Dublin
Civic
Trust

1742

Lease documentation indicates that the 1680s house was comprehensively rebuilt in 1742-43 by one David Reade, a bricklayer. This would have been typical of the period, when 60-year leases signed during the construction boom of the late 1600s began to expire.

The architectural style for merchant and bourgeois housing in Dublin in the first half of the 18^th century was the gable-fronted format. The house rebuilt by David Reade was therefore likely to have featured curvilinear gables fronting the street, enclosing a cruciform shaped roof and massive angled chimneystack shared between front and rear rooms. The red brick façade may have had a Gibbsian doorcase and chunky sash windows with exposed box frames.

1760s

In the second half of the 18^th century, the rear portion of Number 18 was added on Arran Street East. This may have comprised part of an earlier structure that was modified or, more likely, entirely new-built as an extension to the existing house. A surviving sash window and some internal joinery and plasterwork in this building suggests it was erected during the 1760s.

The building’s floor levels may have been designed to match those of the river-fronting ‘Dutch Billy’, extending the floor area of that building for commercial purposes. The ground floor of the 1760s building retains a large rococo cornice, suggesting a grand new ‘wareroom’ designed for the display of goods.

1789

Lease documentation records that the combined river-fronting house and the rear building passed into the hands of new lessees, James and Galbraith Hamilton, in April 1789. At least part of the present granite-fronted shopfront facing Ormond Quay appears to have been installed at this time and is typical of the arcaded style popularised by the Wide Streets Commission on Dame Street and Lower Sackville Street during the 1780s.

It is possible that the front building was improved at this point, with a classicising parapet replacing the former gables, new slim-profiled windows inserted, and a staircase installed between the two buildings. The existing cruciform-shaped roof may have been retained.

1842-43

By the 1840s, the 1740s house built by David Reade was described in a lease as being "in a very decayed and ruinous state and in danger of falling."

A new lease to James Hamilton dated October 1842 instructed that Number 18 was to be rebuilt within six months. This is the building as it currently stands on Ormond Quay Upper, with the older 1760s portion retained behind.

The arcaded shopfront and other elements of the former building are likely to have been recycled in the new construction. It appears that the shopfront was raised during the rebuilding using additional stonework and decorative brackets to increase the ceiling height in the new shop and to match the existing ceiling in the 1760s portion behind.

The handsome upper facades, faced in yellow brick with granite dressings and six-over-six sash windows, all date from the early 1840s rebuilding. Upon completion in 1843, the building was occupied by Graham & Berry, wine, tea and spirit merchants.

1950-2017

During the mid-20^th century, the exteriors of both the front and rear buildings were dramatically altered with the addition of a cement-based pebbledash over the yellow brickwork. This may have occurred during the occupancy of the Southern Hotel & Restaurant.

The shopfront, which had been modified during the late 19^th century, was once again altered into the present arrangement.

From 1979 until 2000 the building was occupied by famed hunting and fishing purveyors, Watts Brothers who had moved to Ormond Quay from Middle Abbey Street. In more recent years, the building was occupied and carefully maintained by Farcry Productions, who installed the memorable Adifferentkettleoffishaltogether signage.

2017+

Dublin Civic Trust is now embarking on a major conservation and refurbishment project to restore Number 18 to its early 1840s appearance as a handsome example of a Dublin merchant premises.

This will include the removal of pebbledash and the reconfiguration of the shopfront back to its original arrangement. Upper floor windows will be repaired and reinstated and a unique set of handcrafted, late Georgian-type shop windows with cast-iron grilles will be commissioned for the ground floor.

The interior will be fully restored to its elegant 1840s character with a shop on the ground floor and living accommodation reinstated upstairs with separate access from the side street.

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2018+

From 2018 onwards, attention will turn to addressing the rear of Number 18, known as 66 Arran Street East. This is the oldest and most architecturally significant part of the building, dating to the 1760s, retaining mid-Georgian features including chunky sash windows, architectural joinery and Rococo decorative plasterwork. We have already established that vibrant red, Georgian brickwork is lurking underneath the sombre pebbledash.

This phase of the project will require extensive and sensitive opening-up works to establish the original layout of the building, the original function of its rooms, and to provide a framework for dynamically reinventing Number 66 for the 21st century.