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Dublin's Mountjoy Square is to be declared an architectural
conservation area by Dublin City Council.
The square - located in the north inner city, less then 1km
from O’Connell Street - is claimed to be Dublin’s finest Georgian
square in that it measures an equal length on all sides, with
a symmetrical road layout at each corner.
Famously used in the 1980s as a film location to depict bombed-out
areas of London during the second World War, the square had,
in recent times, become the focus of a campaign for conservation
backed by writers and artists.
Work on Mountjoy Square began in 1790 and was completed by
1820. The square was home to numerous prominent figures, including
brewer Arthur Guinness and writer Seán O’Casey.
Writers Brendan Behan and James Joyce also lived beside the
square - and it features twice in Ulysses in the chapters
Wandering Rocks and Ithica.
In more recent times, it was the primary location for the
Oscar-winning film - Once. The square is also admired
for its historic architectural value and receives praise for
its neoclassical plasterwork in the Pevsner Guide to architecture.
Former lord mayor Cllr Emer Costello, who proposed the square
be declared an architectural conservation area, said it was
“really, really important” because Georgian architecture on
the northside had not always received the same attention as
similar buildings on the southside.
She praised the local community - who, she said, had shown
much commitment to the area “in much the same way the people
of North Great George’s Street did to great success”.
Preparatory work has already begun on the draft order for
the square and the council hopes to have it ready by next
June. Submissions from the public will then be invited.
Source - The Irish Times
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