ABSTRACT
This chapter opens up the world of Dublin's nineteenth-century builders, revealing their creative impact on the Victorian city and suburbs. It begins with a brief overview of the house speculator and then focuses on the work of three builder/developers, who erected high-quality houses in different sectors. The chapter focuses on three Catholic speculators, namely Michael Meade, William Carvill and John Crosthwaite. Emerging in the post-Famine period, Michael Meade began in the carpentry trade, forging new opportunities in a rapidly advancing city. William Carvill worked in the iron and shipping trades in Canada, before returning to Dublin to set up a timber business of his own. Meanwhile, John Crosthwaite was in business in the port of Kingstown, and remained town commissioner there for over thirty years. During the 1860s, Dublin's building trade flourished, benefitting from Britain's mid-Victorian boom and its own post-Famine economic upturn.
