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.

Saint George's Church of Ireland.

Established under the Reverend George Hamilton despite opposition from the Rectors of Balrothery.

It appears to be constructed in the manner typical of many Board of First Fruit Churches.

Foundation stone laid on 23th July 1813.

Ardgillan Castle and Gardens, Balbriggan.

Early philanthropy... The Carnegie Free Library building.

Famed cyclist, Harry Reynolds.

Remembering Frederick Douglass, abolitionist. Frederick was horrified by the squalor of the Irish poor when he visited Ireland.

A pair of cozy "Balbriggans". Handy for winter.

Balbriggans wonderful "Dead Zoo".

Patrick Joseph Hanley Memorial on the Lighthouse.

George Hamilton plaque on the Lighthouse dated 1701.

M. Byrne of Dublin and their "patented Rotary Mounting" for bell ringing at the R.C. Church in Balbriggan.

Dublin City center once hosted Smithy's, Glaziers, Tanners, Smelters and Metal workers and a host of small industries and workshops both during and after the industrial revolution.

Today's Dublin City would bear little resemblance to the Dublin of the early to mid 1800's.

Many Church bells and cast Iron Water pumps, "Stink pipes", Lamp posts and assorted Iron mongery were fabricated in workshops in the City center.

Dublin then and now are literally worlds apart.

A "Rat" style bike at a local garage. 

Done well I think.