Wikipedia

Dominick Street, Dublin

Dominick Street (Irish: Sráid Dhoiminic) is a street on the North side of Dublin city laid out by the physician Sir Christopher Dominick and further developed by his family after his death in 1743. The lands had originally been acquired by Dominick in 1709.[1][2]

Dominick Street
1960s Dublin Corporation flats on Lower Dominick Street photographed in 2019.
Native nameSráid Dhoiminic (Irish)
NamesakeChristopher Dominick
LocationDublin, Ireland
Postal codeD01
North endBroadstone
South endParnell Street
Construction
Construction start1740s
DemolishedLarge parts of Lower Dominick Street (1958)
Other
Known forGeorgian houses and tenements
Saint Saviour's Dominican Priory Church and Georgian housing.

The Luas Green Line runs through part of the street and there is a Dominick Luas stop on Lower Dominick Street.

Dominick Street Lower is connected to Parnell Street at its southern end while the junction of Bolton Street and Dorset Street bisects the street before Dominick Street Upper intersects with Western Way and Constitution Hill at its Northern end near Broadstone.

History

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18th century

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The street was one of the earliest Georgian streets to be laid out on the North side of the city after nearby Henrietta Street had been the first in the area to be developed. It was originally only made up of what is today Lower Dominick Street and consequently is sometimes referred to as Old Dominick Street on some maps. The area began to be built on by the 1720s. The first lease is recorded in 1727 made out to Lady Alice Hume at the corner of Great Britain Street which was bounded by the house of Dominick. The area was however still shown as mainly open land on Charles Brooking's Map of Dublin of 1728.

In the early 1750s, Sir Christopher Dominick's widow and son of the same name let lots to various developers and builders along what is today Dominick Street Lower.[3] His daughter Elizabeth assisted with this and she later married St George St George, 1st Baron St George in July 1752 around the same time.

Later Sir Christopher Dominick's sole grand daughter, Emily Olivia, would marry William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster with their new home on the street remaining in family ownership as their city residence up to its replacement in the 1950s by social housing.

The street is featured on John Rocque's Map of Dublin in 1756 with no buildings along its sides. The street soon became a fashionable upmarket address for members of the gentry and aristocracy.[4]

19th century

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Upper Dominick Street was opened later around 1808 and consequently was sometimes referred to as New Dominick Street. The houses were significantly more modest in their design.[5]

After the Acts of Union 1800, both ends of the street fell gradually into decline. In the first half of the century, the houses continued to be owned or leased by members of the middle and merchant classes such as the legal profession, owing to the streets proximity to the King's Inns and the Four Courts. Towards the end of the century, residents began selling their houses on the street or leasing them to other residents as tenements.

In 1853, St Saviour's Priory began to be constructed on the lower section of the street near the junction with Dorset Street.

Between 1875 and 1880 a number of social housing blocks named the Temple Buildings were constructed on the street to a design by Thomas Newenham Deane.[6]

20th century

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Lower Dominick Street, Dublin (1968)

Most of the original Georgian houses on the street became tenements between the late 19th and mid 20th century and were demolished or fell into ruin from the 1950s to the early 1990s.

In the census of 1911, 40 people were recorded as living in 16 Lower Dominick Street alone while there were 372 combined in the first 8 houses on the street.

In 1958 large parts of Lower Dominick Street were cleared with the space later replaced with Dublin Corporation flats designed by Desmond FitzGerald in the 1960s.[7]

In 1949, the modernist Hendron's garage was constructed towards the end of Upper Dominick Street.[8]

21st century

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Between 2018 and 2022, a new block of 72 social housing apartments named Dominick Hall were constructed as part of a larger regeneration scheme for the street.[9][10]

As of 2023, only 10 of the original Georgian houses remain, with all listed on the record of protected structures.[11] Some notable stucco work by Robert West can still be seen in the interior of 20 Lower Dominick Street, the largest remaining and finest house on the street.

 
Over door entablature and frieze taken from 20 Dominick Street

Notable owners and residents

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Various notable owners and residents lived on the street, particularly during the late 18th century.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Scully, Seamus (1980). "Around Dominick Street". Dublin Historical Record. 33 (3): 82–92. JSTOR 30104187. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  2. ^ Harris, Adam (24 September 2014). "A History of Granby Park". Ronan Stewart Services. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Site Investigations". www.tii.ie. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  4. ^ Chart, David Alfred (1932). "The Story of Dublin". J.M. Dent & Company. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Irish Builder and Engineer". Howard MacGarvey & Sons. 1893. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Temple Buildings, Dominick Street Upper, Dublin 7, DUBLIN". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Slum Clearance, Dominic Street, Dublin.17/11/1958 | Irish Photo Archive". www.irishphotoarchive.ie. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  8. ^ "paddi : paddi: structure details". paddi.net. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  9. ^ Hubert, Thomas (15 July 2023). ""Heaven after 19 years of torture": What one Dublin social homes project tells us about the housing crisis". The Currency. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Dominick Street regeneration to begin two years after launch and €10m over budget". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Youth Work Ireland, 20 Dominick Street Lower, Dominick Place, Dublin, DUBLIN". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  12. ^ "East of the Great North Road". Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  13. ^ "CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DOMINICK STREET LOWER, NO. 013 Dictionary of Irish Architects -". www.dia.ie. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Five Hundred Years of Women's Work: The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection". exhibits.library.duke.edu. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  15. ^ "William Conolly & Son". catholicarchives.ie. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
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