Siblings’ illustrated guidebook to Dublin’s architectural treasures

This book has been in the planning for more than 10 years. It all began with my logbook (a kind of architect’s sketchbook). I had to keep one as an architecture student in Bolton Street and it was a habit I took to, bringing it everywhere.

When I moved to Singapore, I wanted a guide to the city’s fascinating architecture and there weren’t any, only huge backpacker-type books, so I decided to write one (Singapore: A Walking Tour, which has sold over 15,000 copies and is in its fifth edition).

My sister Audrey and I have always loved working on projects together, especially artistic ones. During the school holidays we’d do things with photography, watercolours and writing. We lived in the country as children (and went to boarding school at various times) plus I, being older, was away at college while Audrey was still at school, but we were always close so did a lot of things together whenever we could.

When I decided to do a book on Kuala Lumpur for the Walking Tour series, I asked if Audrey would be interested in working on it. It was a place neither of us had actually lived, but we both loved our time there when driving from Singapore to Bangkok in the late nineties.

Then, when Audrey moved to Dublin about two years ago, we decided to dust off the Dublin book (which had never got very far). We did a chapter mock-up and sent it to the Collins Press, who loved it, and have done a wonderful job; it’s a book to be proud of.

We began by deciding on the logic of the walks (beginning with the oldest parts of the city, leading outwards chronologically and ending with items further afield). Then we got down to the research; I focused on architecture while Audrey dug out the delicious nuggets that readers love to discover.

In pulling it together, we made sure that there was a good mix of drawing types (ie face on, oblique angles, etc.), and a good mix of building types and styles.

We both enjoyed working on Kuala Lumpur, but Dublin has been even more of a pleasure because we both love the city so much. Audrey lives here now, and I am often over from the Netherlands to see family and friends.

Our favourite buildings fall into two categories: favourite actual buildings versus favourite drawings of buildings. Sometimes a drawing can take on a life of its own and surprise you by turning out better than you expected, like the one of Fitzwilliam Square in the book. Here you get the lovely oblique angle of the south side as well as the facades of the west. These are gracious houses, large but not too large, and it’s a lovely sized square, only a stone’s throw from the city centre. We’re glad to see it’s begun to be inhabited again, no longer the haunt of offices and dead at night.

My favourite building is the Bank of Ireland. People pass it without really seeing it, or taking the time to notice just how well designed it is. It was a groundbreaking building when it was first begun in 1729, not only was it the first custom-built parliament house in the world, but it was also a dazzling feat of architectural invention, from the central piazza (which was a model for the later British Museum) to the fact that Edward Lovett Pearce placed his magnificent House of Commons right at the building’s centre, showing the importance of commoners over peers in Irish politics (sadly this was destroyed by fire in 1792, and of course Parliament voted itself out of existence in 1800). Another remarkable thing is just how unified it all seems, despite the number of times it was added to by other architects (including Gandon and Francis Johnston). And finally, the fact that anyone can just walk in is wonderful (they even have fires in the grates during winter).

Audrey’s favourite building is Sunlight Chambers, on the corner of Essex Quay and Parliament Street, particularly the strips of faience panelling between the storeys that depict the history of soap production and use in the Renaissance.

The whole process has been an absolute pleasure.

Dublin Strolls: Exploring Dublin’s Architectural Treasures, Illustrated City Trails by Gregory and Audrey Bracken (Collins Press, €12.99)

Interesting facts about Dublin

It is said that Lord Ardilaun insisted the bandstand in Stephen’s Green be located where it is so that the music would annoy his brother, Lord Iveagh, who lived across the road in Iveagh House.

Before becoming home to the remains of prominent Catholics, the vaults of the Pro-Cathedral were used by the Inland Revenue to store spirits.

The watchtowers on the walls of Glasnevin Cemetery are not decorative but were built to guard against body snatchers (these were hired by surgeons in the days before bodies could be donated to science so they could practise their skills).

A tunnel used to link Clonmell House on Harcourt Street with its garden, today’s Iveagh Gardens, across the road.

St Patrick’s Hospital was set up with a bequeath from Jonathan Swift; his will stipulated that the funds be used to set up a mental hospital, saying: ‘no nation needed one quite so badly’.

The crypt of Christ Church Cathedral used to be rented out to shops and taverns, some of which were so notorious that the small gateway leading to them was nicknamed ‘hell’.

The Irish Crown Jewels disappeared from Dublin Castle under bizarre circumstances in 1907 (involving a secretive clique of aristocratic homosexuals, including Frank Shackleton, the ne’er-do-well brother of explorer Ernest Shackleton); they were never recovered.

The royalties from My Fair Lady (based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion) were bequeathed to the National Gallery and have helped keep it going since his death in 1950.

oIn order not to upset the Protestant Ascendancy, Catholic churches in the nineteenth century, like St Teresa’s off Grafton Street, or St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, tended to be built close to, but never actually on, important thoroughfares.

o The pediments over Leinster House’s first-floor windows are odd because they are a mix of curves and triangles. This has led some to speculate that they might have been an influence on Irish architect James Hoban’s design for the White House in Washington.

One of the first photographs ever taken in Ireland was at Kilmainham Gaol: it shows the leaders of the 1848 rebellion, Thomas Francis Meagher, William Smith O’Brien and Patrick O’Donoghue. The picture proved so popular that another had to be taken. Unfortunately some of the prisoners had been transported to Australia so actors were used.

Sir Winston Churchill lived in the Phoenix Park when he was a child in the 1870s (in Ratra House, formerly known as Little Lodge). His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was Private Secretary to his own father, the Duke of Marlborough, then Lord Lieutenant.

Connolly Station suffered a direct hit in a German air raid in 1941, killing 34 people. Supposedly an accident, there was speculation that it might have been in retaliation for the then Taoiseach Éamon de Valera sending fire brigades to Belfast to help after a particularly heavy bombardment.

Arthur Guinness must have had a lot of confidence in his brewery when he took out the lease on St James’s Gate in 1759 since he preferred not the more usual 99-year lease, nor even a 999-year one – he took out a 9,000-year lease.

The statues on the Custom House were designed to be seen from the street, meaning that to look at them face on their heads and shoulders would seem grossly out of proportion.