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14 Henrietta Street
The Tenement Museum 14 Henrietta Street.jpg
The Tenement Museum, 14 Henrietta Street
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Established September 2018
Location 14 Henrietta Street,
Dublin, Ireland
Type Tenement, Georgian
Henrietta Street Area - Dublin 6005815690
Entrance to 14 Henrietta Street in August 2011 (before restoration)

14 Henrietta Street is a special museum in Dublin, Ireland. It is sometimes called the Tenement Museum. This museum opened its doors in September 2018.

It tells the story of a single building. This building changed from a grand family home to a place where many families lived in small apartments.

A House with Many Lives

From Grand Home to Busy Flats

Building Henrietta Street started in the 1720s. A man named Luke Gardiner bought the land. Numbers 13, 14, and 15 were built in the late 1740s. Gardiner built them to sell or rent.

Number 14's first owner was Lord Richard Molesworth. He lived there with his second wife. Other important people lived there in the 1700s.

After the Act of Union in 1800, Dublin became less important. Many rich families left the city. This meant that grand houses like 14 Henrietta Street were no longer needed as big family homes.

During the 1800s, the house was used by lawyers and even as a barracks. By 1877, a landlord named Thomas Vance changed it a lot. He removed the big staircase. He divided the house into 19 small flats. These were called tenement flats.

An old newspaper advert from 1877 shows this change. It said flats were available for "respectable families." It mentioned gas, toilets on landings, and a drying yard. By 1911, over 100 people lived in the house. The last families moved out in 1979.

A Hero Lived Here

In the 1920s, an Irish Republican Army volunteer named Thomas Bryan lived at 14 Henrietta Street. He was a part of Irish history. In March 2023, a special plaque was put up to remember him. Dublin City Council placed the plaque.

Bringing the House Back to Life

Work to restore the house began in 2006. It took more than ten years to finish. Dublin City Council owns and restored the building. The Dublin City Council Culture Company runs the museum.

The house has been carefully restored. It now shows how it looked as a grand Georgian home. It also shows how it looked when many families lived there as a tenement. Visitors can see the different lives the house has had.

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