Secret Tunnells on Campus WTF!!!!

ross_castle

My Bro was telling me that he has "buzzed" around a couple of "secret" tunnels in Trinity. Has anyone ever heared of of tunnels with in Trinity. Please bear in my mind that my brother is quite insane and may be making this up

Crash

Theres a network of tunnels under most of front square - most of its just used for cabling these days. i think its Ronny's room that theres "access" aye ronan?

ross_castle

Has anyone taken a trip down an mapped the tunnels. I recently read about a cinema that was operating illegally in the Paris catacombs

Crash

I've been down a short bit of the museum building basement - i seriously wanna play with the isolators though

ross_castle

Any chance of posting or pm'ing a list of ways in and ways out of the tunnels. Apart from wiring have you seen anything else. Does anyone know how old the tunnels are or have any more history on them

D

ross_castle wrote:

Has anyone taken a trip down an mapped the tunnels. I recently read about a cinema that was operating illegally in the Paris catacombs

Sure under O'Connell street there are 2 subway stations that have never been used, the space was reserved for them in case Dublin ever got an underground.

aodh_rua

D wrote:

Sure under O'Connell street there are 2 subway stations that have never been used, the space was reserved for them in case Dublin ever got an underground.

And there's a cellar stretching under Parnell Square from the days when Findlater's had a wine business on the square.

As for Trinity, there's a wine cellar under front square (on a wet day it drys quicker than the rest of the square) and Westland Row's basement goes out under the street.

ross_castle

D wrote:

Sure under O'Connell street there are 2 subway stations that have never been used, the space was reserved for them in case Dublin ever got an underground.

Has anyone ever been down there. I hear there are also passages underneath the RDS. That the member club use. Does any else know of any under ground passages tunellsetc etc

Sandals

hogwarts anyone.

Mr. Presentable

There is a hidden air raid shelter and underground tunnels in Merrion Square

ross_castle

can anyone back this up, or is it just a urban legend

Mr. Presentable

I can't back it up but, my Da was a cop in Pearse in the 60/70's and he told me about it. It would make sense for the Govt to have a hidey-hole nearby

luckat

I heard there were tunnels under the Green, and along the Quays too.

Pet

D wrote:

Sure under O'Connell street there are 2 subway stations that have never been used, the space was reserved for them in case Dublin ever got an underground.

Really? I've never, ever heard anything about that. Care to divulge any more details?

gom

continuing the fetish for tunnel lovers.

There is a decommissioned tunnel from Phoenix Park to the foot of the Dublin Mountains. Its was dug by the Brits in the 18th century for what reason I don't know but was operated by the Military and RIC. During the War of Independence I think it was demolished as it was too much hassle to guard from the Fenians. During the Civil War smalll crawl tunnels were made through it by the Anti-treaty folk to maintain a supply route into the city but the Civil war was more or less over before they got to use it. In the 50s it was caved in good and proper and used in parts for sewer expansions in West Dublin. Its completely unusable at present. The old entrance is located close to the ZOo if you want to know.

ross_castle

Any one else ever heared or know anything bout this

Agent Smith

i know how you get to the tunnells In Front square

briano

Some links:

Paris catacombs Cinema:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1299444,00.html

Rathfarnam Tunnels:

http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/rathfarnham/

There is also a tunnel/cave in killiney called Deco's cave or something. I think it goes most of the way under the hill.

ross_castle

agent smith wrote:

i know how you get to the tunnells In Front square

So tell us.

snorlax

i heard that there's a single rail line underground running from Heuston station to Connolly, i think it might go near phoenix park. it could potentially solve some of the comuter problems, and be useful for those who don't want to pay extra for the luas.

i also heard there was underground crypts/ tombs near cleary's/ o'connell street( i read that in a book about dublin's history)

Pet

i heard that there's a single rail line underground running from Heuston station to Connolly, i think it might go near phoenix park. it could potentially solve some of the comuter problems, and be useful for those who don't want to pay extra for the luas.

Errr, this has yet to be built. I can't imagine Ireland ever having had the kind of money necessary to undertake such a project.

punka

Some of the rooms on the ground floor in New Square have little cubby-holes under the ground, although I don't know if all of them are connected to the tunnel system.

I heard that there's an elaborate tunnel system connecting all the buildings in UCD, for the staff to use in case of a student revolt.

Pet

punka wrote:

Some of the rooms on the ground floor in New Square have little cubby-holes under the ground, although I don't know if all of them are connected to the tunnel system.

I heard that there's an elaborate tunnel system connecting all the buildings in UCD, for the staff to use in case of a student revolt.

yeah, it's a typical feature of concrete-era universities.

Amazotheamazing

There's tunnels under most of the Georgian streets in Limerick, most were used as coal bunkers up to 50 or so years ago. If you walk down either Catherine or O'Connell street you can see closed off doors leading to the streets from the front yards. Apparently there's a tunnel under the Shannon to the Maternity hospital too (I think there used to be a barracks on the hospital site.) There is supposedly bomb shelter under the old Town Hall on Rutland street also.

There is also medieval tunnel system under the streets of Galway too.

snorlax

no Pet i think it's been there for a while, ill run a google on it..

Agent Smith

in the Basement of the shop in House 6 there is a tunnell, aparently it goes to the museam building, all i say down there were network hubs and SU signs...

agent smith

agent smith wrote:

in the Basement of the shop in House 6 there is a tunnell, aparently it goes to the museam building, all i say down there were network hubs and SU signs...

I haven't gone completely exploring yet. Was down there for a short while, the path to the wine cellar is blocked off I'm told.

The tunnels which you get through by going through a door before you come to _ are fairly cool. You end up going all around the place, and end up in the Long Room.

John

I presume you're not supposed to go wandering around these tunnels? What happens if you're caught?

John2

John2 wrote:

I presume you're not supposed to go wandering around these tunnels? What happens if you're caught?

No idea! I presume security wouldn't like it, and possibly the Junior Dean.

John

I wasn't sure if it was one of those instant "Out you go" offenses

Time Magazine

I remember I wandered down into one of them from the black door that's on your left as you walk to the ATM outside the Buttery and found a cleaning woman staring at me. Played the old "Ooops!" card.

Support the Trinity College Knowledge Society!!!! One of our things was access to these places, these places including the Campanile, the Provost's House, the Senior Lecturer's Room etc etc etc.

Ooh and the torture chamber.

neacy69

D wrote:

Sure under O'Connell street there are 2 subway stations that have never been used, the space was reserved for them in case Dublin ever got an underground.

subway stations under o'connell st!!!! can see them EVER being used....sure how years and how many millions and millions and millions did it take to bulid one tunnell never mind an intelligent network of tunnells for a subway system :mad:

Pet

I wasn't sure if it was one of those instant "Out you go" offenses

I wouldn't think so, I haven't seen anything in the rules and regulations about the tunnels. Most people probably don't know about them so I'd say it'd be a slap on the wrist and a warning.

Unless you were going for the wine cellars, in which case they might think you were trying to rob them blind..

ross_castle

AAnyone got any pictures

snorlax

they have cameras down they're.

ross_castle

?????

edanto

OT, but I thought ye might be interested in confirmation that there is a usable tunnel between Heuston and Connolly.

From a Leargas show a few years ago about Dublin's underground secrets...

RTE wrote:

We travel through the Phoenix Park rail tunnel which isn't used for passenger rail even though it connects Heuston and Connolly stations.

linky

danmcn

Its quite easy to get from the Ussher basement to the Long Room underground. There is a few security doors but they were all open. You end up in a service elevator that goes up and down the Old Library. Its behind the curtains at the end of the Old Library.

ross_castle

Anyone know where ic canget a copy of the leargas show

Diablolical

Yeah I heard about those tunnels around the time of last years t-ball,aparrently some guys tried to use them to get into the ball for free but found out that the tunnel only lead them out beyond the barriers.

Pompey Magnus

I was in one of the tunnels a few months ago, inside the accommodations building down the stairs there are rooms which held a load of old computers, and junk, a entry to a tunnel under West Chapel was in one of the rooms, it was a square hole about 3 ft by 3 ft on the ground along one wall which I had to crawl through. The tunnel was about 8 foot high with a curved ceiling and it was pretty wide (and dark), no hidden treasure or anything, just an empty tunnel with quite a bit of rubble lying on the ground.

Trinity never fails to amaze me.

nosmo

Yes there are tunnels
Yes there is a wine cellar there
Yes I have been there

No it's not very interesting

Although a staff member did injure themselves rather nastily there a few years ago when they stood up suddenly.

Pet

no Pet i think it's been there for a while, ill run a google on it..

Woopsy, I stand corrected! I'd heard of that before actually, but I didn't believe it. It seems a bit stupid that they don't use it..

Steoob

my question is why built a luas when theres alot of the work done already in the city to build a subway...

hmpf it'd be so cool...

man i love tunnels hehe it was so cool when we found a rain drainage tunnel here in tralee that ran all the way under the town.. ran back after about a mile and half tho due to severe pants wetting.. haha and not by the rain....

Patricide

yea that was one scary time pitch black and no phone reception and if it rained we would be under water in areound 5 mins, ill never forget when damien bumped off me and we legged it back.freaky times

Patricide

Steoob wrote:

my question is why built a luas when theres alot of the work done already in the city to build a subway...

hmpf it'd be so cool...

man i love tunnels hehe it was so cool when we found a rain drainage tunnel here in tralee that ran all the way under the town.. ran back after about a mile and half tho due to severe pants wetting.. haha and not by the rain....

yea that was one scary time pitch black and no phone reception and if it rained we would be under water in areound 5 mins, ill never forget when damien bumped off me and we legged it back.freaky times

Steoob

barry quit postin twice.. and it was dave haha... he got stuck to the wall haha

fluppet

Another tunnel (not in Trinity, but still cool): It is in Dalkey and was built by Charles Leslie to allow the public access to the Lady Well, which was on his property, without having to cross his land. It's named after the woman who forced him to build it... I can't remember her name at the moment, it begins with a 'C' though. I don't think the public can access it 'legally' anymore

Time Magazine

Then I'll dig a tunnell, from my window to yours. Doo do doo, doo do doo do do do dooo.

And our parents bedrooms, oh whatever happened to them?!

Snickers Man

What follows is perfectly true. It does NOT come from the pages of a JP Donleavy novel.

Yes there are wine cellars in Trinity. They are underneath Front Square and the reason I know this is that about 20 years ago some final-year engineering student friends of mine were allocated rooms in (I think) number 9. That is on the left of the square as you go through the archway.

It was known that the ground floor apartment there had a loose floorboard through which access to the treasure trove of alcohol beneath could be obtained. So whatever muppet was tasked with allocating those rooms should not have let male boozy engineering students anywhere near it.

Instead, not only did he or she stick a pair of hairy final years in that very room; one of them was THE champion drinker of his class, and believe you me that title was awarded in the face of some pretty stiff competition. This after all was the class recruited as first years by the firebrand student union president of the time (one Joe Duffy, yes that one, the 'Lady in Clontarf' one) to maintain support for his boycott of the college catering establishments, including the bars.

Realising that restricting student access to beer would lead to a catastrophic drop in support, Duffy arranged for a rival bar to be set up in the JCR. Knowing that the college security would attempt to prevent any such operation, he called on first year eng to help out in their inimitable fashion. As the beer lorry drew up outside front gate causing massive obstruction to the afternoon traffic, the unwashed ones (eng students never change) descended on it like a herd of locusts and whipped a couple of dozen kegs of beer up to the JCR before either college security or the traffic police could react.

They got a keg to themselves for their trouble; Duffy got a court summons for flogging beer in an unlicenced premises.

Anyway, that's nothing to do with tunnels, just letting you know the sort of character you're dealing with.

On more or less his first night in Front Square, our hero found the loose floorboard, delved into the cellar grabbed a case of wine and returned having carefully covered his tracks in the dust and replaced the packing between ceiling and floor. As he and his mates enjoyed the wine over the next few nights, careful plans were hatched as to how to proceed carefully and in a manner that would not lead to him being caught.

The best laid plans....

Two or three days later, with the first batch of wine completely gone!!! he went down again and grabbed another case. Again he carefully hid the evidence of his intrusion and tucked in.

LATER THAT SAME NIGHT and totally out of his face he went down for a third case. This time he was too pissed to worry about hiding his traces.

The next Saturday the professor whose wine stash it was had cause to visit his cellar to check on his stock and woe it was sadly depleted. Also there were tell-tale signs leading to a spot in the middle of the cellar.So he raised the alarm and within a few hours, Number 9 looked like a scene from a Gestapo raid. Hordes of security guys in their silly uniforms removing evidence, chiefly consisting of empty wine bottles, (quite a lot of empty wine bottles actually).

So of course our hero was expelled from rooms, along with his totally innocent room mate who hadn't even been there for that week, and was forced to reimburse the prof in question for the value of the wine.

I think it made the Grapevine column of the Piranha magazine, which is probably still available in the library. Look for references to Shameless Mumbler. Round about 1982-83.

John

Snickers Man wrote:

So of course our hero was expelled from rooms, along with his totally innocent room mate who hadn't even been there for that week, and was forced to reimburse the prof in question for the value of the wine.

How much was the wine worth? Great tale by the way.