The Village
Sandymount Road & St. Mary’s Star of the Sea
ARRIVAL FROM THE CITY TO SANDYMOUNT VILLAGE
This proposal is to create an attractive paved area outside St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church on Sandymount Road. This would prioritise pedestrians, while retaining the same number of car parking spaces. Public seating and planting would increase the biodiversity and amenity value of this new civic space.
St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church acts as one of the first ‘gateways’ or markers when coming from the north signifying that one has arrived in the village of Sandymount and is close to the sea. The space outside the church is currently dominated by car-parking and does not have this sense of arrival.
Dating from the 1850’s and designed by J.J. McCarthy, of the Pugin neo-Gothic school, the church itself was built for the parish of ‘Sandymount – Irishtown’ which itself was constituted in 1876.
Imagined proposal showing new paving, signage and improved public realm.
View of existing condition.
Historical photographs showing the original proximity between the Church and the waterfront which was then at the end of Leahy’s Terrace (water marked in blue).
The original proximity between the Church and the waterfront which was then at the end of Leahy’s Terrace (water marked in blue).
Historical picture of the Church
Click images to enlarge
When the church was first built it was very close the water’s edge with the sea wall just behind it at the end of Leahy’s Terrace. The reclamation of land, which later became Sean Moore Park, resulted in the water’s edge moving further east but the church still acts as a marker of the arrival both at the sea and at Sandymount Village.
To the south of the church on Sandymount Road is a large area of asphalt road surface which provides parking for the church. Despite the large area only 13 car parking spaces are provided.
The imagined modification involves the creation of a paved area outside the church as a shared surface which prioritises pedestrians, while retaining the same number of car parking spaces currently provided. Public seating and planting will increase the biodiversity and amenity value of this new civic space.
Historical map overlays showing the relative positions of the church and the waterfront as it has developed over time with the creation of Sean Moore Park.
Click pictures to enlarge
