Page 75 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

SOUTHEAST DUBLIN  73

Dublin’s Georgian Terraces

The 18th century was Dublin’s Age of Elegance, a time of rel ative prosperity when the
Irish gentry, keen not to appear as the poor relations of Britain, set about remodelling
Dublin into one of the most elegant cities in Europe. Terraced town houses were
built, forming handsome new streets and squares. During the 19th century the city’s
wealth declined, forcing some middle-class families to divide their homes into
tene ments. Many of Dublin’s once grand streets slowly deteriorated. A century later the
property boom of the 1960s threatened to rip out what was left of Georgian Dublin.
Fortunately, much has survived and some of the city’s finest architecture can be seen in
Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square.

Playroom
Attic The bedrooms were
usually on the second
floor, while the upper
floors contained the
servants’ quarters and
children’s rooms.

Wrought-iron balconies
gave added prestige to the
Georgian house. Those still
in place today are mostly
later Victorian additions.

The drawing room
was always on the first Lavish stuccowork was
floor. The high ceiling an important way of
was decorated with the showing an owner’s
finest plasterwork. wealth during the
18th century.
The dining room
Architrave was normally on
the ground floor.

The kitchen contained a
huge cooking range
which was fired by either
coal or wood. The
adjoining pantry was
used to store the
household’s groceries.

Georgian Terraced House
The doorway was While Georgian streetscapes may appear uniform, closer inspection
usually crowned with a reveals a diversity of styles in terms of details such as fanlights,
segmented fanlight. architraves and balconies. The hallways usu ally had stone floors and,
The principal decoration facing the hall door, a staircase rising to the upper floors. Many of the
on the door itself was a town houses did not have gardens – the railed-off parks in the centre
heavy brass knocker. of the squares were reserved for residents only and served as such.

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