A number of suggestions have been made about commemorating the Brian Boru pub in Glasnevin after it is knocked down to make way for the Metrolink.
During the most recent set of hearings about the Metrolink, pub owner Michael Hedigan said that the planned Glasnevin station on the Metrolink route could be named after the pub.
Hedigan told the hearings that the pub is a “huge part” of Glasnevin’s history, and said “we want to make sure that the presence of the Brian Boru on this site is recorded property”.
“If the Brian Boru has to go, we would like it to be remembered correctly and properly.”
First built in the 1840s as part of a row of houses, the pub has been in the Hedigan family since 1904.
Hedigan acknowledged that the planned station is “probably the most important site on the MetroLink and we’re just a cog in that wheel” owing to its location on the proposed route.
“We have a premises that four generations of my family have spent about 175 years working in and looking after our customers in Glasnevin, which we are very proud of.”
He said that if the pub is knocked down, it will be “sorely missed not only by the community and customers in Glasnevin but in the wider Dublin area”.
“We’ve spent a long time of looking after the people in Glasnevin and the wider Dublin area and it seems like we’re just getting caught in the middle here,” he said.
Metrolink project director Aidan Foley said that Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which is over the project “regrets that there is a need to acquire the property” for the project to proceed as planned.
He acknowledged that the Brian Boru is “a much-loved institution in Glasnevin.”
Foley said it would be “fitting” that the station marks the presence in some way, be it directly naming the station Brian Boru or incorporating the gold nameplate that has adorned the pub for over 100 years into the design of the new station.
“We’re very happy to work with you to try to come up with such an arrangement,” he said.
Foley said TII’s interactions with the Hedigans have always been “very productive and collaborative.”
“We appreciate how you have worked with us over the years in what are very difficult considerations,” he said.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe appeared before the committee and suggested that the Glasnevin station should be named Cross Guns in reference to the local bridge.
The proposed route will start at the Estuary station in Swords before taking in Seatown, Swords Central and Fosterstown before serving Dublin Airport itself.
Following on from Dublin Airport, the line will travel down to Northwood, Ballymun, Griffith Avenue, Glasnevin, the Mater and onto O’Connell Street before heading Southside.
It is estimated that the Metrolink will be able to carry 21,000 passengers per hour, helping significantly reduce congestion in Dublin.