The area developed in the last quarter of the 18th century around the same time as the development of Mountjoy Square with terraces of large 4 storey over basement red brick Georgian houses along streets such as Summerhill Parade,
Buckingham Street and Gardiner Street.[2][3][4]
In the later 19th century, the area became known more for tenement housing and the
Monto red light district.
In the second half of the 20th century, the large Georgian houses were mostly replaced with large-scale social housing schemes. Streets such as Summerhill Parade were entirely demolished (c. 40 5-storey Georgian houses) and replaced with social housing.[5][6][7] In 1981 alone, approximately 120 Georgian houses were demolished in Summerhill.[8]
In 1992, the sculpture Summerhill Group was unveiled. It is a bronze work on Kilkenny limestone by Cathy Carman and was commissioned by
Dublin Corporation as part of the
Per Cent for Art Scheme. The work invokes the history of the street, before its redevelopment into a dual carriageway, when children would play on the street.[9]
John Hutton and Sons
For almost 140 years a successful coachbuilding enterprise existed at Summerhill, originally established on nearby
Great Britain Street[10] in 1779 by 22-year-old John Hutton, the son of a tannery owner.[11][12] In 1788 the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ordered two new
mail coaches to be built by Hutton as models, adhering to the design of the patent mail coaches used all over England at the time, effectively granting the company the entirety of the Irish mail coach contract. On the strength of this lucrative contract, the company was enabled to move to larger premises on Summerhill, which it did in 1789.[11][10] At the time, relocating to Summerhill was considered by many to be a bold move owing to its distance from the great thoroughfares of the city and the inevitable lack of trade and business potential. In 1791 the
Lord Mayor of Dublin's coach was built, which was still used on ceremonial occasions as of 2004.[10] The business thrived nonetheless, providing coaches to the aristocracy and great families of Ireland before the
Acts of Union 1800 shifted the focus of the
Irish high society from Dublin to London and new carriages were not required as often.[12][11] In 1821
George IV granted a
royal patent to the company, followed by a
royal warrant issued by
William IV in 1836 and confirmed by
Queen Victoria in 1837.[11] The
introduction of the railways as well as the
Great Famine led to a decline in the business. Possibly one of the most famous coaches produced by the firm at this time was the
Irish State Coach, ordered by Queen Victoria in 1852,[11] which is still used today by the reigning British monarch whenever he/she travels from
Buckingham Palace to the
Palace of Westminster to formally
open the new legislative session of the UK Parliament.
The company adapted to producing
motor cars in the late 1800s. In the early 1920s Huttons turned down the option to take control of the
Ford franchise for the whole of the
United Kingdom, an error which contributed to Huttons having to file for voluntary
liquidation in 1925.[11] The premises at Summerhill was sold to the
Dublin United Tramway Company soon after and is now a depot of
Dublin Bus.[11][10]
People
Former or current residents of the area have included: