Cathedral Street

Running from O’Connell Street to Marlborough Street, down the side of the Pro-Cathedral, for which it is named, this street went by three other names previously.

It appears as ‘Stable Lane’ on Rocque’s map (1756),¹ but within twenty years was called ‘Elephant Lane’. There’s no evidence for the origin of that name, but we do know that in 1776, George Mowlds, Milltown, was contracted by the Lord Mayor to clean the street every Monday and Friday.²

It is shown as ‘Elephant Lane’ on the first OS map (1837), but was later called ‘Tyrone Place’. M’Cready says this that this derives from Tyrone House, the residence of the Marquis of Waterford,³ now and long since the Department of Education.

In August 1900, a memorial from the property owners and occupiers was submitted to the Corporation, asking that the name be changed to Cathedral Street or Cathedral Place.⁴

In delicately phrased language, the residents argued that the change was desirable ‘owing to the similarity of the name “Tyrone Place” to that of “Tyrone Street”… , and the mistake that the public very often make of thinking they are both the same’.

By ‘the public’ they meant those who frequented Monto (see the entry for Railway Street).

The matter was referred to the Paving Committee, which recommended that the request be granted and the name changed to Cathedral Street.⁵

At its meeting of 1 October 1900 the Corporation accepted the recommendation and the name was changed to Cathedral Street.⁶ By 11 October Hickey’s felt confident enough in the new name to include it unqualified in an advertisement,⁷ although later in the month another advertisement felt the need to say ‘Cathedral Street (Tyrone Place)’.⁸

1. Rocque, 1756.
2. Saunders Newsletter, 21 October 1776, p.3
3. M’Cready.
4. Minutes 1900/479.
5. Reports 1900/134.
6. Minutes 1900/534.
7. Dublin Evening Telegraph, 11 October 1900.
8. Dublin Evening Telegraph, 27 October 1900.