Visible from Ticknock on a fine day
I used to live at similar height and could make out wales on days like today.
Harry Crosbie was saying when he was a kid they used climb to the top of the Poolbeg Chimneys and see Wales.
He wanted to turn the chimneys into a tourist attraction but i thought he was only bluffing.
Harry Crosbie would have a flexible relationship with the truth, but any time he talks publicly it is with a money making scheme/scam in mind
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They were only built in 1971 or so I think? Itās hard to imagine them ever not being there. Then again if youād grown up with them not being there you might be of a different opinion. Like a lot of things which end up being considered art of the built environment I imagine they were shocking at first, possibly hated, and then gradually came to be loved. I love them. I love the view of them from any direction. Thereās a long straight road near where I come from in Dublin where if you look straight down it you can see the tips of chimneys in the distance. I love that view. I love the view of them from Dollymount or Dunleary pier or from the mountains or from Howth. I used to love especially when it was the evening and the light on top would come on. From Howth they had the demeanour of a smoker propped up against the outside front wall of a pub, with one foot against the wall. But I miss them not smoking and a small part of me thinks they should be demolished because they donāt smoke anymore and keeping them is like trying to hold onto something thatās had its time, then I think well why would you knock them down, you wouldnāt knock down the chimney in Smithfield just because itās not a working chimney any more and probably hasnāt been in the lifetime of anybody still alive. These things have an intrinsic value.
In my mind and in a lot of peopleās minds I think they and that whole mouth of the Liffey area is inextricably linked with the music of U2, especially the Unforgettable Fire album and especially the guitar solo after the second chorus of Pride In The Name Of Love. Theyāre like the gates of Dublin.
The first time I was ever down at the South Wall was the evening before Ireland played England in the 1990 World Cup. It was cloudy and foreboding and the whole area had this deserted, threatening air, like Wardās Island in New York at the end of the film The French Connection or the Beckton Gas Works (RIP) in London that features in that Oasis video with all the helicopters. A weird kind of half world. All the docks area used to be like that and when it still was the long walk down to the Point Depot used to be much more exciting than it is now. Every city needs these sort of forbidding places. Iāve been fascinated with that area ever since. A place I used to like to cycle down to if I was in a contemplative mood.
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sid, Athens is one of the worst cities i ever set foot in, it is a desperate place, ill put up a proper post later but it is filthy and very unsafe.
Ive been to a few awful cities , Arab cities in general are chaotic filthy , there is no interest in the environment, crime is rampant and as a westerner you are tortured from hawkers ā¦ Cairo is the worst capital city i ever set foot in, followed closely by Amman, they are utterly devoid of any redeemable features and are utterly exhausting placesā¦ ive never been to most of Africa or Asia but folks tell me that Dhaka in Bangladesh is hellā¦
In terms of Europe - Bratislava, Ljubliana and Prague i really enjoyedā¦ the rest are meh bar London which is the greatest city on earth, hop out of the tube there at westminister and you can see why the cunt ruled half the world
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Thatās part of why Iād like to go there.
Itās the reason cairo is my favourite place Iāve ever visited. Hawkers etc are outrageously annoying and itās completely manic and crazy but thatās the craic of it. Wouldnāt like to go there with the family in fairness
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Built separately - first one finished in late 60s and second one in 1971. Given Harry is at least 75 he definitely wasnāt climbing them when he was a kid.
Hereās a header climbing one a couple of years back though
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Every and any.
Great view from Beann Eadairās pitch - Irelandās Eye, then Lambay, then both the Rock and the Bill of Rockabill with the other Skerries Islands to the east and then the Cooleys finally yielding to the the sweeping Mournes to complete the vista. Majestic.
Feck all them fetid inland kips like Paris, Madrid, Rome etc with their Continental climates and clamorous inhabitants; a great city needs to have the sea on one side at least.
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or with a women who dosent adhere strongly to local dress code
Is that a word out of ulysses?
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Yes. Loved it
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No sign of the raw sewage?
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Great post
Better natural setting, the main KPI up for discussion.
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Iāve gone for size rather than capitalness here as it better suits the ball I am hopping.
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Good idea for a post. You started leaking diesel there at Cork > Dublin though.
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Yes.