‘It will be missed': surge of visitors as Hugh Lane Gallery prepares for three-year closure
As one of the five Georgian squares in Dublin city centre, with two north and three south of the Liffey, Parnell Square has the air of a historical quarter that has not yet quite got the hang of gentrification.
When I took a stroll that way on Thursday, amid the semi-derelict grandeur of some of its Georgian facades, there were overflowing litter bins, the whiff of weed in the air and a boombox playing at an impromptu afternoon rave.
The area seems to have somehow blocked out all memory of the Celtic Tiger vision of a shiny new quarter in the inner city.
The north side of the square has been dominated by Charlemont House since it was built in 1763. That grand building houses the Hugh Lane Gallery, and last week Dublin City Council announced it is to close next month for at least three years for renovations as part of a plan to revitalise Parnell Square North that includes the construction of a new city library.
We thought we might never see it again, that's why we made the journey today
While work is being carried out, one of the few remaining vestiges of culture on the northside is shutting down. Inside the gallery, what looked like a large portrait of Hugh Lane himself lay on its side as some of the rooms were already being emptied before it closes on September 28.
Like a lot of things Irish, once something is about to close, everybody suddenly develops an interest in what they have often ignored.
'We haven't been here for years, but we thought we might never see it again, and that's why we made the journey today,' one cultured couple said at the imposing entrance on Thursday.
They were not alone. The gallery, often a quiet refuge from city life, was bustling, with tour buses pulling up at the front door and groups visiting the rooms that remain open to the public for a few more weeks: a selection of the Hugh Lane collection, work by Francis Bacon, an exhibition by Ailbhe Ní Bhriain and the Harry Clarke-stained glass room.
'It's a big attraction for tourists,' the driver of one bright-green Do Dublin bus said. 'Most of them can't believe it's free, but I tell them that it's my taxes that are paying for it, so go in and have a look. It will be missed for the next few years.'
With the Rotunda Hospital complex and the Garden of Remembrance in the middle, Parnell Square has a different aspect to the city's other Georgian squares.
The square has become home to two of the capital's most celebrated restaurants
Once known as Rutland Square, for much of the last century it was a warren of Georgian houses populated by Dublin City Council offices, trade union organisations, Miss Anna Egan's private hotel, a 'residence for Catholic girls' and the Ierne Ballroom, famed for its Thursday night nurses' dances.
In more recent years, the square has become home to two of the capital's most celebrated restaurants, Chapter One and Mr Fox. The restaurant manager at Mr Fox, Ceri-Ann Faulkner, said the closure of the gallery 'will probably have an impact on footfall. But in the eight years I've been here, things have improved greatly, and when the renovations are complete and the new library opens it will enhance Parnell Square as a visitor attraction'.
When I visited, Anthony Calvin was watching the world go by from his perch at the corner of the square.
'There is always something happening here,' he said. He lives in the nearby Granby centre, and is recovering from a broken hip. Sitting on his walker, he points tourists in the direction of the Garden of Remembrance.
'The gallery will be missed,' he said.
He understands that some people are wary about venturing up to Parnell Square because of the perception that it is not a safe part of the city, but he thinks it has improved a lot.
For the next few years, the gallery's paintings will be put in storage, and the 1930s wing of the building 'upgraded to 21st-century museum standards'.
The new library will be housed in the old Choláiste Mhuire building next door, with a direct link to the gallery. It is also intended to have a plaza in front of Charlemont House.
'The refurbishment is part of a big investment in Parnell Square North that will reshape it into a significant cultural quarter and enrich the experience of Dublin's citizens and visitors to the city,' Dublin City Council said.
In the meantime, I hope Parnell Square will retain some of what the poet Louis MacNeice admired as 'the seedy elegance' of the Georgian city.
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