Spencer Dock () is a former

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

area, close to where the

Royal Canal The Royal Canal () is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from Dublin to Longford in Ireland. It is one of two canals from Dublin to the River Shannon and was built in direct competition to the Grand Canal. Th ...

meets the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

, in the North Wall area of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. As of the 21st century, the area has been redeveloped with occupants of the Spencer Dock development including the

Convention Centre Dublin The Convention Centre Dublin () is a convention centre in the Dublin Docklands, Ireland. The Convention centre overlooks the River Liffey at Spencer Dock. It was designed by the Irish-born American architect Kevin Roche. Construction started i ...

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

' Irish headquarters,

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

and

TMF Group TMF Group B.V. (''Trust Management Finance'') is a Dutch multinational professional services firm headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, providing accounting, tax, HR administration and global payroll services. As of October 2023, the company ...

. The

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 2 ...

and NTMA have offices in the nearby Dublin Landings development. The main building in the area was previously the former

North Wall railway station North Wall was one of Dublin's six original rail termini, the others being Westland Row (now Pearse Station), Amiens Street (now Connolly Station), Kingsbridge (now Heuston Station), Broadstone and Harcourt Street (now a bar and nightclub c ...

which formed the terminus bringing goods and passengers to the quays.

History

The dockland area was originally part of the end of the

, which still reaches the

here.

1873 docks complex

The dock was constructed in 1873 to accommodate the coal ships and other barges primarily of the Midland Great Western Railway Company and served as both a railway and canal depot. The original Sheriff Street Drawbridge was constructed in 1873 but replaced by the Sheriff Street Lifting Bridge in 1941. The name relates to

John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer (27 October 1835 – 13 August 1910), known as Viscount Althorp from 1845 to 1857 (and also known as the "Red Earl" because of his distinctive long red beard), was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party ...

and

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

; who opened the docks complex in 1873; conferring a knighthood on MGWR chairman Ralph Cusack at the same time.

Modern Spencer Dock development

Most of the 206,000 m² (51 acre) site now known as ''Spencer Dock'' was owned by Córas Iompair Éireann for much of the 20th century. With increasing land values in the early 2000s and as the freight yards became surplus to requirements, it sold the land on to Treasury Holdings while retaining a 17.5% interest in the freehold. CIÉ later also sold its minority holding to a property fund managed by Davy Group. All 614 apartments in the development were sold to private buyers. Following the appointment of receivers over the office property, the office complex was sold in its entirety for €242m in 2016.

Geography

The original area was Spencer Dock area was defined by a ribbon of development from the Liffey along the

up to about the Main Dublin to Belfast railway line, the two parts of Spencer Dock being separated by the bridge at Sheriff Street and separated from the Liffey by a sea lock. The modern development is defined as being part of the North Wall area of

Dublin Docklands Dublin Docklands () is an area of the city of Dublin, Ireland, on both sides of the River Liffey, roughly from Talbot Memorial Bridge eastwards to the 3Arena (Dublin), 3Arena. It mainly falls within the city's List of Dublin postal districts ...

. The

Point Village The Point Village is a commercial and residential development in the North Wall area of Dublin, Ireland. The elements of the €800 million development completed to date include offices and residential and hotel accommodation, a small shopping c ...

area lies to the east with

claiming to be a small area between the two. One focal point of the area is the Luas tram stop and the adjacent park.

Infrastructure

Rail

Spencer Dock is served by the

Docklands railway station Docklands Station (''Stáisiún Dugthailte'', also known as ''Ceantar na nDugaí'') is a terminus railway station serving the Dublin Docklands area in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is owned and operated by Iarnród Éireann and was part of the ...

on Sheriff Street, at the north end of the site. Commuter services to the

area on the Western Commuter line began in March 2007. Under the Transport 21 initiative, at one time due for completion by 2018, the station was to move south to a permanent location along New Wapping Street. This station, proposed to connect to an extended

Luas Luas (, Irish language, Irish: ; meaning 'speed') is a tram system in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line (Luas), Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line (Luas), Red Line ...

Red line, was deferred due to the

Post-2008 Irish economic downturn The post-2008 Irish economic downturn in the Republic of Ireland, coincided with a Post-2008 Irish banking crisis, series of banking scandals, followed the 1990s and 2000s Celtic Tiger period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign dire ...

Luas

The

Red Line which runs from Tallaght or Saggart to The Point (via Busáras and Heuston railway station) has a stop for Spencer Dock.

Dublin Bikes

In 2014, two Dublin Bikes stations were opened, one at Guild Street and another at the convention centre.

Bridges

The Sheriff Street Lifting Bridge was installed between 1939 and 1941. A single-span

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

, it replaces the earlier James Price designed swivel bridge of 1873 which was the first mechanical crossing of Spencer Dock, and separated its inner and outer portions. The Spencer Dock Bridge carries road, Luas and pedestrian traffic from Dublin over the

into the Spencer Dock area. The Spencer Dock Luas stop is some 200m to the east. The bridge 200m north of where the Royal Canal meets the Liffey, while the Sheriff Street Lifting bridge carrying the R101 road is a further 160m north. The bridge has a shallow desk of just thick while the width varies from to .

References

Sources

* *

External links

Luas Spencer Dock Live information websiteIrish Rail Docklands Railway station website
Dublin Docklands North Wall, Dublin Places in Dublin (city)