The Georgian houses surrounding the square were constructed from around the year 1770 and the last was completed around 1830. The square is notable for its elegance and quiet charm. In her article in The Georgian Squares of Dublin, Susan Roundtree writes: "It has justifiably been described as one of the most beautiful early 19th-century squares in Dublin."[1] In the 24 March 1978 edition of In Dublin magazine, Gordon Lynch wrote, "The recently face-lifted Mount Pleasant Square, which is protected by a preservation order, is the only curved square in Dublin, if such a thing is possible."[2]
There are 56 terraced houses on three sides of a central open space, now housing a tennis club and a small public park. The north and south sides are crescents rather than typical borders of a square. About half of the houses are occupied by young families, while several remain in apartments. Homes on the west side have south-west facing back gardens, there is a Victorian Era post-box on the south-west corner of the square,[3] and 24-hour disc parking is enforced.[4]
History
31 Mount Pleasant Square, home of Terence Dolan.
Mount Pleasant Square is about 100 yards from where the Ranelagh Gardens once stood. The public park beside the LUAS station is all that remains of what were once far more extensive grounds. Richard Crosbie became the first Irish person to fly a balloon when he took off from the gardens in 1785. Crosbie wanted to cross the Irish Sea, but only made it to Clontarf. After the Act of Union in 1801, middle-class professionals abandoned Georgian mansions on the northside, and moved to places with smaller, more manageable houses in new southside suburbs such as Rathmines and Ranelagh. As Susan Roundtree notes: “The first suburban boom accelerated during subsequent generations and established the pattern of city centre migration to the suburbs.”[1]
According to a January 2015 article in the English Daily Telegraph, Mount Pleasant in London, which presumably inspired the usage in Dublin, "was the tongue-in-cheek name for the medieval dumping ground of household refuse, ashes, and other trash, along the banks of the woefully polluted Fleet River in Clerkenwell (before the river was buried underground). The street name remains, though the irony is lost."
Mount Pleasant Square was developed in the early 19th century, much of it by the Dolan family. Terence Dolan was a glove maker from Chester who bought plots of land from a Solomon Williams (also of Chester) in three transactions: in 1807, 1808 and 1812.
On the first plot of land – on the south side of what is now the square – Dolan built eight houses (Nos 36–43). At the time, these houses would have had commanding views of the city centre. A speculative developer, Dolan leased out the properties on short leases and raised the money to build more houses. By 1812 he had acquired all the land on the north and west sides of the square.
The second son of Terence Dolan, Terence Thomas Dolan, was a key mover behind the Rathmines Township, and was one of its first commissioners in 1847. By 1848 he effectively owned 32 of the houses on the square. His son, Henry Joseph Dolan, became President of Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club in the centre of the square, when it was established in 1893.
The social composition of the houses has always been varied. In the past, many doctors and solicitors lived on the square, which is relatively close to Fitzwilliam Square and the Law Library. The square once housed two schools, and in 1911 the 14 inhabitants of No 27 included a carpenter, a scholar and a fishmonger.[5][6] Of the 387 people who lived on the square that year, there were 149 Catholics, 177 Church of Ireland, 20 Presbyterian, 10 Methodist and 7 Baptists. An average of 7 people lived in each house.[7]
Architecture
The west side of Mount Pleasant Square.
Most of the houses are two-storey over basements that are below ground level. Many of the gardens have now been shortened to accommodate mews buildings. There is a lot of variation in individual house construction, as the plot sizes are not uniform.
Susan Roundtree notes that the houses were probably built by tradesmen rather than skilled craftsmen. Three bay houses were soon joined by smaller, two-bay houses that were effectively miniature versions of the city houses with two principal rooms on each floor. The basement walls are about two feet thick, with limestone calp used throughout. The windows were typical vertically sliding timber sashes.[1]
Mount Pleasant Square is an example of rus in urbe, 'a countryside in the city'.[1] The overall composition is more impressive than any one house. With its bucolic curtain of trees and handsome terraced Georgian houses, the atmosphere on this well-preserved square is often described as Dickensian, as if residents step into a period drama every time they leave the house. There is something elegant, if slightly bashful, about the whole effect: drooping trees, little traffic, gentle plop of tennis balls.
Public park
Mount Pleasant Square park.
The small public park beside the tennis club is unsatisfactory. It was the subject of a planning controversy in the 1970s.[1] At one point it seemed inevitable that the thin sliver of land would be given over to a garage, but a well-orchestrated outcry ensured its survival as a public amenity.
The Dolan Family
Terence Dolan was the main developer of Mountpleasant Square in the early 19th Century. His son, Terence T. Dolan, a solicitor, was one of the key motivators in establishing the Rathmines Township in 1847 and was one of its first commissioners. He lived at number 31, the largest house on the square, with an archway to Mountpleasant Avenue. The family retained property interests in the square well into the 20th Century.
Old Mount Pleasant
The houses at Old Mountpleasant predate the houses in Mountpleasant Square. Among the early residents was Thomas Ivory, a Corkman who was one of the most important architects working in Dublin in the latter part of the 18th Century (and the only one of the three major architects of Georgian Dublin who was Irish). Ivory designed a number of significant surviving buildings in the city including the Blue Coat School (now the Law Society Headquarters in Blackhall Place) and Newcomen Bank in Castle Street (now the Rates Office). He was also Master of the Architectural Drawing School in Dublin. He died in 1786.
The Swan River
The Swan River, although now hidden from view, defines the landscape and topography of Ranelagh. From its source near Kimmage Manor it flows through Rathmines and Ranelagh and joins the River Dodder below Ballsbridge. In Ranelagh it flows to the east through Mount Pleasant Square (where the arch leads out to Mount Pleasant Avenue) before crossing into Ranelagh Gardens.
Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School
This RIAI Gold Medal award-winning school was designed by O'Donnell & Tuomey Architects and opened in 1998 (subsequently extended). It replaced the 'tin school', a hall built in 1893 (later a church). The new building is contemporary in design but its scale and finishes (salvaged brick and timber) are in sympathy with the adjoining historic buildings.
Local amenities
Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club has squash, badminton and tennis courts, as well as a table tennis table[citation needed], a snooker table and a bar.
The Hill Pub occupies a prominent position at the south-east corner of Mount Pleasant Square. It is best described as a handsome pub from the outside.[citation needed]
Mount Pleasant LTC
One of Mount Pleasant Square Lawn Tennis Club's courts.
The square is home to one of Dublin's leading racquet sports clubs, and the only club in the city with tennis, squash and badminton sections (and table tennis too). Mount Pleasant L.T.C. was founded in 1893, making it amongst the oldest clubs in Dublin.
The club holds a variety of tournaments, including Tennis Open Week, one of the largest tournaments in Ireland. Mount Pleasant is among the premier badminton clubs in Leinster. Membership stands at around 1,000 with about 700 tennis members and the rest more or less equally divided between squash and badminton.
Mount Pleasant Square in media
The cover of John McGahern's novel, The Pornographer, features the curved north terrace of Mount Pleasant Square.
Georgian Dublin is a phrase used in terms of the history of Dublin that has two interwoven meanings:
to describe a historic period in the development of the city of Dublin, Ireland, from 1714 to the death in 1830 of King George IV. During this period, the reign of the four Georges, hence the word Georgian, covers a particular and unified style, derived from Palladian Architecture, which was used in erecting public and private buildings
to describe the modern day surviving buildings in Dublin erected in that period and which share that architectural style
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. Victorian refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian were used in construction. However, many elements of what is typically termed "Victorian" architecture did not become popular until later in Victoria's reign, roughly from 1850 and later. The styles often included interpretations and eclectic revivals of historic styles (see Historicism). The name represents the British and French custom of naming architectural styles for a reigning monarch. Within this naming and classification scheme, it followed Georgian architecture and later Regency architecture and was succeeded by Edwardian architecture.
Cornelius Bernard Colbert was an Irish rebel and pioneer of Fianna Éireann. For his part in the Easter Rising of 1916, he was shot by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, on 8 May 1916.
Ranelagh is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of Dublin 6.
Sutton is a residential suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It occupies the tombolo which links Howth Head to the mainland, some of the lower slopes of Howth Hill, and a little of the adjacent coasts. The area lies within the jurisdiction of Fingal County Council. There is a small commercial core at the Sutton Cross road intersection.
Rathgar is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It was originally a village which from 1862 was part of the township of Rathmines and Rathgar; it was absorbed by the growing city and became a suburb in 1930. It lies about three kilometres south of the city centre.
Rathmines is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east, and Harold's Cross to the west. It is situated in the city's D06 postal district.
Portobello is an area of Dublin in Ireland, within the southern city centre and bounded to the south by the Grand Canal. It came into existence as a small suburb south of the city in the 18th century, centred on Richmond Street.
Mountjoy Square is a garden square in Dublin, Ireland, on the Northside of the city just under a kilometre from the River Liffey. One of five Georgian squares in Dublin, it was planned and developed in the late 18th century by Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy. It is surrounded on all sides by terraced, red-brick Georgian houses. Construction of the houses began piecemeal in 1792 and the final property was completed in 1818.
Richard Crosbie (1755–1824) was the first Irishman to make a manned flight. He flew in a hydrogen air balloon from Ranelagh, on Dublin's southside to Clontarf, on Dublin's northside on 19 January 1785 at the age of 30. His aerial achievement occurred just 14 months after the first-ever manned balloon flight by the Montgolfier Brothers in France and is commemorated by a memorial located at the site of this historic event & commissioned by Dublin City Council.
Rathmines and Rathgar is a former second-tier local government area within County Dublin. It was created as the Township of Rathmines in 1847. In 1862, its area was expanded and it became the Township of Rathmines and Rathgar. In 1899, it became an urban district. It was abolished in 1930, and its area absorbed into the city of Dublin.
Dartmouth Square is a Victorian Garden square located near Ranelagh, in Dublin, Ireland. It has a simple rectangular layout, including a low granite plinth wall, a pergola and its walkway, and broadleaf mature trees which enclose the space. The park boundary is marked by the original wrought iron railings and gates.
GoCar is the first Carsharing service in Ireland. GoCar members can book cars online or via the app for as little as an hour, then unlock with their phone or GoCard; the keys are in the car, with fuel, insurance and city parking all included. Rates start from €10 per hour, with 50 km of driving included on each trip. GoCar now has over 10,000 members and operates a fleet of over 300 cars across 200+ locations in Ireland. Drivers can visit GoCar.ie to request a GoCar in their community. It launched in Cork in September 2008, with the support of Cork City Council as a pilot scheme. Cork City Council gave GoCar use of 3 car parking locations in Cork City as part of a wider pilot scheme.
Camden Street is a street in Dublin 2. It links Ranelagh/Rathmines to the southern city centre of Dublin. It is divided into Camden Street Upper and Camden Street Lower.
Lee Dunne was an Irish author, best known for his novel Goodbye to the Hill set in the Mountpleasant Buildings in the Hill Area, Ranelagh, Dublin.
Mountpleasant railway station was a railway station in County Louth, Ireland on the Belfast - Dublin Railway line. The station closed in 1965.
Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club is a tennis and squash club in south Dublin, Ireland. Established in 1877, Fitzwilliam is one of the oldest tennis clubs in the world. It has held the Irish Open annually since the late 19th century.
Belgrave Square is a residential Victorian square in D6, Dublin, located off of Castlewood Avenue between Rathmines and Ranelagh.
Kenilworth Square is a Victorian square in the Rathgar area of Dublin 6, Ireland. It was developed by several different developers between 1858 and 1879. Unlike the larger of the city squares such as Fitzwilliam Square, Kenilworth developed more organically around a central square plot of land. The houses are in a variety of different styles although all are finished in red brick. The Ordnance Survey map of 1867 shows that most plots surrounding the square had already been laid out and built upon at that stage. Development of the surrounding area had begun initially after the establishment of the township of Rathgar and Rathmines in 1847.
Beechwood is a stop on the Luas light rail tram system in Dublin, Ireland which serves the southern parts of Ranelagh and Rathmines. It opened in 2004 as a stop on the Green Line, which re-uses the alignment of the Harcourt Street railway line which closed in 1958. Beechwood Luas stop is located on the same site as a station on the old line called Rathmines and Ranelagh, although it is lower than the original station.
References
1 2 3 4 5 Susan Roundtree, "Mount Pleasant Square," The Georgian Squares of Dublin: An Architectural History, Dublin City Council, 2006
↑ Gordon Lynch, (article in) 'In Dublin', 24 March 1978
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