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The Spire of Dublin

Photography Architecture posted on Jul 11, 2011
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Description


At 1:27am on March 8, 1966, in the center of Dublin, an explosion threw a statue off of its pillar and into the street. The statue was of Lord Nelson, and his unpopularity was not of recent origin. There had been many calls for its removal in the 158 years of its existence. The complaints varied from political to aesthetical to practical. In 1876 one critic put his views in verse: In the centre of our city Where the lines of traffic meet - In the very path of commerce, Blocking up a noble street - As a figure in a picture Disproportionately tall Seems to make its right surroundings Quite ridiculously small There were many movements to remove the entire pillar or to replace the statue with an Irish hero. Inside of the pedestal was a spiral staircase (168 steps) which went up to a viewing platform which looked over Dublin. On 29 Oct. 1955 nine students of University College Dublin locked themselves in the pedestal and tried to melt the statue with flamethrowers. Then in the early hours of 8 March 1966 an explosion settled the matter for good. The pedestal also was heavily damaged and it was decided to demolish it. Many were amused when the controlled explosion to finish the job, broke many windows, causing more damage than the original explosion. Part of Lord Nelson's statue still resides in Dublin, his head. It was removed from the debris and stored in a shed, until liberated by some students of the National Collage of Art and Design who than leased it out to individuals. For 6 months it showed up in places as various as antique shops, women's stocking commercials, Killiney Beach, and the stage of the Olympia theater with the Dubliners. It is now at the Dublin City Library and Archive on Pearse Street. That is what was in O'Connell Street in the center of Dublin. This is what is there now. The Spire of Dublin, a design by Ian Ritchie Architects, officially titled the Monument of Light. Unofficially, it has been called many things: The Spike, The Binge Syringe, The Stiletto in the Ghetto, The Nail in the Pale, The Pin in the Bin, The Stiffy at the Liffey (Liffey is the name of the river that runs through Dublin), The Erection in the Intersection, The Rod to God, and The Prick in the Brick It is 3 m (10 ft) at the bottom, 15cm (6 in) at the top, and 121 metres (398 ft) in height. It's creation was part of a street beautification of the 1990s which also included limiting of car traffic, reduction of large trees (a controversial action), cleaning and some relocation of statues, and removal of unsightly plastic signage from store fronts. It's completion was celebrated by a small crowd on a could January day in 2003 to the music of Neil Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done". That seems an rather odd choice to me. Opinions on the Spire remain divided. I had no particular reaction, though of course, I took pictures. :) (info came from wikipedia and http://www.european-architecture.info) Thanks for viewing, and for previous comments and favs.

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Photograph Details
F Numberf/5.0
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 450D
Shutter Speed1/1600
ISO Speed200
Focal Length10

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