The process of removing the pebbledash from the front and side elevations of the building has now got underway in earnest. Applied around the late 1960s, the cement-based pebbledash covered over the original yellow brick of both facades, originally designed to be exposed, along with its finely pointed, lime-‘wigged’ joints.
Fortunately, the brickwork had been painted in the first half of the 20th century, causing the pebbledash to bond less strongly to the brick than otherwise might have been the case. This has allowed for the relatively easy removal of the pebbledash.
Contractors Nolans Group has successfully detached the dashing with chisels directed towards the underlying mortar joints to protect the face of the bricks.
It has exposed a good, hard yellow brick typical of Dublin stock used in the first half of the 19th century – likely sourced from clay pits that opened in Ireland’s Midlands along the routes of the Royal and Grand Canals. There is a significant component of plum-colouring that has resulted from a gradual oxidisation process since the front building’s rebuilding in 1842-43.
There is at least five layers of modern proprietary paints, distempers and washes on the brick that have accumulated over the past century. This has required careful, methodical removal using regulated water pressure washing and limited application of chemical cleaners. More stubborn paint remnants on the face of the bricks have required removal by targeted hand hammering.
The accumulation of paints on the granite quoin stones has come away more easily, revealing beautifully crisp, ashlar blocks.
Underneath the chunky, cementitious window reveals (one of which was so thick it incorporated an electrical conduit!) is evidence of the original lime-‘feathered’ reveals. These are thin fillets of lime that originally dressed the edges of most Dublin windows in the 18th and 19th centuries, prior to the adoption of bolder, ‘patent’ reveals from the late 19th century onwards.
We will be reinstating these feathered reveals as part of the wider repointing.
The removal of the 20th-century fascia signage board over the shopfront, which virtually collapsed from its rotted supports, has revealed the original stone frontage composed of monumental blocks of granite, dressed with a platbanded string course. This likely dates to improvements carried out to the building in 1789.
While we knew this was lurking underneath from previous investigations, the scale and monumental quality of it is nonetheless a revelation. This will be cleaned and repointed. More to follow…