The River Liffey - your stories

LiffeyCrew

Hi there,

We are looking for your contributions.

We need:
Your stories - whether you are a fisherman, canoeist, walker, or just live close by. How has the river played a part in your life?
Do you know any ghost stories or folklore related to the Liffey?
Poetry - have you written any poetry inspired by the Liffey?
Your photography - are you a keen photographer who works near the liffey? and would like to have some of your works posted to our website.

The 'time in the slime': remember the millenium clock... what did you think of it?

I am one of 5 students working on a "River Liffey" themed multimedia project.

our plan is to create a website to post stories to.
In the meantime you could post any stories you may have here.
or
email them to us at liffeycrew@hotmail.com

Looking forward to hearing from you.
-Gordon

Asok

I pushed a homeless person into the liffey once....they didnt re surface.

alleepally

on the flipside to the bizarre poster before me (how can that be even considered remotely funny). There was the homeless guy who got a person of the year award some years back. He saved someone who was drowning in the Liffey. Just mentioning it in case you mised it but also to counter the previous poster.

billy the squid

I remember getting of the train and leaving heuston station only to be almost paralized by the stink of the poloution out of the liffey.

I was in dublin for the fist time in about 7 years last week and noticed the river is a whole lot cleaner than it used to be.

I still have some of the postcards from the millennium clock. Back 32,000,000 seconds before the year 2000.

Oriel

I once counted 49 plastic bottles between O'Connell Bridge and the Ha'penny bridge...
I can get you photographs if you want. I'm a keen photographer.






I really am...





Seeing a cat being thrown in there was the bes....worst though. That just just...erm...sick...

Kobie

I recall some canoeists having a race in the liffey a few years back & half of them having to go to hospital afterwards - one of them to intensive care.

I don't think Dubs have too high a regard for the river running through our city.

BuffyBot

Didn't a Bus Eireann coach fall into it a year or two ago?

Kobie

So basically everybody's memories of the Liffey revolve around somebody or something falling into it

Civilian_Target

No, I think it was a big truck. Went straight through the quay wall. I remember laughing at the photo in the paper, and then feeling bad whem I thought the driver could have drowned (but I don't think he did).

Kobie

No difiniitely a Bus Eireann bus - I remember somebody sent around a screen shot from the Irish Times web site where they showed a picture of the bus herad first into the Liffey with an ad for Bus Eireann along the top banner. Now that's advertising you just can't pay for!!

Actaully, was this the one were the homeless guy helped get the driver out?

Evil Phil

Originally posted by BuffyBot
Didn't a Bus Eireann coach fall into it a year or two ago?

Yes it was a Bus Eireann coach and the driver was rescued by a homeless man, who I believe won an award/medal for his bravery. Was this the person already mentioned? I don't know but it may be.

po0k

Originally posted by alleepally
on the flipside to the bizarre poster before me (how can that be even considered remotely funny)......

I laughed

Seinfeld

HELPFUL VOMMENTS ONLY PLEASE, NO HOMO EROTIC FANTASIES

Originally posted by Asok
I pushed a homeless person into the liffey once....they didnt re surface.

Asok

It wasnt a joke.

K2

I once helped the guards pull a body out of the river. It was 1986 i think, and I was still doing a lot of canoeing at the time. The poor ould dear had been in care (am I allowed to say she was mad?) but disappeared one day. Anyhow she was missing about a month and at the time was a big tree was down on the wrens nest weir and the body ended up lodged there. I can still remember the smell, what a sad way to go..

Actually, in 1994 I found a body in Dalky quarry, I had stopped canoeing and was into climbing, he had jumped (or so the inquest said). I won't describe the remains but I knew he was dead just by looking at him, your head just doesn't go around that far.

Seinfeld

Was that the dude who jumped over near Jameson Ten?

Krusty_Clown

There were two American tourists taking some video footage of city scenery on O'Connell Bridge, when a dead horse floated by (in the Liffey, that is)..
It was on the news, in the papers.. Do a search for it in the Irish Times, you'll probably find it.. Happened about 4/5 years ago..

I've also heard stories about a number of people picking up infections from doing a tri-athlon, which included a swin in the Liffey..

In fact, searching the web-based Irish Times is probably your best bet. Have a look
here.

You don't need a subscription to search, but you may need one to view the returned hits..
Articles include:
Irish Times Article - Body taken from Liffey
Irish Times Article - Liffey Litter
Irish Times Article - Bus driver saves woman from Liffey
Irish Times Article - 71-year-old tourist saves drowning woman in Liffey
Irish Times Article - Body of man recovered from Liffey
Irish Times Article - Accused jumped into Liffey to escape gardai
Irish Times Article - Body of missing teenager taken from Liffey
Irish Times Article - Vandalised crane in the Liffey leads to gridlock
Irish Times Article - Liffey's red hue leaves council baffled
and many many more..

JazzyJ

It was a Bus Eireann bus first, then a little later when they'd fixed the wall a truck smashed through the exact same place - just outside Tara St. Station. Bizarre.

beer enigma

D'you remember that girl last year who was riding her new moped along the keys & clipped the kerb - went straight over the handlebars & over the liffey wall -how bad luck was that !!

She was alright, landed flat on her back on the mud as the tide was out....

Dr. Loon

Originally posted by K2
I once helped the guards pull a body out of the river.

Actually, in 1994 I found a body in Dalky quarry,

I think you're a murderer.

entropi

Originally posted by Civilian_Target
No, I think it was a big truck. Went straight through the quay wall. I remember laughing at the photo in the paper, and then feeling bad whem I thought the driver could have drowned (but I don't think he did).

Yes, you are right about this, but it was more like 5 years ago... happened just down from where i live and seen it happen as i live facing the liffey.

Articulated truck it was .. good thing the tide was in or bye bye driver imo.

zoro

*shameless plug*
www.openwaterraces.ie

I like the liffey - I swam in it a few years ago! :eek:

It's the pinnacle of the Open Water Races season, and it's one hell of a day

K2

Originally posted by Dr. Loon
I think you're a murderer.

Nah, just lucky:D . I have a mate who came across the body of a dead climber in Scotland a few years back. In his wisdom he decided the poor soul who have no further use for his climbing gear and proceed to strip the body of it, at least I gave the bodies back with all their personal effects!

Fabritzo

A truck went through the wall and fell in, it took them what seemed like a year to rebuild the wall. Then Johnny Bus Eireann driver came along and drove through the newly rebuilt wall again.

robbie1876

A good few years ago I was with a band that were going to do a gig on a pontoon in the middle of the Liffey near O'Connell bridge. It was a promotional thing for Cadbury's, if I remember right.

We were setting up our equipment on the pontoon which was moored in Dublin docks, and was going to be towed up the river and anchored in place.

However, the drummer slipped while he was setting up and half fell into the river before someone caught him. His snare stand fell into the river and was lost. He threw a big tantrum and wouldn't play.

So we took down all the gear and went home...

Emmo

The millenium clock is still in there isnt it?

Emmo

BlitzKrieg

i remember there being a sign on one of the bridges which lists all the diseases you can catch if you swam in the liffey...Think it continued for another 3 bridges (jk)

LiffeyCrew

does anyone remeber the ferry service you could use on the liffey?

It stopped in 1984. Maybe some of you were on it. I think it ran between the custom house and the point theatre...

pork99

There were a couple of summers in the mid-1980s when the Liffey in central Dublin was swarming with fish. You could stand on any bridge or quayside and watch these huge shoals of biggish fish swimming around. Anyone else remember this?

Flashling

One time, when I was 6, my pet rock, Flakes, fell into the sea in galway. The next year I saw something alot like Flakes in the Liffey. My Mom had to hold me back. I miss that rock.....

Only Human

I heard if you fall in that you have to swim to the side and wait for a decontamination team to come clean you up before you can do anything else!

How come we didnt get a 40 foot statue of michael jackson floating down the liffey

flogen

I think the bridges might have been a bit of trouble.... ah sure, so what?? Newsflash, jackson gets closelined by O Connell Bridge.!!!

And K2, thats the last time I trust a climber, you scabby gits!!! HAVE SOME RESPECT!! :P

Flogen

Dont be at yourself

A friend of mine (no, really) swam across the Liffey when pissed one night. His phone wasn't working afterwards though, so he had to borrow a phone off a hobo to get in touch with his mates. Apparently it was a big mad camera phone and everything, the stinking rich hobo!

I'd say everyone in Dublin knows someone who tried to swim across the Liffey when drunk.

mad m

Originally posted by pork99
There were a couple of summers in the mid-1980s when the Liffey in central Dublin was swarming with fish. You could stand on any bridge or quayside and watch these huge shoals of biggish fish swimming around. Anyone else remember this?

i certainly do remember could just pop my head over bridge one time and seen those huge fish.....

also to put to this anyone remember couple years ago part of the liffey wall was robbed up beside guinness's,some blokes came along and loaded some of the wall onto a truck,it weighted tons.....

silverside

I heard a rumour that those stones were then used to build a nice wall outside the house of one very well-known construction company boss

EKRIUQ

A scumbay came up to me once when I was crossing O Connel street and told me that if I didn't give him money he'd fcuk me into the liffey

Lady

and what happened?....

zoro

Yeah, did you give him the money? At least he was polite enough to give you the option

EKRIUQ

Originally posted by The Goddess
and what happened?....

I told him to piss off, got to the other side of the street and he just turned around and walk away saying he and his mates would fcuk'n get me

6 years later I'm still waiting

Unpossible

found: one rock answers to the name flakes, found at the mouth of the liffey

pork99

Found a few photos; thanks to the splendid fantasyjackpalance.com

The Liffey was swarming with these guys

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/city/0code2/liffey-fish-1.html

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/city/0code2/liffey-fish-2.html

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/city/0code2/liffey-fish-3.html

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/city/0code2/liffey-fish-4.html

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/city/0code2/liffey-fish-5.html

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/city/0code2/liffey-fish-6.html

Flashling

Originally posted by Unpossible
found: one rock answers to the name flakes, found at the mouth of the liffey

Ca-Ching! *Me wipes tear of joy from eye*
How can I ever repay you?

Unpossible

Im afraid flakes was attacked by a boulder and is now in the big quarry in the sky. I tried flushing flakes down the toilet but that didn't quiet work out so in loving memory im stoking up the barby