placenamesMarino
Marino’s Casino and planned housing estate reveal two very different ways of arranging buildings, homes and green space.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Marino · Irish · main form · validated name
- Marino · English · main form
Place & story
The Casino in a country estate
Sir William Chambers designed the Casino as a pleasure-house for James Caulfeild, first Earl of Charlemont, beside his residence on what was then Dublin's rural edge. Its eighteenth-century neoclassical exterior conceals a much more complex interior than its small scale suggests: sixteen rooms are fitted inside. The Zodiac Room's domed ceiling represents the sky, with astrological symbols arranged around its base. The building preserves the aristocratic estate landscape from which modern Marino developed. [2]
Planning a garden suburb
Marino's housing scheme followed a public meeting in Clontarf in 1910 and years of planning by Dublin Corporation. Raymond Unwin prepared a design in 1914, but war delayed the project. Later plans involved Charles J McCarthy and Horace O'Rourke. Construction began in 1922–23 with Free State funding, and the initial 428-house scheme was largely complete by 1926. It marked a major change from estate land to planned urban housing. [3]
Gardens as part of the home
The suburb's arrangement gave open space a practical role. Houses were grouped around communal parks, with small front flower gardens and larger back gardens intended for fruit and vegetables. The council's archive account describes three-bedroom homes with a parlour, living room and scullery, plus indoor bathroom and toilet facilities. This combination of domestic space and planted surroundings distinguished Marino's approach to housing in the early Free State. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Marino. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Casino Marino · Office of Public Works, Heritage Ireland
- Marino Garden Suburb, 6 March 2017 · Dublin City Archives, Dublin City Council
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-09-27. How this page was prepared.