The original seaside resort

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http://www.heygo.com 27th February - The original seaside - Bray



In medieval times, Bray was on the southern border of the Pale. It is on the borders of Dublin and Wicklow and at the edge of what was once ‘English-controlled’ government based in Dublin Castle known as the ‘pale. To venture any further, into areas not controlled by the English was considered to travel in dangerous country and was unacceptable, hence the phrase ‘beyond the pale’.



The development of the town that we see today is largely attributed to William Dargan a railway entrepreneur in the 19th Century. Thanks to the arrival of the railway in 1834, the bustling town developed as a popular seaside resort and became known as the “Brighton of Ireland”.



Eamonn Quinn bought two sites in the town - one was a field, and the second was the Eagle's Nest Restaurant and Ballroom high above the field. There was one problem, however, how to connect the two? The incline was too steep from the original site to the Eagle's Nest to be walked comfortably. So, Mr Quinn hit on the novel idea of the chair lift, which his son Feargal said "would open up Bray Head and the Eagle's Nest to greater numbers of people".



It ran successfully from 1950 to 1970 without any serious incident, and Feargal Quinn remembers queues forming from 10am on summer mornings.

The chairlift would ferry passengers up to the Eagle's Nest for morning coffee, as they set out for the day, with some heading as far as the viewing point built for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee in 1887.



The Bray Head Hotel boasts a famous film history, having had such movies as The Commitments, Breakfast on Pluto and My Left foot filmed within its walls. The hotel was built in the 1860s, during Brays boom in tourism along the seafront.

Sadly the building now has been empty for some years and is looking rather sad.



It was a beautiful morning as we strolled part way along the beautiful promenade.

The mile long promenade was one of Dargan’s projects. He realised the seafront was the towns most important assets and need to be exploited to its fullest. He leased the ground running parallel to the shore. He cleared it and planted seed and made it into a grassy promenade; this work was completed in 1859.



The sun was shining at 8am when we started and it looks like it is going to stay all day In Bray, but I’ve got another tour and a flower demonstration to see later so I’ll bid you farewell until later.

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