Survey Data
Reg No
50030115
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Technical
Original Use
Building misc
Date
1890 - 1905
Coordinates
320552, 235776
Date Recorded
05/12/2014
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding finial-topped cast-iron transformer, c.1900, on a circular plan on repointed cut-granite plinth. Road fronted on a corner site.
Appraisal
An eye-catching transformer installed by the Dublin United Tramways Company (DUTC) when the tram service between Dollymount and Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, horse-drawn from its inception in 1880, was converted to electricity on the 19th March 1899. The crisp castings include the Dublin City arms and motto ("OBEDIENTIA CIVIUM URBIS FELICITAS") but, unusually, exclude the name of the foundry who supplied the transformer: similar cylindrical transformers in England carry the name of The British Electric Transformer Company (established 1903) of Hayes in Middlesex.