Pier to pier

Dún Laoghaire’s piers are an icon of our coastline. An engineering marvel when built, they still draw thousands to walk their outstretched arms every day. But beneath their paved paths lies a history of tragedy and triumph, of loss and liberation.

19 November 1807. Several hundred men, women and children assemble on the docks of Ringsend Harbour. Departing were the Prince of Wales with 120 passengers including volunteers from the 18th Regiment and the 97th Regiment, plus their wives and children, as well as regular crew members. Also casting off was The Rochdale, along with the 97th Regiment totalling 265 passengers, all bound for Wellington’s army and the Napoleonic Wars. By the next day the two ships lay at the bottom of the bay, wrecked on the rocks near Salthill and taking almost all their 400-plus passengers and crew with them. It was one of the worst tragedies in Irish maritime history.

But it also provided a turning point in the maritime story of the city and particularly Dún Laoghaire. For years, Dublin Bay was perilous to those attempting to cross it. It was known in sailing lore as one of the most fatal in the world. So, in 1817, after an act of parliament, the first stone was laid on what would become known as the East Pier, a 1.3km arm of sea-hewn granite stretching out from just below the House and into Scotman’s Bay.

The construction was long and painstaking work. Wagons piled high with granite and stone were hauled from a purpose-built quarry in the nearby coastal town of Dalkey, trundling along tramway lines created specifically for the project, lines that now traverse the very bottom of our garden and have since become a byway for walkers and cyclists called The Metals. Further material was cut and mined more locally, particularly where the People’s Park and dlr library now stand. Once the material had made its journey, it was ushered into the sea by means of a timber frame and guided down by a diving bell.

During this time the chief architect and engineer of the harbour, Scotsman John Rennie, realised that with the shifting sands in the bay, a second pier would need to be constructed in order to prevent the harbour from silting up. So, in 1821, a further act of parliament resulted in the beginning of the construction of a second pier, to become known as the West Pier and which would be slightly longer, at 1.6km or a mile at the time (the East Pier is three-quarters of a mile). Stretching out from what was the original fishing village around which the town first developed, it was never paved over, unlike its eastern sister, but was finished off with a lighthouse at its end in the 1850s.

The construction of the piers was perilous. In 1818, parts of the East Pier washed away in a bad storm and then in 1829, a further storm damaged machinery on the outside of the East Pier, with five men drowning while trying to save others. But the project pushed on, and by 1842 both the piers stood finished, with a lighthouse on the East Pier, as well as a gun saluting station, one of the only ones to be built in the country. And so Dún Laoghaire became home to the largest man made harbour in the world at the time.

The area soon began to thrive, with the Carlisle Pier constructed in 1859 and connecting to Dublin by train. It was to become a place where many took the so-called Mail Boat to Holyhead and England right up until the 1990s. During the Irish War of Independence, in 1920, what was Kingstown became Dún Laoghaire once again. The piers continued to find fame in history. In 1937, a German training ship known as the SMS Schleswig-Holstein dropped anchor. It later fired the first shots of WW2 in Gdansk. And in the 1990s the East Pier provided the backdrop to Liam Neeson’s Michael Collins as he strode down its windy path.

These days the harbour is more vibrant than ever, its sheltered waters and marina playing host to fleets of fledgling sailors each year. Beloved by walkers, it provides over a kilometre of unrivalled sea, sky and headspace, no matter the weather. Walk its granite paths to the end and you will be met by gusts of salty air, seagulls dipping, waves curling at its rocky edge and a perspective out across the bay that is like no other. Looking back, it is the best vantage point to enjoy the Victorian terraces into which Haddington House proudly sits, awaiting your return.