DUBLIN, the metropolis of Ireland, a city, and a county of itself, in the province of Leinster; situated in 53° 21’ (N. Lat.) and 6° 17′ (W. Lon.), 339 British miles (N. W.) from London; and containing, in the year 1841, 232,726′ inhabitants, exclusively of a large number in suburbs within the county of Dublin: the population of the district of the metropolitan police are 287,729.
Extract from: Lewis – A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
Contents
Historical Account, to the decline of the Danish power
Events from the decline of the Danish power to the arrival of Henry II
From the reign of Henry II. To that of Richard II
From the time of Henry IV to that of Henry VII
The reign of Henry VIII. and the three succeeding sovereigns
From the commencement of the 17th century to the restoration
From the Restoration to the present time
Extent, and General Description of the city: Railways, Squares, bridges etc.
Manufacturers, Trade, and Commerce
Public buildings connected with Commerce
The Dublin Society, and Irish Academy
Surgical and Medical Institutions
Institutions for the promotion of the fine Arts, and other useful and scientific purposes
Theatres, Clubs, and Musical societies
Municipal Government
Vice-Regal Government, and Buildings connected therewith
Courts of Justice: Inns of court, etc
Ecclesiastical State: Archiepiscopal see of Dublin and Glendalough: Cathedral of Christ Church
St. Patrick’s
Trinity College
Parishes
Protestant Dissent
Free Schools, etc: Education Societies
Infirmaries for Medical and Surgical cases
Lunatic Asylums
The lying-in Hospital, and other Benevolent Institutions
Charities for Orphans and Destitute Children
Charities for the Aged and Impotent
Female Penitentiaries
Societies for relieving General Distress
Eminent Natives of Dublin
Historical Account
The existence of this city under the name of Eblana, was first noticed by Ptolemy, the Roman geographer, who lived about the year 140. Shortly after, it is mentioned by the native historians, as being fixed on as the extremity of a line of demarcation drawn west-wards across the island to Galway, for the purpose of putting an end to a war between two rival monarchs, Con-Cead-Cathach, King of Ireland, and Mogha Nuagad. King of Munster; the portion of the island to the north of the boundary line being assigned to the former, the southern portion to the latter, of the contending parties. The city originally occupied the summit of the elevated ridge that now forms its central portion, extending from the Castle westward towards Kilmainham; and was at first called by the native Irish Drom-Col-Coille, or the “Hill of Hazel wood,” from the number of trees of that species which grew on the eminence. The correctness of this conjecture as to the origin of the name is confirmed by the fact that, on clearing away the foundations of the old chapel-royal in the castle, some years since, to prepare for the erection of the beautiful structure that now supplies its place, they were ascertained to have been laid on piles of hazel-wood. Another ancient name, still retained by the natives, is Bally-Ath-CLath-Duibhlinne,” the Town of the Ford of Hurdles on the Blackwater,” given to the place in consequence of the people having access to the river by means of hurdles laid over its marshy borders, before it was embanked. By the Danish settlers in the district of Fingall, to the north of the city, it was called Divelin. and by the Welsh it is still called Dinas Dulin.
The only circumstance on record connected with the city, during a long interval, is, that the inhabitants of Leinster were defeated in a great battle fought at Dublin, by Fiacha Sraotine, monarch of Ireland, in 291. After this its annals present a total blank until the year 448, when, according to Josceline, Alphin Mac Eochaid, King of Bally-Ath-Cliath, was converted to Christianity by the preaching of St. Patrick, and was baptised by him at a spring on the southern side of the city, near the tower of the cathedral afterwards dedicated to that saint: the spring is still known by the name of St. Patrick’s well. The Black Book of Christ Church, a manuscript of high antiquity and repute, states that St. Patrick celebrated mass in one of the arches or vaults built by the DANISH or OSTMAN merchants as a depository for their goods, long before the fleets of that nation appeared on the coast with the intention of taking military occupation of the country. It was not till the beginning of the ninth century that these marauders, who afterwards harassed all the northern coasts of Europe by their predatory invasions, divested themselves of the character of merchants, in which they had hitherto maintained an intercourse with the people of Ireland. Conquest, however, at length became their object. In 836 the Ostmen or Easterlings, by which name the Danes were then known, entered the Liffey in a fleet of sixty ships in aid of their countrymen, who had ravaged the land and even fixed themselves in some districts several years before. Dublin now submitted to them for the first time; and they secured themselves in the possession of it by the erection of a strong rath, which enabled them not only to overawe the city, but to extend their power through Fingall, to the north, and to Bray and the Wicklow mountains, to the south. The district from that time was the principal Danish settlement in Leinster; FinGall, north of the river, having acquired its name, at being the territory of the “White Strangers,” or Norwegians; and the tract to the south being distinguished by the appellation of Dubh-Gal, or the territory of the “Black Strangers” from the Danes.
But the invaders did not enjoy their newly gained acquisition in tranquillity. On the death of their king Tormagnns or Turgesius, who, after having reigned despotically over a great part of the island for more than 40 years, was defeated and put to death, in 845, by Malachy, King of Ireland, the Danes were driven out of Dublin, and the city plundered by the Irish of Meath and Leinster. In the year following, however, they regained possession of it; they secured themselves in subsequent years by adding new fortifications to those already constructed; and were in 853 still further strengthened by the arrival of Amlave, or AULAFFE, who, landing with a powerful reinforcement of Danes and Norwegians, assumed the supreme authority over all the Danish settlers. In the hope of enjoying quiet possession of his lately acquired dignity, this chief concluded a truce with the neighbouring Irish chieftains; but it continued only for three years. The annals of the remainder of this century are occupied with recitals of reciprocal attacks of the Irish and the foreigners, in which the one party failed to expel the invaders, and the other was equally unsuccessful in enlarging the bounds of their authority, or even of fixing it on a permanent basis in the capital of the district that acknowledged their sway. In one of those conflicts, Clondalkin, the favourite residence of Aulaffe, was burnt, and upwards of one hundred of his principal followers were slain; in another, he retaliated on the enemy, by plundering and burning the city of Armagh. So firmly did the Danish king at one time feel himself fixed in his restored dominion, that he proceeded with his son Ivar, in a fleet of 200 vessels, to aid his countrymen Hinguar and Hubba, then contending against the Saxons in the west of England; and returned next year-laden with booty. On the death of Aulaffe, which took place the year following, Ivar succeeded in the government of Dublin, where the opinion of his power was such that the Irish annals give him the title of King of the Normans of all Ireland. A few years after, the men of Dublin fitted out an expedition under the command of Ostin Mac Aulaffe, against the Picts of North Britain, in which they were successful. Encouraged by these instances of good fortune, they again invaded South Wales, but were driven out with great loss; to wipe off which disgrace, they made an incursion into Anglesey, a few years subsequently, and ravaged it with fire and sword. During all these periods hostilities were nevertheless carried on between them and the Irish with little intermission. The annals of the tenth century state that Dublin was four times taken by the Irish, and the Danes expelled from it; but they invariably returned in strength sufficient to re-establish themselves, and often to retaliate severely on their enemies. This century is remarkable for other events connected with Dublin. Aulaffe Mac Godfrid, the king, was defeated in Northumberland by Athelstan, King of England; and about the middle of the century, the Ostmen of Dublin embraced Christianity; the first public proof of their conversion being the foundation of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin, near Ostmanstown, on the northern bank of the Liffey. About the same time, Edgar, King of England, is said to have subdued Wales, the Isle of Man, and part of Ireland, particularly the city of Dublin.
EVENTS FROM THE DECLINE OF THE DANISH POWER TO THE ARRIVAL OF HENRY II
Towards the close of the century, the power of the Danes in this part of Ireland began to decline. In 980, they were defeated in a memorable battle at Taragh by Mclaghlin, King of Ireland, who, following up his success, ravaged Fingall with fire and sword, and compelled the inhabitants of Dublin to pay a tribute of an ounce of gold for every capital messuage and garden in the city. Reginald, the Danish king, was so much affected by his losses that he undertook a pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona, where he died. The last year of the century was rendered still more memorable by the capture of Dublin by the celebrated Brian Boroimhe, King of Munster, who, however, after exacting hostages to secure his conquest, permitted the Danes to retain possession of it, a concession of which they immediately took advantage by strengthening it with several additional fortifications. Their power, though lessened, was not destroyed; for, in the commencement of the ensuing century, Brian Boroimhe, in order effectually to crush them, found it necessary to form a confederacy of most of the subordinate kings of Ireland. The result was the celebrated battle of Clontarf, fought in 1014, in which the Danes were totally defeated, and the shattered remains of their army forced to shut themselves up in Dublin. But the triumph of the conquerors was diminished by the death of their leader, who received a mortal wound at the moment of victory: his son, a number of his nobles, and 11,000 of his soldiers, shared his fate. The Danes still kept possession of the city. In 1038, Christ Church was founded by Sitric, the king, and by Donat, the first Danish bishop of Dublin; Aulaffe, Sitric’s son, who succeeded him, fitted out a large fleet in order to reinstate Conan, the Prince of North Wales, who had fled to Ireland, to escape from the cruelties of Grufydd ah Llewelyn, a usurper, and had afterwards married Sitric’s daughter. The expedition, though at first successful in gaining possession of Grufydd’s person by stratagem, ultimately failed; for the Welsh, on hearing of his capture, assembled in great numbers, rescued Grufydd, and drove Conan and his Danish auxiliaries to their ships with considerable slaughter. A second expedition, fitted out the ensuing year, was equally unfortunate: the larger part of Conan’s fleet was destroyed by a tempest, and himself driven back on the Irish shore. He made no further attempt to regain his throne, but spent the remainder of bis life with his father-in-law in Dublin.
The city was soon after exposed to the assaults of a new enemy. In 1066, Godred Crovan, King of Man, obtained possession of it, and overran a large portion of Leinster, over which he assumed the title of king, which he retained till his death, together with that of Man and of the Hebrides. On his demise the sovereign power again devolved on the Danes, who elected Godfrey Meranagh to succeed him. The Danes, though constantly exposed to the hostilities of the natives, against whom they had great difficulty in maintaining their position in the country, increased their difficulties by internal dissensions. In 1088, those of Dublin besieged the city of Waterford, which was inhabited by a colony of the same nation, entered it by storm, and burnt it to the ground; and in the following year, the united Danish forces of Dublin, Wicklow, and Waterford, proceeded to Cork with a similar intention, but were routed on their march thither, and forced to return with considerable loss. For some time after, the district appears to have been subject to the kings of Ireland, as no mention is made of any Danish ruler. At the same time, it appears that the kings of England endeavoured to obtain some influence in the affairs of Ireland; for it is stated, that Rodolphus, Archbishop of Canterbury, by the orders of Henry I., consecrated one Gregory archbishop of Dublin, in 1121; and that this act was done with the concurrence of Turlogh O’Brien, then King of Ireland. Afterwards, however, Dermod Mac Murchad, or Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, exercised paramount authority in the city. He founded the nunnery of St. Mary de Hogges, and the priory of All Hallows, both in its immediate vicinity; and, after overrunning all the surrounding country, forced the Danish residents there to acknowledge his supremacy, which he retained until the commencement of the reign of Roderic O’Conor, King of Ireland, who, on his attainment of the supreme monarchy, was recognised as King of Dublin, by the inhabitants; they, in return, receiving from him a present of four thousand oxen.
After the reduction of Wexford by the English forces, who had landed at Bannow bay, in 1169, under the command of Robert Fitz-Stephen, to assist Dermod Mac Murrough, in the recovery of Leinster, the combined force marched upon Dublin. The garrison, intimidated by the reports of the numbers and ferocity of the assailants, sued for peace, which was granted on the payment of tribute, secured by hostages. Asculph Mac Torcall, the Danish king, was suffered to retain the government, and Dermod retired with his English auxiliaries to the southern part of Leinster, where he was joined by Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, who had landed with a reinforcement of fifteen or sixteen hundred men, and taken Waterford by storm from the Danes. The combined army thus enforced resolved upon another attack on Dublin, either in consequence of a second revolt, or, as the Irish writers assert, to gratify the vindictive feelings of Dermod, who hoped thus to revenge the injury and insult of his former expulsion. Roderic, King of Ireland, hearing of the intended movement, levied an army of 30,000 men, which he posted at Clondalkin to oppose the invaders; but on their nearer approach he disbanded his troops, and retired across the Shannon. The citizens, perceiving themselves thus abandoned, again had recourse to treaty; but while they were preparing to select the hostages required of them, MILO DE COGAN, one of the English leaders, forced his way into the place. Asculph, and most of the Danes, took shelter on board their fleet; and the city was, after much slaughter, taken possession of by the English.
Roderic now made a second attempt to expel the strangers, for which purpose he invested Dublin with an army of double the number he had formerly collected, and reduced the place to such straits, that Strongbow deputed Laurence O’Toole, the archbishop, to treat with him for a surrender. The terms offered by the Irish king were, not only the surrender of all the towns held by the English, but their total evacuation of the country. When these humiliating conditions were reported, Milo de Cogan protested against thus relinquishing the earnings of so many hard-fought battles, and proposed general sally upon the enemy. His advice was adopted. The English forces, leaving behind them in the city their Irish auxiliaries, on whose fidelity they had less reliance, and led on by Milo, proceeded to Roderic head-quarters at Finglas, which they assaulted so suddenly that he was obliged to escape half-dressed from a bath, and his whole army was dispersed.
Strongbow being soon after called to England, Asculph Mac Torcall, during his absence, arrived in the harbour of Dublin with a fleet of 60 ships and an army of 10,000 men, levied in the Isle of Man, the Orkneys and Norway, and proceeded at once to storm the city. His main body was led on by John de Dene, a Norwegian of great military repute, who was repulsed by Milo de Cogan, with the loss of 500 men; and the Danes being unexpectedly attacked in the rear by another body of the garrison, which had sallied out from a different quarter, they were utterly routed, and their king Asculph made prisoner and put to death. The relics of the Danish army which escaped the sword were cut in pieces by the peasantry through the country, in revenge for their former cruelties, so that scarcely £000 gained their ships, most of whom were destroyed by a tempest during their voyage home. This defeat put an end to the Danish power in these parts. An attempt made soon after, to seize on the city, by Tiernan O’Rourke, the chieftain of Breffny, who thought that the garrison, exhausted by its late struggle, would be incapable of offering a vigorous resistance to the large force be was bringing against it, also failed.
FROM THE REIGN OF HENRY II. TO THAT OF RICHARD II
The arrival of Henry II., who landed at Waterford with a large fleet and a numerous train in 1172, caused a great change in the state of the city. He had compelled Strongbow to surrender to him all his conquests in Ireland; the lands were restored, to be held by feudal tenure, but the fortified places were retained in the king’s hands. Henry, after having received the homage of most of the petty chieftains of the south, arrived in Dublin, in the beginning of winter, and celebrated the feast of Christmas in great splendour; on which occasion a pavilion of hurdles, after the Irish fashion, was erected in the eastern suburb, where the court was held, and where several of the native princes did homage to the king. Hugh de Lacy and William Fits Aldelm were commissioned to receive the homage of Roderic, King of Ireland, who declined crossing the Shannon. Being, however, unexpectedly harried away to oppose a revolt of his own sons in Normandy, Henry quitted the city for Wexford, whence he embarked for England on Easter- Monday; leaving Hugh de Lacy in charge of the place as governor, with twenty men-at-arms, and Robert Fitz-Stephen and Maurice Fitz-Gerald with the same number, as wardens and constables. Milo de Cogan, to whose intrepidity the English were indebted for their conquest, accompanied Henry on his departure. Previously to his leaving the city, the king had granted it a charter, entitling it to the same privileges as Bristol then enjoyed: the original is still preserved in the archives of the corporation. By a subsequent charter of the same king, the citizens are freed from payment of toll, passage, and pontage, throughout England, Normandy, Wales, and Ireland. Three years after Henry’s departure, Strongbow made an incursion into Monster, in which he was accompanied by the Ostmen of Dublin; but was surprised on his march by Donald, Prince of Ossory, and defeated, with the loss of 400 of the citizens. Elated with this success, Roderic O’Conor ravaged the country even to the walls of Dublin. Shortly after, Strongbow died of a mortification in his foot, and was buried in Christ Church, where his monument is preserved. Previously to his death he had founded the extensive and wealthy preceptory of Knights Templars, on the site on which the Royal Hospital now stands. In the same year, Vivian, the pope’s legate, held a synod in the city, at which he caused the title of Henry II. to the lordship of Ireland to be proclaimed, and denounced an excommunication against all who should refuse allegiance. In 1185, John, Earl of Morton, the favourite son of Henry II., having been invested by his father with the lordship of Ireland, arrived in Dublin, attended by a train of young noblemen; but a series of insurrections taking place, he was recalled.
From the period of the arrival of the English and their conquest of Dublin, the city was considered to be the most appropriate position to secure their possessions, and to facilitate their intercourse with their native country. To promote this object, instructions were given by John, shortly after the commencement of his reign, to Meyler Fitz-Henry, to erect a castle on the eastern brow of the bill on which the city stood, for which purpose 300 marks were assigned; an order was also issued to compel the inhabitants to repair and strengthen the fortifications. The necessity of a precautionary measure of this nature was confirmed by a calamity that befell the city in 1209, in which year the citizens, while amusing themselves according to custom on Easter-Monday in Cullen’s wood, near the southern suburbs, were attacked unawares by the Irish of the neighbouring mountains and driven into the town, after the slaughter of more than 500 of their number. The day was for a long time after distinguished by the name of Black Monday, and commemorated by a parade of the citizens on the field of the conflict, where they appeared in arms, and challenged their enemies to renew the encounter. The castle, however, was not completed till 1220, during the government of Henry de Loundres, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord-Justice. King John, on his visit to Ireland in 1210. established courts of judicature on the model of those in England, deposited an abstract of the English laws and customs in the exchequer, and issued a coinage of pence and farthings of the same standard as the English. Henry III. granted several charters, which were confirmed and extended by Edward I., who also fixed a standard for coin in England, according to which that of Ireland was to be regulated: during his reign there were four mints in Dublin, besides others at Waterford and Drogheda. About the close of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, a great part of the city was destroyed by fires, one of which consumed many of the public records, lodged in St. Mary’s Abbey. An attempt to found a university, mode in I3th by Archbishop Leek, who had procured a Papal bull for this purpose, failed in consequence of the unsettled state of the country, but was revived with more success in 1320 by Alexander de Bicknor, the next archbishop. In 1312, the mountain septs of the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles made an incursion into Rathcoole and Saggard, when the chief force of the city had been despatched into Louth, or Orgial, to quell an insurrection of the Verdons; but on its return the southern invaders were forced to retire into their fastnesses. Three years after, when David O’Toole and some others of bis sept made a similar attempt, by placing an ambush in Cullen’s wood, the citizens issued out against them with their black banner displayed, and did execution on them for several miles.
The year 1315 is remarkable for the invasion of Edward Bruce, brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, who landed at Carrickfergus at the head of 6000 men, to establish his claim to the crown of Ireland by force of arms. The citizens, on hearing that be was advancing southwards and had taken Greencastle, in Carlingford bay, one of the border fortresses of the English pale, sent out a strong party by sea, recovered the place, and brought the governor to Dublin, where he was starved to death in prison. This success, however, did not put a stop to the advance of Bruce, who marched upon Dublin, with the intention of besieging it. On his approach, the citizens set fire to the suburb of Thomas-street, in consequence of which, St. John’s Church without Newgate, and the Magdalene chapel, were both burnt: the church of the Dominicans was pulled down, in order to use the stones for repairing and extending the city walls on the north side, towards the river. The gallant determination of the citizens had its effect: Bruce, after destroying St. Mary’s Abbey and plundering the cathedral of St. Patrick, drew off his army, and marched westward into Kildare. In consideration of the sufferings and losses of the citizens, Edward II.; remitted half of their fee-farm rent. At the close of the century the city was twice visited by Richard II.; first, in 1394, when he marched hither from Waterford, about Michaelmas, at the head of an army of 30,000 foot and 4000 horse, and remained till the beginning of the ensuing summer. His second visit, which took place in 1399, was cut short by the unwelcome news of the insurrection of the Duke of Lancaster, afterwards Henry IV., which hurried him back to England.
OCCURRENCES FROM THE TIME OF HENRY IV. TO THAT Of HENRY VIII
During the reign of Henry IV., the citizens adhered firmly to him throughout the civil war excited by the Earl of Northumberland and Owain Glyndwr, and caused a diversion in his favour by fitting out a fleet. With this they invaded Scotland, and after several landings on the coast there, they proceeded in like manner along that of Wales, whence they carried away the shrine of St. Cubie, which on their return they placed in the cathedral of Christ Church. In consequence of these services, they obtained from the king a confirmation of all their former charters, and the present of a gilded sword to be borne before the mayor in public, in the same manner as that before the lord mayor of London. The border war between the citizens and the Irish of the neighbouring mountains, was carried on with great fury during this and the succeeding reigns. In 1402, John Drake, the provost, led out a strong party against the O’Byrnes, whom he defeated with a slaughter, as some writers say, of 4000 men, but according to others of 400; and compelled them to surrender the castle of Newcastle-Mac-Kynegan. In 1410, the lord-deputy made another incursion into the territory of the O’Byrnes, but was forced to retreat in consequence of the desertion of a large body of his kernes; and in 1413 the O’Byrnes gave the citizens a signal defeat, and carried off many prisoners. In 1431, Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, made an incursion into the vicinity of Dublin, defeated the troops sent out to oppose him, and possessed himself of much booty; but the citizens having collected a fresh body of troops, pursued the enemy the same evening, attacked them unawares, and routed them with great loss. The city was much disturbed, about this time, by the contentions between the Kildare and Ormonde families. To decide one of their disputes, in which Thomas Fitzgerald, prior of Kilmainham, had accused the Earl of Ormonde of treason, a trial by combat was appointed at Smithfield, in Oxmantown; but the quarrel, being taken up by the king, was terminated without bloodshed. The mayor and citizens, having sided with the Fitzgeralds in these broils, and grossly insulted the Earl of Ormonde and violated the sanctity of St. Mary’s Abbey, were compelled to do penance, in 1434, by going barefoot to that monastery and to Christ Church and St. Patrick’s cathedrals, and craving pardon at the doors. In 1479, the Fraternity of Arms of St. George, consisting of thirteen of the most honourable and loyal inhabitants in the counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Louth, was formed by act of parliament, for the defence of the English pale; the mayor of Dublin being appointed one of the commanders of the force raised in the city: the fraternity was, however, discontinued in 1492. A hall for the foundation of a university in the city was published by Pope Sextus in 1475, but was never carried into effect.
When Lambert Simnel claimed the crown of England, in the beginning of the reign of Henry VII., his title was recognised in Dublin, where he was crowned in Christ Church, in the presence of the lord-deputy, the lords of the council, the mayor, and all the citizens; after the ceremony was concluded, he was carried in state to the Castle, according to the Irish custom, on the shoulders of Darcy of Platten, a man of extraordinary stature. On Siranel’s defeat at Stoke, the mayor and citizens made a humble apology to the king for the part they had taken in the affair, pleading the authority and influence of the lord-deputy, the archbishop, and most of the clergy. Their pardon was granted through Sir Richard Edgecumbe, who was specially deputed by Henry to administer the oaths of fealty and allegiance to the Irish after the insurrection: this officer entered Dublin on the 5th of July, 1488, for the fulfilment of his mission, and embarked for England at Dalkey, on the 30th of the same month, after having successfully accomplished the objects for which he had been deputed. In 1504, the mayor and citizens contributed their share to the victory gained by the Earl of Kildare, lord-deputy, over the Irish and degenerate English of Connaught, at Knocktow, near Galway. A few years after, the revival of the controversy between the Earls of Kildare and Ormonde again subjected the citizens to ecclesiastical censures. The two carls had a meeting in St. Patrick’s cathedral, for the ostensible purpose of compromising their feud; the citizens attended the former as his guard, and on some cause of complaint between them and the Earl of Ormonde’s soldiers, they let fly a volley of arrows, some of which struck the images in the rood-loft. In atonement for this sacrilegious violation of the building, the mayor was sentenced to walk barefoot before the host on Corpus-Christi day yearly, a ceremony which was kept up till the Reformation.
THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII. AND THE THREE SUCCEEDING SOVEREIGNS
During the early period of the reign of Henry VIII., the people of Dublin gave several instances of loyalty and courage. In 1513 they attended the lord-deputy in a “hosting” against O’Carrol, which terminated without any remarkable action, in consequence of the death of their leader. In 1516 they routed the O’Tooles of the mountains, slew their chief, and sent his head a present to the mayor: a second expedition, however, was less successful; the O’Tooles drove them back with loss. Afterwards, in 1521, they performed good service under the Earl of Surrey, against O’More in Leix, and O’Conor in Meath. But the most remarkable event connected with the city, during the reign of Henry VIII., arose out of the rebellion of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, commonly called the Silken Knight, from the fantastical fringes with which the helmets of his followers were decorated. This young nobleman had been appointed lord-deputy in the absence of bis father, the Earl of Kildare, who had been summoned to appear before Henry, to answer some charges brought against him, as chief governor of Ireland, and on a false report that his father had been imprisoned and put to death in London, he proceeded, without making inquiry into the truth of the allegation, at the head of his armed followers, to St. Mary’s Abbey, where the council was sitting; threw down the sword of state; and, notwithstanding the paternal remonstrances of the primate. Archbishop Cromer, bade defiance to the king, and declared himself his open enemy. After ravaging Fingall, where he seized and put to death Alan, then archbishop of Dublin, the enemy of his family, he laid siege to the Castle: but after several ineffectual attempts to carry it by storm, he surrendered to Lord Leonard Grey, and was ultimately sent to England, where he was executed with five of his uncles, who not only had taken no part in the insurrection, but had been active in dissuading him from engaging in it. In recompense for the citizens’ gallant defence, the king granted them the dissolved monastery of All Hallows, without Dames Gate; confirmed a grant of £49. 6. 8. made by Richard II.; and released them from an annual rent of £20.
In 1547, the Byrnes and O’Tooles, presuming on the weakness of the government during the minority of Edward VI., made frequent inroads into the neighbourhood of Dublin, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants. The close vicinity of the mountains, and the difficulties of the passes through which they were accessible, rendered the defence of the suburbs difficult, and retaliation hazardous; but at length Sir Anthony St. Leger, lord-deputy, with a body of the standing army, and a considerable number of the city militia, made a successful inroad into their fastnesses, defeated them in a great battle, killed their chief, and brought sixteen of the Fitzgeralds prisoners to Dublin, where they were all executed as traitors. In 1552, the mayor, at the head of the armed citizens, being joined with the townsmen of Drogheda, marched against the O’Reillys of Cavan, whom they put down: but, on their return, the victory was likely to be sullied by a dispute between the two commanders, as to the honour of leading the vanguard; which was at last terminated by an order confirming the mayor of Dublin’s right of leading the van when going out, and the rear when returning home.
In the first year of Queen Mary’s reign, the citizens marched out against the Cavanaghs, who with a large army were devastating the southern part of the county of Dublin, and whom they routed, killing many, and compelling the remainder to shut themselves up in Powerscourt Castle, whence, having been at length forced to surrender at discretion after an obstinate resistance, they were taken to Dublin, and 74 of them executed: the rest were pardoned. Queen Elizabeth, in the beginning of her reign, caused the Castle to be fitted up as a residence for the Lord- Lieutenant, who, previously to this arrangement, had resided at Thomas Court. In 1579, the public records were arranged in Birmingham Tower, Dublin Castle; and three years afterwards the courts of law were transferred from the Castle to St. Mary’s Abbey, which occupied nearly the site of the buildings in which they are now held, on the north side of the river. In 1586, the king’s exchequer, then held without the eastern gate on the ground now called Exchequer-street, was plundered by a party of Irish from the mountains. The year 1591 is memorable for the foundation of Trinity College. In 1599, the Earl of Essex arrived in Dublin at the head of a large army; and after his removal, Sir Charles Blount, afterwards Lord Mountjoy, who had been appointed to succeed him in the command of the forces raised against the Earl of Tyrone, landed here with 6000 men: but his operations gave rise to no circumstances peculiarly affecting the city.
EVENTS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE 17TH CENTURY TO THE RESTORATION
In 1607, the Government was thrown into the greatest alarm by a letter found on the floor of the council-chamber in the Castle, containing intimations of a conspiracy entered into by the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, and other northern chieftains, to seize the city and excite a general insurrection against the English government. Instant measures were employed to arrest the imputed leaders, several of whom were taken and executed, but the two earls had sufficient notice of the designs against them to save themselves by flight; their immense estates were confiscated. In 1613, a parliament was held in Dublin, after a lapse of 27 years: it was the first in which representatives were sent from all the counties, and is still more remarkable for a dispute respecting the election of a speaker between the Protestant and Roman Catholic parties, which terminated in the triumph of the former, and the secession of the latter from the house of commons. In 1614, a convocation was held here, which established the Thirty- nine articles of religion; and a subsequent convocation, in 1634, adopted a body of canons for the regulation of the Established Church.
After a period of 40 years of uninterrupted tranquillity, both to the city and the nation, the prospect of its further continuance was destroyed by the discovery of a plot to seize the Castle, on the 23rd of October, 1641, as the first movement of a general insurrection against the English government. The plan was disclosed by an accomplice, on the evening before the day it was to have been put into execution; and was thus frustrated as far as the city was concerned. So little had the occurrence of such an event been apprehended, that, in the year before, a large portion of the city walls had been allowed to fall to ruin. To aid in their repairs, and to meet the other urgent necessities of the state, the citizens were called upon by proclamation to send in their plate, on promise of repayment; an expedient which produced only £1200 towards the relief of the public exigencies. Next year the mayor was invited to the council, to confer on a project for raising £10,000, half in money and the remainder in provisions, to enable the king’s army to take the field, but such was the poverty of the place, that the project was relinquished as impracticable. On an alarm of an intended attack on Dublin, by the Irish forces of Owen Roc O’Nial and General Preston, in 1646, the Marquess of Ormonde, then lord-lieutenant, determined to strengthen the city by a line of outworks thrown up on its eastern side, between the Castle and the college. On this occasion the women set a remarkable example of public spirit, the Marchioness of Ormonde and other ladies placing themselves at their head, and the whole assisting in carrying baskets of earth to the lines. Famine, however, proved the city’s best safe-guard: the marquess had caused the country to be laid waste, and the mills and bridges to be destroyed for several miles round, so that the besieging army, amounting to 10,000 foot and 1000 horse, was forced to retire without any attempt of importance. So confident was Ormonde now of his own strength, that he refused admission to commissioners sent by the English parliament with 1400 men. But the very next year he was compelled, by extreme necessity, to surrender the place to them, rather than suffer it to fall into the hands of the Irish; after which, Owen Roe O’Nial, being baffled in another attempt upon the city, revenged himself by ravaging the surrounding country with such fury that, from one of the town steeples, 200 fires were seen blazing at once. The Marquess of Ormonde returned in 1649, with a determination to regain possession of the city. He first fixed his head-quarters at Finglas, but afterwards removed to Rathmines, on the south side. An unexpected sally of the garrison, to destroy some works he was throwing up at Bagotsrath, led to a general engagement, in which his troops, struck with an unaccountable panic, gave way with such precipitation, that he bad scarcely time to make his escape. The city remained in the hands of the parliament during the remainder of the war. At the close of the same year, Oliver Cromwell landed here with a well-appointed army of 13,000 men: after remaining a short time to refresh his troops, and to arrange his affairs, he left for Drogheda, which he took, treating those by whom he was opposed with a degree of cruelty seldom paralleled in the annals of modern warfare. In 1652, the war having been declared at an end, a high court of justice was erected in Dublin, for the trial of persons charged with murder and other atrocities not tolerated by the rules of war; by which court, among many others of less note, Sir Phelim O’Nial, the first and principal leader of the insurrection in Ulster, was condemned and executed. In 1659, a party of general officers, well inclined to the Restoration, surprised the Castle, and, having secured the parliamentary commissioners of government, who resided there, declared for a free parliament; they then, upon the petition of the mayor and aldermen, summoned a convention, and though the Castle was again surprised by Sir Hardress Waller, for the parliament, he was forced to surrender it, after a siege of five days, and Charles II. was formally proclaimed. Charles, immediately after his restoration, rewarded the services of the citizens by the donation of a cap of maintenance, a golden collar of office, and a foot company, to the mayor; and some years after, a pension of £500 was allowed him in lieu of the company. In 1663, several discontented officers, among whom was the notorious Colonel Blood, formed a plan to seize the Castle, which was discovered by one of the accomplices.
FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT TIME
About this period the city began to increase rapidly in extent, and in the number and elegance of its public buildings. The ground to the north of the river, originally considered as a separate jurisdiction, under the name of Oxmantown, was connected with the city by four new bridges, and has since formed an integral part of Dublin: it had hitherto been but a single pariah, but was, some years after, in consequence of the increase of houses and inhabitants, subdivided into three. Numerous improvements were successively carried into effect, and the increase of population kept pace with them. In 1688, King James visited Dublin, where he held a parliament, which passed acts to repeal the act of settlement, to attain a number of Protestants, and to establish an enlarged system of national education: he also established a mint, in which a quantity of base metal was coined. The year 1690 is marked by the decisive battle of the Boyne, near Drogheda, after which James passed one night in Dublin Castle, during his precipitate retreat from the kingdom: in 1701, an equestrian statue of William III. was erected on College Green, to commemorate that victory. On King William’s arrival from Drogheda, his first act was to repair in state to St. Patrick’s cathedral, to return public thanks for the success which had crowned his arms. Previously to the battle of the Boyne, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who commanded at sea for the latter monarch, bad taken a frigate out of Dublin harbour, in which much of the plate and valuables of the Roman Catholic nobility and gentry had been embarked, under an apprehension of the event which so soon after decided the fate of their cause in Ireland.
During the period between the Revolution and the Legislative Union, the city increased in an unprecedented manner in extent, wealth, and splendour. The effects were attributable partly to the long peace from the former of these eras to the commencement of the American war, but more so to the parliamentary grants which were expended on objects of utility. The regulation, also, which made the lord-lieutenant a fixed resident in Dublin, instead of being a periodical visitor for a few months every second year, when he came over from England to hold a parliament; the shortening of the duration of these assemblies; the removal of the restrictions by which the national industry and the spirit of commercial speculation had been shackled, combined with the general extension of literature and science throughout the western kingdoms of Europe, tended to promote the advance of Dublin. The following statement will shew the increase of population from about the middle of the 17th century till the Legislative Union: in 1682 the number of inhabitants was 64,483, in 1728, 116,075; in 1753, 128,570; in 1777, 138,20b; and in 1798, 182,370. In 1798, the Leinster provisional committee of the United Irishmen were seized, with all their papers; and Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the chief leader of the insurgents, was arrested, after a desperate conflict with his captors, and lodged in prison, where he shortly after died of his wounds.
The local events of the period which has elapsed since the Union are too numerous to particularise in a condensed narrative. The principal occurrences are, the public meetings and associations for the attainment of political objects, organised insurrections, tumults resulting from those causes and embittered by the acrimony of party spirit, and visitations of famine, during which the working classes suffered great distress. Three events, however, deserve particular notice. In 1803, a sudden and alarming insurrection broke out in the city: it was planned and carried into effect by Robert Emmet, a young gentleman of respectable family, who, at his own sole expense and with the aid of a few associates of desperate fortune, secretly formed a depot of arms and ammunition in a retired lane off Thomas- street. From this place he issued early in the night of the 23rd of July, at the head of a band chiefly brought in from the neighbouring counties of Kildare and Wicklow; and was proceeding to the Castle, when the progress of his followers was stayed by the coming up of Lord Kilwarden, chief justice of the king’s bench, who, on hearing a rumour of the insurrection at his country seat, had hurried to town in his carriage with his daughter and nephew. Both the males were killed; the lady, however, being allowed to pass uninjured, gave the alarm at the Castle, and detachments being immediately sent out, the undisciplined multitude was at once dispersed, though with some loss of life, and the leaders, who had escaped to the mountains, were soon after taken and executed. On the accession of George IV., in 1820, his majesty received a deputation from Dublin, consisting of the lord mayor and city officers, on his throne this was the first address from the city thus honoured. The next year, on the 12th of August, the king’s birthday, he landed in Ireland; and after remaining till Sept. 3rd, partlyat the Phoenix Lodge, and partly at Slane Castle in Meath, during which time he visited most of the public institutions of Dublin, and held a chapter of the order of St. Patrick, at which nine knights were installed, he sailed from Dunlcary (since called Kingstown) amidst the enthusiastic acclamations of an unprecedented multitude.
EXTENT, AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY
The city was originally confined to the summit of the hill on the eastern brow of which the Castle now stands, and the circuit within the walls was little more than a mile, and its suburbs confined to the few adjacent streets: independently of the rural parts of the borough, Dublin at present occupies a space covering 2264 acres, and is six miles in circumference. It is situated at the western extremity of Dublin bay, and at the mouth of the Liffey, which passes nearly through the middle of it. The hill, which now forms the central part of the city, stands in the lowest part of the basin of the Liffey: this basin rises gradually on the southern side into the beautiful line of the Wicklow mountains, that skirt the boundary of the county, and still more gradually on the north and west till it loses itself in the extended plains of Fingall and Kildare. The city is somewhat more than two miles long in a direct line from cast to west, and of nearly equal breadth from north to south, and contains upwards of 800 streets and 22,000 houses; the footpaths are well flagged, and the carriage-ways partly paved and partly macadamised. The paving, lighting, and cleansing of the public streets, is chiefly regulated by an act passed in the 47th and amended by one of the 54th of George III., authorising the Lord Lieutenant to appoint three commissioners, who are a corporation under the title of the “Commissioners for Paving, Cleansing, and Lighting the City of Dublin:” the total annual expenditure averages about £30,000. Several local acts have been passed for the supply of gas-light, and there are now four companies, the Dublin Gas Company, the Hibernian Gas-light Company, the Gas-consumers Company, and the Alliance Company. An ample supply of water is obtained by pipes laid down from reservoirs on both sides of the river to the houses and the public fountains, under a committee appointed in pursuance of acts passed in the 42nd and 49th of George III.; the expense is defrayed by a rate called the pipe-water tax, producing about £ 14,000 annually. Three basins have been formed; one at the extremity of Basin-lane, in James-street, half a mile in circumference, and surrounded by a broad gravel-walk, formerly a favourite promenade; another at the upper end of Blessington-street, encompassed by a terrace, for the supply of the northern side of the city; and the third on the bank of the Grand Canal, near Portobello harbour, for the supply of the south-eastern part. In 1843 an act was obtained, by which parts of the 42nd and 54th of George III. were repealed and a new mode of assessment of rates for paving, lighting, and cleansing, and for the supply of pipe-water, was established: in 1845 further regulations were laid down, by an act providing for a better supply of water. Considerable improvements have been made by the “Commissioners for opening wide and Convenient Streets,” appointed under an act of the 31st of George II., and whose powers were subsequently extended by various successive acts till the 51st of George III. Their funds, till recently, were derived from a tonnage upon coal and a local rate, called “the wide street tax,” the former of which ceased in 1832; the funds arising from the latter, amount to about £5500 per annum. Among the chief improvements are. the opening of a street from the Castle to Essex bridge, an enlargement of the street from the same place to the Parliament House (now the Bank of Ireland), the opening of Westmoreland-street and Sack-ville-street, the clearing away of the buildings that interfered with the free thoroughfare along the quays on both sides of the river, and the entrance into the city by Great Brunswick-street, besides various improvements in the vicinity of the cathedrals of Christ Church and St. Patrick. In short, the city may be said to have been new-modelled since the year 1760, through the instrumentality of this board, as there is no portion of it which does not exhibit in a greater or smaller degree the results of its labours in improvements tending to augment its beauty or to add to its celebrity.
A circular road nearly nine miles in circuit, carried round the city, affords great facilities of communication throughout all the outlets, and also walks and drives of much beauty. Some portions of this road, however, particularly on the southern side, are already absorbed into the city by the continued extension of the streets; and most of the other parts, particularly on the eastern side, are likely, from the same cause, shortly to lose their distinguishing characteristic of an encircling avenue. On the north side of the road is the Royal Canal, and on the south, the Grand Canal; both terminating in docks near the mouth of the Liffey: and beyond these are, on the north, a small river called the Tolka, formerly called Tulkan and Tolekan, which empties itself into the sea at Ballybough-bridge; and on the south, the river Dodder, which, curving northward, terminates with the Liffey near the harbour. The streams form two striking natural boundaries, towards which the city is gradually extending itself.
Dublin is closely connected with the harbour of Kingstown by a railway, formed under an act of parliament of the 1st and 2nd of William IV., and opened in Dec. 1834: the line is 5 British miles long, extending from Westland-row, in the city, to the new wharf at Kingstown harbour; and trains are despatched from each end of the line every half hour, from 6 o’clock a.m. until 11 o’clock p.m. The capital stock of the company is £200,000, with a power of raising money by loan; the cost of the railway, the stations, locomotive engines, carriages, &c, was £237,000, or upwards of £40,000 per mile. The Dalkey Extension of this railway was completed in August, 1843; but, owing to obstacles occasioned by the Commissioners of Kingstown Harbour, was not opened for public traffic until March 29th, 1844. The chief interest of this extension is derived from the circumstance of its being the first line upon which the atmospheric system of propulsion was brought into actual practice, and the experiment proved so eminently successful as to lead to several similar projects in England: the total cost is estimated at £35,000. The Kingstown and the Dalkey railways are chiefly, if not altogether, passenger lines: the number of persons conveyed by the former in the year ending 28th Feb., 1840, was 1,280,761; and the number in the year terminating on the same day in 1845, by both railways, was 2,234,433. The Dublin and Drogheda railway was first proposed in 1836, when an act was passed empowering the company to raise a capital of £600,000, and, if necessary, £200,000 additional by loan; but owing to the check subsequently given to railway enterprises, the scheme was not proceeded with until 1839, when Mr. (now Sir John) Macneill made a new estimate of the cost of the line, introducing steeper gradients than had been originally intended, and otherwise materially reducing the cost of the works. In consequence of these modifications of plan, a new act was obtained, limiting the capital to £450,000, and the amount by loan to £150,000; and the whole line, 32 British miles, was steadily carried forward to completion, and opened on the 24th of May, 1844. The line follows very nearly the course of the coast, and crosses the estuaries of Clontarf and Malahide by extensive sea embankments. The engineer adopted some novelties in the mode of laying the rails, which appear to secure a smoother and better road, but it is yet too early to form an opinion of their greater utility from experience: on the occasion of laying the first stone of the permanent station at Dublin, on the day of opening, Mr. Macneill was knighted by the Lord-Lieutenant In 1845, an act was obtained to enable the company to form a branch railway to Howth, the length of which will be 3 3/4 British miles; with a capital of £150,000, and power to raise £50.000 by loan, and in the same year, an act was passed for the formation of the Dublin and Belfast Junction railway, being a line from Drogheda to Portadown, with a branch to Navan. This latter undertaking will complete, by a main line of 56 miles to the Ulster railway at Portadown, by way of Dundalk and Newry, a railway communication from Drogheda to Belfast; the branch to Navan is 17 ½ miles long, and the total length of the two lines 73 miles, British. The capital is £950,000, and the company is empowered to raise by loan £316,666. The Midland Great Western railway was commenced under an act also obtained in 1845; the line is from Dublin to Mullingar and Longford, and is to run chiefly upon the banks of the Royal Canal, which has been purchased by the company. One part of the original scheme, consisting of a line branching from Mullingar to Athlone, has been relinquished for a time, in consequence of the opposition of the Dublin and Galway Railway Company; but that line having been defeated in the session of 1845, the Midland Great Western Company propose to apply for powers to extend their line in one direction from Mullingar, by Athlone, to Galway, and in another, from its present termination at Longford, to Sligo. The capital is £1,000,000, with power to raise £333,000 by loan 5 and the length to Longford is 77 British miles. The Great Southern and Western railway, from Dublin to Cork, is noticed under Cork.
In addition to the splendid line of communication afforded by the quays on both sides of the river, there are several noble avenues of fine streets, among which that from the northern road is peculiarly striking, especially on entering Sackville-street, which is conspicuous for its great width, the magnificence and beauty of the public buildings that embellish it, and the lofty monument to Viscount Nelson, which stands in its centre. This monument consists of a fluted Doric column, on a massive pedestal inscribed on each side with the name and date of the illustrious hero’s principal victories; and over the record of that victory which terminated his career is a sarcophagus: the whole is surmounted with a colossal statue of the admiral, enclosed by a balustrade, to which there is an ascent by a spiral staircase in the interior. The structure was completed at an expense of nearly £7000. On the southern side of the city, the avenue from Kingstown is equally imposing. The two met in College-green, a spacious area surrounded with noble buildings, and having in its centre an equestrian statue of King William III., upon a pedestal of marble. Of the public squares, St. Stephen’s-green, situated in the south-eastern quarter, is the most extensive, being nearly an English mile in circuit: in the centre is an equestrian statue of George II., finely executed in brass by Van Nost. Merrion-square, to the east of the former, is about three-quarters of a mile in circuit, and has on the west the lawn of the Royal Dublin Society. Fitzwilliam-square, lately formed, if much smaller than either of the others: the houses are built with much uniformity, in a neat but unornamented style; some of them have basements of granite. Mount-joy-square, in an elevated and healthy situation in the north-eastern part of the city, is more than half a mile in circuit; the houses are uniformly built, and present an appearance very similar to that of the houses in Fitzwilliam-square. Rutland-square is on the north side of the river, at the upper end of Sackville-street: three sides of it are formed by Granby-row, Palace-row, and Cavendish-row, the fourth by the Lying-in Hospital and the Rotundo. The areas of the several squares are neatly laid out in gravel-walks, and planted with flowering shrubs and with evergreens.
A line drawn from the King’s Inns, in the north of Dublin, through Capel-street, the Castle, and Aungier- street, thus intersecting the Liffey at right angles, would, together with the line of that river, divide the city into four districts, strongly opposed to each other in character and appearance. The south-eastern district, including St. Stephen’s-green, Merrion-square, and Fitzwilliam-square, is chiefly inhabited by the nobility, the gentry, and the members of the liberal professions. The north-eastern district, including Mountjoy and Rutland squares, is principally inhabited by the mercantile and official classes. The south-western district, including the ancient liberties of St. Sepulchre and Thomas-court, and formerly the scat of the woollen and silk manufactures, is in a state of lamentable dilapidation, bordering on ruin; and the north-western district, in which are the Royal barracks, and Smithfield (the great market for hay and cattle), presents likewise striking indications of poverty.
BRIDGES
The Liffey is embanked on both sides by a range of masonry of granite, forming a continuation of spacious quays through the whole of the city; and its opposite sides are connected by nine bridges, eight of which are of elegant design and highly ornamental. Carlisle Bridge, the nearest to the sea, and connecting Westmoreland-street on the south with Sackville-street on the north, is a very handsome structure of three arches; it is 210 feet in length and 48 feet in breadth, and was completed in 1794. Wellington Bridge, at the end of Liffey-street, 140 feet long, consists of a single elliptic arch of cast-iron, and was erected in 1816, for the accommodation of foot passengers only, at an expense of £3000, which is defrayed by a half-penny toll. Essex Bridge, connecting Capel-street with Parliament-street, and fronting the Royal Exchange, was built in 1755, on the site of a former structure of the same name, at an expense of £20,661; it is a handsome stone structure of five arches, 250 feet in length and 51 in width, after the model of Westminster Bridge, London.
Richmond Bridge, built on the site of Ormond bridge, which had been swept away by a flood, was commenced in 1813; it connects Winetavern-street with Montrath-street, and was completed at an expense of £25,800, raised by presentments on the city and county, and opened to the public on St, Patrick’s day, 1816. It is built of Portland stone, with a balustrade of cast-iron, and is 290 feet long and 52 feet wide, consisting of three fine arches, the keystones of which are ornamented with colossal heads, on the one side representing Peace, Hibernia, and Commerce, and on the other Plenty, the river Liffey, and Industry. Whitworth Bridge supplies the place of the old bridge built by the Dominican friars, which had been for a long time the only communication between the city and its northern suburbs: the first stone was laid in 1816, by the Earl Whitworth, then lord-lieutenant. It is an elegant structure of three arches, connecting Bridge-street with Church-street. Queen’s Bridge, a smaller structure of three arches of hewn stone, connecting Bridgefoot-street with Queen-street, is only 140 feet in length; it was built in 1768, on the site of Arran Bridge, which had been destroyed by a flood in 1763. Barrack Bridge, formerly Bloody Bridge, connecting Watling-street with the quay leading to the royal barracks, was originally constructed of wood, in 1671, and subsequently rebuilt of stone. King’s Bridge, the first stone of which was laid by the Marquess Wellesley in 1827, connects the military road with the south-eastern entrance to the Phoenix Park, affording to the Lord-Lieutenant a retired and pleasant avenue from the Castle to his country residence; it consists of a single arch of cast-iron, 100 feet in span, resting on abutments of granite richly ornamented, and was completed at an expense of £13,000, raised for the purpose of erecting a national testimonial in commemoration of the visit of George IV. to Ireland, in 1821. Sarah Bridge, formerly Island Bridge, but when rebuilt in its present form, named after the Countess of Westmoreland, who laid the foundation stone in 1791, is a noble structure of a single arch, 104 feet in span, the keystone of which is 30 feet above low-water mark: this bridge connects the suburban village of Island-Bridge with the north-western road and with one of the entrances to the Phoenix Park. From the peculiar elegance of its proportions, it has been distinguished by the name of the “Irish Rialto.”
MANUFACTURES, TRADE, AND COMMERCE
The woollen manufacture was carried on in Ireland at a very early period, and attained considerable celebrity both in the English and continental markets; but its first establishment in connexion with Dublin did not take place till after the Revolution, when a number of English manufacturers, attracted by the excellent quality of the Irish wool, the cheapness of provisions, and the low price of labour, established regular and extensive factories in the liberties of the city. Soon afterwards, the Coombe, Pimlico, Spitalfields, Weavers’-square, and the neighbouring streets, chiefly in the Liberties of Dublin, were built; and this portion of the metropolis was then inhabited by persons of opulence and respectability. But the English legislature, considering the rapid growth of the woollen manufacture of Ireland prejudicial to that of England, prevailed on King William to discourage it, in consequence of which the Liberties, by the removal of the wealthier manufacturers, soon fell into decay. The trade, nevertheless, continued to linger in that neighbourhood, and even revived in some degree by being taken, in 1773, under the protection of the Dublin Society; insomuch that, 1792, there were 60 roaster clothiers, 400 broad-cloth looms, and 100 narrow looms, in the Liberties, giving employment to upwards of 5000 persons. But the effect was transitory: ever since, the trade has progressively declined, being at present confined to the manufacture of a few articles for home consumption. The working weavers suffered still further from the loss of time, and suspension of their labours, caused by the necessity of tentering their cloths in the open air, which could only be performed during fine weather. To remedy this inconvenience, Mr. Pleasants, a philanthropic gentleman of large fortune, erected at his own cost a tenter-house near Weavers’-square, in which that process might be performed in all states of the weather: the expense of its erection was nearly £13,000; a charge of 2s. 6d. is made on every piece of cloth, and 5d, on every chain of warp, brought in.
The LINEN manufacture was carried on at a very early period for domestic consumption, long before it became the great staple of the country, in the latter point of view it owes its extension chiefly to the Earl of Strafford, who during his lieutenancy embarked £30,000 of his private property in its establishment. After the depression of the woollen trade, great encouragement was given by parliament to the linen manufacture as a substitute; and in the 8th of Queen Anne an act was passed appointing trustees, selected from among the most influential noblemen and gentlemen of large landed property in each of the four provinces, for the management and disposal of the duties granted by that statute for its promotion. In 1728 a spacious linen hall was erected by a grant of public money, under the direction of the government, from whom the offices and ware-houses are rented by the occupants; the sales commenced every morning at 9 o’clock, and closed at 4 in the afternoon. But though the linen manufacture is still extensively carried on in some parts of Ireland, very little is made in the immediate vicinity of the city, and sales at the hall are consequently of rare occurrence. The COTTON manufacture was first introduced about the year 1760, and was greatly promoted by Mr. R. Brook, who in 1779 embarked a large capital in the enterprise; it was further encouraged by grants from parliament, and carried on with varying success in the neighbourhood of the city. Since the withdrawing of the protecting duties, however, the trade has progressively declined in Dublin, and it may now be considered as nearly extinct here.
The SILK manufacture was introduced by the French refugees who settled here upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantz; and an act of parliament was soon after passed, by which the infant manufacture was placed under the direction of the Dublin Society. This body established an Irish silk-warehouse in Parliament-street, the management of which was vested in a board of 12 noblemen (who were directors), and in a committee of 12 persons annually chosen by the guild of weavers, to examine the quality of the goods sent in by the manufacturers, and to whom the Dublin Society allowed a premium of 5 per cent, on all goods sold in the warehouse. While the trade was thus managed, the sales on an average amounted to £70,000 per annum, and the manufacture attained a high degree of perfection; but by a subsequent act of parliament, passed in the 26th of George III., the society was prohibited from disposing of any portion of its funds for the support of an establishment in which Irish silks were sold; and from that period the silk war-chouse department was discontinued, and the manufacture rapidly declined. The tabinets and poplins, for which Dublin had been so peculiarly celebrated, arc still in request, not only in Great Britain, but in the American and other foreign markets; but the demand is limited, and the number engaged in the manufacture proportionably small.
The tanning and currying of leather are carried on to a considerable extent; the number of master manufacturers in both branches exceeding 100. There are 16 iron-foundries, in some of which are manufactured steam-engines and agricultural implements on an extensive scale; the number of brass- foundries is 25. Cabinet-making is also carried on to a considerable extent. The same may be said of the coach-making trade; the demand for jaunting-cars, a vehicle peculiar to the country, is very great. Dublin contains not less than 20 porter and ale breweries, several of which are on a large scale, particularly the former; upwards of 120,000 barrels being brewed annually, a considerable portion of which is exported. There are 14 distilleries and rectifying establishments; some of these are likewise very extensive. Numerous establishments also exist in the city and its vicinity for the manufacture and production of a variety of other articles both for home consumption and exportation, amongst which may be noticed, glass, sail-cloth, canvas, turpentine, vitriol, vinegar, soap, starch, size, glue, paper, parchment, vellum, and hats. The place has also some silk and calico printing, and in Dublin is made the celebrated Lundyfoot snuff, by Messrs. Foot & Co.
Several acts of parliament were at different periods in the last century passed for improving the Port of Dublin, one of which, 26th of George III., constituted the present corporation for “preserving and improving the port of Dublin,” commonly known by the name of the Ballast Board, in which were vested the care, management, and superintendence of the whole of the river and the walls bounding it. Its jurisdiction was subsequently extended by successive acts; and the management of the harbour of Kingstown was also vested in this corporation: but in 1836, an act was passed by which the port was placed under the control of the Board of Works. The receipts on account of the port average about £30,000 per annum. The Ballast Board has still the charge of all the lighthouses in Ireland, of which there are six connected with the port of Dublin.
The COMMERCE of the port consists of various branches, the most important of which is the cross-channel trade, which has increased considerably, owing to the facilities afforded by steam navigation; the agricultural produce of the midland counties is brought hither for exportation, in return for which, groceries, and other commodities for domestic consumption, are sent to inland. The first steam-boat that crossed the Channel to this port was from Holyhead in 1816, but it was not till 1834 that steam-boats were employed in the transmission of merchandise: the passage by steam to Liverpool is performed on the average in 14, to London in 80, to Bristol in 24, to Cork in 20, to Belfast in 14, and to Glasgow in 24 hours. The City of Dublin Steam-packet Company, in 1824, was the first that introduced a line of packets between this port and Liverpool, also in 1825 between this port and Belfast, for the conveyance of passengers and merchandise: the capital of this company amounts to £450,000, subscribed in £50 and £100 shares, of which £350,000 are held by Dublin shareholders. It employs 18 vessels between this port and Liverpool and Belfast; several vessels between Dublin and Falmouth, Plymouth, and London; nine on the River Shannon; and 52 trade boats on the Grand and Royal Canals. Besides the above company, there are the Cork Steam-ship Company, which has a vessel each to Cork, Bristol, and Greenock; the British and Irish Steam-packet Company, which has vessels plying between this port and Plymouth. London, and Belfast; and the Dublin and Glasgos Steam-packet Company, which has three vessels plying between this port and Glasgow and Cork: thus making 33 steam-packets trading from and to this port, of from 250 to 800 tons’ burthen, and from 100 to 280 horse power, each. Another company is now being formed, called the Screw Company.
The number of vessels that entered inwards at the port in the year ending January 5th, 1792, was 2807, of the aggregate burthen of 288,592 tons; in 1800, 2779, of 280,539 tons; in 1815, 3046, of 304,813 tons: and in 1823, 3412, of 363,685 tons. In the year ending January 5th, 1836, the number of vessels that entered inwards was 34 foreign and 209 British, and that cleared outwards, 25 foreign and 107 British, exclusively of those that cleared out in ballast: during the same period, 3978 coasting-vessels entered inwards, and 1937 cleared outwards, exclusively of those which went out in ballast, chiefly to and from various parts of Great Britain; and 2087 colliers entered inwards, nearly the whole of which left in ballast. In the year 1844, 4349 sailing-vessels of 363,148 aggregate tonnage entered inwards, and 1873 of 134,510 aggregate tonnage cleared outwards, in the coasting-trade; 791 steamers of 206,308 tons entered inwards, and 805 steamers of 209,428 tons cleared outwards, in the same trade. In the colonial trade, during the same year, 123 British and Irish vessels of 28,893 tonnage entered, and 109 of 26,459 cleared out: while, in the foreign trade, 120 British and Irish vessels of 14,169 tons, and 43 foreign vessels of 5644 tons, entered; and 40 British and Irish of 7162 tons, and 42 foreign of 5630 tons, cleared out. In the following year, 1845, the number of ships that entered with cargoes from foreign and colonial countries, was 293: the number of vessels that arrived at the port with coal, was 2174. The number of vessels belonging to the port in 1836 was 327: in 1 846, the number, in eluding steamers, was 400, of from 15 to 1200 tons each; and the registered burthen amounted to about 34,000 tons.
After the year 1824, no correct statement can be furnished of the imports and exports of Ireland, as the trade between that country and Great Britain was then placed on the footing of a coasting-trade, and no entry has since been made at any custom-house except of goods on which duty is paid. Any statement of the quantities of corn, cattle, &c, now exported is, therefore, merely one of probable quantities. The principal articles of Irish produce and manufacture exported from Dublin for Great Britain, for the year ending January 5th, 1831, were, bacon, 7461 bales; barley, 10,093 barrels; wheat, 40,000 barrels; beer, 10,651 barrels; beef, 18,084 tierces; butter, 41,105 firkins; candles,1701 boxes; eggs, 3300 crates; feathers, 1570 packs; flour, 10,356 sacks; hams, 88 casks; herrings, 259 casks; hides, 6781 bundles; lard, 365 casks; leather, 693 bales; linen, 3648 boxes; malt, 103 barrels; oats, 153,191 barrels; oatmeal, 16,482 bags; porter, 29,800 hogsheads; printed cottons, 2100 packages; whisky, 800 puncheons; wool, 3500 packs; oxen, 69.500; pigs, 58,000; and sheep, 80,000. Among the exports for the year ending August 1,1845, may be named, 1564 bales of bacon, 257 tierces of pork, 1187 firkins of butter, 1027 cwt. of lard, 3317 tierces of beef; 5733 barrels of wheat, 36.990 of oats, and 485 of barley; 7400 sacks of flour; 447 puncheons of whisky; 9050 sacks of oatmeal, 26,247 hogsheads, 10,922 barrels, and 78,678 half-barrels, of porter.
For some years previous to 1830, the quantity of tobacco imported had been diminished by the increased cultivation of that plant in Ireland; but the legislature prohibited the cultivation in 1833, and the importation of foreign tobacco has since greatly increased. The large quantity of soap imported in 1835, as stated below, is attributable to a drawback allowed on exportation from Great Britain, which was found to exceed the excise duty previously paid: the duty has since been altered, and the importation of soap has been thereby diminished. In 1830, the quantity imported into all Ireland was, 6,559,461 lb. of lard and 120,992 lb. of soft soap, the drawback allowed being £82,875. 9. The quantities of the principal articles imported in the year ending January 5th, 1836, were coal, 340,000 tons, chiefly from Whitehaven and Scotland; soap, 3.350,000 lb.; coffee, 2200 packages; sugar, 15,000 hogsheads; tea, 52,500 chests; pepper, 2000 packages; spirits, 700 casks, spirits (in bottle), 1200 cases; wine, 7100 casks, wine (in bottle), 1500 cases; tobacco, 1150 hogsheads; deals, 2000 great hundreds; staves, 3500 great hundreds; and timber, 11,600 logs. Among the imports from January 1, to October 10, 1845, were the following: 24,632 gallons of Cape wine direct, and 30,640 coastwise; 25,181 gallons of French wine direct, and 2360 coastwise; 85,985 of port wine direct, and 23,028 coastwise, 135,600 of sherry direct, and 3839 coastwise; and 7569 gallons of Italian wine direct, and 1169 coastwise: 190,933 lb. of East India coffee coastwise, and 605 lb. of West India coffee direct and 271,177 coastwise; 154,157 cwt. of West India sugar direct and 14,457 coastwise, and 5416 cwt. of East India sugar direct and 14,660 coastwise: 431,044 lb. of tea direct, and 2,231,118 coastwise: 1,882,853 lb. of tobacco coastwise: 19,238 loads of deals from Canada direct, each load being 50 cubic feet; and 8631 loads of timber from Canada direct. The quantity of wine in bond on the 10th of October, 1845, was as follows: Cape, 46,917 gallons; Spanish, 209,100; French, 26,527; Italian, 11,038; Portugal, 212,535 gallons. There were also in bond, at that time, of East India coffee 123,452 lb., and of West India 171,753 lb.; West India sugar, 32,541 cwt., and East India sugar, 1333 cwt.; tea. 1,087,822 lb.; tobacco, 997,521 lb.; deals from Canada, 762 loads; and timber from Canada, 815 loads. There is no sugar-refinery in Dublin, although at one period the number of establishments was very considerable, all the refined sugar now used is imported from Great Britain. It will be perceived by the above statement, that the direct foreign import trade is not so great as might be expected from the consumption of a large population; but the articles required can, by steam-vessels, be expeditiously brought from Liverpool, into which port they are imported, in many instances, on much lower terms than those on which they could be imported into Dublin.
There is very little foreign export from Dublin. The trade with the Baltic in timber, staves, &C, is greatly diminished by the high rate of duty imposed and the low rate at which Canada timber is admitted. From St. Petersburgh, Riga, Archangel, Sc., there is a considerable import of tallow, hemp, and tar, with some linseed, bristles, &c.; from Spain and Portugal the chief import is wine, with some corkwood, raisins, barilla, and bark; from France, the imports are, wine in wood and bottle, claret, champagne, &c., also cork-wood, prunes, dried fruits, and some brandy; from the Netherlands the imports are bark and flax; from Holland, tobacco-pipes, bark, cloves, and flax-seed, and small quantities of gin, Burgundy pitch, Rhenish wines, madder, &c. With the West Indies the trade is chiefly in sugar from Jamaica, Demerara, and Trinidad, estates in the last-named island being owned in Dublin. Coffee is imported in small quantities, and also rum, but very little foreign spirits are consumed in Ireland, in consequence of the low price, and the encouragement given to the use, of whisky. Beef and pork in casks, and soap and candles in boxes, were formerly exported to the West Indies in large quantities, the trade, however, is now nearly lost in consequence of permission being given to the colonists to import these articles from Hamburgh, Bremen, &c, where they can be purchased at lower prices than in Ireland. To the United States of America there was a very large export of linen, principally to New York, and flax-seed, staves, turpentine, clover-seed, etc., used to be brought back: but the bounty on the export of linen having been withdrawn, the trade between the United States and Dublin has greatly diminished. The export of linen and import of flax-seed are now chiefly confined to Belfast and other northern ports. The American tobacco which is either sold or consumed in Dublin is brought from Liverpool. With British America the trade is very great in timber, as a return cargo of vessels sailing thither from Dublin with emigrants. With Newfoundland there is no direct trade: the cod and seal-oil consumed are imported from Liverpool, or brought by canal from Waterford, which has a direct trade with Newfoundland; dried codfish and ling being much used in the southern counties, but not in the northern or midland. With China there are three vessels owned in Dublin, besides others engaged in the tea-trade; the number of chests directly imported is, therefore, considerable. With South America there is no direct trade, the Dublin tanners being abundantly supplied with native hides, and any foreign hides required being brought from Liverpool, whence also is imported the cotton-wool consumed in the Dublin factories. With Turkey the trade is confined to the importation from Smyrna of valonia, figs, raisins, and small quantities of other articles; madder-roots and emery-stone being always transhipped for Liverpool. With Leghorn there is a considerable trade for cork-tree bark; and small quantities of hemp in bales, oil, marble, etc, are also imported: but very little communication is kept up with Trieste or another Italian porta. With Sicily the trade is in shumac and brimstone; the latter article in considerable quantities, for the consumption of vitriol and other chemical works.
The MARKETS are under the superintendence of a jury; the sheriff is required, under the 73rd sec. of the 13th and 14th of George III., cap. 22, to summon 48 of the most respectable citizens, of whom 24 are sworn in at the general quarter-sessions, any three of the 24 being empowered to visit and examine the commodities, and report to the lord mayor, who is authorised to condemn the provisions, and impose a fine to the extent of £10. The principal wholesale market is in Smithfield, a narrow oblong area in the north-eastern part of the city, the site of which is the property of the corporation, as part of their manor of Oxmantown: the market-days for the sale of black-cattle and sheep are Monday and Thursday, and for hay and straw, Tuesday and Saturday. There is also a considerable market for hay, straw, potatoes, butter, fowls, and eggs, in Kevin-street: over this market, though it is within the ancient liberty of St. Sepulchre, and is alleged to be exempt from the corporate jurisdiction, the officers being appointed by the archbishop, the lord mayor claims a right of superintendence; and the weights and measures used there are sanctioned by his authority. The great market for the sale of potatoes is on the north side of the river, in Petticoat-lane: a small portion of the present site is corporate property, and was the ancient potato-market of the city; it is now rented from the corporation by two persons, who are joint weighmasters and clerks-of-the-market, under the lord mayor: the market is commodious, and the avenues to it convenient. The whole- sale fish-market is held in an enclosed yard in Boot-lane: there are also a wholesale fruit-market in the Little Green, and one for eggs and fowls contiguous thereto in Halton-street. Dublin contains nine retail markets for butchers’ meat, poultry, vegetables, and fish; namely, Meath market, which is situated within the Earl of Meath’s liberty; Ormond market, on Ormond-quay; Castle market, between South Great-George-street and William-street; Patrick’s market, in Patrick-street; City market, in Blackhall-row; Clarendon market, in William-street; Fleet market, in Townsend-street; Rotundo or Norfolk market, in Great-Britain-street; and Leinster market, in D’Olier-street. The want of well-regulated and spacious slaughter-houses, in situations which would prevent offensive exposure, is severely felt in the city.
A fair is annually held at Donnybrook, about two miles from Dublin. but within the ancient limits of the jurisdiction of the corporation, under several charters: the first, granted in the 16th of John, authorises its continuance for sixteen days, though of late years it has been limited to a week or eight days. It commences on Aug. 26th. The number of cattle sold is inconsiderable, as it is frequented more for purposes of amusement and conviviality than of business. The corporation have little interest in it, excepting the preservation of order; it yields the proprietor of the ground about £400 per annum. A fair is held in James’-street on St. James’s-day (July 25th), chiefly for pedlary; and the fairs of Rathfarnham and Palmerstown, though beyond the limits of the corporate jurisdiction, are within that of the city police.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS CONNECTED WITH COMMERCE
The old Royal Exchange is situated on the ascent of Cork-hill, near the principal entrance to the Castle, and also nearly opposite to Parliament-street. The building was completed in 1779, at the expense of £40,000. raised partly by parliamentary grants, partly by subscription, and partly by lotteries: it forms a square of 100 feet, presenting three fronts, the fourth aide being concealed by the adjoining buildings of the Castle. The ground plan of the interior represents a circle within a square. The circle is marked by twelve fluted columns of the Composite order, forming a rotundo in the centre of the building; above their entablature is an attic, ten feet high, having a circular window corresponding with each of the subjacent intercolumniations, and above the attic rises a hemispherical dome of very chaste proportions, crowned by a large circular light, which, together with the zone of windows immediately underneath, throws an ample volume of light into the body at the building. At the eastern and western ends of the north front are geometrical staircases leading to the coffee-room and other apartments now employed as public meeting-rooms, and accommodations for inferior officers. In the lower hall is a fine marble statue of the late Henry Grattan, and on the staircase leading to the coffee-room another of Dr. Lucas, who preceded Grattan in the career of patriotism. The increase of commercial business since the erection of this building having required additional accommodation in a spot more convenient for mercantile transactions, the Exchange has been gradually deserted, and the meetings held there transferred to the Commercial Buildings in College-green. The Commercial Buildings form a plain but substantial square of three stories, constituting the sides of a small quadrangle, and wholly unornamented except in the principal front to College-green, which is of hewn stone and has a central entrance supported by Ionic columns. On the left of the grand entrance-hall and staircase is a news-room, 60 feet long and 28 feet wide, occupied by the members of the Chamber of Commerce (established in 1820 to protect and improve the commerce of the city); and on the right is a handsome coffee-room, connected with that part of the building which is used as an hotel. The north side of the quadrangle is occupied by the Stock Exchange and merchants’ offices, and on the east and west are offices for the brokers. The edifice was built by a proprietary of 400 £50 shareholders, and was completed in 1799, having been commenced in 1796, wholly under the superintendence of Mr. Parkes.
The Corn Exchange was erected by merchants who were incorporated in 1815, under the designation of the “Corn Exchange Buildings’ Company,” with leave to augment their capital to £15,000; the business is managed by a committee of 15 directors. The building, which is two stories high, has a neat front of mountain granite towards Burgh-quay. The interior contains a hall, 130 feet long, separated longitudinally from walks on each side by a range of cast-iron pillars supporting a cornice, which is continued round the inner hall and surmounted by an attic perforated with circular windows: the hall is furnished with tables for displaying samples of grain, and in the front of the building is a large room on the upper story for public dinners or meetings of societies, by the rent of which, and of the tables, the interest of the capita], now estimated at £25,000, is paid. It may here be mentioned, that the Ouzel Galley Society was established in 1705 for the arbitration of differences respecting trade and commerce: the arbitrators must be members of the society, who are among the principal merchants in the city. The surplus of expenses in this court is appropriated to the of decayed merchants.
The Bank of Ireland was established in 1783, under an act of parliament, with a capital of £600,000, which, on a renewal of the charter in 1791, was increased to £1,000,000; and by subsequent renewals, the last in 1821, the bank was authorised to enlarge its capital to £3,000,000. The proprietors are incorporated by the name of “The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland,” and the establishment is under the management of a governor, who must be a proprietor of £4000 stock, a deputy-governor, holding £3000, and 15 directors holding £2000 each; all these are elected by the court of proprietors, and five directors must vacate annually, but not in rotation. Agencies have been established in most of the principal cities and towns in Ireland, and connexions have been formed with the Bank of England and the Royal Bank of Scotland, for facilitating the transmission of money. The building is nearly of a semi-circular form; it stands on an acre and a half of ground, and previously to the Union was occupied as the Parliament House. The principal front consists of a colonnade of the Ionic order, extending round three sides of a quadrangular recess, and supporting an entablature and cornice surmounted by an attic, which is broken only in the central range by a projecting portico of four columns of the same order, sustaining a triangular pediment, in the tympanum of which are the royal arms, and on the apex a statue of Hibernia, with one of Fidelity on the right, and of Commerce on the left, extremity of the attic. The east front, in College-street, has a noble portico of six Corinthian columns, projecting far into the surrounding area, and supporting an enriched cornice surmounted by a triangular pediment, on the apex of which is a statue of Fortitude, with Justice at one end and a figure of Liberty at the other: this portico, which differs from the style of architecture of the rest of the structure, was formerly the entrance to the House of Lords. The west front, which faces Foster- place, has in the centre an Ionic portico of four columns, supporting an entablature and cornice crowned with a triangular pediment, corresponding in style with the principal front. Within the central portico are two entrances leading to the Cash office, communicating at each end with corridors conducting to the various offices in the establishment. This part of the building stands on the site of the former House of Commons. The former House of Lords, which remains unaltered, is now appropriated to the use of the court of proprietors. it is of rectangular form, with a semi-circular recess at one extremity, in which the throne was placed, and in which has since been set up a statue of white marble of George III. In the rear of the interior is a department for printing the bank-notes, the machinery of which is wholly worked by steam, and arranged with such ingenuity as in a great measure to baffle any attempt at forgery, and at the same time to add greatly to the expedition with which the process of printing is carried on; while it likewise affords a check upon the workmen employed, by means of a self-acting register, which indicates the quantity of work done, and the actual state of that in progress at any moment.
The Hibernian Joint-Stock Banking Company is managed by a governor, deputy-governor, and 7 directors; it transacts business at a house in Castle-street, built for the late private banking establishment of Lord New-comen. The Provincial Dank of Ireland is managed by a court of directors in London, and has an office in William-street and branches throughout the country. The National Bank of Ireland was formed under the provisions of the same act, with a capital of two millions subscribed in London and Ireland, to be applied to the support of banking establishments connected with it in Ireland, by contributing to each a sum equal to that locally subscribed; it has 37 branches in the south of Ireland. The other banking establishments are those of La Touche and Co., Castle-street; Ball and Co., Henry-street; Boyle and Co., College-green; the Royal Bank, Foster-place; and the London and Dublin Bank, Dame- street. There are two Savings’ Banks, both formed in 1818; one in Meath-street; the other in Cuffe-street, in St. Peter’s parish. The former has a branch in Abbey-street, by which the benefits of the system have been extended to the northern division of the city. The Money- Order office, in the general post-office, furnishes means for the transmission of small sums.
The Custom-house is a stately structure of the Doric order, situated on the north bank of the Liffey, below Carlisle-bridge. It was erected under the superintendence of Mr. Gandon, in 1794, at an expense of £397,232. 4., which the requisite furniture and subsequent enlargements increased to upwards of half a million sterling. The building is 375 feet in length and 205 feet in depth, and has four fronts, of which the south is entirely of Portland stone, and the others of mountain granite. On the east of the custom-house is a wet-dock capable of receiving 40 vessels, and along the quay is a range of spacious warehouses. Beyond these, an extensive area, enclosed with lofty walls, contains a second wet-dock, consisting of two basins, the outer 300 feet by 250 and the inner 650 by 300; still further east-ward, and on the same line with the principal building, are the tobacco and general warehouses, the latter of which were burnt down in 1833, but have been rebuilt. The business of the customs and excise for all Ireland was transacted in the custom-house, until the consolidation of the boards of Customs and Excise into one general board in London, since which period the superintendence here has been confined to the Dublin district. A great part of the building is now applied to the accommodation of the following departments: the Stamp Office; the Commissariat; the Board of Works; the Record Office for documents connected with the Vice- Treasurer’s Office; the Quit-Rent Office, the Poor-law commission of Ireland, the Fishery Board; and the Stationery Office. The number of duties paid in 1836, for goods imported and exported, was £898,630. 5.; and the excise duties of the Dublin district, during the same period, amounted to £419,935. 14.: the gross customs in 1844 were £1,043,467, and the excise duties in 1843 £357.338.
The General Post-Office, situated in Sackville-street, is a very fine building of granite, 223 feet in length, 150 feet in depth, and three stories high. In the centre of the front is a boldly projecting portico of six fluted Ionic columns, supporting an entablature and cornice which are continued round the building, and surmounted by a triangular pediment, in the tympanum of which ore the royal arms, and on the apex a figure of Hibernia, with one of Mercury on the right, and of Fidelity on the left; the whole of the building is crowned with a balustrade rising above the cornice. This structure was raised under the direction of Mr. Francis Johnston, architect, at an expense of £50,000. Over the mantel-piece in the Board-room is a marble bust of Earl Whitworth, by whom the first stone was laid in 1815. The establishment, which had been under the direction of two postmasters-general, was, in 1831, consolidated with the English post-office, and placed under the control of the postmaster-general of the United Kingdom.
THE DUBLIN SOCIETY, AND IRISH ACADEMY
The Royal Dublin Society originated, in 1731, in the private meetings of a few scientific gentlemen, among whom were Dr. Price and Dr. Madden; and was supported entirely by their contributions until the year 1749, when they were incorporated by royal charter, under the name of “the Dublin Society for promoting husbandry and other useful arts in Ireland,” and received an annual grant of £500. This sum was gradually augmented to £10,000 until lately, when the grant was reduced: the grant for the year ending March, 1846, was £5910. It is under the patronage of the Queen and the Lord-Lieutenant (the latter being president), and there are seven vice-presidents, two honorary secretaries, and an assistant secretary. The literary and scientific department consists of a professor of botany and agriculture, a professor of chemistry, a professor of mineralogy and geology, a librarian, teachers of landscape, figure, and ornamental drawing, and of sculpture, and a curator of the botanic garden. The society, which in 1821 was honoured with the designation of “Royal,” held its meetings in Shaws-court till 1767, when the members removed to a building they had erected in Grafton-street, whence, in 1796, they removed to Hawkins-street, where they had erected an edifice for their repository, laboratory, library, and galleries. In 1815 they purchased, for £20,000, the splendid mansion of the Duke of Leinster, in Kildare-street. This building is 140 feet in length and 70 in depth, and is approached from the street by a massive gateway of rusticated masonry: the principal front is of the Corinthian order, richly embellished; before it is a spacious court, and in the rear an extensive lawn fronting Merrion-square. The entrance-hall is adorned with casts taken from figures by the first masters, and there are also several bastes executed by artists who had been pupils of the society. The library, in the east wing, is 64 feet long and 24 feet wide, and is surrounded by a light gallery; it contains 12,000 volumes, and is rich in botanical works. The museum occupies six rooms, containing miscellaneous curiosities, specimens of animals, mineralogy, geology, &c. the specimens of the mineralogical department are classified on the Vernerian system. The lecture-room is capable of accommodating 400 auditors. The apartments for the use of members are all on the ground-floor. The drawing-schools occupy a range of detached buildings; they are appropriately fitted up, and are attended by 200 pupils. The botanical studies are under the direction of the professor, who delivers lectures both at the Society boose and in the botanic gardens at Glasnevin. These grounds are about a mile from the city, occupying a space of more than 27 acres, watered by the Tolka, and containing every requisite variety of soil for botanical purposes. The garden is formed into subdivisions for agricultural and horticultural specimens: it has the house of the professor and the lecture-rooms near the entrance, and is open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays; the admission is free, as also to the lectures, schools and museum.
The Royal Irish Academy was instituted in 1782, by a number of gentlemen, members of the University, chiefly to promote the study of polite literature, science, and antiquities; and was incorporated in 1786. It is assisted in its objects by a parliamentary grant of £300 per annum, and honoured with the patronage of the Queen; and is under the superintendence of a visitor (the Lord-Lieutenant for the time being), a president, four vice-presidents, and a council of 21, with a treasurer, librarian, and two secretaries. Its literary management is entrusted to three committees, respectively superintending the departments of science, polite literature, and antiquities. At the annual meetings, premiums, accruing from the interest of £1500 bequeathed by Colonel Burton Conyngham, are awarded for the best essays on given subjects, for which persons not members of the academy may become competitors; the successful essays are sometimes published in the transactions of the academy, of which 17 volumes in quarto have already appeared. The library contains some very valuable manuscripts relating to Ireland: the large room for meetings of the academy is embellished with portraits of their presidents.
LIBRARIES
The Library of Trinity College, by much the largest not only in Dublin but in Ireland, is described under the head of the institution of which it forms a portion the King’s Inns library is noticed in like manner. St. Patrick’s or Marsh’s Library was founded by Dr. Narcissus Marsh, Archbishop of Dublin, in the vicinity of St. Patrick’s cathedral; it contains the celebrated Dr. Stillingfleet’s collection, and some manuscripts. The apartment for the books consists of two galleries meeting at a right angle, in which is the librarian’s room. The library is open on liberal terms, a certificate or letter of introduction from some respectable and well-known character being all that is required: it is under the government of trustees appointed by act of parliament. The Dublin Library Society originated in the meeting of a few individuals at a bookseller in Dame-street to read newspapers and periodicals. I laving formed a regular society, a library was opened in 1791 in Eustace-street, which was removed in 1809 to Burghquay, and finally, in 1820, to a building in D’Olier-street, erected for the special purpose, by shares. The building is plain but elegant, and contains a spacious apartment for the library, another for newspapers and periodicals, and a few smaller rooms for committees and house officers. The public rooms are ornamented with busts of John Philpot Curran, Daniel O’Connell, Henry Grattan, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, and Dean Kirwan, and with portraits of the first Earl of Charlemont and of Curran. The medical libraries of the College of Surgeons and Sir Patrick Dun’s hospital are well selected and rapidly increasing: Steevens’s Hospital, the Royal Hospital, Christ Church, and Strand-street Meeting-house, have each a collection of books, but none of any great extent. The private library of the Earl of Charlemont is highly worthy of notice. It is contained in a building attached to the town residence in Palace-row: the entrance to it is by a long gallery, ornamented with antique busts, vases, and altars, and opening into a large vestibule lighted by a lantern, which contains the works on antiquities and numismatics, and has in a recess a statue of Venus and eight busts of ancient and modern characters of celebrity. The principal library contains a fine and well-selected collection of ancient and modern writers in most departments of literature and in some of science, very judiciously and happily arranged; also, some manuscripts, and a unique collection of Hogarth’s engravings, chiefly proofs. Over the chimney-piece is a bust of Homer. Attached to the library are a small museum, a medal-room, and a smaller library of very elegant proportions, containing busts of the Earl of Rockingham and General Wolfe.
SURGICAL AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS
The Royal College of Surgeons was incorporated in 1784, for the purpose of establishing a “liberal and extensive system of surgical education:” a parliamentary grant was conferred on it for providing the necessary accommodations. Sums amounting in the whole to £35,000 were granted, about 1805, for erecting and furnishing more appropriate buildings; besides which, £6000, the accumulated excess of the receipts over the disbursements of the college, were expended in 1825 in the addition of a museum. The front of the building, on the west side of St. Stephen’s-green, has a rusticated basement story, from which rises a range of Doric columns supporting a tier of seven large windows, the four central columns being surmounted by a triangular pediment, on which are statues of Minerva, Esculapius, and Hygeia. The interior contains a large board-room, a library, an apartment for general meetings, an examination-hall, several committee-rooms and offices, four theatres for lectures, a spacious dissecting-room, with smaller apartments, and three museums. Of these museums, the largest, 84 feet by 30, with a gallery, contains a fine collection of preparations of human and comparative anatomy; the second, with two galleries, contains preparations illustrative of pathology, and a collection of models in wax, presented by the Duke of Northumberland when lord-lieutenant, and the third, attached to the anatomical theatre, contains a collection for the illustration of the courses of daily lectures. The college consists of a president, vice-president, six censors, twelve assistants, the secretaries, members, and licentiates. Candidates for a diploma must produce certificates of attendance on some school of medicine and surgery for five years, and of attendance at a surgical hospital for three years; and must pass four half-yearly examinations, and a final examination for letters-testimonial in the presence of the members and licentiates on two days. Rejected candidates have a right of appeal to a court constituted for the purpose, which is frequently resorted to. Attached to the school are two professors of anatomy and physiology, two of surgery, a professor of chemistry, one of the practices of medicine, one of Materia medica, one of midwifery, and one of medical jurisprudence, with four anatomical demonstrators; the lectures commence on the last Monday in October, and close on the last day of April.
The College of Physicians was first incorporated in the reign of Charles Il., but the charter being found insufficient, was surrendered in 1692, and a more ample-charter was granted to the institution by William and Mary, under the designation of the King and Queen’s College of Physicians in Ireland. This charter, which conferred considerable privileges, was partly confirmed by successive acts of parliament, which gave the society authority to summon all medical practitioners for examination, to inspect the shops and warehouses of apothecaries, druggists, and chemists, and to destroy all articles for medical use which were of bad quality: the society has also a principal share in the superintendence of the School of Physic. No person can be a member of the college who has not graduated in one of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin. The officers of the college consist of a president, vice-president, four censors, a registrar, and a treasurer; the members hold their meetings at the hospital founded by Sir Patrick Dun, of whose bequests for the promotion of medical science they are trustees. The School of Physic is partly under the control of the Board of the University and partly, as just observed, under that of the College of Physicians: the professorships of anatomy, chemistry, and botany are in the appointment of the University, who elect the professors, thence called University professors; the professors of the practice of medicine, the institutes of medicine, and Materia medica, called King’s professors, derive their appointment and their salaries from the College of Physicians, being chosen by ballot from among the members of that body. The University professors deliver their lectures in Trinity College, and the King’s professors in Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital. No candidate is qualified for a degree in medicine until he has attended the six courses, and for six months at Sir Patrick Dun’s clinical hospital.
The School of Pharmacy may next be noticed. Previously to the company of the Apothecaries’ Hall being incorporated, the shops were supplied by the druggists, without any check on the quality of the medical articles supplied. To remedy this defect an act was passed in 1791, incorporating a body under the title of the “Governor and Company of the Apothecaries’ Hall,” by whom a building was erected in Mary-street (a respectable edifice of brick, with a basement of hewn stone) for the preparation and sale of drugs, unadulterated and of the best quality; for the delivery of courses of lectures on chemistry, Materia medica, pharmacy, botany, and the practice of physic. and for the examination of candidates for a diploma to practise as apothecaries. The establishment consists of a governor, deputy-governor, treasurer, secretary, and thirteen directors. Candidates for apprenticeship must undergo an examination in Greek and Latin, and those for the rank of master apothecary must produce certificates of attendance on a course of each of the following departments of medicine; chemistry, Materia medica and pharmacy, medical botany, anatomy, and physiology, and the theory and practice of medicine. The diploma of the society of Apothecaries of London, by the rules of the Dublin company, also qualifies the holder to practise in Ireland. The School of Anatomy, Medicine, and Surgery, in Park-street, Merrion-square, established in 1824 by a society of surgeons and physicians, contains a museum, a chemical laboratory, an office and reading-room, a lecture-room capable of accommodating 200 persons, a dissecting-room, and rooms for preparations. Private medical schools are numerous in the city, and, combined with the public institutions, and with the extensive practice afforded by the hospitals, have rendered Dublin a celebrated school of medicine, resorted to by students from every part of the British empire.
The Phrenological Society, tinder the direction of a president, vice-president, and two committees, was established in 1829. Its meetings are held in Upper Sack-ville-street, where the society has a large collection of casts illustrative of the theory of the science, and a library of phrenological treatises, which are lent out to the members: the annual subscription is one guinea. The Association of Members of the College of Physicians was instituted in 1816; they hold their meetings at their rooms in College-green, for receiving communications on medical subjects and on scientific matters. Their object is the promotion of medical science, and among their corresponding members are some of the most eminent medical men in England and on the continent: the society has published several volumes of transactions.
INSTITUTIONS FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE FINE ARTS, AND OTHER USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES
The Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, founded by royal charter in 1823, consists of fourteen academicians and ten associates, all of whom must be professional painters, sculptors, or architects: the Crown is patron, the Lord-Lieutenant vice-patron; and its affairs are under the superintendence of a council. The academy has for the last few years been encouraged by a grant from parliament of £300 per annum. Its first president, the late Francis Johnston, Esq., architect, erected an elegant and appropriate building in Abbey-street, at an expense of £10,000, which he presented to the academy for ever, at a nominal rent of 5s. per annum, and to which his widow subsequently added a gallery for statuary. The building, which is three stories high and of elegant design, has, on the basement Story, a recess ornamented with fluted columns of the Doric order: over the entrance is a head of Palladia, emblematical of architecture; over the window on the right, a head of Michael Angelo, illustrative of sculpture. and over the window on the left, a head of Raphael, allusive to painting. The academy has a good collection of casts from the antique, some paintings by the old masters, and a library of works chiefly connected with the fine arts, and of which the greater number were presented by the late Edward Houghton, Esq. The late Royal Irish Institution for promoting the Fine Arts was founded, under royal patronage, in 1815: its vice-patron was the Marquess of Anglesey; its guardian, the Lord-Lieutenant; and its president, the Duke of Leinster the affairs were superintended by eight vice-presidents (all noblemen), and a committee of directors. The artists subsequently formed a society called the Artists and Amateurs’ Conversazione for cultivating and maintaining a social intercourse with admirers of the fine arts, and thereby promoting their mutual interests. The Royal Irish Art-Union, College-street, under the patronage of the Queen, the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord-Pumate, Lord High-Chancellor, and the Commander of the Forces, was established in 1840, for the encouragement of the fine arts in Ireland, by the purchase of the works of living artists, exhibited in the metropolis. A committee, consisting of 21 members, chosen at a general meeting of subscribers, selects such works of art as are creditable to the talent and genius of the country, sod at the close of the season these prizes are distributed by lot among the subscribers, each of whom is certain of receiving an impression of the annual engraving for every guinea subscribed. The income for the fourth year was £5063. The National Art-Union for Ireland Anglesey-street, was formed to place the benefits of the fine arts within the reach of the manufacturing chase and is under the patronage of Prince Albert: the annual subscription is five shillings, for which the member is entitled to a print, published exclusively for the society, and to one chance of a prize. The prize-holder must select from the public exhibitions in Dublin of tit works of living artists, the society paying for the work selected, as far as the amount of the prize. The society of Irish Artists, at the Royal Irish Institution, College street, had its origin in a meeting of artists held in Bublin on the 11th November, 1842; Samuel Brocas, Esq., in the chair. It was then resolved to form a society, “for the advancement of the fine arts, for diffusing a more extended and just appreciation of art, and for the purpose of inquiry and information upon matters relative thereto; for holding an annual exhibition of works of painting, sculpture, or architecture; and for protecting the interests of the profession. “The exhibition generally opens about the latter end of April, and continues for a period of six weeks.
The Horticultural Society, patronised by the Lord Lieutenant and the Duchess of Leinster and under the direction of the Earl of Leitrim as president, several noblemen as vice-presidents, and a council, was instituted in 1813, and has rapidly increased in prosperity. Prizes are awarded at its annual exhibitions, which are numerously and most fashionably attended. There also a Practical Floral and Horticultural Society. Geological Society was instituted in 1835, and is under the direction of a president, vice-presidents, and a council. Its attention is peculiarly directed to Ireland: it consists of honorary and ordinary members; £10 admission, or £5 if not resident within 20 miles Dublin for more than one month in the year, constitute member for life; and £1 on admission, and £1 per annum constitute an ordinary member. The rooms of the society are in the Custom-house. The Zoological Society, instituted in 1831, is under the direction of a president’ vice-president, and council: £10 paid on admission constitute a member for life; and £1 on admission, a subscription of £1 per annum, an annual member. The gardens are situated in the Phoenix Park, and occupy a piece of ground near the vice-regal lodge, given for that purpose by the Duke of Northumberland, when lord-lieutenant s they have been laid out with much taste, and are in excellent order, affording a most interesting place of resort. The council have purchased many fine specimens of the higher classes of animals. The grounds are open to the public daily, on payment of sixpence admission: about 160,000 persons visited them during the year 1845. The Dublin Natural-History Society, Sack-ville-street, of which the Archbishop of Dublin is president, was established on the 2nd of March, 1838, for the purpose of elucidating the natural history of Ireland: the museum of the society contains a well-arranged collection, and at the meetings of the members papers are read and discussions take place, in which much curious information is brought forward. The late Agricultural Society was instituted in 1833, and was under the direction of a president (the late Marquess of Downshire), several vice-presidents, a committee, and sub-committee: it consisted of 330 members, who paid an annual subscription of £1, and among whom were most of the principal landed proprietors. Its object was, the establishment of a central institution for concentrating the efforts made by other societies and by individuals, for improving the condition of the people and the cultivation of the soil of Ireland: two annual meetings were held, one in Dublin during the April show of cattle, and the other at Ballinasloe in October. The Royal Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland, Upper Sackville-street, was instituted in 1841, under the patronage of the Queen, Lord-Lieutenant, Duke of Leinster, and a large number of the other nobility and the gentry of the country. The leading objects, are, first, the holding of a great national cattle-show and agricultural meeting, in one of the four provinces, annually, for the exhibition and improvement of cattle and stock of every kind, flax, wool, butter, implements, &c.; second, the establishment of local farming societies in connexion with the central society, through which premiums are given to the working farmers, for the encouragement of green crops, thorough-draining, and every department of husbandry; third, the formation of an agricultural museum and library in the metropolis; fourth, the establishment of a college, or large school, for the practical education of the farming classes; and fifth, the dissemination of practical knowledge, in a cheap form, for the instruction of the working farmers. The great cattle-show in August, 1844, in the Coburg Gardens, Dublin, tended much to promote the interests of the society; it attracted considerable attention, and the number of members increased during the year from 500, the number of the year 1843, to 945. The show for 1845 was held at Ballinasloe, and for 1846 at Limerick.
The Civil Engineers’ Society was established in 1835, for the cultivation of science in general, and more especially of those branches of it which are connected with the engineering department; it is under the direction of a president, vice-presidents, and a committee, and consists of members who must be either civil or military engineers, or architects, who pay one guinea on admission by ballot and an annual subscription of equal amount. The Mechanics’ Institution, Royal Exchange, was founded in November, 1837, and seeks to accomplish its object, the improvement of the operative classes, by means of a reading-room, well supplied with all the literary and scientific periodicals of the day; a lending library, consisting of many hundred volumes; and courses of lectures, delivered periodically. A subscription of ten shillings per annum constitutes a member. The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, at the Custom-house, was established two years subsequently, in 1839, for the general advancement of civil architecture, for facilitating the acquirement of a knowledge of the various arts and sciences connected therewith, for the formation of a library and museum, for establishing a correspondence with scientific men in other countries, and for maintaining a uniformity and respectability of practice in the profession. The Irish Archaeological Society, of which Prince Albert is patron, and the Duke of Leinster president, was instituted in 1840. Its object is, to rescue from oblivion, and publish in a convenient form for the use of its members, such ancient manuscripts and records as tend to illustrate the early history, laws, manners, local customs, and the geography or topography, of Ireland; including such works as have been already printed, whenever the scarcity of the original edition, or any other cause, may render a reprint desirable. The number of members is limited; and in other respects, also, the society is similar to the Camden Society, London, established for the publication of works calculated to throw light on the darker periods of our history. A society was founded in November, 1842, under the name of the Dublin Philosophical Society, by a number of young men, collegians and others, for the purpose of affording to those who were of standing too junior to be admitted into the other scientific societies of the metropolis, an opportunity of writing and reading papers on philosophical and literary subjects. In February, 1845, the Board of Trinity College having consented to recognise the society, and to allow its meetings to be held within the college, the name of the association was changed to “The University Philosophical Society;” and the meetings of the members have since been held in the buildings of the college, the provost of which is patron.
THEATRES, CLUBS, AND MUSICAL SOCIETIES
The places of public amusement arc few. The drama is little encouraged by the fashionable and wealthy, the theatre is thinly attended, except on the appearance of some first-rate performer from London, or at the special desire of the Lord-Lieutenant, the social character of the inhabitants inducing an almost exclusive preference to convivial intercourse within the domestic circle. The first public theatre was built in Werburgh-street, by Lord Strafford, in the year 1635, and wax closed in 1641. After the Restoration, a theatre under the same patent was opened in Orange-street, now Smock-alley; and in 1733, a second was erected in Rainsford-street in the liberty of Thomas-court, and a third in George’s-lane. Sheridan had a theatre in Aungier-street, in 1745, which was destroyed in 1754 by a tumult of the audience; and in 1758 another was built in Crow-street, which, with that in Smock-alley, continued open for 25 years, when, after much rivalry, the latter was closed, and a patent was granted to the former for the exclusive enjoyment of the privilege of performing the legitimate drama. On the expiration of this patent, Mr. Harris, of London, procured a renewal of it from government, and erected the “New Theatre Royal” in Hawkins-street, a pile of unsightly exterior, but internally of elegant proportions, being constructed in the form of a lyre, handsomely decorated, and admirably adapted to the free transmission of the actor’s voice to every part of the house: attached to it is a spacious saloon, supported by pillars of the Ionic order. A smaller theatre has been opened in Abbey-street for dramatic performances; it is a plain building, neatly fitted up. Another small theatre in Fishamble-street, originally a music-hall, is occasionally opened for dramatic and other entertainments; and a third, in Great Brunswick-street, originally intended for a diorama, is called the Queen’s Theatre. In Abbey-street is a Circus, in which equestrian performances sometimes take place. During the summer season, the Potundo Gardens are open on stated evenings; and being illuminated in a fanciful manner, and enlivened by a military band, and by occasional exhibitions of rope-dancing and fireworks, they afford an agreeable promenade in the open air. The Portobello Gardens are similar to those of Vauxhall, London. In the Royal Arcade, in College-green, were some handsome rooms for public amusements; but this place was burned to the ground on April 25th, 1837.
Clubs and societies for convivial purposes are numerous: several club-houses have been opened on the principle of those in London. The Kildare-street Club, consisting of about 650 members, was instituted upwards of sixty years since, and takes its name from the street in which its house stands: the accommodations contain a large and elegant card-room, and coffee, reading, and billiard rooms. The terms of admission, which is by ballot, arc £26. 10., and the annual subscription, £5: it is managed by a committee of 15 members chosen annually. The Sackville-street Club, instituted in 1795, consists of 400 members chosen by ballot, who previously pay 20 guineas, and an annual subscription of 5 guineas; the house which contains a suite of apartments similar in character to those of the Kildare-street Club, has been fitted up in a very splendid style. The Friendly- Brothers’ Club, also in Upper Sackville-street, consists of many members who are in connexion with similar societies in various countries; the house affords excellent accommodation. The Hibernian United-Service Club, instituted in 1832, is limited to 500 permanent and 200 temporary members, consisting of officers of the army and navy of every rank, and of field officers and captains of militia of the United Kingdom: the terms of admission by ballot are £10. 10., and the annual subscription £4, for permanent members; honorary members are admitted on payment of the annual subscription only: the club-house is in Foster-place, near the Dank. There are also the Stephen’s-Green Club and the Irish Reform Club. The Freemasons for some years had a hall in Dawson-street: they now hold their meetings in temporary apartments in the Commercial Buildings. The leading Musical Societies are, the Beef-steak Club; the Hibernian Catch Club; the Anacreontic, for the performance of instrumental music, the Dublin Philharmonic Society, for the practice of vocal and instrumental music; the University Choral Society, for the cultivation of choral music, founded in November, 1837; the Sacred Harmonic Society, for the improvement of psalmody and the cultivation of sacred vocal music, instituted in 1841; the Metropolitan Choral stablished January, 1842; and the Society of Ancient Concerts. Other societies, of a more miscellaneous character, whose names indicate their objects, are the Chess, Philidorean, Shakspeare, Royal Yacht, and Rowing elubs.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY
The charters granted at various times to the on are carefully preserved, from the earliest period, in the archives of the corporation. The first was bestowed in the reign of Henry II., from which period to the reign of George III. a numerous series of them was successively issued, either confirming previous grants, or conferring; additional privileges. The constitution of the corpora government, until the passing of the Municipal Corporations’ act in the year 1840, was founded partly on the provisions of several of the earlier charters, partly: usage and ancient customs, partly on the new rules down in the 25th of Charles II., and partly on the statutes of the 33rd of George II., and the 11th and 12th of George III. The corporation consisted of a lord mayor 24 aldermen, and a common-council. The lord was annually elected from among the aldermen, by 1 majority of that body, with the approbation of the common-council; the alderman next in rotation generally chosen. Within ten days after his election, he was presented to the Lord-Lieutenant and Privy Council for their approbation, and he was sworn into office before the Lord-Lieutenant on Sept. 30th; he was a justice of the peace for the county of the city, admiral of the port of Dublin, and chief judge of the mayors and sheriffs’ courts; he had the regulation of the assize of bread, and was clerk of the market, and officio, a member of certain local boards and trusts. The aldermen, who were also justices of the peace for the city, were elected for life, as vacancies occurred, from among such common-councilmen as had served the office of sheriff and were therefore called sheriffs’ peers; each on his election paid £400 late currency, of which £105 for the Blue-coat hospital, and the remainder for the repair and embellishment of the Mansion-house. The sheriffs were annually elected at Easter by the lord mayor and aldermen, out of eight freemen, out of eight freemen nominated by the common-council, and each of them was obliged to be in possession of real or personal property the clear amount of £2000; they had to be approved by the Lord- Lieutenant and Privy Council. On payment however, of a fine of £500, of which £105 were to the Blue-coat hospital, a freeman so nominated might become a sheriff’s peer without serving the office of sheriff. The common-council consisted of the sheriff’s peers, and of the representatives of the guilds, triennially elected, who were 96 in number, and who, in default of election by the guilds, might be chosen by the lord mayor and aldermen from each of the guilds so neglecting. Among the officers of the corporation was, a recorder, who was obliged to be a barrister of six years’ standing, but was not required to be a freeman: he was elected by the lord mayor and aldermen, with the approbation of the common-council, subject to the approval of the Lord-Lieutenant and Privy Council; held his office during good behaviour; and was permitted by the act of the 21st and 22nd of George III., in case of sickness or absence, to appoint a deputy, who also, by the 39th of George III., was obliged to be a barrister of six years” standing. The other officers were, two coroners, elected from the aldermen by the lord mayor and a majority of that body alone, a president of the court of conscience, who was the ex-lord mayor during the year after his office had expired, and who might appoint any alderman to officiate for him; two town-clerks, who were also clerks of the peace, either freemen or not, and elected for life in the same manner as the recorder, and subject to the approval of the Privy Council; a marshal, who was obliged to be a freeman, and was similarly elected, nominally for one year, but generally re-elected on its expiration; water-bailiffs, elected in the same manner as the marshal, and who gave security by two sureties for £1000; serjeants-at-mace, similarly elected, and who gave two sureties for £250 each; and several inferior officers. The freedom of the city was obtained either by gilt of the aldermen and common-councilmen in general assembly, or by admission to the freedom of one of the guilds, and afterwards to that of the city, by favour of the corporation. Freemen of the guilds, either by birth, servitude, or marriage, could only be admitted as freemen at large by the common-council, who had power to reject them after passing through the guilds; hence the freedom of the guilds entitled them only to the privilege of carrying on their respective trades, and not to that of voting at elections for the city representatives in parliament. The late county of the city comprised 38394 statute independently of 380 in the barony of Donore, 92 in the liberty of Thomas-Court, 162 in the liberty of St. Sepulchre, and 9 in that of St. Patrick.
The PRESENT county of the city, or municipal borough, consists of only 3807 statute acres, including 214 acres under water. It is divided into 15 municipal wards, namely, Castle ward, containing 15,782 inhabitants; College ward, 12,774 inhabitants; Custom-House ward, 18,014; Four-Courts, 17,218; Linen-Hall, 22,381; Merrion, 10,253; Post-Office, 14,608; St. Andrew’s, 15,644; St. Andrews, 21,571; St. Catherine’s, 12,909; St. George’s, 15,048; St. James’, 15,625; St. Patrick’s, 21.154; St. Paul’s, 9796; and St. Stephen s, 9949: making a total population of 232,726. Under the Municipal Corporations’ act, the style of the corporation is, The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Dublin; the number of aldermen is 15, and of councillors, 45. Besides a high sheriff appointed by the crown, there are a president of the court of conscience, a city treasurer, town-clerk, two auditors, two assessors, a sword-bearer, a mace-bearer, and officer of commons, a marshal, two coroners, and an inspector of the gaols in Dublin; also two water-bailiffs, a high constable and billet-master, a receiver of the shippage and anchorage dues, three serjeants-at-mace, two inspectors of weights and measures, three clerks-of-the-markets, and an inspector and three clerks of the Haymarket. The number of magistrates in the county of the city is 44, including the lieutenant and 16 deputy-lieutenants.
There are 25 GUILDS, the first of which is the Trinity guild or guild of Merchants, which, under the old regime, returned to the common-council 31 representatives out of the 96. The others, called minor guilds, are those of the Tailors, Smiths, Barber-Surgeons, Bakers, Butchers, Carpenters, Shoemakers, Saddlers, Cooks, Tanners, Tallow-chandlers, Glovers, and Skinners, Weavers, Shearmen and Dyers, Goldsmiths, Coopers, Feltmakers, Cutlers, Bricklayers, Hosiers, Curriers, Brewers, Joiners, and Apothecaries. Only six of the guilds have halls, the others meet either in one of these or in a private building. The Merchants Hall, on Aston’s-quay, opposite Wellington-bridge, is a new building of granite, two stories high, with little architectural ornament. The Tailors Hall, in Back-lane, built in 1710, is ornamented with portraits of Charles II., Dean Swift, and St. Homobon, a tailor of Cremona, canonized in 1316 for his piety and charity. The Weavers Hall, on the Coombe, is a venerable brick building, two stories high, with a pedestrian statue of George II. over the entrance, and in the hall a portrait of the same king woven in tapestry, and one member of the family of La Touche, who had greatly encouraged the manufacture. The Carpenters’ Hall is in Audoen’s-arch, the Goldsmiths’ in Golden-lane, and the Cutlerts’ in Capel-street.
The city returns two members to the Imperial parliament; the right of election, originally vested in the corporation, freemen, and 40s, freeholders, was extended to the £10 householders, and £20 and £10 leaseholders for the respective terms of 14 and 20 years, by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 88. The number of voters, registered at the first general election under that act was 7041, of whom 5126 voted. The limits of the city, for parliamentary purposes, include an area of 4943 statute acres. the number of freemen is about 3500, of whom 2500 are resident and 1000 non-resident, and the number of £10 houses is 16,000.
Before the passing of the Municipal Corporations’ act, the corporation used to hold general courts of quarter assembly at Christmas, Easter, Midsummer, and Michaelmas, which were occasionally adjourned; and post-assemblies sometimes for particular purposes. As a justice of the peace, the lord mayor presided at the city quarter-sessions, and always attended on the first day to open the court, accompanied by some of the aldermen, it being necessary that two at least of that body should be present with the lord mayor or recorder to form a quorum. The lord mayor’s and sheriffs’ courts were held on the Thursday after the first day of the sessions; each had cognizance of personal actions to any amount above £2; the process was by attachment of the defendant’s goods. The lord mayor’s court, in which he was the sole judge, was held every Thursday, either at the city sessions-house, where it was an open court, or in the Mansion-house, where it might be private; it had summary jurisdiction, and took cognizance of complaints, nuisances, information, &c. The court of conscience, for determining causes and recovering debts not exceeding £2 late currency, was held daily before the president, in the city assembly house in William-street. Some of these courts still exist, under new arrangements. The police establishment, as regulated by the Duke of Wellington, when chief secretary for Ireland, was under the control of a chief magistrate, aided by eleven others, three of whom sat daily at one of the offices of the four divisions, according to which the city was arranged: to each office a chief constable and petty constables were attached. The police force, consisting of a horse-patrol of 29 men, a foot patrol of 169, 26 watch-constables, and 539 watchmen, was maintained at an expense of about £40,000 per annum. By an act passed in 1836, the police of the metropolis were placed under two commissioners appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant, and the boundaries of their jurisdiction were determined to be the rivers Dodder and Tolka to the south and north, and Knock maroon hill to the west, which boundary the act allowed to be extended according to the discretion of the Lord-Lieutenant and Privy Council. The city was ordered to be assessed for the payment of the establishment, by a rate not exceeding b.8. in the pound, according to the valuation made under the act of the 5th of George IV. The boundaries of the police district are now much more extensive than those settled by the act, and the four magistrates’ divisions are named respectively the Castle, College, Rotundo, and Kingstown divisions: there were, in 1845.7 superintendents, 24 inspectors, 115 Serjeants, and 991 constables.
The Mansion-house, the residence of the lord mayor during his year of office, is externally a plain edifice of brick, on a detached and receding site on the south side of Dawson-street; the interior contains some large apartments fitted up in an antiquated style. On the left of the entrance-hall is the “Gilt-room,” a small apartment in which is a portrait of William III., by Gubbins. This room opens into the drawing-room, which is 50 feet long; the walls are hung with portraits of Earl Whitworth, the Earls of Hardwicke and West-Moreland, John Foster, who was the last speaker of the Irish house of commons, and Alderman Alexander. Beyond this is the ball-room, used also for civic dinners, 55 feet long, and wainscoted with Irish oak: in this room are placed the two city swords, the mace, the cap of maintenance, and the gold collar of SS, presented by William III., to replace that presented by Charles II., which had been lost in the time of James II.; it also contains portraits of Charles II., George II., the Duke of Cumberland, and the late Duke of Richmond. A door from the ball-room opens into a noble rotundo, 90 feet in diameter, round which is continued a corridor 5 feet wide: the walls are painted in imitation of tapestry, and the room is covered with a dome; in the centre is a lantern, by which the apartment is lighted. It was built in 1821 expressly for the reception of George IV., who honoured the corporation with his presence at dinner. On the right of the entrance-hall are, the Exchequer-room, wainscoted with Irish oak, and hung with portraits of the Duke of Bolton, the Earl of Buckingham, the Marquess of Buckingham, and Earl Harcourt; and the room formerly called the Sheriffs-room, 40 feet long, in which are portraits of the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Townsend, John, Duke of Bedford, and Aldermen Sankey, Manders, and Thorpe, the last of whom is distinguished by the title of “the good lord mayor.” An equestrian statue of George I., which was formerly on Essex-bridge, is placed in the lawn at the side of the mansion-house and at the extremity of the court in which the rotunda is built, are colossal statues of Charles II. and William III.
The City assembly-house, purchased by the corporation from the artists of Dublin, by whom it had been built for an exhibition-room, is a plain but commodious structure in William-street, and contains several good apartments. In the circular room the common-council holds its meetings; the board of aldermen meets in another apartment; and under the common-council room is a circular apartment in which the court of conscience is held. The Sessions-house, in Green-street, opened for business in 1797, is ornamented in front with a central pediment and cornice supported by six engaged columns rising from a broad platform, to which is an ascent by a flight of steps extending along the whole front of the building: on each side of the centre are the doors of entrance to the court-rooms. In another front, corresponding with this, in Halston-street are the entrances to the apartments occupied by the agents during contested elections. The interior of the building is spacious, lofty, and well arranged; the ceiling is supported by Ionic columns.
The principal prison for malefactors of all classes is Newgate, situated near the sessions-house, in Green-street: it is a square building, flanked at each angle by a round tower with loop-hole windows. The interior is divided into two nearly equal portions by a broad passage with high walls on each side, having iron-gates at intervals, through the greetings of which visitors may converse with the prisoners; the cells are neither sufficiently numerous nor large, nor is the prison well adapted for due classification. A chapel attached to is attended by three chaplains; one of the Established Church, one of the Roman Catholic, and one of the Presbyterian religion. The Sheriffs Prison, in Greet, street, was built in 1794, and occupies three sides of quadrangle, with an area in the centre, which is used as a ball-court; it is visited by the chaplains of Newgate and a medical inspector. The City Marshalsea, a brick building attached to the preceding, was originally designed for prisoners committed from the lord mayor court for debts under £10, and from the court of conscience. The late Smithfield Penitentiary was appropriated to the confinement of juvenile convicts not exceeding 19 years of age: it was visited by three chaplains, and inspected by the divisional magistrates; an efficient classification was observed, and all the prisoners were regularly employed. This penitentiary was abolished in 1840. The Richmond Bridewell, on the Circular road, erected by the city at an expense of £40,000, is a spacious structure enclosed by walls flanked with towers at the angles, and is entered by a massive gateway; between the outer wall and the main building is a wide space intended for a rope-walk. The interior consists chiefly of two quadrangles, the sides of which are all occupied by buildings: the cells, which are on the first floor open into corridors with entrances at each end; the rooms in the second floor are used as work-rooms. The male and female prisoners occupy distinct portions of the prison; those not sentenced to the tread-mill are employed in profitable labour, and a portion of their earnings is paid to them on their discharge. They are visited by a Protestant, a Presbyterian, and a Roman Catholic, chaplain; a physician; surgeon; and apothecary. The Richmond Female Penitentiary, Grange Gorman-lane, was opened in April, 1837, under the direction of the Board of Superintendence for the city gaols, and is adapted to the confinement of offenders convicted at the commissions, the city sessions, and by the police magistrates; it likewise receives, for a short time, the female convicts of Ireland, preparatory to their transportation to New South Wales. A great improvement in the prisons was affected some few years since.
Attached to the city are, the manor or liberty of St. Sepulchre, belonging to the archbishop of Dublin; the manor of Grange Gorman or Glasnevin, belonging to the dean of Christ Church; the manor of Thomas-Court and Donore, belonging to the Earl of Meath; and the liberty of the deanery of St. Patrick. The Liberty of St. Sepulchre extends over a part of the city, including the parishes of St. Patrick, St. Nicholas Without, and St. Kevin, also over a large tract of the county of Dublin to the south-east of the city, as far as the Wicklow boundary, including a small portion of the latter county and of Kildare, bordering on that of Dublin. The court is held at Long-lane, in the county of Dublin, before the archbishop’s seneschal, and has a very extensive criminal as well as civil jurisdiction, but exercises only the latter: the court-house and prison are both insignificant buildings. The court possesses a civil bill jurisdiction to any amount, extended to the Dublin manor courts in 1826. At the record side, the proceedings are either by action against the body, for sums under £20 by service and above it by arrest; or, for sums above £10, by attachment against the goods. The court at the record side sits every Tuesday and Friday; the civil-bill court generally on alternate Wednesdays, except in the law terms, when it stands adjourned. At this court, in which a jury is always impanelled and sworn, sums to any amount may be recovered at a trifling expense. The jurisdiction of the Manor Court of Glasnevin is also of great extent, comprising the baronies of Coolock, Castleknock, and Rathdown, in the county of Dublin, and the lordship of St. Mary’s Abbey, which includes portions of the city and county. The seneschal site in Dublin every Friday, and at Kingstown on alternate Fridays for the convenience of that town and the surrounding parishes within his jurisdiction. Causes are tried before a jury, and debts to any amount are recoverable at a small expense; from 900 to 1000 causes are beard annually. Thomas-Court and Donore Manor Court has a jurisdiction extending over the barony of Donore, and that part of the liberty of Thomas-Court which is within the city: the civil-bill court, in which debts to any amount are recoverable, is held every Wednesday in the court-house situated in Thomas-Court, a plain building; a record court is held there regularly every Wednesday and Saturday.
VICE-REGAL GOVERNMENT, AND BUILDINGS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Dublin is the seat of the vice-regal government, consisting of a lord-lieutenant and privy council, assisted by a chief secretary, under-secretary, and a large establishment of inferior officers and under-clerks both for state and the despatch of business.
The official residence of the Lord-Lieutenant is Dublin Castle, first appropriated to that purpose in the reign of Elizabeth; but his usual residence is the Vice-regal Lodge, in the Phoenix Park. The buildings of the Castle form two quadrangles, called the Upper and Lower Yards. The Upper, 280 feet by 130, contains the Lord-Lieutenant’s apartments, which occupy the whole of the south and part of the east sides; the council-chamber and offices connected with it; the apartments and offices of the chief secretary, and of several of the officers of the household; and the apartments of the master of the ceremonies, and of the aides-de-camp of the viceroy. The entrance into this court is on the north side by a massive gateway towards the east end, ornamented by a figure of Justice above the arch; and towards the west end is a corresponding gateway, which is not used, ornamented by a figure of Fortitude; both figures by Van Nost. The approach to the vice-regal apartments is under a colonnade on the south side, leading into a large hall, and thence by a fine staircase to the state apartments, containing the Presence-chamber and the Ball-room. In the former is the throne, of gilt carved work, under a canopy of crimson velvet richly ornamented with gold lace; the latter, which, since the institution of the order of St. Patrick, has been called St. Patrick’s Hall, bas its walls decorated with paintings, and the ceiling, which is panelled in three compartments, has in the centre a full-length portrait of George III., supported by Liberty and Justice, with various allegorical devices. Between the gateways, on the north side of the court, are the apartments of the dean of the chapel-royal and the chamberlain, a range of building ornamented with Ionic columns rising from a rusticated basement and supporting a cornice and pediment, above which is the Bedford Tower. embellished with Corinthian pillars, and surmounted by a lofty dome, from whose summit the royal standard is displayed on days of state. In the eastern side of the Upper Yard is the Council-chamber, a large but plain apartment, in which the lord-lieutenants are publicly sworn into office, and where the privy council holds its sittings. The privy council consists of the Lord Primate, the Lord Chancellor, the chief justices, and a number of prelates, noblemen, public functionaries, and others nominated by the Queen. This body exercises a judicial authority, especially in ecclesiastical matters, as a court of final resort, the duties being discharged by a committee selected from among the legal functionaries who are members of it. The Lower Yard is an irregular area, 250 feet long and 220 feet wide: in it are, the treasury buildings, of antiquated style and rapidly decaying; the ordnance department, a modern brick building, and the office of the quarter-master-general, besides which are the stables, riding-house, and the official residence of the master of the horse. To the east of the Record Tower is the Castle Chapel, rebuilt at an expense of £42,000, principally after a design by Johnston, and opened in 1814; it is an elegant structure, in the later style of English architecture. The interior is lighted on each side by six windows of handsome design, enriched with tracery, and embellished with stained glass. The east window, which is of large dimensions and of beautiful design, is also of stained glass, representing our Saviour before Pilate, and the Four Evangelists in compartments, with an exquisite group of Faith, Hope, and Charity; it was purchased on the continent, and presented to the chapel, by Lord Whitworth, during his vice-royalty.
THE PHOENIX PARK, situated westward of the city, and north of the Liffey, is 7 miles in circumference, comprising an area of 1759 acres enclosed by a stone wall. Its name is derived from the Irish term Finniske, “a spring of clear water,” now corrupted into Phoenix. A lofty fluted Corinthian pillar resting on a massive pedestal, and having on the abacus a phoenix rising from the flames, was erected near the lord-lieutenant’s lodge by the Earl of Chesterfield, when chief governor. The Lodge was purchased from Mr. Clements, by whom it had been built, and was originally a plain mansion of brick. Lord Hardwicke, however, in 1802, added wings, in one of which is the great dining-hall; the Duke of Richmond, in 1808, built the north portico of the Doric order, and the entrance lodges from the Dublin road, and Lord Whitworth added the south front, which has a pediment supported by four Ionic columns of Port-land stone, from a design by Johnston. The demesne attached to the Lodge comprises 162 acres. The Wellington Memorial occupies an elevated position: it consists of a massive truncated obelisk, 205 feet high from the ground, and resting on a square pedestal 24 feet high, which is based on a platform 480 feet in circuit, rising by steps to the height of 20 feet. On each side of the pedestal are sunken panels intended to receive sculptures in alto-relievo, representing the principal victories of the duke; and on each side of the obelisk are enumerated all his battles, from his first career in India to the victory at Waterloo. In front of the eastern side of the pedestal rises another of small proportions, for an equestrian statue of the duke after his decease. The whole has been so far completed at an expense of £20,000. The park also contains residences for the ranger, the principal secretary of state, and the under-secretary. The Powder Magazine, erected in 1738, is a square foot with half-bastions at the angles, surrounded by a dry ditch, and entered by a drawbridge; in the interior are the magazines, which are bomb-proof and well secured against accidental fire. It is defended by ten 24-pounders. Near the Vice-regal Lodge, a level of about 50 acres, cleared of trees, is used as a place of exercise and reviews for the troops of the garrison. In other parts are the buildings of the Hibernian School for soldiers’ children, the buildings for the trigonometrical survey of Ireland, the Military Infirmary, the Police Barracks, and the garden of the Zoological Society. Near one of the entrances to the Vice-regal Lodge, in a wooded glen, is a chalybeate spa surrounded with pleasure-grounds, and furnished with seats for invalids, fitted up at the expense of the Duchess Dowager of Richmond for the accommodation of the public.
The MILITARY department is under the control of the commander of the forces, under whom are the departments of the adjutant-general, quarter-master-general, royal artillery, engineers, commissariat, and medical staff. The garrison is under the more immediate command of the general officer commanding the Dublin district, the head-quarters of which are in the city. The commander of the forces resides in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainhan, of which he is master by virtue of his office: this hospital was founded for superannuated and maimed soldiers, in 1679, by royal charter, on the site of the dissolved priory of St. John of Jerusalem, at an expense of £23,559. The building consists of a quadrangle, 306 feet by 288 on the outside, inclosing an area of 210 feet square. On the north side is the dining-hall, 100 feet by 50, the walls of which are appropriately ornamented with guns, pikes, and swords, and with standards taken from the Spaniards. The chapel is a plain but venerable structure: the east window, ornamented with stained glass, is very large, and beneath it is the communion-table, of highly wrought Irish oak. The remainder of the quadrangle, round which is a covered walk, is appropriated to the use of the inmates: the present establishment is for 5 captains, an adjutant, and 250 soldiers selected from the out-pensioners, whose number is about 20,000. The building is surrounded by a space of ground laid out in lawns and avenues well planted: its principal approach is from the military road. The expenses were defrayed by a deduction of sixpence in the pound from all military issues from the Irish treasury, till 1796, when, on the surrender to Government of a considerable portion of the estates, it was resolved to issue an annual grant of parliament.
The garrison of the city is quartered in several barracks. The largest and oldest are the Royal Barracks, situated on an eminence overlooking the Liffey, between the city and the principal gate of the Phoenix Park: the chief entrances are by two gates from Barrack-street. The buildings are adapted for 10 field officers, 83 officers, 2003 non-commissioned officers and privates, and 460 horses, with an hospital for 240 patients; they are divided into five squares, designated the Royal, Palatine, Cavalry, Stable, and Clock squares. The Richmond barracks, near Golden-Bridge, on the bank of the Grand Canal, have accommodation for 76 officers of infantry and 1602 non-commissioned officers and privates, and an hospital for 100 patients. The Portobello cavalry barracks, likewise on the Grand Canal, are adapted for 27 officers and 520 men, with stabling for 540 horses, and an hospital for 40 patients. The barracks in the Phoenix Park, for infantry, have accommodation for 10 officers and 250 non-commissioned officers and men; and connected with the powder magazine, also in the park, are accommodations for one officer of artillery and 18 men. The Island-Bridge barracks, for artillery, are adapted for 23 officers and 547 men, with stabling for 185 horses, and an hospital for 48 patients. The Recruiting Depot at Beggars Bush beyond Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital, consists of a fort enclosed with a wall, and four bastions with defences for musketry; and affords accommodation for 22 officers and 360 privates, with an hospital for 39 patients. The Pigeon-house Fort is situated on the south wall, midway between Ringsend and the Lighthouse; and comprises a magazine, arsenal, and custom-house, the whole enclosed with strong fortifications, and garrisoned by 16 officers of foot and artillery and 201 men, with stabling for 13 horses, and an hospital for 17 men. Adjoining the fort is a basin, 900 feet by 450, intended for a packet station; but since the formation of Howth and Kingstown harbours, it has not been used. In the north-east of Dublin are the Aldborough House barracks.
The Military Infirmary, designed for sick and wounded soldiers who cannot be properly treated in the regimental hospitals, is in the Phoenix Park, near its principal entrance.
COURTS OF JUSTICE
The supreme courts of judicature consist of the Chancery, in which the lord chancellor presides, assisted by the Master of the Rolls, who holds a subordinate court; the King’s Bench, which is under the superintendence of a chief justice and three puisne judges; the Common Pleas, under a similar superintendence of four judges. and the Exchequer, which contains two departments, one for the management of the revenue, the other a court both of equity and law, in which a chief baron and three puisne barons preside. The courts are held in a magnificent structure, commonly called the Four Courts, situated on the north side of the river, and having Richmond and Whitworth bridges at its eastern and western extremities; it consists of a central pile, 140 feet square, containing the courts, and two wrings, in which are most of the offices connected with the despatch of legal business: these, with the centre, form two quadrangles. The front of the building consists of a boldly projecting central portico of six Corinthian columns, rising from a platform, to which is an ascent by five steps, and supporting a highly enriched cornice surmounted by a triangular pediment, having on the apex a statue of Moses, and at the end’s statues of Justice and of Mercy. Through the portico is the principal entrance into the great circular hall: opposite to this entrance is a passage to apartments connected with the courts, and on each side of the hall are others leading to the two quadrangles. In the intervals between these four passages are the entrances to the four chief courts; the Chancery on the north-west, the King’s Bench on the north-east, the Common Pleas on the south-east, and the Exchequer on the south-west. The Rolls’ Court was originally held in an apartment in the northern part of the central building, between the Courts of Chancery and King’s Bench; where also are apartments used as a law library and a coffee-room. The eastern wing, which forms the northern and eastern sides of one quadrangle, is appropriated to the offices belonging to the Common Pleas, and some of those of the Chancery, the remainder of which, with the King’s Bench and Exchequer offices, are in the northern and western sides of the other wing. A new building, for a Rolls’ Court and a Nisi Prius Court, has been erected between the northern side of the main building and Pill-lane, on a piece of ground purchased for the purpose of isolating the courts, in order to diminish the risk of fire, and to provide additional accommodation for the augmentation of legal proceedings. The stately and sumptuous structure of the Four Courts was begun by Mr. Thomas Cooley, architect, and completed by Mr. Gandon, at an expense of about £200,000. the whole of the sculpture was executed by Mr. Edward Smith, a native artist.
INNS Of COURT
The King’s Inns are situated on a piece of elevated ground of about three acres, formerly called the Primate’s Garden, at the northern end of Henrietta-street, the tenure of which, having been deemed doubtful, as being under the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, was secured to the society by act of parliament. The structure consists of a centre and two wings, each with a back return; the principal front has a northern aspect, looking towards the rear of the houses on Constitution-hill, but the more usual approach for purposes of business is at the rear, through Henrietta-street. The centre, which is crowned with an elegant octagonal cupola and dome, forms a lofty arched gateway, with a door on each side, leading into a confined area between the wings, the northern of which contains the dining-hail, and the southern, the Prerogative and Consistorial Courts, and the repository for the registration of deeds. The Prerogative Court is established for the trial of all testamentary cases where the testator has bequeathed property in more than one diocese. Its jurisdiction is vested in the Lord Primate, under the acts of the 28th of Henry VIII. and 2nd of Elizabeth, which give him power to appoint the judge or commissary, who ranks next after the judges of the supreme courts. In the Consistorial Court are decided all cases of ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the province of Dublin. The Library of the King’s Inns is kept in a separate building, erected in Henrietta-street in 1827, at an expense of £20,000, after designs by Mr. Darley; the upper story is a spacious apartment, with recesses for the books and a gallery continued all round. It contains a very extensive collection, which was partly the property of Christopher Robinson, Esq., senior puisne judge of the Court of King’s Bench; the law books were chiefly selected by Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor. The library was formerly entitled to one of the eleven copies of new publications appropriated to the public institutions under the Copyright act, which right has been commuted for an equivalent in money. The lower part of the building contains accommodations for the librarian, who is consequently resident.
Bankrupt cases used to be tried before commissioners appointed by the lord chancellor, of whom there were 25, arranged in five sets who presided alternately; the court was held in an upper apartment of the Royal Exchange. By a late act, however, the duties were transferred to a couple of judges, under the title of Commissioners of Bankruptcies. The court for the relief of Insolvent Debtors was placed by an act of the 2nd of George IV. under the jurisdiction of two commissioners, appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant, who hold their court in North Strand-street, with which is connected a suite of offices on Lower Ormond-quay. Prisoners under processes from the courts of justice, and insolvent debtors, are confined in the Four-Courts Marshalsea, a large building in Marshalsea-lane, off Thomas-street; the prison has two court-yards, two chapels, several common halls, and a ball-court. The Law Club was instituted in 1791 by a number of the most respectable solicitors and attorneys: the club-house is a plain building in Dame-street. The Law Society was formed in 1830; it proposes to form a law library, and to erect a common hall for the purposes of the society: the meetings are at present held in chambers on the King’s Inns quay. The Law Students’ Society, instituted in the year 1830, consists exclusively of law students and of barristers.
ECCLESIASTICAL STATE: ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEE OF DUBLIN AND GLENDALOUGH: CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST CHURCH
The See of Dublin comprehended both the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough until the arrival of the Danes, who, having settled themselves in the plain country on each side of the Liffey, on their conversion to Christianity established a separate bishop, who derived his spiritual authority from the archbishop of Canterbury, and acknowledged him as his superior. Donat, the first bishop of Dublin chosen by the Danes, built the conventual and cathedral church of the Holy Trinity, usually called Christ Church, about the year 1038. His successor, Patrick, on his election by the people of Dublin, was sent to England to be consecrated by Lanfrane, Archbishop of Canterbury. Gregory, the third in succession after Patrick, on proceeding to England on a similar mission, carried with him a letter from his flock, in which notice is taken of the animosity of the Irish bishops in consequence of their compelled acknowledgment of the jurisdiction of an English prelate. In 1152 the see was raised to an archbishopric by Cardinal Paparo, the Pope’s legate, who invested Gregory with one of four archiepiscopal palls brought from Rome. Laurence O’Toole was the first archbishop who did not go to England for consecration: the ceremony in his case was performed in Christ Church by Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh, and the custom of having recourse to Canterbury was never afterwards resumed. Archbishop Laurence proceeded in 1179 to Rome, where he assisted at the second council of Lateran, and obtained a bull confirming that which had decreed the dioceses of Glendalough, Kildare, Ferns, Leighlin, and Ossory, to be suffragan to the metropolitan see of Dublin. On the death of Laurence, Henry II. bestowed the archbishopric on John Comyn, an Englishman, and granted him the temporalities, with power to hold manor courts. The archbishops henceforward were lords of parliament in right of the barony of Coillach. On Comyn’s cration, Pope Lucius III. invested the see with supreme ecclesiastical authority within the province, whence originated the long-continued controversy between the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, which is fully detailed in the account of the former see. In the archiepiscopal investiture granted by Cardinal Paparo, the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough were considered to be, strictly speaking, a single see; but in compliance with the wishes of the inhabitants of the mountain districts, which contained the latter diocese, it was allowed to retain its name and a separate subordinate existence. King John, in 1185, granted to Comyn the reversion of this bishopric on its next avoidance, and the charter to this effect was confirmed by Matthew O’Heney, Archbishop of Cashel, the Pope’s legate, at a synod held in Dublin in 1192. But though this union was legally effected about the year 1214, the mountain clans, who still unamenable to English law, long continued to appoint their own bishops of Glendalough. Henry Loundres, the next archbishop, appears to have exercised the privileges of a peer of parliament in England, perhaps in right of the manor of Penkridge in Staffordshire granted to the see by Hugh Hussey, founder of the Galtrim family in Ireland, and which long formed in peculiar of the diocese. The same prelate raised the collegiate church of St. Patrick, which had been erected by his predecessor, to the dignity of a cathedral, a consequence of which the diocese continues to have two cathedral churches. This circumstance afterwards gave rise to a violent contest between the two chapters as to the right of electing an archbishop. The dispute was terminated by an agreement that the archbishop shod be consecrated and enthroned in Christ Church, which, as being the more ancient, should have the precedency, and that the crosier, mitre, and ring of every archbishop, in whatever place he died, should be deposited in it; but that both churches should be cathedral and metropolitan. There have been always two archdeaconries in the united diocese of Dublin and Glendalogh, whose jurisdictions may have been formerly coterminous with the respective sees; but the long and intimate union of these, and the little use made of the archidiaconal functions, render it nearly impossible to define their limits with any degree of accuracy.
The records of CHRIST CHURCH inform us that owes its foundation to Sitric, the son of Anlaffe, king of Dublin; who, about the year 1038, gave to Donat bishop of that see, a place where arches or vaults had been built, on which to erect a church to the honour of the Blessed Trinity, to whom the building was accordingly dedicated. It was originally the conventual church of a monastery of secular canons unattached to any of the coenobitical orders, who were changed by Laurence O’Toole, in 1163, to Canons Regular of the order of Arras, a branch of the Augustinians. Sitric had endowed this establishment with some small tracts on the sea-coast of the present county of Dahlia; these possessions were greatly extended after the arrival of the English, when the successive augmentations of its revenue raised the monastery to the rank of west the most important priories in the island. Its privileges were confirmed by Henry II. and his successor; its priors were spiritual peers of parliament. This convent had an endowed cell in the diocese of Armagh.
In 1541, Henry VIII. changed the monastic establishment into a DEAN and CHAPTER, confirming estates and immunities, and making payneswick, the last prior, its first dean on the new foundation, which consisted of a dean, chanter or precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and six vicars-choral. Archbishop Brown, in 1544, erected in this church the three prebends of St. Michael’s, St. Michan’s, and St. John’s; and from the time of these alterations, it has generally borne the name of Christ Church, instead of that of the Holy Trinity. King Edward VI. added six Priests two choristers or singing-boys, to whom he assigns pension of £45. 6. 8. per annum, payable out of the exchequer during pleasure. Queen Mary confirmed this pension, and granted it in perpetuity. James I. made some further alterations, and ordained that the archdeacon of Dublin should have a stall in the choir, and a voice and seat in the chapter in all capitular acts relating to the church. Welbore Ellis, the eleventh dean, installed in 1705, was subsequently made bishop of Kildare, from which period the deanery has continued to be held in commendam with that bishopric. The gross annual revenue of the deanery, on an average of three years ending Dec. 31st, 1831, was £5314. 5. The cathedral establishment consists at present, therefore, of the dean (who is also bishop of Kildare, and guardian of the temporalities of the sec during its vacancy on the death or avoidance of the archbishop), the chanter, chancellor, treasurer, archdeacon, and the three above-named prebendaries, under whom are six vicars-choral, six stipendiaries or choirmen, six singing-boys, and a registrar. The advowsons of the Dean and Chapter are (besides the three prebends already mentioned) the rectories of St. Mary, St. Paul, and St. Thomas, and the vicarage of Balscaddan, all in Dublin diocese; the alternate presentation to the rectory of St. George, Dublin, and the fourth turn to the union of Barons town, in the county of Louth. For the repairs of the building and the payment of the inferior officers, there is an economy fund, amounting on an average of three years ending 31st of Dec, 1831, to £2386. 8. per annum, arising mostly from rents, tithes, and the dividends on about £10,000 funded property, including also the above-named pension.
The Ecclesiastical Province of Dublin, over which the Archbishop presides, now comprehends the sixteen dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. Kildare, Ossory, Ferns, Leighlin, Cashel, Emly, Waterford, Lismore, Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, Cork, Ross, Cloyne, Killaloe, and Kilfenora. It was till lately entirely included in the civil province of Leinster, and was estimated to comprise an area of 1,837,350 acres, extending over Dublin and Glendalough, Kildare, Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin. Under the Church Temporalities’ act (3rd and 4th of William IV., c. 37), on the next vacancy in the bishopric of Kildare, that see is to be permanently united with Dublin and Glendalough; and in like manner the bishopric of Ossory has already been permanently united with Ferns and Leighlin. The act also provided that, on the avoidance of the see of Cashel, that archbishopric was to be reduced to the rank of a bishopric, and, together, with all its dependent sees, to be suffragan to the Archbishop of Dublin, whose jurisdiction was then to extend over the whole of Munster, the greater part of Leinster, and part of Galway in Connaught. The Arch- bishop of Cashel, Dr. Laurence, having died in 1839, this provision has been carried out, and the ecclesiastical province of Dublin now includes the 16 dioceses already enumerated.
The Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough extends over all the county of Dublin, together with parts of Queen’s county, Wicklow, Kildare, and Wexford; and contains an estimated area of 477,950 acres, of which 142,050 are in Dublin, 600 in Queen’s county, 257.400 in Wicklow, 75,000 in Kildare, and 2900 in Wexford. The lands belonging to the united see amount to 34,040 statute acres, of which 23,936 are profitable land; and the gross income on an average of three years ending Dec. 31st, 1831, was £9230. 12. 9. It comprises 95 benefices, exclusively of chapelries; of these, 39 are unions of two or more parishes, and 56 are single parishes or parts of parishes: 11 of them are in the gift of the Crown, 39 in lay and corporation patronage, 5 in joint or alternate presentation, and the remainder in the patronage of the Archbishop, or incumbents. The parishes or districts are 180: there are 124 churches, 9 other buildings in which divine worship is performed, and 50 glebe-houses. The diocesan school is endowed with 10 acres of land, and £100 late currency, for the master.
In the Roman Catholic divisions, the Archbishop of Dublin is primate of Ireland, and his three suffragan bishops are those of Kildare and Leighlin, Ossory, and Ferns: he is styled only Archbishop of Dublin, and not of Dublin and Glendalough, as in the Established Church. The Roman Catholic diocese of Dublin comprises 48 parochial districts, of which 9 are in the city; and contains 121 chapels, served by 153 clergymen, 48 of whom are parish priests and 105 coadjutors or curates. The archbishop’s parish is St. Mary’s, in which is the Roman Catholic cathedral, called the Metropolitan Church, or Church of the Conception. The chapter consists of the same number and denomination of officers as the chapter of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but the dean and precentor are styled vicars-general.
The Cathedral of Christ Church is a long cruciform building, composed of a nave, a north aisle, transepts, and choir, with a central tower. The southern transept, measuring ninety feet by twenty-five, is entered by a Norman doorway in good preservation; the tower is a low massive pile, terminating in a pointed roof. The whole of the building was recently repaired, and several improvements made at an expense of upwards of £8000 from the economy fund. The choir is separated from the nave by an elegant screen, above which is the organ gallery; and is decorated with a noble eastern window of stained glass, representing the armorial bearings of the members of the chapter, and having its lower part ornamented with an enriched border of open work above the altar. The ceiling is intersected with quadrangular mouldings, with heavy bosses at the points of intersection serving to conceal a deviation from the straight line of direction between the entrance and the altar window, which is an irremediable defect in the original construction: a handsome border of tracery work goes round the walls. There are several remarkable monuments, the greater number of which are placed against the blank south wall of the nave. Among them are, one of Strongbow, and of his wife Eva, or of his son, mutilated by the fall of the roof, and placed in its present situation by the Lord- Deputy Sidney, in 1570; a very beautiful monument of Thomas Prior, an early and zealous promoter of the Dublin Society; one of Lord Chancellor Bowes, another of Lord Chancellor Lifford; and a fourth of Robert, Earl of Kildare, who died in 1743; besides those of several successive bishops of Kildare. A very fine monument has been erected to the memory of Nathaniel Sneyd, Esq., who was shot by a lunatic while walking in Westmoreland-street. Various eminent prelates of the see of Dublin have been interred within the walls of the church.
St. Patrick’s
John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, having erected a collegiate church for 13 prebendaries, in the southern suburbs of the city, on the site of an ancient parochial church said to have been founded by St. Patrick in 448, dedicated it to God, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Patrick, and endowed it amply. Henry de Loundres, his successor, raised it to the dignity of a cathedral, consisting of a dean, precentor, chancellor, and treasurer, with thirteen prebendaries; increased its temporalities; and authorised the members to hear all pleas of their parishioners in their prebendal and economy churches. From a taxation in 1227, the number of prebendaries appears to have then increased to 22, three of whom had been added by Bishop Ferings. The controversy which arose between this cathedral and that of Christ Church, as to the right of electing the archbishop, has been noticed in the account of the latter cathedral. Among other privileges granted to the canons of the church by Henry VIII., was a dispensation from parochial residence on any other benefice, on condition of maintaining hospitality in the cathedral: but the establishment was soon after dissolved by the same monarch in 1546, together with the monastic institutions. Edward VI. disposed of the church and its appendages for a parish church, a seat for the courts of justice, a grammar school or literary college, and an hospital; the deanery was assigned for the archbishop’s residence, and the lord-deputy took possession of the archiepiscopal palace. But this arrangement was revoked by Queen Mary, who at the beginning of her reign restored the cathedral to all its former privileges, by a charter commonly called the Charter of Restitution.
At present the CHAPTER consists of a dean, precentor, chancellor, and treasurer, the archdeacons of Dublin and Glendalough, and the prebendaries of Cullen, Swords, Kilmactalway, Yago, St. Audoen’s, Clonmethan, Wicklow, Timothan, Mullahidart, Castleknock, Tipper, Tassagard, Dunlavan, Maynooth, Howth, Rathmichael, Mon- mohenock, Stagonil, Tipperkevin, and Donoughmore in Omaile. The dignity of dean has always been elective in the chapter, on the conge d’elire of the archbishop, except in cases of the promotion of the former dean to a bishopric, the vacancy of the archiepiscopal see, or the neglect of the chapter, in which cases the appointment belongs of right to the Crown. The powers of the chapter in this regard were twice infringed upon, but they have been restored by its perseverance. By the original charter and the statute of the 14th of Edward IV., the dean was constituted the immediate ordinary and prelate of the church of St. Patrick, and exercises episcopal jurisdiction throughout the liberties and economy thereof: he has a spiritual court in which his official or commissary, and a temporal court in which his seneschal general, presides; and he grants marriage licences, probate of wills, &c. The gross yearly revenue of the deanery, on an average of three years ending Dec. 31st, 1831, amounted to £1997. 8. By the Church Temporalities’ act the dean of St. Patrick’s is to be dean of Christ Church also; on the next avoidance of that deanery, he will be dean of Christ Church without installation or induction. The dean and chapter have the right of presentation to the parishes of St. Bridget, St. Nicholas Within, and St. Nicholas Without, and to the curacies of Malahide and Crumlin. The dean, in right of his dignity, presents to the vicarage of Kilberry; the precentor and archbishop have the alternate presentation of the vicarage of Lusk; and the archdeacon of Dublin that of the perpetual cure of Booters-town, and two turns out of three of the united cures of Kilternan and Kilgobbin. The gross amount of the economy fund, on an average of three years ending the 29th of Sept., 1831, was £2076. 2. The archdeacon of Dublin had a stall in the chapter of the cathedral of Christ Church, and a voice in the election of the archbishop, previously to his possessing the same in that of St. Patrick; bat the archdeacon of Glendalough had neither of these rights until about the year 1267, when a new prebend was erected and annexed to the office.
An additional corporation of six minor canons (since reduced to four) and six choristers, was established in 1431 by Archbishop Talbot, on account of the devastations of the lands of the prebends having rendered there insufficient for the service of the church; the first in rank he styled subdean, and the second succentor. He endowed the entire body with the tithes of Swords, except such portions as had been especially allotted to the prebendary and perpetual vicar; and vested the appointment and dismissal of the minor canons in the dean and chapter, and of the choristers in the precentor. This arrangement was sanctioned by Henry VI. and Pope Eugenius IV., who fixed the rank of the minor canons between that of prebendaries and vicars-choral. In 1520 the minor canons and choristers were made a body corporate by charter.
Archbishop Henry de Loundres, at the time he established the four dignitaries, instituted also the college of vicars-choral, for whose common support he granted the church of Keneth (now Kinneagh), to which various endowments were subsequently added. The head of this college, styled sub-dean, or dean’s vicar, enjoyed very considerable authority, possessing even a seat in the chapter; as also did the next vicar, called the sub-chanter, or chanter’s vicar. They were incorporated by Richard II., and received their last charter from Charles I., who fixed their number at twelve, of whom five at least were to be priests, and the dean’s vicar was to have a superior salary, and extensive power over the rest: the salary of the twelve vicars is directed by this charter to be apportioned by the dean and chapter, the former of whom enjoys the nomination to all vacancies; but out of the body thus appointed, the chanter, chancellor, and treasurer, choose their respective vicars, as also does the archdeacon of Dublin. The charter likewise secures to the archbishop his ancient visitorial power; forms the college into a body corporate; confirms their ancient possessions; and binds them to pay a master of the choristers, and two singing-boys in addition to the four choristers.
The Cathedral of St. Patrick is a venerable cruciform pile, 300 feet in length, of which the nave occupies 130 feet, the choir 90, and St. Mary’s chapel 55: the transept extends 157 feet in length. The nave, the entrance to which is by a beautifully arched and deeply reading doorway, is 30 feet in width, with two aisles, each 14 feet wide, separated from the nave by octagonal pillars supporting plain Gothic arches, of dissimilar arrangement, but imposing appearance: it is lofty, and is lighted by a magnificent window at the western end, over the main entrance. In the south end of the transept is the chapter-house; the entire northern end is occupied by the parish church of St. Nicholas. The monuments in this cathedral are numerous: among the most remarkable in the nave are those of Archbishops Smith and Marsh, and that of the Earl of Cavan, who died in 1778, and on two pillars on the south side are tablets to the memory of Dean Swift, and of Mrs. Johnson, the celebrated Stella. The oldest monument it a mutilated gravestone to the memory of Archbishop Tregury, who died in 1471. In the choir are many monuments: that of the first earl of Cork and several members of his family, which is placed on the right side of the altar, is an unsightly pile of black stone of antiquated sculpture, with ornaments of wood, painted and gilt, exhibiting sixteen unconnected figures, representing as many individuals of the family. Similar in style are the smaller monuments, on the opposite side, of Thomas Jones, Archbishop of Dublin, and Roger Jones, Viscount Ranelagh; near which is a plain slab to the memory of Duke Schomberg, with a very caustic inscription from the pen of Swift.
TRINITY COLLEGE
The establishment of a university in Dublin was at first attempted by John Leck, archbishop of the sec, who in 1311 obtained a bull from Pope Clement V. for its foundation; but the object was not accomplished till 1320, when his successor, Alexander de Bicknor, having procured a confirmation of the former bull from Pope John XXII., instituted a school of learning in St. Patrick’s cathedral, for which he framed statutes, and over which he appointed William Rodiart, then dean of St. Patrick’s, chancellor. Edward III., in 1358, granted to the scholars his letters of protection; and in 1364 confirmed a, grant of land from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, to found a divinity lecture in the university. But, for want of sufficient funds, the establishment gradually declined, though it appears to have lingered till the dissolution of the cathedral body in the reign of Henry VIII. In 1568, a motion was made in the Irish parliament for its re-establishment, towards which Sir Henry Sidney, then lord-deputy, offered to settle on it lands of the yearly value of £20. and £100 in money. In 1584, Sir John Perrott, lord-deputy, had it in contemplation to re-establish the university by appropriating to its support the revenues of the cathedral of St. Patrick; but in this attempt he was strenuously opposed by Dr. Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, who made application to Queen Elizabeth and to the lord-treasurer of England for the protection of his cathedral; and also prevailed upon the mayor and citizens of Dublin to give the dissolved monastery of All Saints or All Hallows, on Hoggin (now College) Green, which had been granted to them by Henry VIII., as a site for the intended building. In 1591, letters-patent were issued for the erection of the present establishment, to be styled “Collegium Sanctae et Individual Trinitatis juxta Dublin, a Serenissima Regina Elizabeths fundatum;” and to be a corporate body, under the title of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity; with power to possess lands to the yearly value of £400, to have a common seal, and to be for ever exempt from local taxes. The provost and fellows were authorised to make laws, statutes, and ordinances for the government of the college, with liberty to select from those of Oxford or Cambridge, at their option; and to grant the degrees of bachelor, master, and doctor in all arts and faculties, provided that all fellows should vacate their fellowships after seven years’ occupancy from the time of their taking the degree of master of arts. The first students were admitted in 1593. The funds were so much diminished by the breaking out of the Tyrone rebellion, that the establishment must have been dissolved had not the queen, in 1601, made the college a further grant of £200 per annum, till it should regain its possessions. James I. bestowed a revenue of £388. 15. English currency, and endowed the institution with many valuable lands and advowsons in Ulster; he also granted it the privilege of returning two representatives to parliament. Its prosperity was much retarded by internal dissensions, to which the election of the provosts frequently gave rise, and from the want of a more definite constitution to remedy this evil. In 1627, therefore, a new code of statutes was framed by Dr. Bedell, afterwards Bishop of Kilmore; and in 1633 Archbishop Land, then chancellor of the university, drew up a more complete code, founded on that of Bedell, which, together with a new charter, was enforced by royal authority, though not without considerable opposition. By this charter the power of electing the provost, and of enacting and repealing statutes, was vested in the crown; the fellowships were distinguished into senior and junior, and made tenable for life; the extension of the number of fellows from three to sixteen and of scholars from three to seventy, which had been previously made, was rendered permanent; and the government of the college was vested solely in the provost and the seven senior fellows, with power to enact by-laws, to be confirmed by the visitors. No subsequent alterations of importance have taken place in the constitution of the college, except an increase in the number of junior fellows. By the Act of Settlement, the chief governor of Ireland, with the consent of the privy council, was empowered to erect another college, to be of the university of Dublin, and to be called the King’s College; and was authorised to raise out of the lands vested in the king by that act, a sum not exceeding £2000 per annum for its endowment. This clause, however, was never acted upon; and Trinity College differs in its constitution from the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, by combining in its own government the full privileges and powers of a university, the provost and senior fellows constituting the only senate or university convocation, and possessing the same power of electing officers and conferring degrees. A new fellowship was founded in 1698, out of lands bequeathed to the college by Dr. John Richardson, Bishop of Ardagh, who had been a fellow. Three were added in 1724, on the foundation of Erasmus Smith; and five additional fellowships were founded, to be endowed out of the increased revenues of the university, two of them in 1762, and three in 1808.
The Senate, or Congregation of the University, by which degrees are publicly conferred, consists of all masters of arts and resident doctors in the three faculties, having their names on the college books, and who are liable to a fine for non-attendance. The Caput Senatus Academici consists of the vice-chancellor, the provost, or vice-provost, and, by election of these, with the consent of the congregation, of the senior master non-regent, resident in the college: they have each a negative voice to prevent any grace for the conferring of a degree from being proposed to the senate. Every grace must first be granted privately by the provost and senior fellows, before it can be proposed to the caput or the senate. There are now two regular days for conferring degrees; namely, Shrove-Tuesday, and the Tuesday nearest to the 8th of July, whether before or after. The Board, formed by the provost and senior fellows, meets generally every Saturday to transact all business relating to the internal management of the college.
The following are the principal university and college officers: the chancellor, at present his Majesty the King of Hanover; the vice-chancellor, nominated by the chancellor, at present the Most Rev. Lord J. G. De La Poer Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh, who may appoint a pro-vice-chancellor; the provost, who, except by dispensation from the crown, must be a doctor or bachelor in divinity, and thirty years of age; the vice-provost, elected annually by the provost and senior fellows, but who is generally the senior of the senior fellows, and re-elected for many successive years; two proctors, chosen annually, one from the senior and one from the junior fellows, the former being moderator in philosophy for the masters, and the latter for the bachelors, of arts; a dean and a junior dean, chosen annually, the former from the senior and the latter from the junior fellows, and whose duty it is to superintend the morals of the students, and enforce their attendance on college duties; a senior lecturer, chosen annually from the senior fellows, to superintend the attendance of the students at lectures and examinations, and to keep a record of their merits; a censor, created in 1728, whose office is to impose literary exercises in lieu of pecuniary fines upon such students as may have incurred academic censure, a librarian and junior librarian; a librarian of the lending library; a registrar; a registrar of chambers; a bursar and junior bursar; a registrar of the university electors, appointed in 1832 for keeping the register of persons qualified to vote for the university members of parliament; an auditor; six university preachers; and four morning lecturers.
The PROFESSORSHIPS were formerly seventeen in number, but during the last ten years have been increased. The Regius Professorship of Divinity, originally founded in St. Patrick s cathedral, and held in 1607 by Dr. James Usher, afterwards Archbishop of Armagh, was more amply endowed in 1674, by Charles II., out of lands given to the college by the Act of Settlement. In 1761 it was made a regius professorship by statute of George III.; and by another statute, in 1814, its endowment was augmented, and the office made tenable for life. The professor is elected by the provost and senior fellows from the fellows who are doctors of divinity, and vacates his fellowship on his appointment: he acts as moderator in disputations for degrees in divinity, and has to preach four times in the year in defence of the Christian religion before the university, to read publicly during the year four prelections in divinity, besides lectures twice every week during term, and to hold an annual examination of the divinity students; he has four assistants. A Lectureship in Divinity was founded by Archbishop King in 1718, and was formerly elected to annually from the senior fellows; but the office has been separated from a fellowship, and is now held with one of the college livings: its duties, also, have been considerably increased, and are now more intimately connected with the education of such students as preparing for holy orders. The lecturer has five assistants. Students in divinity must attend with diligence the lectures and examinations of this lecturer and his assistants during the first year of their course, and during the second, the lectures of the Regius Professor and his assistants; without this two years’ course of study, no student can obtain the certificates necessary for admission to holy orders.
The Regius Professorship of Greek, previously held by a lecturer under the statute of Charles I., was founded as at present, in 1761, by statute of George III.; the professor is annually elected, and has two assistants. Two Professorships of Modern Languages, one for the French and German, and one for the Italian and Spanish were formed in 1777 by a royal grant of £200 each per annum. The Professorships of Hebrew, Oratory, History, Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy were founded by act of parliament, and endowed by Erasmus Smith; the five professors are chosen from among the fellows by the provost and senior fellows, with the approbation of the governors of Erasmus Smith’s schools. A lectureship in Mathematics was founded in the middle of the 17th century, by Arthur, Earl of Donegal, who endowed it with £10 per annum. The Regius Professorship of Civil and Canon Law was founded in 1668, by letters-patent of Charles II., and endowed out of revenues granted to the university by the Act of Settlement; the professor also as moderator in all disputations for degrees in law. The Regius Professorship of Feudal and English Law was founded in 1761, by statute of George III.: the professor is elected by the provost and senior fellows, either in life or for a term of years; he must be a barrister of at least two years’ standing, and, if a fellow of the college, may hold the appointment for life, resigning his fellowship. The Regius Professorship of Physic originated in a statute appointing one of the fellows of the university to devote himself to the study of physic; but since the Restoration, the regius professor of physic and the medical fellow have been regarded as distinct, and, except in two instances, have never been united in the same person. The Professorships of Anatomy, chemistry, and Botany, originally lectureships institution about the year 1710, were founded by an act of the 25th of George III. for the establishment of complete school of physic in Ireland, in conjunction with three other professorships on the foundation of Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital: the professors are elected for seven years, at the end of which time they may re-elected; they deliver periodical lectures in the theatre of the college. The Lectureship in Natural History founded by the provost and senior fellows in the lecturer delivers lectures on such parts of the science as the provost and senior fellows may direct. Professorship of Astronomy was founded in 1774, by Dr. Francis Andrews, provost of the college, who bequeathed £3000 for the erection of an observatory, and £250 per annum for the salary of such professor and assistants as the provost and senior fellows should appoint. A statute was obtained in 1791, for regulating the duties of the professor, who is thereby constituted astronomer royal for Ireland, and has an assistant, appointed by himself; he resides constantly in the observatory, from which he can never be absent more than 62 days in the year, without leave of the provost or vice-provost. The Professorship of Political Economy was founded in 1832, by Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, upon the principle of the Drummond professorship at Oxford. The professor, who must be at least a master of arts or bachelor in civil law, and a graduate of Dublin, Oxford, or Cambridge, is elected for five years; his duty is to deliver lectures in that science to such graduates and under- graduates as may be recommended to him by their tutors, and to print one lecture annually. A Professorship of Moral Philosophy has been founded, and annexed to one of the college livings. There are also professorships of Biblical Greek, Irish Geology, Engineering, and Chemistry and Mineralogy applied to the arts of Construction,
The Members of the University on the foundation at present consist of the provost, seven senior fellows, eighteen junior fellows, and seventy scholars: the junior fellows are elected as vacancies occur, on Trinity Monday; candidates must have taken at least the degree of bachelor of arts; they are examined on the four last days of the week preceding the election. Only three of the fellows are allowed to be members of lay professions, one of medicine, and two of law, without a dispensation from the crown; all the rest must devote themselves to the Church, and are bound by oath, on their marriage, to vacate their fellowships. The Benefices in the gift of the College, exclusively of the 10 to be noticed presently, are 21 in number, and are situated in the dioceses of Armagh, Clogher, Down, Derry, Raphoe, and Kilmore: 17 of them had become forfeited to the crown by the rebellion of O’Nial, and were bestowed on the college by James I., many of them are of considerable value, and on the death of an incumbent they are offered to the clerical fellows in rotation. These 21 benefices, by letters-patent of James I., are, Arboe, Ardtrea, Clogherney, Clonfeacle, Clunoe, and Desertereight, in the diocese of Armagh; Aghalurcher, Cleenish, Derryvullen, and Enniskillen, in the diocese of Clogher; Killileagh, in the diocese of Down. Ardstraw, Cappagh, and Drumragh, in the diocese of Derry. Clondehorky, Clondevadock, Conwall, Kilmacrenan, Ramochy, and Tullyaghnish, in the diocese of Raphoe; and Killesandra, in the diocese of Kilmore. By an order in council dated 1841, the Lord Primate and the Archbishop of Dublin arc empowered to present one of the fellows or ex-fellows of the college to each of the ten following benefices; Carrickmacross, in the diocese of Clogher; Drumholm, in the diocese of Raphue, donation, in the diocese of Dromore; Skreen, in the diocese of Killala; the union of Ballymacward and Clonkeen, in the diocese of Clonfert; the union of St. John’s, Sligo, in the diocese of Elphin; Kilmanagh, in the diocese of Ossory; Drumcannon, in the diocese of Waterford, Ballymoney, in the diocese of Cork; and Lea in the diocese of Kildare. The Terms of the University were formerly four in the year, and, as altered by Archbishop Land, corresponded nearly to those of Oxford; but by a statute obtained in 1833 they were reduced to three only; Michealmas, Hilary, and Trinity; with the provision, that, if Easter falls within the limits of Hilary or Trinity term, the terra, for that year, be continued for an additional week. These terms may be kept by answering at examinations held for the purpose, at the beginning of each; but residence, either in the college or in the city, is indispensable for students in divinity, law, and medicine, as terms in these faculties can only be kept by regular attendance on the lectures of the university professors. Members of the university are not required to subscribe to the articles, or to attend the duties, of the Church of England, if they profess to have conscientious objections; except on their obtaining a fellowship or scholarship, or on admission to a degree in divinity. By charter of James I. the university returned Two Members to the Irish parliament till the Union; after which time it returned only one member to the Imperial parliament, till the Reform act, since which it has returned two. The right of election, which was originally vested solely in the provost, fellows, and scholars, was, by the same act. extended to all members of the age of 21 years, who had obtained, or should thereafter obtain, a fellowship, scholarship, or the degree of master of arts, and whose names should be on the college books. Members thus qualified, who had removed their names from the books, were allowed six months to restore them, on paying a fee of £2; and such as continued their names, merely to qualify them to vote, until lately paid annually to the college the sum of £1, or a composition of £5 in lieu of annual payment.
In 1842, the annual payment was abolished; and in lieu thereof, £5 for registration for life have since been, and are in future, to be paid. The provost is the returning officer.
THE BUILDINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY, which, from their extent and magnificence, form one of the principal ornaments of the city, comprise three spacious quadrangles, erected chiefly after designs by Sir William Chambers. The main front, which occupies the whole of the eastern side of College-green, is 380 feet long, and built of Port-land stone: it has a projecting centre, ornamented with four three-quarter Corinthian columns supporting an enriched cornice and pediment, under which is the principal entrance; and at each extremity of the facade is a projecting pile of square building, decorated with duplicated pilasters of the same order, between which is a noble Venetian window, enriched with festoons of flowers and fruit in high relief. Above the cornice, which extends along the whole of the front, rises an attic surmounted by a balustrade. The entrance is by an octangular vestibule, the ceiling of which is formed of groined arches: it leads into the First quadrangle, called Parliament-square, from its having been rebuilt chiefly by the munificence of parliament, which granted at different times £40,000 for the purpose. This quadrangle, measuring 316 feet in length and 212 in breadth, contains, besides apartments for the fellows and students, the chapel, the theatre for examinations, and the refectory.
THE CHAPEL, which is on the north side, is adorned in front by a handsome portico of four Corinthian columns, supporting a rich cornice surmounted by a pediment: the interior is 80 feet in length, exclusively of a semi-circular recess of 20 feet radius, is 40 feet broad, and 44 feet in height; the front of the organ gallery is ornamented with carved oak.
THE THEATRE, on the south side of the quadrangle, has a front corresponding exactly with that of the chapel, and is of the same dimensions. The walls are decorated with pilasters of the Composite order, rising from a rustic basement: between the pilasters are whole-length portraits of Queen Elizabeth, the foundress, and of the following eminent persons educated in the college; Primate Usher, Archbishop King, Bishop Berkeley, William Molyneux, Dean Swift, Dr. Baldwin, and John Foster, speaker of the Irish house of commons. There is also a fine monument of black and white marble and porphyry, executed at Rome by Hewetson, a native of Ireland, at an expense of £2000, erected to the memory of Dr. Bald-win, formerly provost, who died in 1758, and bequeathed £80,000 to the university. The Refectory is a neat building, ornamented with four Ionic pilasters supporting a cornice and pediment over the entrance, a spacious ante-hall opens into the dining-hall, in which are portraits of Henry Flood, Lord Chief Justice Downes, Lord Avonmore, Hussey Burgh, Lord Kilwarden, Henry Grattan, the Prince of Wales (father of George III.), Cox, Archbishop of Cashel, and Provost Baldwin. Over the ante-hall, an elegant apartment has been fitted up for the Philosophy School, and furnished with a valuable collection of philosophical and astronomical instruments; in it are delivered the public lectures of the professors of natural philosophy and astronomy.
The SECOND quadrangle, called the Library-square, is 265 feet in length and 214 feet in breadth. Three sides of it are occupied by uniform ranges of brick building, containing apartments for the students; these are now the oldest buildings in the college, and are fast verging to decay. The fourth side is formed by the Library, a very fine edifice of granite, the basement story of which constitutes a piazza extending the whole length of the square, above which are two stories surmounted by an enriched entablature and crowned with a balustrade. It consists of a centre and two pavilions at the extremities: in the western pavilion are the grand staircase, the Law school, and the librarian’s apartment, from the landing-place large folding doors open into the library, a magnificent gallery, 210 feet in length, 41 feet in breadth, and 40 feet high. Between the windows on both sides of the library are partitions of oak, projecting at right angles from the walls, and forming recesses in which the books are arranged; the partitions terminate in fluted. Corinthian columns of carved oak, supporting a broad cornice, which is surmounted by a balustrade of oak richly carved and forming a handsome front to a gallery continued round the whole of the room. From the gallery rises a series of Corinthian pilasters between a range of upper windows, sustaining a broad entablature and cornice; at the bases of the lower range of pilasters are pedestals supporting busts, finely executed in white marble, of the most eminent of the ancient and modern philosophers, poets, orators, and men of learning, including several distinguished members of the university. At the extremity of this room is an apartment, in a transverse direction, 52 feet in length, fitted up in similar style, and containing the Fagel library; over which, and communicating with the gallery, is the apartment for MSS., containing records illustrative of Irish and English history of great value, works in the Greek, Arabic, and Persian languages, and some richly illuminated bibles and missals. The magnificent collection comprises upwards of 100,000 volumes. To the north of the Library-square is the third quadrangle, of modern structure, but with few pretensions to architectural elegance. It is wholly appropriated as chambers for the students, which occupy two of its sides, the other two being formed by the rear of the northern range of the Library-square, and by one side of the dining-hall. A temporary building near its centre contains the great bell, formerly suspended in a steeple which made part of the ancient chapel of the college; it was intended, by the original design of the first or principal quadrangle, to be erected in a dome over the gateway. The old chapel and belfry occupied the vacant space between the first and second quadrangles. An additional square, to contain suites of apartments for students, was a few years since laid out, and the buildings of it commenced, eastward of the Library- square, part of which is to be taken down when the new range is finished.
The University Museum, a handsome apartment 60 feet long and 40 feet wide, is immediately over the vestibule of the entrance from College-green; it comprises, under the superintendence of a curator, several collections of minerals, of which there are more than 9000 specimens. The Printing-office, founded by Dr. Stearne, Bishop of Clogher, is a well-built structure with an elegant portico of the Dorie order, and is situated on the cast of the Library-square. To the south of the library is a fine garden for the fellows; and to the east of the College buildings lies the Park, comprising about 20 acres, planted and tastefully laid out, for the use of the students. Beyond the Park are the Chemical Laboratory and the School of Anatomy: this range of building, which is 115 feet in length and 50 feet in breadth, contains a chemical laboratory and lecture-room, with apartments for the professor, a dissecting-room extending the whole length of the building, and an anatomical lecture-room, 30 feet square. In the Anatomical Museum, 30 feet long and 28 feet wide, was a valuable collection of preparations of human, comparative, and morbid anatomy, the larger part of which, being the private collection of Dr. Macartney, the late professor, was sold by him to the university of Cambridge. The Provost’s House, a spacious and handsome edifice, is to the south of the west front of the university, and is screened from Grafton-street by a high wilt with a massive gateway in the centre. The College Botanic Gardens are situated in the south-eastern extremity of the city near Ball’s-Bridge, and comprised originally about four acres, to which two have been added; they are enclosed, towards the public road into the city, by a dwarf wall of granite, surmounted by a very high iron palisade; were first laid out in 1807. and contain an extensive collection of plants, well arranged, and kept in excellent order. The College Observatory is on Dunsink-hill, in Castleknock parish, about four miles north-west of the city. The building fronts the east, and consists of a centre and two receding wings, the former surmounted by a dome, which covers the equatorial room, and is moveable, having an aperture two feet six inches wide, which can be directed to any part of the horizon; around the dome is a platform, which commands an extensive and varied prospect. The first professor was Dr. Ussher, senior fellow of Dublin College, under whose direction the building was erected, and who was succeeded, on his death in 1792, by the late learned and ingenious Dr. Brinkley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne; upon whose death, is 1835, Sir William Rowan Hamilton was appointed.
PARISHES
The Metropolitan parishes are all in the diocese of Dublin.
St. Andrew’s was formerly united to St. Werburgh’s, but the union having been dissolved in 1660, it was by act of parliament erected into a separate parish, and in 1707 the present parish of St. Mark was by another act formed out of it. It contains 7634 inhabitants: the number of houses valued at £5 and upwards is 731, the total annual value being £46,023. The rectory, the annual income of which was returned ten years since at £346. 8., forms the corps of the precentorship of St. Patrick’s cathedral: the vicarage is in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop of Dublin, the three Chief Judges, and the Master of the Rolls; the amount of minister’s money is £561. 2. 8. The church, situated in St. Andrew’s-street, opposite Church-lane, was completed in 1793, and completed in 1807. at an expense of £22,000. It is of elliptical form, 80 feet by 60, whence it has acquired the popular name of the Round Church: over the principal entrance, which is at the extremity of the leaser axis of the ellipsis, is a statue of St. Andrew bearing his cross; and at the opposite end are the communion-table, reading-desk, pulpit, and organ-loft, with galleries for children on each side of it. The parochial school for boys and girls is maintained by an annual sermon and the rent of the lands of Phrompstown. An alms-house for 28 widows, founded in 1726 by Dr. Travers, is supported by the weekly collections in the church.
St. Anne’s parish was formed out of the united parishes of St. Stephen, St. Peter, and St. Bride, and made a separate parish, in 1707. It contains 8808 inhabitants: the number of houses valued at £5 and upwards is 785, the total annual value being £56,812. 10. The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin; the amount of minister’s money is £594. 10. 7. The church, situated in Dawson-street, opposite Anne-street, was designed from a church in Rome, but remains unfinished. the front consists of a portal with Doric half columns and smaller side entrances surmounted by ornamental windows, above which the gable of the building is seen. The interior is spacious and handsome, having a deep cornice of richly carved wood, and at the east end, which has been much admired, pendant wreaths of the same: the galleries of black oak, which surround the interior on three sides, are supported by Ionic pillars of carved oak. It was thoroughly repaired in 1835, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners granting £736. 5. There is a parochial school for boys, who are clothed, fed, educated, and apprenticed; also, one for girls, an infants’ school, and the model school of the Kildare-place Society. An alms-house for widows is supported by the Sunday collections. The remains of the celebrated authoress, Mrs. He mans, were deposited in a vault beneath the church in 1835: Judge Downes, and the distinguished Alexander Knox, were also buried in the church; and several handsome monuments adorn its walls.
St. Audoen’s, or Owen’s, was originally a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and enlarged by the family of Fitz-Eustace, of Portlester: afterwards it was given as a parish church to the priory of Grace Dieu, by John Comyn; and in 1467 it was made a prebend with cure of souls, in the cathedral of St. Patrick, by Archbishop Tregury. The parish contains 3966 inhabitants, and 426 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £19,399. The rectory or prebend is of the gross annual value of £225, and the minister’s money amounts to £206. The present church consists only of the western end of the ancient edifice, which comprised a nave and collateral aisle, at the end of which is a modern steeple with a ring of bells; the rest of it is now in ruins. The eastern extremity still presents a fine specimen of the pointed style, and there are many curious old monuments, including one of Lord Portlester and his lady, erected in 1455: the church is the burial-place of several ancient families. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £162 for repairs. There is a parochial school for boys, who are clothed, partly dieted, and apprenticed; also, a school for girls, who are partly clothed; an infants’ school; a Sunday school; and an alms-house for six widows.
St. Bridget or St. Bride’s parish was formed out of those of St. Bride, St. Stephen, and St. Michael de Ia Pole; and, after having belonged to Christ Church, was annexed to St. Patrick’s in 1186. It contains 10,629 inhabitants; the number of houses valued at £5 and upwards is nearly 700, and the total annual value £23,377. 10. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick’s; the minister’s money amounts to £328, and the gross income is £405. 13. The church, a very plain building, situated in the street to which it gives name, was erected in 1684: it was repaired in 1827, at an expense of between £300 and £400, by parish assessment; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners more recently granted £158. 5. for its further repair. Among the monuments are those of Mr. and Mrs. Pleasants, distinguished for their munificent charitable donations and bequests. The Episcopal chapel of the Molyneux Asylum, in Peter-street, is in this parish. There are a parochial boarding school for boys, a parochial day school, a boarding school for orphans, a day and an infants’ school, and a Sunday school: the school in Stephen-street is supported by the interest of a legacy of £3900 from Ralph Macklin, Esq. Two alms-houses for 20 widows and 12 old men are maintained by a bequest made by Mr. Pleasants; and several large legacies have been bequeathed to the parish. There is a chalybeate spa near the church.
St. Catherine’s, partly in the barony of Upper-cross, county of Dublin, anciently formed part of the parish of St. James, but was separated from it by an act of parliament in 1710. It contains 20,749 inhabitants, and 1264 houses of the value of £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £31,921. The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Earl of Meath; the minister’s money amounts to £392. 10. The church, which had been a chapel to St. Thomas the Martyr, was rebuilt in its present form in 1767, at an expense exceeding £5000: it is situated on the south side of Thomas-street, and is built of mountain granite, in the Doric style. Four semi-columns, with their entablature, enriched by triglyphs, support a noble pediment in the centre; and on each side the entablature is continued the entire length, and supported at the extremity by coupled pilasters: above the entablature, at each side of the pediment, is a stone balustrade. Between the centre columns is a handsome Ionic arched door, and the two other intermediate spaces are occupied by a double range of windows. The interior is elegantly simple: eight Ionic columns support the galleries, above which the same number of Corinthian pilasters rise to the roof. At the west end of the building is an unfinished belfry. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £126 for repairs. In the church is a tablet to the memory of Dr. Whitelaw, the historian of Dublin, who was 25 years vicar of this parish, and died in 1813; also, a tablet to William Mylne, engineer, who constructed the waterworks of Dublin: underneath is the family vault of the Earl of Meath. A free Episcopal church has been opened in Swift’s-alley, in a building purchased from the Baptist Society in 1835, and consecrated by the archbishop; it is under the management of eight trustees, one-half of whom must be clergymen of the Established Church. Another has been erected at Harolds-Cross in the parish. There are a parochial boarding school for girls, a parochial day school for boys and girls, a school on Erasmus Smith’s foundation, some national schools, an evening school, an infants’ school, and two Sunday schools. Of two alms-houses for widows, one is supported by the parish, and the other by a member of the La Touche family.
St. George’s parish originally formed part of that of St. Michan, and though not wholly within the liberties of the city, it has been included in the electoral boundary under the Reform act. It contains 16,210 inhabitants, and 1261 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £63,900. The living is a rectory, in the alternate patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church and Lord Mountjoy; the minister’s money amounts to £780. The church, erected in 1802, in Hardwicke-place, after a design by F. Johnston, and at an expense of £40,000, presents a front consisting of a central projecting portico of four fluted Doric columns, resting on an elevated platform supporting a bold entablature (the frieze and cornice of which are carried entirely round the building) surmounted by a triangular pediment, over which rises a steeple of four ornamented stories, terminating in a light and graceful spire tapering to a height of 200 feet from the ground. The interior is fitted up in a chaste and elegant style, and a projecting building at the east end contains the vestry-room and schoolmaster’s house. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £1512. 12. for repairs. There are three other Episcopal places of worship: St. George’s chapel, commonly called Little St. George’s, in Lower Temple-street, was founded by an endowment, by Archbishop King, of £49 per annum, out of two houses in Great Britain-street, the property of Sir John Eccles, to support a lecturer; it consists of a plain building with a square tower, surrounded by a cemetery, and is a donative, in the gift of the representatives of the late A. Eccles, Esq. The Free Church in Great Charles-street was originally a Methodist place of worship, and was purchased, about 1826, for its present purpose, and consecrated by the Archbishop of Dublin, in whom the appointment of the minister is vested; it is a plain neat structure. The Episcopal chapel of the female penitentiary, on the North Circular-road, is the third. There are three parochial schools, and an infants’ school; also, a day school for both sexes endowed with a bequest by Miss Kellett.
Grangegorman parish, situated partly within the new municipal boundary and partly in the county of Dublin, was formed out of those parts of the parishes of St. Michan and St. Paul which were in the manor of Grangegorman. It contains 5643 inhabitants, and 472 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £6102. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the alternate patronage of the Rectors of St. Michan’s and St. Paul’s: the gross income of the Incumbent, derived from minister’s money, is £60. The church was erected by a grant from the Board of First Fruits, in 1830. Within the parish are, the Richmond Penitentiary, the Lunatic Asylum for the district of Dublin, and the Female Orphan House, to the last-named of which an Episcopal chapel is attached. Here was alto situated the House of Industry, which was partly abolished on the passing of the Poor-law.
St. James’s parish, partly in the baronies of Castle- knock and Upper-cross, contains 14,226 inhabitants, and 625 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £13,176. The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Earl of Meath, the minister’s money amounts to £144. The church is a low and very plain building; owing to the small accommodation it affords to the numerous parishioners, it is the intention of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to erect a new one. The cemetery is very large, and situated on the north side of a hill sloping down towards the river. The Episcopal chapel of the Royal Hospital is in this parish; and at Golden-Bridge is a chapel of ease, chiefly for the use of Richmond barracks. There are parochial school for boys and girls, three national schools, and an infants’ school.
St. John’s parish contains 3931 inhabitants, and above 250 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £9846. 10. It was erected into a prebend with cure of souls, in the cathedral of Christ Church, in 1554, and is in the gift of the Dean and Chapter; the minister’s money amounts to £180, and the gross income of the prebendary is £398. 2. The church, situated at the corner of John’s-lane, was rebuilt in 1773, by aid of a grant of £3000 from the Board of First Fruits: it presents to Fishamble-street a neat front, adorned with four Doric columns supporting a pediment, and approached by a broad flight of steps: in this front are the chief entrance to the body of the church, and one to each of the galleries. In 1836 the building underwent a thorough repair, for which a grant of £879. 9 was made by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. There are parochial schools for boys and girls, national schools for boys and girls, a Sunday school, and an evening school for adult males.
St. Lukes parish contains 4802 inhabitants, and 33; houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £7654. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church; the minister’s money is £96. 5., and the gross income £171. 17. The church, erected in 1708, when the parish, which had been a part of that of St. Nicholas, was formed, is approached by an avenue of trees from the Coombe, and is a plain structure entered by a large doorway between rusticated columns: it was re roofed in 1835 by a grant of £1029. 13. from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. There are parochial schools for boys and girls, in which some of the children are clothed and some dieted; also, an infants’ school, and a national school; all supported by charity sermons and some small bequests.
St. Mark’s parish was severed from that of St. Andrew by act of parliament in 1707: it contains 15,234 inhabitants, and 1076 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £38,592. The living is a vicarage, in the joint patronage of the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop of Dublin, the three Chief Judges, and the Master of the Rolls; the minister’s money is £380. 16. 2., and the gross income, £427. 19. 6. The church is situated in Mark-street, adjacent to Brunswick-street: it was built in 1757, by aid of a grant of £2000 from the Board of First Fruits, and is a large building perfectly plain, the interior is very neat and commodious. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £165. 13. for repairing it. The Mariners’ church, built in Forbes-street in 1832, and the Episcopal chapel belonging to the Marine school, are in this parish; as, locally, is Trinity College, which is extra parochial. There are parochial, day, and female schools; one on the foundation of Erasmus Smith. the Marine school for sailors’ orphans; a female orphan school; and an infanta’ school.
St. Mary’s, originally part of St. Michan’s parish, and separated from it in 1697, contains 23,904 inhabitants, and 2018 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £91,895. The living is a rectory, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church: the minister’s money amounts to £1010.7. 11., and the gross income is £1127. The church is a large building, in Stafford-street, possessing little architectural beauty: its chief entrance is a large gate with Ionic columns on each side, surmounted by a square belfry. In the interior arc many monumental tablets, among the more remarkable of which are, one to the memory of Edw. Tennison, Bishop of Ossory; one to that of Dr. Robt. Law, one to that of Mr. Wm. Watson, founder of the Society for Discountenancing Vice; and one, more lately erected, to the Hon. T. B. Vandeleur, third justice of the King’s Bench, Ireland. In the crowded cemetery arc the tombs of Dr. Marlay, Bishop of Waterford, and uncle to the late Henry G rattan; Mrs. Mercer, the foundress of Mercer’s Hospital; and Mr. Simpson, the founder of Simpson’s Hospital. The Board of First Fruits, in 1831, granted a loan of £1615 for the repair of the church, and in 1836 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners granted £205. 3. for the same purpose. St. Mary’s chapel of ease, built on a plot of ground in Mountjoy-street presented to the parish by the Earl of Mountjoy, is a very elegant specimen of the modern Gothic, from a design by Mr. Semple; it has a light tapering spire surrounded by minarets of similar shape. It was opened in 1830 as a free church, and lately received a grant of £445. 13. for its repair from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Episcopal chapel of the Lying-in Hospital, and the Bethesda Episcopal chapel, are in this parish: the latter was erected in 1786, at the sole expense of Wm. Smyth, Esq., but was lately destroyed by fire; he appointed two clergymen to officiate, and, in 1787, annexed to it an asylum for female orphans, in which about 24 children are entirely supported. A penitentiary, also, adjoins it, which was opened in 1794 for the reception of females discharged from the Lock Hospital. Here are parochial schools for boys and girls, who are wholly provided for; a free school for both sexes; an infants’ school; and schools for boys and girls in connexion with the Scots’ Church. A female alms-house in Denmark-street was founded by Tristram Fostrick. Esq., in 1789. Mrs. Mary Damer, in I? 53, bequeathed £1765, and Richard Cave, Esq., in 1830, £1600, to the parish for charitable uses.
St. Michael’s parish was created a prebend with cure of souls in Christ Church cathedral, in 1554. by Archbishop Browne: it contains 1271 inhabitants, and 112 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £36/0. The rectory or prebend is in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church; the minister’s money amounts to £36. 10., and the gross income is £192. 16. The church stands at the comer of Michael s-hill and High-street, and is a small building in the pointed style of architecture: the tower, which is without a spire, is ancient and of large dimensions, very disproportionate to the structure of which it now forms the vestibule. There is a parochial school; 20 of the children are clothed.
St. Michan’s parish was also erected into a prebend of Christ Church, with cure of souls, by Archbishop Browne, in 1554; and comprehended the whole of Dublin north of the Liffey until 1697, when the parishes of St. Mary and St. Paul were severed from it. It contains 22,793 inhabitants, and 1464 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £43,568. 10. The prebend is in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church; the minister’s money is £521. 7. 5., and the gross income. £719. 7. 6. The present church, situated in Church-street, was built in 1686. the original church was one of the oldest in the city, being supposed to have been founded by the Ostmen previously to the erection of Christ Church, and to have been at first the cathedral of the diocese. The church is a very spacious cruciform structure, with a square tower, and though erected at a comparatively modern period, the whole has an appearance of great antiquity. It was re-roofed and thoroughly repaired in 1828, at a cost of about £1500, defrayed by parish cess; since which time the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have granted £230. 19. for its further repair. On one side of the communion-table is an ancient figure of a bishop or an abbot; there is also a monumental tablet to the memory of the celebrated Dr. Lucas. Here are a parochial school for girls, a day school for girls, and an infants’ school, four-day schools for boys and two for girls, and a Sunday school.
St. Nicholas Within included also the parishes of St. Nicholas Without and St. Luke until 1707, when they were formed into separate parishes. It contains 1694 inhabitants, and nearly 100 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £3929. 10. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick’s; the minister’s money is £3., and the gross income £125. The church, an unsightly edifice situated in Nicholas-street, being in a state dangerous to the neighbourhood, was taken down by order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in 1836, and has not yet been rebuilt. There is a lectureship attached to it, maintained by the rent of lands in the county of Louth. A parochial school for 12 boys is supported by the rent of two houses, amounting to £36 per annum, and an annual charity sermon.
St, Nicholas Without, formed into a parish in 1707, contains 11,967 inhabitants, and 871 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £2268. 10. 1. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick’s; the minister’s money is £111. 10. 10., and the gross income £264. 10. The church, which was dedicated to St. Myra, and occupied the north transept of St. Patrick’s cathedral, having fallen into decay, was restored in 1826, by aid of a grant of £3000 from the Board of First Fruits, and £1500 raised by parochial assessment: the Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £432. 7. for its repair. There are parochial schools for boys, girls, and infants, and two Sunday schools.
St. Paul’s, which, previously to the year 1697, formed part of St. Michan’s parish, contains 8422 inhabitants, and 786 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £21,632. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church; the minister’s money is £273. 4. 1., and the gross income £386. 9. 4. The church, situated in North King-street, was rebuilt in 1824 by aid of a grant and loan, the latter £500, from the Board of First Fruits; and is now a neat edifice in the Gothic style, with a small but elegant spire. The cemetery is the usual place of interment for the garrison of Dublin: it contains a monument to the memory of Lieut.-Colonel Lyde Brown, of the 21st Fusileers; a mural tablet to that of three privates of the same regiment, who were killed in the insurrection of 1803; and a mausoleum for the family of Colonel Ormsby. The chapel of the King’s or Blue-Coat Hospital is in this parish. There are parochial schools for boys and girls, an infants’ school, and a Sunday school. The late Lord Netterville bequeathed £9000 to this and the adjoining parish of St. Michan, for a dispensary and hospital, which are also supported by subscription.
St. Peter’s parish, erected by order of council in 1680, and situated partly in the county of Dublin, is the largest in the city, comprising the ancient parishes of St. Peter and St. Kevin, and a portion of that of St. Stephen: it contains 41,650 inhabitants, and 2260 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £124,865. 10. The living is a vicarage, united to the rectories of Taney, Rathfarnham, Donnybrook, and the district of Booterstown, together forming the corps of the archdeaconry of Dublin, in the patronage of the Archbishop; the minister’s money is £1343. 12. 11., and the gross annual income £2768, out of which 12 curates are to be paid. The church, situated in Aungier-street, and erected in 1680, is a very large unornamented building, in the form of the letter T: the Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £735 for its repair. In the attached cemetery are interred the remains of many persons of rank: those of the celebrated John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare, lie under a plain tombstone; Maturin, the poet, who was curate of the parish, is also buried here. Within the parish are three chapels of ease, one in Kevin-street, one in Upper Mount-street, Merrion-square, and the third at Rath-mines; also, Sandford Episcopal chapel at Cullenswood, and an Episcopal chapel in Upper Baggot-street. Of the three chapels of case, the church or chapel of St, Kevin is a plain edifice, in the form of the letter T, situated to the south of Kevin-street; it appears to have been erected on the site of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Kevin. The chapel in Upper Mount-street, dedicated, to St. Stephen, is an elegant structure, built in 1823: the portico is of the Ionic order; over the pediment rises the belfry tower, of octangular form, covered with a cupola, the apex of which is 100 feet high. The Episcopal church in Upper Baggot-street, with a female penitentiary attached, was erected in 1835 by subscription, at a cost of upwards of £6000; the exterior is plain, but the interior is exceedingly handsome, will accommodate 1200, and has from 300 to 400 free seats: the appointment of the chaplain is nine trustees. The Episcopal chapel of the Magdalen Asylum, in Leeson-street, is also in this parish. There are parochial schools for boys, girls, and infants, schools at Sandford chapel for boys, girls, and infants a Methodist female orphan school. St. Stephen’s male and female day school in Mount-street; Bride-street parochial female school; day schools at Hatch-street and Cuff-lane; two in Whitefriar-street; two at Rath-mines and Miltown; two other infants’ schools; and five Sunday schools. Here is also a parochial dispensary, and a loan fund established in 1813.
St. Thomas’s parish was separated from St. Mary’s in 1749, by act of parliament: it contains 22,008 inhabitants, and 1373 houses valued at £5 and upward, the total annual value being £65,537. 10. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church; the minister’s money is £854. 16. 10. and the gross income £922. I. 10. The church, erected in 1767, presents a front to Marlborough-street, opposite Gloucester-street, composed of two pilasters and two three-quarter columns of the Composite order, supporting an entablature, and inclosing ornamented niches, and, in the centre, a Corinthian doorway with an angular pediment: on each side of this facade is a half-pediment, supported by a Corinthian pilaster at the extremity, and a half-pilaster in the return. An intends pediment over the centre has not been erected. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £915. 17. for the improvement of the budding. The Episcopal chapel of the Felnaiglean institution at Luxemburg, for the use of the pupils, but open also to their friends, was within the parish. A parochial school for girls is supported by a bequest of £75. 1. 3. per annum, and voluntary contributions; there are also a day school for boys and girls, a national school, and a Sunday school. The buildings of the Board of National savings’ bank, are in this parish.
St. Werburgh’s parish contains 2961 inhabitants, and 214 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £11,602. 10. It is a rectory, united to the rectory of Finglas and the chapelries of St. Margaret and Ward, together forming the corps of the chancellorship of the cathedral of St. Patrick, in the gift of Archbishop; the minister’s money is £211. 18., and the gross income £680. The church was erected in 1759. The front presents a basement story ornamented with six Ionic pilasters with an entablature, and a grand entrance of the same order. The second story, which is diminished, is adorned with four Corinthian pilasters coupled, inclosing a large window, and supporting a pediment, above which rises a square tower of Composite architecture, terminating with urns placed at the angles. An elegant spire which formerly surmounted the whole was taken down in 1810, on account of its dangerous state; and, for the same reason, the entire tower was taken down in 1835. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, however, lately granted £1140. 16. for the restoration of the tower, and the general repairs of the building. The east window, of stained glass, is considered the handsomest in Dublin, and cost about £600; the subject is the Presentation. In the interior are several neat monuments, and on the exterior, in the wall of the church, are some very ancient sculptured figures, evidently belonging to an older building: in the vaults are deposited the remains of Sir James Ware, the antiquary; Lord Edward Fitzgerald; and Edwin, the actor. The Lord-Lieutenant attends this church to qualify on his coming into office, the castle of Dublin being situated in the parish. There are a parochial boarding school for girls, parochial day schools for boys and girls, a day school for girls, and a Sunday school. James Southwell, Esq., in 1729, bequeathed £1250, the interest to be applied for various purposes j he also bequeathed £380 for a ring of bells, and a fund to place boys in the Blue-coat school.
ROMAN CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL DISTRICTS, PLACES OF WORSHIP, CONVENTS, AND CHARITIES CONNECTED THEREWITH
The city is divided into nine Roman Catholic parishes or ecclesiastical districts: St. Mary’s, St. Michan’s, St. Paul’s, St. Andrew’s, St. Audoen’s, St. Catherine’s, St. James’, St. Michael’s and John’s, and St. Nicholas’: the first three are on the north side of the Liffey. The ecclesiastical duties are executed by nine parochial priests and about 50 other officiating clergymen.
The parish of ST. MARY is the mensal of the Archbishop, and comprises the Protestant parish of St. Thomas, and the principal parts of those of St. Mary and St. George: the parochial duties are performed by the Archbishop, seven officiating clergymen, and one assistant. The chapel, a spacious and magnificent building, commenced in 1815 and recently completed, is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is usually styled the Church of the Conception. The front to Marlborough-street consists of a portico of six fluted Doric columns, supporting an entablature ornamented with triglyphs and surmounted by a pediment: statues of the Virgin, St. Laurence O’Toole, and St. Kevin, were erected over the front in 1845. The interior is divided into a nave and aisles by two splendid colonnades; the west end forms a circular termination, under which is the principal altar, of white marble, detached from the walls, and enclosed by a circular railing; in the centre of each aisle is a quadrangular recess. The total expense of completing the structure was estimated at £50,000. Besides the above, there are the chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Upper Gardiner-street; a chapel belonging to the Dominican friary, Denmark-street; and a chapel belonging to the convent of Carmelite nuns, North William-street. The chapel of St. Francis Xavier is attended by a priest of the order of “Jesuits” established here in 1817: the inmates consist of a superior and five priests, who have a classical school. The building is cruciform, and of the ancient Ionic order, with a lofty portico in the centre, and, at each side, receding wings forming vestibules, crowned with domes supported by columns of the Ionic order; the interior is highly decorated, and the organ, which was built for the great musical festival at Westminster, is considered to be one of the finest in Ireland. The chapel in Denmark-street, dedicated to St. Dominic, belongs to the order of Dominicans, consisting of a prior and five friars, in connexion with this is St. Patrick’s Juvenile Society. The chapel in North William-street belongs to the convent of the order of Carmelites; the inmates consist of a superior and a sisterhood of 15. The chapel is a neat building, in the later style of English architecture; a school, in which 20 girls are educated, clothed, and wholly provided for, is attached to the institution. The Sisters of Charity have an establishment in Upper Gardiner-street, consisting of a superior and a sisterhood of 14, who superintend the education of 200 girls. The principal establishment of the Christian Doctrine Confraternity, consisting of a director and two assistants, is in North Richmond-street, where they support a model school for the novices for the other houses of the society; they also instruct 550 children in the parochial chapel, and 130 in Denmark-street, every Sunday. The confraternity instruct children in all the other parochial and in most of the friary chapels: the total number of children under their tuition is, 5682 males and 4390 females. There are two national schools, one in Gloucester-place, and the other in King’s Inns-street; an alms-house in North William-street for 23 widows, which is supported by subscription; and the Metropolitan Orphan Society, in which 99 children are supported, chiefly by penny weekly subscriptions of the working-classes. The Asylum for Female Penitents, founded in 1933, affords shelter to 30 inmates; another in Meeklenburgh-street, founded in the same year, supports 35; a third in Dominick-street supports 34, and there is another in Marlborough-street. In all of them, the penitents are employed in needlework, washing, and other useful occupations.
ST. MICHAN’S parish comprises parts of the Protestant parishes of St. Mary, St. George, St. Michan, St. Paul, and Glasnevin. The duty is performed by a parish priest and six officiating clergymen. The chapel in North Anne-street is a splendid edifice, built entirely of granite; it is in the later English style, with three finely arched entrances in the front, which terminate above in a sharply pointed gable, embattled, and surmounted with a cross. The interior is richly ornamented with sculpture, and the ceiling is elaborately groined, the intersecting arches springing from heads of saints finely sculptured; the altar is embellished with paintings of the Virgin and Child, and of St. Francis, copied from Guido. There is another chapel on George’s-hill, belonging to the convent of the Presentation order, the inmates of which, consisting of a superior and ten sisters, superintend a school, at which about 300 female children are instructed, 50 of whom are clothed, and from 16 to 20 also boarded. The institution is chiefly supported by the profits of the work done by the children. The chapel, which is exceedingly neat, is open every morning. There is a boys’ day school of about 300 pupils; also, an establishment for 12 orphans, who are totally provided for, and when of a proper age apprenticed: the institution is supported by subscription. The Orphan Society of St. Vincent a Paulo was founded in 1826; 40 orphan children are wholly provided for by it, and 45 by the Society for Destitute Orphans under the tutelage of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount-Camel. The Society of St. John the Evangelist, for promoting the exercise of spiritual and corporal works of mercy, is in North King-street, and has a good library in connexion with it. In Paradise-row is the Josephian Orphan Society, by which 36 orphans are totally provided for; and in the same street is the House of Reception for aged females, containing 18 inmates.
ST. PAUL’S parish comprises the Protestant parish of Grangegorman, the principal part of St. Paul’s, and parts of St. Michans and Glasnevin. The duty is performed by a parish priest and six officiating clergymen. The chapel on Arran-quay having been found to be too small, another, near the entrance of the old building, has been just completed, with a portico and steeple: the interior is richly ornamented, behind the altar is a painting in fresco, on which the light is thrown after the manner of the “lumiére mystérieuse” in some of the churches of Paris. The whole cost of the erection of the building was about £10,000, wholly defrayed by voluntary subscription. There is a chapel of ease at Phibsborough, a neat structure: beneath are male and female free school-rooms, and apartments for an orphan society; and over the sacristy are a residence for the clergyman, and a lending library belonging to a branch society of St. John the Evangelist. The chapel of St. Francis, in Church-street, belongs to the friary of the Capuchins, the community of which consists of a guardian and six friars. The chapel is a large plain building; the altars are adorned with paintings of the Crucifixion, the Virgin and Child, and St. Francis: a free school for boys is connected with it. There is a school in Queen-street, in which about 250 boys and 160 girls are instructed; also, a national boys’ and girls’ school connected with the chapel at Philsborough. The convent of the Sisters of Charity, in Stanhope-street, consists of a local superior and a sisterhood of 20, who superintend a house of refuge, in which 50 industrious young women of good character are sheltered; the latter institution derives much of its support from the work executed by the inmates. St. Stephen’s Cholera Orphan Society was first established in 1828, as a general orphan institution, but in 1830, owing to the ravages of the cholera, it assumed its present name and character.
St. Andrew’s parish comprises nearly the whole of the Protestant parishes of St. Andrew, St. Mark, and St. Anne, and part of that of St. Peter. The duty is performed by a parish priest and seven officiating clergymen. The chapel, in Westland-row, was commenced in 1832, and finished in 1837: its form is that of a Roman cross; the length of the main building being 160 feet, of the transept 150. The walls of the interior are in compartments formed by Grecian-Doric pilasters. The altar consists of four pillars of Scagliola marble, supporting a pediment copied from the Lantern of Demosthenes at Athens; the tabernacle is in imitation of the triumphal arch of Titus in Rome, and is surmounted by a group in white Italian marble, by Hogan, representing the Ascension. On each side of the great altar are smaller altars of Egyptian marble; several good paintings have been brought from Rome, and hung up over and at the sides of the altar. The portico in front consists of two pillars and four pilasters in the Grecian-Doric style, prolonged at each end by a parochial house, the whole thus presenting a facade of 160 feet in length. The cost of erection, which was defrayed by subscription, amounted to £18,000. In Clarendon-street is the chapel of St. Teresa, belonging to the order of the Discalced Carmelites, the inmates of which consist of a provincial, a prior, and six friars: it is a spacious building of plain exterior; in front of the altar is a fine statue of a Dead Christ, in Italian marble, by Hogan. Attached to the convent is an alms-house for widows, also the Society of St. Joseph, for promoting the exercise of spiritual and corporal works of mercy. There is a parochial school attended by upwards of 3100 female children; it is in connexion with the National Board of Education. Within the parish, also, is the House of Mercy, Baggot-street, the inmates of which consist of a superior and a sisterhood of 15, who maintain a day-school of about 300 children, visit the sick poor, and receive under their protection distressed women of good character; their house is a plain large building of three stories. In Stephen’s-green East is St. Vincent’s Hospital, containing 60 beds, and a dispensary founded by the Sisters of Charity: a superior and a sisterhood of six preside over the hospital. The Asylum for Female Penitents, in Townsend-street, is superintended by a superior and a sisterhood of three, and affords shelter and the means of reformation to 41 penitents. The Andrean Orphans’ Friend Society was revived in 1832, and supports 28 children by weekly penny subscriptions; the Orphan Society of St. John of the Cross is supported in like manner.
ST. AUDOEN’S, the smallest Roman Catholic parish in the city, comprises the whole of the Protestant parish of the same name. The chapel, situated off Bridge-street, being in bad repair, and too small for the congregation, a considerable sum was lately subscribed towards its re-erection. There is a school in which 20 of each sex are clothed; also, the Malachian Orphan Society, for destitute children. John Power, Esq, in 1835, erected in Cook-street a building for 24 aged and destitute widows, at an expense of about £700; it is wholly supported by subscriptions and an annual charity sermon, St. Catherine’s comprises nearly the whole of the Protestant parish of the same name. The duty is performed by a parish priest and five officiating clergymen. The chapel was erected, in Meath-street, in 1780; it is a very spacious octagonal building of brick, with a gallery along five of its sides, the altar being in the centre of the other three. Near it is a school, erected in 1823 by subscription, and attended by upwards of 400 children of each sex: there are also Sunday schools. A chapel in John’s-lane belongs to the Augustinian friary of St. John; the inmates of the friary consist of a prior and four friars. The chapel, a spacious structure, occupies part of the site of the priory of St. John the Baptist, founded in the year 1188 by A. Du Palmer; and in connexion with it is a female orphan school; also, an asylum for old and destitute men, in Rainsford-street. To this convent belonged the Rev. Wm. Gahan, author of many pious works.
ST. JAMES’S parish comprises nearly the whole of the Protestant parish of the same name. The duty is performed by a parish priest, who is also chaplain to the county gaol of Kilmainham, and by four officiating clergymen. The chapel, situated at James-gate, proving too small, the first stone of a new building was laid April 4th, 1844, by Daniel O’Connell, Esq.: the estimated cost is £14,000. There is a chapel at Dolphin’s-Barn for the accommodation of that populous district; also, a nunnery of the Carmelite order, consisting of a superior and a sisterhood of 16, established in 1834, in the same neighbourhood, and attached to which is a free school for girls. The parish contains a national school for boys and girls; also St. James’ and St. Joseph’s Orphan Society, which maintains 50 children. The Roman Catholic cemetery, Golden-Bridge, described under that head, is in this parish.
ST. MICHAEL’S and ST. JOHN’S parish comprises the Protestant parishes of St. Michael, St. John, St. Nicholas Within, and St. Werburgh, and parts of those of St. Peter, St. Andrew, and St. Bride. The duty is performed by a parish priest and five officiating clergymen. The chapel, situated in Exchange-street, has two fronts of hewn stone in the later English style: the exterior is of elegant design, and in the interior, which is richly embellished, are three altars; over these respectively are paintings of the Crucifixion, of St. John the Evangelist by Del Frate, and of St. Michael trampling on Satan, a copy from Guido the fine organ, made by Lawless, cost £900. The edifice contains a handsome monument to Dr. Betagh, a celebrated preacher, who died in 1811; and another to the Rev. Dr. Anglen: at one end arc six confessionals of beautiful workmanship. The chapel was erected between 1813 and is Hi, at a cost of nearly £10,000, which was defrayed by subscription. Attached to it is a house for the residence of the clergymen, containing 20 spacious apartments, with a corridor to each story; the cost of its erection was about £2000, and it was completed in the short space of two months and eight days. A chapel in Whitefriar-street belongs to the order of Calced Carmelites; the inmates of the order are a provincial, a prior, and six friars, whose residence is in an adjoining house in Aungier-street. The chapel has its front to Whitefriar-street: the interior presents a beautiful architectural view; the right side has a range of large windows, and the left is ornamented with corresponding niches, filled with statues of eminent saints; the ceiling is coved, and divided into rectangular compartments. The erection of the building cost £4000. It stands on the site of a Carmelite church founded in 1274, upon land granted by Sir Robert Bagot. The remains of St. Valentinns, martyr, were translated from Rome by order of Pope Gregory XVI., and are deposited in this chapel in a suitable vase. Another chapel, a cruciform structure, situated on Merchants’-quay, belongs to the order of Franciscans; the inmates are a prior and six friars. It is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisium, but is more generally known by the name of Adam and Eve, from an ancient chapel of that name on the site of which the present budding was erected. The ceiling is divided into enriched panels; the interior is also ornamented with pilasters, supporting an enriched cornice of granite, over which the windows are placed; there are three elegant and commodious galleries, capable of holding 1500 persons; the altar is constructed in the most florid style of Corinthian architecture. In Exchange-street are schools for both sexes, in connexion with the National Board of Education, at which 600 children attend; also, an evening and Sunday school; and two orphan schools, one for boys and the other for girls, 20 of each, who are wholly provided for and apprenticed. All these are supported by subscription, a grant from the National Board, an annual sermon, and the profits of an annual bazaar. A society was founded in Exchange-st. in 1817, called “The Society of St. John the Evangelist,” for administering to the spiritual and temporal wants of the sick, and for suppressing abuses at wakes, a library is in connexion with it. Near Tullow is the establishment of the Orphan Society of St. Francis of Assisium, founded in 1817; 24 children are supported. St. Peter s, St Patrick’s, St. Bonaventnre’s, and the county and city Cholera Orphan Societies are all in this parish; they are chiefly supported by subscriptions and sermons, as is also the Catholic Society for Ireland, for the gratuitous distribution of religious books, established in 1836.
The parish of St. Nicholas comprises the Protestant parish of St. Nicholas Without, part of St. Nicholas Within, St. Luke, St. Kevin, the entire of the Liberties of Christ Church and St. Patrick, and parts of the parishes of St. Peter and St. Bride. The duty is performed by a parish priest and six officiating clergymen. The chapel is built on the site of a Franciscan friary erected in 1235 on a piece of ground granted by Ralph le Porter: it has a square tower, ornamented on each face with coupled Corinthian pilasters, and terminating with a figure of Faith. The interior is exquisitely finished: the great altar, which is of Italian marble, was executed at Rome; over it is a group representing a “Dead Christ on the lap of Mary,” by Hogan, together with two relievos, “The Last Supper” and “The Marriage of Joseph and Mary,” from Raphael. A monastery of the order of the Religious Brothers of the Christian Schools, in Mills-street, consists of a superior and two monks, who superintend a free school for boys. There are also a national school for boys, in which 450 are educated and 50 of them clothed; and an Orphan Institution. A convent of the order of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Harcourt-street, commonly called the Loretto convent, consists of a local superior and a sisterhood of three, who educate about 40 girls.
PROTESTANT DISSENT
There are four Presbyterian meeting-houses, situated respectively in Capel-street, Ormond-quay, Eustace-street, and Great Strand-street; the two formers maintain the doctrines of the Church of Scotland, and the two latter are Unitarian. Each congregation supports a school, and maintains the poor of its own persuasion. That in Capel-street is possessed of a legacy called “Campbell’s fund,” being the interest of £500, which is distributed among four blind men; and another of the same amount, called “Cambell’s funds,” for the relief of six widows. The meeting-houses of Strand-street and Eustace-street have each a respectable collection of books for the use of the ministers and congregation, to which others can have access on very liberal terms. Dr. John Leland, author of several theological works, was one of the ministers of the Eustace-street congregation for 50 years. There are three congregations of Independents, whose places of worship are in Abbey-street, York-street, and King’s Inns-street; the last-named has a theological institution, or college, the object of which is to afford the means of theological instruction, according to the tenets of the Westminster and Savoy articles of faith and the doctrinal articles of the Church of England, to such young men as appear to have a call to the sacred ministry. Connected with York-Street chapel are a day and Sunday school, a Dorcas and Benevolent institution, and a congregational missionary, and a city mission, association. The Methodist congregations, the first of which was formed in 1746 by Mr. Wesley himself, have their places of worship, six in number, in Abbey-street, Cork-street, Hendrick-street, Stephen’s-green South, Hardwicke-street, and Pool beg-street; a congregation also used to meet in the Weavers’ hall on the Coombe. There are two Baptist congregations, one of which has a meeting-house in Lower Abbey-street, presenting a Grecian front of considerable architectural elegance; the other meets in an apartment called the Apollo Saloon, in Grafton-street. A Moravian congregation, formed in 1750, has a meeting-house in Bishop-street; and in the same street is a residentiary-house of the same sect, in which a number of the female members live in community. There is a church for German Lutherans in Poolbeg-street, the only one in Ireland. The Society of Friends, or Quakers, have a meeting-house in Eustace-street, fitted up with great neatness, and another in Meath-street; also, a cemetery in Cork-street. The Jews have a synagogue in Stafford-street, and a cemetery near Bally bough-bridge.
FREE SCHOOLS
The King’s Hospital, or Free School of Charles II., commonly called The Blue-Coat Hospital, was founded in 1670, by the corporation, under royal charter, for the reception of reduced citizens and the education of their children, to which latter object, for want of more extensive funds, it has necessarily been limited. It maintains, clothes, educates, and apprentices 100 boys, who receive a solid English and mercantile education, such of them as are intended for the sea-service being also instructed in navigation. The building, erected at an expense of £21,000, consists of a centre and two wings; the centre has an Ionic portico supporting a pediment, with an unfinished cupola, and contains apartments for the principal officers. The annual income is about £4000. A society for instructing the children of the poor in the English language, and in the Protestant religion, was incorporated by royal charter in 1730, under the title of the Incorporated Society for promoting English Protestant Schools in Ireland, but is more generally known by that of the Charter-School Society. It was originally maintained by donations, subscriptions, and bequests of money and lands, and subsequently by large grants of public money; but these last were discontinued some years since, and the society left to its own resources. At the time of this change, there were forty schools under its direction, two of which were in Dublin; the number is now reduced to eight. Two schools, supported by the funds of Erasmus Smith’s bequest, have been established in Dublin, one on the Coombe, the other in St. Mark’s parish.
The Hibernian Soldiers’ School, situated in the Phoenix Park, was established in 1760, for the maintenance clothing, and instruction of the children of soldiers. In addition to the usual branches of an English education the boys are taught the trades of tailors and shoemaker; and the girls are instructed in needlework; both, when of proper age, are apprenticed to handicraft trades, and, by a new charter in 1808, the governors are empowered to place such children in the regular army, as private soldiers, as are desirous of entering into that service. The buildings consist of a centre and two wing, 300 feet in length and three stories high; there are extras work-rooms for the children, and a farm of 13 acres attached to the school, and partly cultivated by the boys whose time is divided between employment and recreation, in which athletic sports are encouraged. The school is supported by private donations; the average annual expenditure is about £4500; the number of children is about 200, of which one-third are girls. The Hibernian Marine School was established by charter in 1775, for the maintenance of children of decayed seamen in the navy and merchants’ service; the number of boys in this school is 180, who, when of proper age placed in the navy, or apprenticed to masters: merchantmen. The building, on Sir John Rogerson’s quay, consists of a centre and two wings. The school is mainly supported by private benefactions.
The Society for the Education of the Poor of Ireland usually called the Kildare-place Society, was founded it 1811. Its object was, the diffusion of a well-ordered and economical system of primary instruction throughout the country, without any interference with the religious opinions of the pupils; and the publication of cheap elementary books. It was almost wholly supported by large grants of public money, and bad an extensive model-school for males and females, with other accommodations for offices and stores, in Kildare-place. The grants of public money have been withdrawn, and the society now proceeds on a more confined scale by voluntary contributions only: the income in 1844 was but £2323. The Association for Discountenancing Vice, formed in 1792, and incorporated by statute in 1800, also founded and assisted schools, in which education should be conducted upon Protests’ principles, and likewise received large parliamentary grants, which were withdrawn at the same time as those to the Kildare-place Society. To supply the place of these institutions, a Board of National Education was formed for the education of children of all religious persuasions. The commissioners, who were appointed by the lord-Lieutenant, were originally the Duke of Leinster; the Protestant and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin; the Rev. Dr. Sadleir, then senior fellow of T. C. D.; the Rev. James Carlile, minister of the Scotch Church, the Right Hon. Anthony R. Blake, chief remember of the court of exchequer; and Robert Holmes, Esq.; Barrister. In 1845, the commissioners were constituted by letters-patent dated August 26th, a corporation, to have perpetual succession, with power to hold lands to the yearly value of £40,000, to purchase goods and chattels, to receive gifts and bequests to that amount, and to have a common seal; power being vested in the Lord-Lieutenant to fill up vacancies, to appoint additional members provided the total number does not exceed fifteen, and to remove members at his pleasure. They transact their business in a large establishment in Marlborough-street, formerly the town residence of the Marquess of Waterford, at the rear of which three model-schools have been erected, and a building for a Iecture-room, museum, &c, with apartments for the secretary and inspector. The parliamentary grant to the commissioners, in 1833, the first year, was £25,000; in 1836, £35,000; in 1840, £50,000; and in 1844, £75,000. The Church Education Society, instituted in 1839, for the education of children in the principles of the Church of England and Ireland, is supported wholly by voluntary contributions: in 1840 the income was £14,482.; in 1842, £27.874; and in 1844, £35,772. The Dublin Free School was opened in School-street in 1808, for the instruction of poor children of both sexes, on the system of Joseph Lancaster: it is supported wholly by private subscriptions and a small weekly stipend from the pupils, and is used both as a day and Sunday school. The Sunday-School Society was established in 1809, and in January, 1835, had in connexion with it 2813 schools, attended by 20,596 gratuitous teachers and 214,462 pupils: at the commencement of 1845, the number of schools was 2972, and of pupils 246,788. There were till lately several highly respectable schools on a new system, “The Feinaiglean,” which takes its name from Professor Von Feinaigle, a native of Germany, who introduced it: the principal was the Luxemburgh, formerly Aldborough House, which was purchased from Lord Aldborough, who had expended upwards of £40,000 on its erection; and £15,000, raised in shares, were laid out on it to adapt it for the purpose. The buildings, however, have been converted into barracks. The Irish Clergy Daughters’ School, Kildare-place, was opened February 1st, 1843.
INFIRMARIES FOR MEDICAL AND SURGICAL CASES
Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital, in Canal-street, was founded for the relief of the sick, maimed, or wounded, and as an appendage to the School of Physic, for extending the sphere of medical practice, by a fund arising from the produce of estates bequeathed by the founder to the College of Physicians. The institution is under the direction of a board of governors. The medical department consists of two physicians in ordinary, one extraordinary, a surgeon, and an apothecary; and the house department, of a treasurer, registrar, providore, and matron. Lectures are delivered twice every week, during the medical season, by the professors of the school of physic in rotation in the theatre, and clinical lectures are also given at the bedside of the patient. The building, which is capable of receiving 100 patients, was commenced in 1803, and completed at an expense of £40,000, of which sum £9000 were granted by parliament, and the remainder was defrayed from the proceeds of the estates, and by subscription. The building consists of a centre and two projecting wings: the ground floor of the centre contains apartments for the matron and apothecary, the pupils’ waiting-room, and the theatre; and in the upper story are the board-room of the College of Physicians, the library, and the museum: the wings contain the wards for the patients. Patients who are not objects of charity are admitted on paying £1. 10. per month during their continuance in the hospital; the average income is upwards of £3000.
Steevens’ Hospital, near Kilmainham, was founded by a bequest of Dr. Steevens, who, in 1710, bequeathed his estate, amounting to £600 per annum, for that purpose; the hospital was opened in 1733. The building forms a quadrangle, having a piazza round the interior of the lower story, and a covered gallery round the story above; attached to it is a small chapel; the board-room contains a medical library. The resident officers are a surgeon, apothecary, Protestant chaplain, steward, and matron. The funds, aided by grants of public money, support 220 beds; this is the largest infirmary in Dublin. Meath Hospital, originally in Meath-street, was removed to the Coombe; and ultimately to its present site in Long-lane, Kevin-street; it is now the infirmary for the county. It contains a detached ward for fever cases, a fine theatre for operations, and a spacious lecture-room. At the close of August, 1845, there were 80 patients in the hospital, besides a large number of out-patients. Mercer’s Hospital, founded in 1734 by Mrs. Mary Mercer, is a large stone building, situated between Mercer-street and Stephen-street, and containing 55 beds: a theatre for operations was added to it in 1831. The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis-street, was the first institution of the kind in the city: the building, a plain brick structure, erected in 1800, can accommodate 60 patients. Whitworth Hospital was erected in 1818, on the bank of the Royal Canal, near Drumcondra; it has a ward appropriated for a class of patients who can contribute towards their own maintenance in it. The Richmond Surgical Hospital contains about 135 patients. The City of Dublin Hospital, in Upper Baggot-street, has accommodations for 52 patients; it is also the principal institution for diseases of the eye. The United Hospital of St. Mark’s and St. Anne’s was opened in Mark-street in 1808, and contains 12 beds: having been for some time in a declining state, it was remodelled, and opened as an ophthalmic hospital and dispensary for diseases of the eye and ear in February, 1844. The Maison de Santé, George’s-place, Dorset-street, is intended for those who, though unable to defray the expense of medical advice at home, are in circumstances to prevent them from seeking admission into a public hospital; the subscription paid by a patient is a guinea per week. The Adelaide Hospital was founded in 1839. The Netterville and the Royal Military Hospitals are noticed under preceding heads.
LUNATIC ASYLUMS
The Richmond District Lunatic Asylum, which was erected in 1830 into a district asylum for the county and city of Dublin, the counties of Meath, Wicklow, and Louth, and the town of Drogheda, occupies a rectangular area of 420 feet by 372, on the western side of the old House of Industry. The building forms a hollow square of three stories: the inmates are arranged in four classes of each sex, each class under the charge of a keeper, whose room commands a view of the gallery in which the patients are confined; there are separate airing-grounds for every class. In the late House of Industry was a department for incurable lunatics, idiots, and epileptic patients, in which those capable of any exertion were employed suitably to their unhappy circumstances: this department is continued under the name of the Hardwicke Lunatic Cells, in which about 130 patients, violent and incurable, are maintained; while about harmless incurable lunatics are supported in the asylum at Island-bridge. St. Patricks or Swift’s Hospital, for the reception of lunatics and idiots, was founded by the celebrated Dean Swift, who bequeathed his property, amounting to £10,000, for this purpose. The building, situated near Steevens’s Hospital, was opened in 1757, and has also apartments, rated at different prices, for those whose friends can contribute either wholly or partially to their maintenance. A large garden is attached to it, in which some of the patients are employed with considerable advantage to their intellectual improvement. The Society of Friends maintain a small asylum near Donnybrook, for lunatics of their own body.
THE LYING-IN HOSPITAL, AND OTHER BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS
The Lying-in Hospital, in Great Britain-street, was originally a small private infirmary, opened in 1745 by Dr. Bartholomew Mosse; but the benefit resulting from it having attracted other contributors, the first stone of the present building was laid in 1750: the doctor, after expending the whole of his property in forwarding the institution, obtained from parliament two successive grants of £6000 each. In 1756 the governors were incorporated by charter, the preamble of which states the threefold object of the institution to be, the providing for “destitute females in their confinement, the providing a supply of well-qualified male and female practitioners, through-out the country, and the prevention of child murder;” and in the following year the hospital was opened for the admission of patients. The institution is under the direction of a board of 60 governors. The details of management are superintended by a master, always resident and who must be a medical practitioner, elected for seven years, and deriving his emolument from the number of his pupils, among whom eight females educated for the practice of midwifery are paid for by government; he delivers four courses of lectures annually, and at the end of six months the students are examined before the assistants (who are appointed for three years), and if duly qualified receive a certificate. The income for a recent year was £4770, arising mainly from the exertions of the managers: the number of cases annually admitted is about 2500. The building consists of a centre and of two projecting pavilions connected with it by curved colonnades: the whole of the facade extends 125 feet in length; the principal entrance conducts into a spacious hall, and a broad flight of steps leads from the hall to the chapel. The western pavilion forms an entrance to the porter’s lodge, and the eastern to the Rotundo; in the rear is a lawn enclosed by au iron palisade, forming the interior of Rutland-square. The Rotundo comprises a suite of elegant rooms appropriated to purposes of amusement: the entrance from Sackville-street leads into a waiting-room for servants, and communicates with a vestibule adjoining the great room, which is a circle of 80 feet diameter; the orchestra is of elegant design. On the east and west are respectively a spacious tea-room and card-room; and on the north is a vestibule leading to the ball-room, which is 86 feet long and 40 feet wide. Above this room is another of equal dimensions, though less ornamented; and on the same floor are two smaller apartments, which are let for exhibitions. The New rooms, built in 1786 and facing Cavendish-row, are fronted with a rusticated basement, from which rise four three-quarter columns of the Doric order, supporting a triangular pediment, in the tympanum of which are the arms of Ireland, the crest of the Duke of Rutland, and the star of the Order of St. Patrick; these rooms are elegantly fitted up. and well adapted to the same uses. All the profits arising from the Rotunda and the other apartments are appropriated to the support of the hospital.
Institutions of a similar description are supported in Clarence-street; in Bishop-street, called the Anglesey Hospital; on the Coombe, in the building which was the Meath Hospital; in South Cumberland-street; sad on Arran-quay, called the Western Hospital. An institution is attached to Mercer’s hospital, for the relief of lying-in women at their own dwellings.
Among the infirmaries for special complaints not already noticed is the Fever Hospital and House of Recovery, Cork-street, which was opened in 1804. It includes two parallel brick buildings, 80 feet by 30, three stories high, and connected by a colonnade of 116 feet. The eastern range is used for fever, the western for convalescent, patients; an additional building, much larger than either of the former, was erected in 1814, by which the hospital was rendered capable of containing 240 beds. The expenditure is chiefly defrayed by a parliamentary grant; the subscriptions and funded property amount to about £1000 per annum. From the opening of the establishment to the end of March, 1835, the number of patients amounted to 104,759: in October, 1845, the number had increased to 142,863. The Hardwicke Fever Hospital attached to the old House of Industry, contains 144 beds. The Westmoreland Lock Hospital was opened in 1792, for the reception of venereal patients of both sexes, and was originally designed for the reception of 300 inmates; but afterwards the number of beds was reduced to 150, to which females only are admissible. The building, situated in Towns-end-street, consists of a centre, in which are the officers’ apartments, and two wings, with additional building for the reception of patients; the centre and wings project a little, and the former has a plain pediment. A Vaccine Institution was opened in 1804, in Sackville-street, for the gratuitous vaccination of the poor, and for supplying all parts of the country with genuine matter of infection. There is an Infirmary for Ophthalmic affections in North Cumberland-street, and another in Cuffe-street, also one for cutaneous diseases in Moore-street; one for the diseases of children in Pitt-street, and another is North Frederic-street. The Dispensaries are. numerous and generally attached to hospitals and infirmaries. Among those unattached are, that in Great Britain-street for St. Mary’s parish, where the poor are also in special cases attended at their own lodgings; the Dublin General Dispensary, Fleet-street: St. Thomas’s Dispensary. Marlborough-green; St. Peter’s Parochial Dispensary. Montague-street; South-Eastern General Dispensary. Grand Canal-street, near Sir P. Dun’s Hospital, to which is attached a Nourishment and Clothing Society; the Sick Poor Institution, in a great measure similar, in Meath-street; St. George’s Dispensary, Dorset-street; and the Charitable Institution, Kildare-street.
CHARITIES FOR ORPHANS AND DESTITUTE CHILDREN
The associations for the relief and protection of orphans and destitute children are numerous. The late Foundling Hospital, a very extensive establishment in James’s-street, for the reception of infants of this description from all parts of Ireland, for many years afforded an asylum to 3000 deserted children within its walls, and to nearly 5000 who were kept at nurse in the country till of age to be admitted into the central establishment; the children were clothed, maintained, educated, and apprenticed from the funds of the hospital, which was assisted by annual parliamentary grants of from £20,000 to £30,000. The internal departments were wholly closed by order of government on the 31st of March, 1835, and all the children who had not been apprenticed, amounting to 2541, were settled with nurses in the country. There were then about 2800 apprentices serving their time as servants and to trades, who remained under the superintendence of the governors. The buildings, which are very extensive, contained schoolrooms for both sexes, dormitories, a chapel, and accommodations for several resident officers; and attached was a large garden, in the cultivation of which the older inmates assisted. They have been converted into a workhouse for the South Dublin union. In addition to the Blue-Coat, Royal Hibernian, and Royal Marine Institutions, already noticed, the following are peculiarly worthy of notice: The Female Orphan House was commenced in 1790 by Mrs. Edward Tighe and Mrs. Este, and, owing in a great measure to the advocacy of the celebrated Dean Kirwan, who preached a succession of sermons for its support, was opened in the present buildings on the North Circular-road, which contain ample accommodations for 160 children, and a large episcopal chapel. The candidates for admission must be destitute both of father and mother, and between the age of five and ten; the inmates receive an education to fit them for the higher class of domestic servants. The funds are aided by a parliamentary grant equal to the sum voluntarily contributed. The Free-masons’ Orphan School, under the patronage of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, provides for the orphan daughters of deceased members of the society. Pleasants’ Asylum, Camden-street, opened in 1818 by means of a bequest by the late T. Pleasants, Esq., receives 20 Protestant female orphans, who are maintained and educated till they arrive at years of maturity, when they are entitled to a respectable portion on marrying a Protestant, approved of by the trustees. The special objects of the Protestant Orphan Society, founded in 1828, and the Protestant Orphan Union, formed subsequently, appear from their names; the latter owes its origin to the ravages of the cholera, which also gave rise to three other societies for the reception of children of every religious persuasion, who had been deprived of their parents by that dreadful scourge. Most of the places of worship in Dublin have boarding-schools attached to them for boys or girls, or both, into which orphans are admitted in preference. In this department of charitable institutions may be included the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, at Claremont, near Glasnevin, which, from small beginnings, is now adapted to the reception of more than 100 inmates, who are wholly maintained, clothed, and instructed. The boys, after school hours, are occupied in gardening, farming, and other mechanical works; and the girls in needlework, house-wifery, laundry-work, and the management of the dairy: a printing-press has been purchased for the instruction of some of the boys in that business, and for the printing of lessons adapted to the use of the pupils. The building contains separate schoolrooms for male and female pupils: attached to it are about 19 acres of land. This institution is wholly supported by subscription and private benefactions; it has various branch establishments in different parts of the country.
CHARITIES FOR THE AGED AND IMPOTENT
The late House of Industry was established by act of parliament in 1773, for the indiscriminate reception of paupers from every part; but was afterwards limited to destitute paupers of the county and city, and to the relief of certain classes of diseases. The establishment occupied 11 acres, on which were two squares of buildings; one for the aged and infirm, the other for the insane, together with detached infirmaries for fever, chronic, medical, and surgical cases, and a dispensary. The total number of aged and impotent poor that were admitted was 426,175, of whom 1874 were in the institution when it was lately partly broken up: it was under the superintendence of a resident governor and seven visitors appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant, and was maintained by an annual grant of public money. The buildings have been partly converted into a workhouse for the North Dublin union. Simpson’s Hospital, in Great Britain-street, for blind and gouty men, was opened in 1781, by means of a bequest by a citizen of that name, who had himself laboured under a complication of these complaints. It is a large plain building, with a small plot of ground in the rear for the accommodation of the inmates: the interior is divided into 24 wards, containing about 70 beds, but the number supported is only about 50. The annual income of the hospital averages £2700. The Hospital for Incurables was opened in Fleet-street, in 1744, by a musical society, the members of which applied the profits of concerts to this benevolent purpose. In 1790, by means of a bequest of £4000 by Theobold Wolfe, Esq., the institution was removed into its present building near Donnybrook, originally erected for an infirmary for small-pox patients. The governors were incorporated in 1800. The house, a substantial plain building, can accommodate 70 patients; the ground belonging to it. 14 acres, is let so advantageously as to leave the institution rent-free. The Old Men’s Asylum, in Russell-place, North Circular-road, was instituted in 1810 for 24 reduced old men of good character: St. Patrick’s Asylum for Old Men, in Rainsford-street, maintains 17 inmates, the majority of whom are upwards of 80 years of age. The literary teachers, carpenters, printers, and vintners, likewise, have each an asylum or fund for the relief of decayed members of their respective bodies. The Scottish Society of St. Andrew was formed for the relief of distressed natives of that country while in Dublin. The Richmond National Institution far the Industrious Blind, in Sackville-street, affords instruction to 40 male inmates in weaving, basket-making, netting, and some other kinds of handicraft, and has a sale-room for the disposal of the manufactured articles. The Molyneux Asylum for blind females was opened in 1815, on a similar principle, in the former family mansion of Sir Capel Molyneux, in Peter-street, which had been for some years employed as a circus for equestrian exhibitions: attached to it is an Episcopal chapel. There are several asylums for destitute aged women, mostly attached to places of worship. Dublin also contains two houses for the reception of females of virtuous character during the pressure of temporary want of employment; one in Baggot-street, under the superintendence of Protestant ladies; the other in Stanhope-street, under that of a Roman Catholic nunnery. The Providence Home for young females of good character, in Charlemont-street, was opened in January, 1839; and the Victoria Asylum, in the same street, soon afterwards.
FEMALE PENITENTIARIES
The Magdalen Asylum in Leeson-street, was founded by Lady Denny in 1766; the house is adapted for the reception of 60 inmates, and the average number in the asylum is 50. After a probation of three years, they are either restored to their families, or provided with the means of honest subsistence; they are employed during their continuance in the asylum in profitable industry, and receive one-fourth of their earnings during residence, and the remainder on leaving the house. The institution has received considerable benefactions from the La touche family. The Lock Penitentiary was opened in 1794 by Mr. John Walker, as a penitentiary for the special reception and employment of females discharged from the Lock Hospital; there are generally about 30 in the asylum, who are employed in needle-work and other female occupations. The Dublin Female Penitentiary, in the North Circular-road, was opened in 1813: the house is large and commodious; there are about 35 females on the establishment. The asylum in Upper Baggot-street affords shelter to 40 inmates. Each of these four institutions has a Protestant Episcopalian place of worship attached to it. The Roman Catholic asylums of a similar character are situated respectively in Townsend-street, containing 41 penitents and super-intended by the Sisters of Charity; in Mecklenburgh-street, which receives 35; in Dominick-street, late Bow-street, where 34 are sheltered, and in Marlborough-street, late James’s-street, which supports 45, besides St. Mary’s Asylum, Drumcondra-road, in which the average number is 30. The origin of several of these institutions was attended with circumstances of peculiar interest. There is a house of shelter for the temporary reception of females discharged from prison, on the Circular-road, Harcourt-street. The Lock Hospital has a department in which 12 females, who had been patients, are employed in washing for the establishment, under the superintendence of a matron, and are entirely supported in the house.
SOCIETIES FOR RELIEVING GENERAL DISTRESS
The Mendicity Association, formed in 1818, has for its object the suppression of street-begging, by supplying relief to destitute paupers, chiefly by means of employment. A large building on Usher’s-island, once the town residence of the Earl of Moira, and having a large space of ground attached to it, is fitted up for the purposes of the institution. The establishment was formerly more extensive than it now is. The paupers were provided with food and apartments to work in but not with lodging, and were divided into seven classes; first, those able to work at profitable employment, who received full wages for their work; secondly, those whose earnings were not adequate to their entire support, who received wages at a lower rate; third, those unable to perform full work; fourthly, the infirm; fifthly, children above six years of age, who were educated, and instructed in useful employments; and lastly, children under six years of age, who were taken care of while their parents were at work: a dispensary was attached to the building, and the sick were visited at their own lodgings. The institution is under the superintendence of 60 gentlemen elected annually. The Sick and Indigent Room keeper’s Society, formed in 1790, gives temporary relief in money to the destitute poor at their own lodgings. At a general meeting held at the Royal Exchange, once a month, the amount of relief to be given during the ensuing month is fixed which is distributed by four committees for the Barrack. Workhouse, Rotundo, and Stepben’s-green divisions of the city, which set weekly. During the year ending November 7th, 1845, 21,537 persons received aid. The Strangers’ Friend Society, formed in the same year as the preceding institution, has similar objects, and is conducted on the same principle of temporary domestic relief. The Benevolent Strangers’ Friend Society, of like character, is of later formation. The Charitable Association, formed in 1806, is designed for the relief of distressed persons of every description, except street beggars: relief is administered at the dwelling of the pauper. A loan fund is attached to the institution.
EMINENT MEN
The following eminent persons were born in the city in the years attached to their names: Richard Stany-hurst, historian, 1545; William Bathe, a distinguished writer, 1564; Henry Fitzsimons, also a distinguished writer, 1569; James l. Usher, the celebrated prelate, 1580; Sir James Ware, the antiquary, 1594; Arthur Annesley, Earl of Annesley, 1614; Henry Lutterl, an engraver, 1650; Nahum Tate, a poet, 1652; William Molyneux, mathematician, astronomer, and patriot, 1656; Thomas Southene, a dramatic poet, 1659 James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, 1665; Jonathan swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s, 1667; Marmaduke Coghill, chancellor of the exchequer in Ireland, 1673; Dr. Robert Clayton, a celebrated prelate, 1695; William Robertson, a learned divine, 1705; Thomas Frye, the first manufacturer of porcelain in England, 1710; Mr. Ardill, engraver, 1710; Mary Barber, authoress, 1712; John Gast, an eminent divine, 1715; Springer Barry, a celebrated actor, 1719; Thomas Leland, historian, 1722; the Rev. Mervyn Archdall, an antiquary 1723; George Barrett, painter, 1728; Francis Crew-man, a dramatic writer, 1728; John Cunningham, a poet, 1729; Edmund Chandler, Bishop of Durham,1730; Nathaniel Hone, portrait-painter, 1730; Issac Bickerstaff, dramatist, 1732; Andrew Caldwell. Piler of parliamentary debates, 1732; Hugh Hamilton, painter, 1734; James Canlfield, first Earl of Charlemont, 1738; Sir Philip Francis, author and statesman, 1740; Edward Malone, critic and antiquary, 1741; John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare, 1749; Henry Grattan, statesman, orator, and patriot, 1751; William Mossop, medallist, 1754; John Hickey, sculptor, 1756; Joseph Cooper Walker, antiquary, 176 1; George M’Allister, painter on glass, 1786. The birth-dates of the following natives of Dublin have not been ascertained: Edward Borlase, historian; Thomas Dogget, a celebrated actor; Robert Molesworth, Viscount Molesworth; Charles Byrne, miniature painter; Zachariah Crofton, a celebrated divine; and William Halliday, Irish grammarian. Dublin gave the title of Earl to His Royal Highness the late Duke of Kent.
Cover image: British Library (1837)
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