house

Group of three mid-terrace two-bay three-storey over basement houses, built c.1800, now also in use as flats. Pitched M-profile roof having continuous parapet to front (north) elevation with cut granite capping to no.45 and 46, recent concrete capping to no.44. Stepped brown brick and rendered chimneystacks having clay chimneypots. Brown brick walls laid in Flemish bond having cut granite plinth course over rendered walls to basement level. Square-headed window openings having patent reveals and painted cut granite sills. Balconettes to no.46 first floor windows. Six-over-six pane timber sash windows to no.44 and no.46, replacement uPVC windows to no.45. Round-arched door openings having engaged Ionic columns supporting fluted frieze with paterae and cornice. Plain fanlight to no.44 and no.45, spoked fanlight to no.46. Timber panelled doors. Concrete and asphalt steps to entrance platforms having metal railings, rendered parapet wall between entrance to no.45 and no.46. Basement areas enclosed from pavement level by cut granite plinth wall with metal railings. Access from pavement level to basement areas by recent concrete stairs and metal gates. Cast-iron coal-hole covers set in granite paving to front.

This group of three houses makes an important contribution to the streetscape of Blessington Street. The houses retain much early fabric including brickwork, door surrounds and sash windows. They share proportions and characteristics with their neighbours that are typical of Georgian Dublin houses. Blessington Street was laid out at the end of the eighteenth century, appearing in the alphabetical list of streets in Wilson's Dublin Directory for the first time in 1795. It terminates to the west end at Blessington Street Basin, constructed in 1810 as a city reservoir supplied from the nearby canal, it is now a public park.