River Poddle
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The River Poddle, one of the best known of the fifty or so watercourses of Dublin, is the source, from a pool once on its course, of the name "Dublin." Rising in Fettercairn, today part of Tallaght, the Poddle eventually flows into the Liffey in the city centre.
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[edit] Course
The Poddle begins as the Tymon River in the Dublin Mountains. Additional ponds were added to its course when Tymon Park was formed in the 1980s and 1990s. It flows from the greater Tallaght area through Templeogue, where its volume was increased for over 700 years by a significant input of water diverted from the River Dodder by the three kilometre first section of the City Watercourse.
The river is split at "The Tongue" at Mount Argus, Kimmage, with one third of the flow forming the second section of the City Watercourse, heading for Dolphin's Barn, and two thirds continuing in the original river bed. In the 1990s, changes were made in the Kimmage area, including the addition of a large fountain to the river.
The two flows later recombine, and pass under the south city centre in culvert. The final stages of the river's flow are complex, with waters separating and joining - linked flows include the Tenter Water, and the river is joined by the Commons Water. The current main course is itself a diversion of the original course, which lay further east.
Nowadays much of the lower course of the Poddle is in a large brick tunnel under city streets, and Dublin Castle, and while access is restricted, is walkable.
The confluence of the Poddle with the Liffey, through a grated opening in the Liffey walls, is visible at low tide, at Wellington Quay.
[edit] Dubh Linn
Formerly the Poddle formed a large pool where it joined the Liffey, the Dubh Linn (black pool in the Irish meaning or deep pond in the Norse meaning), a place now the site of the Coach House and Castle Gardens of Dublin Castle - either of these are the origin of Dublin's name in English. During the ninth century vikings established the Kings of Dublin, as the area became a stronghold for Norse invaders of Northern Europe.
[edit] History
In 1592, Red Hugh O'Donnell and Art O'Neill escaped from Dublin Castle via a drain into the Poddle, which runs under the Castle from Ship Street gate to the Chapel Royal and the Undercroft. The Poddle was later used to provide a water defence for the south wall of the castle.
During the late nineteenth-century the Poddle, by then culverted, caused regular flooding and constant dampness in St Patrick's Cathedral. During a major reconstruction of the cathedral, the graves of Dean Jonathan Swift and Stella were moved to their present location, due to the problem of the Poddle.
[edit] Water supply
The river formed an early source of water for the city, as the Liffey was tidal within the city area, and undrinkable. By the 13th century the water supply was inadequate and a deal was made in 1244 with the Priory of St. Thomas to divert water from the Dodder, at the weir at Balrothery near Firhouse, to the Poddle to increase the water flow. This connection was allowed to dry out in the late 20th century, and only a limited part carries water, though ample visible evidence of the watercourse is available to see - the sluices and channel on the north side of the Firhouse weir still stand. This watercourse connected with the Poddle River, adding greatly to its flow, north of Templeogue House.
[edit] See also
[edit] Primary source
- Dublin, Ireland: Sweeney, Clair; The Rivers of Dublin; Dublin Corporation
[edit] Notes, references and links
- A history of Dublins' water supply
- Details of stones found in Poddle Culvert in 1901
- Details of finds near Poddle culvert
- Dublin Castle History - mention of Poddle
- Tymon Regional Park - mentions where Poddle rises
- Pictures and short video of the Abbey stream, River Poddle, in Blackpitts, Dublin
- Urban Tales program on RTE Tracks the history of the Poddle
