Survey Data
Reg No
50030337
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Previous Name
Dublin Metropolitan Police Station
Original Use
Handball alley
Date
1930 - 1940
Coordinates
318530, 236292
Date Recorded
10/11/2014
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding three-sided handball alley, built c. 1935, having sloped side walls. Currently disused. Yellow brick laid in Flemish bond to outer walls, yellow brick pilasters to south elevation, smooth rendered internal walls, and remains of steel railings atop side walls.
Appraisal
This handball alley forms part of the adjacent Garda Síochána station and was probably constructed as an amenity for the officers. There is a long history of the game of handball in Ireland, with the earliest purpose-built alleys constructed in the late 1700s, and a standardised form, of which this is a well-preserved example, becoming familiar in the early twentieth century. Unusually, it is faced externally with yellow brick, which adds visual interest. It has associations with the cultural nation-building of the early Irish state, and makes an interesting contribution to the architectural diversity of Clontarf.