Spire in Dublin
 

Can someone enlighten us as to the story behind the newer, hugh spire in downtown Dublin? We heard the details on the bus tour but it has completley slipped our minds. Thanks.

There's no real story. It was commissioned to mark the millennium, but was two years late. It occupies the site where Nelson's Pillar stood. The Pillar was blown up by the IRA in 1966 in an effort to liberate Ireland.

Most people I know (particularly my fellow-Dubliners) dislike it, as I do.

I'm with Padraig on this one. There is nothing very interesting about it at all.

Bill

Dubliners have named it "the stiletto in the ghetto". Gotta love the those irreverent titles for monuments and the Dubliners sense of humor.

Don't forget... it's also been called "the skewer in the sewer."

As a Dubliner i'm with Padraig on this one, its such an ugly eyesore, a complete waste of money! A few years back they put a huge clock in the River Liffey, that was a complete disaster, it was meant to countdown the minutes to the millennium,but it never worked and it was nicknamed " The chime in the slime"

More spire nicknames - the nail in the pale and the pin in the bin.

Comment from the hop on/off bus driver last October : the erection at the intersection

This post is one of the reasons I love Ireland.

I've always thought it was called the Stiffy on the Liffey ;)

See more details on the spire and Dublin in general at www.thespire.ie .
I think it looks well at night.

I love this thread. Please more Dublin nicknames for monuments. The Tart With the Cart...Please add yours.

IrishEyes, I was trying to remember The Tart With The Cart. I'm laughing as I write this.

Most of these nicknames are contrived by the media. I remember a radio phone-in programme where they tried to get a nickname for the spire.

Other nicknames:
James Joyce statue on Earl Street, where he is represented as a flaneur with a cane: the prick with the stick;
two women, laden with shopping, resting on a bench (near Halfpenny Bridge): the hags with the bags;
a recumbent Anna Livia in a fountain which had been on O'Connell Street but is now in storage until she is re-homed: the whore in the sewer.

Most people I know don't use these nicknames (come to think of it, we don't talk much about these monuments). The nickname I hear most commonly for the Spire is the spike.

Anna Livia = "the Floozie in the Jacuzzi"

It also is supposed to be self cleaning i.e. dir will not stick and its filthy and they I believe are cleaning or planning a clean of it or maybe they also were talking about how it was rusting /not holding up to the weather which it also was meant to do. Myself and most friends would not mind it if it had a purpose i.e. make it bigger like a pillar so you can go to the top and see the city or some type or purpose to it. Waste of our tax money. I would prefer to see the money spent on Temple Street Childrens hospital in the area which could use the cash. Just my rant today :-)

I'm with you on that one Siobhan, its a god awful looking yoke of a thing, money wasted on rubbish, but the Irish Government are good at doing that! Mean while the homeless still roam the city cold and hungry and overlooked.

"The Pillar was blown up by the IRA in 1966 in an effort to liberate Ireland."

I'm clearly missing something here, from who? I get the Northern bit, but why bomb Dublin?

James wrote:""The Pillar was blown up by the IRA in 1966 in an effort to liberate Ireland."
I'm clearly missing something here, from who? I get the Northern bit, but why bomb Dublin?"

I'm not going to get into a political discussion here, as it's not the right place for it. One comment for you, and one question
1. comment: like many Europeans, I have a tendency to use irony.
2. question: If you get the northern bit, please elucidate us, because nobody else seems to understand it (read that in the light of 1 above).

Wickipedia has a couple of good articles about The Stump (Nelson's Pillar) and nicknames of other monuments like The Hags With the Bags and Urination Once Again.

http://tinyurl.com/yazx4n

http://tinyurl.com/yjvxod