Pearse Square

Originally named Queen's Square after the newly crowned British Queen Victoria, the square consists of 48 houses, built between 1838 and 1855.{{cite web|url=http://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-buildings/pearse-square|title=Pearse Square - Dublin City Council|website=Dublincity.ie|accessdate=25 June 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/townhouse-with-potential-a-square-deal-in-the-city-1.891747|title=Townhouse with potential a square deal in the city|newspaper=The Irish Times|accessdate=25 June 2019}} The park at the centre of the square was in private ownership until the late 1880s, when it was purchased by Dublin Corporation for £200. The Corporation added a bandstand and landscaped the park as a Victorian pleasure garden which opened to the public on 23 April 1889. It was renamed Pearse Square in 1926, in honour of the Irish political activist Patrick Pearse. In the 1940s, the park was remodelled to include a playground and tarmac sports area.{{cite web|url=https://wideandconvenientstreets.wordpress.com/tag/pearse-square/|title=Pearse Square - Wide and Convenient Streets|website=Wideandconvenientstreets.wordpress.com|accessdate=25 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content//RecreationandCulture/DublinCityParks/VisitaPark/Documents/Pearse%20Square%20Refurbishment%20Project%201997%20-%201998.pdf|title=Pease Square|website=Dublincity.ie|accessdate=25 June 2019}}{{Cite web |url=http://dublinduchess.blogspot.ie/2013/07/discovering-dublin-pearse-square-park.html |title=DUBLIN DUCHESS: Discovering Dublin - Pearse Square Park |access-date=26 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123082248/http://dublinduchess.blogspot.ie/2013/07/discovering-dublin-pearse-square-park.html |archive-date=23 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}

The square was a popular residence for actors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, due to its proximity to the Queen's Royal Theatre on Pearse Street and the Theatre Royal on Hawkins Street.{{cite web|url=http://www.turtlebunbury.com/published/published_books/docklands/westland_row/pub_books_docklands_wr_streetwise.html|title=Turtle Bunbury - Award-winning travel writer, historian and author based in Ireland|website=Turtlebunbury.com|accessdate=25 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-buildings/theatre-royal?language=ga|title=The Theatre Royal - Dublin City Council|website=Dublincity.ie|accessdate=25 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/RecreationandCulture/DublinCityParks/Documents/ArtinParksFinalPDF.pdf|title=Art in Parks|website=Dublincity.ie|accessdate=25 June 2019}}

The Dublin South Docks Festival Fair has been held in the square.{{cite web|url=https://www.standrews.ie/events/2013/07/19/fair-in-pearse-square/|title=Fair in Pearse Square » Events » St Andrews Resource Centre|first=St Andrews Resource|last=Centre|website=Standrews.ie|accessdate=25 June 2019}}

The houses on the square are 2 storeys over basement.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/i-m-devastated-we-d-just-moved-in-1.631644|title='I'm devastated. We'd just moved in'|first=Kitty|last=Holland|newspaper=The Irish Times|accessdate=25 June 2019}} The park in the centre of the square is approximately 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) in size. The sunken cruciform path contains Wicklow granite. Pearse Street and Pearse Square are built on land reclaimed from the River Liffey; as a result, the area is prone to flooding.

In 1991, Dublin City Council Parks Division applied for European Union (EU) funding to renovate the square. Although EU funding was refused, the Council itself funded a £100,000 refurbishment of the square in 1996 using a design based on the formal layout from an 1838 Ordnance Survey map of the area. The square was re-opened on 2 July 1998 by the then-Lord Mayor of Dublin, John Stafford. The park features a 3.5m bronze sculpture by Sandra Bell titled "Harmony", which was designed based on stories from the Pearse Square residents.

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{{Squares of Dublin City}}

{{Green Dublin}}

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Category:Squares in Dublin (city)

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