The campshires are the stretches of land between the quay and road on both the north and south quays in Dublin.[1] [2] They are so named because various British military regiments, such as the Gloucestershires or Leicestershires, would camp there before setting off or returning from overseas, making 'campshire' a portmanteau of 'camp' and '-shire'.[3]
It is not clear when the word was first used, but it must date to the First World War or earlier. The term appears in a 1957 issue of The Irish Times.[4]
Before the Dublin Port facilities moved down river, this was the area of the Dublin quays where ships were loaded and unloaded. As a result, the area had a number of storage warehouses and travelling cranes. The campshires were renewed and renovated by the now-defunct Dublin Docklands Development Authority between 2000 and 2005, adding walkways and cycleways on both sides of the river Liffey, including parts of the Sutton to Sandycove project.[5] [6] A number of buildings on the campshires were also subject to renovations during the first decade of the 21st century.[7] [2]