Fitzwilliam Square

The square was developed by Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam, hence the name. It was designed from 1789 and laid out in 1792, on land belonging to the Pembroke estate,{{Cite journal |last=Meenan |first=F. O. C. |date=1969 |title=The Georgian Squares of Dublin and the Professions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30087892 |journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review |volume=58 |issue=232 |pages=405–414 |issn=0039-3495}} which encompassed much of the area to the south-east of the city. It was completed by 1830,{{Cite journal |last=Meenan |first=F. O. C. |date=1969 |title=The Georgian Squares of Dublin and the Professions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30087892 |journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review |volume=58 |issue=232 |pages=405–414 |issn=0039-3495}} with progress slowed by the Acts of Union,{{Cite journal |last=Smyth |first=Des |date=2017 |title=The Fitzwilliams of Merrion – the last of the line |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44985466 |journal=Dublin Historical Record |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=108–119 |issn=0012-6861}} which led to a downturn in Dublin's prosperity due to an exodus of many wealthier residents to London.

{{Infobox UK legislation

| short_title = Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, Improvement Act 1813

| type = Act

| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom

| long_title = An Act for inclosing, lighting and improving Fitzwilliam Square, in the County of the City of Dublin.

| year = 1813

| citation = 53 Geo. 3. c. clxxxv

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| royal_assent = 2 July 1813

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| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/53/185/pdfs/ukla_18130185_en.pdf

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The centre of the square was enclosed in 1813 through an act of Parliament, the {{visible anchor|Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, Improvement Act 1813}} (53 Geo. 3. c. clxxxv). To the north is the much larger Merrion Square, with which Richard FitzWilliam was also involved. The square was a popular place for the Irish Social Season of aristocrats entertaining in Dublin between January and Saint Patrick's Day each year.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNCzuAAACAAJ&q=Fitzwilliam+Square|title=Lives Less Ordinary: Dublin's Fitzwilliam Square, 1798–1922|first=Andrew|last=Hughes|date=14 March 2011|publisher=Liffey Press|via=Google Books}}

Shootings took place in the square during Bloody Sunday of 1920. As independence from the United Kingdom arrived and during a broader period of renaming prominent streets in the city, a proposal was considered in 1921 to rename the square after Oliver Plunkett. However, the residents, who included members of the peerage and officers of the British Army, objected to the change.{{Cite journal |last=Conboy |first=Séamus |date=2011 |title=Changing Dublin Street Names, 1880's to 1940's |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23365130 |journal=Dublin Historical Record |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=205–225 |issn=0012-6861}}

In 1975, Bord na Móna were granted permission to demolish five early 19th-century houses on the edge of the square, with plans to construct a modern office block on the site. The plans were later dropped.{{Cite book|last=McDonald|first=Frank|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60079186|title=The destruction of Dublin|date=1985|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|year=|isbn=0-7171-1386-8|location=Dublin|pages=209|oclc=60079186}}

Former or current residents of the square have included:

• William Dargan (1799–1867), railway designer, lived at number 2{{sfn|Dublin Tourism|page=11}}
• Mainie Jellett (1897–1944), artist, lived at number 36{{sfn|Dublin Tourism|page=11}}
• Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy (1850–1933), the last Recorder of Dublin, who also died there on 7 March 1933{{Cite web|url=https://www.25fitzwilliamplace.ie/|title=Home – No. 25 Fitzwilliam Place|website=No. 25 Fitzwilliam Place}}
• Jack Butler Yeats (1871–1957), painter, lived and had his studio at number 18 from 1930 onwards{{sfn|Dublin Tourism|page=11}}{{Cite web |last=Plaques |first=Open |title=Jack Butler Yeats brown plaque |url=https://openplaques.org/plaques/30631 |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=openplaques.org |language=en-GB}}{{Cite journal |last=Bourke |first=Marie |date=2021 |title=Jack B. Yeats: Painting & Memory |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27198294 |journal=History Ireland |volume=29 |issue=6 |pages=6–7 |issn=0791-8224}}

• List of streets and squares in Dublin

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• {{cite book |last=Dublin Tourism|first=Office | url=https://www.irish-shop.de/dokumente/045_georgian,cultural,_old_dublin_heritagetrails_low.pdf | title=Heritage Trails. Signposted Walking Tours of Dublin |access-date=2025-02-18|publisher=Dublin Tourism }}

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{{Commons category|Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin}}

• [https://archive.today/20130117140228/http://two.archiseek.com/2010/1760-fitzwilliam-square-dublin/ Irish architecture information] (including photographs of doorways)
• [http://www.dublintourist.com/details/fitzwilliam_square.shtml DublinTourist.com information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208083910/http://www.dublintourist.com/details/fitzwilliam_square.shtml |date=8 February 2012 }}

{{Squares of Dublin City}}

{{Green Dublin}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Squares in Dublin (city)

Category:1792 establishments in Ireland

Category:Georgian architecture in Dublin (city)

{{Dublin-geo-stub}}