Survey Data
Reg No
50070402
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
Apartment/flat (converted)
Date
1790 - 1810
Coordinates
315338, 235427
Date Recorded
09/12/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Group of three terraced two-bay three-storey over basement former houses, built c.1800, attached at both gables to adjoining buildings in terrace. Now in use as flats. Pitched M-profile roof having continuous parapet to front (north) elevation comprising cut granite capping to no.54 and 55, concrete capping to no.56. Some cast-iron rainwater goods. Brown brick chimneystack to no.56. Rendered walls. Painted cut granite plinth course to ground floor. Square-headed window openings having cut stone sills, some painted. Cast-iron balconettes to first floor windows of no.56. Replacement uPVC windows to no.54 and 55. One-over-one pane timber sash windows to ground and first floors of no.56, one-over-six panes to second floor, replacement timber windows to basement level. Round-arched door openings. Painted masonry door surrounds having engaged Ionic columns supporting fluted frieze with cornice, timber panelled doors. Plain fanlights to no.55 and 56, spoked fanlight to no.54. Granite steps to shared entrance platform of no.54 and 55 having cast-iron railings with corner posts. Concrete steps to entrance platform of no.56 having recent metal railings. Basement areas enclosed from pavement by cut granite plinth wall with metal railings and gates. Recent external stairs provide access from pavement to basement areas. Cast-iron coal-hole covers set in granite paving to front.
Appraisal
This group of three houses makes an important contribution to the streetscape. Its proportions and details are shared with neighbouring properties on Blessington Street resulting in a coherent streetscape. Early fabric survives in the shared entrance platform and door surrounds to no. 54 and 55. Blessington Street was laid out at the end of the eighteenth century, appearing in the alphabetical list of streets in Wilson's Dublin Directory for the first time in 1795. It terminates to the west end at Blessington Street Basin, constructed in 1810 as a city reservoir supplied from the nearby canal, it is now a public park.