The Irish Times

Christine Casey's book on Dublin*, the latest in the Buildings of Ireland series, covers everything within the canals as well as the Phoenix Park. Inevitably, many of its 756 pages are filled with descriptions of the city's great public buildings and the rich and varied interiors of its 18th century houses. But the 20th century and even the first few years of the 21st are not ignored. How could they be, when their legacy accounts for so much of Dublin's current fabric? And what Casey has to say about contemporary architecture in the city is instructive, often in ways that she could not have intended. Few would quibble with her verdict on the Abbey Theatre, by Scott Tallon Walker: "A brick-clad Miesian envelope, which for all its heroic intent is dull in the extreme". Though McCullough Mulvin's "cleverly layered portico of 1991 adds emphasis to the entrance on Marlborough Street", she says it "does not solve the problem".