William Sadler II c.1782-1839

SOLD

View of the Great South Wall and the Pigeon House, Dublin

Oil on wood, 21.3 x 31 cm.

The Great South Wall extends from the tip of Poolbeg peninsula more than four kilometres out into Dublin Bay. The project was undertaken due to Dublin Bay’s long-running issue with silting. The wall would increase the depth of the channel of the River Liffey and provide safe shelter for boats and ships. Beginning in 1707, the project took over a century to complete, with major construction beginning in 1717. While the Pigeon House sheltered travellers for decades, plans for the Pigeon House Harbour began in earnest in 1791, with the Pigeon House Hotel opening in 1793. The Pigeon House Fort was created following the outbreak of the 1798 Rebellion, leading to a military-occupied harbour. To the right of this picture, a battery of cannon peers out of a wall, trained on the roadway and, unnervingly, toward the viewer. To the left is Poolbeg Lighthouse, positioned at the end of the Great South Wall. First lit by candlepower in 1767, this picture presents a white, squat-shaped lighthouse, dating the picture to before 1820 when the lighthouse was redesigned and rebuilt into its present form. (For more, see Brendan Rooney, Sadler’s Wall, The Wild Apple Press, 2004.)