St Helen’s

It was a place that I had passed many times but had not visited until recently, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The old, Georgian-era house – now the Radisson Blu Hotel – has a wonderful history and it is a real treat.

St Helen’s front elevation

Built on land owned by Viscount Fitzwilliam in 1750 its first occupant was Thomas Cooley who was a barrister and Member of Parliament. And, due to the fact that it was built on a gentle slope and had a great view of Dublin Bay, it was known as Seamount.

The property has changed hands many times and was bought in 1851 by Lord Hugh Gough (born in Limerick 1779) who changed its name to St Helen’s, and lived there until he died in 1869. He had fought with distinction under the Duke of Wellington (born in Dublin 1769) in the Peninsular War and was wounded at the Battle of Talavera in 1808. In 1815 he was knighted, and later made a field marshal in a ceremony held in St Helen’s.

In 1899 Sir John Nutting bought the property and spent a lot of money extending and improving it. He had it faced with the distinctive Portland Stone, and inside Carrara marble is to be seen in the floor and fabulous pillars. In the Dining Room there is a beautiful copper border around the walls and a magnificently decorated fireplace. Apart from the house he also spent heavily on landscape gardening, lawns and stables. Later, he was given the title of Nutting Baronetcy of St. Helens. He died in 1918 and the house was bought by the Christian Brothers who used it as their headquarters until 1988. It was again on the market before its current operators, Radisson Blu Hotels, arrived in 1998.

St Helen’s gardens

Listed as a National Monument in 1994, and often referred to as ‘one of the most beautiful houses in the country’, there is plenty to see and enjoy here.

The Obelisk, Stillorgan

Obelisk and its stairway to….

In south Dublin, as far as obelisks are concerned, I was familiar with two of them: the wonderfully sighted one on top of Killiney Hill and the other on the seafront in Dun Laoghaire that commemorates the site from where King George IV left Ireland in 1821. However, until recently I had not seen the oldest of them all, and that is the Stillorgan Obelisk on Carysfort Avenue.

As part of the Summer of Heritage (run by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council) it is open to visitors who can go on a free guided tour and enjoy a unique piece of history. The two guides, William & Eamon, who led us around were well-informed and happy to engage with our questions. It’s definitely a ‘must-see’ and, hopefully, you will have as bright and sunny day as I had.

The obelisk was built in 1727 on lands owned by Joshua Allen, 2^nd Viscount Allen, that stretched north-to-south from Blackrock to Stillorgan and east-to-west from Newtownpark Avenue to Mount Merrion Avenue. He and his wife lived in Stillorgan House, a large country mansion that was demolished more than a century ago, and is roughly the site where the Stillorgan Park Hotel now stands.

Base Gates

Margaret, Lady Allen, hired the young but sought-after architect Edward Lovett Pearce to design the obelisk at the far corner of the property where it would offer fabulous, uninterrupted of Dublin Bay. Pearce had travelled in France and Northern Italy in the early 1720s and visited many great classical buildings and was most impressed by the work of Andrea Palladio who is widely considered the most influential person in the history of architecture. So, on his return to Dublin he adopted his style as was knighted in 1731 for his design and building of The Irish Parliament (now the Bank of Ireland) on College Green.

View from the top

Lovett may well have referred to the restored Obelisk of (Emperor) Domitian that was used by Lorenzo Bernini in his River of Fountains work in Rome, as he had probably seen on his travels. The stone was brought from a quarry in Stepaside before being cut and set in place. The steps that circle the structure lead to an inner space with four windows that must have been a joy to sit and look out of. Up there was a popular spot for visitors that included politicians, merchants and men of learning like Jonathan Swift who liked to ‘take the air’.

It is still (just about) possible to see Howth on a clear day, and when it was finished the obelisk would have been one of the tallest buildings in the area. And, after almost three centuries of encroaching development and tree growth, it still stands tall and has a great story to tell. It’s no longer a hidden gem!

In all its glory!

As part of dlr Summer of Heritage 2018 the obelisk will be open on Saturdays, between 1-5pm, until 1 September