Why does the whole area around Cork Street / Dolphin Barn have such a bad reputation?

hatrickpatrick

Ask only because a load of my friends are living around this area at the moment, our college is in the Coombe near St Patrick's Cathedral so closest area to live.

First time I was heading to a session there my dad explicitly warned me that I should watch my back, googled it out of interest to see if he was just being OTT but it seems around here on Boards as well, any time someone's made a thread about potentially moving there they've been warned off it.

Just wondering why, and is this essentially an out of date view of the area, or have I simply been lucky enough never to have seen trouble near it? I've walked to and from apartments around the Coombe women and infants hospital, both during the day and in the small hours of the morning, never had even the slightest air of menace or fear - had I not heard from so many people that one should watch out in the area, I wouldn't have guessed it at all and wouldn't have been searching for evidence online.

Not thinking of moving there, just wondering how these reputations develop in seemingly quiet areas, or whether I'm simply missing out on a very obvious "dodginess" around there which others are aware of but has slipped past me?

The only nearby spot that has ever actually frightened me is Marrowbone Lane, and that was at 4AM when I was lost and drunk and came across a smashed in van near the Guinness Storehouse. One such incident in four years of hanging around the general vicinity isn't bad going, I live in Sandycove and I've seen far worse around here over the years

Thoughts?

Stojkovic

Walk a bit further past da Coo-emm and you'll find out.

hatrickpatrick

Stojkovic wrote: »

Walk a bit further past da Coo-emm and you'll find out.

Well once you pass the intersection with South Circular Road (which is where some of my friends live) you're on Crumlin Road as opposed to Cork Street, aren't you?

FloatingVoter

You could shoot a horror movie in Marrowbone lane at 4AM in the morning but its just a long winding road. Staggering lost around any part of Dublin in the wee small hours is dangerous - you could get knocked down by another drunk in a car.
Cork Street is just a long deserted street - busy trafficwise by day and empty after midnight. I've often walked home (off Cork Street) from town after the pubs shut and the buses stop running. No problems. Anybody approaching ahead of or behind you can be seen a mile off. You'd be more likely to get jumped walking down some leafy avenue in Ballsbridge.

hatrickpatrick

FloatingVoter wrote: »

You could shoot a horror movie in Marrowbone lane at 4AM in the morning but its just a long winding road. Staggering lost around any part of Dublin in the wee small hours is dangerous - you could get knocked down by another drunk in a car.

To be fair it wasn't the street itself that freaked me out, it was the burnt out van with piles of broken glass surrounding it that got me. Also passed an apartment block which had "Garda scum" or something to that effect spray painted across one of its walls, very shortly after the aforementioned van.

Cork Street is just a long deserted street - busy trafficwise by day and empty after midnight. I've often walked home (off Cork Street) from town after the pubs shut and the buses stop running. No problems. Anybody approaching ahead of or behind you can be seen a mile off. You'd be more likely to get jumped walking down some leafy avenue in Ballsbridge.

That's what I thought, so why is it that it has such a reputation? As I said in my OP, many many people have emphasized that I should be extra careful whenever I've mentioned to them that I'm going to a session there, and as I say if you search for the general vicinity on Boards or elsewhere online you'll find hordes of people saying "AVOID!"

Just wondering why this is.

tampopo

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Well once you pass the intersection with South Circular Road (which is where some of my friends live) you're on Crumlin Road as opposed to Cork Street, aren't you?

No. Dolphins Barn Street starts at the pedestrian crossing outside the Coombe hospital. Crumlin road starts south of the canal. fwiw.

tampopo

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

That's what I thought, so why is it that it has such a reputation? As I said in my OP, many many people have emphasized that I should be extra careful whenever I've mentioned to them that I'm going to a session there, and as I say if you search for the general vicinity on Boards or elsewhere online you'll find hordes of people saying "AVOID!"

Just wondering why this is.

Ignorance on their part, I suppose. Good description, busy by day, abandoned late at night...keep yer wits about you and you'd be fine....

As an aside, Marrowbone Lane has been resurfaced recently and it's a JOY to cycle on. Much improved....

La_Gordy

It's snobbery that has people saying avoid. It's a grand area to live, not a vast amount of amenities nor a huge selection of pubs or places to eat but nothing to be frightened of either.

Stojkovic

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Well once you pass the intersection with South Circular Road (which is where some of my friends live) you're on Crumlin Road as opposed to Cork Street, aren't you?

You're still in the Barn, aren't you ?

tampopo

Stojkovic wrote: »

You're still in the Barn, aren't you ?

You're still in the Barn, but you're on Dolphins Barn Street.

Stojkovic

tampopo wrote: »

You're still in the Barn, but you're on Dolphins Barn Street.

Road actually !!!

beauf

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

...That's what I thought, so why is it that it has such a reputation? As I said in my OP, many many people have emphasized that I should be extra careful whenever I've mentioned to them that I'm going to a session there, and as I say if you search for the general vicinity on Boards or elsewhere online you'll find hordes of people saying "AVOID!"

Just wondering why this is.

Dunno what its like now. Years ago there was a lot of crime in that area. In recent years I think a lot of the bad area's got better, and the better area's got a little worse. Its not as black and white as it used to be. Crime is more dispersed than in the past. Also theres been a lot of immigration into many areas which have completely changed them. So a lot of the old opinions are no longer true.

Gavin "shels"

It's all passed to the honest, there was a time not too long ago that Dolphins Barn flats had round the clock garda presence, likewise with St. Teresa's Gardens. All finished with. Living just off Donore Ave for 24 years and I've encountered minimal problems.

braddun

I worry about the ladys of the night outside my door

Joekers

braddun wrote: »

I worry about the ladys of the night outside my door

A fine asset to the community :pac:

reprazant

Gavin shels wrote: »

It's all passed to the honest, there was a time not too long ago that Dolphins Barn flats had round the clock garda presence, likewise with St. Teresa's Gardens. All finished with. Living just off Donore Ave for 24 years and I've encountered minimal problems.

This completely. You also had Fatima Mansions just around the corner. The area as a whole was a heroin blackspot as well. Maybe I am just a bit older but I can't believe people have forgotten what these areas used to be like not that long ago.

Birneybau

There was also one of the first heroin dealers in the country living on Rutland Avenue, Larry Dunne.

tampopo

Stojkovic wrote: »

Road actually !!!

Actually no. Street.

from across the pedestrian crossing....

anncoates

Lived there for a spell about 15 years ago right beside Fatima and I thought it was grand. Never had any issues apart from the house getting broken into and my female flatmate did get mugged. There was definitely a bit of a junkie/burglary problem. Sure it's improved these days though. Wouldn't have any issues living there again.

Ben D Bus

anncoates wrote: »

I thought it was grand. Never had any issues apart from the house getting broken into and my female flatmate did get mugged.

While I agree the area is grand, I'm not sure I agree THAT experience is grand.

letsgetloud

hatrickpatrick wrote:

Just wondering why, and is this essentially an out of date view of the area, or have I simply been lucky enough never to have seen trouble near it? I've walked to and from apartments around the Coombe women and infants hospital, both during the day and in the small hours of the morning, never had even the slightest air of menace or fear - had I not heard from so many people that one should watch out in the area, I wouldn't have guessed it at all and wouldn't have been searching for evidence online.

hatrickpatrick wrote:

Ask only because a load of my friends are living around this area at the moment, our college is in the Coombe near St Patrick's Cathedral so closest area to live.

hatrickpatrick wrote:

First time I was heading to a session there my dad explicitly warned me that I should watch my back, googled it out of interest to see if he was just being OTT but it seems around here on Boards as well, any time someone's made a thread about potentially moving there they've been warned off it.

hatrickpatrick wrote:

Not thinking of moving there, just wondering how these reputations develop in seemingly quiet areas, or whether I'm simply missing out on a very obvious "dodginess" around there which others are aware of but has slipped past me?

hatrickpatrick wrote:

The only nearby spot that has ever actually frightened me is Marrowbone Lane, and that was at 4AM when I was lost and drunk and came across a smashed in van near the Guinness Storehouse. One such incident in four years of hanging around the general vicinity isn't bad going, I live in Sandycove and I've seen far worse around here over the years 

hatrickpatrick wrote:

Thoughts?

I went to school with alot of lads from there. Some really are rough as a bears hole but some are genuine enough. Also had my first job delivering papers up there one problem in three years that got sorted with a phone call.

Birneybau

letsgetloud wrote: »

I went to school with alot of lads from there. Some really are rough as a bears hole but some are genuine enough. Also had my first job delivering papers up there one problem in three years that got sorted with a phone call.

Celly Smunt

Its just full of students and Brazilians now. In fact a lot of the liberties seems to be that way too.

Moons ago I recall I being dodgy when the place was riddled with heroin but those days seem to be gone. The place might look a little shady but it seems to be as safe as anywhere else in the city. In fact in 10 years it might even be the new hip place that everyone telling you to "avoid" will be living due to the location.

hatrickpatrick

^ The Dolphin House flats look shady purely because of the God-awful colour scheme which seems to pervade older apartment complexes in Dublin (that sort of wine-on-cream contrast) but the area itself has always seemed ok to me. On the other hand, just googled "Barn House" out of interest (one of the local pubs) and apparently someone got kneecapped there a few months ago and there were one or two stabbings, so maybe it's not as innocent as I had assumed

IDK, as I say I'm just fascinated as I've walked home from sessions at the Cork St / SSR intersection so many times over the last few years and never got a whiff of anything scary or dodgy, and yet this is sharply contrasted by the views of the area expressed online in which it's painted as some kind of war zone.
Even the Lidl which is the only decent supermarket nearby has a bit of a reputation owing to an estate directly behind it (the name of which escapes me) but again I've never seen any evidence to support it.

I think perhaps those who are saying it's a past tense stereotype might have a point - my parents lived on Donore Avenue in the 80s and my mum has said she was terrified being alone in the house during the day, I walk down it fairly regularly these days to get to the Unit-1 rehearsal studio and I'd just describe it as a fairly quiet, bog standard city street. Same for Cork Street, indeed.

Nice to see that people seem to generally agree and I'm not just a deluded optimist

corner of hells

My mother is from that area of the city , she'd have no problem stabbing you in the face and telling you it's your fault or so me Da always said.

miamee

Celly Smunt wrote: »

Its just full of students and Brazilians now. In fact a lot of the liberties seems to be that way too.

Moons ago I recall I being dodgy when the place was riddled with heroin but those days seem to be gone. The place might look a little shady but it seems to be as safe as anywhere else in the city. In fact in 10 years it might even be the new hip place that everyone telling you to "avoid" will be living due to the location.

I'd say that might be sooner than 10 years! I live close enough to there, a little closer to the city though and already since I moved in almost 2 years ago I can see the little signs of things on the up. House prices, houses being bought, renovated and sold on for mad money (a lot to be said for proximity to town I suppose), empty shop units all filling up in recent months. So in my humble (and inexpert ) opinion, it won't be too long before that radiates out a little more towards the Cork Street area.

I don't know Cork Street too well but any time I have driven down it, it has seemed really quiet. I've never felt unsafe walking down there the couple of times I have or down The Coombe which I'd walk a little more often to meath Street. Usually in the day time.

Greenmachine

It has one of Dublins worst drug problems, 30 years of antisocial behavior, gangland terror, joyriding etc.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/double-gang-deaths-208721.html

salmocab

tampopo wrote: »

Actually no. Street.

from across the pedestrian crossing....

well played

FloatingVoter

Greenmachine wrote: »

It has one of Dublins worst drug problems, 30 years of antisocial behavior, gangland terror, joyriding etc.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/double-gang-deaths-208721.html

Dublin's worst visible drugs blackspot is the Dublin 1 area. A national disgrace that includes Abbey street, Marlborough Street and the beautiful boardwalk.
Two gangland killings back in 2012 have no bearing on health and safety for any normal person passing through the Coombe, Cork St., Sth Circular area. Those idiots kill each other regardless of postcode.

hatrickpatrick

^ That's the way it seems to me all right, if the area is indeed full of dangerous gangsters they seem to keep to themselves. My friend's apartment is literally right around the corner from Dolphin House (didn't realize there was such a gigantic apartment complex right next door until recently) and again, never had the slightest problem there. If I had any complaints about walking back into town at night I'd actually say it's too quiet, living beside Dun Laoghaire which tends to be busy and noisy into the small hours of the morning the tranquility is a little unnerving

Anyone know of St Anthony's Road, about a 10 minute walk further up the SSR? Even people who like the area tend to say they'd avoid it like the plague, had a look on Google Street View there and it looks like a fairly bog-standard residential street, modern looking development at one end which (I think?) is what replaced the Fatima building that's been mentioned here a few times.
Seems a remarkably short road to have much of a reputation at all tbh, I'd expect such a notorious road to be a lot bigger.

I also see Dolphin House might be getting a renovation soon enough if the council move on it, but does anyone know how they merge apartments together and change their size ("Three bedroom flats will become two bedroom, two bedroom will become one bedroom) while at the same time preserving the community of residents as they've said they intend to? Can't exactly see how that can be done if you have families of a particular size currently occupying apartments which are going to be reduced in sleeping room O_o

Thanks for all the replies anyway, been very curious about this area and its reputation for a couple of years now since I started hanging out here so often. Have to say it makes me a little sad to see whole suburbs tagged as 'dangerous and rough' just because it has a couple of dodgy spots, there are some parts of Dun Laoghaire and Sandycove I'd be very wary of at night (between the baths and the east pier is one spot I refuse to go anywhere near after dark, the rowdy roaring which can often be heard from the street above would scare anyone off - wouldn't particularly fancy wandering the Sandycove end of the metals on my own at night either and I live right next to it!), bit of a heroin problem lately too according to some but I've never seen anyone tell someone not to move into a gaff here on account of the aforementioned, bit of bog-standard street wisdom is more than enough... As others have said though, I'm only in my mid twenties and have only started hanging out more in town than at home in the last few years so perhaps I'm just not old enough to remember where the stories came from.

RedemptionZ

Dolphins Barn is in a league if it's own if you're comparing it to dun laoighre, which is one of the most affluent places in Dublin. Only thing it has is the methadone clinics, but most addicts are gone by the night and even then they're usually just harmlessly loud. I'm not necessarily saying Dolphins Barn is terribly dodgy, although I've had some bad experiences there with a lot of intimidating youths(10 years ago albeit) and it has obvious social problems in the flats, played a match in Terrsas Gardens and my god was glad to get out of there, but to give the impression Sandycove and Dun Laoighre are on the same or even similar level of anti social behaviour is ludicrous.