A towering view

VISITORS to Glasnevin Cemetery will soon be able to climb to the top of the O’Connell Tower Monument for the first time since 1971.

The stairs were destroyed back then in what was believed to be Loyalist paramilitary explosion in response to the destruction of Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street.

Work on rebuilding the tower’s internal stairway will begin later this month allowing visitors to climb the 168 feet to the top for some of the best views of Dublin.

The e200,000 restoration project is being undertaken as part of a collaboration involving the expertise and craftsmanship of staff from the Office of Public Works and Glasnevin Cemetery.

The work involves the installation of a winding wooden staircase to the top of the tower leading to a new viewing platform, which will accommodate between six and eight people at one time.

Glasnevin is already on an elevated site, some 110 feet above sea level, and the new facility will provide visitors with spectacular views from four windows facing north, south, east and west.

The project was launched at the cemetery last week by Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Brian Hayes.

“It is a particular privilege to be here today to mark the start of work to renovate the stairs of the O’Connell Tower, a monument which is visible from large swathes of north Dublin,

? he said.

“The OPW has partnered with the Glasnevin Trust on many projects in the past, sharing our craftsmanship and expertise and we are delighted to do so again.

“I’m very proud to be collaborating on such an auspicious project and one which will open up this iconic monument to visitors and afford them a unique bird’s eye view of our city.

?

Chairman of Glasnevin Trust, John Green, said restoring the tower had been been a long-held dream for the cemetery and museum.

“The restoration of the stairs completes this task and will establish this iconic monument as one of the

‘must do’ visitor sites in Dublin,

? he continued.

“We are delighted to collaborate so closely with the OPW in completing this work and are grateful for their assistance and expertise, without which the restoration could not have occurred.

“It was the foresight of Daniel O’Connell which forged Glasnevin Cemetery as a site of historical importance, so it is appropriate that, above all others, Glasnevin Trust should honour his memory.

?

Local Fine Gael election candidate, Noel Rock, described the tower restoration as

“another step in unlocking the great tourist potential of our local area

?.

“With the linking of the Botanic Gardens and Glasnevin Museum, the renovation of this Tower, and a number of other measures which I am pushing for, I fully believe that we can continue to boost the vision of Glasnevin and Drumcondra as key tourist destinations in Dublin,

? he said.

“The restoration of this tower will also give our local residents the best views in Dublin – it’s fantastic to have such great amenities on our doorstep, and I intend to continue to push for more such facilities.

?

Glasnevin Museum Historian, Shane MacThomais, is one of the few to have scaled the graveyard’s landmark tower over the past 43 years to admire the birds-eye vista from the top.

“From the tower you can see the Dublin Spire, Poolbeg, the Wicklow Mountains, Dublin Bay and the Colley mountains,

? he said.

The O’Connell Tower is a listed structure and the design challenge for the project is to remain faithful to the original staircase while introducing safety features, such as hand rails, to satisfy modern health and safety demands.