Picture of Dublin
Caption: The Doors of Dublin Ireland #bestofireland
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Walk the streets around
Dublin’s Georgian squares
and you will immediately notice
bright colored doors with
unique glass fanlights
(semi-circular over the door windows with radiating panes)
Picture of Dublin
Caption: A
Little
History
Picture of Dublin
Caption: 1700 Before the 1700’s, Dublin then under English rule, was considered a provincial town in the British Empire.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: 1714 In the early 1700’s, change was underway.
Dublin, ruled by members of a Protestant upper class who were descendants of English invaders from Norman, Elizabethan and Cromwellian times, started to push for greater autonomy for the Irish Parliament and reforms including better conditions and rights for Catholics, allowing many middle-class Catholics to establish themselves in trade & business.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Dublin rose to become the largest city in the British Empire after London.
With prosperity, Dublin’s Protestants began to build their elegant new Georgian homes beyond the walls of the medieval town.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Georgian This housing boom lasted from 1714 to 1830 and the style was named Georgian in line with the British Kings of the time from the accession of George I to the death of George IV. The townhouses were brick buildings and a quick look down the street and you can see why it might be confusing to know which “door” was yours.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: When
did this
Colorful
door trend
start?
Picture of Dublin
Caption: One tale starts at Number 4, Ely Place
George Moore and Oliver St. John Gogarty were neighbours on Ely Place. Gogarty had a habit of coming home drunk and knocking on Moore’s door instead of his own. Moore painted his door green so he wouldn’t get confused. Then Gogarty retaliated and painted his red. The colorful door wars began.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Another version of the story came from the poet W.B. Yeats. He wrote that Moore began the practice for artistic reasons, being of the opinion ‘that the whole decoration of his house required a green door.’
Whatever his reasoning, Moore is widely documented as having fought with neighbors over his green door.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Another tale says that the women of Dublin started painting their doors so their drunk husbands wouldn’t mistake other homes for their own.
And wake up in bed with another woman.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Another tale points to Irish obstinance.
After Queen Victoria died, England ordered Irish citizens to paint the doors black in mourning.
The Irish rebelled and took out the bright paints instead.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: The most likely reason...
To set themselves apart, the former residents of Georgian Dublin painted their front doors.
They also added ornate knockers, elegant fanlights above the door, and wrought iron boot scrapers near the the entrance.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: DOORMANIA
Picture of Dublin
Caption: 1970 In 1970, Bob Fearon, head of an ad agency in NYC, was in Dublin on a commercial shoot.
He was strolling back to his hotel and passed through Merrion Square and then Fitzwilliam Square.
Admiring the symmetry and beauty of the Georgian doorways, he took photos of forty plus doors to make an art collage for himself.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: NYC Back in NYC, Bob showed his door creation to Joe Malone, North American Manager of Bord Fáilte, who thought it would be perfect for his Irish Tourism office display window in New York for St. Patrick’s Day.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: New Yorkers were drawn to the display and requested copies of the poster.
The end result was a poster which became a history-making award winner all over the world.
Picture of Dublin
Caption: Finding
the Doors of Dublin
Picture
Caption: The best places to look for authentic Georgian Dublin doors are around
🗝 Merrion Square
🗝 Saint Stephen’s Green
🗝 Fitzwilliam Square
🗝 Lower Baggot Street
Picture
Caption: #findthisdoor On your next trip to Dublin
Picture
Picture
Caption: BlueSkyTraveler.com #blueskytraveler
