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THREE HUNDRED YEARS ago Dublin Bay and its port looked very different.
For one thing, the North Bull Wall and Great South Wall were not jutting out from Clontarf and Ringsend.
For centuries, Dublin Bay had been a relatively dangerous place for shipping. Silt on the sea floor meant dredging was a necessity to avoid ships running aground on their approach to port.
The idea behind building the two walls was seen as a way of concentrating the flow of the Liffey into a kind of bottleneck to break up the hazardous sand banks.
The Great South Wall was the first to be built. The decision to build it was taken in 1715 and the 300th anniversary that decision is now being celebrated.
It was about 80 years later that the four-mile wall was finally completed, it was the world’s longest seawall at the time.
As part of a number of events to mark the anniversary, the Dublin Port company are displaying three never-before-seen maps of the port.
The Collins Chart (above) is dated from 1693 and a number of notable changes are in evidence from the Dublin Bay we know today.
Perhaps most obviously, there’s no Bull Island.
The island only formed after the Bull Wall was built in the 19th century and the silt in Dublin Bay was broken up and became deposited on the northern side of the wall.
Other differences can be observed, with the spelling of both ‘Hoath’ and ‘Rings End’ different from the contemporary equivalents.
A second map (below) is obviously a much later creation with the South Wall clearly marked alongside public baths for men and women in Ringsend.
A number of shipwrecks also appear to marked along the entrance to the harbour.
The CEO of the Dublin Port company Eamonn O’Reilly says that the Great South Wall has become a landmark since it was first conceived.
“This iconic structure has sheltered, protected and played a defining role in shaping Dublin Bay and Dublin Port over the centuries, becoming a city landmark in its own right,” he says.
More information on the port’s 300th anniversay can be found on its website.
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Many thanks to Captain William Bligh of Bounty infamy for his survey of Dublin Bay that led to the construction of the North Wall. Ended up a Rear Admiral, I ask yeh!
Coincidentally it was around this timer of year that the mutiny on the Bounty occurred.
Just been reading about it…most interesting stuff. The lads all lived the life in Tahiti and surrounding islands for a time afterwards until caught.
I saw a documentary a few years ago that suggested that he wasn’t as bad as the film made out at all! It also suggested that the crew were no angels either. Not sure what the truth was.
The wall that jack and jackeen built
It would have been a good idea to give us the up to date map for comparison, instead you have to look for one and compare. The article is all about comparison, yet there is nothing there to compare with. Bad.
It’s been a while now since the Liffey stank like hell
That’s because Intel out in leixlip filter the Liffey because they use its’ water in their production process
If the green party existed back then you would be living in a flooded marsh.
Both links are showing the same map for me.
Clontarf island was near the mouth of the tolka river until it was destroyed by a massive storm in 1844 it had one holiday home on it which at the time an ansestor of oliver cromwell who owned a tavern on dame street claimed owership of the island ( wasnt his at all) he used the island as his personnal holiday get away and would row out to it when the mood suited ,unfortunalty for him he was on the island when the storm hit in 1844 and drowned along with his son ,
The island can be seen on ancient maps at the mouth of liffey
Its reckoned that at the time of the battle of Clontarf that the tide there would have been similar to Sandymount now. Those Viking ships could’ve been parked a long way from the battle.
I hope it don’t smell like the Liffey.
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