Georgian Doors of Dublin

Beautiful, colorful, iconic, historic, functional; now those are a group of adjectives you don’t often see in the same place. Yet, they perfectly describe Dublin’s famous Georgian doors. These bright, luxurious portals were built mostly in the 1700s; a time when provincial Dublin‘s economic prospects were booming due to the loosening of anti-Catholic penal laws. Dublin shed its medieval image  to become a micro-Georgian city, and eventually the second largest city in the British Empire.

So why the doors of many colors? Chalk it up to necessity. Georgian houses adhered to strict codes of uniformity and centuries ago, all of the  homes’ doors were painted the same color.

For ye, a Dublin urban legend:

George Moore and Oliver St. John Gogarty were writers. They were also neighbors. Moore allegedly painted his door green so that Gogarty wouldn’t come bashing through it while drunk. In retaliation, Gogarty painted his own door red … to protect it from Moore’s drunken rampages. A trend was born.

… or so they say. Whatever actually started the fashion, Dubliners painted their doors various colors to set their homes apart in long rows of adjoined brick buildings. Ornate fan lights and door knockers accomplished the same function.

In the 1950s, many Georgian buildings were destroyed; in part, to pave the way for modern developments but also to erase signs of Ireland’s colonial past. Today, Georgian homes are preserved – often kitted out to create apartments or house businesses.

Need to get your Macbook fixed in Dublin? Head to 60 Merrion Square, where the Mac Shop lurks in an old Georgian basement. Alternatively, just take a stroll through Merrion Square, past St. Stephen’s Green, or down Leeson Street and drink in the versicolored hues of the past.

How many colors have you seen?