The Bull Wall

The Bull Wall is one of my favourite walks in Dublin. It’s absolutely beautiful.
Come down here on a windy day and be prepared to have every single last cobweb blown off you! As you cross the bridge there’s no shelter from the wind, which is fine if you’re dressed for it.
The Bull Wall leads to Bull Island, a bird sanctuary with many different species hiding in the dunes. Not just birds though, there is so much diversity in the plants, grasses, insects and small animals that nature lovers will be kept amused for hours.
The best part of The Bull Wall, to me, is Realt na Mara. I’ve always felt safe out sailing knowing she is there… mainly because as a child I believed she could somehow animate herself should you ever get in trouble!

The Bull Wall, or the North Bull Wall, if you will, was built in the 19^th century in order to stop Dublin Port from silting up. It was designed by, among others, Captain William Bligh, he of Mutiny on the Bounty fame (he was also on one of Captain Cooks voyages, but this fact is often overlooked in view of his later notoriety).
The Bull Wall consists of a wooden bridge (in order to let water into the lagoon) as well as the wall itself, which is finished off with a statue of the holy mother at the end (though this is a more recent addition, relatively speaking).
It’s pleasant to take a walk out along the Bull Wall, as an end in itself or as a precursor to taking a walk out along Bull Island. It’s great to jump off the wooden bridge at high tide during the summer, and as you head out along the wall, there are two sets of swimming baths, one for the men, one for the ladies. I say swimming baths: they’re actually a type of open to the elements concrete hut, but they are handy for leaving your clothes in when going for a dip. And once you walk down the baths’ steps, you’re about chest-​high in water, so this is for serious swimmers rather than paddlers. And not for the squeamish «it’s too cold» variety of swimmer, either; the water is usually pretty damn cold until late summer, and if you don’t put your head fully under, the old men who swim there, winter and summer, will laugh at you and call you a softie.
Yep, the Bull Wall is pretty tops. One teeny little quibble though; the wooden bridge itself is the property of Dublin Port rather than Dublin City Council, and for some complicated legal reason, Dublin Port are obliged to close the bridge for one day a year to assert their title. There’s nothing wrong with the bridge, they just close it.
It is only for one day a year, but if you decide to use the bridge on this particular day (as I once did), you can’t, so watch out for that.
Definitely worth a stroll along.