North Wall clearance reveals historic vista

Clearance work has begun on the remaining "campshire" warehouses along Dublin's North Wall, revealing for the first time a vista of the historic North Wall railway station and the former British Rail Hotel, from across the river.

The campshires are the spaces between the quay wall and the roadway where ships traditionally loaded and unloaded their cargos.

Warehouses were developed along the campshires to protect the cargo but over the past decade, the Dublin Docklands Development Company has been acquiring and demolishing them for use as a riverside walkway and public open space.

Both the British Railway Hotel and the North Wall railway station were significant departure points for many emigrants from the west of Ireland who arrived there before setting sail from ships tied to the quay wall opposite.

For many Irish volunteers bound for the trenches in the first World War, the station and the hotel were the last buildings they set foot in on Irish soil.

The station and hotel date from the late 1800s and the hotel is a copy of a building in Holyhead, Wales. They played a large part in emigration in the early part of the last century and were able to boast an underground link, across the road, to the campshire buildings.

The hotel pointed out that customers could travel from Donegal to their ships without getting rained upon.

The hotel was occupied by British Forces during the War of Independence and was frequently attacked by the IRA at that time. It is now occupied by Iarnród Éireann and used as office space.

The campshires on the North Wall quay represented the largest exit point from Ireland during the Famine.

The significance of this sea journey is marked by the striking Famine figures sculpture by Rowan Gillespie which stands as a memorial to the millions of Irish emigrants who fled the country.

Another historic building which will be visible once the campshire warehouses are demolished is the old wool store which is to be preserved in the redevelopment of the area.

The last campshire warehouses on the North Wall to be demolished, the land and buildings were ceded to the State as part of a deal with the promoters of the Spencer Dock development, which includes 3,000 apartments.

While the move will create a public walkway from the city centre all along the north quays to the Point Theatre, there are also plans to commemorate those generations who left Ireland through the hotel and railway station.

According to Treasury Holdings, the main promoters of the Spencer Dock scheme, a visitors centre will be developed to respect the "harrowing suffering of those emigrants whose final view of Ireland was from this point".

The removal of the warehousing on the campshires will also open up a vista of the Spencer Dock development. Some of the apartments have already gone on sale with one- bedroom units quoted at €310,000.

The massive scheme, midway between the Point theatre and the Irish Financial Services Centre, is the State's biggest urban regeneration project. It is to include a performance square, a 1.5 acre plaza and will have more than three million square feet of office space.

Although apartments are not expected to be ready for the first residents for another two years, the first phase of almost 300 units was virtually sold out earlier this summer.

The highest price indicated for remaining apartments in phase one is €670,000 for a fourth-floor three-bedroom home.