Henrietta Street Conservation Plan - The Heritage Council

Part One - Process
Cuid a hAon - Próiseas
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Context for Conservation Plan
The Conservation Plan for Henrietta Street was
commissioned by Dublin City Council, in conjunction with
the Heritage Council in March 2004 (fig.1.1.1). The context
for commissioning the Conservation Plan arises from
Dublin City Council and the Heritage Council in association
with key stakeholders wishing “to co-ordinate the future
conservation, rehabilitation and regeneration of Henrietta
Street in a strategic manner 4 ”.
There have been a number of positive developments which
have taken place in Henrietta Street in the last number of
years, including the establishment of the Henrietta Street
Property Owners Group, the fine restoration of the Daughter’s
of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul’s buildings at Nos. 8 to 10,
and various conservation and restoration works to some
of the other buildings on the street. The commitment of the
majority of property owners on the street to a sensitive and
benign guardianship of the houses has continued. This has
been supported in several cases by welcome public grants
through the relatively new Local Authority Conservation
Grants, and continued support through Heritage Council and
Irish Georgian Society grants. Indeed, in one notable instance
a private benefactor has funded the restoration of the railings
and external elements of the lower floors to Nos. 5,6, and 7.
However, the enormous task of ensuring the proper
protection of these important buildings remains and the
existing support systems are generally inadequate to meet
the challenge which exists. Equally, the importance of
Fig.1.1.1 Map indicating Conservation Plan Area
ensuring the buildings are maintained/repaired/conserved
to the appropriate standards can only be addressed by
making the necessary professional and technical support
available to the property owners. While the ownership profile
of the houses includes private, public and institutional, the
architectural heritage belongs to all.
The development boom which has been ongoing in the
country for the last 15 or so years has visited the area
around Henrietta Street in recent years. With ongoing
development and the relocation of DIT to Grangegorman
it is likely that the near future will see continued physical
4 Extract from Conservation Plan Brief. The key stakeholders referred to comprise the property owners, An Taisce, Department of
Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin Civic Trust and the Irish Georgian Society.
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