Dublin:
Nelson's Pillar or usually referred to as the pillar was a large granite structure on which stood a statue of Horatio Nelson. It was erected in 1809 on Sackville Street (O’Connell Street) in Dublin in commemoration of Horatio Nelson’s victory over the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. It also commemorated 3 other battles - Copenhagen, Saint Helena and the Nile. The Pillar was a doric column which was 36.9m (121 feet) in height, the statue was 4m (13 feet) tall in Portland stone by cork sculptor Thomas Kirk. The diameter was 4m (13 feet) at the bottom and 3m (10 feet) at the top. The outer visible parts of the pillar was of Wicklow Granite quarried from Gold Hill Kilbride, the interior was of black limestone. There were 166 steps to climb to the top of the pillar.
Nelson's Pillar In The Early 19th Century
The foundation stone was laid on the 15th February 1808 by the Duke of Richmond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and was completed by August 1809 when the statue of Nelson was placed on its summit. The Pillar soon became a centre point in Dublin which people used as meeting place and also became a terminus for trams and eventually buses. It was possible to climb to the viewing platform on the summit of the Pillar were panoramic views of Dublin City were to be seen.
Nelson's Pillar In The Early 20th Century
Admiral Nelson dominated Dublin's O'Connell Street until March 1966. In the dead of the night on the eight, the IRA blew him up, fortunately without loss of human life. After a week of clearing up the debris from the original [IRA] explosion the Irish army was brought in to blow up the remainder of the pillar. This was done in the night of the 15th March at around midnight. A large crowd of onlookers were present. What remained of the pillar was illuminated by floodlights and there was a countdown on a public address system, based at the GPO, then the headquarters of Radio Éireann. The countdown was narrated by Kevin O'Kelly, a well known broadcaster, who subsequently covered the moon landings, at the same unearthly hour but some years later.
Nelson's Pillar On The 9th March 1966
Today:
Today the site of Nelsons Pillar is occupied by the Dublin Spire officially titled The Monument Of Light. The spire is a large stainless steel pin like monument 121.2 meters (398ft) in height. It was designed by Ian Richie Architects and was manufactured by Radley Engineering of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford and the installation was completed in January 2003.
Kilkenny:
But what happened to the remains of Nelson's Pillar? After the demolition, the rubble from the monument was taken to the East Wall dump in Dublin. The lettering from the plinth was moved to the gardens of Butler House in Kilkenny City. Butler House is the Dower House of Kilkenny Castle and has always been associated with the Butler Family, Dukes and Earls of Ormonde who resided at Kilkenny Castle for 500 years.
Butler House Kilkenny
The Cache:
The cache is not at the above co-ordinates, instead you will find a circular pond. Around the pond are 16 square blocks of granite. These blocks are from the plinth of Nelson's Pillar and each has at least one complete letter inscribed on it. Find the block with the small T and the large V inscribed upon it, this is your starting block - Block 1. Directly to its right is Block 2 and so on around in a clockwise direction.
The Cache is hidden at.....
N 52°(Block 3)9.06(Block 3)
W 007°(Block 6)4.(Block 12)65
Simply count around to the appropriate block, read the letter and using its placement in the alphabet (A=1, B=2...etc), substitute into the above formula and the final co-ordinates will be revealed. Remember the starting block is block 1.
The cache itself is hidden by a public pathway which is very popular with joggers and dog walkers and muggles in general. As a result the cache is small and discretely hidden. Please be stealthy and bring your own writing instrument. The closing times for the garden are:
Monday - Friday 5.00pm.
Saturday & Sunday 12.00 noon.
I have included the park times below. They are not essential for finding the cache but are useful as the park offers a convenient short cut to GZ.