house

Attached two-bay four-storey former house over concealed basement, built c. 1800 as one of pair, having full-height single-bay return shared with No. 17. Now in use as restaurant, with offices above. Pitched slate roof, hipped to south end, behind rebuilt red brick parapet with masonry coping. Parapet gutters with cast-iron hopper and downpipe. Red brick chimneystack to party wall to north, with masonry coping. Flemish bond brown brick walling to front elevation; rendered to rear and return. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in height to upper floors, with brick voussoirs, painted masonry sills and painted rendered reveals. Timber sliding sash windows, six-over-six pane to middle floors, and three-over-three pane replacement timber casements to top floor; apparently timber sash windows to rear, tripartite to second floor. Recent rendered shopfront to ground floor. Replacement concrete pavement lights to basement.

A late eighteenth / early nineteenth-century Georgian former house, likely built as a pair with No. 17 to the south, occupying a prominent site near the junction of Merrion Street Upper and Baggot Street Lower. The replacement top floor windows, recent shopfront insertion and alterations to the parapet and chimney have had an effect on the historic appearance, but the upper floors are fairly intact. Construction of Merrion Street began in the early 1750s, following the completion of Kildare (now Leinster) House. In 1762, when Merrion Square was laid out, the middle portion of the street became the west side of the square. The plot of No. 18 is shown as undeveloped on Rocque's updated map of 1773 and therefore this building is later than the terrace to the northeast. Despite alterations, No. 18 makes a strong contribution to the early streetscape character and architectural quality of this part of the south city Georgian core, the street being fairly well retained along this stretch.