Dublin Mystery Tunnels

Pablo Sanchez

Hi all,

Just wanted to see if anyone had any stories about secret tunnels running throughout Dublin.

Living in the area i always remember people saying there was a tunnel running from UCD to town, another person said there was a tunnel that lead from Pres Bray to the girls school on the Putland road in Bray.

Personally i have trouble believing any of this but i wanted to see if anyone else had heard similar things!!;)

Fletch123

There are tunnels under UCD, but they're for wires and pipes and I don't think they run to town.

There is a tunnel on the coast at Dalkey beside Loreto. It's boarded up now but originally it led to a well on a rich gentlemans land. He built the tunnel so that he didn't have to look at the plebs. There was an urban legend when I was younger that there was a tunnel from the mainland to Dalkey Island but that it was all closed up because some children died in it when it got flooded. Very weak story, but we believed it when small!

Fringe

There's something about a tunnel in Lakelands in Terenure College that leads to Bushy Park. I've seen the supposed opening in Terenure. It's a water system of some sort.

Tabnabs

Fletch123 wrote: »

There is a tunnel on the coast at Dalkey beside Loreto. It's boarded up now but originally it led to a well on a rich gentlemans land. He built the tunnel so that he didn't have to look at the plebs.

Not the tunnel from Dalkey quarry to Dun Laoghaire by any chance?

TheAlmightyZeus

Here's one for you down at Blackrock Scout Den. Whether its a tunnel or just a well Im not entirely sure about. Was down there a while back pitching a few tents at around 4PM on a Friday and two randomers come strolling down, nod at us and proceed to climb down into the hole. There were gone for 20 mins if not more. Never have taken the time to check it out but must do someday soon.

I like to tell people thats its a shortcut to the Blackrock Shopping Centre car park

Tabnabs

Make up a Caving badge for the scouts and send down a couple of enterprising young lads

dogmatix

Local legends said there was a tunnel from Dundrum castle to one of the local churches (possibly St Naithai's), but no one ever found it and with all the development in Dundrum the last 10 years i'm sure they would have found it by now.

Ron DMC

If anyone's interested there's a fantastic thread in AH that's been going for years now, with some brilliant information on Tunnels all over the country.

The tunnels in UCD by the way are more than just maintenance tunnels, but actually full access tunnels that go all over campus from building to building. They were built in when the campus was developed because of all the student protests in France at the time, and it was decided to be a good option for faculty to get around unseen and riot police to get right into the middle of things without problems.

melekalikimaka

TheAlmightyZeus wrote: »

Here's one for you down at Blackrock Scout Den. Whether its a tunnel or just a well Im not entirely sure about. Was down there a while back pitching a few tents at around 4PM on a Friday and two randomers come strolling down, nod at us and proceed to climb down into the hole. There were gone for 20 mins if not more. Never have taken the time to check it out but must do someday soon.

I like to tell people thats its a shortcut to the Blackrock Shopping Centre car park

was in souts there for years, rumours of a witch kept me away, think its just drainage or sorts, very dirty and dodge looking, would be jumpin in for fun any time soon

Fletch123

Dyflin wrote: »

Not the tunnel from Dalkey quarry to Dun Laoghaire by any chance?

No, there isn't a tunnel from Dalkey to Dun Laoghaire, you're probably thinking of the Metals, the old mining cart route used to transport granite from Dalkey quarry to the pier at Dun Laoghaire. You can still see some of the track marks up on Dalkey Hill.

pork99

Fringe wrote: »

There's something about a tunnel in Lakelands in Terenure College that leads to Bushy Park. I've seen the supposed opening in Terenure. It's a water system of some sort.

I remember attempting to explore that when I was a pupil there - late 1970s - I was about 14 at the time. I brought a torch into school and along with another couple of lads we went down there one lunchtime with the intention of going all the way from Lakelands to Bushy Park. We got about 50-100 yards down the tunnel before the idea of being in such a confined space with so many rats made us think better of the venture and we turned back.

There are a lot of tunnels like that around Dublin, often small rivers in culverts. The Poodle runs from Kimmage to the city centre like that. There's a small river outside my house that runs under Lower Kilmacud Road down to Blackrock - I think that it comes out in Carysfort Park. I only know about it because my father can remember it running there before it was covered over in the 1960s.

There's another river that exits from a culvert along Stillorgan Grove alongside the wall of John of God's. I think that it comes from a culvert that runs down Brewery Road and was the water source for the brewery that was there in the 19th-early 20th centuries.

mallet head

pork99 wrote: »

I remember attempting to explore that when I was a pupil there - late 1970s - I was about 14 at the time. I brought a torch into school and along with another couple of lads we went down there one lunchtime with the intention of going all the way from Lakelands to Bushy Park. We got about 50-100 yards down the tunnel before the idea of being in such a confined space with so many rats made us think better of the venture and we turned back.

There are a lot of tunnels like that around Dublin, often small rivers in culverts. The Poodle runs from Kimmage to the city centre like that. There's a small river outside my house that runs under Lower Kilmacud Road down to Blackrock - I think that it comes out in Carysfort Park. I only know about it because my father can remember it running there before it was covered over in the 1960s.

There's another river that exits from a culvert along Stillorgan Grove alongside the wall of John of God's. I think that it comes from a culvert that runs down Brewery Road and was the water source for the brewery that was there in the 19th-early 20th centuries.

There is a map on page 25 of the wild Dublin book by Eanna Ni Lamhna showing all the rivers, streams and brooks in the city. There are a couple of dozen and I would presume almost all are underground at this stage. A lot of the 200 year old+ disused distilleries around town are built adjacent to these old streams as they used them for their water needs in the brewing process. I worked on the refurb of the old whiskey distillery on fumbally lane in blackpits last year and the Poddle runs directly under it.

johnnycorcoran

I remember the killiney hill that have a real long tunnel (dont know where it lead) we were with the football team about 20 years ago...All i remember are the stones of walls on the left,right and the ceiling and its about 5 foots height and 2 foots width and pity black...

Do anyone went along those tunnel? I would like to go back again...but cant remember where about on the killiney hill

DubMedic

Yes, i have heard stories of tunnels, some under my old school that lead to another well known school i am led to believe, they stretch for miles, haven't had the chance to explore them however . Have also heard of some running other tunnels under a main well known street , was informed by a well educated man who happens to be a member of my close family that these tunnels were used by a rich man to bring his horses and carriages to the nearest park with him ( as was the fashion back then ) , to avoid crossing the street and using the narrow lanes. the house in question was the birthplace of a very well known playwright here i believe and it is how the house and story of the tunnels are still known

melekalikimaka

DubMedic wrote: »

Yes, i have heard stories of tunnels, some under my old school that lead to another well known school i am led to believe, they stretch for miles, haven't had the chance to explore them however . Have also heard of some running other tunnels under a main well known street , was informed by a well educated man who happens to be a member of my close family that these tunnels were used by a rich man to bring his horses and carriages to the nearest park with him ( as was the fashion back then ) , to avoid crossing the street and using the narrow lanes. the house in question was the birthplace of a very well known playwright here i believe and it is how the house and story of the tunnels are still known

i have never read something so vague in my life

DubMedic

melekalikimaka wrote: »

i have never read something so vague in my life

Since you are of the opinion it was vague, you have my consent to delete it.

uch

TheAlmightyZeus wrote: »

Here's one for you down at Blackrock Scout Den. Whether its a tunnel or just a well Im not entirely sure about. Was down there a while back pitching a few tents at around 4PM on a Friday and two randomers come strolling down, nod at us and proceed to climb down into the hole. There were gone for 20 mins if not more. Never have taken the time to check it out but must do someday soon.

I like to tell people thats its a shortcut to the Blackrock Shopping Centre car park

This just leads you to a dead end at seapoint dart station, but you can look out the round grated windows and scare the sh1t out of people on the platform

Ron DMC

uch wrote: »

This just leads you to a dead end at seapoint dart station, but you can look out the round grated windows and scare the sh1t out of people on the platform

Really?

Hmmm.... I'm gonna have to check this out.

Splendour

Fletch123 wrote: »

There are tunnels under UCD, but they're for wires and pipes and I don't think they run to town.

There is a tunnel on the coast at Dalkey beside Loreto. It's boarded up now but originally it led to a well on a rich gentlemans land. He built the tunnel so that he didn't have to look at the plebs. There was an urban legend when I was younger that there was a tunnel from the mainland to Dalkey Island but that it was all closed up because some children died in it when it got flooded. Very weak story, but we believed it when small!

Been down this tunnel many times when I was a child. The story we were told is this tunnel goes under the sea to Dalkey island and monks used it to escape back to the mainland when the Vikings were coming! Myself and my siblings spent copious amount of hours on Dalkey Island looking for the other end of the tunnel...:)

blue4ever

There is a tunnel under Benburb Street. It runs from inside Collins Barracks- under the main wall and across the road and out again at a cul de sac called Ellis Court.
It surfaces under large three story houses there which used to be the officers quarters. Tunnel was there 'just in case'

C

stesh

There's one which runs from Heuston through the Phoenix Park, up to Connolly I think. However, it is for no apparent reason disused. According to railusers.ie,it's fully signalled.

A classic Irish tale, no?

UrbexJunkie

Smugglers Tunnel Dalkey

http://www.urbexjunkie.com/2011/04/smugglers-tunnel/

Phoenix Park Railway Tunnel

http://www.urbexjunkie.com/2011/04/phoenix-park-tunnel/

I have yet to visit the UCD Tunnels and the inner city ones.

ted1

myself and some friends waln the lakelands to bushy park tunnel about fifteen years ago. It goes from the ever flow in lakelands to the top of the waterfall in bushy park. It goes under Rathdown and has plenty of man holes along the way

Seth Brundle

There is a tunnel going under James St linking Diageo (Guinnesses) on one side of the road to the other

UrbexJunkie

kbannon wrote: »

There is a tunnel going under James St linking Diageo (Guinnesses) on one side of the road to the other

yeah i seen pictures of that.

UrbexJunkie

ted1 wrote: »

myself and some friends waln the lakelands to bushy park tunnel about fifteen years ago. It goes from the ever flow in lakelands to the top of the waterfall in bushy park. It goes under Rathdown and has plenty of man holes along the way

I must try to see if this is still accessible.

Seth Brundle

UrbexJunkie wrote: »

yeah i seen pictures of that.

I've been through it several times.
It is as clean as that pic.

UrbexJunkie

Also here is the tunnel under heuston station, well its more of a subway underpass.

http://www.urbanexploration.ie/community_forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=279

ted1

i think they put a gate at the lake lands side. If you need me to provide more detail just ask although it is very straight forward.

HavingCrack

Presume service tunnels under UCD have already been mentioned. I think only one of the entrances is still accessible without a key though and even that could be closed up by now.

TheVoodoo

All of the external ones are usually locked, the ones inside are open. The majority of the outdoor entrances are grated over now. There was a map of the tunnels posted in the UCD forum a while back. They are actually pretty expansive.

me-skywalker

There is a Tunnel at White Rock beach, if you go around the rocks at the far side, towards Dalkey, you will then come curve in the cliff and an doorway entrance.

There was an old story that it used to be a canabals cave used to scare the ****e outta me! Also heard one before that a climber went inside because it apprently went all the way upto KIlliney hill but he fell and died hanging and haunts the cave too!
I remmebr me and 2 other friends half explored this about 9 years ago when we where alot smaller and stupid! I remmebre we took flaslights and spray paint so we could find our way. Scary ****e!

gubernaculum

the UCD tunnels are pretty dull but we loved exploring them between long breaks between lectures a few years ago. kept getting caught by the security guards who eventually got really pissed off with us but worth a look if you're about belfield! most don't really lead anywhere in particular or are locked.

Seth Brundle

Where are the tunnel entrances in UCD - I was there for 4 years and don't recall any (as an Ag, I spent most time in the bar rather than going underground )

HavingCrack

kbannon wrote: »

Where are the tunnel entrances in UCD - I was there for 4 years and don't recall any (as an Ag, I spent most time in the bar rather than going underground )

They're all over the place if you know where to look. The most obvious one's are the grills outside Quinn and the Student centre. There's one in the basement of Newman, one in Engineering, one in the Physics bit of Science, one underneath the Water Tower and one behind the Ag block from what I remember (this one has been open before). There's a few more that I've forgotten. I presume that map of the tunnels is still lurking around the UCD forum.

Ron DMC

HavingCrack wrote: »

They're all over the place if you know where to look. The most obvious one's are the grills outside Quinn and the Student centre. There's one in the basement of Newman, one in Engineering, one in the Physics bit of Science, one underneath the Water Tower and one behind the Ag block from what I remember (this one has been open before). There's a few more that I've forgotten. I presume that map of the tunnels is still lurking around the UCD forum.

I've a copy of the map somewhere. I'll try and dig it out.

delta_bravo

ted1 wrote: »

myself and some friends waln the lakelands to bushy park tunnel about fifteen years ago. It goes from the ever flow in lakelands to the top of the waterfall in bushy park. It goes under Rathdown and has plenty of man holes along the way

I was in bushy this morning to have a look at this. Of what I saw it was simply a channel for the waterfall. Perhaps the water for it is drained from lakelands? It seemed to be very low, no more than 3ft high. Were you able to walk it or did you have to crouch?

I'd love to have a snoop but it seemed fairly small. Its a fair enough distance from Lakelands to the waterfall, just measured it there on gmap pedometer and its approx 400 metres as the crow flies. Its unlikely they built that just for a waterfall in a park.

sw15

THere were always rumours of a tunnel leading from Rathfarnham Castle under the dual carriage to Green's Pharmacy (basement) in the village...apparently found when the basement flooded. I did the tour of the castle a few years ago and the guide confirmed that there were tunnels for the servants (so the lord of the manor didnt have to see the 'staff' walking up the avenue).

Googled it and got this from Rathfarnham.com "One of the most interesting features of Rathfarnham are its secret tunnels. One lead from the castle to an exit at the present Castle Golf Club. Another led from the castle to the Protestant church in the village, this tunnel was only discovered in 1987. Both have been closed off."

TheVoodoo

Found it from an old thread!

UCD tunnels map

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/56149/36947.jpg

Tunnels are blue.

Yes, it's old ( Quinn, sutherland are not there )

Seth Brundle

Cool.
Several new buildings there since I was terrorising the Ag block.

Is that a tunnel around the lake? I presume not.

On an unrelated matter, is that Quinn Business School anything to do with Sean Quinn?

TheVoodoo

kbannon wrote: »

Cool.
Several new buildings there since I was terrorising the Ag block.

Is that a tunnel around the lake? I presume not.

On an unrelated matter, is that Quinn Business School anything to do with Sean Quinn?

Nah, Lochlann Quinn.

+ No, i dunno why it's blue, but it's not a tunnel.

JackieChan

kbannon wrote: »

There is a tunnel going under James St linking Diageo (Guinnesses) on one side of the road to the other

There are 2 tunnels!

ted1

we crouched the whole way but you can stretch out ever own and then when you get to the man holes. We were about twelve when we did it so just under twenty years ago :-() So we were a bit smaller.

delta_bravo

ted1 wrote: »

we crouched the whole way but you can stretch out ever own and then when you get to the man holes. We were about twelve when we did it so just under twenty years ago :-() So we were a bit smaller.

Ok. Don't think my 6'3 frame will be venturing in there then

I must try and find out what the purpose of it was. The wardens might know.

Seth Brundle

JackieChan wrote: »

There are 2 tunnels!

Where is the second?

shar01

At the back of old Rathmichael Church & graveyard the hillside has many tunnels and passageways. We used to play up there as kids and I remember a friend almost falling down one hole.

There's a man-made tunnel running from the back of the Big Chimney to Ballycorus - parts were caving in 25 years ago so I'd say it's in a bad state now.

As kids we were told a tunnel ran from the lead mines at Ballycorus down to White Rock in Killiney. From previous posts it sounds like an amalgamation of legends.

Ahh memories

Cookie_Monster

shar01 wrote: »

There's a man-made tunnel running from the back of the Big Chimney to Ballycorus - parts were caving in 25 years ago so I'd say it's in a bad state now.

that one is the exhaust connected to the chimney from the processing plant that was situated further down the hill. I imagine there's quite a lot of nasty toxic residue left from the lead fumes that went through that in there in places

shar01

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

that one is the exhaust connected to the chimney from the processing plant that was situated further down the hill. I imagine there's quite a lot of nasty toxic residue left from the lead fumes that went through that in there in places

Correct! In fact the Chimney used to be taller. It was originally as it is now but the lead residue would fall onto Shankill. The chimney was then built up to carry waste further (on Wales we were told :P)

good logs...

thers one just on the north side of the liffey under a house, and gos back up under O connells steet......

Wrighty82

Pretty interesting stuff, kind of like the old blocked off parts of the London tube. Apparently some entire stations are sitting there just walled off. Speaking of which isn't there supposed to be an partly underground railroad from Heuston to Connelly? I heard it goes through the Pheonix Park and connects with the main railway up near Cabra.

Cathaoirleach

Wrighty82 wrote: »

isn't there supposed to be an partly underground railroad from Heuston to Connelly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvgt_02WQv4&feature=player_detailpage#t=43s