TOG 4.0…. New Space

Introducing TOG 4.0, our new home in Bluebell.

We are delighted to announce that we have secured a home for TOG 4.0. We have taken a lease on a 335 square meter industrial unit in Bluebell at Unit 1B Motor City, just off Kylemore Road. We are about an 8-minute walk from Kylemore Luas stop and there is also plenty of car parking available.

Keeping things retro our first photo of the space is taken on a 1970s Polaroid sx-70 instant camera.

The unit is completely empty, so we now have a blank canvas to build a wonderful space for ourselves and our community of hackers and makers. We are always open to new members so if you would like to be a part of building TOG 4.0 please let us know!


We want to thank all our members and the community for their help in finding a new space and a home for the next few years. You can check out our gallery for more photos of TOG 4.0.

https://www.tog.ie/gallery/nggallery/all/tog-4-0

TOG has been in existence for over 12 years now, providing Dublin with a space to craft, hack, make and socialize. Watch out for a mega opening event when COVID permits. We are all really looking forward to running events and working on projects again.

TOG Bumper clear out and give away

TOG 3.0 is coming to an end! We are giving away loads of good stuff, and any donation (big or small) will go to the moving and fit-out costs for TOG 4.0. Items range from kitchen paraphernalia, craft supplies, electronics, and office furniture. We want to avoid as much sending it to landfill.

We will be open for people to drop by on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of July from 11:00 am till 6:00 pm.

Please share with anyone you think would be interested.

Social distancing rules apply, you must wear a mask and the number of people admitted into the building will be limited in line with current restrictions.

Help TOG find a new home!

We have been given notice on our current home, TOG 3.0 at 22 Blackpitts, with 31 July 2021 as our last day. Right now we have no new premises to move to, and with the current rental situation in Dublin, we need all the help we can get to find our new home!

How you can help TOG:

  • Do you know of an available building that could be TOG 4.0?
  • Do you have contacts who could help us find that new home?
  • Do you know of an organization that we could partner with on a space?
  • Share this post/Forward this email to get the word out!

What does TOG 4.0 need?

  • Ideally light industrial/workshop space with facilities with potential for common room, kitchen, classroom etc
  • At least 150sqm (?)
  • Easy access via public transport or walking distance from the city centre
  • Safe and accessible for our members and the wider community

Please get in touch with us via email info@tog.ie

What is TOG?

We are a community hackerspace/makerspace located in Dublin City Centre founded in 2009. We are a place where people can go to make things in a supportive and creative atmosphere. Where people can go along and pick up a new skill or have access to equipment to make their project a reality. Most importantly it’s a community space.

We are a non-profit, non-commercial group funded by our members. We are a very diverse group of makers with strong software, hardware and engineering skills as well as arts and design skills. In our Blackpitts space, we have the room, tools and equipment to work in all

of these areas. We range in age from students to retired. We have members with decades of experience in work and industry. We also host and attend external events such as Hackathons, Dublin Maker events for Science Week, Engineers Week and a range of other STEM outreach

events. A strong social, networking and ideas exchange scene is also part of our membership and the wider public. We are open to new members joining and we run regular weekly events for the public.

What does this mean for you?

Right now we are reducing the amount of material in TOG 3.0 as much as possible.

If you are a member, please remove all your items from TOG ASAP! All members’ personal materials must be removed from TOG by 30 June 2021.

If you are a former member and still have material in TOG get in touch with us ASAP and we can facilitate collection or disposal.

Full Press Release -> https://www.tog.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TOG-Press-Release-Irelands-oldest-hackerspace-needs-a-new-home.pdf

Science Hackday Dublin

We are hosting Science Hack Day. A 36 hr hardware and software hackathon. Ireland’s first public hackathon it has been run by plucky volunteers since 2012. A social event with creativity and love of science at its heart. Each year we bring together, designers, coders, scientists, engineers and makers. Simply to make interesting things. Why? For adventure, for playfulness, for science!

On Saturday & Sunday 7th/8th of March join forces with fellow enthusiasts to work on projects together. During the course of the weekend, the hackerspace will enable participants to bring projects to reality with the various tools and equipment on hand. Sign up with the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/science-hack-day-dublin-2020-registration-94633813283

Engineers Week Ireland logo

This event is part of Engineers Week that runs from February 29th until March 6th. For other events on as part during the week visit http://www.engineersweek.ie/ . We are also running an Air Quality Sensor workshop -> https://www.tog.ie/2020/01/air-quality-sensor-kit-workshop/

Farewell Tog 2.0

We used to have a space on a quiet lane near the back of Dublin Castle. Warehouse Unit C on Chancery lane was our place to call home from 2010 till 2015. It was a big step up for us moving from a small office unit on Arron Quay to a proper industrial style unit ( Check out this walk though of Tog 1.0 here) . We called it Tog 2.0 and moved in the summer of 2010. The unit had been empty for a number of years and had suffered extensive damage during the Big Freeze of 2010. The unit required a lot of repairs and renovations but we knew we could make it work and find the money to pay for a bigger space.  Check out the video below by a very exited Robert Fitzsimons soon after we got the keys or our photos from our gallery

 

 

It took us about a month to get the space ready to open to the public with members doing all the work including fixing the 12 leaks. You can read the blog post from the time here.  

 

 

Over the years in Tog 2.0, we held 100’s of events and built many a project. Some of my personal favourites are the Security Saturday event and the Rubens Tube just to name a few. It was in this space that we fell in love with pizza ovens, a love that continues today with our 3rd version in use today at our open socials. Finally, one of the most important things to happen in Tog 2.0 was the start of our obsession with ducks. We have taken our love of ducks in many directions and places we would have not thought possible. Giant Ducks, painted ducks, photo shootsplot them, taken in strays, even put them on our clothing.

Our time at Tog 2.0 came to an end with the owner of the building deciding they wanted to build on the site and not giving us a new long term lease. After a long search we found Tog 3.0 and moved in October 2015 which brought an end to Tog 2.0. The building once again was left vacant for a number of years with it only recently being knocked down. 

 

 

Farewell Tog 2.0, you serviced us well for many years. 

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

Hackaday & Tindie Bring-a-Hack Meetup

 

We are excited to host Hackaday & Tindie Bring-a-Hack Meetup on Friday 6th of April from 7pm . Our doors will be open for people to drop by and show off a hack or a make. There will be snacks and beverage courtesy of the  Hackaday & Tindie team. 

The event is free but ticketed.  Sign up here

If you want to turn your whole weekend into hanging around with hacker and makers, you might like the Hackaday Dublin Unconference on Saturday 7th. You can find out more about it here