Dublin's Great South Wall partially closed for storm damage repairs

Ottoline Spearman

Dublin's Great South Wall will be partially closed to the public for several weeks while Dublin Port carries out repairs following Storm Bram.

The authority says that the sea wall, which plays a vital role in protecting ships as they enter the port, has increasingly come under pressure from extreme weather events.

During Storm Bram, sections of the existing rock armour, which protects the breakwater, were loosened and displaced.

Cormac Kennedy, head of commercial at Dublin Port, said: “With increasing wave heights there has been an exponential increase in the power of these waves. That means the wall will continue to encounter more frequent and more damaging storms, and we need to move swiftly to remediate recent damage.

"What we are doing now is the first phase of works, with more extensive rock armour placement planned over the coming years."

The €2.5 million repairs, which will run for five weeks from Thursday, will involve replacing lost rock armour near Poolbeg Lighthouse.

While the works are being carried out, a section of the wall approximately 100 metres from the lighthouse will be closed.

The wall is often closed during extreme weather, but has been shut more frequently in recent years. In 2025, it was closed four times, as compared with three times in 2024 and once in 2023. It has already been closed several times in 2026.

Built between 1720 and 1795, the wall is more than 230 years old and still stands in its original form.

The Great South Wall works in tandem with the North Bull Wall to prevent the silting up of the mouth of the Liffey and to provide safe passage for ships.