Streets and squares in Dublin

Many streets in Dublin carry names given during the period of English rule, however there is a core of central city streets which retain names which reflect their Viking origins such as Fishamble Street, Winetavern Street, and Wood Quay. Some streets were renamed during the late colonial or Free State periods. Approximately 5% of street names are dedicated to a saint, such as Thomas Street.[1] A sub-committee was formed by the Dublin Corporation which published a report entitles Report of the Paving Committee in 1921, which recommended the renaming of a number of streets in Dublin, such as Pearse Street, but not all the recommendations were adopted.[2][3]

Street names fall into several categories. Many are named for persons such as British kings, queens, and their families, lords lieutenant, nobles, lord mayors, other state officials, Irish nationalist figures, celebrities, and property owners. Others are named for churches, public buildings, signs of public houses or taverns, places of historical note, places in London, occupations, and titles of office. A few are named for the physical characteristics of the street or the surrounding area, and a few are corruptions of previous names.[1] Some names allude to the crafts and trade that was historically conducted in the area, or in some cases, to agricultural associations.[4]

Street names are modified with a number of terms. Generally, larger thoroughfare names include avenue, parade, road, and street. Smaller street names include alley, close, court, lane, mews, place, row, and terrace. Special locations or layouts include cottages, gardens, grove, hill, market, park, quay, square, villas, and yard and some these terms tend to be used more outside of the city centre.[1]

In some cases, the Irish name and the English name are not a direct translation of each other, but instead may refer to older names for the area or avoid the use of "anglicisms" within the Irish nomenclature, an example is Durham Street becoming Sráid Darmhagh.[2] Some translations have been critiqued for being too literal, such as Wood Quay at first being translated as Cé na Coille and later amended to An Ché Adhmaid.[5]

A standard-issue Dublin street sign with raised lettering. The Dublin postal district is to the right of the street name, which is in Irish and English.

Dublin streets are signed in a style consistent with many European and British cities whereby nearly all signs are placed on buildings adjacent to street junctions, rather than on free-standing signposts. However, where it has not been possible to affix the sign to the building immediately next to the junction, sometimes the second or even third building is used. In modern suburban areas, affixing the sign to a boundary wall or fence is common. Dublin street signs typically have white lettering on a blue background with the Irish above and English name below,[6] given along with the Dublin postal district number. Designs and colours from several eras remain in use.

The first Dublin street signs from the 18th century were wooden and no examples survive. Cast iron was used from the 19th century. These signs were exclusively in English and some survive. Bilingual signage first appeared in the early 1900s as part of the Gaelic Revival, with some of the earliest examples found in Blackrock and were in yellow and black. Later the colour scheme of green and white, with an enamel finish on metal sheeting, was adopted before the establishment of the Irish Free State, with these being used to replace the monolingual 19th century signs. Signs remained green and white until the 1950s, when the blue and white was adopted. Until the 1950s, Irish names were written using Cló Gaelach font, but this was phased out and abandoned in the 1960s, although use of the Irish: séimhiú for lenition continued for some time after. In the mid-20th century new signs were made from cast aluminium instead of the former cast iron or enamel finish.[6]

The system of building number generally follows the British pattern, with the conspicuous numbering of houses becoming mandatory in 1774 under the auspices of the Commissioners of Paving.[7] Many streets, such as Grafton Street and Baggot Street Lower, numbers proceed sequentially up one side of the street to its terminus and then continue down the other side. The numbers usually begin in topographically lower areas and proceed upward, toward higher ground away from rivers. Other streets follow the pattern of even addresses on one side and odd numbers on the other.[7] Unlike the usual North American style, generally each unit is given one number and no number is skipped, although with exceptions. This results in situations where the odd numbers on one side and the even numbers on the other do not match due to differing numbers of buildings on the respective sides. For example, No. 2 Percy Place is directly across from No. 53 Percy Place because Grand Canal frontage delays the beginning of the even numbers. Addresses on squares usually ascend in a clockwise direction, although Parnell Square is anti-clockwise. Where infill buildings have been added or buildings have been subdivided after a street was numbered, it is common to use suffix letters, e.g. 23A.

Up to the end of the 19th century, the use of terrace addresses was common and many of these remain. Typically, such terraces consisted of 4 to 20 commercial or residential buildings built at the same time as a single structure and with its own name. Examples include Orchard Terrace on Grangegorman Upper (street) and Waverly Terrace on Kenilworth Square. Some terraces have their own numbering systems, although sometimes they have been integrated with the street's numbering system and the terrace name has, to some extent, fallen out of use.

Dublin's earliest roads were four long-distance routes that converged on the Gaelic-era Ford of the Reed Hurdles (Áth Cliath) over the River Liffey. These were the Slige Chualann (roughly the route of the present-day Harold's Cross Road) from Leinster in the south, Slige Dála (Crumlin Road) from Munster in the southwest, Slige Mór (Inchicore Road) from Connacht in the west, and Slige Midluachra (Dorset Street) from Ulster in the north.

The Vikings first established a fortified town at Dublin and its main street ran along what is now High Street and Castle Street.

Anglo-Norman Dublin maintained the basic Viking-era street plan and enlarged the town by expansion and land reclamation from the Liffey. The area north of present-day Cook Street and Essex Street was reclaimed during this time and provided with a relatively geometric street pattern. Streets became known for particular trades or activities and the names of several of these survive today, including Winetavern Street, Cook Street, Lamb Alley, Fishamble Street, Ship Street (originally Sheep Street). Most of the street layout within the old town walls dates from this period.

The first map of Dublin was produced by John Speed and is dated 1610. By this time, development had extended beyond the town walls and some streets retain their names or variations thereof from that time, such as James's Street, Stephen Street, Francis Street.

In Georgian Dublin of the middle and late 18th century, the Wide Streets Commission reshaped the old system of streets and created a network of main thoroughfares by wholesale demolition and widening of old streets, and the creation of entirely new ones.

Most of the streets in central Dublin retain names from the period of British rule but some have been renamed for Irish figures. Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing after Irish independence, streets were renamed usually either because of the prominence of their location, such as O'Connell Street, or the unacceptability of the previous name, such as Great Britain Street.[1] Not all campaigns to rename streets were successful however, including the one to rename Talbot Street Seán Treacy Street.[3]

Citations

Sources

• M'Cready, Rev. C.T. Dublin Street Names: Dated and Explained. Dublin: Carraig Books, 1892.
• Clerkin, Paul Dublin Street Names. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2001

• List of streets and squares in Dublin
• List of Dublin bridges and tunnels
• Transport in Dublin