Research metadata
- Subject: Former Parkgate Printing Works, now known as Parkgate House — boundary heritage structures only
- RPS Ref. No.: 6320 [1][2]
- Address: 43 Parkgate Street, Dublin 8 (the wider development site is also referenced as 42A Parkgate Street in planning records) [3]
- Local authority: Dublin City Council
- Protection scope: Partial — only four named elements are protected: (a) riverside stone wall; (b) turret at the eastern end of the site; (c) square tower on the riverfront; (d) entrance stone arch on the Parkgate Street frontage [4]
- Buildings-at-risk flag (workspace record): At Risk
- DCC Derelict Sites Register: Not listed (per current workspace record)
- Overall evidence grade: Medium–High (planning + heritage records are strong; current on-site condition of the four elements is less directly documented)
Quick facts
| RPS Ref. No. |
6320 |
| Address |
43 / 42A Parkgate Street, Dublin 8 |
| What is protected |
Riverside stone wall; turret (east); square tower (riverfront); entrance stone arch (Parkgate Street frontage) |
| Original use |
Royal Phoenix Iron Works (foundry); later Parkgate Printing Works |
| Most recent use |
Wholesale fabric warehouse (Hickey's); vacated c.2020 |
| Current owner / developer |
Owner of record: Davy Platform ICAV (Phoenix Sub-fund); developer: Ruirside Developments (Chartered Land / Joe O'Reilly) |
| Status |
Vacant brownfield site under active redevelopment; demolition begun 2026 |
| Vacancy/dereliction |
Long-term commercial vacancy since c.2020; not on Derelict Sites Register |
| Confidence (overall) |
Medium–High |
Summary
RPS 6320 protects only four relict boundary structures — a riverside stone wall, a turret, a square riverfront tower, and an entrance stone arch — that survive from the Royal Phoenix Iron Works, a major nineteenth-century Dublin foundry that later became the Parkgate Printing Works and, most recently, a wholesale fabric warehouse. [4][5] The 0.82 ha riverside site has been vacant in commercial terms since the fabric business left around 2020, was briefly occupied by housing activists in 2022 (removed by High Court order), and is now the subject of a large-scale residential redevelopment including what is intended to be Ireland's tallest building. [9][13] The principal heritage risk is therefore not neglect but the protection and integration of the four listed elements through demolition and construction. Confidence: Medium–High.
Identification
- Listing wording (verbatim): "Former Parkgate Printing Works, now known as Parkgate House. Only the following structures are included in the Record of Protected Structures: (a) riverside stone wall; (b) turret at eastern end of site; (c) square tower on the riverfront; and (d) entrance stone arch on the Parkgate Street frontage." [4] Confidence: High.
- Entrance arch / gateway: Recorded by the NIAH (Reg. 50060346) as "the remains of a fine former gateway into what was once the Royal Phoenix Iron Works… executed in ashlar granite," noting its symmetry "has now unfortunately been destroyed by the removal of one of the lower flanking wings to provide access to the site for modern vehicles." [5] Confidence: High.
- Associated context structure: A brick electricity sub-station along the former boundary wall is separately recorded by the NIAH (Reg. 50060350), likely linked to Dublin United Tramways electrification from 1896. [6] Confidence: Medium (adjacent, not part of RPS 6320).
- Site boundaries: Parkgate Street (north), River Liffey (south), an electricity substation and the Seán Heuston Bridge junction (east), and Parkgate Place (west). [14] Confidence: Medium.