Michael Stapleton

The Stapletons had four children: Robert who died young; George took over the family business when his father died; Margaret married a stone-cutter called John Taylor; and Mary married into a family of paper-stainers and house painters.

Stapleton associated with the master builder, Robert West, the progenitor of the Dublin School of Plasterwork of the 1760s.

He inherited his pattern books and both modelled himself on, and refined the style of, this central figure in the shaping of architecture and design in Dublin and in the country.

[4] After his death his son George continued his work, a famous example being the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle.

[5] Sacheverell Sitwell commented that: "...the Dublin artisans (of the period) were second to none in Europe, and the reader need only glance through the volumes of the Georgian Society to feel certain of this.

Without security or maintenance the houses fell into a state of decay and for safety reasons Dublin Corporation had to demolish them.

[13] This house was illegally demolished by the Jesuit owners of Belvedere College, although it was under a preservation order, on 26 April 1968.

[14] Stapleton's will (proved in 1801) listed his profession as "builder", suggesting that house-building had become an important part of his career.

He would have co-operated with his brother-in-law, Thomas Todderick, with whom he had qualified,[1] and the plasterer Andrew Callnan in various developments.