Merrion Square is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre. The square was laid out in 1762 to a plan by John Smyth and Jonathan Barker for the estate of Viscount FitzWilliam. Samuel Sproule later laid out the East side around 1780 and the gardens were created through a competition won by Benjamin Simpson in 1792 thanks to d…Merrion Square is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre. The square was laid out in 1762 to a plan by John Smyth and Jonathan Barker for the estate of Viscount FitzWilliam. Samuel Sproule later laid out the East side around 1780 and the gardens were created through a competition won by Benjamin Simpson in 1792 thanks to drawings created by John James Barralet. All of the surrounding houses were largely complete by the beginning of the 19th century.