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Parnell Square in the event of the hospital vacating
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16-04-2021 6:15pm#1Grafton Street is topped by Dublin's finest park square, adding greatly to the character of the street. I don't know what the status of the Rontunda Hospital's move to Blanchardstown is, but until Parnell Square is relieved of its patchwork of buildings and car parks, O'Connell Street will forever end in disappointment.
In the event of the move, there ideally wouldn't be the handsome, winged hospital building, designed by Richard Cassells, which we couldn't in good conscience demolish, as well as the Ambassador and Gate theaters. They create a huge barrier between O'Connell Street and the square behind, and it's not obvious what use the hospital building could be put to. The best that could be done is to clear the railings and create a passageway to the square behind, which would be cleared of the car parks, prefabs, various extensions and, ideally, the copper-roofed building. (The 'Auxiliary Hospital' would be a controversial demolition also, but the link shows that the block on the corner, at least, isn't original.) But could the entrance hall be retained without damage? Ironically, one of the obvious uses for the building would be a showcase civic library, but plans are pretty well advanced for such to be housed in the old Colaiste Mhuire at the top of the square, beside the Hugh Lane gallery. What else? A science museum? A civic museum, a meagre example of which is housed in City Hall (to most Dubliners' surprise, I imagine)?
Another problem is that the square is offset from the line of O'Connell Street. In an ideal world, the AIB on the corner of O'Connell Street, which is already a pedestrian pinch-point, would be demolished to round off the top of the street and accommodate pedestrians crossing over. But that's not going to happen. How could else could pedestrians be accommodated?
A report from 2011 by the Dublin Civic Trust gives a sense of what the square could look like with the hospital buildings cleared, but without going into specifics about how it might work in practice.
Then there's the question of the Garden of Remembrance. It makes good use of its limited area but it blocks movement between the gallery/library and the rest of the square, and the naff cross-shaped pond is a bit out of place in modern Ireland. Perhaps it should be scrapped and a smaller remembrance garden incorporated elsewhere in the square.
I'd be interested in anyone's thoughts.8
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It was the pleasure gardens that were there hundreds of years ago that funded much of the building of the hospital. It wouls be an interesting twist to put them back.
What I hadn't realised is that the gardens remained long afterwards. This from between 1865 and 1914, apparently.
John_Rambo wrote: »Its a great post, I'm presuming you work at the creative end of the planning/building scene?
A civic museum would be amazing although the one in City Hall is a real treat, a mature science museum to rival the Trinity college kids one would be good.
In fact, the more I read your well thought out post the more I like all the ideas, I can't find much argument in them to be honest, it's a great opportunity to give the square back to the people of the city.
Ah, thanks for the encouragement, John_R. I'm not actually involved in planning, just inspired by threads like this. And you're right that I'm unkind to City Hall. But I would hope that a dedicated civic museum would have a collection of historical objects, which City Hall's lacks.0 -
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