Dun Laoghaire Piers

The harbour was built between 1817 and 1842 as an asylum harbour - a refuge for ships caught in Dublin Bay, after a storm in 1807 wrecked two vessels with heavy loss of life. The two piers enclosing it were built from granite quarried at Dalkey Hill and brought down by a funicular railway, cut and laid by hand by up to a thousand men over decades, and when finished it was the largest artificial harbour in the world. The East Pier is about 1.3 kilometres with a bandstand, a lighthouse at the end and an upper and lower level; the West Pier is longer, rougher, unsurfaced in parts and much quieter. Walking one or both is a fixed south Dublin habit, particularly on Sundays, and the ice cream at the end of the East Pier is part of the ritual. The Forty Foot and the Joyce Tower are a short walk along the coast.

What you actually see

• The granite construction - quarried at Dalkey and laid by hand over forty years.
• The East Pier - 1.3 kilometres with a bandstand and lighthouse.
• The West Pier - longer, rougher and far quieter.
• The bay - Howth across the water and the Wicklow hills south.

When to go

Any season - it is walked year-round, and winter weather on the piers is part of the appeal. Sunday afternoons are the busiest by a wide margin. Piers close in storm conditions.

Honest expectations

The East Pier is crowded at weekends. The West Pier is uneven underfoot and unlit. Both are exposed and can be closed in storms. The car ferry to Holyhead no longer runs, so the harbour is quieter than it once was.

Nearby

The Forty Foot and the James Joyce Tower are a short walk south; Dalkey is beyond.