Ely House, Dublin
https://theirishaesthete.com/2025/04/28/ely-house/
Behind a Modest Facade
Like many 18th century residential buildings in central Dublin, the facade of Ely House is extremely plain, of red brick with only the pedimented stone fan- and side-lit doorcase offering some interest. Of four storeys-over-basement, the building had been bought in 1770 by Henry Loftus from Dublin physician and property developer Gustavus Hume. The previous year, following the death of his unmarried nephew, the hitherto somewhat impoverished Loftus had inherited a substantial estate and the title Viscount Loftus: the following year he would be created Earl of Ely. Known for his social pretensions, he would be mocked as ‘Count Loftonzo’ in the satirical History of Barataria published in the Freeman’s Journal in Spring 1771. The work he commissioned at Rathfarnham Castle, County Dublin has already been discussed here (see A Whiter Shade of Pale « The Irish Aesthete and Flying High « The Irish Aesthete). Although Loftus already owned a house in the capital on Cavendish Row, following his inheritance evidently he felt the need to cross the river Liffey and occupy a new property, hence the purchase of Ely House. Unusual because of its size, the building was originally of six bays, a seventh being acquired on the left-hand (north) side in the 19th century around the time the house was divided into two properties: today it is near-impossible to photograph the entire exterior of the house without being assaulted by traffic: hence the somewhat truncated image here. When first occupied, the attic floor seemingly contained a private, sixty-seat theatre with space for an orchestra. The Freeman’s Journal of 19th April 1785 reports on the performance of both a tragedy (‘The Distressed Mother’) and a comedy (‘All the World’s a Stage’), both acted by friends of the earl’s second and much-younger wife, Anne Bonfoy. Sadly, nothing of this theatre now survives. But other parts of the remarkable interior remain to be explored.
The rear of Ely House’s groundfloor is given over to the double-height stair hall, the steps of which are of Portland Stone, while the panelled balustrade is made of wrought iron and carved gilt-wood. At the base can be seen a life-size figure of Hercules, resting from his Labours. The latter are then depicted as one ascends the staircase, although not in the correct narrative order: shown here is the eagle killed with an arrow by the mythical hero. The inspiration for this work is believed to have been a substantially larger staircase in the Palace of Charles of Lorraine in Brussels – now a museum – created by the Flemish sculptor Laurent Delvaux in 1769. The stuccodore Barthelemy Cremillion, who had been employed in Ireland in the second half of the 1750s, was responsible for the Brussels palace plasterwork and is therefore thought to have been behind the similar scheme in Ely House since by this date he had returned to Dublin. On the other hand, Professor Christine Casey has pointed out that the stoneyard of sculptor John van Nost adjoined Lord Ely’s property and that both he and Cremillion had worked at the same time on the decoration of the city’s Lying-in Hospital (otherwise known as the Rotunda Hospital), so he may also have been involved here.
Many of the reception rooms in Ely House, Dublin, are rather plain, although it retains some splendid chimneypieces again thought to have been the work of John van Nost. One of the ground floor reception rooms features a series of figurative ovals and roundels depicting a variety of scenes and surrounded by pendants and swirls that look like strings of pearls. It used to be judged that this plasterwork was part of the house’s 18th century decoration but more recently the scheme is considered to date from the late 19th/early 20th century when the building was occupied by the wealthy surgeon and collector Sir Thornley Stoker (incidentally, the elder brother of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula): he lived here from 1890 to 1911 and filled the building with his valuable collection of art and furniture, alas all auctioned before his death in 1912. The room directly above certainly suggests a relatively recent vintage, the figures here looking as though they had stepped out of the work of an Edwardian illustrator like Kate Greenaway. Since 1923, Ely House has been owned by the Knights of St Columbanus, an Irish Roman Catholic society which uses the building as its national headquarters.
https://www.igs.ie/conservation/project/ely-house
Dublin’s Ely House was supposedly built as a townhouse in 1771 by Henry Loftus, 3rd Earl of Ely, though recent research suggests he may have bought it from developer, Gustavus Hume. It was originally built with six bays. In 1811 Nathaniel Callwell added the left entrance door to create two houses and the central entrance hall was re-planned. The house remained in private ownership until Lady Aberdeen secured the lease for use as the Women’s National Health Association headquarters circa 1908. In 1923 the present owners, the Knights of St. Columbanus, acquired the building. The Knights applied to the Irish Georgian Society in 2003 for funds to restore the Palladian window in the stairwell as part of a larger conservation programme. Inappropriate repairs, damaged flashings, and water ingress had left the window in poor condition. The Society, recognising the importance of this project, provided over sixty percent of the window project funds.
Brief description of project: The repair of the Palladian window entailed cleaning the granite stone, removing cement repairs and corroded iron bars, re-fixing the stone arch with stainless steel rods, fitting matching stone grafts with stainless steel pins, and providing new lead flashings.
The majestic building, now restored, continues to serve the Knights of St. Columbanus and stands as an important example of Dublin’s rich Georgian architectural and cultural history.
Architectural description: The house is a brick terraced house of seven bays and four storeys with a pitched roof and brick chimneystacks. Sash windows of nine-over-nine exist on the ground and first floors, while windows of six-over-six and three-over-three configuration are to the second floor and third floors, respectively. The left entry door added in 1811 is graced with Ionic columns and is topped by a fanlight. Each window on the first floor also maintains an early-nineteenth century cast iron balcony. The interior is ornate and boasts impressive Neoclassical detail, the most significant feature being the grand, Portland stone staircase. It features an extravagant, wrought iron and panelled balustrade with carved gilt-wood which portrays the Labours of Hercules. At its base is a statue of Hercules which is joined to the handrail. The rest of the stairhall displays intricate plasterwork complete with festoons, masks, and flower-baskets.
NIAH Listing:
https://www.buildingsofireland.ie…
Attached seven-bay four-storey over basement former mansion, built c. 1770, with additions 1956 and c. 1975 to rear (east). Now in commercial office use. M-profile slate roof, hipped to north end with pitched roof over central rear (east) bay, running perpendicular to street and hipped to east end, concealed behind brick parapet with lead flashing over. Multiple chimneystacks with lipped yellow clay pots including shouldered rendered chimneystack to south party wall, buff brick chimneystack to centre, and red brick chimneystack to north party wall. Concealed gutters with uPVC hopper and downpipe breaking through to north end and rear (east). Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond, refaced in English garden wall bond to third floor, over ruled-and-lined rendered walling to basement with granite stringcourse over. Ruled-and-lined rendered walling to rear elevation (east). Square-headed window openings with projecting granite sills, patent reveals and brick voussoirs with ornate cast-iron balconettes affixed to first floor openings. Plain surrounds to basement and rear (east) openings. Largely nine-over-six timber sliding sash windows, six-over-six to second floor and basement, three-over-three to third floor; some upper floor windows having convex or profiled horns. Round-headed door opening to central bay, flanked by three-light sidelights and framed by a carved stone doorcase comprising; engaged Doric columns on plinth stops rising to triglyphed frieze and lead-lined cornice with projecting open-base pediment over simplified spoked fanlight and raised-and-field timber panelled door with brass furniture. Granite entrance platform with single step to street flanked by cast-iron lamp standards and cast-iron railings with decorative corner posts on granite plinth enclosing basement wells to north and south. Round-headed door opening to northern bay with moulded reveals and sandstone doorcase comprising stylised Ionic columns on plinth stops rising to fluted frieze with moulded cornice and spoked fanlight over panelled timber door, opening onto ramped granite entrance platform with single step to street. Square-headed door opening located beneath south-end entrance platform with rendered doorcase flanked by stepped piers rising to open-base pediment, with wired glass overlight and timber panelled door. Basement well to south accessed by recent concrete steps with steel handrail from street level. Plainly detailed square-headed door opening to south end of basement level with recent four-panelled timber door. Basement well to north accessed by recent steel steps from street level. Street fronted onto the west side of Ely Place facing the junction with Hume Street to the west. A plaque on the principal façade indicates that theoretical physicist George Francis Fitzgerald lived here from 1851 to 1901.
Appraisal
Originally named Hume Row, Ely Place was laid out in 1768, and was named after the surgeon Gustavus Hume who built his house at No. 1 Hume Street (now demolished). Following the construction of this large townhouse in 1770, Ely Place (originally Hume Row) developed as a desirable residential street throughout the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. The house was originally thought to have been constructed by Henry Loftus, third Earl of Ely after whom the street and house are named, but Casey (2005) notes that a recent re-examination of the title deeds suggests that it may have been purchased from Hume. The house became famous in the late eighteenth-century for the lavish entertainments hosted by the Countess of Ely including a unique sixty seat theatre in the attic, nothing of which survives but which was reputed to have been the first of its kind in Ireland. The northern bay was added at some point during the nineteenth-century, when the building was subdivided and a three-bay house (No. 7)created at the northern end, indicated by the separate doorcase to the northern bay. Ely House is a focal point within the streetscape, successfully terminating the vista along Hume Street from St. Stephen’s Green, the grand façade is characterised by balanced proportions and restrained detailing which is enriched by two neo-classical doorcases and cast-iron balconettes. Despite the insertion of some replacement fabric and having been extensively altered to the rear during the mid-twentieth century, the former mansion is well preserved example of the Dublin Georgian idiom on a grand scale, which makes a vital contribution to the architectural continuity of this important streetscape. Additionally, the remaining interior features of note include a finely carved Portland stone staircase with relief profiles depicting the Labours of Hercules, and fine stuccowork, both thought to have been executed by Flemish sculptor Bartholomew Cramillion. The remaining interior is largely neo-classical in style, with finely stuccoed ceilings, ornate marble chimneypieces and rare paktong doorknobs and escutcheons. No. 7 was the residence of the theoretical physicist George Francis Fitzgerald in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
References to IGS Bulletins and Journals:
‘Private theatricals in Irish houses, 1730-1815’
Author: Patricia McCarthy
Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies Vol XVI — 2013
‘Bulletin XIII 1970 Issue 2’
Irish Georgian Society bulletin XIII — 1970
‘Bulletin XXXV 1992 Issue 1’
Irish Georgian Society bulletin XXXV — 1992
Irish Historic Houses 