Dublin in the 1680s

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Dublin in the 1680sAuthor(s): Angus J. L. WinchesterReviewed work(s):Source: History Ireland, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 2007), pp. 48-51Published by: Wordwell Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27725569.

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Dublin inthe 1680sAngus J. L.Winchesterdetails a first-handdescription of RestorationDublin by a Cumberlandgentleman and lawyer,Thomas Dent?n, nowavailable inprint for thefirst time.

years ago Gerald Simms penned a detailedword-portrait of the city of Dublin as itwas on thedeath of Charles II in 1685. Taking as his starting

tpoint the maps of the city prepared by Bernard deGomme in 1673 and Thomas Phillips in 1685, anddrawing on a wide range of documentary evidence, hereconstructed the topography, economic and cultural life ofDublin as it grew rapidly in size and prosperity during thelater seventeenth century. He was unaware then of Thomas

Denton's description of the city, which lay buried at theback of a manuscript?a topographical 'perambulation' ofCumberland and Westmorland?written in 1687-8.Thomas Dent?nThomas Dent?n was an antiquarian and topographer byinclination, who had been commissioned by the powerful

Cumbrian landowner Sir John Lowther of Lowther to writea full description of the county of Cumberland. Dent?nexceeded his brief by appending not only an account of theneighbouring county of Westmorland but also descriptionsof the Isle of Man and of Ireland. Most of his account ofIreland was lifted verbatim (or in a condensed paraphrase)from William Camden'? Britannia, published in English in1610, but embedded within it is a detailed description of

Dublin, drawn from Denton's personal observation during a

Above: Portrait of Thomas Dent?n. (Tullie House Museum,Carlisle)

Right: Marble effigy of his patron, Sir John Lowther, in Lowtherchurch, Cumbria.

date of his visit is not stated but itmust have been between1684 (the year of the fire at Dublin Castle and the openingof the Kilmainham Hospital, both of which events herecords) and 1688, when he handed his completed

manuscript to Lowther. His list of the leading members ofthe Irish judiciary takes account of James IPs Catholicappointments of 1687, suggesting that, whatever the date ofhis visit, he had attempted to bring his account up to datefor Lowther.

Denton's perambulation of the city provides a rare firsthand description of Dublin over 300 years ago. Itbegins onthe city's eastern edge at Ringsend, on Dublin Bay, whereships could anchor:

'Heremost passengers take shipping towhich place fromTemple Barr . . .people of all fashions are hurried by aRingsend coach for a penny. It is a little tumble cartdrawn with one horse, with a seat in the end like an


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soldiers in 1684. The fashionable symmetry of its fa?adesmade a deep impression: itwas 'of so regular & uniform aframe' that, as well as having an east fa?ade facing the city,'it hath also a front to the south & west sides'. The northside, which contained the chapel, hall and master'slodgings, had 'large arched windows like church windows'.By contemporary standards its scale was huge:

'120 yards square within the walls, four stories high &cloistered on 3 sides of the quadrangle & galleries abovestairs. Within each cloister & gallery there are tenchambers & 4 beds in every chamber.'

Other public buildings included the new Tholsel at thecorner of Skinner's Row. This municipal building, whichSimms described as 'the pride of the corporation', doubledas city hall and merchants' exchange. Dent?n described itthus: 'It's underneath an open exchange, in the east cornerin the court, & above stares a council chamber & treasury'.

Of the city gaol or house of correction in the New Gate hecommented that 'the prisoners howl in the most hideousmanner, when any coach or gentry pass through the same,like a den of wolves; and the poor women sing their ahhone [i.e. 'achone', a lamentation] . . .with such a dolefulsweetness, that it forces compassion from those who passby'. Of particular interest are his descriptions of theeconomic and social character of individual streets. Henoted exactly where the markets were held on the westernside of the city. Thomas Street, leading west from the walledcity, had markets every Wednesday and Saturday: fuel (coalfrom Edough, Co. Kilkenny, peat and furze) at the low endof the street; 'hay, straw, grass, herbs & salads according tothe season' in the middle section; and corn, meal and maltat the high end. In New Row (outside the walls betweenNewgate and Ormond's Gate) was a market for leather,shoes and milk, 'both sweet & sour (for churned milk,which they call bonny clabber, is the chief food of thecommon people both, in the city & country)'. WithinNewgate itself linen and lace were sold, and there was adaily stocking market in High Street.

Social geographyHis comments on the sort of people who lived in differentparts of Dublin enable us to reconstruct something of thesocial geography of the city in his day. Castle Street was 'themost considerable street in the town, where the richest

merchants, goldsmiths, mercers & other tradesmen ofeminent dealing dwell'. It also had the most taverns,because it lay close to the courts. The lawyers ('gentlemen ofthe long robe, Chancery clerks & attorneys') wereconcentrated in St Nicholas Lane. The narrow streetsleading off St Patrick's Street were inhabited by 'clothiers,

weavers, dyers and a number of handicrafts men'. Close by,Francis Street and the Coombe contained 'all the worstedspinners, weavers & mercers, who sell druggets & otherDublin stuffs (the chief manufacture of the town)'. Thesetextile workers, he noted, were 'generally nonconformists'.The city's ?lite were increasingly moving out to thesuburbs by the time of Denton's visit. St Stephen's Green,laid out in the 1670s, was particularly fashionable. Dent?ndescribed it as 'a flat square piece of ground near 500 pacesover, with pleasant gravelled walks on each side [of] thesquare; guarded with a brest wall & shaded with lime trees'.Three sides of the square were built up and some of thehouses were grand indeed: on the north side Sir Abell Ram,who had been lord mayor of Dublin in 1684-5, had 'adouble house like a paradise for beauty'. On the east sideLord Roscommon had a house 'with large gardens; thefarmer makes it a treating house of pleasure'. Sir RobertReading had 'a fine house' on the west side with a tenniscourt in the next street. The south side of the Greenremained unbuilt and lay open to 'the prospect of a pleasant

woody country under the Wicklow Mountains'.Particularly rapid growth had taken place north of theriver in the 1670s and 1680s. Until 1670 only a single bridgelinked the city to the old settlement of Oxmantown on thenorth bank of the Liffey; by Denton's time there were three.The expanding north bank suburbs contained tangible

expressions of royal and governmental power. Near themodern Four Courts stood the King's Inns ('the public innwhere the judges & principal council dine in term-time &diverse of them lodge'). To the west, beyond the 'militaryyard', lay Phoenix Park ('the King's Park'), with its 'pretty


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Left: Dent?n dwelt indetail on the newly built KilmainhamHospital (now the Royal Hospital), opened for maimed soldiersin 1684. (David Davison Associates)

Above: Thomas Dinely's 1680 view of Trinity College, which'hath 3 quadrangles, the 1st being the best likeTrinity College in

Cambridge, but not so large'. (National Library of Ireland)Right: The Boyle funerary monument in St Patrick's Cathedral,described by Dent?n as the 'noble monument of the late earl ofCork & his countess & children'. (David Davison Associates)

lawns, shady groves and pleasant banks all along the northside of Liffey'. Itwas 'much finer & larger than Hyde Park' inLondon, in Denton's estimation. In the park stood the king'shouse called 'the Phoenix' and Chapelizod, 'the present lordpresident's house'. The north bank of the river was afashionable area, containing features that catered for theurban ?lite and reflected the taste and fashions of London.Between the city's bluecoat hospital and the river lay 'a largebowling-green 200 yards long with a terrace walk &banqueting house at each end', and close by was Smithfield('a new market like those in London'), which mimickedLondon in its name and function.

Dublin was beginning to share in the urban renaissanceof the later seventeenth century. Dent?n captures the vigourof a proud and bustling metropolis with a wealthy andfashionable ?lite and fine public buildings. Such expressionsof civic, ecclesiastical and judicial power are the staple fare oftravellers' journals and modern guidebooks alike. WhereThomas Denton's perambulation of Dublin differs frommost early modern topographical accounts is in itssystematic description of the city's streets, enabling us tocatch a glimpse of the lives of ordinary Dubliners in the1680s, whether the weavers, the market traders or theprisoners inNew Gate, howling 'like a den of wolves'. 5

Angus J.L. Winchester lectures in history at Lancaster University.Further reading:J.G. Simms, 'Dublin in 1685', Irish Historical Studies 14

(1964-5).A.J.L. Winchester and M. Wane (eds), Thomas Dent?n: APerambulation of Cumberland 1687-8 (Woodbridge, 2003).

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Dublin in the 1680s