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Publications by Dublin Civic Trust
Dublin Civic Trust regularly publishes books, pamphlets and information leaflets on the built heritage of Dublin, some issued in conjunction with exhibitions hosted in our premises. Our highly popular series of books on the secondary streets of Dublin brings the reader through the origins of each street, the history and architecture of their historic building stock, a full building inventory, and a vision for improvement. Other publications focus on specific topics of historical and architectural interest.
You can purchase online through our shop below, or call into our exhibition centre at 4 Castle Street where a wider selection of building conservation advice material is also available.
Pricing & Postage
All prices quoted include postage and packaging, hence prices are marginally different to our city centre shop. Credit card payment is easily and securely processed through PayPal (no account is required - just click the Continue button at the bottom of the PayPal page).
We aim to dispatch orders within one working day of receipt, but please allow up to seven days for delivery. If you wish to make multiple purchases, please telephone our office on (01) 475 6911, where we'd be pleased to process your order.
Selected Titles
John Rocque's Dublin
A Guide to the Georgian City
John Rocque's Exact survey of the city and suburbs of Dublin, published in 1756, is one of the most invaluable records of the plan, make-up and historic form of the 18th century city of Dublin. Not only is the Exact survey a great achievement by way of accuracy, design and an astonishing level of detail, it also affords an insight into a city that is at once familiar and yet in part utterly unrecognisable to the modern eye.
This marvellously researched new publication from The Royal Irish Academy reproduces forty extracts from the original map, each one accompanied by a commentary. These illuminating texts reveal particular elements of Rocque's cartography at the level of individual streets and buildings, intended to enhance our appreciation of the Exact survey and the extraordinary snapshot in time of urban history it lays before us. An essential publication for anyone with an interest in Dublin and the forces that shaped the city we inhabit today.
Price: €18
Authors: Colm Lennon & John Montague
Format: Softback, 82 pages, with b&w illustrations
Period Houses
A Conservation Guidance Manual
Our well known and most popular publication, Period Houses is a comprehensive guidance manual on the principles of maintenance, repair and conservation for the owners and occupiers of period houses, as well as their professional advisers. The manual covers a broad range of subjects, including structural problems and their repair, joinery, brickwork, ironwork, decorative plasterwork and much more. While the book concentrates mainly on period houses in Dublin, the principles set out can be applied to a wide variety of historic houses and buildings around the country.
Price: €32
Author: Frank Keohane
Format: Softback, 148 pages with colour illustrations
Dawson, Molesworth & Kildare Streets D2
Dawson, Molesworth and Kildare Streets comprise the most prestigious network of streets in Dublin, located in a parkland setting between the grounds of Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green. They play host to some of the most important buildings and institutions of State in Ireland, and feature a unique blend of Georgian townhouses and Victorian retail premises. Discover the story behind their development, the people who lived and worked there and the buildings they occupied. This book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of Dawson, Molesworth and Kildare Streets.
Price: €16
Author: Robin Usher
Format: Softback, 89 pages with b&w illustrations
Meath & Francis Street D8
Meath Street and Francis Street in Dublin's Liberties are two of the most historically significant streets in Dublin, with their origins rooted in the expansion of the medieval western suburb of the city. Their building stock has seen much change in recent years but many historic buildings remain, some of which are amongst the oldest in Dublin. Today the streets play an important role in the social and commercial life of the Liberties, with a distinctive character that is worth protecting. Learn about some of the earliest estate management in Dublin, the 'Dutch Billy' legacy, and the commercial enterprises of the Victorian period. This book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of Meath Street and Francis Street.
Price: €16
Author: Graham Hickey
Format: Softback, 58 pages with b&w illustrations
Capel Street D1
Capel Street is a narrow thoroughfare leading from Bolton Street to the River Liffey. An aristocratic residential street in the 18th century, it was once one of the most fashionable addresses in the city, laid out by Sir Humphrey Jervis on the lands of St. Mary's Abbey. Is now a vibrant commercial street with a host of local businesses, occupying charming converted townhouses and purpose-built Victorian retail premises. Discover the story of Boland's Bakery, the original designs for Essex Bridge, and catch glimpses of some of the oldest staircases in Dublin. This book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of Capel Street.
Price: €16
Author: Olwyn James
Format: Softback, 83 pages with b&w illustrations
Camden & Wexford Street D2
Camden Street and Wexford Street are vibrant market streets stretching from the south inner city to the South Circular Road. Comprising part of a medieval route from the southern suburb of Rathmines into Dublin city, the road developed into a series of substantial urban streets over the course of the 18th century, lined with brick houses occupied by professionals and aristocracy often associated with nearby Dublin Castle. Today the streets exhibit a strong, 19th century mercantile tradition, with their bustling mixture of shops, service providers and market traders. This book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of Camden Street and Wexford Street.
Price: OUT OF STOCK
Author: Máiréad Ní Chonghaile
Format: Softback, 85 pages with b&w illustrations
Thomas Street D8
Thomas Street is one of the oldest streets in Dublin, corresponding to the eastern terminus of the great Slige Mor, one of Ireland's four ancient highways. In the medieval period it developed into the most important street in the western suburb of Dublin, lined with timber cage-work houses and later brick dwellings in the gabled 'Dutch Billy' style. The strong mercantile and industrial tradition of the 18th and 19th centuries can still be seen today in the impressive array of commercial buildings that line the street, interspersed with modest townhouses and fine historic churches. Discover the story of St. Thomas's Abbey, Power's Distillery and the exploits of the Wide Streets Commission. This book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of Thomas Street.
Price: €16
Author: Emmeline Henderson
Format: Softback, 81 pages with b&w illustrations
Pearse Street D2
Pearse Street stretches from the city centre to where the circular line of the Grand Canal meets the sea. Sited on land reclaimed from the Liffey estuary, it is a relatively young street, coming to prominence in the early 19th century as a grand commercial thoroughfare planned by the Wide Streets Commissioners flanking the grounds of Trinity College. With a highly eclectic building stock dating from a variety of periods, Pearse Street is one of the most fascinating streets in Dublin. Featuring an extensive chapter outlining a vision for the future of the thoroughfare, this book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of Pearse Street.
Price: €16
Author: Katriona Byrne
Format: Softback, 135 pages with b&w illustrations
South William Street D2
South William Street is one of the most elegant streets in Dublin, with its gracious mix of Georgian townhouses and Victorian retail premises. Named after William Williams who laid out the street in 1676, it came to prominence in the 18th century as a fashionable enclave of townhouses located close to St. Stephen's Green, spurred on by the decision of Lord Powerscourt to construct his townhouse there, one of the great mansions of Dublin. South William Street is now re-emerging as a fashionable destination for café life, boutiques and niche retailing. Discover the magnificent interiors that lurk behind the street's stoical facades and the people who lived there. This book will bring you on a journey through the social and architectural history of South William Street.
Price: OUT OF STOCK
Author: Julie Craig
Format: Softback, 59 pages with b&w illustrations
Henrietta Street - Numbers 8-10
The grandest and formerly the most fashionable Georgian street in Dublin, Henrietta Street on the city's northside hosts some of the finest urban mansions of any city in these islands. Built on a lavish scale with remarkable attention to interior decoration, Numbers 8-10, owned by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul, are the oldest houses on the street dating to the early 1730s. With a particular focus on these houses, this beautifully illustrated book explores the history of Dublin's most celebrated Georgian enclave, offering an insight into each of the houses on the street, their design and their social background. The magnificent restoration of Nos. 8-10 by the Daughters of Charity is also charted. An ideal gift for anyone with an interest in Georgian Dublin.
Price: €16
Authors: Staff of Dublin Civic Trust
Format: Softback, 63 pages with colour illustrations
See Dublin on Foot
An Architectural Walking Guide
An extensive walking guide to the city of Dublin, with selected area maps, street histories and hundreds of building descriptions and photographs. A must-have for young and old alike, this comprehensive contemporary manual is essential for anyone with an interest in the development and architectural heritage of Dublin, and for visitors touring the city on foot.
Price: €8
Author: Julie Craig
Format: Softback, 76 pages with colour illustrations
The Legacy of Light
A History of Irish Windows
The window is the key to understanding the modest beauty of Irish classical architecture, and this landmark book affords a rare insight into the unique heritage of Irish windows. In any street or town, windows are the focal point of classically proportioned buildings designed according to Greek and Roman principles of architecture. Even the thatched cottage with its tiny sashed windows harks back directly to classical rules of proportion and geometry.
The fascinating story of how we swapped dark, defensive medieval castles for the elegant buildings of the Georgian and Victorian eras is told by Dr Nessa Roche. It is superbly illustrated by photographer Hugh MacConville, who has recorded exquisite window designs in the most unlikely settings. Contents include how and why windows were arranged as they are, a guide to historic glass and glass-making, the composition of the sash window, regional window styles and a strongly argued case for conserving and maintaining original window fabric.
Price: €22
Author: Nessa Roche
Format: Hardback, 104 pages with colour illustrations
Wallpapers - The History and Conservation of Wallpaper in Ireland
Published as part of an historic wallpapers exhibition hosted by Dublin Civic Trust, this beautifully illustrated 8-page colour pamphlet charts the development of wall coverings and wallpapers from the 1600s to the present day. It describes wallpaper types, manufacturing techniques and changing styles and fashions in 18th and 19th century Ireland. Wallpaper conservator and manufacturer, David Skinner, also provides an insight into the challenges of conserving historic wallpapers and the processes involved in reproducing them utilising traditional techniques. A rare, must-have resource for anyone interested in historic interior decoration.
Price: €5
Author: Charles Duggan, with David Skinner
Format: Pamphlet, 8 pages with colour illustrations
The Irish House - An Teach Gaelach
Public House 1870-1968
One of the most eccentric buildings ever erected in Dublin, The Irish House on Wood Quay stood as a unique architectural statement of political and historical intent. Erected in 1870 as a public house, its distinctive facade of nationalistic iconography playing out scenes from Irish history overlooked the River Liffey for almost a century, until its demolition in 1968 for the building of Dublin Corporation's Civic Offices.
A series of short essays by those who knew and have studied the building, this well illustrated 35-page colour booklet, in both English and Irish, shines a light on one of the many forgotten buildings from Dublin's past.
Price: €6.50
Contributors: Peter Walsh, Professor Kevin B. Nowlan, Nicki Gordon Bowe, Sean Lynch & Graham Hickey
Format: Booklet, 35 pages with colour illustrations
Father Browne at Home
Photographs from 1894 - 1937
Until the latter part of the twentieth century the photographic genius of Frank Browne, who became an Irish Jesuit priest, was only known to his close family. Wherever he went he recorded the fruits of people's work, and landscapes created by both man and nature.
The photographs in this beautifully illustrated new hardback book by his great grand nephew, architect John Martin, illustrate Father Browne's first phase of photography, which features a personal slant. Subjects include his own family, personal correspondence, Clongowes Wood College, the Titantic, and scenes from the Great War - many published for the first time. A fine tribute to the life and legacy of Father Browne.
Price: €28
Author: John C. Martin
Format: Hardback, 106 pages with sepia illustrations
