dlr People on the Pier

People on the Pier Press Release

The 31st May 2017 marked the beginning of the celebrations for the bicentenary of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, commemorating that auspicious occasion when the first stone was laid 200 years ago for an ambitious and progressive project.

On that day in May 2017, President Michael D. Higgins gave a remarkable address asking all of us to be recorders of current history in order to preserve it for future generations. He noted; “Just as we are all custodians of history, recipients of stories, anecdotes and accounts of the past, handed on to us by previous generations, so also we are recorders of the present moment which will craft what is yet to come.”

Shortly afterwards, we launched dlr People on the Pier, a project very much in keeping with the spirit of the President’s words;  a platform for people to share photos of their visits to Dún Laoghaire Pier, helping us to capture moments in time in the here and now, as a record for generations to come.

We asked you to send in present-day photos of you, your family, friends and your pets of course, as well as any older photos you wanted to share, to add to the archive of the Local Studies Department of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Libraries. We weren’t disappointed with the response; as of the current moment we’ve received over five hundred photos via email, Facebook and Twitter. We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of your response, with people sharing their poignant, personal, comical, nostalgic and downright crazy photographs, resulting in the formation of a strong virtual visual community of those who love Dún Laoghaire, its harbour and its piers.

It would not be possible to let this moment pass without marking the occasion and we are delighted to invite you to a digital exhibition of dlr People on the Pier photographs on Wednesday 6thDecember at dlr LexIcon at 6.45pm, followed by a reception with Councillor Tom Murphy, Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. We very much hope to see you there.

There’s still time to add to the story of this historical location by uploading your photos to www.dlrpeopleonthepier.ie, sharing on Facebook at facebook.com/dlrpop/, tagging us on Twitter at twitter.com/dlr_pop or Instagram at www.instagram.com/dlrpop/. Or you can simply email your photos (higher resolution is best) to localhistory@dlrcoco.ie.