Eccles Street, razed in the 1970s and currently the site of the Mater Private Hospital, is a case in point. Famous as Leopold Bloom's home address in Ulysses , the connection with Joyce himself is purely fictional. However, conservation bodies such as An Taisce and Dublin Civic Trust are adamant that buildings of sufficient literary or cultural interest should be eligible for listing. It's very frustrating. It's a constant irritation.
Demolition is the worst case scenario, but it has happened.
Similarly, Mullingar House in Chapelizod was recently gutted and re-roofed by its new owners. The pub features centrally in Finnegan's Wake , where the hero, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, is described as its owner. Since late 1999, a nondescript apartment scheme stands in their place, nameless. To preserve 18 homes, peppered at random throughout the city, would require a serious amount of juggling where issues of zoning and ownership were concerned. That so much shifting went on was largely due to the colourful life John Joyce, the author's father, chose to lead.