Choose a medieval or early modern archaeological site/monument in your home place and write an essay on it, discussing its context.
The Casino at Marino, meaning little house of pleasure by the sea, is a Neo-classical building on the north side of Dublin. The neo-classical movement began in the late 18th century following excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum which lead to an explosion of public interest in classical antiquity. Pompeii was discovered in 1534 and excavated in 1689.
The Casino was built for James Caulfield the 1st Earl of Charlemont (Lord Charlemont) who was born in 1728 and died in 1789. It was customary at the time of lord Charlemonts youth for young men to go on a grand tour, visiting several countries in Europe and experiencing different cultures, Caulfield spent 9 years on his grand tour which was a considerably longer period of time then was average.
Lord Charlemont acquired the Marino estate in 1756 and agreed to return from his grand tour, with some artefacts collected from Italy and Greece, in order to build The Casino. The Casino was designed by William Chambers and was intended almost as a piece of garden furniture. Its function would be for entertaining friends and it would act as a means of escape from Caulfield’s wife and her family. There are eight tunnels leading out from the basement of the Casino, one is a mile and a half long and leads to were the Marino estate house used to stand. Perhaps this was used for servants bringing food from the kitchens of the main house. Chambers never visited Ireland the work was instead carried out by Simon Vierpyl who inspected and approved all matters regarding the construction of the building.
The Casino is in the shape of a Greek cross, all four sides are equal. The exterior is carved from Portland stone. Around the exterior are twelve Doric columns four of which are hollow. Water was collected on the roof of the house and was then drained down the hollow columns into tanks in the...