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Harbour Quotes
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward
Newsletter 2003, July Edition
Index
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DEDICATION TO THE MEMORY OF THE WORKERS WHO BUILT DÚN LAOGHAIRE HARBOURThe Harbour Company has dedicated the new public space around the restored Victorian Fountain to the memory of the thousands of workers who built the Harbour between 1817 and 1842. At a ceremony on May 13th the Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Cllr. Donal Marren unveiled a commemorative plaque featuring a poem dedicated to the workers called "Asylum Harbour". The poem was written by local poet, Gerard Fanning, and commissioned by the Harbour Company. The Harbour Company has also launched an exhibition about the construction of the Harbour and published an accompanying commemorative booklet called "The Construction of Dún Laoghaire Harbour". The exhibition is now on display in the Ferry Terminal building. The accompanying booklet is available free of charge on request. The creation of Dún Laoghaire Harbour was one of the largest construction projects in Ireland in the nineteenth century. The massive volume of stone transported to build the Harbour can best be appreciated by adding together the length of the two piers (1.75 miles), and then considering their foundation width (300 feet) and depth (24 feet below low tide mark). Although estimated that it would cost just over IR£800,000 to build in 1817, the work was largely completed in 1849, under budget, at just over IR£690,000. Speaking at the ceremony the Chairman of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, Mr. Paddy McMahon said: "The purpose of our gathering is to recognise and honour the immense contribution of those who built the Harbour between 1817 and 1842. They laboured in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions to build the magnificent Harbour we enjoy today. At a time when work in Ireland was scarce, men came with their families, from all over, but especially from the City of Dublin and North Wicklow to do the difficult and dangerous work of quarrying and moving the stone that formed the Harbour". "One only has to stand in the hollowed out, empty vastness of Dalkey Quarry, or on the bulk at the centre of one of the piers, to visualise the complexity and risk involved in that task nearly two hundred years ago. By 1826, enough stone was being blasted out of Dalkey Quarry to have two hundred and fifty tons of granite a day careering on wagons down the mechanically ingenious funicular railway to the Harbour". "Inevitably, this was done at a high price in terms of human life, illness, injury and poverty. It is the memory of the workers hardship, which we are remembering today". In his speech before unveiling the plaque, Cllr. Donal Marren said: "At a time when Dublin Bay was treacherous, the men who built the Harbour took risks with their lives so that others on the seas might be safer. We owe them a great debt of gratitude". "The workers built a Harbour that has been central to the lives of millions of so-called ordinary Irish people. These were the people who emigrated through here to find work in Britain or America, and whose last memories and sight of Ireland were the lighthouses at the end of the piers. As well as the passengers who travelled in both directions, the Harbour was the major gateway for the postal services, which carried good and bad news between the wider world and Ireland in both directions". "The success of the Harbour drove the subsequent growth and prosperity of Dún Laoghaire, developed the town as an elegant Victorian resort and made it the uniquely popular tourist, commercial, residential and recreational place it is today. The workers went through great hardship, but they left us an enduring legacy. We are forever in their debt". |
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GREAT SUCCESS FOR ORGANIC FARMERS MARKETSince beginning in the middle of April, a gourmet farmers market is now held every Thursday at the Harbour Plaza beside the Ferry Terminal. The Market is open from 10am to 4pm and features a wide range of stalls selling fresh organic fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, breads, cakes and cheese. Also on offer are a range of exotic products such as home made jams, fudge, Mexican specialities, pancakes and smoked fish. Herbs, plants and flowers can also be bought at the market and there is ample car parking space in the vicinity. Come and visit it next Thursday! |
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ASYLUM HARBOUR |
World and European Championship Events coming to Dún LaoghaireThe 14th International Flying Fifteen World Championships will be hosted by the National Yacht Club in the Harbour from the 3rd to the 9th of August. Between sixty and eighty of the fast, agile twenty foot keelboats will participate with entries expected from New Zealand, Australia, the USA and an especially strong challenge from the UK. A pre-Championship regatta will also be held from the 20th to the 31st July. Ireland will be well represented in the Championships and fourteen boats from seven clubs have qualified. Six of these boats are based in Dún Laoghaire - five from the National YC and one from the Royal St. George YC. The crews are: Niall Coleman & Chris Doorly (NYC), Ian Mathews & Ben Mulligan (NYC), John Lavery & David O'Brien (NYC), Justin Burke & Alan Green (NYC), Gerry Donleavy & Conor Crummy (NYC), and Sean Craig & Stephen Boyle (Royal St.GYC). The Championship will be the biggest keelboat event in Ireland this year. Earlier in the Summer, from June 15th to 20th, the Royal Irish YC will host the Alfa Romeo Sigma 33 European Championships. Between thirty and forty boats will take part and the event looks like being the best attended Championship since Cork in 2000. A particularly strong challenge from England and Scotland, including the defending champion for the last two years - Alan Milton of "Pepsi"- will test the local crews to their limits.Sixth D2D starts on July 1st. One of the great events in the Irish offshore racing calendar takes place next month when the biennial Dún Laoghaire to Dingle race gets under way on Tuesday 1st July. Organised by the National Yacht Club, the format - race, Dingle, cruise home - is popular but also extremely demanding. The 2001 race featured high winds and awesome seas that defined the event for even the most proficient of offshore skippers and crews. Once again, the 2003 event is generously sponsored by Ged Pierse and Pierse Contracting. |
CARLISLE PIER REDEVELOPMENTIn July the Harbour Company will be advertising in Ireland and abroad to seek expressions of interest from parties wishing to be considered for the re-development of the Carlisle Pier in the Harbour. The Pier, which came into use in 1859, provided the most modern facilities of the day for mail packet steamers arriving from England. A railway track on the Pier allowed passengers to transfer in a matter of steps from the ships to trains that linked into the entire Irish rail network. The rail link ceased to operate in 1980 and the pier has been little used and deteriorating in recent years. The Harbour Company has worked closely with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to define a future role for the Pier and at the end of 2002 the Council adopted a variation of the Development Plan which, recognising the unique importance of the Pier's location, set out its objective for the re-development of the site to result in "an exceptional landmark building of international architectural quality that regenerates and enlivens the waterfront". The Council has also said that the landmark must incorporate
uses that will bring significant cultural, social, recreational
and economic benefits to the nation and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
Specifically, it must include a major public cultural attraction
of national importance, significant public accessibility with
walkways, viewing areas and public spaces throughout. |
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HARBOUR SUMMER SUNDAYS 2003JUNESun 8 Rathfarnham Concert Band |
NEW KIT BOOSTS CARRIGLEA BOYS!!The Harbour Company is proud to sponsor the young footballers of the Carriglea Boys Under 9 team. A storming finish of four wins in their last six games of the season saw the Mounttown based side finish third in the league. The highlight of the 2002-2003 season was an away win at Drogheda Boys, something a Carriglea team has never done before. |
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470 OLYMPIC CAMPAIGNThe Harbour Company is proud to sponsor the Irish 470 sailing team of Gerbil Owens and Ross Killian as they strive to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece. The target for the sailing season is to finish in the top 25 at the World Championships in Spain in September, which will ensure Olympic qualification. In March and April the team competed in the Mediterranean regattas at Cannes and Barcelona. At the French Spring Cup in Cannes, Gerbil and Ross finished in a creditable 13th place and at the Barcelona Olympic Week event they finished 17th out of a fleet entry of 63. At the prestigious Spa Regatta in the Netherlands over the last weekend in May, the Irish 470 crew finished in 25th place out of a fleet of 71 boats. They move on from Spa to compete in the Kiel regatta in Germany this month, and then the European Championships in Brest, France in July. Gerbil and Killian are currently ranked 27th on the world-ranking list, continuing their upward climb. |
2003 Special Olympics World Games in the HarbourThe Harbour will welcome the sailing competitors in the 2003 Special Olympics when they come to the Royal St. George Yacht Club from 21st to 29th June. Viewing stands will be erected on the marina breakwater and the club will have a commentator available to ensure the event, which will take place within the Harbour, is a real spectacle. The prize giving ceremony will take place on Friday 27th June at the Harbour Plaza. Our picture shows world famous Irish yachtsman Harold Cudmore with Special Olympics athletes Brian O'Looney, Vicki Doherty and Emma Byrne. The sailing event is sponsored by Dún Laoghaire based company Berlitz GlobalNET, which is also the official supplier of language services to the games |
East Pier Steps ReopenedAs a result of a number of accident reports on the East Pier from Harbour users, most of the steps between the top and lower levels have had to be closed for safety reasons. However, a temporary handrail has now been installed on the steps at the end of the East Pier, which have been reopened. Access from one level of the Pier to the other is also available at berth number one, the bandstand and the slope halfway along the Pier. |
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CONTACT CORNERDún Laoghaire Harbour Co. Royal Irish Yacht Club
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Contact |
Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, |
