Street Lives: Bindon and the diving bell

The name Blood Stoney Road may put you in mind of Whitechapel streets after a visit from Jack The Ripper, but this Dublin 2 road bears no resemblance to that nightmarish vision.

Indeed, with one side lined by modern apartment blocks and the other mainly taken up by a very large, soulless building, unlike its double-barrelled name, the street is unremarkable. Other than the noteworthy Irishman to which it owes its title, what is interesting about it today is where it leads.

Bindon Blood Stoney (aka: the Father of Irish Concrete), was a Dublin-based port engineer in the 1850s and 1860s, and elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1881. It was his design of the quay walls of the River Liffey that turned the Docklands area into a deepwater port. And if that isn’t impressive enough, he was also the designer of three River Liffey bridges: Butt, Grattan, and O’Connell.

Arguably, his most important inventions were the means to use precast concrete, and the diving bell, which can be seen on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, near the (blood red) Ferryman pub. What with being a husband, father, designer, inventor and engineer, Bindon was a busy man.

Tube in the Cube
In 1909, five months after the death of his son, George, and three short months after retiring, he died in his home on Elgin Road and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery. His life and times are documented in a book by Ronald C Cox, Bindon Blood Stoney: Biography of a Port Engineer (Irish Engineering Publications, 1990).

The north end of Blood Stoney Road is Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Look to the left and you will immediately spot Bindon’s rust-coloured diving bell standing tall directly across from the the Convention Centre (also fondly referred to by locals as The Tube in the Cube) on the other side of the Liffey.

It's less than a five-minute walk from the bell to the Convention Centre thanks to the spectacular Samuel Beckett Bridge. There, you can step back into maritime history on the MV Cill Airne – an unrivalled location for experiencing breathtaking views of the waterfront.

You can enjoy a drink in the Blue River Bistro Bar, or have a meal in Quay 16 Restaurant that serves memorable modern European food in a smart, casual setting.

Poolbeg chimneys
At the south end of Blood Stoney Road is Hanover Quay. To the left are the iconic red and white twin stacks of the Poolbeg chimneys. Turn right and you can't miss the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. There are half a dozen restaurants surrounding the theatre and, if you want to spend a night or two, the new and somewhat surreal Marker Hotel.

Blood Stoney Road today is far less interesting than the accomplished engineer after whom it was named. If you’re interested in a spectacle more thrilling, you would do best to buy a ticket for a show in the theatre up the road.