36 Fenian Street

The home of the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation is at 36 Fenian Street, Dublin 2.

Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation is a historic 18th-century building at 36 Fenian Street, that officially opened in 2018 after an extensive refurbishment project.

History

36 Fenian Street is a two-bay four-storey building that was originally built c.1790 as a residential house. Fenian Street was formally called Harcourt Place, first appearing on maps around 1770. It was renamed Fenian Street, after the Fenian Brotherhood, who operated from the street in the 1850s.

Architectural and interior features

A unique architectural feature is the unusual Georgian curved geometric staircase.
The walls are finished with paint and hand-crafted wallpaper.

2012		36 Fenian Street assigned to the Centre on the understanding that it would undertake to refurbish the premises
2012	March	The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences provides funding to cover the cost of a Surveyor or Engineer to do a thorough inspection and provide hard facts and figures so that an accurate base figure for the refurbishment is provided
2012	May	Establishment of a fundraising group, chaired by Conor Killeen (Key Capital)
2013	April	The launch of the concept of the Centre for Literary Translation by Seamus Heaney
2013	December	Executive committee of the TCD Association and Trust approves an award of €400,000 towards the cost of refurbishing 36 Fenian Street for the Centre for Literary Translation.
2014	February	Establishment of a Steering group in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies to oversee the Fenian Street project
2014	April	The capital project submission for the refurbishment of Fenian Street for use by the Centre of Literary Translation is recommended by CRG for approval. Project to revert to CRG with confirmed costs, when known / available & before committing to contract for refurb
2014	April	Monica Janson, Architectural Services Officer in TCD Buildings office appointed to look after the project.
2014	August	Appointment of Kriterion Conservation Architects & J.V.Tierney M&E Consultants
2014	October	Final Sketch Drawings approved by the Steering Group
2014	December	Fire Certificate granted
2015	January	Planning permission granted
2015	March-April	Tender process completed and appointment of a contractor
2015	April	Capital Review Group and Executive Officers give authorization to progress to the construction phase of the refurbishment project. College has agreed to underwrite the costs of the project (€905,000) over a five-year period.
2015	June	Commencement of refurbishment work
2016	March	Refurbishment project is complete
2016	March	Fenian Street project shortlisted for the Heritage/Conservation section of Irish Building and Design Awards 2016
2016	April	Fenian Street project shortlisted for the Conservation Project of the Year category at the Irish Construction Industry Awards 2016.
2016	April	Literature Ireland and DAP move in to Fenian Street
2016	September	School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies colleagues and students on the MPhil in Literary Translation move into 36 Fenian Street
2016	MT & HT	TCLT programme of events up and running
2017	Spring	End of retention period.

Sarah Smyth Reading Room

Sarah Smyth standing in the doorway of the reading room named in her honour at 36 Fenian Street. On 26 April 2022, we opened the Centre's doors after almost two years of lockdown, during which time we hosted all of our events and teaching online. It was fitting that the first opportunity the Centre had to welcome guests was to celebrate the woman whose tireless efforts brought the Centre into being, Sarah Smyth.

Sarah Smyth (1956-2026) studied languages at Trinity College, and later joined the staff of Trinity’s Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies where she taught from 1987-2021. Known and admired by many around College, Sarah developed a reputation for getting things done and, in 2013, with the support of key colleagues and more than one Provost, she founded the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation.

By 2009, she had already set up a translator-in-residence programme with Literature Ireland, the national agency for the promotion of Irish literature abroad. For many years the Centre was largely a concept, but in 2017 it moved into its permanent home, a beautifully restored Georgian building at 36 Fenian Street. World-renowned translation studies scholar, Professor Michael Cronin, took on the directorship of the Centre in 2018, later handing over the reins to Dr James Hadley in 2022. The Centre is now a beacon for translation scholars and practitioners around the world, as well as being an important cultural outreach centre for Trinity College and the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies.

Conor Killeen, Chairman of Key Capital, understood Sarah’s vision for the Centre from the outset and he has been a steadfast supporter of our work since the very early days. Thanks to his and Key Capital’s great generosity, Sarah’s trojan work in setting up the Centre has now been recognised and honoured. The ground floor reception room at Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation has been officially named the 'Sarah Smyth Reading Room'.

Decorative wallpaper for 36 Fenian Street features a botanical pattern in a shade of blue on cream.

Building Accessibility

Unfortunately at the current time, there is no wheelchair access to 36 Fenian Street. Our events room is situated on the first floor and, in addition to an internal staircase, there are steps from the street to the front door.

There is wheelchair access at other venues that we use on Trinity's campus, such as the Arts Building and Trinity Long Room Hub. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need more details about any specific venue.

Building Award Nominations

Conservation project of the year (2016) - Irish Construction Industry Awards:

No. 36 Fenian Street has been sensitively restored with all refurbishment work guided by conservation principles and underpinned by the Venice and Burra Charters ... The original layout and proportions of the principal rooms have been retained and enhanced with the addition of handcrafted wallpaper, traditional shelving, wainscoting, sensitive repair of original ceilings and cornices all of which reinstate the domestic character of this Georgian terrace.

Building Project of the Year (2016) - Irish Building & Design Awards:

The final building is one that respects the original domestic character of the Georgian residence and provides bespoke student study and office spaces with state of the art IT and building services - befitting for this prestigious and world renowned university.