Ballsbridge
Ballsbridge
Droichead na Dothra | |
|---|---|
Suburb | |
 Herbert Parkis a prominent local amenity | |
  Ballsbridge Location in Dublin | |
| Coordinates:53°19′44″N6°13′52″W/ 53.329°N 6.231°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| Local authority | Dublin City Council |
| EU Parliament Constituency | Dublin |
| Postal district(s) | |
| Dialing code | 01, +353 1 |
Ballsbridge(Irish:Droichead na Dothra,meaning 'Dodderbridge') (from historicBall's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city ofDublin,the capital of Ireland. The area is largely situated north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across theRiver Dodder,on the south side of the city. The sign on the bridge still proclaims it as "Ball's Bridge", in recognition of the fact that the original bridge on that location was built and owned by the Ball family, a well-known Dublin merchant family in the 1500s and the 1600s.[1]The current bridge was built in 1791.
Ballsbridge was once part of thePembroke Township.
History
[edit]18th-century maps show that the area of Dublin that is now Ballsbridge was originally mud flats and marsh, with many roads converging on a small village located around the bridge, and known already as Ballsbridge. Situated on the Dodder, this village had a ready source of power for small industries, including by the 1720s, a linen and cotton printers, and, by the 1750s, a paper mill and a gunpowder factory.[2]
The land around Ballsbridge was rural and mostly belonged to theEarl of Pembroke.After theRoyal Dublin Society(RDS) moved into its present site near Ballsbridge in 1879, the Earl of Pembroke began to develop these lands into suburban residential housing. The RDS held their first show on their new premises in the early 1880s.[2]In 1903, the land formerly known as the 'Forty Acres' was given to the city by the Earl of Pembroke to establishHerbert Park.(The Earl of Pembroke's surname was Herbert.)[3]
Until 1965, there was a well-known botanical garden on Landsdowne Road near Ballsbridge. The garden belonged toTrinity College,which had leased land from the Earl of Pembroke. In 1960, the original lease from the Pembroke Estate expired and was not renewed. After reducing their size considerably, Trinity decided, in 1965, to close the botanical gardens at that location and to open a new garden atDartry.Two hotels now stand on the site.[2]
In 1916, the Mount Street bridge, which spans the Grand Canal at the foot ofNorthumberland Road,was the site of an important battle during theEaster Rising.[2][4]The O'Rahilly,one of the leaders of the Rising, lived at 40 Herbert Park. Another resistance leader,Eoin MacNeill,who refused to participate in the Rising, lived down the road at 19 Herbert Park.[5]
Popular culture
[edit]The date of 16 June 1904, now commemorated asBloomsday,was chosen by the writerJames Joycefor the setting of his novelUlyssesbecause it was the date on which he lost his virginity to his girlfriendNora Barnacle- Joyce was renting a room at the time in a house at 60 Shelbourne Road.
In the 1940s and 50s, the writerBrendan Behanlived in Ballsbridge, as did the poetPatrick Kavanagh,who lived at 62 Pembroke Road. Busts of Behan and Kavanagh are on display at two pubs along Pembroke Road, Searson's and the Wellington. Kavanagh wrote his famous poemOn Raglan Roadabout a girl he met on that street in 1944.[6]
Buildings, structures and parks
[edit]The bridge itself forms the heart of the Ballsbridge suburb which extends northwards towards the Grand Canal along Northumberland Road up to Haddington Road and Shelbourne Road, southwards along theMerrion Roadtowards Merrion and alongAnglesea RoadtowardsDonnybrook,and westwards to encompass the area around Pembroke Road,Clyde Road,Elgin Road andHerbert Park.The bridge was extensively modernised and widened by 24 feet in 1900 byWilliam Kaye-Parry.[7]
Herbert Park,a public park, is thirty-two acres in size and is divided by a road, also called Herbert Park, and forms part of Ballsbridge's nebulous border withDonnybrook.
TheRoyal Dublin Society(RDS) has its grounds here, and theLansdowne Roadheadquarters of theIrish Rugby Football Union(IRFU) is on the boundary between Ballsbridge andIrishtown.The corporate headquarters ofAllied Irish Banks(AIB) are also located in Ballsbridge. The formerPembroke Town Hallis located to the immediate northwest of the RDS.[8]
Ailesbury Road, along with adjacentShrewsbury Road,contains the most expensive properties inDublin,and the roads are featured in the Irish edition of the board gameMonopoly.Shrewsbury Road was the sixth most expensive street in the world in 2007.[10]
Many of Dublin's embassies and diplomatic residences are located in the southern part of Ballsbridge on and aroundAilesbury Road.TheBritish,American, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Israeli embassies are all located in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin.[11]
The U.S. embassy, an iconic cylindrical building, is a major landmark in present-day Ballsbridge. It was designed in 1955 byJohn M. Johansen,Professor of Architecture atYale University.The project was 9 years in incubation and the building was inaugurated in 1964.[2]
Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar,the place of assembly andworshipfor the IrishSikhcommunity, is located on Serpentine Avenue. It is located on the site of the old Oscar Cinema which the community purchased in 1987.[12]
Transport
[edit]TheDARTtrain passes nearby, stopping atLansdowne Road(which is also frequently served bycommuterservices) andSandymount stations.
Ballsbridge used to be served by theDublin tramways6, 7 and 8, and also served as the terminus for tram line 5 back when Ballsbridge was still known asPembroke.The tram lines were closed throughout the 1930s and 1940s and the 6, 7 and 8 were the last to close, with all three ending on 9 July 1949.
Ballsbridge is serviced by the following bus routes:
- 4BallymuntoMonkstown
- 7CherrywoodtoDublin
- 7aLoughlinstownto Dublin
- 18PalmerstowntoSandymount
- 27XClare HalltoBelfield
A number of services have been withdrawn due toDublin Bus'Network Directroute restructuring programme.[13]
See also
[edit]- Aviva Stadium
- Marian College
- Sandymount
- St Bartholomew's Church, Dublin
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
[edit]- ^At least three generations of the Ball family were elected mayors and sheriffs of Dublin, includingWalter Ball.See Eneclann Irish Genealogy and History Research Services,"History of Ballsbridge"Archived2017-02-02 at theWayback Machine,published by Sherry Fitzgerald realtors, accessed 23 January 2017.
- ^abcdeEneclann Irish Genealogy and History Research Services,"History of Ballsbridge"Archived2017-02-02 at theWayback Machine,published by Sherry Fitzgerald realtors, accessed 23 January 2017.
- ^Clerkin, Paul (2001).Dublin street names.Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 90.ISBN0-7171-3204-8.OCLC48467800.
- ^Paul O'Brien,Blood on the Streets, the Battle for Mount Street Bridge,pp.22-23; Max Caulfield,The Easter Rebellion, Dublin 1916,p. 196.
- ^"Eoin MacNeill".Central Statistics Office.Retrieved23 December2023.
- ^"The beauty who inspired Kavanagh's" Raglan Road "".The Independent.29 June 2004.
- ^"CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, BALLSBRIDGE Dictionary of Irish Architects -".dia.ie.Retrieved11 September2023.
- ^"Pemroke Town Hall and Library".Patrick Comerford.Retrieved23 December2023.
- ^"Ireland's most expensive home: Seeking €14m for the finest house on Ailesbury Road".The Irish Times.Retrieved30 January2022.
- ^Clark, Andrew (5 December 2010)."The roof falls in on Ireland's Millionaires Row".The Observer.Guardian Media Group.Retrieved5 December2010.
- ^"Four call outs for Army Bomb Disposal Team".RTÉ News.RTÉ. 21 August 2012.Retrieved21 August2012.
- ^McGuire, Erin (23 October 2019)."Sikh Dubliners Dream of a Bus Route That Would Connect Their Community".Dublin Inquirer.Retrieved13 June2022.
- ^"Routes".Dublin Bus.[permanent dead link]