A few random Pictures from Balbriggan, County Dublin

Balbriggan 

I'm just posting a quick few snaps from around beautiful Balbriggan, County Dublin.

Balrothery Rural District Council 1915 sign.

This RDC helped in the rebuilding of Balbriggan after the Black and Tans destroyed much of the town in 1920.

Breamore Castle, a fine example of an Elizabethan/Jacobian style fortified house.

Balbriggan Harbour Lighthouse.

An old Milk Churn. I can just about remember the Dairyman collecting these from the farms on Horse and Cart.

The Lawless/Gibbons Memorial at Bridge Street. 

Murdered by British Crown Forces.

Great Harwood Industrial and Co-Operative Provision Society Limited, 1864.

Ahhhhhh...  The days before anarchic Capitalism and rampant Consumerism.

The River Bracken flowing under the Dublin Rail line viaduct.

Main Street.

1800's Napoleonic era Martello Tower.

This fantastic photo is by Brid O'Neill.

The River Bracken.

Night Sky at Balbriggan Strand.

Balbriggan Harbour.

Martello Tower.

A pair of Buzzards circling high above the town. At one stage there was just 260 breeding pairs of this large predatory bird left in Ireland.

Over the last decade or so these beautiful raptors have made a remarkable recovery in numbers.

Estd. 1780 ; Smyth & Co Ltd, Hosiery Balbriggan.

Keep the wheels turning.

Balbriggan Lighthouse and other local Photo's

 North County Dublin.

Balbriggan.

A Tidal Harbour Lighthouse.

A few scenes from around the Balbriggan area, quite a picturesque town.

Plaque where once was located the ;

Great Harwood Industrial and Co-Operative Provision Society Limited 1864.

This was in a time when employers such as Cadburys Chocolate and Guinness Beers built housing, model villages, towns, playgrounds and even baths and markets for the locals and their employees.

They felt a moral imperative to care for the less well off in their communities and actively contribute to the building and maintenance of functioning local society.

Today we have BEZOS and MUSK instead..... taking, taking, taking.

Co-ops and different types of communal " societies" were commonplace in Europe throughout the 19th Century.

The 21st Century has largely seen the disappearance of such enterprises which were solely concerned with a type of collectivisation and the common good.

Alas BEZOS and MUSK et al, would quickly put a stop to such "outrages against consumerism".

There was a long history of Hosiery and Clothing manufacturing in Balbriggan and indeed a type of Long Johns were known as "Balbriggans".

Claim to fame; Apparently in a movie at one time John Wayne, the famous Hollywood actor called or his "Balbriggans".

The small River Bracken enters the Sea at Balbriggan is alive with Grey wagtails and swooping Swifts along with the occasional Heron and snowy white little Egret.

Napoleonic 1800's Martello Tower at Balbriggan.

Balbriggan Harbour.