I discovered a new word the other day. There’s a lot of talk on an architectural forum here of something called “The Campshires”. Now I know my Dublin well, but I didn’t know of any area of that name; perhaps it was a new one created out of the ongoing clearance and development of the Docklands, or perhaps it was just the name of some large-scale building project in progress.

A bit of trawling around the DDDA website soon sorted me out. It turns out that a campshire is the area between the road and a quay wall where ships are loaded. It’s that bit that is normally occupied by cranes on tracks and by ugly piles of barrels and other containers, as well as enough coiled rope to keep a boy scouts’ jamboree in knots for a year.

Dublin’s Campshires still had their cranes in the 90s, but over the last ten years the DDDA have been conducting a thorough refurbishment, converting them into a beautiful public space and amenity. The North Campshires are complete and the South Campshire has been done about half way to the sea – up to the location of the new Samuel Beckett bridge to be opened in 2010. They’re the perfect place for a sunny stroll, well appointed with street furniture, some new cafes and public art and sculpture. They’re so broad that it’s easy to forget that heavy port traffic is trundling by you on the other side as you gaze across the river. They’ve also proven a successful site for the many festivals hosted by the DDDA throughout the year – one of the few large pedestrian spaces in Dublin that are not grassland (and therefore susceptible to the weather). Give them a visit between the showers.