O’Connell Avenue

Built in 1868, this street was Dublin’s first O’Connell Street; see the entry for Geraldine Street for the dating. The obvious origin of the name is Daniel O’Connell, The Liberator.

In 1884 the Corporation embarked on what was to be a fruitless attempt to change the name of Sackville Street to O’Connell Street.

At a meeting of the Corporation, held on 8 February 1886, it was noted that ‘the street formerly called Sackville Street was now generally known as O’Connell Street, and if there were two streets of the one name the result would be confusion’.¹

The first proposal was to change the name to Gerald Griffin Street, and this is what both M’Cready,² and Thom’s for 1886, say.³

However, sixteen of the residents, while amenable to the change of name, wanted to keep the ‘O’Connell’ in the new name. A motion was put and carried that ‘in compliance with the wishes of the inhabitants of the street now called O’Connell Street, it be called ‘O’Connell Avenue‘.⁴

The 1887 Thom’s records it as ‘O’Connell Avenue’.⁵

1. Evening Irish Times, 9 February 1886.
2. M’Cready, p. 43.
3. Thom’s, 1886.
4. Minutes, 1886/47.
5. Thom’s, 1887.