Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Hardwicke Pl; 11, 16 or 41 from city centre) One of Dublin's most beautiful buildings is this de-
consecrated church, built by Francis Johnston between 1802 and 1813 in Greek Ionic
style. It is topped by an eye-catching, 60m-high steeple modelled on that of St Martin-in-
the-Fields in London. Alas, it has fallen into serious disrepair and has been shrouded in
scaffolding for more than a decade.
Although this was one of Johnston's finest works, and the Duke of Wellington was mar-
ried here, the building's neglect is largely to do to the fact that it's Church of Ireland and
not Roman Catholic - the Protestant (and largely moneyed) community for whom it was
built has shrunk to the point of disappearance. The bells that Leopold Bloom heard in that
book were removed, the ornate pulpit was carved up and used to decorate the pub Thomas
Read's ( Click here ) , and the spire is in danger of crumbling, which has resulted in the
scaffolding. The church is not open to the public.
THE EVOLUTION OF A GEORGIAN STREET
Dublin's first example of Georgian urban design was Henrietta Street MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 25, 25A, 37,
38, 39, 66, 67, 90 or 134 from city centre, Courts), laid out in the 1720s at the behest of Luke Gardiner, who
was to become the city's pre-eminent Georgian developer. Wider than most 18th-century streets, it was lined with
a series of large, red-bricked Palladian mansions. Gardiner himself lived at No 10, in a house designed by Richard
Cassels. The street was originally known as Primate's Hill, as the Archbishop of Armagh owned one of the
houses; it was later demolished (along with two others) to make way for the Law Library of King's Inns ( Click
here ; still there at the street's western end). The name Henrietta was inspired by either the wife of Charles
FitzRoy, the Duke of Grafton, or the wife of Charles Paulet, the 2nd Duke of Bolton (after whom nearby Bolton
St is named).
The street was Dublin's most fashionable address until the Act of Union in 1801, after which it fell into disre-
pair. For most of the 20th century it was a tenement street, with each house crammed with as many as 70 resid-
ents. Recent restorations have restored the 13 remaining houses to something approaching their elegant best, and
the cul-de-sac remains a wonderful insight into the evolution of Georgian residential architecture.
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