Pre 1837

This section of Ballybough which is divided by the canal, Ballybough Road, North Strand Road and the River Tolka and was surprisingly quite built up prior to 1837 with the village having formed around the now disappeared Ballybough Cottages.

At the upper end housed a substantial Vitriol Works plant – a plant for creating sulphuric acid used in the bleaching of linen cloth from the mid eighteenth century. Presumably this is what caused the increase in accommodation in the area as it would have had a pretty poor name with high crime rates. Some other streets that existed were Courtney Place, Taaffes Place, Spring Garden Street, Ballybough Lane, Bay View Avenue, Bay View Garden and North Strand Road.

Ulster Terrace

A little terrace of just 5 small cottages. The cottages have a single window and the door case originally had relatively simple detailing and rectangular fanlight with a slightly curved upper arch. Of the five cottages on the terrace – only one original doorcase is still in existence, all of the others have been completely changed from adding porches to new pvc doors and surrounds. The brickwork would originally have been a red/brown colour with alternating red & cream brick ornamentation over the door and windows, again only one of the cottages has this original detail as the rest have been rendered and painted. The roofs are flush with the eaves and the old cast iron downpipes are still in view.

Charlemont Parade

Ulster Terrace leads on to Charlemont Parade, a terrace of larger cottages with the Georgian feature of parapets to disguise the guttering and roof eaves. These cottages have two windows – one at either side of the main door. There appears to be a few different styles amongst the parade with some cottages having large semi circular fanlights and others having no fanlight. Presumably those without the fanlight were altered to provide upstairs accommodation or simply to lower the ceilings and reduce heating costs. Where these alterations have been made the entire front facade again loses its Georgian appeal – number 2 is a prime example of this where the windows are wider and squat and the door is also lower without the fanlight – it could be a terraced house anywhere in the world.

Numbers 4, 5 & 6 are smaller cottages with just one window to one side of the door and again the same alterations have been made to 5 & 6 destroying the original facade. Number 4 appears positively wild and original nestled between 3 and 5 despite the fact that is has been dashed and has pvc windows. No’s 7 to 10 loose the parapet feature and have flush roof and eaves details again, of these only numbers 7 and 10 retain their original features and fanlights.

Charleville Avenue

At the start of the street on the Ballybough Road side are numbers 27 & 28, two story terraced cottages with one single central window upstairs, very plain door cases and no fanlight. Attached to these cottages is one single story cottage – number 26. Number 26 has two windows, one on either side of the doorway and again doesn’t have a fanlight. The general characteristics of the rest of the street is of cottages similar to those on Ulster terrace with one window and door. The doors originally had decorative surrounds and rectangular fanlights with upper arc detail and the roofs are flush with the eaves. Number 30 Charleville Avenue is a particularly charming example of how these cottages would have looked originally.

On the southern side of the street – the cottages have larger front gardens. Numbers 14-17 are larger cottages with a window to either side of the door with number 15 having been lovingly cared for retaining its original style with sash windows, older doorcase, fanlight and well pointed brickwork. The rest of Charleville Avenue south side is all terraced two story houses.

The cottages on the North side of the street are smaller and have much narrower front garden space and lower pitch roofs than those on the south of the street. At number 34 the cottages become taller and number 37 here is another excellent example of the original charm of the buildings as the brick is still exposed and the original door, surrounds and windows are still in place. At number 41 the pitch and eaves lower again for 5 cottages before we reach numbers 46 and 47 which are single story over basement style cottages with Georgian parapet details. 48 and 49 are two story two bay houses and 50 through to 55 are back to the original style cottage with many having modified the original exterior to include larger windows and changed doorcases. Only two more cottages remain on this street – numbers 60 & 61 (see image below). These are beautifully presented two story Georgian style cottages that both retain their original brickwork, fanlights, doorcases and window proportions, though only one still has the original sash windows. They have a parapet details and are sandwiched between two larger two story Georgian houses.

Fosters Place North

Fosters Place North is a delightful little alley with just 5 tiny terraced cottages off Charleville Avenue. This little avenue is reminiscent of many of the tiny avenues with little cottages that would have existed around the 1900′s and fell into severe disrepair to become slum tenements. The fact that there are so few of them still remaining on the north side makes these little avenues all the more important for our architectural and cultural identity.

Only four of the original cottages remain and they are tiny cottages with a window to one side of the door and no fanlights over the doorway. The eaves are flush with the roof and the first cottage actually has an unusual half hipped roof and window on the first floor gable end. The last house in the alley is a modern story and a half rebuild with dormer windows – completely at odds with the character of the area. There were some buildings on this location prior to 1837 but it is unlikely that they were the same cottages – it is more likely that they were service quarters for the houses on Ballybough road or farm buildings / dwellings.

Bayview Avenue

I simply couldn’t survey Bayview avenue without mentioning the charming oddity that is number 29A. If it were a two story it would be classified as a cottage but it is a single three story building with a single window on the second and third floor. It stands like a supermodel between the surrounding buildings – slightly awkward yet beautiful in its stature. I would hate to see anything changed about this building save its original sash style windows put back in place.

Numbers 30 to 32 are the typical style of the area with a single window and doorway with fanlight and nicely ornamented doorcases. The brickwork is a brown/red brick with redbrick details over the door arch and window. The eaves are flush with the roof.

Number 33 though is again an oddity – a long, linear style cottages that bares more than a passing resemblance to country cottages. It has a low roof and there is very little space between the lower windows and doors and the eaves. It would be easy to imagine this cottage in the middle of a country farm yard with a gleaming golden thatch and not sitting nestled between taller city cottages. It predates the 1907 map though it appears that there have been a few extensions to the rear. There is also an existing building on the spot that has a similar footprint on the 1837 map but it is hard to establish if it is an original vernacular cottage. The 1911 census shows Farrell’s & their in-law’s the Evans living in the cottage though the Oates 1850 street survey shows a John O’Driscoll as resident (occupation not listed).2 This could conceivably be one of the only vernacular cottages remaining in the city center!

The next ‘property’ is a poor attempt at recreating these cottages that falls contemptuously between the two stones. It is neither a shade of traditional nor has any architectural integrity of its own.

On the north side of the street the cottages start at number 27 and are single story over basement. The basement areas are cordoned off by wrought iron balustrades with pointed uppers to prevent access. There is no street access to the basements which have two windows. On the street level the doors would originally have had small rectangular fanlights and the brick work is brown brick with the roofs flush with the eaves. This style of cottage continues right to the end of the street to number 1. I cannot even begin to describe all of the alterations made to these cottages but will commend the owners of numbers 4, 6 and 19 for retaining many of the original features if not all.

The main terrace of cottages on the south side start from number 35 and continue through to 45 in a similar style. They are taller and raised higher than those across the street and as a result part of their basement’s are above ground level. The front gardens are significantly larger and many have external access to them basements. The cottages themselves appear to have been constructed of a darker brown coloured brick though there are several different variants including an ashy coloured brick on the street. They have rectangular fanlights over the doors and a single window to one side of the door. The roofs are flush with the eaves and the pitch of the roofs are quite high allowing for accommodation in the attic space. This terrace of cottages appear to predate the 1837 maps.

Number 48 is another strange cottage located between terraces of two story houses. It has two windows one to either side of the main door which has a rectangular fanlight and has a basement area. Access to the main door is by a three step porch. There is very little to comment on this dwelling as the exterior is rendered and the doors and windows are white pvc but at least the proportions appear to be traditional.

54-57 are far more grand and picture book beautiful styles of Georgian cottages. With beautifully ornamented fanlight windows over their pretty doorways and the unusual features of dormer windows these cottages are quite spectacular. I was not surprised to learn that numbers 50 to 57 Bayview Avenue are actually on the register of protected structures with their house including gates, garden walls and railings protected as they are in immaculate condition with no gaudy additions. There is a commemoration plaque on number 55 Bayview avenue for John O’Donovan the antiquarian (1809 – 1861).

Eventually the other side of the street takes on this style of cottage also . Slightly larger plots with room for gardens/parking to the front. Originally brick worked facades, some are now rendered or painted.

Newcomen Court

Though an infamous slum at the turn of the 19th century, Newcomen Court is a fairly featureless laneway leading to the Mud Island community gardens now. Though the gardens themselves leave a lot to be desired I really do hope that the locals do get the gardens together as they are amazing tools for fostering community spirit. Gone are the cottages and ruddy faced kids from the beautiful old image of the Dublin City Council library image.

Clinches Court

Clinches Court however still retains several smaller cottages of varying styles though typically they are of the single un adorned door and window variety. The last cottage on the south west side of the street may potentially be of interest as an older surviving cottage – number 4. Another interesting style cottage is number 3 Clinches Court, again it is built in the linear style with a low roof reaching the top of the door case and three windows two on one side of the door. This cottage did not exist in 1907 so presumably this is a newer built dwelling but does suit the street complementing number 4 quite well.

Newcomen Avenue

A cul de sac of single story cottages typically with a window to each side of the main door way and a semicircular fanlight. Three of the cottages on this street are of the smaller variety with a single window and doorway with rectangular fanlight. Unfortunately the original brown brick exterior and detailing over door and windows have been rendered or dashed over in all of the cottages on this street except for number 20. Number 5 is quite interesting as it appears to still retain what might be its original window though the exterior has been dashed.

Kings Avenue

There are just six cottages on Kings Avenue – numbers 36 to 30. These are two story brown bricked cottages with redbrick detailing over the windows and doors. They have slight ornamentation to the eaves which are flush with the roof and the door has a rectangular fanlight and a single window upstairs located over the ground floor window. Only one of the cottages has its original brickwork on display – Number 35, the rest have been rendered or painted over.

Crawford Terrace

Quite unexpected and hidden is the tiny remnant of Crawford Terrace. On the map – the terrace is a long back lane with no dwellings on it however – its tail extends across Kings Avenue to nestle the compact, traditional laneway. At the end of the laneway is this old compact cottage with its boundaries clearly defined. Yet another little hidden gem of the city.

Waterloo Avenue

At the end of Waterloo avenue there is a very interesting half house – half cottage that looks like it would have been something of a villa at one stage with a lot of land around it. A large staircase access the large central doorway with a window on either side that have unfortunately been boarded up. The cottage also unusually has a hipped roof and is elevated over a basement. It appears to predate the 1837 map and was most likely was a land owners cottage. It is a pity to see the property left in such a state of disarray and also disembodied from any garden space as the land surrounding it is highly developed. Permission was granted in 2006 to demolish the property and build a four story over basement block of apartments but thankfully local pressure overturned the ruling and the building is now on the record of protected structures. Of course this brings its own set of headaches for the building as it is left idle and on the market at the moment for c. €169,000. See the property on daft.ie

Again, many thanks to Alex Klemm for the following information which was provided in March 2013:

“when we were house-hunting in the area (2003/4), we met a very old lady on Waterloo Avenue who described No. 11 as ‘the most beautiful house inside’ she’d ever seen.  At that time, the owner, a doctor’s widow, was in a nursing home. Subsequently – around 2005 – the house was put up for sale and was, I understand, bought by a developer;  it is now for sale again.  It has been vacant for at least 15 years and is presumably in very bad repair inside – although it is on the DCC list of protected structures”.

St. Patricks Avenue

This cul de sac contains an unusual design of terraced cottages that would seem to predate 1907. They have two windows to one side of the main door which has a large rectangular fanlight and no ornamentation. The roof ridge tile is quite decorative belying the ordinary facade of the rest of the cottages. They look to be recent enough in a style similar to the DADC – corporation perhaps? Large rectangular fanlights over the small doorways and large windows. I was surprised to see them on the 1907 map as they seem more like modern corporation cottages style buildings.

Annesley Avenue

On one side of Annesley Avenue there is a terrace of unusually bright bricked two story cottages. I have not come across an older development like this with such bright sandy coloured brick and decorative redbrick detailing over the door and windows on both floors. The eaves are also ornate with redbrick detailing. They seem to predate even the 1837 map, I would suggest that the facades were re-faced but the brickwork detailing appears too fine for a county council re-face. Some of the cottages still retain their older sash windows which again seems to suggest that these cottages are indeed who they say they are – golden oldies of the area!

Enaville Avenue

Just around the corner from Annesley Avenue and backing on to Patricks Avenue is Enaville Avenue. The cottages on this street are similar to both those on Patricks Avenue and those on William’s Place Lower in the Dublin 1 survey – I have to assume that they were built by the Dublin City Corporation. As before they have two windows to one side of the door, a rectangular fanlight, no ornamentation on the doorcase and hipped roofs with a decorative roof ridge tile. This street is redbricked as opposed to the rendered variety on Patricks Avenue and the maintenance of that detail makes all the difference as these cottages look as though they belong.

Enaville Road

Standard two story city cottage style dwellings with one window above the downstairs window. Most of the facades have been painted over but you can see an unusual brickwork feature on those that have not been altered – A line of dark brick runs over the door and ground floor window and as it meets the adjoining cottage splays out to form a diamond shape between the two cottages. I have not seen this feature anywhere else so far. These cottages were built sometime between 1837 and 1907. Today the street continues on to Taffes Place but in 1907 it appears that several cottages closed off the end of the street making it more of a cul-de-sac. On the wide open space that used to face the cottages there is now a large industrial warehouse.

Ballybough Cottages / Taaffes Place

What would originally have been the oldest street in Ballybough. The cottages have been replaced with council housing and Taaffes place is now an access road for Enaville Road/Avenue and Annesley Avenue with modern development to one side. Unfortunately I have very little information about the Ballybough cottages except the beautiful illustration that forms the cover of the “Mud Island” book about the area.

Austins Cottages

There are four buildings in this little laneway off Annesley Place. From the 1907 map I can make out the outline of seven structures facing on to that laneway but of the four there today – only two appear to be the original buildings. Those cottages are terraced two storys with a single window on the ground and centrally placed single window on the first floor. Both have been pebble dashed so it’s not possible to know what the facades would have been.

Ballybough – The End

This takes us to the end of the survey of the Ballybough area and on to East Wall – the final section of Dublin 3. I hope you enjoyed the articles and if you have any amendments, images or stories – I would really love to hear from you.

 

 

Map Locator

View Ballybough – Part III in a larger map

Relevant Links:

Dublin City Cottages Project Outline

Dublin 1:

-   Dublin 1, Part I – History and Seville Place Area
-   Dublin 1, Part II – North Strand Road Area
-   Dublin 1, Part III– Charles St. Great, Summerhill & North Circular Road Areas

Dublin 3:

-   Dublin 3 – Ballybough – Introduction and History
-   Dublin 3 – Ballybough Part I – Drumcondra Road to Jones Road
-  Dublin 3 – Ballybough Part II – Jones Road to Ballybough Road

 

I recently had the pleasure of visiting with Denis and Cora McLoughlin for Clonliffe Road to hear the story of how they came to purchase their city cottage and completely renovate it to suit their needs while maintaining its old world charm.

Cora originally grew up in Drimnagh and Denis was from Clonskeagh so the decision to purchase on Clonliffe Road was no return to their old stomping ground but rather a yearning to move back to Dublin after many years working in the UK and to restore a traditional building.  As a talented Architect, Denis could see the potential in  the property which had become quite run down and was still in its original layout.

History of the Cottage

The cottage was built in the 1890′s by the McCaffrey’s Estate and their understanding is that the first owner was a clergyman.  The first mention of the cottage in Thoms Directory is of St. Clare’s Terrace in 1910, the cottage was inhabited by a Colclough, John D. military and civil service grinder and it was valued at 11l.  The last occupant Eileen purchased the  cottage in 1920 and lived there until 1999 when Denis and Cora purchased it for €160,000.

Engaging the main contractor

They encountered several problems as they undertook the renovation of the property.  The main contractor they selected was the cheapest of four and not very experienced, quotes ranged from €39,000 to €120,000.  Denis had the experience and skills from his years working in construction to act as mentor and Cian O’Mahony, the young builder was eager to learn.  Although the build was longer than they originally had budgeted for, Denis doesn’t regret the decision to hire Cian as he became a part of their family – even meeting his future wife in a pub in Ballybough while he worked on the renovations!

Trouble in renovation paradise

Many of the troubles that they encountered during the build were as a result of the sub contractors that were brought on to the build.  They took advantage of Cian’s good nature and inexperience, letting him down time and again.  It was during the good times in Dublin and contractors were often running three and four projects at the same time, flitting between each and having very little care for the frustration this caused on building schedules.  Denis remembers serious trouble with keeping the plasterer on site and also the plumbing contractor walking off the site, never to return after a disagreement.

Roofing Woes

The initial roofing contractors left all of the rubble from the build in the valley of the roof which caused blockages and eventually a leak.  This required hiring further contractors a few years later to clear the rubble and even further contractors again to fix the flashing after the second contractors failed to complete the works adequately – all part of the process is Denis’s take on it.

Electrical nightmare

Another problem they encountered was with the Electricians.   They initially quoted €800 to do the job and as often happens with complex restorations, two weeks into the job they increased their price to €1,800.  This would be fine but instead of completing such a sensitive job themselves they left two new apprentices on the site who then gouged huge holes in some of the completed work which then had to be re-done at the builders expense as the electrical company were bullish about their failings.

Shuttering boxing replication

Denis is particularly proud of the shuttering boxing in his stunning front room.  He advised Cian of what he would like the shuttering to look like and was delighted when Cian replicated the boxing accurately in period style.   He incorporated architectural salvage shutters for the windows and didn’t charge extra for the additional work involved – he was simply delighted with the mentorship and experience.  Those are the upsides of having someone eager on the job as opposed to someone just putting down time.

Decoration and layout

The original layout of the property had the grand proportions of the front room in tact though the back room was split in two with the living area with a big open fireplace to the left and a bedroom with another open fireplace to the right. There was no kitchen area, just the open fireplace was used to prepare food.  The redesign of the property saw them remove the wall dividing the two back rooms to open it up.  They removed the fireplace from the bedroom – an arduous task as those chimney breasts were very large and cumbersome and then turned that space into the new kitchen area with double doors leading to the rear, allowing ample light into the kitchen.

A single story extension half the width of the entire property was built to the rear of the living area and contains a day room which can convert to a bedroom when needed with a small bathroom to the rear.  The room also has double doors out to the patio area and double doors leading to the living area to allow as much light as possible into the main living spaces.

At the rear of the cottage is a aforementioned patio area that provides a charming private outdoor space for the couple and is low maintenance.  They even have a large shed to the back and access to Trinity lane behind them.

They paid particular attention to the grand front room and did their best to keep it as close to its period as possible with beautiful antique furniture and furnishings.  Cora remembers thinking that they would never be able to furnish the entire room as it seemed so large when it was empty – the high ceilings were particularly daunting.  They chose large tall pieces of furniture to complement the proportions of the room and are exceptionally pleased with it today.  It really is a stunning room that they can be proud of.

The hallway is a large impressive entranceway and here again the couple did their best to complement the heritage of the building with beautiful coving, ornate furniture and a stunning ornate light over the doorway.

The upstairs area did not require extensive remodelling, they simply upgraded the bathroom and re-decorated the bedroom and landing area in a style that suited the building.

Brickwork

Four years ago they engaged the services of Interclean to do some restorative work on the facade of the cottage. Some of the brickwork was cracked and damaged and generally it needed re-pointing.  The job was beautifully done as you would not know that the brick had been restored unless it was pointed out and shown to you.

 

I was so delighted to have been invited into their home and to be shown the level of detail and care they took when renovating this building.  It is especially important when the level of destruction to these traditional buildings is so great in this area.  People like Denis and Cora are at the coal face, they undertake restorations that will benefit generations and maintain fragments of our heritage yet receive no accolades for their work.  History is not only in the grand architecture but also in the everyday dwellings of the everyday amazing citizens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been a while since I’ve been able to post – I’ve been finishing up college exams and getting going with a very new and exciting project that I will share with everyone as soon as I can.  For the moment I am really charmed and delighted with this terrific 8 minute short animation by Tony Donoghue on Irish Folk Furniture.  It is only available on YouTube which I love so absolutely anyone can enjoy it.   It won best short animation at the Sundance festival and was funded by The Irish Film Board, RTE & The Arts Council.

If you would like to hear more from the director there is a terrific interview on filmireland.net

 

View Ballybough – D3 – PII in a larger map

Ballybough central history

Very little development had taken place on this section of Ballybough before 1837. The entire area was farm land, orchards and gravel pits. Apart from a few rural dwellings – most likely farm’s, there was some small development at the southern corner in the form of the ill fated Love Lane and the enduring Sackville Gardens.

Around 1894 the field where Croke Park now stands – called ‘Butterly’s Field’ was purchased by a company called the City and Suburban Racecourse and Amusements Grounds Ltd. This became the City and Suburban Grounds as shown on the 1907 map with a cycle track and pavilion for viewing. However around 1908 the land was again up for sale and soon after was bought by the former president of the GAA – Frank Brazil Dineen. His intention was that the GAA should buy the grounds but they were not in the position at that time. Mr Dineen continued to make improvements, laying out the grounds with terracing and a new pitch. They were then renamed the Jones Road Sports Ground.

The GAA only purchased the grounds after huge swarming crowds attended a memorial tournament to raise funds for a monument to the first patron of the GAA – Archbishop Thomas Croke. The game between Kerry and Louth on the 4th of March 1913 drew record crowds of 26,000 and ended with a draw. The replay played on the 29th of June drew crowds in excess of 32,000 and finally allowed the GAA to purchase the grounds and rename them the Croke Memorial Park, soon after shortened to the Croke Park that we all know and love today. (Also incase anyone was wondering – Kerry beat Louth 2-4 to 0-5 – I had to get that in as a proud Kerrywoman!).

An interesting fact about Croke Park is that the infamous Hill 16 was originally constructed from the rubble from O’Connell Street as a result of the 1916 rising. To this day it is still a rebel terrace refusing modernisation and intrinsically associated with the hopes and dreams of the Dublin fans. For more information on the history of Croke Park see History of Croke Park (takes you to a pdf)

By 1907 the landscape had changed dramatically with Georgian buildings framing Jones’s Road though most of these would later be removed for the building of the Hogan Stand. Clonliffe Road was systematically developed with terraces of two stories, large Georgian villa style cottages and smaller Georgian style cottages. Ballybough Road was peppered with smaller Georgian cottages, in fact the 1907 map illustrates that there was one substantial cottage on the Ballybough Road called Georgina Cottage which would have been located where the Annesley garage is today.

The foundations of many of the interconnecting streets we see today were also started prior to this time – Clonliffe Avenue, St. James Street and Foster Terrace and St. Joseph’s Avenue. The entrance to Clonliffe Avenue was also in existence though no road had been built yet, clearly there was some forward planning to develop this access way.

On Ballybough Road, Sackville gardens still survived though the title of Love Lane was moved to the back end of the street and renamed Love Lane North (there is also a Love Lane South – near Baggot Street). The main road was renamed Sackville Avenue. On the 1907 map one dwelling appears to stand alone with its boundaries at the end of Sackville Avenue, unfortunately it will not survive into the 21st century. Foster Terrace is also short not yet connecting with St. James Road.

145 – 115 Clonliffe Road

At number 145 Clonliffe Road the two story red bricked houses give way to a terrace of charming single story Georgian villa style cottages. The cottages have grand entrance halls with fanlight ornate doorways and a large front reception room with an elegant bay window feature – the first I have come across on my survey so far. The eaves are ornamented with a pale stone feature and the door and window heads are ornamented with alternating red and dark brick detailing. Many of the windows on the street have been replaced by PVC and the character of the buildings suffer for the substitution. The good news is that the beautiful door cases are mostly in-tact and some owners have taken to adding unusual personal touches such as the little figurine on the roof of the bay window of one of the cottages.

Internally these cottages have two floors to the rear of the main hall and reception room with the living quarters downstairs and sleeping upstairs. They are blessed with reasonably large gardens that overlook Croke Park to the rear – either a bonus or a curse on concert days. This terrace ends at St. Joseph’s Avenue where the two stories take back residency.

95 – 69 Clonliffe Road

Starting at St. James Avenue is a terrace of 10 single story terraced cottages. These cottages are less ornate than their later counterparts with no grand bay window and the eaves are flush with the roof. There is simple detailing over the fanlight and single window though they have the same detailing to the eaves as the larger cottages. Unfortunately a large number of the door cases have been replaced with non-traditional doors and surrounds and this is a great shame, even fewer of the cottages have the original traditional sash style windows.

Continuing down the terrace there are a further four larger cottages which are over substantial basements and are accessed by two large communal staircases to the Georgian front doors. These have red bricked upper facades and rendered lower with cast iron balustrades surrounding the basements. Again the terrace is interrupted by another street – Clonliffe Avenue and again the next terrace continues as two story houses.

50-52 Clonliffe Road

On the north side of Clonliffe Road there are two hard to classify properties – their proportions make it difficult to call them cottages but no doubt in their day they were considered Georgian Cottages. They have by far the grandest parapet’s of any of the cottages that I have come across so far. The cottage to the left also has a basement though I am unsure about the cottage to the right as there is no visible basement window. They are double deep in depth with a valley which is surprisingly not obscured as would have been the norm with this type of Georgian cottage. The doors are relatively plain with large un ornamented fanlight windows over.

42-44 Clonliffe Road

Two more large single story dwellings over basement – again it is hard to classify these as cottages though they are smaller than their neighbours. They have suspended bay windows over the basement area, low parapets and rectangular fanlight windows. It is hard to understand why two lower dwellings like this would have been built – perhaps it was something to do with the cost of the groundwork’s needed as many of the houses on Clonliffe Road were built on the site of an old gravel pit.

9-51 Clonliffe Road

The last terrace of Cottages on the southern side of Clonliffe Road starts at the beautifully restored Number 51. These are smaller again with elegant door surrounds and fanlight windows and one large window to one side of the doorway. The brickwork is ornamented over the doorway’s and windows and the eaves are flush with the roofs again with ornamental detailing.

Of note about this terrace is that towards the end from 15 to 9 the cottages seem to be out of step with the earlier cottages – perhaps they were built by a different builder or at a later time.

There is one more dwelling at the end of this terrace – Number 7 and it is an absolute disgrace. A modern build that bares only a passing nod to what went before. It appears to be a cheap, quick build with no architectural or visual appeal at all. The proportions are all wrong – with a large blank ‘forehead’ between the top of the door and the eaves, the front window is at least twice as wide as those on the terrace and lower than door. The roof ridge is higher than the terrace and as expected the brickwork is modern, manufactured, even-toned brick with no craftsmanship and completely at odds with its neighbours. All of this is before I even mention the white PVC windows and doors, cement rendered chimney and white downpipe.

The side is pebble dashed and it has a gable end window on the first floor – again not something you see in any of the Dublin City Cottages. Wrong on so many levels – is this what we have strict planning for? It is an unfortunate end to a beautiful terrace of cottages.

Trinity Terrace

A short walk up the little lane that runs beside Number 7 Clonliffe Road brings you to two semi detached cottages nestled in behind the terrace. These are a more modern style with large PVC windows, hipped roofs and unusual doorways with Roman columns. The outline of the two cottages does seem to exist on the 1907 maps so perhaps they predate that time. They do seem to inhabit their own little world back there, so the unusual style seems fitting!

4-10 Clonliffe Road

At the bottom of the Clonliffe road on the northern side are another 4 cottages in a similar style to 9-51 Clonliffe Road. Again on this terrace the middle two cottages have had their original door cases and windows replaced by modern PVC alternatives.

2-37 St James Avenue

St. James Avenue is a picturesque street that has been divided by the train line. On one side of the line there are two detached cottages – one of the cottages retains its original redbrick detailing though again the window and door case have been modernised. The cottage across the road however, has been fully pebble dashed and appears considerably more ordinary for it, again the windows and doors have been replaced with PVC.

Over the train line and the cottages on the western side of the street have a plain, darker coloured stone ornamentation over the door and window. This variant is also seen across the street on numbers 22-28. The original door cases had rectangular fanlights with a slight upper curve, and a little ornamentation to give them a slightly grander feel. The eaves on all of the cottages are flush with the roofs and are ornately decorated.

Numbers 10 to 20 are similar though they have the additional decoration of a keystone at the center of the darker stone ornamentation over the doors and windows.

Sackville Avenue

Running alongside the Croke Villas council high rise buildings is a small terrace of cottages – all are abandoned and boarded up. Presumably these cottages will be knocked to form part of the new Croke Park grand entrance plans. This street is one of the older streets in the entire area – it appears as Love Lane on the 1837 map and later became Sackville Avenue. The Love Lane North title was moved over one street – which was later re-developed as the Croke Villas council estate and is now in the process of being cleared of its tenants for the above plans.

There are two further dwellings still in existence on the street – 29 and 30 and there appears to be a planning application to demolish and re-develop these as apartments with private parking. The last reference to the planning application appears to have been around 2008 so I can only guess that these properties may have been or will be bought up by the Croke Park redevelopment.

Foster Terrace

Foster Terrace is a long terrace of single story cottage style dwellings. The roofs are flush with the eaves which have slight ornamentation. The original door cases are quite grand in stature for the size of the cottages with full semi-circular fanlights over. Again there are relatively few exteriors in their original state, with most having been rendered or pebble dashed over. Also many windows have been enlarged which alters the proportions of the dwellings irrevocably.

At the top of the street numbers 17 and 18 were demolished at some point and replaced with standard bungalow style houses that bear absolutely no resemblance to the original terrace so they are not being included in this survey. The level of alterations to this street is unfortunate as it has the potential to be one of the prettier original streets in the area.

A huge thanks to Alex Klemm – a resident of Fosters Terrace for the following information which was provided March 2013:

They were originally built in the mid/late 19th century (our deeds go back to 1872), and early occupants included DMP members, clerks, artisans.  In case you are doing any archival research, be aware that the house numbers changed some time in the mid-twentieth century.

They are split-level – single story in the front, two story to the back.  Although most houses now have attic conversions, originally there would have been a large sitting room to the front, another large room to the back, and then stairs down to the kitchen.  Above the kitchen is what would have been the sole dedicated bedroom, although given the number of occupants in each house the other rooms must have doubled as sleeping accomodation.

In one sense, they were ‘cottages masquerading as big houses’ – the fireplaces in the two main downstairs rooms were very ornate, the hallway had coving and and an elaborate internal archway just in front of the two sets of stairs (up to the bedroom and down to the kitchen).

Also, our house at least was built on the foundations of an earlier house, as we discovered when the dining room (back room) floor was dug up to conduct damp-proofing works.

 

Clonliffe Avenue

The Southern side of the avenue appears the more traditional with a full street of terraced small cottages. It is worth noting that not one of the cottages on this side of the street has the original brickwork on display, all exteriors have been either dashed, rendered or painted over. The cottages are low sized with no ornamentation over the doors or windows and plain eaves flush with the roofs. The original door cases would have had the same ornamentation as those on St. James Street but there does not appear to be many remaining. The doors have a rectangular fanlight and their head is almost flush with the eaves.

Across the road numbers 151 and 152 are much larger – single story over basement with parapets. The proportions are larger with wider, more ornate, original door cases and larger Georgian windows though neither have the original sash style windows in place. Number 152 have widened the window, removed the original door case and dashed the exterior which transforms it into an average two story house with no character at all.

Numbers 150 to 145 all have the parapet detailing though they are single story cottages. It is hard to know what the original look of this terrace was – some of the cottages have rectangular fanlights, some semi-circular. Two facades have been completely newly faced with non-traditional stone but at least they kept the proportions of the windows and doors relatively close to the originals.

Numbers 144 to 140 return to the smaller style of those across the road though the eaves are much higher – making them appear taller and slimmer than their counterparts. Numbers 144 and 143 have semi-circular fanlights over the main door though the rest appear to have been rectangular.

O’Sullivan’s Avenue

The first two cottages on the left as your enter O’Sullivan’ Avenue are the only two remaining with their original brick work on display. The brick detailing over the doors and windows has been painted white and new pvc doors and windows have been fitted but by comparison with the rest of the street they are as close to traditional as it gets.

The cottages on this street are single story terraced with eaves flush with the roof and a simple ornamentation at the eaves. The doors have a small rectangle fanlight. Most of the facades have been rendered or dashed.

 

 

Sackville Gardens

Just a quick mention of Sackville Gardens which is nestled alike Whitworth Place along the canal and predates 1837. As the oldest surviving terrace in this section of the survey it deserves a mention.

Georgina Cottage

I only have a marking on a map to allude to Georgina Cottage, it was located on Ballybough Road on the site of the current day Annesley Garage. The cottage appears to have been built sometime between 1837 and 1907 but I have not been able to find any concrete reference to it as yet. Rest assured I will continue to search!

No.’s 10-26 Ballybough Road

Unusually for a main street – the north side of Ballybough Road is dominated by small terraced single story cottages. The roofs have a low parapet detail – enough to make the front of the cottage appear larger in stature. The doors were originally ornamented and had rectangular fanlights with a slightly arched upper.

Someone has clearly bought up numbers 23, 24, 25 and 26 and is determined to let them fall into a ruinous state so that they can be knocked for future development. In only a few short years three of these cottages have been relegated from being habitable to completely derelict which is an absolute disgrace. Number 23 has been allowed to go to ruin for quite some time but the others appear to being lost though willful neglect.

27-29 Ballybough Road

I had to make a judgement call on these as their relative size and the size of their neighbours further down the street almost dropped them out of my survey but I have decided to include these three. They have exceptionally high facades for single story cottages with bay windows and their roofs are flush with the eaves. Their neighbours can easily fit two storeys into the same space as the single story has been accommodated in these and the look is quite clumsy, not to the usual standard for period cottages.

2-3 Ballybough Road & 36-41 St. Mary’s Terrace, Ballybough Road

Again split by the train lines this terrace of cottages are of a similar style to those on St. James Avenue with softly rounded rectangular fanlights over the door. The ornamented eaves are flush with the roof though the facades are higher, giving the cottages a large feel. Number 1 is not included as it has had its facade entirely taken away to become a car garage.

Further up the street number 36 has had a large sun-room of sorts added to the front of it and its exterior has been completely rendered, leaving little trace of the original cottage.

Overview

It is a common theme throughout the project but the lack of respect for the original materials and components of these cottages is highly prevalent in this area. I suspect that this will become even more obvious as I move further down into Ballybough and East Wall. It is an unfortunate situation as once the original door cases are removed – they will never be reinstated, the cost of commissioning replica’s is prohibitive and the cheaper PVC alternatives are too attractive to limited budgets.

Far worse is the destruction of the original fabric of the buildings. Damage caused to the facades by rendering, paining or dashing over the brickwork can never be repaired. Little can be done about those that have already been destroyed but we have to fight harder to maintain those that still have un-spoilt brickwork. It should not be a hard fight – they are by far more beautiful and classic than any modification can provide and in turn will make the individual building more valuable to the owner in the long run.

There is a lot of dereliction on Ballybough Road which is a shame to see and for the few hours that I was surveying the area – Saturday morning to afternoon – the same group of older street drinkers sat on the staircase of a derelict house as if they had always been there. They did make me feel vaguely uncomfortable – but was that because they seemed to be a part of our lost society or because of a fear of anti-social behaviour? I think it was because the human dereliction was as blatant as the buildings – out in the open, on the side of a busy street – yet no one seems to care.

Relevant Links:

Dublin City Cottages Project Outline

Dublin 1:

-   Dublin 1, Part I – History and Seville Place Area
-   Dublin 1, Part II – North Strand Road Area
-   Dublin 1, Part III– Charles St. Great, Summerhill & North Circular Road Areas

Dublin 3:

-   Dublin 3 – Ballybough – Introduction and History
-   Dublin 3 – Ballybough Part I – Drumcondra Road to Jones Road
-  Dublin 3 – Ballybough Part II – Jones Road to Ballybough Road

 

 

View Ballybough, D3 – Part I in a larger map

Whitworth Place just over the canal from Dorset Street is one of the oldest streets in this part of Dublin pre-dating 1837 and the street is still quite traditional though it does appear that several of the houses are now multi-unit dwellings.  One interesting property on the street is number 3a which appears to have been an archway leading to a back street behind the terrace and has now been converted into a small house between numbers 3 & 4.  Beyond Whitworth Place in 1837 was all agricultural land and open rolling fields, hard to believe when you see it today.

The Widows Retreat was located on Drumcondra Road beside Fitzroy Avenue and was built in 1815.  The original institution was built by the Latouche family and contained 12 rooms, each containing 2 beds.  Widows were each given 2s. 6d. per week to live on and dined in a common area downstairs.  This institution was still in operation in 1907 but today it appears that the property is again converted into a multi-unit dwelling.   By 1907 the relatively regimented development of rows of Georgian terraced housing were built and thankfully the area looks predominantly the same today.

St. Patricks Terrace

A tiny terrace of just five single story cottages.  Constructed of the multi-toned brown brick these little cottages have rectangular fanlight doorways and a single window.  On one end of the terrace the cottages have an original appearence, featuring original brickwork and sash windows though the next two have been pebble dashed and have had their windows replaced with non traditional PVC.  Number 1 has a recessed doorway with the meter box just inside, I have seen this feature in some cottages in the Ringsend/Irishtown areas but in this case I assume that this was added subsequently by owners for shelter.

St. Georges Avenue

Just before the entrance to Elizabeth street at St. Georges Avenue is a really quite traditional looking older shop front. Unfortunately it is no longer in use but you could imagine it as a popular local older grocers store.  One feature of the area is the unusual brick shapes on the gable wall of some buildings.  When the rail bridges were being built some older properties had to be knocked to make space. The brick outlines of the fireplaces and chimney breast on the gable wall of the adjoining building form an intriguing pattern.  This is most obvious on number 11 St. Georges Avenue as the brickwork is a dark brown set against the redbrick.

Elizabeth Street

Access to Elizabeth Street from St. Georges Avenue is quite tight due to its proximity to the rail bridge.  The cobbles peeping through the tarmac at intervals hint back to the streets older aesthetic.  The cottages are two story with the single window on the first floor and a typical square fanlight over the door.  The roofs are flush with the fascia and constructed of slate with typical brickwork detailing over the doors and windows.  The street is quite narrow and faces directly on to the train lines.

Further down the street the style of the cottages change with orange toned brick detailing over the windows connecting across the buildings and decorating under the eaves.  The brickwork itself also changes to the multi-toned beige through brown brick variety and the upstairs window is located directly above the downstairs window as opposed to central.  In some of the houses you can still see the an original orange brick detail at the lower plinth also – even in mass low-end developments like these, the thought that went into the details really has lasted the test of time.  Several of the houses on the street have been re-faced and the difference is starkly noticeable, the bricks are uniform and lack the character of their older counterparts and the craftsmanship in the detail work is simply absent.

Mable Street

This style of house continues on to Mable Street though unfortunately much of the original character is lost on most of the houses on this street as many of the beautiful brick exteriors have either been smooth rendered over or again the fronts have been re-faced with modern uniform brick (see above picture extreme left and right).  The numbering system on this street is a little strange as number 10 seems to be missing but perhaps that has something to do with the train line again – it may have been knocked to make way for progress or never built at all.

Robert Street

Robert street consists of just 8 cottages of the same style as those towards the end of Elizabeth Street.  The houses front onto the train lines with ad hoc commercial buildings protruding from the rebricked arches and Croke Park looming in the background.  A notable feature here again is that all of the cottages are odd numbered, a fact that had escaped the attention of the residents I was speaking to from Robert Place.  Perhaps these cottages were built around the same time as the railway and were supposed to have counterparts across the street.

Two of the cottages have been refaced with modern redbrick and have also had their windows enlarged.  While the re-development might allow more light it is a sincere pity to see how they interrupt the natural flow of the street with art-less brickwork that is a careless nod to the craftsmanship of the original cottages.  I don’t pretend to know the reason for this type of remedial work, perhaps the facades had become dangerous but the quality of the re-instatement is exceptionally poor and uncharacteristic of the area.

Robert Place

Robert place is a tiny section at the end of Robert Street containing three original cottages that have all been either rendered over or pebble dashed and one modern build squeezed between Robert Street and the old school on Jones Road.  This used to be one of the main access routes to the school that was nestled behind the methodist church on Jones Road.

Jones Road

Following the lane down and around from Robert Place brings you out onto the famous Jones Road – one of the age old ‘slighe GAA’ routes where every summer and autumn hordes of hopeful GAA fans flow festooned in county colours in the hopes of becoming All Ireland Champions.

One of the most prominent features on this street (other than the aforementioned Croke Park) is the old Methodist Church.  At over 130 years old, an unnamed ‘developer’ caused outrage in 2008 when they carelessly demolished the front of the building after having been served with an enforcement order to stop development.  At 6am the following morning teleporter was driven straight through the front of the building and the operator fled the scene, you couldn’t write this stuff!  Four years on and the building remains in a state of disarray with steel scaffolds holding it up and boards sheathing the gaping hole left behind by their handiwork.  Frustrating.

Russell Avenue

At the lower end of Russell Avenue – close to Jones’s Road there is a terrace of 14 small single story cottages.  The doorways have aspirations to the larger Georgian houses surrounding them with originally ornate doorcase surrounds.  The fanlight is rectangular with a slight curved upper arch and the eaves are flush with the roof and have the stepped brick feature.  This is a charming little terrace and the slightly more ornate features that are seen here continue down into Ballybough.

On the oposite side of the avenue there are a further four of these original style cottages though one has been altered so that the front window is much wider and the brickwork has been rendered over, again the alterations detract from the original character of the building though not as severely as the alterations on Robert Street.

Holy Cross Avenue

This is slightly outside of my survey area but it is so unexpected and charming that it could not be ignored.  At the end of the beautifully tree lined Holy Cross Avenue you veer onto a little terrace of cosy cottages gazing at the walls of the old Jones Estate. These were the cottages of the stable workers of the estate, at the end of the laneway were the old stables though they are long gone.

There appear to have been seven original cottages with an additional two houses having been built at the edge of the lane.

Next Week – Ballybough Part II – Jones’s Road to Ballybough Road

 

Relevant Links:

Dublin City Cottages Project Outline

Dublin 1:

-   Dublin 1, Part I – History and Seville Place Area
-   Dublin 1, Part II – North Strand Road Area
-   Dublin 1, Part III– Charles St. Great, Summerhill & North Circular Road Areas

Dublin 3:

-   Dublin 3 – Ballybough – Introduction and History
-   Dublin 3 – Ballybough Part I – Drumcondra Road to Jones Road