The following will give you some basic background. We would be delighted if your members could join us sometime during the weekend of May 28th and 29th at our exhibition and concert in the Mount Merrion Community Centre.
> in January 2010 a group of residents from the South Dublin neighbourhood of Mount Merrion gathered together for their first meeting to plan a series of events to celebrate the upcoming 300th anniversary of the founding of the estate in 1711.
> some 16 months later we have a website established (www.mountmerrion300.ie), we have a Concert and Exhibition planned for May and have written a book which will be published in November 2011.
> THE HISTORY
Richard Fitzwilliam succeeded as 5th Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion in 1704. The family home of Merrion Castle ( now the site of the School for the Blind on Merrion Road ) was in such a state of disrepair that he immediately set about finding a site for a new home. His agents brought him to 300 acres of nearby land which provided stunning views of Dublin Bay which he selected. He walled off the land with an 8 foot high granite wall in 1711.
The modern housing-estate of Mount Merrion which comprises of some 1000 houses was built in the 1930s and 1940s entirely within the walls of this old Fitzwilliam Estate.
Some of these original Walls are still visible today - picture 2 attached shows a surviving portion of the wall at the enterence to Deer Park on the Mount Anville Road.
The family retained their connection with Mount Merrion through the centuries, intermarried with the Pembrokes. The house was lived in by various Agents in the last years, and the estate was eventually sold for development in the 1930s.
A number of developers including Kenny and DuMoulin bought the lands in the 30s and proceeded to build Ireland's first Garden City development. The unique attributes of this garden city design is still visible today in the wide roads, green spaces (they built 6 houses per acre rather than the permitted 20) extravagant tree planting and parkland.
While lacking a village centre which would give the area a more prominent identity, the Mount Merrion estate is still clearly defined by the old boundary Walls and has a very strong community spirit.
> THE EVENTS. The MM300 Committee decided to mark the anniversary with the development of 4 specific events - a website, an exhibition, a concert and a book.
> The Website
The MM300 group have developed an exciting and detailed website which went live on Jan 1st 2011. The website features a written history of the area augmented by a comprehensive collection of maps ( the earliest dating to 1710), photos, drawings, cine film, audio recordings and will we are sure be an amazing resource and legacy for the people of the area for the future. See www.mountmerrion300.ie,
> The Exhibition
The Exhibition will take place in the Community Centre ( the old Mount Merrion house) over the weekend of May 28 and 29. The exhibition will cover the 300 years and includes memorabilia from the ages, photos, correspondence, newspaper articles, paintings, portraits, and a model of the Demesne made especially for the exhibition. Entry is free of charge.
> Concert
A wonderful concert will take place in the nearby church of St Therese on the Saturday night of the exhibition- weekend, May 28th, featuring the internationally renowned Callino Quartet with bassoonist Peter Whelan. The programme includes works by Haydn, Borodin, Mendelssohn, Gershwin, Britten, Barber, Debussy and Devienne. Tickets are €15 each.
> Book
A commemorative book will be published in November 2011 just in time for Christmas. Full of historic photos, maps, stories, histories, biographies, portraits, pictures it will be a great present. The book will be priced at €20 each.
-- Luke Brehony
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