Dublin Civic Trust

21/08/2026

HISTORIC GLASSHOUSES SEMINAR

Friday 28 August 2026 | Newbridge House, Donabate

Places are filling fast! Book online by following the link in our bio.

Dublin Civic Trust is delighted to present this very special one-day seminar on Historic Irish Glasshouses taking place on site in the stunning demesne surroundings of Newbridge House, Donabate, Co. Dublin.

Hosted in conjunction with Fingal County Council and Newbridge House and Farm, this stimulating day of presentations and site visits will be led by expert speakers working on the history and active conservation of Irish glasshouses.

A series of lectures will guide attendees through the use of glasshouses for productive gardening in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, including recent case studies of best practice conservation and restoration works in timber and iron from around Ireland.

The event includes a visit to the newly restored ranges glasshouses on the Newbridge Demesne, as well as a coach visit (included) to nearby Brackenstown Demesne where extensive archaeological landscape works are underway by Fingal County Council.

This special day includes mid-morning refreshments, lunch and a return coach trip to Brackenstown from Newbridge House.

Book today!

Structured CPD Points: 6

Generously supported by Fingal County Council

One-day seminar on Historic Irish Glasshouses taking place on site in the stunning surroundings of Newbridge House, Donabate, County Dublin.

21/08/2026

68 Arran Street East | Episode 11

In this episode, we take a look at the integration of fire resistance measures into the fabric of the staircase and the reassembly of the mezzanine structure.

Supported by the Historic Structures Fund under .localgov.heritage and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme overseen by .

Project Architect:
Contractor: Glanroy Construction

12/08/2026

It is with profound sadness that we learnt of the passing of Christine Casey, Professor of Architectural History at Trinity College Dublin. Christine was a powerhouse of architectural research and scholarly writing, and an authority on Irish and European early modern architecture from the Renaissance to the Neoclassical period.

Christine was an inspirational tutor and public speaker, brilliant and sparkling in her insight, possessing that rare gift to make the obscure accessible, the arcane entertaining. Any conference led by Christine was a hot ticket, a gift from the architectural gods, guaranteed to provoke, challenge and delight – her distinctive Louth accent enlivening the occasion, accompanied by an inimitable wry twinkle.

Christine’s recent work fulfilled a lifelong interest in the relationship of architecture with decoration, and the role of craftsmanship in making buildings. Securing major research funding, Christine upended views about ‘top down’ building production by architects and clients, highlighting the vital role of craftspeople, builders and material suppliers. Christine was an authority on stucco and stuccatori, tracing the long line from Ireland’s decorative plasterwork of the 18th century to the slopes of Ticino and a pan-European craft tradition. Her published output is simply Herculean.

To Dubliners, architects, and conservationists, Christine is best known for her monumental ‘Buildings of Ireland’ Pevsner guide to Dublin architecture, published in 2005, after her co-authored guide to North Leinster. Academia’s gain was the public’s loss with Christine, as one of our best architectural critics. Discerning, pithy, sometimes quietly devastating, her eye for our capital’s buildings was commanding and authoritative.

On many occasions, a mere mention of a personal connection with Christine would prompt awe and surprise that she mingled with regular folk. Such is the lofty esteem with which she was held, and such is the loss that we now feel in Dublin Civic Trust, to whom she was a great friend.

To Christine’s family and to her academic family and friends, we send our deepest condolences. Christine’s legacy is indelibly bound to Ireland’s architectural patrimony.

23/07/2026

We need to talk about the elephant in the room.

Marring the picturesque roofline of Ormond Quay is the gasp-inducing, eye-poppingly awful new setback storeys of The July “lifestyle apartment hotel” on Capel Street. The proprietary cladding, pockmarked with catalogue windows and stick-on astragals, blusters into the genteel historic setting like the family dog dragging an inflatable paddling pool into the living room in front of the neighbours. It is a monumental planning fail, flabbergasting in its atrocious and embarrassing impact on the centre of our capital city.

It is important to explain how this happened. This matters, because the same planning mistakes are being made repeatedly and we’re not learning. The first version of this nine-storey hulk that blatantly contradicts the statutory Capel Street Architectural Conservation Area was granted in 2021 by An Bord Pleanála (before its recent sweeping reforms). In fairness to Dublin City Council, they refused its ludicrous scale packed into a four-storey street. But with a precedent set by the appeals board, DCC could not oppose the height in later submitted versions. But DCC could control its materiality. Unbelievably, they managed to make it even worse:

“It is considered that, omitting the metal cladding finish and replacing this with brick at lower setback floors and glazing at upper set-back floors would allow the building to integrate in a far more acceptable way to the Capel Street [ACA] and would reduce the visibility of the building from the Liffey Quays Conservation Area.”
[Planner’s report]

…and in so doing, made it the ugliest intrusion on the Liffey quays, quite possibly ever. Rather than instructing brick or pale stone cladding, it was conditioned to make the most prominent part of the building look cheaper, flimsier, uglier.

It confirms two things: 1) the disastrous impact of the 'Urban Development and Building Heights Guidelines' that have permitted a free-for-all in our historic core. And 2) the pressing need for architectural input at planning stage. Dublin must be one of Europe’s few capital cities without the self-respect to engage local authority architects to work with planners on assessing key developments. This urgently needs change.

It’s also worth noting that a previous high quality, mixed-use restaurant and apartment scheme with seven homes designed for this site, that flew through the planning system with a grant of permission in 2017, was shredded by the new 2018 height guidance – purportedly imposed by government to encourage apartment construction – that instantly made a multi-storey hotel a more lucrative option for this site.

17/07/2026

The best-kept house on the road? This charmer on Charles Street West forms part of the Ormond Square development, a scheme of 128 homes built by Dublin Corporation in 1912-15, tucked in off the Liffey’s north quays. Designed under City Architect Charles J. McCarthy, the scheme is built of yellow brick enriched with smart bands of red brick – both probably sourced locally. The window sills are handsome slabs of limestone and the roof retains its natural slates and red clay ridging.

Our featured house is the last of three houses in the scheme to retain its original sash windows: a tripartite Wyatt arrangement to the ground floor (denoting the original parlour), and paired windows to the first floor charmingly divided by a large timber mullion. The original tongue-and-groove design of the front door is also retained, brasses always polished, plus the original cast-iron downpipe. The block green applied to all is traditional and brilliantly effective. It seems the eaves boards to the gables on Ormond Square were consciously painted an orange-red colour originally to chime with the red brick banding and eaves coursing; possibly the rainwater goods, too. This still clings on in a few areas and is architecturally impactful.

The Ormond Square development was a major effort to provide homes during Dublin’s other housing crisis, in the early 1900s. It was built on the site of the historic Ormond Market, first developed in the 17th century as an ambitious Renaissance-type plan with open loggias, and later redeveloped in the early 19th century. By the early 1900s, the site was a sea of dereliction and abandoned ruined structures, and a source of considerable public debate at the time.

The new housing introduced a suburban scale to a central urban site, but the density is still remarkable by European standards, delivering 98 units (as surviving today) on around 0.7 of a hectare – or 140 units per hectare – including a public park with playground and possible space for a creche and community facility. This is considered high density housing under most metrics, including for apartment development. And with parking for less than 50 cars, bounded by light rail and bus corridors, it demonstrates the considerable convenience of urban living.

16/07/2026

HISTORIC GLASSHOUSES SEMINAR
Conservation, Technology and Use of Irish Glasshouses

Specialist Speakers | Site Visits | Unique Day Event

Newbridge House, Donabate, Co Dublin

Friday 28 August 2026 | 09:15 – 17:15

Tickets: €140 (includes refreshments, lunch and coach to site visit)

Structured CPD Points: 6

We're delighted to present a very special one-day seminar on Historic Irish Glasshouses taking place on-site in the stunning demesne surroundings of Newbridge House, Donabate, Co. Dublin.

Hosted in conjunction with Fingal County Council and Newbridge House and Farm, this stimulating day of presentations and site visits will be led by expert speakers working on the history and active conservation of Irish glasshouses. A series of engaging lectures and case studies will guide attendees through the use of glasshouses for productive gardening in Ireland the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, as well as recent case studies of best practice conservation and restoration work, in timber and iron, from around Ireland.

The event includes a visit to the newly restored ranges of glasshouses on the Newbridge demesne, as well as a coach visit to nearby Brackenstown Demesne with its 18th-century walled gardens. Brackenstown Demesne was the former country seat of Robert, First Viscount Molesworth, which retains extensive 18th-century water features, including a long canal, heated glasshouse and ornamental conservatory. The visit offers a unique opportunity to view these ruined structures, now owned by Fingal County Council, prior to imminent repair and restoration.

This unique seminar is not to be missed by anyone engaged or interested in the fields of horticulture, historic landscape design, architectural history and conservation.

Lunch and morning refreshments are included in the ticket, plus a return coach trip to Brackenstown Demesne from Newbridge House (attendees must make their own way to Newbridge House by train or by road).

Information and book online: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/1993935679292?aff=oddtdtcreator

Fingal County Council

13/07/2026

This week, we look at the repair and restoration of the mid-1700s sash windows in 68 Arran Street East. Through a process of detective work and making use of the existing materials, we managed to piece the 250-year-old windows back together by engaging the skilled joinery team in . They salvaged as much of the original fabric as possible – timber and glass in the sashes and box frames – and even got two of the rare surviving timber pulley wheels operational once more, plus thermal upgrading.

We now need YOUR valued support to help complete the project. All donations, large and small, will help us to the finishing line at 68 Arran Street East.

You can also become a Patron of Dublin Civic Trust – corporate or individual – thereby helping to support our work on an ongoing basis, by clicking on the link in our bio.

Supported by the Historic Structures Fund under .localgov.heritage and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme overseen by .

Project Architect:
Contractor: Glanroy Construction

09/07/2026

This brilliantly theatrical chimneypiece graces the Daniel O’Connell Room of the Irish Georgian Society’s City Assembly House on Dublin’s South William Street. Carved from Mitchelstown limestone, it was made in the 1770s for the entrance hall of Bowens Court house, Co. Cork.

The vertical emphasis and late baroque flourishes are typical – perhaps even a touch outdated – for their time, enclosing a charming keyhole grate. Sadly, Bowens Court was demolished in 1961, but some architectural items were salvaged following the sale of contents. The chimneypiece was recently donated to the Irish Georgian Society and installed in its beautifully conserved building.

Drop in for a look, including a final chance to see the current IGS Exhibition: Artists’ Studios in Henrietta Street 1976 - 2026, Selected Works – it closes tomorrow, Friday 10 July 2026.

20/06/2026

James Gandon’s neoclassical colossus needed radical repairs after the bombardment of 1922. But that work led to other problems. Now, after years of painstaking restoration, the final scaffolding is coming down. Link in comments

16/06/2026

68 Arran Street East | Episode 9

Cement render covering the rear elevation of 68 Arran Street East was hacked off in a pretty gruelling operation by the team in Glanroy Construction, revealing the original Georgian brickwork. The handmade brick is almost certainly of local origin, lightweight with large inclusions, and with surviving evidence of limewash. The brickwork will be re-rendered using cork-lime insulating render supplied by , enabling moisture movement through the wall while dramatically improving its thermal performance. Also take a look at our roof by Crannog Roofing and chimney rebuilt by .

Supported by the Historic Structures Fund under .localgov.heritage and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme overseen by .

Project Architect:
Contractor: Glanroy Construction