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The leafy suburbs of South Dublin
crushproof posted a City Journal entry in Dublin, the capital of the Emerald Isle
Welcome back, and thanks for the all the love the last time, very much appreciated. This time around we'll be cruising around the suburbs of Dun Laoghaire, including Sallynoggin, Dalkey and Glasthule. Dun Laoghaire is one of the older suburbs of Dublin, and much of its growth was between the late 19th and mid 20th century's. Close to the town centre, there are many fine Georgian Squares with terraced housing -as can be seen below. These house a mix of high wealth residents however many have been sub-divided into smaller flats in recent years. The area expanded again the 1930's - 1950's as Dubliner's began to move out into the suburbs. Dun Laoghaire was a good location due the access to the railway, the town shopping and of course the lure of the sea. Below can be seen the Glenageary roundabout, one of the most congested parts of Dun Laoghaire. It links Dun Laoghaire with further flung suburbs and the M50 orbital motorway. Previously some small shops occupied the site but in recent years large offices have been built to cater for local demand. The road vertically across the photo separates the more upper class Glenageary from the working class council built estates of Sallynoggin. Dun Laoghaire golf club, founded in 1910 is the green lung of Dun Laoghaire and is today surrounded by residental development. Being positioned in one of the most sought after areas of Dublin, There are rumours of the land being bought by property developers in the near future so watch this space Back to the harbour breifly, the old coal harbour continues to function as small scale fishing dock with some minor industry - mainly harbour maintenance. The local yacht clubs are clamouring for more space so surely it's only a matter of time before the Harbour Board approve the demolition of the old harbour and the construction yet more marinas?! Another part of old Dun Laoghaire lost forever.... Into the leafy suburbs of Killiney and Dalkey now, home to famous celebs such as Bono and Van Morrison. The quaint village of Dalkey, with it's small train station, is home to vintage shops, high end restaurants and traditional Irish pubs. It's especially popular for day tripping tourists. A private school can be seen to the left, most schools in this part of Dublin are private and rugby is the sport of choice. More of the Kiliney / Glenageary suburbs - home to accountants, lawyers and a large girls boarding school - seen to the left of the roundabout. A view towards the southeast from Dun Laoghaire. As you can see the Golf Club takes up much land. It is intersected by Glenageary Road. Centre far right are the notorious flats of Monkstown Farm - don't risk strolling through there at night. Dun Laoghaire is town of divide - homes worth millions are just a few minutes walk from areas of abject poverty. As can be seen, the DART railway line cuts through the granite rock to the left. An full overview, looking north across Dublin Bay. The sheer size of the habour is put into perspective. The low rise nature of the suburbs are typical of Dublin, and Ireland in general. (and yes, I've yet to complete the seafront!) Just a picture of the typical types of large semi deteched homes found in parts of Dun Laoghaire such as Sandycove and Glenageary - most built between the 1930's and 1950's. Glasthule DART station can be seen also in the photo. And a night scene, the "New Road" that links Dun Laoghaire to Killiney, Shankill and the M50 motorway. It's only a recent addition to the landscape of this historic suburb. The road is built on land that was reserved for road development in the 1970's but it was only built in the last decade. It was catalyst for the development of the dense office buildings seen in the picture. Previously there was light manufacturing, of which one or two businesses remain. So for now that's all - I guess I've got to work on my storytelling -
First Port of Call - Dun Laoghaire
crushproof posted a City Journal entry in Dublin, the capital of the Emerald Isle
For now - I'll begin. It is summer time, so many tourists arrive to Dublin on the car ferry from the United Kingdom. Traditionally, many arrived at the historic harbour of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary), 8km south of the city centre. Home to numerous yacht clubs and once the world’s largest harbour, ferry numbers have been dwindling in recent times and the Harbour Company are looking to attract larger cruise ships. The car ferry slows down as it enters the grand harbour, buffed by large granite piers built in the 19th century using rock from nearly Dalkey quarry. The harbour is extremely popular for sailing so caution must be taken by the captain as they prepare to turn and land at the car ferry terminal. As the cars and trucks disembark onto the run down and derelict Carlisle Pier, locals gather to view a French tall ship that has docked at the East Pier. On the opposite side, construction of a new cruise terminal is just about visible. The harbour area is undergoing rapid transformation, from a busy ferry port to one focused more on recreation and tourism. Dun Laoghaire train station, was the terminus of the first railway in Ireland in 1894. The railway previously linked up to the ferry pier, however the old station, seen rusting on the pier, has long been abandoned. The Dublin Area Rapid Transport now provides a link to the city centre in 20 minutes. Two sailing clubs are visible, on the left is the Royal St. George and on the right the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Both are very exclusive, and cost thousands per year for membership. Dun Laoghaire County Council Offices, with a modern early 2000’s extension can be seen opposite the train station. The hideous Dun Laoghaire shopping centre was build atop of a delightful Georgian terrace in the 1970’s. It sits alongside the famous Royal Marine hotel, which offers stunning views over Dublin Bay. The town centre has suffered due to out of town shopping malls, the recession and draconian parking laws. Many shops are boarded up, however the main street retains its charm and there’s many bargains to be found. St Michael’s church is the focal point of the town centre. Thanks for reading so far, any help and tips are greatly appreciated! I don't have the best laptop, and I have to play on software mode due Intel Iris graphics so I miss out on some plugins due to graphic issues. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be back soon with a drive through the town of Dun Laoghaire and its leafy well-to-do suburbs -
Dublin, Ireland (My recreation)
crushproof posted a City Journal entry in Dublin, the capital of the Emerald Isle
So I've been a long, long time player of SC4. I've messed around for years and never fully jumped in - mainly due to the lack of a decent PC or laptop. But in the past year the idea of recreating my home city, Dublin, has appealed to me. At first, the negatives outweighed the positives - the medieval city & suburban winding streets, the unsustainable (in SC4 terms) suburban sprawl, the lack of Dublin landmarks, getting the scale right and finding the right plugins. I quickly gave up the first time, due to the amount of time it was consuming. However I persevered in the past few months and so far I've 3 complete city tiles (still a hell of a lot more to go). The biggest drawback is having to make almost every building "historic" as to keep within the city character. This is particularly annoying when building sprawling monotonous housing estates - spend ages going through it all only to have a feckin mansion pop up later on in the centre of it.....GRRRR!! Anyway, I'll rant more in the future. Tips and help are greatly, greatly appreciated.
