North Earl Street

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North Earl Street
Pictured in 2018
North Earl Street is located in Central Dublin
North Earl Street
Native nameSráid an Iarla Thuaidh (Irish)
NamesakeHenry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda
Length130 m (430 ft)
Width18 metres (59 ft)
LocationDublin, Ireland
Postal codeD01
Coordinates53°21′00″N 6°15′33″W / 53.349999°N 6.259197°W / 53.349999; -6.259197
west endO'Connell Street
east endMarlborough Street, Talbot Street
Other
Known forshops, James Joyce statue

North Earl Street (Irish: Sráid an Iarla Thuaidh) is a short stretch of city-centre street located on Dublin's Northside and formerly a major shopping area. It runs from Marlborough Street in the west to O'Connell Street beside the Spire.

The street was first developed in the late 18th century. It was badly damaged, along with neighbouring streets, in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising, but some buildings survived and others have been restored. It was pedestrianised in 1980.

History[edit]

Earl Street North c. 1900

The street was built on land previously owned by St. Mary's Abbey. It was acquired by Henry Moore, 1st Earl of Drogheda in 1614 and sold to Luke Gardiner in 1714.[1] It was developed in the late 18th century and named after the earl whose estate lands and developments are reflected in the street names bearing his name, Henry Street, Moore Street, Of Lane (now Off Lane) and Drogheda Street.[2][3][4] North Earl Street was a direct continuation of Henry Street eastwards.[5] It was sometimes formerly called Earl Street North.[6][7][8]

The Dublin Tramways Company built a tramline in the 1870s which ran along the street, continuing onto Talbot Street to Amiens Street and north to Dollymount and beyond.[9] Alexander Thom of Thom's Directory moved his printing business to 21 North Earl Street in 1828, where he operated a shop as a printer, bookseller and stationer.[10]

Easter Rising and Independence[edit]

During the Easter Rising in 1916, North Earl Street was badly damaged along with O'Connell Street and Henry Street. By the second day of the uprising, many of the buildings were on fire and businesses were being looted.[11] Much of the street was reconstructed from 1917 onwards, with Edwardian Baroque or Empire Revival style by architects such as O'Callaghan & Webb.[12][13] These buildings are characterised by their use of classical facades with brick and granite. Madigans Pub was also rebuilt at this time,[5] and contains some stained-glass windows by Harry Clarke.[14] During this rebuilding, Dublin Corporation widened parts of both North Earl Street and Henry Street. In total, 11 buildings on the Street and a further 3 on Earl Place needed full reconstruction.[15]

Some of the Georgian buildings further away from the junction with O'Connell Street survived 1916, and form part of the older streetscape. These include a townhouse on the corner of Marlborough Street from the late 1780s.[16] Other buildings feature Victorian stucco fronts.[5]

As part of a wider set of proposals to rename a number of Dublin streets in 1921, it was proposed that North Earl Street be renamed Brian Boru Street in a report by the Dublin Corporation street naming committee. This new naming scheme was not implemented.[17]

Regeneration[edit]

Statue of James Joyce

North Earl Street was pedestrianised in the 1980s along with a number of other city centre streets. It was officially opened as a "pedestrian precinct" in December 1980.[18] A statue of James Joyce by Marjorie Fitzgibbon was installed on the street in 1990. It was commissioned by the Dublin City Centre Business Association[19][20] and was unveiled on 16 June 1990.[1] The statue is known colloquially as "the prick with the stick".[21]

The hearing-aid store, Bonovox at 9 North Earl Street, is reputedly the inspiration for Paul Hewson's choice as Bono for his stage name.[22]

From the 1960s, the department store Boyers & Co. operated from North Earl Street. It closed in 2016, and was redeveloped as a Sports Direct. During this time the street was characterised as dominated by discount stores and euro shops and a decline in the condition of the street.[23] This followed the closure of Clerys in 2015, which also faces onto North Earl Street and Earl Place. This site went under development as the Clerys Quarter in 2019.[24][25] These side entrances to the department store dated originally from 1979.[5]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Earl Street North, Dublin.

References[edit]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Bennett 2005, p. 88.
  2. ^ "Researching Dublin and Ireland". ar-tour.com.
  3. ^ Scully, Seamus (1972). "Ghosts of Moore Street". Dublin Historical Record. 25 (2): 54–63. ISSN 0012-6861. JSTOR 30104375.
  4. ^ M'Cready, C. T. (1987). Dublin street names dated and explained. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Carraig. p. 33. ISBN 1-85068-005-1. OCLC 263974843.
  5. ^ a b c d Casey 2005, p. 232.
  6. ^ "Earl-street, North - Dublin Street Directory 1862". www.libraryireland.com.
  7. ^ Wilson, Shane. "Dublin City, before and after the 1916 Rising". www.swilson.info.
  8. ^ Clerkin, Paul (2001). Dublin street names. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 61. ISBN 0-7171-3204-8. OCLC 48467800.
  9. ^ Scannell, James (2006). "From Horse Drawn Trams to LUAS: A Look at Public Transport in Dublin from the 1870's to the Present Time". Dublin Historical Record. 59 (1): 5–18. ISSN 0012-6861. JSTOR 30101601.
  10. ^ Hammond, Joseph W. (1946). "The Founder of "Thom's Directory"". Dublin Historical Record. 8 (2): 41–56. ISSN 0012-6861. JSTOR 30080066.
  11. ^ Corráin, Daithí Ó (2014). "'They blew up the best portion of our city and ... it is their duty to replace it': compensation and reconstruction in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising". Irish Historical Studies. 39 (154): 272–295. doi:10.1017/S002112140001909X. ISSN 0021-1214. JSTOR 43654774. S2CID 159572446.
  12. ^ "Kylemore, O'Connell Street Upper, Earl Street North, Dublin 1, Dublin City". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  13. ^ "1917 – No.1 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin". Archiseek - Irish Architecture. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  14. ^ "North side of Dublin City is a treasure trove for tourists". IrishCentral.com. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  15. ^ Moore-Cherry, Niamh; Ó Corráin, Daithí (2016). "Contextualising the urban legacies of the Easter 1916 Rising on Moore Street (Dublin): Destruction, reconstruction and the politics of planning". Irish Geography. 49 (2): 103–124 – via UCD Research Repository.
  16. ^ "Ice Babe, North Earl Street, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, Dublin City". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  17. ^ Whelan, Yvonne (2003). Reinventing modern Dublin : streetscape, iconography, and the politics of identity. Dublin, Ireland: University College Dublin Press. pp. 218–221. ISBN 1-900621-85-1. OCLC 51270664.
  18. ^ McDonald, Frank (1989). Saving the city : how to halt the destruction of Dublin. Dublin: Tomar Pub. p. 131. ISBN 1-871793-03-3. OCLC 21019180.
  19. ^ Doherty 2016, p. 121.
  20. ^ "Flashback: This is what Dublin looked like in the 1970s". independent. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  21. ^ Griffith 2014, p. 203.
  22. ^ "U2's Dublin: 10 iconic landmarks in the band's home city". Irish Independent. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  23. ^ McGrath, Louisa (27 January 2016). "As Boyers Closes, the View From North Earl Street". Dublin Inquirer. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  24. ^ Ryan, Órla (25 January 2019). "Here's what the new Clerys Quarter will look like". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  25. ^ Kelly, Olivia (25 January 2019). "Work to begin on Clerys department store redevelopment". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 October 2020.

Sources

  • Bennett, Douglas (2005). The Encyclopaedia of Dublin. Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-717-13684-1.
  • Casey, Christine (2005). Dublin: The City Within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-30010-923-8.
  • Doherty, Neal (2016). The Complete Guide to the Statues and Sculptures of Dublin City. Orpen Press. ISBN 978-1-909895-72-0.
  • Griffith, Lisa Marie (2014). Stones of Dublin: A History of Dublin in Ten Buildings. The Collins Press. ISBN 978-1-84889-219-4.
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