Dublin's most famous dock.

Grand Canal Dock opened in 1796 and although it has changed immeasurably since then, there are some landmarks of old to remind us of days gone by.

The Design Tower, located at Grand Canal Quay, was built in 1862 as a sugar refinery by a company called Bewley, Moss and Co. It is one of the first multi-storey buildings in the world to have a steel skeletal structure.

The sugar refinery was open until 1900, when it became a foundry. Today the Design Tower is home to 26 craft people working in materials like silver, gold, leather and ceramics. 

The studios are open to visitors by appointment sopeople can visit to see the artisans at work and perhaps take some unique pieces home. 

Boland’s Mill, sitting on the Inner Dock, was one of the original buildings when the dock was opened in 1796. The concrete structures, which were the hoppers for grain, were added between 1940 and 1960. 

At one stage Boland’s owned all of the buildings surround this inner dock. It closed down in the late 1980s and planning permission has recently been granted for a multi-use development which will retain the listed buildings and remove the newer concrete elements.

Visitors can take a pleasant stroll up to the three sea locks which allowed ships to enter and leave the Grand Canal Dock from the River Liffey. 

The biggest is called ‘Camden Lock’ and the others, ‘Buckingham Lock’ and ‘Westmoreland Lock.’ These were named after the subscribers to the Grand Canal Company, shareholders in today’s company structure. 

Buckingham Lock is operational today, while it would originally have been opened by men using winches now it is opened electrically. 

Take time to imagine a constant stream of boats coming through here laden with goods and freight, the basin filled with up to 150 boats tied up being loaded or unloaded all by hand by dockers working a 10–14 hour day in summer.

To explore more in Grand Canal Dock click here.