NUMBERS 69, 70 & 71

BENCHMARKS continued

Benchmarker is unsure whether these three can be classified as true benchmarks. However they do appear to have some connection with the Ordnance Survey. At still over nine hundred short of the target, needs must. And so they go in. They are located on the east side of Temple Street West, Dublin.

Below : Two of the 'marks.

Above: Temple Street West with one of the 'marks at extreme right and the other on the near corner of the building.

Below: The 'mark on the corner of Temple Street West and Arbour Hill. It is very much the worse for wear and somewhat difficult to decipher.

Above: The corner of Temple Street West and Arbour Hill with the 'mark on the wall at right.

NUMBER 68

BENCHMARKS continued

This 'mark was spotted in Berlin by comrade P.G.R., a frequent visitor to that city whose experiences there have made him quite an authority on its many attractions.

He writes it “is located half way up Wissmannstraße in the district of Neukolln, Berlin". One suspects that few 'marks have survived the bombardment that the city endured during World War 2.

Below: The 'mark on the pavement on Wissmannstraße in the district of Neukolln, Berlin.

Above: The location of the Berlin 'mark on Wissmannstraße in the district of Neukolln.

NUMBERS 66 & 67

BENCHMARKS continued

Here are a couple, each carved on the top of a ward stone i.e. a stone with a name plate of the particular City Ward in which it is located.

Below: This one is located near the north east corner of Sarah Bridge, South Circular Road, Dublin City. The metal plate carrying the name of the ward is missing. In the wider picture the ward stone can be seen to the left of the bridge, and to the right of the 'danger' sign.

Below: This one is outside the North Circular Road entrance to the Phoenix Park, Dublin City. It is somewhat indistinct. In the wider picture it is located just behind the green pedestrian light.

NUMBERS 63, 64 & 65

BENCHMARKS continued

The final three from the comrades' excursion to Wexford Town.

Below: The 'mark, and its location at the entrance to the Wexford County Council headquarters.

Below: This 'mark is on the gatepillar (at right) of the buildings behind the statue of the Pikeman.

Below: The 'mark (to the right of the gate) at the entrance to Saint Eberius Church.

NUMBERS 60, 61 & 62

BENCHMARKS continued

'Fly me somewhere south of Suez, where the best is like the worst.

Where there ar'n't no ten commandments an' a man can raise a thirst.'

Kiplings words seem just as appropriate today in reference to Sub Saharan Africa as they did for Asia in his time.

And so it was that as Benchmarker was flying south towards the line, a group of the comrades - M.C., M.N. and P.G.R. - were motoring down to Wexford Town. Their primary mission - to check the availability and price of a suitable house there. However, Benchmarker had briefed them to be ever alert and ready to record any 'marks they might encounter. Maintaining a civil attitude towards each other, their trip was most productive, returning with a grand total of six 'marks. Three of these are reproduced below with the others to follow presently.

Below: The 'mark on Henrietta Street at the corner with Crescent Quay.

Above: The corner of Henrietta Street and Crescent Quay with the 'mark just to the left of the railings.

Below: The 'mark on Bride Street.

Above: The 'mark is at bottom left on this pillar outside the Church of the Assumption, Bride Street.

Below. The 'mark on Rowe Street.

Above: The 'mark is on this pillar outside the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rowe Street.

NUMBER 59

BENCHMARKS continued

Another one discovered by colleague M.C. Unusually, it's on a horizontal surface - the doorstep of the building attached to the Anglican Church on Main Street, Rathfarnham.

Below: The 'mark (bottom right) on the building on Main Street, Rathfarnham.

Above: Main Street, Rathfarnham. The 'mark is on the doorstep to the right of the door.

NUMBER 58

BENCHMARKS continued

The saying goes that 'no man is a prophet in his own land' and truly the same applies to the lonely, misunderstood and unappreciated benchmark hunter. For example, the colleague M.C. was driving along Phibsboro Road when he spotted this one and couldn't resist exclaiming to his wife and his mother in law 'Oh, look! There's a benchmark!' Their reaction was to look at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head.

The benchmark hunter truly needs to be made of stern stuff and undoubtedly M.C. is, because undeterred by their derision he pulled in, alighted and recorded this little beauty on the building at 21 Phibsboro Road. Bravo!

Below: The 'mark on the building at 21 Phibsboro Road.

Above: The 'mark is to the left of the red door of the grey stone building on the right. (Not visible in this picture.)

NUMBER 57

BENCHMARKS continued

Attempts to change our drinking 'culture' to something more like that of our Continental cousins, take one step forward and two steps back.

A few years ago the pub opening hours were 'liberalized' in what was believed would lead to a reduction in the practice of cramming in one (or several) more just before closing time. The result: - even more drunkenness and its accompanying violence.

Plans for something called 'cafe bars' ran into the sand.

It appears that it was similar thinking that lead to the Dublin City Council erecting the boardwalks that now festoon parts of the banks of the Liffey. While it was perhaps thought that these would turn the Liffeyside into something similar to the embankments that adorn the Seine in Paris - where people stroll, loll, converse, sunbathe, etc - they are instead something of a haunt for ne'er-do-wells, druggies, phone snatchers etc, and something of a no-go area for respectable citizens in the know.

Benchmarker witnessed a small sample of this activity recently on a visit to Eden Quay, where a group of suspicious youths exercised themselves by scampering along the boardwalk, calling out to each other while playing hide and seek with a couple of gardai who appeared alert to the possibility of illegal activity.

Dublin can indeed be heaven; or hell!

Below: The 'mark on the Liffey Wall on Eden Quay.

Above: Eden Quay looking towards O'Connell Bridge. The 'mark is difficult to see but is well to the left of the pole in the centre of the picture.

NUMBER 56

BENCHMARKS continued

This one is on the bridge over the River Liffey at Lucan.

Below: The 'mark on Lucan Bridge.

Above: Looking west, with the 'mark on the bridge at bottom right; and with the weir visible through the balustrades.

NUMBER 55

BENCHMARKS continued

This one is on the York Street/St. Stephen's Green corner of the Royal College of Surgeons building in Dublin. Across the street almost directly in front of the building is a statue of Robert Emmet dating from the 1960/70s. Done in a style that was then considered avant-garde, it is not really to Benchmarker's taste. It seems that ever since the death of Auguste Rodin no one is prepared to do factual representations, except Gilsenan.

Below: The 'mark on York Street.

Above: The 'mark is on the corner of the building at left, on the side facing.

NUMBER 54

BENCHMARKS continued

The venerable buildings at Griffith College on Dublin's South Circular Road are named on early 19^th century maps as the Richmond Penitentiary. It was known locally as the Richmond Pen or Richmond Gaol and amongst those who served time there was Daniel O'Connell, a.k.a. the Liberator for his efforts for Catholic Emancipation.

In 1887 it became Wellington Barracks, most probably named in honour of the eponymous duke. It was named Griffith Barracks in honour of Arthur Griffith - head of the Irish delegation at the negotiations in London that produced the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 - following his death in 1922.

The following year it was the scene of Civil War fatalities when it was fired on by Anti-Treaty forces from across the Grand Canal.

In the 1990's it underwent yet another transformation becoming a third level private educational institution, Griffith College.

Below: The 'mark at Griffith College.

Above: The 'mark is to the right of the doorway of the main historic building - today named Daniel O'Connell House - just behind the shrub in the tub.

NUMBER 53

BENCHMARKS continued

“O commemorate me where there are benchmarks,
Canal benchmarks preferably”

One might reasonably assume that many of the bridges over the Grand Canal in Dublin City would wear a benchmark. Not so, it seems. Benchmarker has checked most - although not all - of them and it appears that the only one with a 'mark is this one at Portobello, Rathmines. Presuming they were ever there in the first place, whatever happened to those others? If Benchmarker ever musters the courage to visit the Northside, surely those bridges over the Royal Canal will provide with a better bounty? Time may tell.

Below: The 'mark on Portobello Bridge.

Above: Portobello Bridge looking south towards Rathmines. The 'mark is on the bridge wall at right.