Powerscourt House, Dublin

Last updated

Powerscourt House
Pcourtfdoor.jpg
Main entrance
Open street map central dublin.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Central Dublin
Alternative namesPowerscourt Townhouse Centre
General information
Architectural style Palladian
Address59 South William Street
Town or city Dublin
Country Ireland
Coordinates 53°20′32.05″N6°15′42.54″W / 53.3422361°N 6.2618167°W / 53.3422361; -6.2618167
Named for Richard Wingfield, 3rd Viscount Powerscourt
Groundbreaking1771 (1771)
Completed1774;250 years ago (1774)
Technical details
Materialgranite
Design and construction
Architect(s)Robert Mack

Powerscourt House is the former Dublin townhouse of Viscount Powerscourt and now the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, located on South William Street, Dublin.

Contents

History

It was constructed in the eighteenth century for Richard Wingfield, 3rd Viscount Powerscourt. [1] He was a member of the Irish House of Lords. The townhouse enabled him and his family to stay there when they were visiting from their Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow.

The house was designed by Robert Mack and dates from between 1771 and 1774, and has been characterised as the "last-gasp Palladianism on a grand scale on a narrow street". The court at the rear of the building was created with the addition of three brown-brick office buildings from 1809 to 1811. [2]

Within a couple of years of the abolition of the Parliament of Ireland, the viscount sold this Dublin residence since he received his seat now at the House of Lords in London. Many other peers also sold their palatial Dublin residences, which led to an economic and cultural decline of the city.[ citation needed ]

The government bought the property for £15,000 [3] and between 1811 and 1835 the Stamp Office, where impressed stamp duty newspaper stamps, a form of revenue stamp were applied to newspapers, journals and periodicals, was located in Powerscourt House. [4]

Shopping centre

Powerscourt House was purchased and redeveloped as a shopping centre between 1978 and 1981 [2] by Robin Power. The journalist Frank McDonald described the conversion of the building as "imaginative" and "the city's smartest shopping centre". [5] [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Connell Street</span> Key street of Dublin, Ireland

O'Connell Street is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry Street. The Luas tram system runs along the street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament House, Dublin</span> Former building housing the Parliament of Ireland

Parliament House in Dublin, Ireland, was home to the Parliament of Ireland, and since 1803 has housed the Bank of Ireland. It was the world's first purpose-built bicameral parliament house. It is located at College Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgian Dublin</span> Period in Dublin c1714–1830 used to describe areas of the city

Georgian Dublin is a phrase used in terms of the history of Dublin that has two interwoven meanings:

  1. 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
  2. to describe the modern day surviving buildings in Dublin erected in that period and which share that architectural style
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viscount Powerscourt</span> Title in the peerage of Ireland

Viscount Powerscourt is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland, each time for members of the Wingfield family. It was created first in 1618 for the Chief Governor of Ireland, Richard Wingfield. However, this creation became extinct on his death in 1634. It was created a second time in 1665 for Folliott Wingfield. He was the great-great-grandson of George Wingfield, uncle of the first Viscount of the 1618 creation. However, the 1665 creation also became extinct on the death of its first holder in 1717.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Cassels</span> German-French architect

Richard Cassels, also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Although German, his family were of French origin and descended from the French-Netherlandish 'Du Ry' family, famous for the many architects among their number. A cousin Simon Louis du Ry designed Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enniskerry</span> Village in County Wicklow, Ireland

Enniskerry is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 2,008 at the 2022 census.

Powerscourt may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molesworth Street, Dublin</span> Street in Dublin, Ireland

Molesworth Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland named after Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth and links the more notable Dawson Street with Kildare Street and lies just over 200 m to the north of St. Stephens Green in Dublin's central business district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardiner Street</span> Street in Dublin, Ireland

Gardiner Street is a long Georgian street in Dublin, Ireland. It stretches from the River Liffey at its southern end via Mountjoy Square to Dorset Street at its northern end. The Custom House terminates the vista at the southern end, and the street is divided into Gardiner Street Upper, Gardiner Street Middle and Gardiner Street Lower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powerscourt Estate</span> Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland

Powerscourt Estate, located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardens, today occupying 19 hectares. The house, originally a 13th-century castle, was extensively altered during the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels, starting in 1731 and finishing in 1741. A fire in 1974 left the house lying as a shell until it was renovated in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dame Street</span> Street in central Dublin, Ireland

Dame Street is a large thoroughfare in Dublin, Ireland.

Michael Stapleton is regarded as having been the most skilled stuccodore working in the neoclassical or "Adam" style that dominated Dublin interior decoration in the final decades of the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townhouse (Great Britain)</span> Town or city residence of a member of the British nobility or gentry

In British usage, the term townhouse originally referred to the opulent town or city residence of a member of the nobility or gentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home. The grandest of the London townhouses were stand-alone buildings, but many were terraced buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Denmark Street</span> Street in Dublin, Ireland

Great Denmark Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland. It leads to Mountjoy Square, is crossed by Temple Street/Hill Street, and is part of Gardiner Row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Earl Street</span> Short street in central Dublin, Ireland

North Earl Street is a short stretch of city-centre street located on Dublin's Northside and formerly a major shopping area. It runs from Marlborough Street in the west to O'Connell Street beside the Spire.

Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt PC (I) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Great George's Street</span> A Georgian Street on the Northside of Dublin

North Great George's Street is a street on the Northside of Dublin city first laid out in 1766 which connects Parnell Street with Great Denmark Street. It consists of opposing terraces of 4-storey over basement red-brick Georgian townhouses descending on an increasingly steep gradient from Belvedere House which bookends the street from a perpendicular aspect to the North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Hibernian Hotel</span> Former Hotel in Dublin Ireland

The Royal Hibernian Hotel was a hotel on Dawson Street, Dublin, Ireland. Its history dates back to 1751, making it one of the country's first hotels, and it was popular with the wealthy in the 19th century. Its restaurants specialised in haute cuisine, which gradually declined in popularity in the 20th century, leading to the hotel's closure in 1982 and subsequent demolition and replacement with the Royal Hibernian Way and the offices of Davy Stockbrokers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South William Street, Dublin</span> Street in Dublin, Ireland

William StreetSouth, commonly known as South William Street, is a street located on Dublin's Southside.

References

  1. 1 2 "Powerscourt Centre -Historic Shopping Centre in Elegant Georgian House" . Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 Casey, Christine (2005). Dublin : the city within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. pp. 509–510. ISBN   0-300-10923-7. OCLC   61702208.
  3. Wright, George Newenham (1825). An historical guide to the city of Dublin. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 167–8.
  4. O'Neill, Charles Patrick (1978). Newspaper Stamps of Ireland. Enniskillen: Watergate Press. p. 9.
  5. McDonald, Frank (1985). The destruction of Dublin. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. pp. 275–276. ISBN   0-7171-1386-8. OCLC   60079186.