Wilde Café

Walking home from work a couple of weeks ago I spotted window boxes filled with spring flowers on the windowsill of a grand building on the corner of Merrion Square and Clare Street. This is a building I have always found fascinating because of its pretty, curved, stained glass windows and Victorian glass-house attached to its upper floor. As I walked by I noticed the building was looking smart and freshly painted and the door was open, and being curious I stepped in, just to take a peek at what it looked like inside.

I was lucky because the moment I stepped inside the owner and manager Michael who was just about to close shop met me and invited me in to see the building and I got an amazing tour of his new venture- the Wilde Creative Centre.

The building  is located directly opposite The American College and the Wilde statue in Merrion Square. It is a Georgian house which was originally a family residence which stretched as far back as the Henry Jermyn building (formerly Green’s Bookshop) behind it. According to my tour guide there has been number of interesting residents living in Number 95 over the centuries. In the 19th century is was home to a Buddhist family and Professor of Eastern Philosophies  in Trinity College and in the 1920s it became the home to the Society of Apothecaries who held meetings in the building and added stain glass windows and interesting architectural features throughout the building. Their letterbox still graces the door.

The building is now going to have a very exciting new chapter as the Wilde Creative Centre.  A place Michael promises will help people to discover and experience creativity and the story of Oscar Wilde in Ireland. He also says the centre will be a welcoming, witty and innovative in its  creative programming. There is an upper floor Cafe will serve organic fare and wheatgrass juices,  a basement cafe which will serve meals from 8am to 8pm and the very top of the building is to be  an artist in residence apartment.

The Wild Creative Centre has a beautiful Wildean, bottle green door, complete with Claddagh ring knocker and has only been open a couple of weeks. Its worth dropping in for a coffee, a wheatgrass shot or just for a nose at their extraordinary building which has been hidden from the public for so long. I look forward to the  wild and wonderful events and happenings which will take place in this extraordinary venue.

Wilde Creative Centre & Cafe,
95 Merrion Square West,
Dublin 2.

Follow @WildeCentre here