Survey Data
Reg No
50100402
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
Office
Date
1780 - 1800
Coordinates
316498, 233538
Date Recorded
30/06/2016
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached five-bay four-storey former house over basement, built c. 1790 as part of terrace of eight (Nos. 80-87), having two and three-storey returns to rear. Now in use as offices. Pitched slate roof behind brick parapet with granite coping, shouldered rendered chimneystacks with clay pots to party walls, parapet gutters and replacement uPVC rainwater goods, and with slender chimneystack to rear elevation. Flemish bond brown brick walls over granite plinth course, and painted rendered walls to basement; rendered to rear elevation. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in height to upper floors, with raised rendered reveals and painted granite sills. Timber sliding sash windows, nine-over-six pane to first floor, three-over-three pane to top floor and six-over-six pane elsewhere, basement windows having carved granite block-and-start surrounds with wrought-iron grilles. Apparently mainly six-over-six pane timber sash windows to rear elevation, including round-headed stairs window. Round-headed door opening with rendered linings, fluted frieze and cornice on engaged Ionic columns, petal fanlight and eight-panel timber door with beaded muntin, recent mural painting to panels and replacement brass furniture. Granite platform with remnant of cast-iron boot-scrape and five granite steps. Steps and basement area enclosed by wrought-iron railings with decorative cast-iron posts on carved granite plinth. Cast-iron coal-hole covers set in granite flags to footpath.
Appraisal
No. 86 Merrion Square is distinguished from others in the terrace by its wide, five-bay façade. It displays typically elegant proportions and is enlivened by a good Ionic doorcase, complete with petal fanlight and 1988 hand-painted panels of the door. The building is enhanced by its intact setting, which contributes to the intact appearance of the square. Developed as part of the Fitzwilliam Estate, Merrion Square is one of the best-preserved Georgian streetscapes in Ireland. The north, east and south sides of the square are lined with terraced houses of eighteenth and nineteenth-century date, while the west side is terminated by the garden front of Leinster House. The houses maintain a relatively uniform building height and design, attributed to standards promoted in Fitzwilliam's leases. Individuality was introduced through the design of doorcases, window ironwork and interior decorative schemes.