Come Here To Me!

For anyone in the city yesterday, the sight of the Liffey spilling out onto the streets of the capital was something to behold. It reminded me to go digging for one of my favourite images of the capital historically, in the form of this great 1807 illustration of a view of the River Liffey. The standout feature of the image of course is the ruins of the bridge. The Ormond Bridge, as it was known to Dubliners, was totally destroyed by flooding in 1802.

‘A South View on the River Liffey, Dublin, 1807′(Credit: British Library, http://www.bl.uk)

In G.N Wright’s An Historical Guide to the City of Dublin, there is a story told of how “A gentleman from the neighbourhood of Chapelizod was riding over at the time, and just as he arrived at a distance of ten or twelve feet from the quay, the arch before and the whole of the part he had passed gave way, when his horse with one spring cleared the chasm before him, and bore him to the opposite bank in safety.”

One interesting feature with the illustration is the manner in which day to day life is depicted, and two men can be seen relaxing against the remains of the destroyed quay wall! The bridge was eventually replaced, with the construction of the Richmond Bridge, erected between 1813 and 1816.