Blessington Street Basin, Dublin

Blessington Street Basin is a former water reservoir that now anchors this public park. Its working life ran from 1810 into the 1970s, supplying Dublin’s northern districts before the basin was retired. The water came from the Royal Canal system, with its ultimate source in Lough Owel, County Westmeath.

The long enclosed pool measures 122 metres by 55 metres, averages 2.5 metres deep, and can contain about 15 million litres. Follow the railing around the water and you can make out the planted margins, the island created for birds, and fountains that help oxygenate the basin. The Tudor-style lodge dates from 1811. The park took its present public form in 1891 and reopened after renewal in 1994, preserving the character of this unusual piece of Dublin’s water infrastructure.