AN OUTDOOR convenience at the Forty Foot bathing place in south Dublin that has served generations of gentleman swimmers has been closed following complaints of noxious odours from lady bathers.
The Forty Foot, an inlet between Sandycove and Bullock harbour just south of Dún Laoghaire, was developed by Kingstown Town Commissioners in 1863, according to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
For many years it was the preserve of male nude bathers, with a sign at its steps reading “Gentlemen Only”.
But, from the 1970s onward, following an “invasion” by the Women’s Liberation Movement of Ireland, females began using the facilities.
The all-year-round bathing place included a urinal for the use of male swimmers. Its contents flowed directly onto the rocks below and into the sea.
But following health and safety concerns and repeated complaints from female bathers in particular, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council boarded up the convenience last week.
Local Labour councillor Jane Dillon Byrne, a year-round swimmer, said she welcomed the closure.
“The smell from the rocks below it from generations of gentlemen was noxious,” she said.
“But it is the end of an era.”
