The first art gallery built in Britain or Ireland reopens to the public in Dublin this weekend.
The exhibition space at the City Assembly House on South William Street in Dublin was built in 1766 and has been completely renovated to modern art gallery standards.
The City Assembly House was once the Dublin Civic Museum and, after lying vacant for ten years became the headquarters of the Irish Georgian Society in 2013.
This latest renovation phase involves the unveiling of an octagonal art gallery, built by the Society of Artists in Ireland in 1766 as the first purpose-built exhibition space in Britain and Ireland.
The work on the City Assembly House was carried out in conjunction with Dublin City Council and is expected to attract Dubliners and tourists alike through its doors.
But what is the condition of Georgian buildings elsewhere in the city? Mountjoy Square on the northside of the city was once a battleground between developers and those who wished to conserve the Georgian stock, as this RTÉ report from 1967 shows.
Indeed the area was sometimes used by film companies who wanted to recreate how London looked during the Blitz.
But since the 1990s improvements have been made and while not every building is in pristine condition, the area is now home to over 1,000 people using its buildings and its public park.
A local organisation, The Mountjoy Square Society, describes it as "a unique and special place to live, work and visit".
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Meanwhile the City Assembly House opens to the public tomorrow. Its first art exhibition focuses on 18th century art, representative of the type of work that would have been hung when the gallery was originally opened.
Events are being staged to complement the exhibition and details can be found at www.igs.ie/events.
