The Merrion Gates () is a railway

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

in Merrion/

Sandymount Sandymount () is a coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

, Dublin, Ireland, where the DART and

Dublin–Rosslare railway line The Dublin-Rosslare Main Line is a main rail route between Dublin Connolly railway station, Dublin Connolly station and Rosslare Europort railway station, Rosslare Europort, where it connects with ferry services to the United Kingdom and mainland ...

crosses Strand Road near its junction with Merrion Road. There is pedestrian access to

Sandymount Strand Sandymount Strand () is a large strand on the east coast of Ireland, adjacent to the village and suburb of Sandymount in Dublin. It is part of South Bull - a major component of the south side of Dublin Bay, and part of the Dublin Bay Biosphere ...

immediately to the east of the railway crossing. First built in 1834, the junction is a "notorious" traffic bottleneck, which also restricts the possible frequency of railway traffic. The term "Merrion Gates" is sometimes used to refer to the surrounding area, and a number of nearby businesses take their name from the junction.

History

The Merrion Gates site is close to the former

Merrion Castle Merrion Castle was a castle situated about 300m south of the present-day Merrion Gates, to the south of Dublin city centre. Built in the early fourteenth century, it was from the sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century the principal s ...

, which was destroyed during the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

. The railway line and gates were built in 1834 by the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, at a site described in some sources as a "symbolic entry point to the inner city". Important passengers, who travelled to Dublin by train from

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

port, were sometimes greeted at the Merrion Gates – including the

Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

in advance of the 1932 Eucharistic Congress. In 1921, during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

, the Merrion Gates were the site of an ambush and shootout which resulted in the deaths of two civilians. Merrion_Gates_Old_Station

The Merrion Gates railway crossing lies just north of the former Merrion railway station. This station opened in 1835 and closed in 1935. Neighbouring stations still in operation include Sydney Parade to the north and

Booterstown Booterstown () is a coastal suburb of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is also a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the modern county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is situated about south of Dublin ...

to the south.

Development proposals

As of the early 21st century, the Merrion Gates are a well-known and "notorious" traffic bottleneck, where the gates have been reportedly "closed for up to 20 minutes per hour at peak times". In 2016, the National Transport Authority unveiled a proposal to close the Merrion Gates and to divert motor traffic onto a new road bridge to be built over the railway approximately 250 metres to the north. The proposal expected that pedestrian and cycle traffic would be routed through a tunnel under the crossing. As of mid-2018, these proposals had reportedly been "shelved".

References

{{coord, 53.316388, -6.204953, type:landmark, display=title Merrion, Dublin Transport in County Dublin Railway stations in the Republic of Ireland closed in 1935 Townlands of County Dublin Dublin (barony)