-style park, the People's Park, is located at the remote end of George's Street, and including still-functioning tea rooms.
At least one traditional "cabman's shelter" survives - these were small buildings built for the drivers of horse-drawn taxis.
Community facilities include the Boylan Community Centre, the Dún Laoghaire Scout Den, and a community information service in the tower building of St. Michael's Church.
There is a Martello tower in nearby Sandycove, known as the James Joyce Tower and containing a small museum.
Transport
Public transport
Dún Laoghaire is connected to central Dublin by the DART suburban railway, and is also a stop on the mainline rail service from Dublin to Wexford and Rosslare. The town is also served by a frequent bus service. Beside the railway station is the terminus of the 46a, the most frequent and heavily used bus route in Dublin. Sandycove and Glasthule and Salthill and Monkstown also serve the area.
Rail history
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway, constructed in 1834, was the first ever railway in Ireland.
Ferry
The town has a ferry connection to Holyhead in Anglesey, Wales, one of Ireland's main sea links to the UK.
Pedestrianisation
A number of years ago, Lower George's Street underwent pedestrianisation, placing a ban on all general traffic with the exception of bus routes toward central Dublin. Routes coming along this road into Dún Laogahire were re-routed along the sea front. This restriction was reversed in late 2008. The Dun Laoghaire Business Association were the main drive (!) behind this convincing people that the pedestrianisation was contributing to the downturn in business. Many of the local people were strongly opposed to the reopening of this road but their voices went unheard and the business association got their way. This is the only stretch in Europe to revert in this manner.
Sports
Boating
Dún Laoghaire harbour is home to six yacht clubs. From north (West Pier) to south (East Pier) they are the Dún Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, the Sailing In Dublin Club, the Royal Irish Yacht Club, the Royal St. George Yacht Club, the Royal Alfred Yacht Club, and the National Yacht Club. The Irish National Sailing School & Club, Ireland's largest sail training provider for adults and children alike is based at the foot of the West Pier also.
The area to the north of the West Pier at Salthill Beach is home to another base ofThe Irish National Sailing School & Club and also sees much windsurfing activity over the twelve months of the year.
, one of the longest-established members of the East Coast Rowing Council, has it's roots in Dún Laoghaire harbour since the hobblers of the 18th and 19th centuries. The club itself has existed since the early 1920's and still resides in the Coal Harbour boat yard today. Members can regularly be seen rowing their traditional, clinker built skiffs around the harbour and Scotsman's Bay throughout the year.
Marina
The 500-berth marina is the largest in the country, and opened in 2001 following resistance for over 15 years by a group led by the late John de Courcy Ireland, a maritime historian. A 240-berth extension, involving an investment of €3 million, was approved in June 2006 by An Bord Pleanála; the project was completed in April 2007.
Golf
The town had a golf club from 1909 to 2007, but its members agreed to sell the course to housing developers and move to Ballyman Road, near Enniskerry in Co. Wicklow. The move occurred on 1 August 2007, to a purpose-built site, with spectacular views over the Wicklow countryside including the Sugarloaf mountain. The new course is one of the finest in the Dublin area, with some people dubbing the course "The D Club", in reference to Kildare's spectacular K Club.
Education
The Dún Laoghaire area is home to four third level education establishments; in the town centre, which will shortly move to Blackrock; Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, on Cumberland Street and .
Dún Laoghaire has seen several of its secondary schools close in the past two decades, due to population shifts to outlying areas. Three schools which closed are, Christian Brothers Eblana Avenue, founded in 1856 and closed in 1992, the Dominican Convent girls' school, which closed a year earlier in 1991 and Presentation College Glasthule founded in 1902, closed in 2007.
Shopping and business
Dún Laoghaire has one main shopping street, George's Street, as well as two shopping centres: the Dún Laoghaire Shopping Centre and Bloomfields, the former dating from 1977. Recent years have seen some commercial development of the land around the George's Street area, including, notably, the old Pavilion Cinema and Theatre site opposite the town hall.
The town has a wide range of eating places and public houses, as well as more than one hundred other retail businesses.
The town is home to the head office of Ireland's largest supermarket operator, Tesco Ireland, whose stores anchor both major shopping centres in the town. It also holds other company headquarters, such as those of Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Lionbridge Ireland.
There is an active Business Association, and a local Chamber of Commerce.
Tourism
Much of the town's early growth came from visitors from Dublin, and today there is one large hotel, heavily refurbished in 2007, the Royal Marine, along with several small hotels, and a number of bed-and-breakfasts.
Bars & Night Life
Dún Laoghaire boasts 11 bars and 4 night clubs, mostly centred along the main street Georges Street Upper. They include “traditional Irish bars” like Walters, Scotts, Wiers & Dunphys and more modern Café Bars like Lime Café Bar, which boasts free wi-fi and opens late Wednesday to Saturday.
Health
Dún Laoghaire is home to St. Michael's Hospital as well as a number of private clinics, therapists and general practitioners.
Culture
Dún Laoghaire has associations with many leading cultural figures, most notably James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. Joyce's stay with Oliver St. John Gogarty in a Martello Tower in nearby Sandycove he later immortalised in the opening chapter of Ulysses. Samuel Beckett came from nearby Foxrock and is said to have experienced an artistic epiphany, alluded to in his play Krapp's Last Tape, while sitting on the end of one of Dún Laoghaire's piers. A bronze plaque marks the spot.
Dún Laoghaire is home to the Festival Of World Cultures, a three day festival dedicated to music from all corners of the globe. It is one of the largest music festivals in Ireland attracting over a quarter of a million visitors to the town over a weekend in August.
A new purpose built theatre, the Pavilion, opened its doors in 2000. Built on the site of the 1903 'Kingstown Pavilion', it serves as the Municipal Theatre for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, and is a host venue for a number of important festivals including the International Puppet Festival, and, recently, the Dublin Theatre Festival.
People
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