building misc

Pair of reinforced concrete bathing shelters, built 1934. Rear wall curving to form roof, side walls to short ends, open-sided to front (southwest) elevation. Concrete support for bench to interior, timber seat now missing. Painted lettering to rear elevation 'Ladies bathing Shelter' to rear of shelter, translation in Irish in Gaelic script to shelter to southeast. Concrete steps leading to shore from front, with steel handrails. Situated to southwest side of promenade to Bull Wall.

This pair of bathing shelters situated along the North Bull Wall were constructed in the mid-twentieth century, apparently to provide an additional facility for female bathers. Their simple, functional form takes advantage of the material properties of concrete. The lettering to the rear, particularly the Gaelic script, adds artistic and contextual interest, manifesting a desire to foster a sense of national identity. The provision of bathing shelters is indicative of the continued popularity of outdoor recreation in the middle of the twentieth century, and of the popularity of Dollymount strand as a bathing area for the residents of Dublin City and the northern suburbs.