A previous name for Nicholas Avenue, Dublin 1. The name derives from John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, Lord Lieutenant from 1756-61, and Chancellor of the University of Dublin (Trinity) from 1765-71. See the entry for Nicholas Avenue for the references.
Beresford Lane, which runs down the side of the old Labour Exchange, formerly Trinity Church, on Lower Gardiner Street, was originally called Moland Street. The street appears to have been constructed in the late 1780s or early 1790s; it’s named on a map of 1798, shown as including all of Frenchman’s Lane, that is on…
This street, off Bolton Street, was originally called Cross Lane, and is shown with that name on Rocque. (There was another Bolton Parade, off Dorset Street, I think.) In 1894, some of the local ratepayers applied to the Corporation to have the name changed to “European Place’. According to the memorialists, the street had ‘for…
The first bridge named ‘Butt Bridge’ was designed by the magnificently-named Bindon Blood Stoney, assistant engineer to the Port and Docks Board, and it took a little over two years to build, work having begun in May 1877. It was designed to swivel open to allow river traffic travel up the river, as far as…
Capel Street runs south from Bolton Street to the quays. Capel Street, and the surrounding area, was developed by Humphrey Jervis, a Cromwellian immigrant, who, along with some others, bought twenty acres of land from the Corporation in 1676. One of Jervis’s supporters was Arthur Capel, Earl of Essex, who served as Lord Lieutenant from…
Running from the North Wall to Sheriff Street, Castleforbes Road was originally called ‘Fish Street’. The street dates from the mid-eighteenth century, appearing as ‘Fish Street’ on a map of 1757.1 The name likely derives from some association with fishing: perhaps fish were off-loaded at that part of the quays? Although it was listed in…
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…
On the Royal Canal, running from Newcomen Bridge to Clarke’s Bridge, Charleville Mall was laid out in the 1820s. By 1829 it was developed enough for houses to be advertised for letting. Described has having the ‘double advantage of a town and country residence’, the fact that the street was outside the City was a…
One of two previous names for James Joyce Street, renamed from Mabbot Street in 1911, the name derived from “Corporation Buildings”, which stood on the street,
Originally named Dispensary Lane, the street was renamed Dorset Avenue in 1902 at the request of the owner of the properties on the lane, Robert White, 1 North Frederick Street. It seems that Dispensary Lane had ‘acquired a very undesirable reputation, in consequence of which it is found impossible to induce a good class of…
A name proposed, but not adopted, for Bolton Place, formerly Cross Lane.
Foster Street was the name given, until the 1890s, to different parts of Ballybough Road. M’Cready gives 1849 as the date, but it appears as early as 1832 in a newspaper report, applied to the houses to the north of Clarke Bridge, as far as to what is now Foster Terrace.1 The first entry in…
This street, off Berkeley Street, is one of five laid out in 1868 by Arnott, Lombard, and Company. In December that year the Corporation agreed to extend the main sewer to service the street, and in August 1869 the five streets were advertised as ‘most desirable building ground’, being unrivalled for ‘health and convenience’. Arnott,…
Off Summerhill, Hill Street was formerly called Temple Street Lower. Dating from the 1770s, by 1885 this part of Temple Street had gained a poor reputation. In that year the Corporation’s Paving Committee reported that it had received: [M]emorials from the inhabitants and owners of house property in Upper Temple-street and Lower Temple-street, praying that…
Previously called Carey’s Lane, this street off Ballybough Road, near Ballybough Bridge, was renamed because of the hostility that the name ‘Carey’ attracted from being borne by the notorious informer James Carey, one of the Invincibles. (The name had no link with Carey himself.) James Carey (1845–1883) was a Dublin-born builder and leading Fenian who…
Off Summerhill, this very short lane has a convoluted history, name-wise. Listed as ‘Hutton’s Lane’ in 1833, by 1841 it was called ‘Mountjoy Place, Lower’. That name lasted until 1861, after which it reverted to ‘Hutton’s Lane’. In 1878 the Corporation decided to change the name to ‘Hutton’s Place’, no doubt because of the ‘evil…
Laid out in the early 1700s, this street was named ‘Mabbot Street’ as early as 1721, when it was reported that complaints had been received from residents of the Strand about ‘… the dirt and filth of the streets and markets being laid down there by the city carts, which doth occasion a great stench,…
Killarney Street runs from the Five Lamps to Buckingham Street. It originally formed part of Lower Gloucester Street, now Sean McDermott Street, until it was renamed in 1901. The renaming of the street gives us first-hand evidence of the attitude of the Corporation to the terrible conditions in which large numbers of the inhabitants of…
One of two previous names for James Joyce Street. The name derived from Gilbert Mabbot, who built a mill at the location in the late 1600s.1
Marlborough Street, sometimes called ‘Great Marlborough Street’, was laid out in 1707, running north from the quays to Parnell Street. It is shown on Brooking’s Map of 1728. As M’Cready says, the name is a tribute to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), although he gives us no reason for the tribute. Marlborough spent…
One of several former names for Railway Street. In 1761/2 the street was named ‘Mecklenburgh Street’, in honour, as M’Cready says, of Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,2 who in 1761 married King George III. She went on to become the United Kingdom’s longest serving Queen Consort, and to be played by Helen Mirren. (The gone-but-not-forgotten Charlotte…
On the North Strand, North Clarence Street is dated by M’Cready to 1796, although the IHTA’s earliest entry is from 1824. M’Cready’s explanation of the name is that it’s for William IV, who was Duke of Clarence from 1789, until he ascended the throne in 1830. That seems likely. See also the nearby North William…
Running west off the North Strand, near Newcomen Bridge, this street, according to M’Cready, dates to 1805, but, unhelpfully, he says nothing about the origin of the name. However, it’s likely named for William, Duke of Clarence, for whom the nearby Clarence Street was named. The IHTA cites it as appearing unnamed in a map…
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…
Ormond Quay was named for James Butler (1610-88), 1st Duke of Ormond, who served as Lord Lieutenant from 1677–84. For the background to the naming, see the entry for Capel Street.
Renamed from Great Britain Street. Parnell Street runs east from Capel Street to Summerhill. As far back as 1328 it was recorded as as running ‘from Oustmantown so far as Tulghan [Tolka?] by the middle way of the town of Ballyboght‘ and referred to as ‘The King’s Highway’. It is shown without a name on…
For a small, residential street in Dublin 1, Railway Street has had more names than most streets in the city. Mecklenburgh Street Originally know as Martin’s Lane or Great Martin’s Lane,1 the street originally consisted of two stretches, the ‘upper’ part from Marlborough Street to Gardiner Street, and the ‘lower’ part from from there to…
One of five streets built off Berkeley Road in 1868; see the entry for Geraldine Street for the dating. The name comes, presumably, from Patrick Sarsfield, of Treaty of Limerick fame.
A laneway leading from Temple Street into Nerney’s Court, this was unnamed until 1903, when the Children’s Hospital requested that it be named St Anthony’s Place. The hospital had established a ‘night school for girls, which is known as St Anthony’s Technical Night School’ on the laneway, and felt that the location needed a suitable…
One of five streets built off Berkeley Road in 1868; see the entry for Geraldine Street for the dating. I can find no evidence for the choice of name; none of the names given to the streets have any connection with each other.
Tara Street was built between 1879 and 1884, to link Great Brunswick Street (Pearse Street) to Butt Bridge, which was opened in 1879. The new street was built under the auspices of the Corporation’s Public Health Committee, which reported on its completion in April 1884. The Committee put forward four names for the City Council…
A former name for the part of Railway Street that runs from Marlborough Street to Gardiner Street.
No longer in existence, Waterford Street was the last name given to the street running from Marlborough Street to Gardiner Street. See the entry for Railway Street for the history.
