Guinness Brewery

Boundary walls enclosing Guinness Brewery, built c.1875. Brown brick, laid in Flemish bond, over rusticated cut granite plinth course with carved granite coping, with rusticated cut granite piers, granite coping, and stepped red brick eaves course. Gateways comprising matching paired square-profile rusticated granite piers with granite plinth course and cut granite capping, splayed walls, flanking vehicular openings. Granite wheel-guards to gate piers, some with steel gates, some blocked. Red brick, laid in English garden wall bond, to east of site, having red brick piers, red brick plinth course, and granite capping. Gateway comprising square-profile red brick piers having carved red brick capping, flanking double-leaf steel gates. Cast-iron bollard to corner of entrance. Later yellow brick wall with textured concrete block piers and recent grey brick wall to west of north of site, with applied brass lettering ‘GUINNESS’. Rusticated snecked calp limestone walls to west of site, having gateway comprising square-profile rusticated limestone piers with carved limestone cornices flanking recent steel gates. Paired wheel-guards to centre pier.

The southern portion of the Guinness Brewery site was acquired by Arthur Guinness in 1759, and extensive rebuilding went on from the late 1800s. In 1873 the site north of James's Street was acquired by Guinness to expand the brewing enterprise, and was mainly used for cooperage, racking and dispatching. This wall was built to enclose this upper portion of the brewery. Typological differences indicate several phases of construction, with more elaborate detailing favoured in the earlier part of the wall. Textural and visual contrast provided by a variety of brick and granite finishes. These phases indicate the ongoing development of Guinness until the present day, demonstrating the importance of the site in the industrial heritage of Dublin and Ireland.