Weaver Square, Dublin

Datepre 1931

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions44.5 x 33 cm

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by Helen and Edyth Warren, 1931.

Object number668

DescriptionWeaver’s Square began as a planned street layout in the late 17th century in an area of Dublin known as the Meath Liberties. The area was a mix of native inhabitants and immigrant new comers, from the Low Countries as well as Huguenots, and became a centre for Dublin’s cloth working industries. The building of Weaver’s Hall (1745) was an indication of the importance of the cloth trade there. The typical architectural style of the area were brick houses known as ‘Dutch Billy’s’ and dated from the late 17th century-early 18th century. These were gable fronted and often had corner fireplaces. By the late 18th century subdivision of the houses into a number of dwellings was widespread. When the wealthier inhabitants left for other areas of Dublin, the low rent of the Meath Liberties attracted poorer inhabitants leading to the derogatory description as ‘that
thieves kitchen.’ However, as a consequence of slum division and the fact that the houses were continuously inhabited, many of the original structures survived into the 19th and 20th centuries. Here Lizzie Stephen’s shows various inhabitants of the street including a street seller carrying her wares on her head; children sitting on the pavement and a barefooted girl carrying a young child. In the distance the spire of St. Patrick’s Cathedral is visible. (JO'D)

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