Re: Re: Brick

A handsome set of yellow houses on Upper Mount Street. These have never been touched by any colour-washing or tuck pointing, yet feature wide joints. This is quite common.

An interesting blurring of the boundaries occurs on one of the last rows to be completed on Merrion Square. A curious mixture of predominantly yellow brick scattered with pink brick marks the emerging favouring of ‘cooler’ shades.

The effect is not particularly pleasing at closer quarters.

Soft and elegant from afar.

The house to the left is of identical brick, only it has been cleaned (and clumsily repointed).

All of the above cases indicate that yellow brick was sometimes widely coursed in Dublin, often featured tuck pointing, and above all the colour was intended to be left exposed.

Practically every, if not indeed all, cases of colourwash encountered, as pictured below, are by my estimation dating to the mid-late 19th century, i.e. later additions. These were not selective – indeed I went out of my way to try and find anything that looked remotely like an original colourwash. I was not successful.

The most prominent yellow brick building in Dublin on College Green. Modified c. 1870 with sheet glass windows, it is highly likely the weak red colouring was applied at this later time.

It even appears to have been applied over the original Georgian pointing.

This Georgian building on Talbot Street with Victorian modifications presents a similar scene.