The City Basin, Dublin

An illustration of the new city basin taken from Charles Brooking's map of Dublin of 1728.

The City Basin was a public reservoir and cistern constructed near St James' Street, Dublin around 1721 to supply the City of Dublin with water.

The basin had various iterations before being supplemented by the Blessington Street Basin on the North side of the city around 1810 and finally being replaced by a modern water system from Vartry Reservoir around 1869.

The basin itself was later filled in and replaced by Basin Street Flats in the 1960s and the nearby Grand Canal Harbour also fell out of use around 1960 and was filled in soon after to be finally replaced by apartments in 2023.

History

Medieval period

In 1308, it was recorded that John Le Decer, mayor or provost of Dublin, installed two public pipes for supplying the city with a fresh water source. These pipes were located at High Street and at Cornmarket and seem to have replaced an earlier water system which was already present. The source of the water was likely by way of a diversion of the Dodder at Balrothery weir near Firhouse in the southern hills of Dublin.

In historical accounts, this is often referred to as the city watercourse.

Around the year 1555, a tongue was created near Kimmage to divert two thirds of the water into what was known as the Earl of Meath's watercourse combining with the River Poddle in the city proper to significantly boost the water supply. This water helped to drive early industrial development in the Liberties for breweries, tanneries and other emerging industries.

The other third of the water supply was diverted to what was referred to as the city watercourse and was carried westward at an elevated level to supply the higher parts of the city.

1660 improvements

In 1660, the demand for water had exceeded the supply and alterations and improvements to the watercourse and basin were undertaken with a new subterranean course under Thomas Street to a smaller underground cistern at New Row in the Liberties. From there a 6 inch pipe went over the old bridge to supply the North side of the city.

A few years after around 1671, pipes were laid by Dublin Corporation across much of the city to supply a water source directly to streets.

1721 basin

In 1721, Dublin Corporation decided to build a more modern and extensive basin for the needs of the evolving Georgian city supplied by the River Dodder via the city watercourse as its sole original source. In order to maintain water pressure in the city and effectively distribute the water it was necessary to construct a raised course through masonry and embankments through Dolphin's Barn and Kilmainham. James Scanlan was employed as engineer to carry out the works after an invitation which included submissions from Richard Castle and Gabriel Stokes.

Around 1735, the coroporation also purchased mills and weirs at Islandbridge for £3,500 to further supplement the water supply and constructed a large mill and pump to further add to the water supply.

The area around the basin was also lined with trees and an ornamental gate around this time and became a fashionable park for citizens of the city over the following decades.

1775 improvements

City of Dublin (No. 2) Act 1775
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Ireland
Long title	An Act for the better regulating the pipe water of the city of Dublin.
Citation	15 & 16 Geo. 3 (1775) c. 24 (I)

In the later 18th century, water was taken from the recently constructed Grand Canal and mixed with water from the Dodder. This was undertaken by virtue of passing an act of Parliament and entering into a contract with the owners of the Grand Canal for an ample supply of water.

Later again in 1806, the corporation entered into 60 year agreements for a supply of water from both the Grand and Royal Canal on opposite side of the city.

The supply of water from the Grand Canal was eventually deemed unsafe and was eventually ceased in 1869 with the resultant Vartry Reservoir developed around the same time.