Friends Meeting House / Paul Ryan Music / Eustace Street Buildings

Attached five-bay four-storey over basement Quaker meeting house, built c.1815, facade altered 1877. Forming part of seven-bay frontage with building to north. Additions extending through depth of site. M-profile pitched slate roof, hipped to north to rear (west), having rendered chimneystacks to south, red brick parapet with granite coping, and additional hipped slate roofs to rear site, with cast-iron rainwater goods. Red brick, laid in Flemish bond to front (east) elevation, with cogged red brick eaves course, and moulded brick string courses. Bays delineated by Doric pilasters supporting segmental-headed arcade to first and second floors, having rusticated rendered wall with rendered plinth course to ground floor. Inscribed plaques to ground floor. Square- and segmental-headed window openings having granite sills and chamfered brick jambs. Decorative cast-iron security bars and moulded surrounds to basement. Masonry continuous sill courses to ground and first floors, with recessed window aprons to ground floor, and scalloped brick aprons to second floor. One-over-one pane timber sliding timber sash windows to ground and first floors, two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows to second and third floors. Masonry pedimented doorcase having square-headed door opening with moulded masonry surround, double-leaf timber panelled door, nosed step and overlight flanked by panelled pilasters having fluted console brackets to entablature. Granite paving and kerb stones to front. Situated to west side of Eustace Street.

The building's fine late nineteenth century seven-bay Italianate frontage by Millar & Symes is shared with the Irish Film Institute (50020076), replacing the earlier buildings which led to the main meeting rooms at the rear. The original Society of Friends' meeting house in nearby Sycamore Alley was established in 1692 as only the second in the country, with the current headquarters serving the community for the last two centuries. The Society of United Irishmen was founded at a tavern formerly located on this site.