Dublin in 1707

A year in the life of the city

Brendan Twomey

What happened in Dublin in 1707? At first glance – not much. But initial impressions can be misleading - the legacy of the decisions reached of 1707 persist to this day. The Ballast Office (Dublin Port), the Registry of Deeds and Marsh's Library were all founded in that year. This study describes, primarily from a contemporary perspective and using contemporary sources, the events of 1707 – these include the laws enacted and the issues debated by the Irish Parliament and the decisions of Dublin Corporation and the parish vestries of the Church of Ireland - these later two bodies had the most immediate impact on the daily lives of Dubliners. The study also analyses a number of other cultrual, social and economic events that would have constituted the topics of everyday conversation in 1707.

Brendan Twomey has worked in banking for over thirty years, and graduated with an MA in Local History from Maynooth in 2004. He previously published another title in the Maynooth Studies in Local History Series, Smithfield and the parish of St Paul, 1698–1750 (2005).