The Great South Wall ( ga, Balla an Bhulla Theas) (also sometimes called the South Bull Wall), at the
Port of Dublin, extends from the tip of the
Poolbeg peninsula more than four kilometres out into
Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay ( ga, Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dub ...
. It was the world's longest
sea wall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
at the time of its construction and remains one of the longest in Europe. It faces the newer
Bull Wall, and has one of four port lighthouses at its end.
History
Background
Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay ( ga, Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dub ...
had a long-running problem with silting, notably at the mouth of the
River Liffey
The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...
, and held major
sand bank
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. I ...
s, notably the North Bull and South Bull (both ''hard sand dry at low water''), to either side of the Liffey mouth, along with the
Kish Bank
The Kish Bank ( Irish: ''Banc na Cise'') is a shallow sand bank approximately off the coast of Dublin, in Ireland. It is marked by the Kish Lighthouse, over 11 km out to sea. Between the North and South Bulls, a sand bar existed, rising over time, limiting access to the city quays.
Furthermore, the shape of the Liffey estuary was rather different from the present day, with the river channel not fully enclosed, much of
Pearse Street
Pearse Street () (formerly Great Brunswick Street) is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and c ...
(then ''Lazey Hill'') running along the shore, which then bent sharply south, running in a diagonal to
Irishtown, with
Ringsend
Ringsend () is a Southside (Dublin), southside inner suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Liffey and east of the River Dodder, about two kilometres east of the city centre. It is the sou ...
being a narrow sand
spit projecting north into the bay.
To Ringsend
Reclamation of the lands between the city and Ringsend progressed during the 17th and early 18th century, accelerated by the foundation of the Ballast Office in 1707, and by the granting of an estate there to
Sir John Rogerson
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
in 1713. Rogerson paid for a massive quay, all the way to a new mouth for the
River Dodder
The River Dodder ( ga, An Dothra) is one of the three main rivers in Dublin, Ireland, the others being the Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the Tolka.
Course and system
The Dodder rises on the northern slopes of Ki ...
, adjacent to Ringsend.
![Dublin AlongtheGreatSouthWall B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Dublin_AlongtheGreatSouthWall_B.jpg)
Commencement
Years of primitive dredging were succeeded by an attempt to maintain a clear main channel to Dublin more effectively when, in
1715
Events
For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...
, the Dublin City Assembly authorised the building of an embankment from Ringsend along the north aspect of the South Bull sandbank. The first piles of what was to become the South Bull Wall were driven that year, and major work commenced in 1717, with what was then known simply as ''The Piles'' completed in 1730 to 1731. Construction involved driving of oaken piles into the boulder clay of Dublin Bay, with these anchored by baskets of gravel, and woven wattles.
A stone wall linking ''The Piles'' to the quays, ''The Ballast Office Wall'', was completed in 1756, and the first ''Pigeon House'' at the shoreward end of the piles was built around 1760 as a residence for a caretaker. Over a period, a bank of sand and other debris, the ''White Bank'', developed adjacent to the wall about 800m seawards of the Pigeon House.
The driven-pile barrier was breached by storm action after reported rotting and tidal stress, and in
1761
Events
January–March
* January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, and restore the Mughal Empire to Shah Alam II.
* January 16 – Siege of Pondi ...
, a stone pier was commenced, working from the Poolbeg Lighthouse (commenced in 1761, operational 1767) back to shore. The construction, of massive granite blocks, brought from quarries at
Dalkey
Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...
, was completed in
1795. The final wall dimensions were 32 feet at the base, tapering to 28 feet at the top.
In the meantime, in 1791, the ''Pigeon House Harbour'' was planned, while in 1793, a gun battery, named the ''Half-Moon Battery'' for its shape, was built about 800m shorewards of the lighthouse. Also around 1793, a hotel, the ''Pigeon House Hotel'' was opened.
Following temporary military arrangements after the
1798 Rebellion
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...
, the Pigeon House Fort was created, maintained from 1814 to 1897. At its peak, it included gates with trenches crossed by drawbridges at the beginning of the wall, quarters for officers and men, a hospital, armoury, magazine and stores. In 1897, the complex was sold to
Dublin Corporation
Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...
for development to include the city’s first major electricity generating station and a sewage processing facility, as well as reuse of the hospital. This followed the installation, between 1878 and 1881, of a sewage pipe along the wall, discharging at the White Bank.
Structure and access
Much of the wall is now encompassed by port facilities or lies within the Poolbeg Generation Station complex. Public access now generally begins with the part of the wall just beyond the power station, which has parking adjacent. The area is no longer served by public transport since changes to Dublin Bus routes in mid-May 2012 saw the limited service to Poolbeg Power Station discontinued. The last bus operated on the morning of Saturday 12 May 2012.
![Great South Wall Ringsend](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Great_South_Wall_Ringsend.jpg)
At the seaward end of the wall stands the red-painted
Poolbeg Lighthouse
Poolbeg Lighthouse is an active aid to navigation at the mouth of the River Liffey, near Poolbeg in Dublin, Ireland. First established in 1767, it initially operated on candlepower but this was changed to oil in 1786. It was re-designed and re ...
, standing in its current form since 1820, having replaced an earlier light tower, which in turn replaced a 1782 light-ship. The Ordnance Survey, and later
Ordnance Survey Ireland
Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ga, Suirbhéireacht Ordanáis Éireann) is the national mapping agency of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It is the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and the ...
, used the low water mark of the spring tide on 8 April 1837 at the lighthouse as the standard height datum for Ireland until 195
External sources
*
Francis Elrington Ball, Ball, Francis Elrington: Dublin, Ireland: ''A History of the County Dublin'', Vol. 2 (Parishes of Donnybrook)
* Joyce, Weston St. John: Dublin, Ireland, 1920: "The Neighbourhood of Dublin", Chapter II, "The Poolbeg Lighthouse and the South Wall Extension, etc."
Notes and references
{{coord missing, County Dublin
Dublin Bay
Breakwaters
Buildings and structures in Dublin (city)