NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH The tiny hamlet of Ringsend near Coleraine in Northern Ireland or the Cambridgeshire village of Ring’s End. Our Ringsend is an inner suburb of Dublin located just 3km east of the city centre. Ever teetering on the cusp of renewal, the area, and particularly the vast, asbestos-choked Irish Glass Bottle site contained within, has long attracted the attention of developers but has as yet failed to deliver on its apparent promise.
HISTORY Once colloquially known as Raytown, a name that hints at its previous incarnation as a fishing village. Ringsend comes from the Irish Roinn Aun, meaning Sea Point. In the 17th Century, it replaced Dalkey as Dublin’s main port, and it was here that Oliver Cromwell landed with 10,000 soldiers in 1649. Irishtown was founded when the Irish inhabitants of Dublin were expelled from the city by the English authorities in 1454.
PROPERTY A mixed bag. The area has experienced significant rejuvenation under the Dublin Docklands Development Plan with the resulting emergence of apartment complexes including the striking Gasworks. However, the majority of properties in Ringsend are still artisan cottages and red-brick terraces with a small number of more substantial properties on the outskirts.
SCHOOLS St Patrick’s Boys’ National School is situated on Cambridge Road, Ringsend and caters for pupils from Junior Infants to Sixth Class. Ringsend Technical Institute is a co-educational college with for 220 day and 800 night students. Scoil Mhuire National School is located in nearby Sandymount. Marian College in Ballsbridge is a voluntary non-fee-paying Catholic secondary day school for boys founded by the Marist Brothers in 1954.
HOSPITALS Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital for the poor on Grand Canal Street closed its doors in the mid-1980s during the last recession. The institution was named for Sir Patrick Dun (1642-1713), five-time president of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland and a sitting MP. This is where Constance Markiewicz died aged just 59 on 15 July 1927, possibly of tuberculosis contracted when she worked in the poorhouses of Dublin.
RESTAURANTS Although residents benefit from being proximate to the city centre and the gastrocentric villages of Ballsbridge and Sandymount, there isn’t much to choose from in Ringsend itself. In Shelbourne Park one can dine in some style at Dobbins@thePark. The classy Ocean Bar and Restaurant, with its waterside location at Charlotte Quay Dock, is a terrific place for an outdoor pint on a lesser-spotted sunny summer Sunday.
BARS AND PUBS Hobblers End on Bridge Street does decent grub at affordable prices. The local Shamrock Rovers Supporters Club has its headquarters here. The atmospheric Oarsman is renowned for its trad sessions. Slattery’s is a decent spot, unchanged for decades and popular with a diverse crowd of drinkers.
NEIGHBOURS Actor Colin Farrell apparently maintains a pad here. Businessmen and former CEO of the FAI, Fran Rooney, was born in Ringsend in 1956 and formerly turned out for Shamrock Rovers. Poet Paul Durcan lives in the suburb and NewsTalk broadcaster Tom Dunne is another Ringsend native.
GREEN SPACE Ringsend Park is located at the mouth of Dublin Harbour close to the distinctive red and white chimneys of the Poolbeg Generating Station. A new UEFA-certified, floodlit, full-size all-weather pitch was unveiled last September, part of a €1.85m redevelopment that also includes a playground, a seven-a-side multi-use games area and a five-a-side multi-sport pitch. Sean Moore Park is also the scene of much sporting endeavor.
SPORTING FACILITIES Given its proximity to water it’s not surprising that there’s a strong tradition of boating and rowing here. There are two local rowing clubs – St Patrick’s and Stella Maris – and the Ringsend Regatta is a popular annual event. The Poolbeg Yacht, Boat Club and Marina organises an 18-race sailing series from the marina to the Dublin Bay area during the summer months. Two prominent League of Ireland soccer clubs – Shelbourne FC and Shamrock Rovers – were founded in Ringsend. GAA tradition is upheld by local club, Clanna Gael Fontenoy, the only one in D4.
POLITICIANS The most high-profile politician in the locale is Green TD and Minister for the Environment, John Gormley. He is currently preoccupied by the proposed location of an incinerator on his doorstep – a green nightmare as he attempts to handle opposition yet uphold government policy.
BEST-KEPT SECRET In 1695 a merchant ship – the Ouzel – set sail from Ringsend laden with a valuable cargo destined for Turkey. However, she failed to return and was presumed lost with all hands. In 1698 a committee of prominent merchants was formed to discuss the matter of compensation and adopted the name the Ouzel Galley Society. Two years later the ship mysteriously reappeared with her full complement of crew and a valuable cargo of spices, exotic goods and treasures. The crew claimed to have been captured by pirates but to have escaped, a tale that met with some scepticism. The society remained in existence to settle maritime disputes and ultimately became the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
THE BOTTOM LINE A curiously unpleasant odour has hung over Ringsend since the opening of a new wastewater treatment plant in 2003. It is hoped that supplementary work undertaken (at an additional cost of €35m) by ABA, the company responsible for its design, construction and operation, has sorted the problem. However, residents are now expressing new fears about the effects on air quality of the proposed Poolbeg Incinerator. Other than that, given its proximity to the city centre and the sea and a strong sense of community, this is a fine suburb to live in, though perhaps with little to offer to visitors.
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