Broadstone Plaza

Broadstone (Irish: An Clochán Leathan) is one of the three neighbourhoods that make up present-day Phibsboro in Dublin, Ireland. The most southerly of these, it begins just two kilometres north of Father Mathew Bridge at Ormond Quay. The area is triangular, bounded by Phibsborough Road and Constitution Hill to the West, North Circular Road to the north, and Dorset Street and Bolton Street to the south-east. The postal district for the area is Dublin 7.

The Broadstone Gate provides a key access to the Grangegorman site and has been developed as part of the Luas Cross City works. It was finished as a public plaza and the access provides a major linkage between Grangegorman and Dublin city. The plaza is situated off Constitution Hill on the site of the Old Royal Canal at the former Great Western Railway Station commonly known as Broadstone, and will mark a prominent entrance to the Grangegorman urban quarter.

The Broadstone site, which borders Grangegorman on its east side, was subject to a Part VIII planning process in 2014 in order to facilitate the site development and gate access.

Under the Grangegorman Masterplan, the primary urban path through Grangegorman – St Brendan’s Way will link with the Broadstone Gate which when completed will reach as far as Prussia Street. The link with Broadstone can also be seen as an extension to the 18^th century historic spine of Dublin City which covered Dublin Castle across Grattan Bridge, along Capel Street/Bolton Street, Henrietta Street and King’s Inn.

In May 2016, the boundary wall dividing Broadstone and Grangegorman was removed, creating a historic pathway joining the two sites for the first time. The Broadstone Gate entrance will mark the first access to the Grangegorman site from Constitution Hill. The Luas Stop at Broadstone opened in late 2017. Works to the Plaza completed in summer 2020.

Photos by Conor Mulhern Photography

Historic use

Settled by Vikings, the area was part of the Manor of Grangegorman, which was famed for its vast orchards. The green was a common, used for pasture and pleasure. Late 18th-century pictures and reports describe a boggy wetland which became a quagmire in wet weather. The original Irish name of Glas Mochanog, anglicised to ‘Glasmanogue’, translates as Monck (variant Minogue) Green. From the Restoration in 1660, the area was used for military parades and pageants to celebrate the Restoration of Charles II, but it was not until the late 18th century and the construction of the Royal Canal that the Broadstone, Mountjoy, and Phibsboro became part of the city proper. Around this time the northern part of the city became fashionable with the Anglo-Irish political and commercial establishment, who made up the ruling and commercial Ascendancy of the emergent semi-autonomous Kingdom of Ireland. Notable among these was the Gardiner family, Earls of Blessington and Viscounts Mountjoy, after which the second Phibsboro neighbourhood of Mountjoy developed. Gardiner Street, Gardiner Place, Gardiner Lane, Gardiner Row, Blessington Street, Blessington Court, Blessington Lane, Blessington Basin, Mountjoy Street, Mountjoy Square, Mountjoy Place and Mountjoy Parade – all in the vicinity – are named for the Mountjoy developer family connections.

Adjacencies

Saint Brendan’s Way, East Quad, Kings Inn

Size

Current use

Entrance to Grangegorman site via St Brendan’s Way, Grangegorman Luas Stop, Public Plaza operated by Dublin City Council

Description of New Facilities

Design Team and Contractor/s Involved

AECOM

Mitchell & Associates

DMOD Architects with TII and GDA

DCC Framework (Works)

TII appointed Mott MacDonald (Designer)

End-user

Members of the public

Programme

Completed in Summer 2020.

Procurement Route