CAPITAL’S MAIN THOROUGHFARE
Historian looks at spot in city named after The Liberator
DUBLIN’S famous
O’connell Street is celebrating its centenary this weekend.
The capital’s main thoroughfare was called Sackville Street until its name was changed on May 5, 1924.
It was renamed O’connell Street after the revered Irish nationalist and Catholic emancipator Daniel O’connell, whose monument stands at the top of it. So to mark its 100th birthday today, historian DONAL FALLON recalls how it came to be, in a new Irish State looking to put its own stamp on the nation.
There are plenty of familiar streets carrying the name O’connell Street across the island of Ireland. Beyond our main thoroughfare, you’ll find streets honouring the man they called The Liberator in Sligo, Cork and beyond.
Perhaps most fittingly, there’s O’connell Street in Cahersiveen, his hometown.
Undoubtedly the most famous Irishman in the world in his day, O’connell is even honoured with a street name as far away as Australia.
O’connell’s name is revered even today, with President Obama telling the gathered crowds on College Green how “Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and our great abolitionist, forged an unlikely friendship right here in Dublin with your great liberator, Daniel O’connell”.
Of course, his name also recalls the very impressive statue by John Henry Foley, which looks down over O’connell Bridge and shows him standing tall, clutching the Act of Catholic Emancipation.
Yet when that statue was first unveiled in 1883, it stood at the top of a street with a different name entirely: Sackville Street.
What we now know as O’connell Street was called Sackville Street from its creation in the 1700s, to its name change on May 5, 1924.
Sackville Lane is one of the last clues on a map that Dublin’s main street went by a different name before.
STAMP
It’s not surprising that the new Irish State wanted to put its stamp, quite literally, on to things in the 1920s.
New stamps, new currency (although that took until 1928), and a new green paint to cover up the very British post boxes that dotted our streets.
The first postbox painted stood, and still stands, where Dame Street meets Palace Street, right outside Dublin Castle.
Changing street names was one relatively easy way to shape the identity of a newly independent Irish capital.
The only thing that stood in the way were the city ratepayers, who could petition against a name change if they felt it would hurt commercial interests.
So shops which had been several generations on Capel Street, and advertised themselves as such, weren’t happy with a proposal to change its name to when the name to Silken Thomas Street, after the 16th century Kildare rebel, instead.
Gardiner Place survived the proposal to rename it Thomas Ashe Street, after the founding member of the Irish Volunteers.
Ormond Quay won the day over Oliver Plunkett Quay.
Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, was quickly forgotten. Twice Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, his name meant little to nothing in the Irish Free State.
If any street would carry a new nationalist name, it was going to be the main avenue, home to the General Post Office and statues like O’connell and Parnell. In truth, lots of people were already calling it by O’connell Street ever since the statue had gone up.
When the police banned a trade union rally on the street during the 1913 Lockout, James Connolly would ask where Sackville Street was, ripping up the ban and saying “Perhaps it is in Jerusalem or Timbuctoo, but there is no such street in Dublin. There is an O’connell Street in Dublin.”
Some surprising names survived the chop. There’s Nassau Street, named in recognition of the Hous Orange-nassau, the royal family which William of Ora belonged.
The Duke of Welling once had a bridge nam after him (the one we call the Ha’penny Brid but Wellington Q remains.
Most surprisin Victoria Quay rema honouring the monarc the hungry years of 1840s. Wolfe Tone Q brings little balance proceedings.
Not all proposed street names in m recent times have passed. There
Lots of people were already calling it by O’connell Street
DONAL FALLON REVEALS HISTORY OF O’CONNELL ST
se of y to ange
Mandela Street, put forward at the time of his visit to get the Freedom of the City of Dublin.
Another idea that didn’t get the green light was a proposal by politician Gay Mitchell to rename Dublin’s quays in honour of famous writers.
Victoria Quay would become Brendan Behan Quay, a curious distinction that would have put it alongside the Guinness Brewery.
If O’connell is the most commemorated man in the Irish streetscape, internationally there are surprising connections to Ireland in other cities.
In both Paris and Tehran, streets are named in honour of Bobby Sands, while one of Havana’s busiest streets is Calle O’reilly, named after Alejandro
O’reilly, an Irishman who served as a general in the Spanish armed forces.
Recently, more of our streets are being named in remembrance of women, though geographer
Conor O’neill’s research reveals how 27 of Dublin’s streets are named after women.
So, if streets named after a monarch like Victoria are to be renamed, there is surely a compelling argument they should carry the name of an Irish woman instead. Renaming Sacknelson ville Street in honour of the man they called The Liberator was a gesture of great hope for the future of the street.
But it seems everyone feels the street today is in something of a state of crisis.
Maybe this centenary is a chance to really think about what we want from O’connell Street and how we can make it a main street to be proud of once again.
Donal Fallon is host of Dublin social history podcast Three Castles Burning and author of the book Three Castles Burning: A History of Dublin in Twelve Streets (New Island Books, 2022).