The Great Wall of Dublin
Poolbeg Lighthouse, Dublin Port
For all the times I’ve been in Dublin, I’ve never felt quite at home as I did when we went to Dublin Port. There’s just nothing quite like it. The ships docked along the harbour wall, the tugs puttering along the estuary, the trucks lining up to load and unload, the cranes shifting containers back and forth… Her Ladyship was as happy as I was, watching all the goings on. I sometimes wonder if she has a drop or two of seagull blood in her veins.
Once His Lordship finally managed to drag the pair of us away from the port, we set out to drive to Shelly Banks, with a view to walking out to Poolbeg Lighthouse.
It took a bit of figuring out to find the road to the car park, but after dodging our way through the truck traffic we got there in the end. With the various port facilities, the power station and the incinerator, it is business first and tourist traffic, naturally enough, comes second. It is a pity, however, that there are few facilities for the visitors that do come here. Her Ladyship was moaning about the lack of public toilets of course, but I was most cheesed off about the lack of waste bins. Ah, don’t get me started on that old chestnut again!
Himself was highly amused when he saw this sign by the harbour wall. Her Ladyship less so. This danger is all too real for her. Apparently, when she was a kid her parents had that terrible Irish habit of driving out onto narrow piers to enjoy the views. The attitude of the time being very much ‘Why walk when you can drive?’. The fun started when they wanted to drive back again. This entailed having to do a 3, 5 or even 7 point turn, the bonnet or boot of the car hanging over the edge of the wall at every point of the manoeuver and a gang of terrified kids freaking out on the back seat.
I can just imagine Herself reminiscing her siblings: ‘Do you remember the time Ma nearly drove us into Courtown Harbour?’ … ‘Yeah, but that was nothing compared to the Great 9 Point Turn of ’73.’ Ah, the joys of an Irish childhood!
The Oldies decided to stretch their legs on the Great South Wall. At almost 2 km long, that is quite a stretch.
One thing the Dublin Port Authority does provide is some highly interesting information boards. I read that the entire Great South Wall was completed back in 1795 and was built of granite from nearby quarries in Dalkey and Dun Laoghaire. Oh yes, I remember spotting a quarry when we were up on Killiney Hill. Incredibly, the stones, some weighing up to one tonne each, were moved and positioned without the use of heavy lifting equipment. They must have had some manpower back then! Apparently the whole wall, which was once the longest seawall in the world, was constructed using an ingenious method of interlocking the stones without the use of bonding material. Right. So we just walked along one of the world’s largest jigsaw puzzles!
I stopped half-way along the walk to contemplate going for a dip at the Half Moon Swimming & Water Polo Club. Her Ladyship wasn’t having any of it though. Her fear of deep water really does run deep.
Poolbeg Lighthouse, with all its weird appendages, reminds me a little of the artwork of Anish Kapoor. See what I mean? For all its similarities with modern art, however, it is actually quite ancient. It was finished in 1768 and was the first lighthouse to use candles as a light source. Just imagine the poor guy who had the job of lighting all the candles in the old days! When we finally reached the end of the pier, I spotted a Dublin Port Authority employee inside the lighthouse. I wonder was he changing the bulb? Whatever he was at, it surely beats lighting a load of candles any day.
It is amazing how close Howth Head looks from here. It looks like you could just stretch out a wingtip and touch it. Apart from the wonderful views across the bay from Howth to Dun Laoghaire and beyond, there is an incredible diversity of wildlife that can be spotted here in the port and bay area. Once again, those boards were a mine of information. The local bird life includes not only gulls, Brent geese, turnstones and other waders, but also Arctic and common terns. Harbour porpoise, grey and common seals, Minke whale and common dolphins are, well, common. Further out to sea you can occasionally spot Risso’s dolphins, fin whales and killer whales. And, on a clear day, even Wales.
Fascinating! Maybe it’s time I took this reading lark a little more seriously.
