History - Harbour
The Construction of Dún Laoghaire Harbour
In recognition of the immense contribution of those who built Dún Laoghaire Harbour between 1817 and 1842, the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company is proud to dedicate the new public space created around the restored Victorian Fountain to the memory of these largely forgotten workers.
Over a period of approximately twenty five years, up to one thousand workers each year laboured in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions to build the magnificent Harbour we enjoy today. This booklet from the accompanying exhibition tells some of their stories.
Paddy McMahon,Chairman,
Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company
I am very pleased that the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has taken this initiative to recognise the workers who built the Harbour nearly two hundred years ago. At a time when Dublin Bay was treacherous,the men who built the Harbour took risks with their lives so that others at sea might be safe.
The workers built a Harbour that has played a part in history. Through its mouth have departed transport ships to Australia, Irish soldiers to the Crimean and First World Wars, British monarchs and Irish emigrants.
Councillor Donal Marren,Cathaoirleach,
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
EAST PIER background
When the Irish Parliament voted £21,000, in 1755, to the construction of a harbour at Dúnleary (as it was then known), the village was no more than "the inconsiderable and dirty abode of a few fishermen, in the bottom of the valley", Read the whole article here
EAST PIER BATTERY
THE EAST PIER LIGHTHOUSE
In 1944 a diaphone fog signal was installed (figs 32 & 33), consisting of a piston driven by compressed air. In July 1968 the East Pier station switched from vapourised paraffin to electricity, and became unmanned. The new candle-power was 226,000, Read the whole article here
HOBBLING DISASTER
Although hobbling is described in the Oxford Dictionary as "unlicensed pilotage" the hobblers of the East Coast were only involved in tying up the ships at their moorings in Dublin and other Ports. However, on occasions they did pilot some ships into harbour. Many of the hobblers got the approximate time of arrival of the ships from Lloyds Gazette, while others went out in the bay in the hope of sighting a ship.
Hobbling is an old occupation and in all probability goes back to the early decades of the 19th Century when Hutchinson was made Harbour Master of the New Royal Harbour of Kingstown. By the 1940's it had died out as an occupation. This short article was written to the memory of those brave hobblers who lost their lives at sea. May they rest in peace.
V. Quilter C.C.
Download Historical Documents
You can download historical documents to print off or save and read offline. These documents are in either MS Word, or PDF file formats and are provided here for your information.
More Resources from the Archives
Visual Ferry Gallery
There is a visual ferry gallery showing the many of the ferries that have been deployed upon the Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead crossing. The photographs are provided courtesy of Justin Merrigan, who has provided the web site with a personal insight to "My Dún Laoghaire Harbour" which you can read here.
RMS Leinster
The biggest sea tragedy in Irish history was commemorated in January 1996 when the then Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Eamon Gilmore TD, unveiled a special memorial in Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The memorial was to the 501 people who lost their lives in 1918, when the RMS Leinster was torpedoed just outside Dún Laoghaire Harbour.
On October 10, 1918 the Mailboat, "The RMS Leinster" sailed out of Dún Laoghaire with 685 people on board. 22 were post office workers sorting the mail; 70 were crew and the vast majority of the passengers were soldiers returning to the battlefields of World War I.
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