What we didn’t get to see:
Boland’s Mill
Boland’s Mill was the spot Éamon de Valera took up during the Easter Rising. It ceased to be operated as a flour mill in 2001, and during the crisis its value shot down by a shocking 80%. At moment of writing it’s been reported that an application for development is expected for Boland’s Mills in the weeks to come by American investor, Kennedy Wilson, in a joint venture with NAMA. This is the first bit of activity the building has seen in quite some time. Its proximity to the ‘Google Quarter’ as Dublin City planning officer for NAMA John O’Hara described it to The Irish Times, makes it one of the more valuable property sites in the city. The news comes as Dublin City Council announces its brand new Docklands master-plan, famously hailed as turning the area into the ‘Canary Wharf of Dublin’ by Minister Noonan. Plans are for the original stone structure to be restored, whilst the concrete silos are to be replaced with slender blocks. The space to be turned into office buildings, as well as a residential area, and an obligatory civic space. There is no specific timetable for this. NAMA, Savills (the appointed receiver), and the Fire, Health and Safety Authority were contacted, but we were not guaranteed access.
Rupert Guinness Theatre
The first time the Abbey Theatre burnt down in 1951, the Guinness family allowed their new theatre to house the national theatre for a period of two months. The theatre was named after Lord Iveagh II and was the Guinness Brewery workers’ theatre. Though not confirmed by Diageo, it is rumoured that this this quixotic space on Watling Street is soon to be sold. Seating 600 people, and reported to have oak floorboards and to be in good condition when last inspected by the Dublin City Council, this is a lost gem we’ll hopefully be enjoying again soon. It has been in the Guinness family for centuries, but is currently under Diageo’s management. Diageo were contacted and wouldn’t guarantee access to the building.
The River House
The River House is one of the greater eyesores in the country, and pops up frequently in conversations about the most disliked buildings in Dublin. It gives the impression that it’s leaning forward, frowning with concrete menace to all that going by on the Luas tracks on Chancery Street. The building features in Irish Times journalist Frank McDonald’s The Destruction of Dublin, and led to a legal case in 1987 where a firm of architects were desperate to prove that they hadn’t designed. Dublin City Council have inspected the premises in the last few months, and it was reportedly gutted on the inside. We were guaranteed access to this, only to then be informed that the keys were lost indefinitely. We never made it inside.
