King's Inns and Henrietta Street
Henrietta Street
Henrietta Street has been considered the ‘finest Early Georgian street in Dublin’ (Casey, 2005, p.193), and it is notable not only for the exceptional quality of its houses, where no tradesmen or professionals were permitted to reside, but also for the remarkably good level of preservation of the interiors – and this despite its later 19th and 20th century history as blocks of tenements.The street was first laid out and developed in 1729-30 by Luke Gardiner, a banker and building developer of humble origins, whose father was perhaps a coachman. Gardiner was careful in choosing the names of the streets he developed, and Henrietta Street was named after the wife of Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, who had been the Irish Lord Lieutenant 1717-21, and after whom the adjacent Bolton Street is named.
The aspect of the street was initially open to fields to the west, but with the construction of the Kings’ Inns by James Gandon in 1800, (laid out to the annoyance of Lord Mountjoy and fellow residence of Henrietta Street at an oblique angle), the street gained an awkward termination. This led to the building of a granite triumphal archway in 1820 by Francis Johnston to screen the less than attractive juxtaposition.
Thirteen of the original fifteen houses of 18th century Henrietta Street remain. The exception is the Kings' Inns Library, built 1825-8 by Frederick Darley on the site of Archbishop Boulter's early 18th century house.
No. 10
Our Treasurer, Brendan Twomey, describes the building history of No.10 to the members
No.8/9
No.13
King's Inns
