As the Poolbeg Chimneys’ repainting project draws to a halt for the winter months, we look back on their coming-to-be as Dublin’s red-and-white-striped landmark and the recent motivation for their maintenance.
The Poolbeg Chimneys—coined by Dubliners colloquially as “The Towers” or “The Stacks”—were constructed in staggered intervals. Chimney A was first erected in 1969, and the second, Chimney B, thrusted from the ground almost a decade later in 1977. This explains their inherent non-identical appearance and, upon closer inspection, their physical disparities, with chimney B slightly taller and thicker. Both stacks stretch to over 207 metres and remain today the tallest structures in Dublin. Built as part of an oil and gas power facility at Dublin Port’s Pidgeon House site, the chimneys were operational for decades until being decommissioned in 2010.
“In the normal run of events, they would have been demolished by now,” confirmed ESB Asset Management Major Contracts Manager Robert Laird at the press release of the repainting works in July. In other words, flaking, dilapidated chimneys like those on the Poolbeg Peninsula, like other relics of Ireland’s industrialisation efforts in the sixties and seventies, would be flattened without a second thought. However, the twin chimneys at Dublin Bay’s heart have had a typical run of events.
A decade ago, the future of the towers hung in doubt, with the ESB considering their demolition. Following years of subsequent public outcry, a dramatic u-turn from 2014 saw the towers listed as protected structures in July 2024. In the aforementioned press release over the summer and a 2021 article from the Business Post, the ESB confirmed that following extensive structural surveys, they would commit to remedial and repainting works vital to the chimneys’ survival, to the tune of €5 million over the next two years.
€5 million seems appropriate for a unique capital project such as this. But in the calmness of what seemed for a while to be an ever-active flurry of government public expenditure scandals—notably the RTÉ barter accounts investigations, the infamous €336,000 18-capacity bikeshed saga, and the continued soaring costs of the National Children’s Hospital in Kilmainham—should the public purse be anticipating an inflated price tag? Zenith, the outsourced company carrying out the refurbishments, has a “long-standing relationship” with ESB, including installing steel caps to the chimney tops, which was completed in 2015. The project’s costs have not been made public; therefore, only time will tell if the €5 million budget is adhered to.
As the city lacks a significant, stand-out landmark, such as London’s Westminster Abbey or Rome’s Colosseum, the towers, through their stature, have inadvertently assumed the Dublin equivalent. In other words, “the stacks” have become an unofficial emblem of the capital (forget The Spire).
More than just a landmark, they are a first sight of home to many, as many inbound flight paths provide breathtaking views of our capital’s coastline, of which the towers are central. Here at UCD, the chimneys are something many of us fixate upon as we stare blankly out at Dublin Bay from the windows of James Joyce Library, unshackling our minds momentarily from study materials and our uncharged laptops. On a clear winter’s day in Blackrock, the stacks stand tall, a splash of colour and warmth, when one looks out at the blue skies atop the dark seas of Muir Éireann.
For some—myself, a proud Dubliner included—they possess great purpose, a refreshing sense of home, passion, and pride for our quaint fair city. Equally so, the chimneys would have just as many detractors who would pay to be the bulldozer’s operator knocking them to rubble. Much like a Tayto sandwich, the chimneys’ nature of evoking interest and disinterest, views of beauty and blight, is uniquely and innately Irish. Varying views of their significance and stance, like most things in Ireland, is simply a conversation point and is unlikely to stoke a civil war of pro- and anti-chimney factions. Regardless of their perception as an iconic landmark or an outright eyesore, it seems that with everything going on at Pidgeon House, the Poolbeg Chimneys will stand tall for decades to come.
By Seán Óg Mac Seoin—Features Contributor
