The “U2 Wall” Dublin

Windmill Lane Recording Studio was located just off Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin Docklands. It opened in 1978 and was originally used for the recording of Traditional Irish music. In 1980 the first rock album was recorded at the Studio which opened the flood gates and insured a string of well known world wide musicians and bands would come to use these facilities. This Album was the debut album by Irish rock band U2“Boy”

Windmill Lane became U2 s base for a couple of years before they moved to a building further down the Quay .The studio itself moved to a new location in Ringsend in 1988 and the facility continued as a post production facility until it was sold in 2015.

From the mid 80s up until the Buildings were demolished in 2015 the studio exteriors were covered with graffiti written by fans who had traveled from all over the world to pay homage to there idols.

Although the building was demolished on 3rd of April 2015 to make way for a Apartment / Office complex -the developers did decide to retain a 20 – metre stretch of the graffiti studio wall to be included in the new development. There was also sections of the remaining wall sold off with monies raised going to charities.

In 1988 a year after the release of “The Joshua tree” which was partly recorded at Windmill Lane i was working on a project to photograph the changing Dublin Docklands. I shot a selection of images of the wall using a 35mm camera and some 35mm b+w Kodak Panatomic X fine grain film – I have chosen as selection for this blog .

@ http://www.osheaphotography.com

” The Howth 17″ 115 years of Sailing History

Reaching for the Viceroy © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

Reaching for the Viceroy © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

The Howth 17 Footer is the oldest intact racing one-design class of Keel Boat in the world . The Plans were drawn up originally by Judge W. Herbert Boyd in 1897 . He, been a member of Howth Sailing club and been very familiar with the local rugged sailing conditions designed this gaff- rigged with jackyard topsail Keel Boat.

No1 Rita and No11 Deilginis Photographed during a race up the River Liffey, Dublin Port 2008 © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No1 Rita and No11 Deilginis Photographed during a race up the River Liffey, Dublin Port 2008 © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

The Original fleet of five, Rita, Leila, Silver, Moon, Aura and Hera (still fully functional to-day) were built by John Hilditch in Carrickfergus Northern Ireland and sailed into Howth Harbour in April 1898. Another three boats were added to the fleet in 1900 Pauline, Zaide and Anita. The class increased in number again and by 1913, an additional nine boats were commissioned by Dublin Bay Sailing Club for racing from Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) – Echo, Sylvia, Mimosa, Deilginis, Rosemary, Gladys, Bobolink, Eileen and Nautilus.

The class suffered two losses during the early and mid twentieth century – In 1915 “Silvia” was wrecked beyond repair during an exceptionally severe winter storm while she stood at the head of the slipway at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. And then in 1984 while taking part in a race from Howth to Dun Laoghaire “ Mimosa” sunk off the Baily Lighthouse in difficult South Easterly sea conditions. The quick and brave actions of fellow ‘seventeeners’ ensured that the tragic loss of the Mimosa did not extend to her crew.

The Class was reduced to 15 for much of the 1980’s. However in May 1988 two more boats Isobel and Erica were launched in Howth which restored the class to 17 boats after 73 years. The new Boats were built in a shed in Howth Castle and were the first ones of the class to be built in Howth.

No17 Oona Photographed on the Run © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No17 Oona Photographed on the Run © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

A project to build another boat, that had been started early in the 21st century, was completed in May 2009. The boat was named ‘Sheila’ (following the tradition for many of the class to be given female names ending in ‘a’) after Shelagh Wilkinson, widow of Norman Wilkinson who was the sixth owner of ‘Leila’ for 51 years from 1948 to 1999.

I have enjoyed crewing on these Boats for the last 7 years and during this time I have tried to use my experience to photograph them. Because of the open Cockpit design the crew are very prone to getting wet and so I was limited to the Photographic equipment I could use. Most of my images were taken using a Nikonos-V underwater Camera with a 35mmNikor f2.5 Lens. I used Fujicolour PRO 400H Daylight colour Negative Film . Several of the images were shot using my Nikon D200 Digital Camera with a AF-S Nikkor18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED lens. I have uploaded a selection of my images which I hope you will enjoy. Further information about these Beautiful Boats can be found at http://www.hyc.ie/howthseventeen/default.asp

No3 Leila and No7 Aura Sailing in Dublin Port © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

David O’Shea

Some of the Fleet Sailing down the Sound © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

No20 Sheila The newest Howth 17, Dublin Bay 2009© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

Built in 1907 by Kelly of Portrush No15 Bobolink© David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

Built in 1907 by Kelly of Portrush No15 Bobolink© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

No1 Rita and No3 Leila Photographed sailing past the Baily Lighthouse Howth Summit © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No1 Rita and No3 Leila Photographed sailing past the Baily Lighthouse Howth Summit © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

A family Affair ! Father and Son sailing No7 Aura © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

A family Affair ! Father and Son sailing No7 Aura © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

No17 Oona on the last leg Home© David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No17 Oona on the last leg Home© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

Rock hopping at Casana Rock Howth© David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

Rock hopping at Casana Rock Howth© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

No1 Rita about to hoist there Kite© David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No1 Rita about to hoist there Kite© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

On the Run to the West Mark© David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

On the Run to the West Mark© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

No8 Echo photographed at the Fox Hole near the Baily Howth © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No8 Echo photographed at the Fox Hole near the Baily Howth © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

Getting Ready for a Pier start © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

Getting ready for a pier Start © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

Built in 1988 No18 Erica was named after the original designer WB Boyd's Niece© David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

Built in 1988 No18 Erica was named after the original designer WB Boyd’s Niece© David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

No3 Leila heeling in Dublin Port © David O'Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin www.osheaphotography.com

No3 Leila heeling in Dublin Port © David O’Shea Editorial Photographer Dublin http://www.osheaphotography.com

The Point @ 25

Development of the Point Theatre Dublin 1988 -David O'shea Architectural Photographer Dublin Ireland

The Point Theatre Dublin Docklands Dublin January 1988

The Point Theatre (also known as the Point Depot or simply “the Point”) was a concert and events venue in Ireland‘s Capital City Dublin, which was open from 1988–2007. Over the 19 years its Doors were open more than 2 million people attended its various Events . It was located in Dublin Docklands becide the River Liffey on the North Wall Quay. The Point was closed in the summer of 2007 for a major redevelopment and was rebranded as the O2 in July 2008.

The Point Depot was originally constructed as a goods warehouse for the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1878 at a cost of £308,000

Photograph taken in February 1988 of the Instigator of the Point Depot National Exhibition Centre Mr Harry Crosbie

. In 1987 Local Businessman Mr Harry Crosbie purchased the Derelict Building and the 7.3 acre site for £955,000. During that year it was used by Irish Rock Band U2 to recorded tracks for their 1988 album, “Rattle and Hum“, and footage from the building of performances of the songs “Van Diemen’s Land” and “Desire” appear in the accompanying “Rattle and Hum” movie.

In January 1988 work started on converting the former CIE Point Depot ,still retaining the Grandeur and Elegance of its 19th Century cut stone and red bricked Building, to a multi-purpose top Class exhibition and Conference Centre fitted with all the modern Amenities .

11 months later in November 1988 The Point Depot opened its doors for its first event – Irish Political Party “Fine Gael” had their annual Ard Fheis (Party Conference) at the Venue . Mr Crosbie had spent in excess of 3 million pounds and turned a derelict Building in Dublin Docklands into Ireland’s Largest exhibition and concert venue with a floor area of 138,000 sq.ft (12,821 sq Meters),Seating capacity of 8000, with full facilities, on site car parking ,and a selection of Bars and Restaurants .

I was lucky enough to meet Harry just after he Purchased the Site and expressed an interest in photographing the Transformation of the Building . He agreed to grant full access to undertake the project and as a result i have enjoyed a very strong working relationship with him and the building since .

U2’s Director of Sound Joe O’Herlihy undertakes the first Sound Check -November 1988

2013 Marks the 25th Anniversary of the venue and so for my first Blog to celebrate this, i am going to Post some of the early images i took of the original transformation . All of these images were shot with a 35mm Nikon FM 2 Analogue camera . Most were shot in Black & White . The films used were Kodak tri-x ,Ilford fp4 and Agfapan 100. I used three len’s to shoot most of the project A Nikkor 20mm f3.5 -A Nikkor 28mm f3.5 and a Nikkon 50mm f1.8 E series lens.

David O’shea

http://www.osheaphotography.com