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Fitzwilliam Square () is a Georgian
garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. ...
in the south of central
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built, and is the smallest. The middle of the square is composed of a private park, which for more than 200 years has been accessible only to keyholders, mostly the residents and owners of the 69 houses on the square, some of whom pay almost €1,000 a year for the privilege. Fitzwilliam Square East makes up part of Dublin's Georgian mile.


History

The square was developed by
Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam (1 August 1745 – 4 February 1816) of Mount Merrion, Dublin, Ireland, and of FitzWilliam House in the parish of Richmond in Surrey, England, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Irelan ...
, hence the name. It was designed from 1789 and laid out in 1792, on land belonging to the Pembroke estate, which encompassed much of the area to the south-east of the city. It was completed by 1830, with progress slowed by the Acts of Union, which led to a downturn in Dublin's prosperity due to an exodus of many wealthier residents to London. The centre of the square was enclosed in 1813 through an act of Parliament, the ( 53 Geo. 3. c. clxxxv). To the north is the much larger
Merrion Square Merrion Square () is a Georgian architecture, Georgian garden square on the Southside Dublin, southside of Dublin city centre. History The square was laid out in 1762 to a plan by John Smyth and Jonathan Barker for the estate of Richard Fitz ...
, with which Richard FitzWilliam was also involved. The square was a popular place for the
Irish Social Season The social season, or season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, it was also the ap ...
of aristocrats entertaining in Dublin between January and
Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...
each year. Shootings took place in the square during Bloody Sunday of 1920. As independence from the United Kingdom arrived and during a broader period of renaming prominent streets in the city, a proposal was considered in 1921 to rename the square after
Oliver Plunkett Oliver Plunkett (or Oliver Plunket; ; 1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and the last victim of the Popish Plot. He was beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1975, thus becoming t ...
. However, the residents, who included members of the peerage and officers of the British Army, objected to the change. In 1975,
Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board") is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland co ...
were granted permission to demolish five early 19th-century houses on the edge of the square, with plans to construct a modern office block on the site. The plans were later dropped.


Notable people

Former or current residents of the square have included: *
William Dargan William Dargan MRDS (28 February 1799 – 7 February 1867) was arguably the most important Irish engineer of the 19th century and certainly the most important figure in railway construction. Dargan designed and built Ireland's first rail ...
(1799–1867), railway designer, lived at number 2 * Mainie Jellett (1897–1944), artist, lived at number 36 * Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy (1850–1933), the last Recorder of Dublin, who also died there on 7 March 1933 * Jack Butler Yeats (1871–1957), painter, lived and had his studio at number 18 from 1930 onwards


See also

*
List of streets and squares in Dublin This is a list of notable streets and squares in Dublin, Ireland. __NOTOC__ References Notes Sources * External linksStreetnames of DublinaArchiseekArchitecture of Ireland– English-Irish list of Dublin street names aLeathanach baile Sh ...


References


Sources

*


External links


Irish architecture information
(including photographs of doorways)
DublinTourist.com information
Squares in Dublin (city) 1792 establishments in Ireland Georgian architecture in Dublin (city) {{Dublin-geo-stub