The South City Markets and South William Street, 6th April

We began our walk as usual in Kildare Place and walked over to South William Street. Here we admired the exterior of the City Assembly House. This impressive building was constructed in the 1760’s for the Society of Artists in Ireland. It was the first ever purpose-built public exhibition gallery in Britain or Ireland. In 1809 it became the meeting place for Dublin Corporation until 1841. The building subsequently became the Civic Museum which closed in 2002. Now in a state of disrepair the Irish Georgian Society has taken a 30 year lease on it, from Dublin City Council, and is actively pursuing the restoration of this fine building. 

Judith nous a emmenés dans les rues adjacentes de South William street pour voir deux bâtiments de fonctionalité très différente : l'un du XVIII et l'autre du XIXème siècle.

Le premier, l'Assemby Room, fut érigé en 1760 par la Société des Artistes en Irlande : ce fut innovateur à l'époque, une galerie publique pour promouvoir les oeuvres d'artistes. En 1809,  la municipalité de Dublin y organisait ses réunions (Daniel O'Connor, entre autres). Désert depuis 2002, la "Irish Georgian Society" a contracté un bail de trente ans et va en entreprendre la restauration, afin de rendre l'âme à cet édifice historique.

We continued down South William Steet and into Exchequer Steet, once there we look up at the wonderful facade of the South City Markets. This fantasy in red brick and terracotta has been described as a "Victorian gothic extravaganza".  Built in 1881, destroyed by fire in 1892 and reopened in 1894 the Georges Street Arcade as we know it today has traded continuously every since. http://www.georgesstreetarcade.ie/history.php

English texte:Judith

L'autre édifice, "Market arcade, South Great Georges Street", fut construit en 1881 en brique rouge et de style gothique ; il fut surnommé  "l'extravagance gothique Victorienne"!

Malgré l'incendie qui le détruisit en 1892, il fut restauré, et depuis garde sa fonction principale de marché couvert.

 


photos and texte in French@Catherine