Poulaphouca, officially Pollaphuca (), is the name of a waterfall and bridge on the River Liffey between County Wicklow and County Kildare. It is primarily known for its hydroelectric generating station and the associated artificial lake, known as

Poulaphouca Reservoir Poulaphouca Reservoir, officially Pollaphuca (), is an active reservoir (for both water supply and electricity generation) and area of wild bird conservation in west County Wicklow, Ireland named after the Poulaphouca waterfall on its south-west ...

, Poulaphouca Lake, or

Blessington Blessington, historically known as Ballycomeen (, from the Irish surname ''Ó Coimín''), is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow, Ireland, near the border with County Kildare. It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin, and is sit ...

Lakes. The once-famous Poulaphouca Waterfall has little water running over it any longer because of the hydroelectric project.

Poulaphouca waterfall and bridge

A waterfall immediately west of the bridge, renowned as a beauty spot from at least the 18th century, was lost with the construction of the Poulaphouca Reservoir. The waterfall, marked as '''Poolapooka - a remarkable cataract''' on Noble & Keenan's map of 1752, is depicted and described in the ''Post-Chaise Companion'' of 1786, when Ballymore parish was still within Dublin: Both Pollaphuca Bridge and a second bridge, crossing a dry gorge 150m to the southwest, were designed by

Alexander Nimmo Alexander Nimmo FRSE MRIA MICE HFGS (1783 – January 20, 1832) was a Scottish civil engineer and geologist active in early 19th-century Ireland. Life and career Nimmo was born in Cupar, Fife in 1783, the son of a watchmaker, and grew up in ...

in Gothic style and built between 1822 and 1827 for a total cost of £4,704. Poulaphouca Bridge replaced Horsepass Bridge to the northeast, now under Poulaphouca Reservoir. Wright's ''Guide to the County of Wicklow'' describes the bridge and waterfall in 1827:

Rail connection

A four-and-a-half-mile extension of the

Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway The Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway (DBST), later the Blessington and Poulaphouca Steam Tramway, operated steam-powered trams between Terenure in Dublin and Blessington in Co. Wicklow from 1888 until 1932. History On Wednesday, August 1, 188 ...

terminated at Poulaphouca. It was built by the Blessington and Poulaphouca Steam Tramway and opened on 1 May 1895. Service ended in 1932.Ticket to hide
12 June 2005, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. Retrieved on 25-07-06. The ticket office survives as a private residence immediately northeast of the bridge on the

N81 road The N81 road is a national secondary road in Ireland, from the M50 motorway to Tullow, County Carlow, north to south. The N81 continues past Tullow for another 8 km to terminate at the village of Closh, County Carlow, where it intersects the ...

References in media

* In

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's novel '' Ulysses'', Poulaphouca is the site of a childhood indiscretion ( masturbation) by protagonist

Leopold Bloom Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/ Odysseus in Homer's epic ...

, who hallucinates the waterfall as a speaking character in the chapter "Circe".

References

External links

ESB history of hydroelectricity development2005 ''Irish Independent'' article about the sale of the Tramway House at PoulaphoucaBeneath the Poulaphuca ReservoirEarly photograph of Poulaphouca Bridge and Waterfall on South Dublin County Council Libraries Website
{{Electricity generation in Ireland Towns and villages in County Wicklow Reservoirs in the Republic of Ireland

Poulaphouca waterfall and bridge

Rail connection

References in media

See also

References

External links