Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

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that which terminated his career is a sarcophagus: the
whole is surmounted with a colossal’ statue of the
Admiral, surrounded by a balustrade, to which there is
an ascent by a spiral staircase in the interior. The
structure was completed at an expense of nearly £7000.
On the southern side of the city, the avenue from
Kingstown is equally imposing. Both meet in College-
green, a spacious area surrounded with noble build-
ings, and having in its centre an equestrian statue
of Wm. III., of cast metal, upon a pedestal of marble.
Of the public squares, St. Stephen’s-green, situated in
the south-eastern quarter, is the most spacious, being
nearly a mile in circuit: in the centre is an equestrian
statue of Geo. II., finely executed in brass by Van
Nost; Merrion-square, to the east of the former, is
about three-quarters of a mile in circuit;. on the west
the lawn of the Royal Dublin Society. Fitzwilliam-
square has been recently built and is much smaller
than either of the others; the houses are built with
much uniformity in a neat but unornamented style;
some of them have basements of granite and the
upper stories of brick. Mountjoy-square, in an ele-
vated and healthy situation in the north-eastern part of
the city, is more than half a mile in circuit; the houses
are uniformly built and present an appearance very
similar to those in Fitzwilliam-square. Rutland-square
is on the north side of the river, at the upper end of
Sackville-street: three sides of it are formed by Gran-
by-row, Palace-row, and Cavendish-row, the fourth
by the Lying-in Hospital and the Rotundo. The
areas of the several squares are neatly laid out in
gravel walks and planted with flowering shrubs and
evergreens. A line drawn from the King’s Inns, in the
north of Dublin, through Capel-street, the Castle and
Aungier-street, thus intersecting the Liffey at right
angles, would, together with the line of that river, divide
the city into four districts, strongly opposed to each
other in character and appearance. The south-eastern
district, including St. Stephen’s-green, Merrion-square,
and Fitzwilliam-square, is chiefly inhabited by the
nobility, the gentry, and the members of the liberal
professions. The north-eastern district, including Mount-
joy and Rutland-squares, is principally inhabited by
the mercantile and official classes. The south-western
district, including the liberties of St. Sepulchre and
Thomas-court, and formerly the seat of the woollen and
silk manufactures, is in a state of lamentable dilapida-
tion, bordering on ruin; and the north-western district,
in which are the Royal barracks and Smithfield (the
great market for hay and cattle), presents striking indi-
cations of poverty.
BRIDGES.
The Liffey is embanked on both sides by a range of
masonry of granite, forming a continuation of spacious
quays through the whole of the city, and its opposite
sides are connected with nine bridges, eight of which
are of elegant design and highly ornamental. Carlisle
bridge, the nearest to the sea, and connecting West-
moreland-street on the south with Sackville-street on
the north, is a very elegant structure of three arches:
it is 210 feet in length and 48 feet in breadth, and was
completed in 1794. Wellington bridge, at the end of
Liffey-street, 140 feet long, consists of a single elliptic
arch of cast iron, and was erected in 1816, for the
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accommodation of foot passengers only, at an expense
of £3000, which is defrayed by a halfpenny toll. Essex
bridge, connecting Capel-street with Parliament-street,
and fronting the Royal Exchange, was built in 1755,
on the site of a former structure of the same name,
at an expense of £20,661; it is a handsome stone
structure of five arches, 250 feet in length and 51 in
width, after the model of Westminster bridge, London.
Richmond bridge, built on the site of Ormond bridge,
which had been swept away by a flood, was commenced
in 1813; it connects Winetavern-street with Montrath-
street, and was completed at an expense of £25,800,
raised by presentments on the city and county, and
opened to the public on St. Patrick’s day, 1816; it is
built of Portland stone, with a balustrade of cast iron,
and is 220 feet long and 52 feet wide, consisting of three
fine arches, the keystones of which are ornamented with
colossal heads, on the one side representing Peace,
Hibernia, and Commerce; and on the other, Plenty,
the river Liffey, and Industry. Whitworth bridge sup-
plies the place of the old bridge built by the Domi-
nican friars, which had been for a long time the only
communication between the city and its northern sub-
urbs: the first stone was laid in 1816, by the Earl of
Whitworth, then lord-lieutenant; it is an elegant struc-
ture of three arches, connecting Bridge-street with
Church-street. Queen’s bridge, a smaller structure of
three arches of hewn stone, connecting Bridgefoot-street
with Queen-street, is only 140 feet in-length: it was
built in 1768, on the site of Arran bridge, which
was destroyed by a flood in 1763. Barrack bridge,
formerly Bloody bridge, connecting Watling-street with
the quay leading to the royal barracks, was origi-
nally constructed of wood, in 1671, and subsequently
rebuilt of stone. King’s bridge, of which the first stone
was laid by the Marquess Wellesley in 1827, connects
the military road with the south-eastern entrance to the
Phoenix Park, affording to the lord-lieutenant a retired
and pleasant avenue from the Castle to his country
residence; it consists of a single arch of cast iron, 100
feet in span, resting on abutments of granite richly orna-
mented, and was completed at an expense of £13,000,
raised for the purpose of erecting a national testimonial
in commemoration of the visit of Geo. IV. to Ireland,
in 1821.. Sarah bridge, formerly Island bridge, but when
rebuilt in its present form named after the Countess
of Westmoreland, who laid the foundation stone in
1791, is a noble structure of a single arch, 104 feet in
span, the keystone of which is 30 feet above low water
mark: this bridge connects the suburban village of
Island-Bridge with the north-western road and with
one of the entrances to the Phoenix Park; from the
peculiar elegance of its proportions, it has been dis-
tinguished by the name of the “Irish Rialto.”
MANUFACTURE, TRADE, AND COMMERCE.
The woollen manufacture was carried on in Ireland
at a very early period, and attained considerable cele-
brity both in the English and continental markets;
but its first establishment in connection with Dublin
did not take place till after the Revolution, when
a number of English manufacturers, attracted by the
excellent quality of the Irish wool, the cheapness of
provisions, and the low price of labour, established
regular and extensive factories in the liberties of the