Fitzwilliam Square, a block east of St Stephen’s Green, is a convenient place to begin the walk. This small green space is surrounded on three sides by enviable 18th-century houses, most of which are now used as offices rather than private dwellings. Those that are private homes change hands for dizzying prices. From the east side of the square, walk up Fitzwilliam Street and turn right into Baggot Street Lower. With its terraced, elegantly proportioned houses of pale grey stone, Baggot Street is the epitome of Georgian Dublin. Typical of the period are the panelled doors, crowned by semi-circular fanlights and flanked by white-painted stucco pillars. Many retain their original polished brass doorknobs and knockers, and most are painted in bright colours that add a dash of whimsy to the staidly dignified elegance of this and other Georgian streets.

Cross over Baggot Street to the north side and walk up James’s Street East for one block to Mount Street Upper. Turn left, stay on the left-hand side, walk one very short block and turn left to 29 Fitzwilliam Street, at the corner of Mount Street Upper and Fitzwilliam Street Lower. No. 29 (the Georgian House Museum) offers a rare glimpse into the world of Georgian Dublin’s well-off bourgeoisie, with an interior furnished and decorated as it would have been during the years 1790 to 1820. Authentic in every detail, it houses period works of art, china and silverware, mirrors and paintings, as well as more mundane kitchen utensils and household equipment. Start in the basement and work your way through the living and dining rooms on the lower floors to the bedrooms, then the children’s nursery in the attic, for the full tour.

urn right out of No. 29, cross Mount Street Upper and walk up the east side of Merrion Square, passing on the way a fine array of 18th-century townhouses. At the corner of the square, turn left on its north side and then left again to enter the square. This is Dublin’s most elegant Georgian square, landscaped around 1762 by James Ensor, which has had more than its share of famous residents, among them W. B. Yeats, whose Dublin home was No. 82, and Daniel O’Connell, who lived at No. 58. Walk along the north side of the square to the north corner, where a disturbingly lifelike, dandified figure reclines on a convenient boulder. This is, of course, Oscar Wilde, whose childhood home was at No.1 Merrion Square. Another famous resident was Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, who was born at No. 24 Merrion Street Upper, just south of the square. Midway down the west side of the square is a prominent drinking fountain, the Rutland Fountain, built into the railings. It was erected here in 1792 to provide a water supply for the poorer residents nearby. At that time the grand homes around the square had all the modern conveniences of the period but working-class homes lacked any kind of indoor plumbing or water supply. The fountain has been restored (2009) and the Leinster granite is dressed with Portland and other stone. 

Leave Merrion Square by the west side, passing the statue of Oscar Wilde, cross the street and turn left. Leinster House, the home of Ireland’s parliamentary chambers, the Dáil and the Seanad, occupies most of the block. From Merrion Square West and Merrion Street Upper, you’re looking at the rear of Leinster House, over gardens that give it the appearance of a grandee’s country house. It was built for the Duke of Leinster, who commissioned the ever-busy German-born architect Richard Castle (originally Cassels; 1690–1751) to design it. The Fitzgerald dynasty, Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster, were the grandest of Irish grandees, owning vast estates, intermarrying with Irish magnates and virtual rulers of their own territory. Thomas Fitzgerald, son of the 9th Earl, joined the pantheon of Irish martyrs when his revolt against the English King Henry VIII failed in 1534. As an aristocrat, he was allowed to be hanged with a silk rope – hence his posthumous soubriquet, ‘Silken Thomas’. His unfortunate followers were hanged with the usual rough hempen noose. By the time Leinster House was built, however, the Fitzgeralds – like most of the original Anglo-Norman dynasties – had reached an understanding with the ruling power. You may wonder how Castle found the time to plan so many of Dublin’s great buildings – either he had a superhuman capacity for hard work, or (more likely) a team of hard-working and unsung assistants. Leinster House was completed in 1745, but 70 years later the Duke’s descendants – who were by that time more interested in cutting a dash in London than in being big fish in the shrinking pool of Dublin society – sold it to the Royal Dublin Society. In 1922 the Free State government acquired part of the building, and in 1924 it bought the entire building to house the new national government.

With Leinster House on your right, walk down the right-hand side of Merrion Street Upper to Baggot Street Lower. Cross this, walk a few steps down Ely Place, then turn into Hume Street. At the end of this short street, turn left on to St Stephen’s Green East. At the foot of this street (opposite the southeast corner of St Stephen’s Green) turn right and cross the street to the south side of St Stephen’s Green South. Follow this to No. 85 and 86, on your left midway along the block. Newman House is another outstanding example of the work of Richard Castle, the architect of Leinster House. The immaculately restored interior features Castle’s trademark stuccowork, marble floors and elegant wooden staircases. The building (two houses conjoined) is named in honour of John Henry Newman (later Cardinal Newman), founder of the Catholic University of Ireland whose famous alumni include the authors James Joyce and Flann O’Brien (real name Brian O’Nolan) and Eamon de Valera. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, whose study is open to the public, was one of its professors. To return to the city centre on foot takes about 15 minutes (turn right at the end of St Stephen’s Green South, walk up the west side of St Stephen’s Green and then follow Grafton Street past Trinity College. Alternatively, return to the corner of Earlsfort Terrace and St Stephen’s Green South, which is served by several buses.