Tyrone House, Dublin
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tyrone House is a Georgian
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style mansion townhouse built for
Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone (16 July 1694 – 4 April 1763), known as Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th Baronet, until 1720 and subsequently as The Viscount Tyrone until 1746, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. Early life He was the only ...
in 1740. It was constructed on lands bordering Marlborough Street (formerly Tyrone Street) in what was to become a fashionable part of North Dublin city off Sackville Street. It was one of the first substantial aristocratic houses built on the North side of Dublin city. The house was situated overlooking Marlborough Bowling Green and Pleasure Gardens, which was then a fashionable enclave where the wealthy elite could socialize until it fell out of favour following the death of Lord Delvin in a duel in 1761.


History

The area around the house had traditionally been part of the lands of St. Mary's Abbey and had later partially included lands which were granted to Jonathon Amory in 1675, later referred to as the Amory Grant. The area surrounding the house later became fashionable in
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 ...
due to the existence of the Marlborough Bowling Green and Pleasure Gardens. As early as 1728 the bowling green at the strand is mentioned in the Dublin Weekly Journal. Later in 1753, a musical evening and fireworks display is recorded as having occurred to raise funds for the construction of a wooden bridge across the Liffey to benefit the wealthy patrons south of the river. The 1st earl died at the house in 1763 and the house was left to his son, George Beresford, styled the
Marquess of Waterford Marquess of Waterford is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier marquessate in that peerage. It was created in 1789 for the Anglo-Irish politician George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone. The title is presently held by Henry Beresford, 9 ...
in 1789. As a result, the house was often called Waterford House on maps during that period. He also gave his name to nearby Waterford Street. Nearby Beresford Place was later named in honour of the first earl's grandson,
John Claudius Beresford John Claudius Beresford (23 October 1766 – 20 July 1846) was an Irish Tory Member of the UK Parliament representing Dublin City 1801–1804 and County Waterford 1806–1811. Early life Beresford was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. From ...
upon its construction in the 1790s. Stables were constructed on Marlborough Street near the house and a riding school referred to as Beresford's Riding School was established and used to train the yeomanry around the time of the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...
. In 1834 the house and five adjoining acres were sold for £7,000 to the National Education Commissioners. The house later became part of the Department of Education's campus which also encompasses the original model school as well as a facsimile of the altered version of Tyrone House, both of which were designed by
Jacob Owen Jacob Owen (28 July 1778 – 29 October 1870) was a United Kingdom, British Architecture, architect and Civil engineering, civil engineer of the nineteenth century. His architectural work is most closely associated with Dublin, Ireland. He al ...
a few years after the purchase. In the second half of the 19th century, a statue of
Sir Alexander Macdonnell, 1st Baronet Sir Alexander MacDonnell, 1st Baronet (1794–1875) was an Irish civil servant, commissioner of national education in Ireland. Life MacDonnell, eldest son of the physician and polymath James MacDonnell, was born at Belfast in 1794. He gained a k ...
by Thomas Farrell was erected in the grounds of the house. As of 2022, the house has been partially restored to its former glory and is an administrative building which forms part of the
Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
's main campus. An illustrated image of the house often features as part of the logo on the headed notepaper and official correspondence issued by the department.


Tyrone Ghost Story

A well-known ghost story relates to the house concerning the appearance of Lord Tyrone as a ghost to prove the existence of life after death. In 1948, an unknown author and artist Ed Moritz adapted the ghost story into a 2-page comic for the first issue of the
American Comics Group American Comics Group (ACG) was an American comic book publisher started in 1939 and existing under the ACG name from 1943 to 1967. It published the medium's first ongoing horror-comics title, ''Adventures into the Unknown''. ACG's best-known cha ...
horror anthology ''
Adventures into the Unknown ''Adventures Into the Unknown'' was an American comic-book magazine series best known as the medium's first ongoing horror-comics title. Published by the American Comics Group, initially under the imprint B&I Publishing, it ran 174 issues (cove ...
''.''Adventures Into the Unknown'' #1 (American Comics Group, 1948 Series)
at the
Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...


Design and construction

The house was built in 1740 to a design 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. Although ...
and was said to be his first stone-fronted free-standing house in Dublin. Later, the house was altered by
Jacob Owen Jacob Owen (28 July 1778 – 29 October 1870) was a United Kingdom, British Architecture, architect and Civil engineering, civil engineer of the nineteenth century. His architectural work is most closely associated with Dublin, Ireland. He al ...
in 1835 adding a
prostyle Prostyle and Prostylos (), literally meaning "with columns in front", is an architectural term designating temples (especially Greek and Roman) featuring a row of columns on the front. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to th ...
tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...
granite portico and removing the central front venetian window on the first floor while leaving much of the house unchanged. The house is mainly faced in granite ashlar with calp ashlar walls at the basement level while the house still features some of its original Portland stone sills. The elaborate interior stucco work is generally attributed to the Lafranchini brothers and contrasts with the severe limestone exterior. The house was surrounded by a high wall but these were replaced with the present iron railings when the house was developed by the Department of Education in 1836.


References

{{Castles in Dublin, state=autocollapse Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Georgian architecture in Dublin (city) Palladian architecture in Ireland