Explore Dún Laoghaire and its coastal surroundings with local painter, historian and writer Peter Pearson as he reveals the story behind its transformation from rocky granite shoreline to grand Victorian ‘watering place’. Peter Pearson is a Dún Laoghaire man, familiar with every brick and stone of the harbour and town. Here he traces the social, historical and architectural development of Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove and Dalkey, from a stretch of granite coastline with a small fishing village up to the present day. Pearson tells the story of a harbour designed to be a refuge from storms. Begun in 1816, and built in Dalkey granite, it is one of the most attractive artificial harbours in the world. It witnessed one of the world’s first lifeboat services, the fastest mail and passenger boats of the day, and the arrival of the first railway line in Ireland. Pearson also examines the social dimension, from the early settlement and development of houses and villas, with evocative names like Sorrento and Vico, to the slum alleys of Kingstown and the first council housing. With over 250 illustrations, including early maps and many previously unseen photographs and images, this is a fascinating journey through the history and heritage of Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove and Dalkey. Praise for Peter Pearson’s Decorative Dublin: ‘Beautifully illustrated … contains endless riches.’ The Sunday Tribune ‘[Pearson] writes with enthusiasm and knowledge about his subject.’ Frank McDonald, The Irish Times ‘Pearson’s is an infectious passion.’ Books Ireland Table of Contents Acknowledgments v Maps viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Dublin Bay’s Granite Coast 7 From Dún to Dunleary 14 Martello Towers and the Napoleonic Threat 18 Chapter 2: The Victorian Harbour – A Masterpiece in Stone 24 From Dunleary to Kingstown 24 The Kingstown Harbour Master 41 The Lifeboat Service 43 Harbour Architecture 46 Lost Activities of Dún Laoghaire Harbour 51 The Irish Lights 52 The Harbour Company 55 Chapter 3: Kingstown: Infant City of the Steam Age 56 Royal Visit 57 Mail and Passenger Services 59 The Dublin-to-Kingstown Railway 66 Chapter 4: Birth of a Seaport Town 70 Housebuilding and the Victorian Style 70 Development of the New Town 80 Churches 85 Chapter 5: An Elegant Victorian Watering Place 94 Yachting and Sailing 94 Chapter 6: Seafront Houses and Terraces: 1840–1860 109 Residential Kingstown – The Victorian Taste 114 Chapter 7: Sandycove and Bullock 123 Sandycove’s Rocky Shoreline 123 Residential Sandycove 125 The Forty Foot 129 Bullock Harbour 130 Bullock Castle 132 Castle Park and Other Houses 136 Chapter 8: Dalkey – A Sense of the Picturesque 139 Dalkey Island 143 The King of Dalkey 146 Medieval Dalkey 146 Dalkey Quarry 151 Eighteenth-century Dalkey 153 Chapter 9: Nineteenth-century Dalkey – the Coastline 156 Sorrento Terrace 164 The Vico Road 167 Dalkey Hill 169 The Railway 172 Chapter 10: Society and Social Change 174 Terraces and Squares: Dún Laoghaire in the 1860s 174 The Royal Marine Hotel 177 Red-brick Decades 180 Charity and Social Change 186 Chapter 11: Civic Dún Laoghaire 192 Township Administration 192 Public Buildings: 1870–1900 196 Chapter 12: Culture and Amenity in Dún Laoghaire 209 Sport in Dún Laoghaire 217 Transport 218 The Coal Trade 222 Gas, Light and Telephone 225 Chapter 13: Modern Times 227 Mid-Twentieth Century 227 The Shopping Environment 229 Recent Times 232 Select Bibliography and Further Reading 240 Index 242 Peter Pearson is an historian, conservationist and noted artist with a lifelong commitment to the protection and enhancement of Ireland's architectural heritage. He has attended demolitions of many great houses, rescuing their decorative period features, in the process amassing a vast body of knowledge on the crafts, social and economic history of places throughout Ireland. He has written and contributed to many books and publications. He initiated the Drimnagh Castle Restoration Project and has worked with An Taisce and the Irish Georgian Society and is a founder member of the Dublin Civic Trust, a member of the Heritage Council and an honorary life member of the Dun Laoghaire Historical Society. Born in 1955, Peter was educated at Kingstown School and Trinity College Dublin. Peter now lives with his wife and two sons in County Wexford. He has written the bestselling Between the Mountains and the Sea, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, which details the architectural heritage of the county, and The Heart of Dublin, published in 2000, which charts the origins and planning of Dublin's streetscapes from early times to the present day. His latest book, Decorative Dublin is a beautifully illustrated account of the many decorative elements to be found on Dublin's streets and in its buildings.