Re: Re: ‘Dutch Billys’

Very interesting stuff there Graham from Middle Abbey Street.

In addition to ‘transitional’ houses, it seems pretty clear that actual card-carrying ‘Georgians’ show up early on Middle Abbey Street [like the adjoining pair at nos. 46 and 47], but not early enough to be the initial phase of development of plots along a streetscape that was probably fully developed by the 1730s.

two views of 46 + 47 Middle Abbey St., the second one through the filthy window of Arnotts

This pair are pretty cut + dried Georgians, their only nod to the Billy tradition is the continued use of corner fireplaces, probably internal panelling and the flush mounted windows, but the tripartite layout with a central section accommodating a top-lit stairwell with each segment of the structure roofed seperately and laterally is totally Georgian.

The wider-than-square proportions of the top floor windows on this pair of houses and also seen at nos. 48 and 50 probably suggest a slightly over enthusiastic interpretation of the new design patterns emerging on nearby Sackville Mall. The widely splayed brick arching on these houses in also unusual for Dublin.