In this short documentary video production commissioned by Dublin Port, we investigate one of the most inhospitable places to work in Ireland’s modern history… Dublin’s diving bell.
‘The Bell’ was used for almost 100 years in the construction and maintenance of Dublin Port and was only gradually phased out in the 1950’s. The bell would be lowered onto the sea bed from a barge and the workers inside the bell would work on the sea bed, digging mud and silt, sinking steel and concrete posts and building new, or repairing existing, structures.
We were lucky enough to interview the last man to work inside ‘The Bell’, Dermod Heron. Dermod describes the bell as a “horrible place” and laughing, suggests that under today’s health and safety law “they’d all be sent to jail!”
By all accounts the bell was a dark, cold, wet, noisy and dangerous place to work. The compression experienced by workers inside the bell meant that their ears could bleed and could even be permanently damaged. Dermod describes the bell as being “tough going” and adds “You didn’t want to be a soft character!”
The bell has now been turned into a unique museum and interpretive centre, immortalising its inventor, Bindon Blood Storey and the brave men who toiled inside Dublin’s diving bell.
We’ll leave the last words, however, to Dermod… “When you look back on it, it really was a very primitive setup. My fondest memory was getting out of it…. Getting home!”