At sea level, the majestic granite construction of Dun Laoghaire Harbour blends so well with the many of the older buildings on the town's waterfront and its coastal surroundings that, after 200 years and more of its existence, many folk tend to think of this completely artificial haven as a natural part of Dublin Bay. And certainly, it is only with aerial photos that we get some idea of how much work was involved in re-purposing extraordinary quantities of stone quarried from the nearby hillside in Dalkey in order to create this massive yet totally artificial facility.
It is only with aerial photos that we get some idea of how much work was involved in the construction of Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay
Today, with everyone accustomed to costs inevitably spiralling out of control on major public projects, it's impossible to calculate how much it might cost to build it again, even with the best of 21st-century technology and equipment. Yet in the early 19th Century, using equipment that was sometimes very unusual and often extremely primitive, they went ahead and did it, and in a manageable time span, too.
Too often today, we take Dun Laoghaire Harbour for granted. Rob Goodbody has become an acknowledged expert on just what a remarkable project it was and is, and his talk (open to all) to the Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association at Poolbeg Y&BC at 8.0pm on Thursday, February 15th will be a timely reminder of what a wonder of human ingenuity we find and enjoy on the shores of Dublin Bay.
