History of Parnell Square · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Old homes in Parnell Square: 23% built before 1919
For Parnell Square, that is 7 times the typical town’s share, 3.4%. Parnell Square has 330 buildings on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, 21 of them of national importance. Few towns its size have as much: 326 per 10,000 residents, more than 94% of them. The oldest record dates from 1685.
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
7
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1685
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
23%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
Old and new: 12 photos and 5 old views of Parnell Square
13 of Parnell Square’s recorded places are photographed. The old photographs show Parnell Square between 1890 and 1924. Photos show 9 of Parnell Square’s places of national importance.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Through time
Parnell Square from 1890 to 1924
5 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
18801890190019101920193019401950VictorianEdwardianRevolutionFree State
From Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server: public domain, or from the National Library of Ireland’s collections (Lawrence, Poole, Eason and others) with no known copyright restrictions. Each credit opens the image’s page.
The map
Where Parnell Square’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
National and InternationalRegional and other sites400 m from Dublin City Gallery
20 of 21within 400 m of Dublin City Gallery, the heart of the town’s history
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 330, by rating
21 National and International309 Regional and other sites
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is the State’s survey of buildings from 1700 to today, county by county; each record gives a rating, dates, a type and an appraisal. Being on it is not legal protection: that is each council’s Record of Protected Structures.
Points from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
National and International
21 places of national importance in Parnell Square
Buildings the National Inventory rates National or International: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Each one opens its own page.
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Parnell Square53 on the record · 8 of national importance
North Great George's Street38 on the record · 2 of national importance
Gardiner Street35 on the record
Gardiner Place35 on the record
Parnell Street29 on the record · 4 of national importance
Capel Street27 on the record · 1 of national importance
Frederick Street22 on the record
Dominick Street12 on the record · 2 of national importance
Dorset Street11 on the record
Denmark Street10 on the record · 1 of national importance
Mountjoy Square9 on the record
Cavendish Row8 on the record · 2 of national importance
Of the 330 records, 324 give a street address.
What’s recorded
Parnell Square’s largest group: homes, 89% of the record
Across Ireland churches and chapels make up 7% of the record, so Parnell Square’s 2% is low. Second on the record: public buildings, 9 of them. Among the highest-rated: Rotunda Hospital and “Church, Rotunda Hospital”.
Homes295
Public buildings9
Churches and chapels8
Inns, shops and warehouses6
Memorials and tombs1
Street furniture1
Mills, stations and works1
Other buildings9
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Parnell Square’s dated buildings come from the 16th to 18th centuries
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries248
19th century 1800–189973
1900 and later to today9
248 of the 330 dated ones were built before 1800.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Parnell Square
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
7 archaeological sites inside the town
Sites on the Record of Monuments and Places, the statutory list drawn from this record, are protected by law: anyone planning work at or near one must give the National Monuments Service two months’ notice.
House - 16th/17th century1 record
Burial ground1 record
Church1 record
Graveyard1 record
Well1 record
House - 18th/19th century1 record
House - 17th century1 record
Homes by age
More of Parnell Square’s homes date from 1981 to 2000 than from any other period: 30%
In most towns 24% of homes were built from 1946 to 1980; in Parnell Square only 18%. 5.6% of Parnell Square’s homes date between the wars, well above the typical 3.9%. Few of Parnell Square’s homes date in the 2000s: 18%, the norm 25%.
23%
Before 1919
5.6%
1919–45
18%
1946–80
30%
1981–2000
18%
2001–10
5.8%
Since 2011
Parnell SquareTypical town
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
Towns its size
Parnell Square has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 9,700 to 10,600 residents, by buildings on the record.
Few towns are as rich in recorded buildings as Parnell Square: per resident it has more than 94% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. In all there are 330 places on the record, 21 of them in the top tier, including Rotunda Hospital. No town its size has more recorded buildings: it leads the 16 nearest in population. Its housing is old: 23% of homes date from before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Its places of national importance cluster together: 20 of them stand within 400 m of Dublin City Gallery. Parnell Square alone has 53 places on the record. Most entries on the list, 89%, are homes.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
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The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
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Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
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Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
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Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
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The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Parnell Square’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Parnell Square?
330 buildings on the National Inventory, 21 of them of national importance, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Which places in Parnell Square are of national importance?
Rotunda Hospital (hospital / infirmary), Church, Rotunda Hospital, Nurses' home, Rotunda Hospital, Youth Work Ireland, Dublin City Gallery and Dublin Writers Museum, and 15 more.
What is the oldest building in Parnell Square?
House, 220 Parnell Street, Britain Place, Dublin 1: the first date on its record is 1685.
Are there archaeological sites in Parnell Square?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 7 archaeological sites inside Parnell Square.
How old are the homes in Parnell Square?
23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
This page describes its history; it gives no grade.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
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Gate Theatre · Photo: Sir James · CC BY-SA 3.0
Saint Saviour's ChurchNational rating (NIAH)
Dublin City GalleryNational rating (NIAH)
The Ambassador TheatreNational rating (NIAH)
Garden of RemembranceNational rating (NIAH)
Dublin Writers MuseumNational rating (NIAH)+7See all photos
c. 1890
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c. 1912
c. 1916
1924
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