Conservation Areas: Residents and allotment holders are happy the council has named their Glasnevin square as the city's first residential architectural conservation area, writes Paul O'Doherty

If you know your Joyce, you'll probably know that Paddy Dignam's funeral procession in Ulyssesleaves Sandymount one morning for Prospect Cemetery in Glasnevin passing "in silence . . . along Phibsbourough Road . . . past Brian Boroimhe house (now Hedigans)" until "the carriage steered left for Finglas road . . . the stonecutter's yard on the right".

A stone's throw from Farrell and Son's stonemason's yard stands De Courcy Square and the gateway to Prospect Square and its environs, the last stop on the way to the gates of Glasnevin Cemetery and the southern walls of the Botanic Gardens. Fittingly, the neighbourhood, with its historical, literary and contemporary vibrancy, is Dublin City Council's first residential architectural conservation area (ACA).

The purpose of an ACA, governed by the Planning and Development Acts 2000 and 2006 and set out by the Dublin city development plan 2005-2011, is to "enhance the special character of the ACA by ensuring that all new development is carried out in a manner sympathetic to the special character of the area". Essentially, it means that any redevelopment in the area - whether it's a new porch or new windows - must take cognisance that the area dates from the 1830s and that only sympathetic planning applications will be permitted. While it's a restrictive piece of legislation, it also brings a level of protection.

This is significant (and appreciated by locals) as De Courcy Square is unique in that the houses on the square surround one of Dublin city's last allotments. Unthinkable in the current climate, the allotment is neither owned by the residents or by the city council. However, on Tuesday Dublin City Council announced that it had successfully concluded negotiations with owners Dublin Land Securities (DLS) to purchase the small rectangle of land. With the Dartmouth Square fiasco in people's minds, residents are obviously grateful that DLS has so far acted admirably.

So who's in line for ACA-dom? Dublin City Council's senior planner in the conservation section Niall McDonnell says "we came up with 200 possible and noteworthy areas and we honed it down to 28. We now have plans to do eight ACAs. O'Connell Street was the first, and we've just finished Grafton Street and we're planning an extension to the west of Grafton Street, heading towards George's Street. De Courcy Square and Prospect Square and its environs is the first residential ACA. We haven't decided fully on the other areas."

McDonnell maintains De Courcy Square and Prospect Square and its environs is a "set-piece within the Dublin area" and, after representations from local politicians and residents to preserve its character, "we said 'here's an opportunity where people are interested and we have it on our list of 28, so why don't we go ahead and try it out'."

According to Dublin City Council's central area manager Charlie Lowe, "the area was approved by the city council as an ACA at the March meeting, and essentially includes that part of the area that leads from Prospect Square to the corner of Prospect Way, De Courcy Square, including St Teresa Road, St Teresa Place and Prospect Avenue, and the allotment. Most of the architectural conservation will deal with the buildings as distinct from the allotments area."

Residents in the area who are keen to avail of funding to restore and revive their houses (which are not on the record of protective structures) to their late Georgian or Victorian appearance will have to await the result of representations to the minister for the environment to review grant schemes to include monies for buildings within ACAs.

Meantime, residents can reflect on their good fortune and could even paraphrase Joyce in Finnegan's Wake- "tis as human a little story as paper could well carry".