Henrietta Street, Dublin
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Henrietta Street () is a
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
street, to the north of Bolton Street on the north side of the city, first laid out and developed by
Luke Gardiner Luke Gardiner (c. 1690 – 25 September 1755) was an Irish property developer and politician. In the Irish House of Commons he represented Tralee from 1725 until 1727 and Thomastown from 1727 until his death in 1755. He was appointed to the I ...
during the 1720s. A very wide street relative to streets in other 18th-century cities, it includes a number of very large red-brick city palaces of Georgian design.


Name

The street is generally held to be named after Henrietta (née Somerset; 1690–1726), the wife of
Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, (25 October 1683 – 6 May 1757) was an Irish and English politician. Early life He was the only child and heir of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690) (an illegitimate son of King Charles I ...
, although an alternative candidate is
Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...
(née Crofts; 1697–1730), third wife of
Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton (1661 – 21 January 1722) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Member of Parliament for Hampshire and a supporter of William III of Orange. Life He was the son of Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, and Mary S ...
. The nearby Bolton Street is named after Paulet.


History

Henrietta Street is the earliest Georgian Street in Dublin, and at the forefront of Dublin's later Georgian streetscapes. Construction on the street started in the mid-1720s, on land bought by the Gardiner family in 1721. Construction was still taking place in the 1750s. Gardiner had a mansion, designed by
Richard Cassels Richard Cassels (1690 – 1751), also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Althou ...
, built for his own use around 1730. The street was popularly referred to as ''Primate's Hill'', as one of the houses was owned by the
Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
, although this house, along with two others, was demolished to make way for the Law Library of
King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...
. The street fell into disrepair during the 19th and 20th centuries, with the houses being used as
tenements A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
. While the houses on Henrietta Street had been home to a small number of wealthy residents in the 18th century, these were given-over to tenement use during the 19th century, and by 1911 there were 835 people living in poverty in just 15 houses. A number of houses on the street remained in use as tenements until the 1970s. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the street has been subject to restoration efforts. The street has been used as a period-location for film and TV companies, with productions filmed including ''
Albert Nobbs ''Albert Nobbs'' is a 2011 drama film directed by Rodrigo García and starring Glenn Close. The screenplay, by Close, John Banville and Gabriella Prekop, is based on the 1927 novella ''Albert Nobbs'' by George Moore. The film received mixed r ...
'', ''
Inspector George Gently ''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a 2008 British television crime drama series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector G ...
'' and ''
Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective fiction, detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by ''Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV (TV network), ...
''. The street is a
cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
, with the Law Library of King's Inns facing onto its western end. As of 2017, there are 13 houses on the street. One of these houses, 14 Henrietta Street, was opened as a museum in late 2018. ''14 Henrietta Street'' tells the story of the building and of the lives of the people who lived there.


First residents

The street was initially popular with landed and merchant families, and a number of
hereditary peers The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...
had properties on the street in the mid-18th century. The houses were built to have rear gardens and
mews A mews is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century. Mews are usually located in desirable residential ...
.


North-side

; No.3 * Resident: Owen Wynne;Shaffrey Associates Architects; John Montague, Architectural Historian; Carrig Conservation Ltd; Dr. Tracy Pickerill; Lee McCullough & Partners, Consulting Engineers; Boylan Farrelly, Quantity Surveyors; ''Henrietta Street Conservation Plan'' Dublin City Heritage ; No.4 * Construction: Built after 1755 * Resident:
John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham (1687 – 6 August 1759) was an Irish peer and politician. He was the son of the Reverend Robert Maxwell and Anne Stewart, daughter of Colonel George Stewart. His paternal grandfather was Robert Maxwell, Bishop of ...
from 1757, father-in-law of Owen Wynne at no.3. This house remained in the possession of the same family until 1852. ; No.5 * Construction: Built by Nathaniel Clements about 1741 for Henry O'Brien * Resident: Henry O'Brien, 8th Earl of Thomond. Thomond died 2 years later and the house was occupied by George Stone, Bishop of Ferns, who later succeeded Boulter as Primate; ; No.6 * Construction: Separate flat within No. 5; ; No.7 * Construction: Built by Nathaniel Clements about 1738 * Resident:
Nathaniel Clements Nathaniel Clements (1705 – May 1777) was an Irish politician and financial figure, important in the political and financial administration of Ireland in the mid-18th century. Early history Clements was the fifth son of Robert Clements (1664†...
; ; No.8 * Construction: Nathaniel Clements 1735 * Resident: Lieutenant General Richard St George; ; No.9 * Construction: Designed by
Edward Lovett Pearce Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (1699 – 7 December 1733) was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of Palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is be ...
and built for Luke Gardiner by 1735 * Resident Thomas Carter; ; No.10 * Construction:
Edward Lovett Pearce Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (1699 – 7 December 1733) was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of Palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is be ...
was the architect * Resident:
Luke Gardiner Luke Gardiner (c. 1690 – 25 September 1755) was an Irish property developer and politician. In the Irish House of Commons he represented Tralee from 1725 until 1727 and Thomastown from 1727 until his death in 1755. He was appointed to the I ...


Western end

* Entrance to King's Inns


South-side

* King's Inns law library ; No.11 * Construction: Designed by
Edward Lovett Pearce Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (1699 – 7 December 1733) was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of Palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is be ...
for Luke Gardiner (built as a pair to No. 12) * Resident: Brigadier General William Graham; ; No.12 * Construction: Built as a pair to No. 11 for Gardiner with Edward Lovett Pearce as architect * Resident: William Stewart, 3rd Viscount Mountjoy and later 1st Earl of Blessington; ; No.13 * Construction: Built by Luke Gardiner at the same time as numbers 14 and 15 * Resident: Nicholas Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely from 1755 (1st record); ; No.14 * Construction: Built by Luke Gardiner at the same time as numbers 13 and 15 * Resident: Richard 3rd Viscount Molesworth from 1752. * Other notable occupant: No. 14 is now a museum. ; No.15 * Construction: Built by Luke Gardiner at the same time as numbers 13 and 14 * Resident: Sir Robert King from about 1748 * Other notable occupant:
Na Píobairí Uilleann Na Píobairí Uilleann (; meaning "The Uilleann Pipers") is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the Irish Uilleann pipes and its music. Organisation NPU was founded in 1968 under the impetus of researcher and collector Breandà ...


See also

*
Georgian Dublin ''Georgian Dublin'' is a phrase used in terms of the history of Dublin that has two interwoven meanings: # to describe a historic period in the development of the city of Dublin, Ireland, from 1714 (the beginning of the reign of King George I ...
*
List of streets and squares in Dublin This is a list of notable streets and squares in Dublin, Ireland. __NOTOC__ References Notes Sources * External linksStreetnames of DublinaArchiseekArchitecture of Ireland— English-Irish list of Dublin street names aLeathanach baile Sh ...


Further reading

* Murdoch, Tessa (ed.) (2022). ''Great Irish Households: Inventories from the Long Eighteenth Century''. Cambridge: John Adamson, inventory of No. 10 Henrietta Street in 1772, when in the ownership of Luke Gardiner, the younger (1745–1798), later 1st Viscount Mountjoy, pp. 157–61


References

{{Reflist Georgian architecture in Ireland Streets in Dublin (city) Tourist attractions in Dublin (city)