Marino

Marino was part of the townland of Donnycarney, which was granted to the Corporation of Dublin following the dissolution of The Priory of All Hallows in the reign of King Henry VIII. The Garden City influenced housing estate was built on the template of the planned formal gardens for the now demolished Marino House and the streets followed that pattern.

The well-known Casino was built in 1759 as a summer house in the grounds of Marino House, and a tunnel linking it to the main house for servants’ use is where Michael Collins and his men carried out tests with their first Thompson sub-machine gun. It’s also reputed that the guns from the Asgard were hidden here.

The elegant, curved Marino Crescent, pictured, was built with its rear-facing windows at odd levels and pipes all over the place as a snub following the Earl of Charlemont’s refusal to allow the developer to traverse his lands with building materials. They were eventually brought in by sea.

Number 15 is best known as the home of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula.