tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post2189932267446214502..comments2024-03-28T14:38:09.470+00:00Comments on Patrick Comerford: Kenilworth Square, Rathgar, ‘a very beautiful … and very expensive corner of Europe’Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-61964731381241159442023-09-13T16:35:30.452+01:002023-09-13T16:35:30.452+01:00No. 50 Kenilworth Square was my home from 1979 to ...No. 50 Kenilworth Square was my home from 1979 to 1989. In the early part of the '80s, my two sisters, Mary and Louise, and my then partner, Tim Pitt, also lived here. <br /><br />One of the earliest houses to be built on the square, in 1846, it retained most of its original fittings; exquisite joinery, the best of Victorian stucco work and even the bells linking the first floor main rooms with the servants' quarters.<br /><br />I marked my significant 25th birthday with a party in January 1986 that attracted so many people (over 100), we had to prop up the floors of the drawing and dining room, to stop the plaster ceilings below from cracking. Sacred memories!<br /><br />The house belonged to my actor grandmother, Isolde Cazalet, who had inherited the property from her mother, Isa Hughes. <br />Isa was secretary/manager of the Gate theatre in its pioneering years. No. 50 was an early investment of hers, along with a number of other properties in the area. (Her home and that of my mother was 70 Grosvenor Road, less than a kilometre away.)<br /><br />For many years, Isa let No. 50 to Ernest Blythe, onetime Minster for Finance and managing director of the Abbey Theatre.<br /><br />The house and its gorgeous gardens passed from family ownership in 1991, much to our regret.<br />Tonie Walshhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonie_Walshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-87531080381325806772022-07-29T10:39:27.908+01:002022-07-29T10:39:27.908+01:00The name Kingsford Motors was used temporarily dur...The name Kingsford Motors was used temporarily during the filming of the TV series Kin. The car showrooms were for many years those of Murphy & Gunn. You must have visited the Square on one of the days when the Kingsford sign was displayed. It looked very realistic, so one could be forgiven for mistaking it for the real thing. The car showrooms site is currently for sale.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561249004966522983.post-90978923903428393522021-09-20T22:42:25.746+01:002021-09-20T22:42:25.746+01:00My great great grandparents, William Freeman and h...My great great grandparents, William Freeman and his Wife Nannie Breaky Freeman lived at #4 Kenilworth Square, which was built in 1859. My grandfather visited the property in the 1960s and found it converted to flats. I believe it is now a language school. Mary Felizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12129459021257759950noreply@blogger.com