CUS Pupils move into country mansion
CUS Pupils move into country mansion – part of a new series of historical blogs
September 29th 1867
Today, September 29th 1867, CUS has completed its move to what was originally a splendid country mansion in the middle of what was previously known as De Suezy Street.
Its immense size, the spacious rooms and the wonderfully sized gardens make it the perfect setting for the Catholic University School under the new patronage of the Marist Fathers.
Whilst many people are of the opinion that the new CUS building was built as the central building of the De Suezy Street Leeson Street terrace, our intrepid historians have uncovered significant materials that suggest otherwise.
De Suezy Street was the name of the street until about 1723 when it was renamed Leeson Street, many members of the Brewing Leeson family lived on the street and right through to Donnybrook and therefore it had garnered the name Leeson’s Walk as a spur from St Stephen’s Green – the other “spurs” from St Stephen’s green were also locally known as walks. Merrion Row was known as Beaux Walk whereas Cuffe street was known as Monk’s Walk.
The Wide streets commission developed De Suzey Street into what it is today so that lands to the south and past the Grand Canal could open for development and also give some grandeur to the fast expanding city of Dublin
The Exact date of the building of the new CUS school is not known, but the first houses built on de Suezy street / Leeson’s walk can be traced back to 1700.
Our historians contend that 89 Lower Leeson Street (as it is called now) was built between 1714 (published date of Molls Map of Dublin that did not show a house present at the site) & 1750 where Rocquets map of Dublin shows a substantial house at about the site of the new school. Others suggest that it was built after the surrounding houses but our historians are quite adamant that these commentators are incorrect.
It is known that the general area formed part of the Fitzwilliam estate and that in 1786 the Right Hon Richard Lord Viscount Fitzwilliam made a lease to Gustavus Hume of a lot with frontage onto Leeson Street of 300 feet with the condition that Hume build 12 good and substantial dwelling houses.
This would suggest that each house would have a frontage of 25ft which is average frontage of the surrounding houses of 89. Gustavus, like any good developer, did not build the houses himself, instead he created sub-building lease to others who then built the houses. This also explains the small differences in the various buildings surrounding the school unlike those you see in surrounding streets.
The CUS school building at 89 Lower Leeson Street has a frontage of 45 foot and is quite distinct from those in the immediate area, both in size and design, hence we claim that it simply cannot be one of the 12 houses mentioned in the lease between Lord Viscount Fitzwilliam and Gustavus Hume.
We do have some people who suggest that the building the school is in was built after these 12 houses were constructed, but examination of the adjoining houses on both sides of the school make this near impossible as both were built right up against the school without a gable wall of their own – so unless the inhabitants enjoyed living with one side open to all the element of the inclement Irish weather and into a similar situation with their neighbours exactly 45 ft away, this theory is easily debunked.
Moreover, the school goes back more substantially to the rear and has larger garden space than any other house on the street showing that it was not designed to fit in with a street of standardised houses.
Its immense size, its magnificently spacious rooms, the unique architecture, the expansive and costly mahogany woodwork, the intricately designed artistic ceilings, it’s stunning Georgian mantlepieces and its grand staircase, point to the conclusion that the pupils of new CUS are being educated by the Marist order in what was originally constructed as a fine country mansion before the neighbouring houses were planned.
We wish them well and we hope that the school and building will serve Dubliners for generations to come.
Picture of the first students of the new CUS at 89 Lower Leeson Street. The school moved to Leeson Street and became under the patronage of the Marist Fathers on September 29th 1867.
We hope you enjoyed this little piece of history and we plan to create a series of historic stories in relation CUS that will bring us through the various decades through to the current day
Information for these blogs will have been primarily sourced through past yearbooks with a poetic licence added.
We thank Sean Sexton for providing the historical year books we have used.
On a side note, the union is selling premium quality cotton face coverings and all proceeds go to Union endeavours including the benevolent fund and assistance with with school programmes including sports and the hamper fund. They are just €12.50 per pack of 5 and can be purchased HERE
