The Irish Literary Times

Like many of his contemporaries, the Irish poet and novelist, Justin Quinn is interested in exploring how economic boom and bust has affected his country's psyche.

A sound saga of a south Dublin suburb

Mount Merrion has always regarded itself as a somewhat special suburb of Dublin. Its leafy, low-density layout and to an extent the mindset of its citizenry reflect the languor and grandeur of Viscount Fitzwilliam’s 1711 Mount Merrion House and lands, on which the modern suburb is laid out.

That history is very much alive, and to this day the area is known to insiders as the demesne.

The avenue to the old house ran magnificently from the coast road at Blackrock right up to The Rise, where St Thérèse’s Church and the community centre now stand. That avenue is nowadays transected by the N11, which acts as a boundary dividing the original Fitzwilliam lands.