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 and University College Dublin History Lecturer Áinnle O'Neill will lead a group of up to sixteen HNS members on a walking tour of Dublin’s Georgian streets.

Áinnle has for many years run UCD's Lifelong Learning course 'A History of Dublin through Walks and Talks' and can tell you the entire story from the Vikings to the Easter Rising and beyond, but this walk will concentrate on the Georgian age that made Dublin one of the most beautiful capital cities of its day. While the modern era has undeniably brought change, Dublin still contains one of the largest and best preserved Georgian conurbations in the world.

The tour will meet outside Leinster House, originally the residence of the Duke of Leinster, and now the seat of the Irish parliament. It 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/

After lunch you will visit the 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. If you have questions about what life would have been like in Georgian Dublin, please let us know in advance (use the Contact Form button below) so that we can tailor the visit to your interests.

In addition to the tour of the archives you can view an exhibition in the First Floor Rooms of an exhibition of photographs of Dublin streetscapes by Paddy Healy (1916 - 2000), an archaeologist and surveyor who captured the atmosphere of the city in the 1950s and 1960s before modern redevelopment.

https://irisharchitecturalarchive.ie/exhibition/paddy-healys-dublin/

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.