Modern Dublin

Chapter XI

Modern Dublin

Christchurch. (22485 bytes)The Dublin of to-day differs essentially not only from the city of the palmy days of the 18th century, but even from that of the first half of the 19th. She has cast off the idiosyncrasies of a provincial metropolis, and has put on the cosmopolitan sameness characteristic of modern European capitals.

To find in her that historic interest which attaches not only to cities like Venice, Florence, or Rouen, but even to such English towns as Canterbury, Chester, or York, we must dive beneath the surface, and search amongst her early records.

But the Irish capital in losing much by the march of progress, has gained many compensating advantages. The ‘dear, dirty Dublin’ of Lady Morgan is now a thing of the past. Her streets are wide, well kept, and well lighted, and she possesses in her electric trains a system of internal communication unsurpassed in any European city.

Her population which in the census for 1805 was 170,094, had risen in that of 1901 to 289,108, with* *32,004 houses within the municipal area. Her Viceregal Court, though shorn of some of its 18th-century magnificence, is wanting neither in dignity nor in social attractiveness. She has still her unrivalled public buildings, and has added to them many modern structures of beauty and interest.

Her outskirts, in charm and variety of scenery, are unequalled by those of any city in the British dominions. She possesses in Kingstown, Dalkey, and Bray, watering-places accessible within an hour from the centre of the city; and the bold cliff; of Howth, the pastoral loveliness of Lucan, the beautiful coast scenery of Killiney, and the wild defiles of the Dublin mountains are all within easy reach of the resident or visitor.

Her citizens have in the Phoenix Park a playground in extent and variety, rarely if ever equalled in the immediate vicinity of a city of equal population. No fitter conclusion can be found for this necessarily brief and imperfect sketch of her history than a short description of the park and outlets, and of those modern buildings to which I have referred.

On the north-west boundary of Dublin lies a portion of the confiscated lands of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, whose castle at Kilmainham is now the Royal Hospital. These lands consist of a plateau rising from the northern bank of the Liffey, comprising within its enclosure no less than 1760 acres (The united areas of Hyde Park and Regent’s Park in London amount to 860 acres, or something less than one-half the extent of ‘The Phoenix’) of woodland and pasture.

On the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII., these were surrendered to the Crown by Sir John Rawson, knight, Prior of Kilmainham, and in the reign of Charles II. were enclosed as a deer-park by the Viceroy, James, Duke of Ormonde, who purchased in addition, by desire of the King, the lands of Phoenix and Newtown and part of the lands of Chapelizod.

The park at this time extended on both sides of the Liffey, arid was in consequence much exposed to trespassers, and it was therefore determined to enclose the part on the north side of the river. This Sir John Temple, afterwards Lord Palmerston (The district beyond Chapelizod is called Palmerston or Palmerstown) undertook to perform, on condition of being paid £200 out of the Treasury and of receiving a grant of all the land excluded by the park wall from the Dublin gate to Chapelizod; which conditions received His Majesty’s assent. (*An Historical Guide to Ancient and Modern Dublin,, *by Rev. G. N. Wright, Dublin, 1821.)

The first ranger of the park was appointed by Charles II., and about 1751 the right Honourable Nathaniel Clements, father of’ Lord Leitrim, built a handsome lodge, which was purchased from him by Government in 1784 as a residence for the Lord-Lieutenant, and is now the Viceregal Lodge.

About the middle of the 18th century the park was laid out and thrown open to the public by the Earl of Chesterfield, Lord-Lieutenant from 1745 to 1747. The name of the lands Fionn-uisce, pronounced Fin-iska, *i.e. *‘clear water’ from a spring in or near the present Zoological Gardens, had been corrupted into Phoenix. This erroneous appellation was perpetuated by the erection by the Viceroy on 29th March 1747 ‘in the centre of the ring of the Deer-park near Dublin’ (Tablet of Memory, Dublin, 1782) of a marble Corinthian column 30 feet in height, crowned by a phoenix rising from gilded flames, in allusion to the classical myth.

John's Lane Distillery. (9658 bytes)In 1790 we learn from the diary of Lieutenant David Thomas Powell, of the 14th Light Dragoons, that that regiment was stationed in the Phoenix Park. (Journal RSAI for 1901, vol. xxxi.) In 1812 the Duke of Richmond stocked the t)ark with fallow-deer, of which there are now about 600, and 30 years later the present keeper’s lodge, close to the Hibernian Military School, was built overlooking the Liffey.

In Wright’s *Historical Guide *we read that ‘near the Dublin entrance to the Viceregal Lodge, in the bottom of a wooded glen, is a Chalybeate Spa, with pleasing ground, and seats for invalids laid out at the expense of the Dowager-Duchess of Richmond for the public benefit.’ Like the Portobello and other Spas this has now completely disappeared.

From the principal or eastern entrance a broad, straight, and level road of two miles runs directly through the park to the Castleknock gate at its western boundary. On the right of the main entrance lie the People’s Gardens, beautifully laid out and planted, and to the credit of the Dublin people be it said, enjoyed to the full without injury to the plants or shrubs.

Near them is the Royal Military Infirmary, north of which is the depot of the Royal Irish Constabulary. On the left is the massive granite obelisk of the Wellington Memorial, sarcastically termed ‘The Big Milestone,’ having on the four sides of its pedestal bronze panels, commemorating his victories. Beyond it is the Magazine Fort, the subject of Swift’s epigram:-

‘Behold a proof of Irish sense;

Here Irish wit is seen!

When nothing’s left that’s worth defence,

We build a Magazine.’

Beyond the People’s Gardens a turning to the right I leads to the Zoological Gardens, beautifully situated on the banks of a small artificial lake. The Zoological Society of Ireland was instituted in 1831, and the gardens laid out and enclosed in 1833 on ground granted by the Duke of Northumberland when Lord-Lieutenant.

Robert Ball, a clerk in the office of the Under-Secretary, was appointed one of the secretaries of the Zoological Society in 1837, and was the originator in 1840 of the penny Sunday admission to the gardens, now raised to twopence. He founded the Royal Dublin Zoological Society in 1853, and obtained from the British Government an annual grant of £500, paid through the Royal Dublin Society, a sum, however sadly insufficient to maintain the gardens in a state of efficiency.

The successful rearing of lions adds something to the resources of the Society, and private benefactions have greatly improved the housing of the birds and larger carnivora. The condition of the animals leaves little to be desired, the climate of Dublin seeming peculiarly suitable for many species, and in fur and feathers the inmates contrast favourably with those of most European collections.

Proceeding westward, we pass on the right, before reaching the Phoenix column, the Viceregal Lodge on the roadway, in view of which occurred the tragic assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Thomas Burke. Near it are also the residences of the Chief and Under Secretaries. In the south-west angle is the Hibernian Military School, and in the western portion of the park are the Mountjoy Barracks, the headquarters of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. There are many picturesque nooks within the park precincts, of which the prettiest is probably the gorse-clad hollow with its quiet pool, near the Knockmaroon gate, known as the ‘Furry’ Glen. (*i.e. *covered with furze or gorse.)

On the left of the main road is the fine review ground, curiously designated the ’.Fifteen’ acres, its area being some 200, where formerly many notable duels were fought. Within the area of the park there are polo, cricket, and football grounds.

In addition to the libraries of Trinity College, the College of Physicians, and others already mentioned, Dublin possesses a well-arranged and admirably managed National Library housed in a handsome modern building on the north side of the space in front of Leinster House, facing Kildare Street. These premises and the similar fine edifice opposite, occupied by the National Museum, were erected in 1883 at a cost of £150,000 from the designs of Sir Thomas N. Deane, and were opened in 1890 by the Earl of Zetland, Lord-Lieutenant.

The library is entered by a spacious vestibule in the form of a horse-shoe, from which a handsome double staircase leads to the lofty reading-room, also horse-shoeshaped, measuring 72 feet by 63 feet, finely lit from the high domed roof.

The books of reference in common use are arranged in cases round the walls, the remainder are housed on shelves in the wing next Kildare Street. This wing is divided into three storeys, and again subdivided by perforated iron floors. An introduction from any respectable resident is generally sufficient to secure for the applicant all the privileges of a reader, and the tireless courtesy of the librarian, Mr. T. W. Lyster, is reflected in the intelligent assistance rendered by all his staff to the numerous visitors to the library.

The National Museum building opposite, with a facade 200 feet in length, is similar in style. The main structure, extending along Kildare Street to Kildare Place, consists of a central court and two wings, the former surmounted by a dome. The staircases and internal decorations are extremely rich in design and execution, and the finely carved doors are the workmanship of Carlo Gambi of Siena.

Entering the building, the visitor finds I himself in a circular vestibule, 60 feet in diameter, having a domed roof and a surrounding gallery supported on 20 columns of Irish marble. Beyond this is the great central court, 125 feet long and 75 feet wide, lighted from above. The central portion is sunken, and. the whole of the ground floor paved in mosaic of beautiful design.

Opposite the entrance is the handsome staircase of Portland stone, with broad marble handrail and marble panels, leading to the upper gallery, which is supported on iron columns continued to the roof.

The most interesting portion of the varied contents of the museum is the magnificent collection of Irish antiquities transferred to it by the Royal Irish Academy in 1890, and since considerably augmented. These are to be found in part of the upper gallery and three adjoining rooms, and comprise early Irish canoes, preserved in the peat bogs, a fine series of stones bearing Ogham inscriptions, neolithic and bronze implements and weapons, a splendid collection of early gold ornaments, cinerary urns and a cist from Tallaght, with its matrix of earth and gravel.

There are also models of Irish forts and the remarkable Dunraven series of photographs, illustrative of Irish architecture, arranged on folding screens.

Of Irish Early Christian art the most notable examples are the Cross of Cong, the Ardagh chalice, St. Patrick’s bell, and the Tara, Ardagh, and Roscrea brooches. The first of these, a processional cross made at Roscommon for the diocese of Tuam by order of Turlogh O’Connor in 1123, was found by Reverend P. Prendergast early in the last century in a village chest, purchased by Professor MacCullagh for 100 guineas, and presented by him to the Royal Irish Academy. It is made of oak plated with copper, which again is covered with beautiful gold tracery of Celtic pattern, measures 21 feet in height, 1 foot 6H inches across the arms, and is 1H inch thick.

In the centre is a large quartz crystal, which probably covered the portion of the true cross once enshrined in this cross, as we learn from the inscriptions in Irish and in Latin on two of its sides. Along the edges of the shafts and arms were set 18 beads of red and green enamel, of which 13 remain, but of thirteen similar beads, set down the centre of the shaft and arms and round the crystal, 10 have disappeared. Of the four surrounding the crystal, the two which remain are of blue and white enamel.

The Ardagh chalice is of silver, ornamented in Celtic designs of gold filagree and repousse work and curious enamelled beads. St. Patrick’s bell, dating from the 11th century, is the oldest relic of Christian metal-work in Ireland. It was preserved for centuries in Armagh, and was not improbably used by St. Patrick himself.

The Tara brooch is familiar to many through the numerous reproductions in gold and silver which had some years ago a considerable vogue, and are still worn by ladies as shawl fasteners.

The upper floors of the museum are occupied by an herbarium and botanical collection.

Connected with the Science and Art Museum is the building occupied by the Natural History Museum, the main entrance to which is on the south side of Leinster Lawn facing Merrion Square. This building, designed by Captain Foke, R.E., under the superintendence of Dr. R. Griffith, was erected in 1855*. *The collection of Irish *fauna *is a very complete one, and includes three perfect skeletons of the Irish elk *(Cervus Giganteus), *another of which was discovered in Howth in November 1906.

On the northern side of Leinster Lawn is the National Gallery of Ireland, including the National Portrait Gallery. This gallery had its origin in the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, a portion of the site of which it occupies. At the close of the exhibition a fund was subscribed to provide a memorial to William Dargan, who had contributed £80,000 towards its expenses, and a sum of £5,000 was allocated for the purpose of establishing a National Gallery for Ireland.

By the aid of private donations and parliamentary grants the gallery, commenced in 1859, was finished at a cost of £30,000, and opened in 1864 by the D Earl of Carlisle, Lord-Lieutenant. The Portrait Gallery also owed its inception to an exhibition, that of 1872. At its close a number of portraits were purchased, and Mr. Henry Doyle, C.B., R.H.A., then Director of the National Gallery, set apart a portion of the existing gallery for their reception.

In 1887 Lord Iveagh bestowed £1,000 for the purchase of part of the Challoner Smith collection of mezzotints, and the number of portraits increased so rapidly that, in 1903, it was found necessary to erect a new wing at a cost of £20,000. The collection of paintings in the National Gallery has grown under the fostering care of its three successive directors, G. F. Mulvany, R. H. A., Henry Doyle, C.B., R.H.A., and Sir Walter Armstrong, and now ranks as one of the best of the smaller galleries of Europe, containing a fairly representative selection of the Old Masters.

Its contents have lately received a notable addition in the paintings presented by the Countess of Milltown; and possibly a gallery of Modern Art, of which the nucleus already exists, may prove an outcome of the Exhibition of 1907.

Dublin possesses, as we have said, great natural advantages in the variety and accessibility of its outlets. North-east of the city, at a distance of nine miles, lies the picturesque promontory of Howth, familiar as a land-mark to all visitors who arrive by daylight from Holy-head. It was successively a Danish and an Anglo-Norman stronghold. Remains of the church of St Fintan, supposed to date from the ninth century, still exist, and in the Deer-park are the ruins of Corr Castle, a tall square building, probably of the 16th century.

Nor are prehistoric remains wanting to add to its interest. In the demesne of Lord Howth, premier baron of Ireland by tenure, and successor in the title to Sir Almericus Tristram, one of the first Anglo-Norman invaders, is a cromlech, the upper stone of which weighs about 70 tons. This is said to mark the burying-place of Aideen, daughter of Angus of Ben Edar (Howth) and wife of Oscar, son of Ossian, slain at Gowra, near Tara, A.D. 284. One mile north of Howth is the curious wedge-shaped island of Ireland’s Eye (Danish *oe, *an island), containing the ruins of an ancient chapel founded on the site of a seventh-century structure. Howth can be easily reached by rail or electric tram, and an electric tram now runs from Sutton station to the summit of the hill, returning to the Howth terminus of the railway.

South-east of Dublin and almost due south of Howth is Kingstown, the usual place of landing for English tourists, and a pleasant seaside resort. This port, known as Dunleary prior to the visit of George IV., was long an insignificant and dirty village. The only shelter for vessels in the 18th century was the south-west corner of the present harbour, enclosed by the small pier, and now used by colliers.

The construction of the fine harbour, with its massive granite piers, begun in 1817 and finished in 1859 at a cost of £825,000, gave Kingstown rank as a first-rate port; and its subsequent use by the mail steamers between England and Ireland as their port of arrival and departure conferred much additional importance.

It is the headquarters of Irish yachting, having three clubs located there, the Royal Yacht Club, the Royal St. George, and the Royal Irish; and the club-houses of the two latter on the harbour edge are picturesque accessories to the fine coup d’oeil from the sea A pavilion lately erected close to the railway terminus and Town Hall affords means of amusement to summer visitors. Kingstown may be reached by rail from Westland Row or by electric tram from the Nelson Pillar.

Further along the coast is Dalkey, ‘occupying the site of a fortified town which began to decay some 400 years ago. Its port was in mediaeval times not only the Kingstown of that age for travellers, but also the place of disembarkation for merchandise coming to Dublin, and the ancient town, which contained seven strong castles, was used as a safe place of storage for the goods until the merchants found it convenient to remove them to Dublin. Only two of the seven castles now remain. One formerly known as “the Goat’s Castle” now forms portion of Dalkey Town Hall; the other is a fairly complete ruin.’ (*History of the County of Dublin, *F. Elrington Ball.)

The Castle of Bullock, Danish Blowick, to which a modern house has been attached, overhangs a creek now converted into a harbour, and was erected by the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary near Dublin, It was doubtless intended to protect the coast from pirates, as we read in 1633 of the capture of a Dutch ship, lying under the very walls of the castle, by a privateer claiming to have letters of marque from the King of Spain. (Ibid.)

When fears of a French invasion ran high the little island which lies opposite Sorrento Point was fortified by the erection of one of the Martello towers which girdle the coast of the County Dublin. Dalkey is now a pleasant summer resort, and is interesting from having given name and location to a singular society of a century back termed the Kingdom of Dalkey.

This club, as we would now term it, was originally established for the suppression of duelling, and its members were known successively as Knights of Tara, Knights of St. Patrick, and Officers of the Kingdom of Dalkey. The *Dublin Morning Post *of 22nd September 1792 devoted part of its columns to a reproduction of the *Dalkey Gazette *of 10th September, in which are duly chronicled the doings of this club, including the election of a king and his proclamations to his subjects. His facetious Majesty, Stephen the First, bore the high-sounding titles of King of Dalkey, Emperor of Muglins, Prince of the Holy Island of Magee, Elector of Lambay and Ireland’s Eye, Defender of his own Faith; and Respecter of all others, Sovereign of the Illustrious Order of the Lobster and Periwinkle. At his coronation he received tribute from his faithful subjects of Lambay, north of Howth, and the holy knights of Magee, consisting of rabbits, cockles, and mushrooms, and after hearing articles of impeachment against the Lord Chancellor presented by the Order of the Periwinkle, retired to a sumptuous banquet, in the course of which a plenipotentiary arrived from Bullock with an offering of potatoes, which his majesty graciously accepted, conferring the order of. knighthood on their bearer. The blessing pronounced ran as follows:-

‘The blessing of the beggar and the Clerk of the Crown attend you in all your adventures in this life, and the last prayer of the Recorder and of all the judges of the Crown circuit attend you in the next.’

The annual ode at the last meeting of the Society, on 20th August 1797, is believed to have been contributed by Thomas Moore. The Club incurred the suspicion of the authorities in those troubled times, and one of its members, Mr. T. O’Meara, was privately questioned by Lord Clare as to the Kingdom of Dalkey. He informed the Lord Chancellor that he held the title of Duke of Muglins (small rocks off Dalkey Island), and the post of Chief Commissioner of Revenue. On being asked what were his emoluments he replied that he was allowed to import, duty free, 10,000 hogsbeads ---of salt water! This ended the examination. The last king was a bookseller named Armitage, at whose coronation 20,000 persons are said to have been present.

South of Dalkey is the craggy hill of Killiney, with a beautiful pebbly cove at its foot, cut off from it however by the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford railway. The hill, 480 feet in height, was the property of a family named Warren, who had long allowed the public free access to the grounds. It was purchased from them for £5,000, raised by subscription, and formally opened on 30th June 1887 by Prince Albert Victor as a public park, under the name of Victoria Park, in commemoration of the Jubilee of the accession of her late Majesty. The summit is crowned by an obelisk erected in 1741 to give employment to the poor. South of it is a smaller obelisk irk memory of the young Duke of Dorset, killed here in 1815 by a fall from his horse while hunting.

The ruins of Killiney church are of considerable antiquarian interest, dating possibly from the seventh century. Of the original building the west gable, with its square-headed doorway, the circular choir arch, only 61 feet in height, and the east window with inwardly inclined splays still remain. Further south is the bold headland at whose foot nestles Bray, a fashionable watering-place with good hotels, golf links, and a fine esplanade.

The visitor to Dublin who takes either the Harold’s Cross or Rathmines tram to Terenure can proceed thence I)y steam tram to Blessington. Passing Templeogue - where once resided Charles Lever - Tallaght, of consider-able interest in the civil and ecclesiastical history of Dublin, and leaving to the left the reservoir of Rathmines township water supply, the little town of Blessington is reached. It returned two members to the Irish Parliament, but is now a place of no importance.

Close to it is the picturesque waterfall of Pollaphuca, where the Liffey descends by a series of falls 150 feet in height, the gorge being spanned by a high bridge of a single arch. From Blessington. the defiles of the Dublin and Wicklow mountains may be explored by the pedestrian.

On the Quays. (4509 bytes)Yet another steam tram runs from the main gate of the Phoenix Park, close to King’s Bridge, along the course of the Liffey by Chapelizod and Palmerstown to Lucan, the site of a fashionable eighteenth-century Spa, which had fallen into complete neglect. Of late years a new Hydropathic and Spa Hotel has been established, communicating by a subway under the road with the Pump-room in the demesne of Lucan House. In the grounds of the latter are the remains of the castle of the Sarsfields, created by James II.** **Earls of Lucan.

To travel further afield would transgress the limits of the present volume, but its author felt that it would be impossible to convey any adequate idea of the Dublin of today without some brief allusion to its charming outskirts; In the trading competition of the times we live in Dublin has, as a manufacturing or even as a distributing centre, fallen into the background; but she still possesses her social traditions, her literary and artistic culture, and her unique advantages of natural situation.

What the future has in store for her who can say? She will share the fortunes of the island whose metropolis, now more than ever in the past, she can claim to be; and will be fitted now as before to lead the intellectual progress of the country, and to take her place in the forefront of every movement for the regeneration of a united Ireland.

To Appendix 1. Fitzpatrick Contents Home.