In Dartry, councillors ponder new uses for a toilet under a waterfall

A few locals strolled Palmerston Park after the rain on Monday evening.

Inside the park entrance, on the footpath which cuts through the somewhat semi-circular grounds, three kids ran along, laughing and shouting with schoolbags on their backs.

Not far away, on the park’s east side, a young woman stood about on the muddy grass, observing her French bulldog chomping on a loud squeaky toy.

Closeby, there was a set of steel fences, behind which stood a red-brick bungalow, a Dublin City Council depot.

The council is planning to convert the building into a tearoom for the park, with a new public toilet too, a council spokesperson says.

And while the late 19th-century park is due to be graced with a new toilet, a question mark remains over what should be done with its old one – just 50 metres east.

This one isn’t easy to spot.

It is buried under a rocky dormant waterfall that hangs over the park’s pond, and hidden beneath a mound of soil, wood chips and stone.

It may no longer suit as a toilet, but the unusual subterranean structure could be used some other way, says Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey.

Like an artist’s studio, he says. “I think we could create something unique and unusual. I don’t think it could be something big, but somewhere where two people could have a base.”

Closed off

Access to the two toilets behind the waterfall is limited. The pond is circled by fences.

The original entrances are a pair of rusted doors, bolted shut, inside small cave-like portals which sit at the end of curving paths that were cut into the hill.

Today, these passages are covered by a mass of ivy, broken branches, twigs, leaves and weeds.

People can still glimpse the toilets through grates on top of the artificial mound on which the waterfall was built.

Inside is dark. The floor is wet and lined with litter. One of the white tiled walls is covered in green spray paint.

In the council’s 2013 conservation report, photographs of the inside show white vaulted ceilings and Victorian-style cast-iron brackets above its urinals.

Its two rooms are each about 3.5 metres by 3.5 metres, the report says.

Green Party Councillor Carolyn Moore says she is not sure how much potential it has as a usable space.

“But certainly from a heritage perspective, it is interesting in its own right. Buildings like this deserve a second chance at being useful to people,” she said.

Hidden in the park’s history

Palmerston Park was originally part of the demesne of Rathmines Castle, which was built in the 16th century, says a council conservation report from 2013.

In the mid-19th century, the castle was demolished. In 1891, the park was created following negotiations between the Rathmines and Rathgar Urban District Council and local residents, the report says.

Black and white photographs by Robert French in the National Library of Ireland’s archives, which date somewhere between 1865 and 1914, show that the waterfall was an early feature of Palmerston Park.

In the early 1930s, the park was transferred to Dublin Corporation, says the council’s website, which describes it as one of the finest examples of late-Victorian urban design in Dublin.

During the 1970s and ’80s, the park became a cruising spot for gay men, says journalist and LGBTQI+ activist Tonie Walsh. “People used to climb over the railings and have a fumble in the bushes, or a stroll around the park.”

But Walsh, who lived in the area until 1989, says he cannot recall if the waterfall toilet was open during this period.

Nor could a council spokesperson provide any dates on when the toilets were built, or sealed off.

Keeping an open mind

Lacey, the Labour councillor, was fascinated when he recently learned of the toilets’ existence, he says.

“I thought, we’re doing a big revamp of the park with new toilets and tearooms, why don’t we have a look at this, with no predetermined view of what they could be?” he says.

The shortage of artist spaces around Dublin informed his thinking, he says. “They might be too dark for an artist studio, but they might be ideal as a photographer’s studio.”

Lacey and Labour Councillor Fiona Connelly tabled a motion at the South East Area Committee on Monday, proposing that the area manager, the parks department and the City Arts Office explore the idea of repurposing them as one or two artist studios.

Alternatively, their motion also suggested that they could be used for “some form of nature resource facility”.

One idea is a forest school for teaching children about nature, says Connelly. “Because if the toilets aren’t heated, it might cost a lot to be redeveloped as a studio, so there are a lot of uses that the community could get out of it.”

At the area committee meeting, Lacey said he did not expect any works to commence soon. But “at the very minimum we need to make sure that the buildings don’t deteriorate”.

Moore, the Green Party councillor, said there are at least 26 public toilets out of use in Dublin City. “There’s always potential to bring them back for some creative use, and also the potential to make them toilets.”

“But, aside from anything else, they’re potentially a lovely piece of the city’s heritage that could be restored for many creative uses,” she said.

Cornelia Raftery, executive parks superintendent, said that because it is part of the structure that holds up the waterfall, the council plans to assess the Palmerston Park toilet’s current condition as part of works to ensure its stability.

“So at that stage we can investigate options for its use,” she said.

The City Arts Office didn’t think it was particularly suited for artist studios, she said. But first they need to check what condition it is in anyways, she said.