The Liberties ( or occasionally ) is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, initially separate from the main city government, it is one of Dublin's most historic working class neighbourhoods. The area was traditionally associated with the River Poddle, market traders and local family-owned businesses, as well as the Guinness brewery, whiskey distilling, and, historically, the textiles industry and tenement housing.

Etymology The name derives from manorial jurisdictions dating from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction (hence "liberties"). The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty).Commissioners appointed to inquire into the municipal corporations in Ireland, 1836 The modern Liberties area lies within the former boundaries of these two jurisdictions, between the river Liffey to the north, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the east, Warrenmount to the south and the St. James's Hospital campus to the west.

History

Historical location These two liberties are mentioned in Allen's Register of 1529, but without describing their exact location.Allen's Register. Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1952. p. 302 After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, the liberties of Thomas Court and Donore were granted to William Brabazon, ancestor of the Earls of Meath.Dalton: A New Picture of Dublin, Dublin, 1835. In 1579 the city of Dublin claimed the abbey to be within the jurisdiction and liberty of the city, but they lost their case. From then on the head of the liberty was the Earl of Meath. The family lent its name to places and streets in the district, e.g. the Meath Market, the Meath Hospital and Meath Street. They also named Brabazon Row, Brabazon Street and Ardee Street (they were Barons Ardee since 1616).

In 1728 Charles Brooking published a detailed map, the Map of the City and Suburbs of Dublin, which contained a description of the boundaries of the liberties. The Manor of St. Sepulchre boundaries stretched from Bishop St. to St. Stephen's Green, along Harcourt Street to Donnybrook, across Rathgar to Harold's Cross and back along Clanbrassil Street to Patrick Street. The Earl of Meath's liberty ran west along The Coombe to Ardee St., turning north towards Echlin St. then along James's Street to Meath Street, then through various smaller streets to Ash St. and back to the Coombe.Bennett 1992

In 1837 the Ordnance Survey started developing its maps, and that of Dublin published in 1840 showed all the liberties, from the smallest (Christ Church Liberty, one acre and two roods) to the largest (the Earl of Meath's Liberty, 380 acres).

Privileges In return for the support of the ruler of the liberty, or to alleviate certain hardships suffered by Englishmen or the church in Ireland, privileges were granted to the rulers of the liberties at various times and by various kings of England. For example, these allowed the liberty of St. Sepulchre to have its own courts of justice (Courts Leet, Courts Baron and a Court of Record, where it was allowed to try all crimes except "forestalling, rape, treasure-trove and arson"), free customs, freedom from certain taxes and services, impose their own fines, have their own coroners, rights of salvage, maintain their own fairs and markets, regulate weights and measures, etc. These rights and privileges ended in 1840.

Historical developments Several places in The Liberties still have connections with a turbulent past in which political upheaval or dire poverty were the order of the day. In the 17th century, parts of the area became relatively wealthy when the weaving crafts of the immigrant Huguenots had a ready market around the present-day Meath Street Market, and a healthy export trade.J. J. Webb: Industrial Dublin since 1698 & The silk industry in Dublin; two essays. Maunsel, Dublin. 1913

17th and 18th centuries

In the late 17th century, development started in order to house the weavers who were moving into the area. Woollen manufacture was set up by settlers from England, while many Huguenots took up silk weaving, using skills they had acquired in their home country, France. They constructed their own traditional style of house, Dutch Billies, with gables that faced the street.Bennett 1992, p.44 Thousands of weavers became employed in the Coombe, Pimlico, Spitalfields and Weavers' Square.M'Gregor 1821

However, English woollen manufacturers felt threatened by the Irish industry, and heavy duties were imposed on Irish wool exports. The Navigation Act was passed to prevent the Irish from exporting to the whole colonial market, then in 1699 the English government passed the Wool Act, which prevented export to any country whatsoever, which effectively put an end to the industry in the Liberties.

A weavers' hall was built by the Weavers' Guild in the Lower Coombe in 1682. In 1745 a new hall was provided, financed by the Huguenot, David Digges La Touche. In 1750 the Guild erected a statue of George II on the front of their hall "as a mark of their sincere loyalty". The hall was demolished in 1965.

In the eighteenth century a revival took place, based on importation of Spanish wool, helped from 1775 by the Royal Dublin Society, but the events of 1798 and 1803, in which many weavers in the Liberties took part, and the economic decline that set in after the Act of Union, prevented any further growth in this industry in the Liberties.

Similarly, the successful growth of the silk and poplin industries, which was supported by the Royal Dublin Society in the second half of the 18th century, was hindered by an act passed by the Irish government in 1786, which prevented the society from supporting any house where Irish silk goods were sold. When war was declared against France under Napoleon, and raw materials were difficult to obtain, the silk weavers suffered greatly. The final blow came in the 1820s when the British government did away with the tariffs imposed upon imported silk products.

From this time on, many of the once-prosperous houses in the Liberties became poverty-stricken tenements housing the unemployed and destitute.

19th century

The Tenter House was erected in 1815 in Cork Street, financed by Thomas Pleasants. Before this, the poor weavers of the Liberties had either to suspend work in rainy weather or use the alehouse fire and thus were (as George Newenham Wright expresses it) "exposed to great distress, and not unfrequently reduced either to the hospital or the gaol". The Tenter House was a brick building 275 feet long, three storeys high, and with a central cupola. It had a form of central heating powered by four furnaces, and provided a place for weavers to stretch their material in bad weather.

Part of the area was redeveloped into affordable housing and parkland by the Iveagh Trust, the Dublin Artisans Dwellings Company and Dublin City Council in the early to mid-twentieth century.

The Ordnance Survey recorded the following areas within the county of the city of Dublin in the 1830s:

+Area of Dublin liberties in 1837–43 Liberty Civil parishes Area Donore St Catherine's (part); St Luke's (part) Thomas Court St Catherine's (part) St Sepulchre's St Nicholas Without (part); St Peter's (part) St Patrick's Liberty of St Patrick's Christchurch Liberty of Christchurch In 1875, a fire broke out in a malt house and warehouse that caused 13 casualties entirely due to alcohol poisoning from the whiskey that flowed through the streets. The lack of significantly more casualties is attributed to the fact that one of the first buildings to be caught in the blaze was a pigsty that sent screaming livestock through the streets to warn residents.

20th century to present day

The urban fabric of the Liberties was significantly altered by the road widening schemes of the 20th century, which impacted on High Street, Bridgefoot Street, Bridge Street, Winetavern Street and Clanbrassil Street. As early as 1941 there were plans to widen Cork Street, leading to buildings being left to fall into decay while the threat of compulsory purchase orders seemed possible.

The road widening was eventually completed in 2003 and there followed an extensive reconstruction of the street including landmark residential buildings by O'Donnell & Tuomey Architects and FKL Architects and the development of a new park, Weaver Park, by Áit Urbanism + Landscape.

Culture

The Liberties holds a range of cultural centres, and forms part of the wider Dublin 8 area, home to five of Ireland's top visitor attractions, with the Guinness Storehouse alone accounting for 1.2 million annual visits.

Thomas Street is home to the country's largest art college, the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). The college, which was founded in 1746 as a private drawing school, is now a constituent college of University College Dublin, and NCAD degrees and awards are validated by UCD.

The Liberties is home to several art galleries, including that at NCAD, along with private sector projects such as Basic Space, Pallas Projects, Cross Gallery, and the Jam Art Factory. Nearby is the Irish Museum of Modern Art in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

The Irish language youth radio station, Raidió Rí-Rá, broadcasts from a studio at Fumbally Exchange, in the Liberties and the visual arts organisation, MART, has studios on Malpas Street.

Entertainment

The Liberties is home to several theatres, bars, music venues, nightclubs and entertainment venues. Music venues include Vicar Street, on Thomas Street, hosting comedy, drama and concerts, with capacity for 1,500, and The Thomas House, specialised in punk, rock and reggae music.

The Liberties Festival, first run in the early 1970s, includes sporting and community events as well as a multi-cultural and arts programme encompassing visual art, film, dance, comedy, literature and music. Many of the events held during the festival are free. The festival is a South Inner City Community Development Association (SICCDA) project and is supported by Dublin City Council, the local community, and several private sponsors, including Diageo.

Economy

Brewing and distilling The Liberties is the home of the Guinness Brewery, which is owned by parent company Diageo. The Guinness Storehouse, part of the Guinness (St. James's Gate) Brewery site, is Ireland's most-visited paid visitor attraction.

While many local breweries and distilleries closed after the late 19th century, as of the early 21st century the area has seen some renewal as a centre for craft distilling and brewing in Dublin. Teelings Whiskey opened a new distillery and visitor centre in Newmarket, the first new Irish whiskey distillery to develop in Dublin since the 19th century, while investment has also been made in The Liberties by the Dublin Whiskey Company, Alltech, Galway Bay Brewery, and 5 Lamps Brewery.

The Pearse Lyons distillery opened on St James's Street in September 2017. The Liberties is also home to the Dublin Liberties Distillery, a craft Irish whiskey distillery and visitor centre.

Retail

Historically, The Liberties was home to some market areas. Today there are the Liberty Market on Meath Street, the fruit and vegetable markets during weekends on Thomas Street and Meath Street, and street vendors located throughout the area. There are future plans for further market areas, such as the redevelopment of the Iveagh Markets on Francis Street.