Sir, - John Treanor's letter about Blackrock Town Hall (October 15th) reveals just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Dun Laoghaire's negligence of Blackrock. The council's planning caused this tiny village to have more shopping centres than any other place in Ireland in the mid-1980s. Cows were grazing in fields on Avoca Avenue when multi-storey corporate office blocks were within half a mile. In the past 15 years five important 18th-century mansions were demolished here, yet in each case another mansion for a rich client was under construction within a quarter of a mile, the most recent being completed last year.
Landscapes by Thomas Leggatt and Jacob Smith, who landscaped Russborough House in Blessington, were destroyed when they could have been developed practically. These contained grottoes, balustraded terraces, walled gardens, avenues, lakes, formal gardens, Japanese gardens, and a 1727 obelisk by the architect of the Old Parliament house on College Green now known as the Bank of Ireland.
What would today be a major attraction in Blackrock, Frascati House, was knocked down due to the council's actions. This was the best house between Leinster House and Powerscourt in Co Wicklow. Owned by the family who also owned Leinster House and Carton, it had ceiling paintings by the same man who painted the gallery at Castletown, Celbridge. Blackrock Market, another major attraction, would be ruined now if not for An Taisce, due to a application for which permission had already been granted. Dun Laoghaire has chosen to bring traffic through Blackrock and up Mount Merrion Avenue where trees on the footpath have flattened on one side because of the lorries using the road.
In light of the outrage at the recent demolition of the Sandymount Church, many people would be interested to know that a Lombardo-Romanesque church in Blackrock was demolished as recently as 1996. This was based on the RIAI Gold Medal-winning Church of St Thomas in Francis Street and built in the same decade. Despite this, Blackrock still has much to show as a historic town. - Yours, etc., David Watchorn,
Avoca Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.