Sackville Avenue

Originally named Bradley’s Lane,¹ this street in Ballybough was called Love Lane as early as 1828.² That name derived from Joseph Love, under whose will Love’s Charity was founded.

It first appeared in the street directories in 1834 as having two premises,³ but by 1850 there were seventeen tenements on the street.⁴

In 1874, the Corporation decided to change the name, presumably because of the ‘evil reputation’ that the term ‘Lane’ attracted.⁵

I haven’t found the date of the formal change of name, but it was known as Sackville Avenue by 1876 at the latest.⁶ The name presumably comes from the nearby Sackville Gardens.

1. Dublin City Library and Archive [Depositor]. Map of part of Lord Mountjoy’s property. Wide Street Commission. (1794) (https://doi.org/10.7486/DRI.dv14cd073).
2. ‘Education Society’ in Dublin Evening Post,19 June 1828, p. 1.
3. Dublin Almanac and General Register of Ireland for the year of Our Lord 1834 (Dublin, 1834).
4. Thom’s, 1850.
5. Reports 1874/62.
6. ‘Situations wanted’ in Irish Times, 7 January 1876.