Photo of the Week - Week 12:
Donnybrook's AV84 is seen rising up from the Ticknock Hill Estate on the 23rd April 2012. Dublin City and its wonderful bay spread out behind, and if one looks close enough you might make out a Stena-Line ship approaching Dublin Port.
Ticknock Hill is one of the lesser visited termini on the network. The 114 was extended to this terminus on the 10th July 2006 from its previous terminus at Kilcross. There is only a short walk between the two termini however quite a distance by road, the 114 sharing the Blackglen Road with the 44B in order to access the estate. The developer of the estate built a purpose built terminus for the bus to turn around, and the roads as shown in the photo above are wide and fitting for a bus service. That could not be said for the actual Ticknock Hill, as opposed to the Ticknock Hill Estate. One of the editions of the OSI map of Dublin actually showed the 114 terminating at Ticknock Hill, up with the antennae. Though a picturesque terminus it would have made, I'm not sure it would have made sense from a practical perspective. I'll let ye decide...
Ticknock Hill
Nestled amoung the Trees: AV84 is seen at the Ticknock Hill Estate terminus of Route 114 on the 23rd April 2012.
The 114 is one of Dublin's lesser used services, and in many ways its surprising that it has yet to be touched by the network review. The Ticknock Hill Estate may well lose out when a review is carried out. The 114 is a good service for the estate providing a quick link to Route 44 to the City Centre, to Sandyford Industrial Estate, and the Luas Line to Cherrywood or City, and finally to Blackrock and the DART coastal train service. A lesser known fact is that the 114 is still a DART feeder service and thus train tickets may still be purchased on board.
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A hilltop view of the 114's terminus, with AV84 about to depart. AV84 carried a Galaxy Mega-Rear last year. Well it is Easter afterall...