This large stately square is filled with grassy and shady areas and surrounded by Georgian red-brick houses. At the northwest corner is a life-sized statue of the writer and dramatist Oscar (draw breath) . . . Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900), who grew up at No. 1 here. He's depicted sprawled on the embankment, with a lop-sided smirk, as if totally wasted. (As if!) Two short marble columns are covered in his quotable quotes. On the surrounding buildings, plaques commemorate other notable residents, such as the Duke of Wellington. The fine architecture continues south, along Mount Street Upper and Fitzwilliam Street Lower. The neo-classical government buildings on Upper Merrion St can be visited by free guided tour Saturdays hourly 10:30-13:30, pick up tickets in the National Gallery lobby.