Tour description: Georgian Dublin Walking Tour & Irish Architectural Archive

Walking Tour of Georgian Dublin

Dublin has an impressive Georgian architectural heritage with buildings that are known for their beautiful symmetry and their red or tan bricks. Large arched doorways, sash windows and doors with ornate fanlights above them add to the elegance of this style of architecture. Experienced tour guide Ainnle O'Neill will lead a group of up to sixteen HNS members on a walking tour of Dublin’s Georgian streets.

The tour will meet outside Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament, and will last about two hours. The route is along Kildare Street, past the Shelbourne Hotel, towards Government Buildings and then around two sides of Merrion Square, finishing in Merrion Square Park.

Lunch will be in the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI), two minutes’ walk away from the end of the walking tour. The Gallery Café will have an area cordoned off for HNS delegates and offers choices of hot and cold food on a self-service basis. The price of lunch is not included in the tour so HNS members will pay for their own food.

Founded in 1854 and opened in 1864, the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) in Dublin houses a world-class collection of over 13,000 artworks, including European masterpieces, a major Irish collection, and the famous Caravaggio's "The Taking of Christ".

Delegates may wish to spend some of their lunch break exploring the NGI’s permanent collection, which is free of charge.

https://www.nationalgallery.ie/

Irish Architectural Archive

No. 45 Merrion Square, the home of the Irish Architectural Archive, is one of the great Georgian houses of Dublin. Standing four stories over basement, and five bays wide, the house is situated directly across Merrion Square from Leinster House. It is the largest terraced house on the Square and is the centrepiece of the East Side.

The Irish Architectural Archive in Merrion Square collects and preserves the records of Irish architecture – from the earliest structures to contemporary buildings – and makes these freely available to all who wish to consult them. It is an excellent resource for authors researching a historical setting for their novel.

Being able to consult records of architectural details such as maps, plans, fixtures and fittings and develop an understanding of the structure of buildings including everyday things like lighting, heating, cooking, water and sewerage, what was available when, and how much it cost, are all very useful to the writer.

Former exhibitions include:

From 2022, Burning the Big House: The Story of the Irish Country House in Revolution 1920-1923. Researched by one of our conference speakers, Professor Terence Dooley, it detailed the experiences of the Irish aristocracy or former landed elite who found themselves caught up in the War of Independence and the Civil War, seen through the prism of the burning of country houses, more generally referred to in Ireland as the Big Houses.

From 2020, Malton’s Dublin. In 1791, James Malton completed his series of drawings of Dublin buildings, arguably the most important series of drawings of Dublin to the present day.

Celebrating fifty years this year since the archive was established by Edward McParland and Nicholas Robinson, a new programme of exhibitions will be rolled out from April. We will update delegates about the exhibitions which will be open in August when we have this information.

https://irisharchitecturalarchive.ie

Accessibility

Walking Tour of Georgian Dublin:

Our tour guide is happy to accommodate wheelchair users and people with mobility issues. However, bear in mind for those with mobility issues that each delegate will be required to stand/walk for two hours.

National Gallery of Ireland (NGI):

There are services and facilities at NGI ensuring an accessible experience for all visitors with disabilities.

Irish Architectural Archive:

The front door is reached by three stone steps from the pavement to a landing, and then one further step at the front door. Beyond the front door is a glazed lobby.

If you are a wheelchair user, or find steps difficult, there is a platform lift which can bring you from footpath level to basement level. You then enter the building via a door with no step and can access all floors using the internal lift which is signposted as you move through the building.