Sunday 20 November 2011

White Cottage, 5pm, Killiney Beach, Co.Dublin.


While taking a walk on Killiney Beach in Dublin with my father last summer we came upon these ruins, covered in graffiti, consumed with overgrowth and beer cans. A sad place, but I couldn't quite make out what it was originally, a strange mish-mash of rooms tacked on to one another with the most spectacular glassless panoramic views of Killiney bay. The cheap ruins of a make-shift building in a priceless location.

Then my father began to tell me stories of when he used to go there in the 1950s and 60s. There was a lady living there, during the day she'd bring big pots of tea out on the beach and sell them to people. Then in the evening the place would come alive with bands playing music, people dancing and singing.

Roaming around the now neglected ruins my father reminisced , 'We'd stay up until all hours singing and dancing. Everyone would go there. You could drive your car right down to the place.'

I decided to return to the cottage today with my camera, to capture a place that once was. This evening as I walked away from the building I looked back and began to see it in a whole new light. I could almost hear the live music carrying from it's windows and the trains thundering above it, bringing more party goers to join the foray. The sound of their laughing voices, frenzied chatter and engines purring to a park. The bewitching hour brought it alive again, just for a few moments.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos of what is still a beautiful place. It was our family home. My father was born there and my grandmother. I would love to hear your father's stories of visiting and of the dances. Do you think he would send me an email? I am going to try to collate these this summer before the last opeople to remember those days forget. Simone (My email is simonelgeorge@gmail.com)

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  2. Bewitching hour is right! Awesome shot at dusk, when you looked back. Love these.

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  3. Hi Alva, Would you be receptive to allowing one of your Killiney photos(inside the cottage) to be used in a piece about the Strand and the area that I am working on?
    Regards,
    Roy Stokes - roystokes@eircom.net

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Alva, Would you be receptive to allowing one of your Killiney photos(inside the cottage) to be used in a piece about the Strand and the area that I am working on?
    Regards,
    Roy Stokes - roystokes@eircom.net

    ReplyDelete
  5. Spent many a night in that derelict
    Building listening to music by a fire
    And the enchanting sounds of the sea
    Waiting for the sun to look over the horizon at dawn
    Great memories and pictures
    Glad it's been renovated and not leveled like so many buildings these days long may it reign by the waves %

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