Set in an 18th-century Georgian townhouse on Dublin's north side, 14 Henrietta Street is a social history museum that explores the shifting fortunes of the city and the building. Henrietta Street itself is the most intact collection of early- to mid-18th-century houses in Ireland and was initially home to a number of wealthy residents.
As urbanisation spread during the 19th century, they were converted to tenement use and began accommodating factory workers and their families in increasingly impoverished and overcrowded conditions - indeed, the 1911 census recorded 100 people living at number 14. The tenement's last residents left in the 1970s and, by the time the city council gained access to the townhouse in 2008, it was dilapidated and on the brink of collapse.
But a 10-year conservation project, which has drawn on traditional craft skills and the memories of former residents, has preserved the building's character. The innovative development picked up two prizes at the 2018 Irish Architecture Awards earlier this year, and the museum opened in September.
Iseult Byrne is the interim chief executive of the Dublin City Council Culture Company - a private organisation set up and funded by the council - which runs the museum.
What are the main aims of the museum?
Iseult Byrne: The mission of 14 Henrietta Street is to collect the history of the house and its occupants, tell stories to Dubliners and visitors about the history of the city through the prism of those who lived there, and celebrate the strong community ethos evident in Dublin's tenements.
What were the key challenges of developing the museum?
It's been a 10-year journey to rescue, conserve and adapt 14 Henrietta Street. Before the museum was developed, the house had to be saved from imminent collapse. Dublin City Council initiated a compulsory purchase order in 2001, but an injunction delayed the stabilisation works for eight years.
By the time the council was able to access the house in 2008, the ground floor and basement rooms were almost inaccessible. There were serious structural issues and the teams faced rotted structural timbers, compromised brickwork and the loss of decorative plasterwork. The back staircase was unsafe to use, preventing access beyond the ground floor. All that was just the start of the challenge of conserving the building.
How has the restoration remained true to the building's history?
The greatest care was taken at all stages to use compatible and appropriate materials and processes. Taking the building as our primary artefact, we worked to recover the fragile traces left by human occupation in the fabric of the house, inside and out. It is an almost 300-year-old site and those conservation measures have sought to ensure that the myriad stories of the people who lived there, and the distinct periods of history, could be told simultaneously.
For the duration of the restoration, 14 Henrietta Street became a house of craft workshops. We had experts and specialists on everything from wrought iron repair, wallpaper conservation and reproduction, to linoleum reproduction and lime plaster and render. Almost all the repairs and works were done in situ.
What was the most innovative aspect of the redevelopment?
This was invaluable to the making of the museum. We got a deeper insight into what features were vital to recover. These stories - the traces of gas lighting, the graffiti in the stairwells - are presented alongside the history of the people for whom the house was built.
What will visitors experience as they walk through the building?
The museum uses donated items, videos and audio content to reveal the daily routines of the people who lived here and how overcrowding affected them. Extraordinary details of the lives of its occupants are contained within the walls. Visitors can listen to the voices of the residents and hear the songs of the children who played here. They can read the hallway graffiti and visit a faithful reconstruction of a 1960s tenement home.
What might surprise people most about their visit?
Former residents of the house and street have donated personal items to us, which resonate universally and add to the authenticity of the place. The museum features a reconstruction of a 1960s home, entitled Mrs Dowling's Flat, where Elizabeth Dowling lived with her family from 1940 to 1975. Visitors can see Elizabeth's china cabinet, a doll given to her on the day her father died in 1949, a memorial card, holiday souvenirs and family photographs.
14henriettastreet.ie
14 Henrietta Street is among the venues in Dublin that delegates at this year's Museums Association Conference will be able to visit as part of the programme of tours on 10 November.
As urbanisation spread during the 19th century, they were converted to tenement use and began accommodating factory workers and their families in increasingly impoverished and overcrowded conditions - indeed, the 1911 census recorded 100 people living at number 14. The tenement's last residents left in the 1970s and, by the time the city council gained access to the townhouse in 2008, it was dilapidated and on the brink of collapse.
But a 10-year conservation project, which has drawn on traditional craft skills and the memories of former residents, has preserved the building's character. The innovative development picked up two prizes at the 2018 Irish Architecture Awards earlier this year, and the museum opened in September.
Iseult Byrne is the interim chief executive of the Dublin City Council Culture Company - a private organisation set up and funded by the council - which runs the museum.
What are the main aims of the museum?
Iseult Byrne: The mission of 14 Henrietta Street is to collect the history of the house and its occupants, tell stories to Dubliners and visitors about the history of the city through the prism of those who lived there, and celebrate the strong community ethos evident in Dublin's tenements.
What were the key challenges of developing the museum?
It's been a 10-year journey to rescue, conserve and adapt 14 Henrietta Street. Before the museum was developed, the house had to be saved from imminent collapse. Dublin City Council initiated a compulsory purchase order in 2001, but an injunction delayed the stabilisation works for eight years.
By the time the council was able to access the house in 2008, the ground floor and basement rooms were almost inaccessible. There were serious structural issues and the teams faced rotted structural timbers, compromised brickwork and the loss of decorative plasterwork. The back staircase was unsafe to use, preventing access beyond the ground floor. All that was just the start of the challenge of conserving the building.
How has the restoration remained true to the building's history?
The greatest care was taken at all stages to use compatible and appropriate materials and processes. Taking the building as our primary artefact, we worked to recover the fragile traces left by human occupation in the fabric of the house, inside and out. It is an almost 300-year-old site and those conservation measures have sought to ensure that the myriad stories of the people who lived there, and the distinct periods of history, could be told simultaneously.
For the duration of the restoration, 14 Henrietta Street became a house of craft workshops. We had experts and specialists on everything from wrought iron repair, wallpaper conservation and reproduction, to linoleum reproduction and lime plaster and render. Almost all the repairs and works were done in situ.
What was the most innovative aspect of the redevelopment?
Other than the conservation of the building by an army of artisans, the development was influenced by new academic research and engagement with the former residents of the tenement flats, whose living heritage the museum has sought to gather, interpret and exhibit.
At an early stage, reminiscence evenings and an oral history project were used to discuss important aspects of the museum's development. The team learned a lot from these sessions: from the layout of a flat and how it was furnished, to where families slept, how they washed and cooked, celebrated life and mourned death.
This was invaluable to the making of the museum. We got a deeper insight into what features were vital to recover. These stories - the traces of gas lighting, the graffiti in the stairwells - are presented alongside the history of the people for whom the house was built.
What will visitors experience as they walk through the building?
14 Henrietta Street tells the story of the life cycle of the building. Visiting the museum opens a door to 300 years of the city's life, from the building's splendid beginnings as a grand townhouse in the 1700s to the tenement era of its history from the 1880s to the 1970s.
Our tour guides accompany visitors through the three floors of the house and its recreated rooms. They explain how history has influenced the use and occupation of the house through the eras, which include historical events, such as the Great Famine (1845-49), two world wars and the Irish rebellion (1798), as well as suburbanisation and changes in housing policy.
The museum uses donated items, videos and audio content to reveal the daily routines of the people who lived here and how overcrowding affected them. Extraordinary details of the lives of its occupants are contained within the walls. Visitors can listen to the voices of the residents and hear the songs of the children who played here. They can read the hallway graffiti and visit a faithful reconstruction of a 1960s tenement home.
What might surprise people most about their visit?
What struck me when I first walked the halls, and what I've seen in the faces of many of our visitors, is the emotional connection to the more recent stories the house tells, and how much they can resonate with our own family stories of the last few generations.
There's a hush that falls on the groups as they move down through the house, feeling the worn treads of the back stairs and stone flags, seeing the gas feeds for cookers and lighting, the traces of the single toilet, the remnants of fireplaces and wallpaper, as well as re-creations of flats that might make them think of a beloved grandmother's home.
Former residents of the house and street have donated personal items to us, which resonate universally and add to the authenticity of the place. The museum features a reconstruction of a 1960s home, entitled Mrs Dowling's Flat, where Elizabeth Dowling lived with her family from 1940 to 1975. Visitors can see Elizabeth's china cabinet, a doll given to her on the day her father died in 1949, a memorial card, holiday souvenirs and family photographs.
14henriettastreet.ie
14 Henrietta Street is among the venues in Dublin that delegates at this year's Museums Association Conference will be able to visit as part of the programme of tours on 10 November.
Iseult Byrne is the interim chief executive of Dublin City Council Culture Company, which runs 14 Henrietta Street
Project data
- Cost €5m (£4.45m)
- Main funders Dublin City Council, Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht; Heritage Council
- Conservation architect Shaffrey Architects
- Exhibition design Dublin City Council in collaboration with architectural historians, academic researchers and social historians
- Graphic design Peter Maybury
- Admission €9 Adult; €6 children and concessions; under 5s free
