East Wall An Port Thoir | |
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Inner city area | |
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  East Wall Location of East Wall in Dublin | |
| Coordinates:53°21′14″N6°14′06″W / 53.354°N 6.235°W /53.354; -6.235 |
East Wall (Irish:An Port Thoir) is an inner city area of theNorthside ofDublin,Ireland. Built onreclaimed ground in the 1820s, the area is also 30 minutes walk from Dublin's main thoroughfare,O'Connell Street.
East Wall is bounded by West Road to thewest, bySheriff Street Upper to the south, and was bounded byEast Wall Road to thenorth until land reclamation extended that part. It is linked toRingsend by theEast-Link bridge; it is linked toFairview byAnnesley Bridge. The broader region is bounded by Railway lines, the Royal Canal, the River Tolka, the River Liffey and Dublin Port (the Irish Sea), taking in theDublin Docklands, resulting in a readily identifiable area geographically if somewhat separated from the large city which surrounds it.[1] The southern entrance to theDublin Port Tunnel is in East Wall.
East Wall dates from the end of the eighteenth century to the time of the construction of the North Wall. It was originally a working-class area, with many finding employment inDublin Port, adjacent to the area.
On 25 June 1970, the timberyard of James McMahon onEast Wall Road caught on fire causing damages amounting to £1 million and two days later, on 27 June, a diesel store warehouse located beside a block of 9 shops on Church Road was set alight with the fire spreading and gutting each shop.[2] This was part of aseries of fires in the city in 1970.
In the economic boom years from the late 1990s onwards, the area developed rapidly, with the notable addition of theInternational Financial Services Centre (mostly in neighbouring North Wall), andEast Point Business Park on reclaimed land extending East Wall to the north. It has developed rapidly since the late 1990s, and in 2013 regained its status as an officially recognisedvillage within the framework of the Dublin City Development Plan. There has been an increase in the population in recent years to over 5,000.[citation needed] It now contains a number of social organisations across cultural, arts & sporting interests, and it has an award-winning community cultural centre,The Sean O'Casey Centre, which is named after one of its most famous past residents,Seán O'Casey.[3] New businesses have located in the area in recent years.[when?] It is located close to the port area, the financial district and with ease of access to Dublin airport.[citation needed]
East Wall is primarily a residential neighbourhood of around 1,800 households, with a population of approximately 5,000.[citation needed] The area is serviced by shops,St. Joseph's Church, the Sean O'Casey Community Centre, a primary school and recreational facilities (parks, sea and beach) within walking distance. The community centre includes a sports hall, a theatre and a football pitch.[3]St. Barnabas' Church, Dublin would have provided services forChurch of Ireland parishioners, such asSeán O'Casey until it closed in 1965 and the parish merged with that ofNorth Strand. There is also a formerESB building which is being used as atransitional shelter for refugees since November 2022[update], leading to theEast Wall protests.
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