D'Olier Street (/dəˈlɪər/ duh-LEER; Irish: Sráid D'Olier)[1][2][3] is a street in the southern city-centre of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. It and Westmoreland Street are two broad streets whose northern ends meet at the southern end of O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey. Its southern end meets Fleet Street, Townsend Street, College Street and Pearse Street.
 D'Olier Street looking southeast | |
  | |
| Native name | Sráid D'Olier (Irish) |
|---|---|
| Namesake | Jeremiah D'Olier |
| Length | 160 m (520 ft) |
| Width | 22 metres (72 ft) |
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Postal code | D02 |
| Coordinates | 53°20′47″N 6°15′30″W / 53.346494°N 6.25823°W |
| northwest end | O'Connell Bridge |
| southeast end | College Street, Townsend Street |
| Other | |
| Known for | The Irish Times, O'Connell Bridge House |
History
editThe street is named after Jeremiah D'Olier (1745–1817), a Huguenot goldsmith and a founder of the Bank of Ireland.[4][5] D'Olier was the Sheriff of Dublin City in 1788 and a member of the Wide Streets Commission. The street was one of the last major interventions in the Dublin city plan to be executed by the Wide Streets Commissioners.[6][7]
Notable addresses
editFrom 1895 to 2006, Irish Times was based in D'Olier Street, leading the paper to be nicknamed The Old Lady of D'Olier Street. The paper is now based in Tara Street.[8]
O'Connell Bridge House is located at 2 D'Olier Street.[9] This office development was extended in 1968, by the same developer as O'Connell Bridge House, John Byrne. Alongside D'Olier House these modern office blocks surround the former headquarters of the Dublin Gas Company, a rare surviving art deco building in Dublin, which was also designed by Desmond FitzGerald. D'Olier House has been leased by the Department of Social Welfare since shortly after its completion.[10]
In 1830, Samuel Lover was secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy and lived at number 9 D'Olier Street.
In 1891 James Franklin Fuller designed the D'Olier Chambers building of yellow brick and terracotta for the Gallaher Tobacco Company.[11]
Manchester United opened a team store on the street in 2000 having signed a 15-year lease at €520,000 per annum.[12][13] It closed in 2002.[14] The lease expired in August 2015.[12]
A number of nightclubs have operated on the street, including Club XXI and Redz in the 2000s.[15] As of March 2020[update] Tramline, at number 21, was the only club in operation on the street.[16]
The Dublin central clinic of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service is based on the 2nd Floor of LaFayette House on the street.[17] As of 2013, the IBTS were renting the second and third floors of the building at a fee of €105,000 per annum.[12] In 2014 the IBTS considered moving to a cheaper city centre location due to high running costs,[18] but remain on D'Olier Street as of May 2022.
The Lafayette Building, on the junction of Westmoreland Street and D'Olier Street, is a six-storey over basement block which has been described as a "landmark building which looks straight down O’Connell Street and dominates the city streetscape next to O'Connell Bridge".[12] Developed in the 1890s for the Liverpool and Lancashire Insurance Company and designed by architect John Joseph O'Callaghan, it was described as a "Portland stone baronial exercise with Gothic and Ruskinian leanings."[12] It was redeveloped in the late 1990s when the three top floors of the building were converted into 14 apartments. The National Wax Museum Plus has occupied the ground floor since 2017.
References
editCitations
- ^ "19 Irish Place Names That Tourists Will Absolutely Love". Lovin.ie.
- ^ "Pronunciations - James Joyce Online Notes". www.jjon.org. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ "Sráid D'Olier/D'Olier Street". logainm.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Christine Casey (2005). Dublin: The City Within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park. Yale University Press. p. 417. ISBN 978-0-300-10923-8. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ^ M'Cready, C. T. (1987). Dublin street names dated and explained. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Carraig. p. 31. ISBN 1-85068-005-1. OCLC 263974843.
- ^ "D'Olier Street, Dublin - Buildings of Ireland - Irish Architecture". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ^ Clerkin, Paul (2001). Dublin street names. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-7171-3204-8. OCLC 48467800.
- ^ Nolan, Larissa (12 December 2004). "Old Lady of d'Olier St set to pack her bags". Independent.ie.
- ^ Carey, Tim (3 November 2016). Dublin since 1922. Hachette Books Ireland. ISBN 9781473620018 – via Google Books.
- ^ McDonald 1985, p. 39.
- ^ "1891 – D'Olier Chambers, D'Olier Street, Dublin". Archiseek. 17 February 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Fagan, Jack (19 June 2013). "€3.5m for landmark Lafayette Building". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "Manchester United open shop in Dublin". IrishTimes.com. 30 March 2000.
- ^ Mr X (20 June 2013). "Manchester United Lose Millions on Irish Property Deal".
- ^ Scott, Claire (28 June 2017). "The ultimate list of closed Dublin nightclubs we'll never forget". Dublinlive.ie.
- ^ "Top 10 places you're GUARANTEED to get the shift in Dublin". IrelandBeforeYouDie.com. 24 February 2020.
- ^ "D'Olier Street". Irish Blood Transfusion Service. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "IBTS clinic considers move to cut costs". Irish Independent. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
Sources
- McDonald, Frank (1985). The Destruction of Dublin. Gill and MacMillan. ISBN 0-7171-1386-8.