Sandymount Strand

Sandymount Strand looking across Dublin Bay to Howth Head

Sandymount Strand (Irish: Dumhach Thrá) is a large strand on the east coast of Ireland, adjacent to the village and suburb of Sandymount in Dublin. The strand, which is part of the South Bull, (a mirror to the North Bull sandbank, which grew into North Bull Island) is a major component of the south side of Dublin Bay.

Sandymount Strand is a popular place for locals to take a walk. People and cars have been occasionally trapped by the incoming tide. A large inlet of water that remains even at low tide is known locally as "Cockle Lake".

The baths

Sandymount swimming baths; in the background: the Poolbeg Generating Station

The Merrion Promenade Pier and Baths Co built Sandymount swimming baths in 1883. The baths measured approximately 40 by 40 metres, with a 75-metre pier added in 1884. The pier featured a bandstand halfway along it and summer concerts were regularly held there for many years. By 1920, the pier had deteriorated so much that it had to be demolished. The concrete baths section, which resembles a small harbour, remains.

Martello Tower

About halfway along the strand is a Martello tower, part of a system of defences built to warn of an invasion by Napoleon. The Tower was a popular cafe back in the 1960s. An attempt to turn the tower into a restaurant led to the installation of a large window with roller blinds on the seaward side of the tower. The restaurant never opened, leaving the tower with the modified window.

In fiction

“

In long lassoes from the Cock lake the water flowed full, covering greengoldenly lagoons of sand, rising, flowing

”

- Ulysses, James Joyce.

Sandymount Strand is the most famous beach in Irish fiction, James Joyce based two episodes of his epic novel Ulysses here:
On the morning of Bloomsday, in the Proteus episode, Stephen Dedalus wanders "into eternity" on the strand; later the same day, Leopold Bloom sits on a rock and watches while young Gertie lifts her skirt as Bloom pleasures himself. It was this incident in the Nausicaa episode which led to the banning of the book in the USA for alleged obscenity.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sandymount Strand.

Ulysses by James Joyce

Characters	Leopold Bloom Molly Bloom Stephen Dedalus

Locations	Davy Byrne's pub Glasnevin Cemetery James Joyce Tower and Museum Sandymount Strand National Library of Ireland

Analysis	Gilbert schema Linati schema Molly Bloom's soliloquy

Adaptations	Ulysses in Nighttown (1958 play) Ulysses (1967 film) Ulysses (1982 broadcast) "The Sensual World" (1989 song) Bloom (2003 film) "Air War" (2007 song) Ulysses "seen" (2012 graphic novel)

Other	Bloomsday Lilac Bloomsday Run Obscenity trial of Ulysses in The Little Review United States v. One Book Called Ulysses Nora Barnacle (Joyce's wife and muse)

Wikisource

Parks in Dublin

Botanic Gardens Bull Island Bushy Park Corkagh Park Fairview Park Fitzwilliam Square Father Collins Park Garden of Remembrance Herbert Park Irish National War Memorial Gardens Iveagh Gardens Lansdowne Valley Park Marlay Park Merrion Square Mountjoy Square People's Park Phoenix Park Saint Anne's Park Saint Enda's Park Saint Stephen's Green

Coordinates: 53°19′25″N 6°12′21″W / 53.32361°N 6.20583°W / 53.32361; -6.20583

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, November 19, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.