Figure 29.1 A map of Dublin from 1836. The canals created a boundary for the growing city.
Bridge and the north side of the city, where the earliest Georgian streets were built. Later they built another bridge (Carlisle Bridge, now O’Connell Bridge) further down the river, connecting Sackville (now O’Connell) Street with new developments at Westmoreland and D’Olier Streets. These streets were designed in the 1790s with integrated shop fronts, a feature that did not appear in London until later.
The Development of Streets
and Squares The earlier squares like St Stephen’s Green and Parnell Square were developed piecemeal, a few buildings at a time, but later squares like Mountjoy on the north side and Merrion and Fitzwilliam Squares on the south side were laid out in advance.
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Most streets and squares had a continuous building line, but there are streets that have houses that vary in height, width, size of windows and doors and the colour of the bricks. Some houses have basements and first floors in cut stone and a few of the larger houses were completely stone built. The North and South Circular Roads outlined the urban area, which was later redefined by the Royal and Grand Canals (Fig. 29.1).
Innovation and
Invention Urban planning was the great innovation of the Georgian period in Ireland. Streets and squares were laid out on a grid pattern, wherever possible, creating a spacious environment and easier movement of people and traffic.
NEW APPRECIATING ART IRELAND AND ITS PLACE IN THE WIDER WORLD
