As Old As Dublin Itself

The Liberties – Na Saoirsí is one of Dublin’s oldest and most historic neighbourhoods, having first developed as a suburb of the medieval walled city in the 12th century.

Dublin grew from two small settlements at the confluence of the Rivers Liffey and Poddle: Áth Cliath (The Ford of Hurdles) and Dubh Linn (The Black Pool).  In medieval times, the city was walled for protection and administered by a Corporation, which controlled trade and commerce within the city, administered justice, and levied tariffs and taxes to run and protect the city.  You can still see remnants of the old City Wall of Dublin today at Cornmarket and in St Audoen’s Park, and Cornmarket was once the location of the New Gate, the main westerly approach to the city.

The core city was a settlement centred on Wood Quay established by the Viking Norse in the 800s. It was then known as Dyflin from the Irish Duiblinn, the ‘Black Pool’ at the mouth of the Poddle River where it met the Liffey River.  The area now known as The Liberties developed to the west of this settlement along the main western approach to Dyflin, known as the Sligh Mor. In the 12th century, a royal abbey was established in the townland of Donore and given extensive estates in Meath, Dublin and Wicklow, including an area of its own jurisdiction to the west of the walled city called a liberty. And hence the name, The Liberties.

In the 12^th century, King Henry II of England ordered an Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr to be established at a site close to the modern church of St Catherine. The Augustinian monks of the Abbey were given extensive lands to the west of the city, as well as in Dublin and Meath, and certain privileges and powers to control trade within their ‘liberty’ and as a result the Liberty of St Thomas Court & Donore became extremely wealthy.  The abbey in turn gave its name to St Thomas Street, the main street of the area, which itself ran along the alignment of the ancient western route into the city of Dublin. It quickly became a bustling market place and trading street lined with mills, hostelries and providers serving the growing city.

With the dissolution of monasteries by King Henry VIII in the 16^th century, the ecclesiastical lands passed into the ownership of William Brabazon, an ambitious courtier of the king. The Brabazons, who later became Earls of Meath, dominated the area as landowners for the next 300 years and different generations of the family were responsible for many of the urban developments we recognise today. The great market space at Newmarket was laid out in the 1620s by the second Earl of Meath and his townhouse was located closeby. A later earl supported some of the pioneering Victorian-era housing developments for the working class. Street names such as Meath Street, Brabazon Street and Ardee Street evoke the family connection.

This detail from John Roques’ hand-tinted map of Dublin from 1756 shows the Earl of Meath’s Liberty centred around Thomas Street. The map opens a fascinating window to the past, with narrow and crowded streets and long-lost placenames.

The mercantile character of the area attracted generations of tradesmen and crafts. This is the original industrial suburb of Dublin, with an extensive tradition of brewing, distilling, tanning, weaving and trade in agricultural produce.

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries the area had a notable Huguenot population and became a centre of excellence in silverwork, wool production and silk weaving.  European tradesmen brought their own distinctive architectural styles to the city, such as gable-fronted houses or’Dutch Billys’ as they were known, and these houses became a feature of areas such as Pimlico, Spittalfields and The Tenters.  The area’s growing craft industries drew resistance from English merchants and a series of laws and trade restrictions imposed on Irish produce after the Act of Union in 1801 gradually destroyed a number of key industries.  The area began to decline.

During 19^th century, The Liberties was dominated by great brewing and distilling families, most notably the Guinness family, who from 1759 built and developed the world’s largest brewery at St James Gate.  Renowned distillers Powers, Jameson, Millar and Roe were all located here, creating a Victorian cityscape of chimneystacks, mills and bustling streets.  The area even had its own harbour linking it to the Grand Canal, and a mini-railway through the St James Gate brewery.

However this industrial wealth and prowess often went hand in hand with dire poverty and living conditions. The 19^th  century  area had notorious slums which in turn spurred a number of enlightening housing developments by the Earls of Meath and the Guinness and Power families in the latter years of the century.  The charming enclaves about Gray Street and John Dillon Street are examples of modern new homes built for workers by the Dublin Artisan Dwelling Company, while the Iveagh Trust Buildings on Patrick Street remain beautiful examples of the first ‘flats’ built for Dubliners.

The ancient ‘liberties’ were finally abolished and subsumed into the city in the 1840s, however the name ‘The Liberties’ remained and became primarily to mean the Earl of  Meath’s Liberty.

A church has stood on the site of St Catherine’s on Thomas Street since the 12th century. In the mid-1700’s the area’s growing commercial prowess led to the construction of a new church building, designed by John Smyth. The church remains to this day and is considered among the finest Georgian churches in the city. While its interiors suffered 20th century damage, its magnificent stucco altarpiece remains intact. 60 years after its construction, the church provided the backdrop to the execution of Robert Emmet, a republican martyr of the failed 1803 Rebellion against English rule.

In addition to brewing, numerous distilleries thrived in The Liberties during the 18th and 19th century. The area became known as the Golden Triangle, marked by three behemoths of the industry: Power, Jameson and Roe. Henry Roe, the 19th century owner of George Roe & Sons operated the largest whiskey distillery in the world by the 1880s and grew fabulously wealthy. Among his achievements was the reconstruction of Christ Church Cathedral, which he funded to a reputed cost of €16m in today’s money.

The photograph taken by John Cooke in 1913 shows Forbes Cottages, Forbes Lane, off Marrowbone Lane with the Guinness building in the background. The 1911 census gives details of the Walsh family living in No.9 – Mary Walsh, a widow, lived here with her four daughters, Maryellen, Annie, Kathleen and Lizzie, who ranged in age from 23 to 17; three if them list their occupation as Factory Girls.

The Guinness Brewery at St. James’s Gate was the largest brewery in the world, covering sixty acres on the south bank of the Liffey. Consignments for export were placed in barges owned by Guinness at the company’s own wharf at Victoria Quay, beside Kingsbridge Railway Station. The barges (ten in total) could carry up to sixty-eight tons each.

While the fortunes of the area declined in the 20^th century, Thomas Street and Meath Street remained the quintessential heart of Auld Dublin, renowned in song and story.  The area has produced its fair share of storytellers, master musicians, street characters and thespians.

Today, it retains its distinctive character and curious detachment from the life of the wider city.  It’s a place to discover and enjoy: a place of evocative place names, engaging architecture, vibrant street life and strong community.

DID YOU KNOW…

Taking Liberties

Liberties were a feature of many medieval walled cities under Norman English control, and there were liberties in Cork and London. In Dublin, a number of liberties were granted, each with different rulers. So the Liberty of St Thomas Court & Donore was attached to the Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr (and later the Earls of Meath), while the Liberty of St Sepulchure was attached to St Sepulchure’s Palace, once the home of Dublin’s Archbishops and now Kevin Street Garda Station.

Buen Camino!

For many pilgrims James Street and Thomas Street forms part of a well-worn route that leads all the way to the north of Spain! The famous Camino de Santiago (St James) de Compostella has been attracting pilgrims for hundreds of years. The Church of St James on James’s Street retains its connections to Compostella to this day, and even offers modern pilgrims a stamp for their Camino passport as they take the pilgrim way.

Dublin’s Tallest Steeple

John’s Lane Church, or Ss Augustine & John’s Church as it is properly called, is one of the most identifiable landmarks of The Liberties, helped by its soaring steeple. In fact, the steeple is the tallest on Dublin and one of the city’s most ornate. The sculptures that adorn the steeple were the work of William Pearse, father to Padraig Pearse, one of the seven leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. The church itself was designed by E W Pugin, among the greatest Victorian church builders.

What’s All That Noise

Shake the average can of Guinness, brewed right here in The Liberties at St James’s Gate Brewery and you’ll hear a curious rattle. The rattle belongs to the famous Guinness widget, designed at St James’s Gate as a means of retaining gas in the can and helping to create the perfect pint with its creamy Guinness head when the can is poured. It’s actually a small plastic ball with a tiny hole that quickly releases beer when the can is opened, and thus creates bubbles and that all important head.

The Oldest House in Dublin

Given that you’re in one of Dublin’s most historic neighbourhoods, it seems appropriate that the oldest house in Dublin has been discovered in The Liberties. In an exciting discovery at 130 Thomas Street, conservation works uncovered an ancient staircase from 1639, and wooden beams which were carbon-tested dated right back to 15th century. Interestingly the building does not appear special from the outside – its facade typical of the 19th century. The building, which forms an important footnote in the history of The Liberties, can be seen opposite St Catherine’s Church.

Placenames

As you wander The Liberties, keep your eyes out for some of the more curious placenames. Walk along Oliver Bond Street and you’d almost miss Mullinahack and Wormwood Gate. Strolling to The Guinness Storehouse you stop on Sugar House Lane and Bellevue. While down off Meath Street lies Engine Alley and Cross Stick Alley. Many of the area’s placenames refer to the former trades that took place here over the centuries.