Survey Data
Reg No
50100023
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Previous Name
Brown Thomas
Original Use
House
In Use As
Department store
Date
1700 - 1740
Coordinates
316001, 233804
Date Recorded
29/05/2016
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached gable-fronted two-bay three-storey former house with attic, built c. 1720, reconstructed c. 1995 with shopfront inserted, and fully abutted to rear by department store redeveloped c. 1995. Now in retail use and amalgamated with adjoining buildings to east. Reconstructed cruciform slate roof behind raised front gable with masonry coping, and having valley gutters and replacement uPVC downpipes. Painted smooth rendered walling. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in height on upper floors, with shouldered architraves and painted masonry sills; replacement timber sliding sash windows with ogee horns, six-over-three pane to attic level and six-over-six pane below. Recent traditional-style glazed timber shopfront spanning ground floor and adjacent properties to east. Known (Survey of 2012) to retain original panelled room with chimneypiece at first floor level.
Appraisal
A former house of early eighteenth-century origin which, along with many buildings in this section of Duke Street, was substantially reconstructed in the mid-1990s to create a large commercial premises for Marks and Spencer. The façade and roof of No. 5 have been modified. Laid out in the early eighteenth century, this street is characterized by a rich variety in its building stock. However, this stretch at the northwest has been negatively impacted by recent alterations and loss of historic fabric. No. 5 retains some significance in retaining a gable front, albeit modified, recalling the nature of the original streetscape. Dublin Civic Trust (2012), Survey of Gable-Fronted Houses & Other Early Buildings of Dublin City suggests that it retains an 'original panelled room with chimneypiece at first floor level.' The survival of interior historic features adds to its significance.