FOREWORD

Introduction by Grafton Architects

It has been our great pleasure to work with representatives of SAMRA and Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association to prepare this document, which focuses on the character of Sandymount in order to discover how it evolved, what it is like now and what other aspects might be added, so as to hold the existing character and enrich the experience of this very special part of Dublin.

What we have learnt makes us even prouder of this unique place. We have learnt that the clay from the ground around what became Sandymount Green was the fundamental building material: the bricks of 18th. Century Georgian Dublin; that the 1834 railway line from Dublin to Kingston - now Dun Laoghaire – made an eastern boundary to Sandymount with very few connecting roads; that Sandymount faces onto a UNESCO Biosphere –‘ a place where nature and culture connect, internationally recognized for their biological diversity yet actively managed to promote a balanced relationship between people and nature’; that Dublin is the only capital city in the world that adjoins a Biosphere Reserve.  

Nestling in the heart of Sandymount, laid out in the early 1800’s, enclosed by railings and sheltered by mature trees, is Sandymount Green. An Ordinance Survey May of 1889 shows the triangular space held by Seaford Terrace, Seaford Avenue and Dromard Terrace was then a civic space with a pump and a fountain.

Finding your way around Sandymount is not easy. Its history and the way it developed over time, in its own organic way, means that you don’t always know how to get to the village from the sea or from DART stations or what is the shortest way to the sea from Sandymount Green.

Our research has lead us to look at three main topics:

The Village:  which deals with defining the ‘entrances’ to Sandymount Village;

The Green: which looks closely at what constitutes the civic heart of Sandymount; 

The Promenade: which together with the Biosphere, Martello Tower relates to Dublin Bay .

The ideas in this document are developed in the spirit of celebrating Sandymount, in the hope of adding to its rich history and character. 

Yvonne Farrell

Grafton Architects