Upper Leeson Street Area Dublin Walking Tour

A tour of the important people, places, structures and history of our area.

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Upper Leeson Street Area Dublin Walking Tour

Dublin, County Dublin Ireland

Created By: ULSARA

Tour Information

The Dublin area from the Grand Canal between Ranelagh Road and Baggot St is a collection of some of the most interesting streets in Dublin.

The area was laid out in 1791, and over the next hundred years, it's gracious streetscape and squares emerged.

The homes were designed for a well-to-do class of civil servants, politicians, scientists and artists. The owners were largely Protestant, though their domestic servants made up nearly 35% of the population and were mostly Catholic.


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What You'll See on the Tour

Built in 1791, and officially named Eustace Bridge after Lieutenant Colonel Charles Eustace, M.P. and Deputy Chairman of the Grand Canal Company. The bridge features in one of only two British Pathe videos of Queen Victoria, taken on her v... Read more
The granite sculpture sited on the traffic island at Upper Leeson Street is surprisingly inconspicuous. ‘Carnac’ appears to have been cleverly positioned with a great deal of care and subtlety. It is aligned on a North/South axis facin... Read more
From the 1930s until the 1960s, the Leeson Lounge was a shop, run by the Caldwell family. At the end of the 19th century, it was a grocery shop, J&T Davy, Grocers and Wine Merchants. It went into literary history when Leopold Bloom wa... Read more
O'Brien's pub was bought in 1942 by Mick O 'Brien from Co Cavan. For decades he ran the pub for the almost classless society that was in Leeson Street until the end of the 1960s. Plumbers, writers, doctors, artists, civil servants, busmen,... Read more
The Hotel on Sussex Road, now the Clayton, will be forever remembered by Dubliners as the Burlington. Built by P.V. Doyle in 1972, the hotel replaced an old estate house, Tullamaine Villa.  In the 1870s the recorded owners were Misses G... Read more
One of the few modern buildings in the area, the current Lisney's offices were designed for the Hibernian Bank and constructed by G. & T. Crampton in 1965-1966. The architect was A.R. Dawson of Bank of Ireland Architects' Department.... Read more
Robert Briscoe, former Lord Mayor of Dublin, lived in No. 48. In his biography there is a graphic description of the house and of a moment in time during the visit of Queen Victoria in 1900, the year of her death. "There was a serenity abou... Read more
Dr. Richard Best, who lived in No. 57, was the Director of the National Library from 1934 to 1940. An outstanding authority on Irish palaeography and philology, he proved that the Book of the Dun Cow was the work of more than one hand. He a... Read more
John Mitchel, Young Irelander and editor of The Nation, was an early resident. He lived in No. 1 Heathfield, later No. 60 Upper Leeson Street. The house was demolished in the 1960s and the site  is now occupied by a block of flats on the ... Read more
P. L. (Polly) Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, poet, essayist, and friend of AE Russell, though born in Australia, lived for part of her life in No. 69, which was her father's house.
Lafcadio Hearne, author of many volumes of Japanese folk tales and studies of Buddhism, lived from the time he was a small child until he was about sixteen with a strict great-aunt, Mrs. Brenane, in No. 73 Upper Leeson Street. He left Irela... Read more
  No 62 Pembroke Road was one of many locations in the area where poet and novelist Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967) lived for a period. It was from No 62 on 31 May 1945, that he wrote a letter to Hilda Moriarty, who was the inspiration fo... Read more
The US Embassy on the corner of Elgin Road and Pembroke Road, was constructed by G. & T. Crampton in 1963-1964. The architects were John M. Johansen & Associates, Connecticut, USA. © Unknown. Digital content by Dr. Joseph Brady, pu... Read more
St Bartholomew's Church was consecrated in 1867. Many of its original features are well maintained, including the Sanctuary mosaics on the walls and the elaborate wrought iron Choir Screen. The architect was Thomas Wyat, referred to by Joh... Read more
Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967) was born and raised in Co Monaghan and moved to Dublin in 1939. He lived in a number of homes in the area and was known to spend his time walking along the Grand Canal contemplating life. Two of his poems were ... Read more
Focal point of the road is the church which was originally built as the chapel for the Molyneux Asylum for Blind Females, opened in 1862 after moving here from Peter Street. In an area with a rapidly growing Church of Ireland population, it... Read more
Molyneux House was the second incarnation of an Asylum for Blind Females. The first Asylum was built on Peter Street and opened its doors in 1815. It operated there for forty-seven years until the home moved to new, purpose-built premises... Read more
Litton Hall was designed by Albert Murray and built through the generosity of a solicitor named John Litton who lived in Leeson Street and left a legacy when he died in 1877 to build a hall. The church and its buildings contributed greatly ... Read more
Dartmouth Square was the last 19th-century square to be developed. It was originally part of the Darley Estate and is first mentioned in 1865 when the development of the square began. It is shown on an OS map in 1866 as a field and by 18... Read more

 

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