Visitor numbers keep growing at No 29

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the start of restoration work on No. 29, the ESB-owned and National Museum partnership Georgian House Museum on Fitzwilliam Street Lower in Dublin.

There are several Georgian houses in Ireland
that portray the life of the gentry in the late 18th
century and early 19th century but only one
building, No 29, provides a glimpse of what life was like for the Irish middle-class and their servants 200 years ago. The guided tour along with the furniture, textiles, paintings and artefacts reflect the life of those fortunate enough to live upstairs and the less fortunate downstairs. The museum is the result of a visionary restoration, arted in 1988, of 10 ESB properties in Dublin – most of these in Upper Mount Street were retained as general offices; but one of the properties, No 29, Fitzwilliam Street Lower was restored to its original glory in partnership with the National Museum of Ireland.

When these houses were originally converted from homes to offices, they had interconnecting orridors and were refurbished at that time using 20th century materials. These corridors were since
removed and replaced with a series of suspended walkways in the glazed atrium to the rear of the
buildings and internal partitions were also removed to return the rooms to their original scale and
design. Defective floors were replaced with traditional timber flooring and asbestoscement
slates were replaced with natural quarried slate. Cornices and ceilingroses were replaced using
moulds of the originals. In No 29 the wallpaper had to be especially screen-printed using blocks owned by the National Museum of Ireland.

Such is the heritage importance of No 29 that in 1991 the then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Michael Donnelly, choose to perform the official opening on his last day in office. Since then hundreds of
thousands of visitors have been through No 29’s doors, with the number of visitors increasing every
year.

Word-of-mouth recommendations are an
important factor, but the revamped website www.esb.ie/no29 (ESB web team) has also played a role in the 7% increase in visitors this year.
Since its revamp the website has had an 86% increase in virtual visitors – something that has
helped promote the ESB brand across the world.

No 29’s manager, Pauline Holland, says children always ask if the house is haunted – “we say, wait
and see”– she also added, “Children are rendered into silence when they learn the home would have had no internal plumbing, no flushing loos and the residents would have only bathed twice a year!”
As well as offering a glimpse of bygone days, ESB Business Units use No 29 to give VIP visitors a taste of the live style and craftsmanship of Georgian Dublin and as a prestigious venue to launch many community and Corporate initiatives. No 29 also plays an active role in events like Irish Heritage Week, Cultural Night and, St Patrick’s Day Festival Denny Family Treasure Hunt. The museum features regularly in the media, most recently on RTÉ Radio 1’s Derek Mooney Show, and the
venue is praised in a host of travel guides and websites. The prestigious Frommer’s Review says
No 29 is “both educational and particularly beautiful”. No 29 runs a very successful art programme with the students of Catherine Mc
Auley National School, Lower Baggot Street for the past 5 years.

“No 29 is a mini United Nations,” says Pauline. “It receives visitors from all over the world and
they are treated equally. Our guides are like noble ambassadors promoting ESB to the visitors. I am
very passionate about it! The diversity of No 29 is what endears me to my job. It is challenging,
testing, rewarding and never ever boring. We are kept busy with a 7 day a week operation, the 33,000 visitors a year and the care and conservation of the collection.

No 29 also has a great tearoom and gift shop. If you have never visited, or are thinking about a revisit, please do come along – you will be delighted!”

EM