The River Liffey

The River Liffey defines, divides, and unites Dublin. Its source is in the Wicklow Mountains and it flows for nearly 80 miles into the Irish Sea. It is used as a traffic and commercial corridor, electrical generation, recreational activities, and it supplies Dublin's drinking water and water for industrial uses (e.g., Intel takes about 2% of the water for cooling). Although it is fairly wide, long ago it was six times wider, so crossing it was a challenge. Nowadays, 24 bridges cross the River Liffey, and those that are in Dublin have their own website: http://www.bridgesofdublin.ie/

Historically, the northern side of the river has been the poorer, dirtier side, while the southern side has been wealthier and more educated. This has been changing in recent years, with both sides' real estate becoming quite pricey, and educational and employment opportunities becoming better distributed. A joke we heard several times goes like this:

"What do you call someone from the north side?"

"The accused."

"What do you call someone from the south side?"

"Your Honor."

On our last night in Ireland, we took a Dublin Discovered boat tour of the River Liffey. The tour takes 45 minutes, but the distance can vary--if the tide is in, the boat can't fit under as many bridges. Here is our boat, the Spirit of Docklands, with the Ha'Penny Bridge in the background:

A pedestrian bridge, the Ha'Penny Bridge was built in 1816 as the Duke of Wellington Bridge. Now it is officially the Liffey Bridge, but everyone calls it the Ha'Penny Bridge. The Merchant's Arch is on the south side of the bridge:

This grated opening in the quay wall is where the River Poddle, which now an underground river, flows into the River Liffey. This tributary has a fascinating story that you can read if you click here (the 7:34 video included in the article is also fun).

We took a photo of Columbia Mills because we have some (unrelated) Columbia Mills buildings near us in Portland:

The Samuel Beckett Bridge, in the shape of Ireland's harp, opened in 2009:

Lots of construction going on in Dublin:

The Convention Centre Dublin opened in 2010. The architect was Eamonn Kevin Roche, an Irish-born American. The story is that he meant the building's design as a gift to Ireland, but he died (in March 2019) angry at the people of Dublin because their nickname for the building is "The Dyson Vacuum":

You can still find some old buildings among the new. We believe this was an Irish Rails Hotel that is being renovated for new use, but haven't been able to find a reference to it:

Getting artistic with the Samuel Beckett Bridge: