Summerhill ( ga, Cnoc Críonáin) is a primarily residential area of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, on the Northside of the city located roughly between

Talbot Street Talbot Street (; ) is a city-centre street located on Dublin's Northside, near to Dublin Connolly railway station. It was laid out in the 1840s and a number of 19th-century buildings still survive. The Irish Life Mall is on the street. Locati ...

Gardiner Street Gardiner Street () is a long Georgian street in Dublin, Ireland. It stretches from the River Liffey at its southern end via Mountjoy Square to Dorset Street at its northern end. The Custom House terminates the vista at the southern end, and t ...

Mountjoy Square Mountjoy Square () is a Georgian garden square in Dublin, Ireland, on the Northside of the city just under a kilometre from the River Liffey. One of five Georgian squares in Dublin, it was planned and developed in the late 18th century by Luke G ...

Amiens Street Amiens Street is a road in Dublin, Ireland, that runs from Memorial Road to North Strand. History The road was known as The Strand in the early 18th century. It was renamed after John Stratford, 1st Earl of Aldborough (Viscount Amiens) in 187 ...

and Ballybough. It is in the Dublin 1 postal district. It is one of the most densely populated and economically deprived areas of the city. The area is known historically for containing a range of red brick Victorian and Georgian terraced avenues along streets such as

Buckingham Street Buckingham Street is a street in Dublin running from Summerhill to Amiens Street. It is divided into Buckingham Street Lower (south end) and Buckingham Street Upper (north end). History Buckingham Street was named for George Nugent-Temple-Gr ...

and Gardiner Street as well as for the

Monto Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in the northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street (formerly Gloucester Street) in ...

red-light district of Dublin and the Gloucester Diamond. In the 19th century, the area became known for tenement housing and later in the 20th century these were mostly replaced with large scale social housing schemes. Streets such as Summerhill Parade were entirely demolished (c.40 5 storey Georgian houses) and replaced with social housing. In 1981 alone approximately 120 Georgian houses were demolished in Summerhill. Summerhill_Group_2

In 1992, the sculpture ''Summerhill Group'' was unveiled. It is a bronze work on Kilkenny limestone by Cathy Carman and was commissioned by

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...

as part of the

Per Cent for Art Scheme Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Mat ...

. The work invokes the history of the street, before its redevelopment into a dual carriageway, when children would play on the street.

John Hutton and Sons

For almost 140 years a successful coachbuilding enterprise existed at Summerhill, originally established on nearby Great Britain Street in 1779 by 22-year-old John Hutton, the son of a tannery owner. In 1788 the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

ordered two new

mail coaches A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. M ...

to be built by Hutton as models, adhering to the design of the patent mail coaches used all over England at the time, effectively granting the company the entirety of the Irish mail coach contract. On the strength of this lucrative contract, the company was enabled to move to larger premises on Summerhill, which it did in 1789. At the time, relocating to Summerhill was considered by many to be a bold move owing to its distance from the great thoroughfares of the city and inevitable lack of trade and business potential. In 1791 the

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

's coach was built, which was still used on ceremonial occasions as of 2004. The business thrived nonetheless, providing coaches to the aristocracy and great families of Ireland before the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ire ...

shifted the focus of the Irish high society from Dublin to London and new carriages were not required as often. In 1821

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

granted a royal patent to the company, followed by a

royal warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

issued by

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded ...

in 1836 and confirmed by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in 1837. The introduction of the railways as well as the Great Famine led to a decline in the business. Possibly one of the most famous coaches produced by the firm at this time was the Irish State Coach, ordered by Queen Victoria in 1852, which is still used today by the reigning British monarch whenever he/she travels from Buckingham Palace to the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

to formally open the new legislative session of the UK Parliament. The company adapted to producing

motor car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded a ...

s in the late 1800s. In the early 1920s Huttons turned down the option to take control of the Ford franchise for the whole of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, an error which contributed to Huttons having to file for voluntary

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...

in 1925. The premises at Summerhill was sold to the

Dublin United Tramway Company The Dublin United Transport Company (DUTC) operated trams and buses in Dublin, Ireland until 1945. Following legislation in the Oireachtas, the ''Transport Act, 1944'', the DUTC and the Great Southern Railways were vested in the newly formed C ...

soon after and is now a depot of

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

People

Former or current residents of the area have included: *

Todd Andrews Christopher Stephen Andrews (Todd) (6 October 1901 – 11 October 1985) was a noted public servant. He participated in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War as a political and military activist in the Irish Republican movement. Todd And ...

, Irish political activist and public servant *

John Keegan Casey John Keegan "Leo" Casey (1846 – 17 March 1870), known as ''the Poet of the Fenians'', was an Irish poet, orator and republican who was famous as the writer of the song " The Rising of the Moon" and as one of the central figures in the Fenian R ...

, Irish poet, orator and republican famous for writing the song " The Rising of the Moon" *

Bill Cullen William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he hos ...

, Irish businessman and media personality * Thomas Farrell, Irish sculptorObituary, Irish Times, Dublin, 5 July 1900 * Kellie Harrington, Irish amateur boxer and Olympic gold medallist who grew up in nearby Portland Row * Peadar Kearney, Irish republican and composer * Barry Keoghan, Irish actor *

Richard Edmund Meredith The Rt. Hon. Richard Edmund Meredith PC, QC (18 November 1855 – 26 January 1916), was the Master of the Rolls in Ireland, a Privy Councillor and Judicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission. Career Born at Summerhill, County Dublin, ...

(1855-1916),

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respon ...

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and Judicial Commissioner of the

Irish Land Commission The Irish Land Commission was created by the British crown in 1843 to 'inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland. The office of the commission was in Dublin Castle, and the records were, on its conclusion, deposited in the records tower t ...

* Kathleen Mulhall, mother of Irish murderers Linda and Charlotte Mulhall, who lived in Richmond Cottages, Summerhill in 2005 * Cornelius O'Brien, Irish politician and Member of Parliament * Clementina Robertson, Irish miniature-painter *

Terence Wheelock Terence Wheelock, a 20-year old man from Summerhill in the North Inner City of Dublin, died on 16 September 2005, by alleged suicide. He was arrested with three others on suspicion of stealing a car but was later cleared of having any involvement ...

, 20-year old who died on 16 September 2005, from alleged injuries received in custody of An Garda Síochána custodyNotice of death of Wheelock
BreakingNews.ie. Accessed 20 March 2022.

References

{{coord missing, County Dublin Towns and villages in Dublin (city)

John Hutton and Sons

People

See also

References