Here existed Fitzwilliam Ward 1849. What defined its boundaries? Fitzwilliam Ward 1849 stood as a political division in Dublin. It existed for a limited time. Let’s step back to a Dublin long gone to understand Fitzwilliam Ward 1849 better.
The area we now know as Fitzwilliam Ward 1849 was once part of the vast Fitzwilliam Estate. The Viscounts Fitzwilliam held their ancestral home at Merrion Castle. Richard, the 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam, died in 1816. The estates then passed to Rt. Hon Sidney Herbert, the 11th Earl of Pembroke. This family’s influence echoes in street names like Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Street.
In 1791 the Wide Streets Commissioners approved the development of Fitzwilliam Street Lower. By 1793 houses began to appear. Landowners let plots to speculative builders. They in turn, may have sublet before renting to occupants. The first houses were large mansions. These four-story buildings were for the upper classes. Leases were strict. They dictated the size and materials of the houses.
Imagine Olivia Beatty looking out from her new home at Number Twenty Nine. Merrion Square Park was then private. Large mansions surrounded the park. The city center was a distance away. People traveled by sedan chair or hackney carriage.
Fitzwilliam Street was often unfinished. Building would start and then stop for years. Leases required property owners to pave the street up to ten feet. The street was incompletely paved as long as Fitzwilliam Street was unfinished. Pathways were often dirty.
Saint Stephen’s Church wasn’t built until 1824. Before that, Mrs. Beatty’s parish church was on Dawson Street. Behind her house was a long garden. Beyond lay open countryside. The coast at Irish Town and Ringsend were visible. Roads led to Donnybrook and Ballsbridge.
Mrs. Beatty likely had few neighbors at first. She left the street in 1806. Later, Fitzwilliam Street Lower was completed. Professionals, especially lawyers, occupied it. The area was mainly residential. Leases stipulated this. Commerce gradually appeared. By 1848, some houses had both residences and businesses. Number Twenty Nine housed Mr. Arthur O’Hagan’s legal practice. In the back lanes, bottle dealers and dairy keepers worked.
Fitzwilliam Ward 1849’s boundaries included areas along the Grand Canal. Kingsland Parade and Lennox Street also formed part of it. Streets like Stamer Street, Heytesbury Street and Camden Row marked its edge. Montague Street and Harcourt Street played a role. St. Stephen’s Green formed a boundary line. Leeson Street Lower and Pembroke Street Upper defined the area. Fitzwilliam Square and Baggot Street contributed to its shape.
This ward existed between 1936 and 1946. It played a role in Dublin’s political landscape. Today, Fitzwilliam Ward 1849 is gone. The city has changed. Yet, the echoes of its past remain in the streets and buildings around us.