![South_Lotts_Dublin_4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/South_Lotts_Dublin_4.jpg)
South Lotts is a small area to the south 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 ...
in inner-city
Dublin 4
Dublin 4, also rendered as D4 and D04, is a historic postal district of Dublin, Ireland including Baggot Street Upper, the southernmost fringes of the Dublin Docklands, and the suburbs of Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Irishtown, Merrion, Ringsend ...
, one km east of Dublin City Centre,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It was created following the embankment of the River Liffey in 1711 between the city and
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 ...
, thereby reclaiming the marshes as North and South Lotts. It is at the westernmost end of Ringsend, overlapping with the
Grand Canal Dock
Grand Canal Dock () is a Southside area near the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. It is located on the border of eastern Dublin 2 and the westernmost part of Ringsend in Dublin 4, surrounding the Grand Canal Docks, an enclosed harbour where the G ...
area, but is generally accepted to be within Ringsend.
The district originally referred to 51 reclaimed plots of land directly behind City Quay sold to the highest bidder in 1723. A detailed history of South Lotts is given in the 2008 book ''Dublin Docklands - An Urban Voyage'' by
Turtle Bunbury
James Bunbury (born 21 February 1972), known as Turtle Bunbury, is an Irish author, historian, and television presenter. He has published a number of books such as the ''Vanishing Ireland'' series, ''Easter Dawn -The 1916 Rising'', ''The Glori ...
, in the chapter "The Docklands - South Lotts & Poolbeg".
Boundaries and streets
South Lotts is bordered to the north by Ringsend Road, to the west by Barrow Street, to the east by South Lotts Road and to the south by Grand Canal Street.
Streets included in South Lotts are:
*Barrow Street
*Doris Street - Possibly named after
William Doris, an Irish
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
and
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
of the
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...
(1910–1918).
*Gerald Street - Possibly named for
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
’s uncle Dr Gerald Beckett (1884-1950),
County Wicklow
County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...
Medical Officer and sometime president of
Greystones
Greystones () is a coastal town and seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies on Ireland's east coast, south of Bray, County Wicklow, Bray and south of Dublin city centre and has a population of 18,140 (2016). The town is bordered ...
Golf Club. Gerald’s brother James built the cottages.
*Gordon Street - Named for
Charles George Gordon
Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Charles George Gordon Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer and ...
(1833 – 1885)
*Hastings Street - Named for
Francis Rawdon Hastings (1754-1826)
*Hope Street - Named for the spirit of hope that accompanied these new constructions
*Howard Street - Probably named for Howard Beckett, son of William, brother of Gerald and James, and uncle of
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
the playwright
*Joy Street
*Ormeau Street
*Penrose Street - Possibly named by Ringsend glassworkers after George and William Penrose who founded the Penrose Glass House in
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
in 1783. The company later became
Waterford Crystal
Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of lead glass or "crystal", especially in cut glass, named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the i ...
*Somerset Street - Probably named for
Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset
Edward Adolphus Seymour (later St. Maur), 12th Duke of Somerset, etc., (20 December 180428 November 1885), styled Lord Seymour until 1855, was a British Whig aristocrat and politician, who served in various cabinet positions in the mid-19th ce ...
(1804 – 1886), a staunch opponent of
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
’s Irish policies. His wife was a granddaughter of the playwright
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...
*South Dock Place
*South Dock Street
*South Lotts Road
Buildings
The South Lotts includes the area south of Gordon Street which has been developed by an Irish property developer (now in receivership) into an area called The Gasworks. It includes a flat complex as well as the home of
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
's European headquarters in the Gasworks House and Gordon House - along with the Google Docks (previously the Montevetro) building, Dublin's tallest commercial building - across Barrow Street in the
Grand Canal Dock
Grand Canal Dock () is a Southside area near the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. It is located on the border of eastern Dublin 2 and the westernmost part of Ringsend in Dublin 4, surrounding the Grand Canal Docks, an enclosed harbour where the G ...
area.
![The Gasworks apartment block Dublin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/The_Gasworks_apartment_block_Dublin.jpg)
The flat complex includes the Alliance building - originally a
gasometer
A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressu ...
, converted into a block of apartments.
The building was owned by
Liam Carroll's Zoe Developments originally, but the company went into receivership.
[ Forty of the apartments were sold but none of those who paid deposits went on to sign contracts and many left as they realised the apartments were overpriced.][ Zoe Developments applied for and received permission from ]Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...
to convert the building into a hotel, but it shortly turned out that a combination of too many hotel rooms and price-cutting meant there was no market for that either.[
South Lotts is known more as the area of single and double-storey terraced houses which were built between 1890 and 1910 to house the dockers working locally. The area was developed by James Beckett.] The two-storied dwellings are typically red-bricked, two up, two down terraced houses with a small back yard. They are fronted directly onto the footpath.
The two up two down houses were built in the Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
style with two rooms upstairs and two rooms downstairs. The houses have two upstairs windows and a single larger window downstairs overlooking the street. The lavatory was built within the back yard when built at first. The facades are red bricked with blonde bricks around the door and windows.
Some of the houses in the area were built without the blonde bricks, however, the decoration is with granite support plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
s above the windows and doors. Each house originally contained a large fireplace in the front room downstairs and a smaller cast iron fireplace in the upstairs front and back rooms. Between the houses are older reclaimed bricks. Those bricks are believed to have been reclaimed from brick houses knocked down elsewhere in Dublin.
The single storied houses are at the west end of South Lotts. Many have been converted to include a second storey, mostly not visible from the street.
A number of commercial businesses operate in the South Lotts area including Ringsend's post office (inside the Eurospar on Barrow Street), coffee shops, a sandwich bar and a beauty salon.
Media
The area has been used as a location in four major studio films:
*''In The Name Of The Father
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* Indepen ...
''
*''Educating Rita
''Educating Rita'' is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell. It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University tutor.
Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, ''Educating Rita'' premièred at The Wa ...
'' (Joy and Penrose Streets)
*'' The General''
*'' Nothing Personal''
Advertising agencies have also filmed and photographed in the area for various commercials such as Eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; th ...
and Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
. Marriage Equality Ireland's video "Sinead's Hand" (2009) featured a number of South Lotts scenes
link
.
References
{{Reflist
Places in Dublin (city)
Ringsend