Harold's Cross Park and the Strange Case of the Missing Railings.

dublin | history and heritage | news report

Monday April 10, 2006 23:16

by Chris Murray - TaraWatch

dotliath at gmail dot com

n/a

087-7765289

City Council Removes Victorian Railings in People's Park.

Harold's Cross Park celebrated it's centenary in 1994. A plaque commemorates the endowment of the Victorian Park to the people of the Rathmines/Harold's Cross townland. Cllr Mary Frehill performed the dedication ceremony. The park is a protected structure in its whole integrity including the original railings, the promenade ring, the hankerchief tree which commerorates the Women's Laundry strike and the view of the chapel and cemetry at Mount Jerome.
Today at 11am, I walked to the park with my daughter to find the park be-ribboned and works ongoing which are dedicated to the removal of the Victorian (or Edwardian ) railings, for 'safety reasons'.
There has been no planning notice to this effect on the railings or access points to the park. There has been no public consultation with the residents of the area as to the plans undertaken by Dublin City Council. When I started to take photographs I was threatened by a council worker that he would take a photo of me and that he would call the gardai, thus I confined my mobile camera to the pretty ribbons, until braver people came along. I asked a park keeper if this work would not affect the visual integrity of the park and if planning permission had been sought. He replied that as it was a safety excerise, that he did not believe that permissions were required. The protected structures within the park: two red-brick out-buildings are protected but the park itself was under the jurisdiction of the council. Councillor Frehill, when contacted stated that the works were going to be stopped pending a site visit this evening and a look at the plans for works. There has been in effect a complete stoppage of works until the reason for works and plans are inspected, under enforcement regulations.

The council are not making press or media statements on the issue until tomorrow morning.
The works that were being undertaken by Dublin City Council include the removal of brush from areas of the park, enhancement of safety and visual amenity of the park by the removal of the original railings
and the raising of the kerb, there is a programme for re-tarmacing the pathways around the promenade ring. There is no statement about what they intend to replace the railings with or where they are going. If anyone knows how the council performs the operation of reduce, reuse and recycle they may guess. I say this in jest, given the removal of large areas of cobblestone in the north inner city some years ago, which magically re-paved the interior of the Temple Bar area.
A temporary enforcement and work stoppage is in place. I was told that the works were of a permanent nature for reasons of safety. Cllr Frehill was told that it was a temporary safety issue. I have used the park for many years and have heard nothing in the way of complaints about the safety of the railings.
at the very least there should have been a public consultation about any changes to the park which is a green area for the enjoyment of the residents in the area and a publication of any plans that directly affect the visual integrity of the amenity.
Harold's Cross Park is a protected structure. The integrity of the whole would include the railings as well as structures within the park. The claim that only objects within the park such as the two outbuildings and promenade ring are protected is risible. It was endowed as an amenity to the people of the area in 1994, any change to the visual integrity of the amenity would have to be undertaken through consultation and or plebiscite. There has been no consultation with the residents of the area . Cllr Frehill was not informed of plans to modernise the visual integrity of the structure. No plans have been published which discuss the future visual planning of the parkland. There has been no statement to the media regarding the issue of change to the integrity of the Park.The claim that planning permission is unecessary because of safety concerns is misleading . Safety concerns is an all-encompassing statement which does not reveal what the council intends to replace the original railings with. The temporary stoppage of works will allow for consultaion with elected representatives.
The public to whom this park has been endowed have not been consulted on the issue of changes to their park.

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Comments (5 of 5)

victorian, edwardian & older ironwork of Ireland is more historically important than many think...

by iosaf

Tue Apr 11, 2006 02:10

Because we have more examples of northern European artisan and foundry styles than any other EU state. This isn't because we got more foundry work made, we didn't, nor because ours' was of exceptionally high quality, (often it is not) but simply because we didn't sacrifice it to war efforts.

From the outset of WW2, municipal authorities in the UK and continental Europe engaged in propaganda exercises of stripping street furniture, the idea being to smelt the "excess iron" and make weapons. Of course the metal wasn't good enough or pure enough to make weapons, and the whole thing was a bit of a "psy-op". All over Europe, people hacked down their park railings, street lamps, searched their attics for smeltable iron to hand over to the state and "do their bit to win the war".
Thanks to Eire's neutrality, the Irish people survived on an average of a third ration & calorific intake of their cousins and fellows in the UK but at least they still had secure parks.

Which brings me to the Victorian fixation with securing parks. Most of our common land areas and parks were not created under the Victorian period, it was only then that they had their exact areas defined, being before hand common land and more often than not, following the demarcation of the official "park area", the pleasant spot soon became an exclusive "residents only" play space. Whilst I was resident in Dublin such Victorian classist use and misuse of public collective urban space was still seen in Fitzwilliam's square, where only residents of the surrounding area and Pembroke street and a narrow bit of Leeson street were allowed a key to the railings and thus could fight over the tennis court. & oh so terribly grand they thought themselves...

So there you go.
* 1 reason why Victorian railings are worth preserving.
* 1 reason why Victorian enclosed parks ought be opposed.
= thats balance.

Reclaiming your public space requires thinking about how and by whom it was claimed.

Photos From Today...

by Elaine

Tue Apr 11, 2006 02:44

In Harold's Cross park.

Park Landscape

No Sitting

1894 - 1994

Victorian Railings

Orange And White Tape Everywhere

If one element of the park is a protected structure, the whole park is protected...

by anarchaeologist - GrassrootsDissent

Tue Apr 11, 2006 09:44

The 2000 Planning Act removed the concept of listed buildings and street furniture from the legislation and introduced the concept of protected structures.

So, if say only the facade of a building was 'listed' in the pre-2000 legislation, now the whole of the building and its curtilage is 'protected' . The curtilage constitutes the historical boundary of the protected structure, in this case, the edge of the park, the railings themselves.

Victorian and Edwardian ironwork are as much part of our heritage as round towers and handball alleys. They probably want to replace it with cheap aluminium which can be painted more easily

Don't listen to the Corpo's bollix about safety measures, there's something afoot here. I wonder what it is?

Anyway, the officials are acting illegally, irrespective of whether or not the park is in the ownership of Dublin City Council. Phone the DCC Conservation Officer Clare Hogan (2223943) and ask her what the fuck is going on. If there's no joy from her, try Donncha Ó Dúlaing, the DCC Heritage Officer.

Disappearing parks

by chris murray - Tarawatch

Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:24

087-7765-289

There was once a little church yard, green space in the vicinity of Jervis Street.
Charming little sit-down place, have you seen what they have done there. The green space behind Rathmines Swimming pool is being removed in a new P/P venture and the pool (dublin corporation)
also. The area will be paved and the public baths become privately owned. Not to mention our beloved Eyre Square. The issue of lack of consultation and imposition of a bureaucratically chosen design imposed on people grates. The park at Harold's Cross park is worth preserving in its full integrity and people who use it, from all over Dublin are entitled to that use. Without imposition and interference.

st stephens green will close for three years

by eden

Thu Sep 07, 2006 16:44

to allow for the metro plan.

now wher in the city centre will you go for a quiet smoke on a sunny autumn day?

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Harold's Cross Park and the Strange Case of the Missing Railings.

Comments (5 of 5)