Dublin's Creative Quarter: A capital idea

Back in the rare 'aul times, Dublin was made up of designated city trade quarters all but forgotten today, save for street names such as Fishamble Street, Copper Alley and Winetavern Street.

Today, there's the newish Italian quarter built on the north quays by Mick Wallace and a long-standing Antique Quarter on Francis Street in the west inner city, while Temple Bar is the Cultural Quarter.

Now the area around South Great George's Street and South William Street will be designated the Creative Quarter. The Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID) is behind the move and describe the area as "a hub of innovation which hosts an exceptional array of designer boutiques, creative businesses and plenty more".

ARCADE ADMIRE: The beautiful facade of the George's Street Arcade, now part of the city's Creative Quarter, as designated by the Dublin City Business Improvement District. Image: Alison Cornford-Matheson/Dreamtimes

HUB OF CREATIVITY: South Great George's Street (the red A balloon) and South William Street to the right. Image: Google Maps

Among the design businesses in the Creative District are Designist (68 South Great George's Street, next door to Brasserie Sixty6) and Article, which has just moved into a stunning new space on the ground floor of the Powerscourt Centre, South William Street. The area has attracted a number of independent businesses, from deli and bakery Lolly and Cooks in Victorian wonder George's Street Arcade, to the recently opened Irish fashion store Blind Tiger Collective, featured previously on Mo Theach, on South William Street.

I LIKE MY TEA TWEET: #LoveDublin mugs designed by Designist.ie, a store in Dublin's newly designated Creative Quarter, as part of a collaboration with Le Cool Dublin. The mugs are inspired by tweets under #LoveDublin and designed by Donal Thornton. There are three mugs (€10 each) to choose from, 'Walk of Shame', 'Mix Tweets' and 'Mug of Tea'. 

According to BID, this area was once Dublin's original garment district, where specialist design thrived. Fashionistas of the 18th century flocked to these furriers, dress-makers, glove-makers and couture coat manufacturers.

A number of events, part of the St. Patrick's Festival, are taking place tomorrow, Friday March 16th, to launch the Creative District. These include the launch of Project A Apparel as part of the Blind Tiger Collective (12pm-2pm) and a lecture by fashion historian Ruth Griffin on local fashion history in Om Diva Boutique on Drury Street (6pm).

One I'd love to go is Scribble Dublin at the Designist store at 68 South Great George's Street (6pm-8pm) featuring Irish company Klickity's scribble frames. Mark Flood (see his work on David Mc William's Punk Economics videos) will be on illustrator duties, designs from other top illustrators will be auctioned and there will be a gigantic version of Klickity's scribble frame to get your picture taken in.

CITY SCRIBB': Poster for tomorrow's Scribble Dublin event at Designist on South Great George's Street. Image: Designist.ie

Other events (taking place between 6pm and 8pm) are a celebration of Irish food to be held in Fallon and Byrne and a 'Meet the Designers' evening as part of the festival of Irish Design featuring Project 51 in association with the Crafts Council of Ireland. Designers include Geraldine Murphy of Saba Jewellery.

I'd love to see more designated districts in Dublin. Some ideas related to my local area include:

The Brewery Quarter: The Guinness Storehouse is among the most visited tourist attractions in the country, yet the surrounding streets are dead and many buildings derelict. The area already has lots to offer in the form of the Digital Hub, NCAD, Vicar Street, local businesses such as Manning's Bakery and the newly-opened Arthur's. It would be great to see the huge Georgian buildings on James Street currently up for let occupied and the old Victorian market buildings in the area rescued from decay.

A BREW LEASE OF LIFE? The old Guinness windmill, now surrounded by the Digital Hub on James' Street. It would be great to see a Brewery Quarter developed for tourists and locals alike.

STEP BACK INTO TIME: Kilmainham Gaol, a must-see Dublin visiter attraction. If you're walking from the Guinness Storehouse, don't expect clear signage to help you find it.

The Gaol/Military Quarter: Hundreds of tourists walk each day from the Guinness Storehouse to Kilmainham Gaol, often missing the small sign for the turn at Bow Lane, and walking past St. James' Hospital and often up into Inchicore, as there is no sign for the Gaol at the junction of Old Kilmainham and South Circular Road. (The most scenic route is to walk down James' Street, then at the triangle in the centre of the road, take the road in the middle, Bow Lane West, which continues onto Kilmainham Lane, then it's at the top of this road).

Kilmainham also has the Irish Museum of Modern Art at the Royal Hospital and the War Memorial Gardens, along with Clancy Barracks (part of a late Celtic Tiger development site and currently being used as a filming location). It would be great to see the area more geared to tourists, with perhaps a special trail like they have in Boston, from the Brewery Quarter, for example.

Check out:
My Pinterest Board: I heart Dublin

Related posts:
Eye of the Tiger: Irish clothing brands open store
City slickers: Dublin-inspired design
A Quarter Compounder: Proposed Asian Quarter on Parnell Street

Apartment living: Hot properties above the shop in Dublin city centre

Some years, I read a newspaper interview with an older lady who was the only person who had a home on O'Connell Street. The sole resident of the country's most famous main street, she lived among the department stores and fast food outlets, watching the world and its mother go by from her flat. I don't know if she is still there, but I think it's a shame that so few people live in the heart of Dublin's city centre.

BREW LEASE OF LIFE: A three-bedroom apartment on lively East Essex Street in Temple Bar, Dublin 2, costs €1,700 to rent per month.  A decent cup of coffee is also conveniently close with the Joy of Chai downstairs. Image via Daft.ie

When I walk down the likes of Exchequer Street, Drury Street and Fade Street, I often look above shop level to the huge windows and high ceilings of the upper floors and think of how lovely it would be if people (okay, me!) lived there.

There seem to be quite a few commercial properties on streets such as these up for rent. I don't know how complex the re-zoning of commercial to residential is, but I think that Dublin City Council did at one stage have a 'living above the shop'-type scheme.

Again, I'm not well-versed on planning issues, but it seems to me that Dublin's urban sprawl would have been considerably lessened had we followed the example of other European capitals such as Paris and Brussels, where living in the heart of the city centre is the norm.

Most of the buildings in Dublin city centre date from a time where living above the shop was the norm and the buildings were designed with this purpose in mind. Indeed, my dad and his 10 siblings all grew up above their family's butcher shop in Co. Tyrone. But like many buildings of its kind throughout the country, the floors above the shop are now used as commercial premises, rather than as family homes.

TOP CHOP SHOP: This is my father's family's butcher shop in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, where my dad grew up with his 10 siblings. It's a fine looking building. I like the carved stone sign and the stained glass beneath it, along with the dramatic corbles. The rooms above the shop are now used to house a beauty salon. Thanks to my cousin Paul for sending me this image via Google Maps.

There are some options, both for purchasers and renters (for whom parking and pet ownership isn't an issue), in Dublin's historic city centre. Here's a selection:

FIT FOR A PRINCE/PRINCESS: A two-bedroom apartment at 18 The Royal Exchange, Parliament Street, Dublin 2,  is for sale at €220,000. Image via MyHome.ie

DAME AND FORTUNE: The city is on your door-step with this one-bedroom apartment on Dame Street renting for €850 monthly. Opposite pop-up restaurant Crackbird's current location. Image via Daft.ie 

BREAK THE BANK: Also on Dame Street, a whooping €1.5 million is all you need to acquire a beautiful five-storey over basement building (above and below) at number 37, which I think may once have been a bank judging by the dramatic shop-front. Directly across from the Central Bank. Its conversion to a residential property could be subject to planning permission. Images via MyHome.ie

FADE TO GREY: The location of RTÉ's recent *reality* show, this two-bedroom penthouse apartment in this stunning turreted Victorian building on the corner of Fade Street at is yours to rent for  €1,750 a month. One of the best locations in the city. Image via Daft.ie