Georgian Dublin
Seven years after the kingdoms of England and Scotland were joined in the historic 1707 Acts of Union, the first British king, King George, ascended to the throne. King George I was the first of four kings named George who would occupy the throne for the next 123 years, marking a period that has left a defining mark on Dublin’s landscape.
Ireland, at the time, was firmly under British control and harsh Penal Laws governed the country’s Catholic population. In Dublin though, the Protestant Ascendancy was thriving and the population had reached 60,000 by 1700. The buildings of Trinity College were already established, as was the Theatre Royal, now the Smock Alley Theatre. For the rest, Dublin was still a medieval city, similar to Paris but over the course of the next 100-odd years, it would undergo a major rebuilding.
The Georgian period saw the creation of the Wide Streets Commission, which demolished many of the narrow medieval lanes, replacing them with graceful, wide, sweeping thoroughfares, including O’Connell Street, Dame Street, Westmoreland and D’Olier Streets.
Each of these streets featured the finest examples of Georgian architecture, typically consisting of terraced, three-storey townhouses, with distinctive arched window frames above the sturdy, wood-panelled front doors, high ceilings, elaborate marble chimney places and sumptuously adorned walls and ceilings. Georgian squares are also a feature of the time and for a spell Mountjoy Square was the most sought-after address to be had. But when the Earl of Kildare built his palace — now Leinster House, the seat of Ireland’s parliament — to the south of the Liffey, the fashionable soon flooded to the other side of the river.
Merrion and Fitzwilliam Squares and St Stephen’s Green were soon laid out and similarly adorned with elegant homes, while the houses to the north were abandoned to Dublin’s poor.
By the end of the 18th century, Dublin was still booming and the population had tripled to 180,000. For many, this was a splendid,
cosmopolitan city, whose markets were stuffed with spices, cheeses and fruits from all over the world. There were figs from Marseille, hams from Bayonne, Parmesan cheese, West Indian sweetmeats, ginger, truffles and olives all to be found alongside domestic produce such as oysters (long considered only fit for the poor), fish, fresh herbs and creamy butter.
For others, it was a place of darkness, squalor and disease. Lighting was still very poor and it was noted in 1812 that St Stephen’s Green only benefitted from the illumination of only 26 lamps, some 100 metres apart. The turn of the 19th century marked the beginning of a new period of decline for Dublin, as the seat of government was moved to Westminster following the passing of the Acts of Union 1800, which added Ireland to Great Britain.
To savour some of the best examples of Dublin’s architecture of the period, take a meander along the city’s Grand Canal before turning over the Leeson Street Bridge (towards the city centre). From here, take the second right onto Fitzwilliam Place, and you’ll soon come to Fitzwilliam Square, one of the last and smaller of the great Georgian squares to be developed. The park here is still private, reserved for the exclusive use of residents.
Continuing straight on Fitzwilliam Street Upper, cross Lower Baggot Street to reach Fitzwilliam Street Lower. This will lead you directly to Merrion Square and also the address for Number Twenty-Nine, a beautiful museum showcasing how a Georgian house would have looked in the earliest days of its occupancy. The museum is currently closed for reconstruction until 2020, though you can still take a virtual tour through their website: www.numbertwentynine.ie.
Laid out in the 1760s, Merrion Square is considered the best preserved, and grandest, remnant of Georgian Dublin. Walking around the square and its public gardens you will find plaques commemorating former residents such as Daniel O’Connell (No. 50), William Butler Yeats (No. 82), Oscar Wilde (No. 1), and George Russell (No. 84).
To the west of here, you’ll find a number of key buildings including the National Gallery of Ireland (1864), Leinster House, the Natural History Museum, St Stephen’s Green and, of course, the Shelbourne Hotel, where the weary have been soothing their troubles since 1824.