Southsider to bring cottage stories back to life

A SOUTHSIDE designer is currently seeking information from anyone with knowledge of the city’s iconic late 19th and early 20th century cottages, as part of a project she is undertaking to catalogue the little known history of the dwellings.

Orla Fitzmaurice, who lives in Portobello, is a graphic designer and formerly worked as an architectural technologist. She is planning to undertake the considerable task of cataloguing all the cottages that were built in Dublin during the period.

The Kerry native currently runs a website Cottageology.com that details the history behind some of the city’s cottage developments and also outlines how architects and proud homeowners alike have renovated the old buildings.

She said most of the cottages were built to replace the city’s crumbling tenement buildings, which were unfit for human habitation.

Orla intends to carry out the project because there is very little recorded documentation about them.

“The reason I think the project is important is for the gathering of the history of the cottages,

? she said.

“We don’t currently have any documentation on when these dwellings were built, who lived in them and what their cultural impact is on the city. They form a huge part of the identity of the city.

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She added:

“If that information isn’t gathered now it will never be possible to gather it because those people who lived there prior to the 1950 will pass away with this generation.

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According to Orla, the majority of the cottages she intends to catalogue in the city are located in Dublin 1, 2, 4 and 8.

“I want to create an awareness of the cottages and how they can be renovated and become useful parts of the future of Dublin City. I want to showcase how they can be renovated because I have come across some really beautiful renovations that are really modern but yet they hold onto spirit of Dublin.

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She cited the example of cottages in Pimlico, which were built by the Dublin Artisans’ Dwellings Company around the turn of the 20th century, as a prime example of the city’s unique architectural history.

She noted that porter magnate and philanthropist Arthur Guinness was a founding member of the company.

“I am including in the project the cottages in Pimlico and places like that, which would have been built by Dublin Artisan Dwellings Company. The style and design of them are really quite original to inner city Dublin.

“The company was completely a commercial entity but the standard of the tenements at the time was so poor that it had a philanthropic arm to it. Arthur Guinness was a founding member and he brought together a load of investors to create these housing developments.

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Orla is eager to speak to those especially from the older generation who might be able to provide her with stories or information about the people who lived in the city’s cottages in the first half of the 20th century.

“Our only source of knowledge is the people who lived in or near the cottages who remember the streets, their appearance and/or the people who lived there,

? she said.

“I hope to interview as many people as possible who currently live in these cottages, have renovated them and especially the older generation who remember the pre-60’s an 1970’s inner city Dublin. I hope to put together an oral history to piece together the disappeared streets and cottages so that their existence becomes more than just mere markings on old maps.

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Anyone who wants to learn more about the project can log on to www.cottageology.com/dublin-city-cottages-project and Orla can be contacted at: [email protected]