O'Connell Street is at the heart of Dublin. It has been through name changes and revolutions, destruction and rebuilding and remained at the heart of the story of Ireland for centuries. Nicola Pierce explores the people, the history, the buildings and the stories behind the main street in our capital city.
Packed with stories of the people connected to the streets, from the subjects of the statues, to the sculptors that created them, from those who owned and developed the street since the days of St Mary’s Abbey in 1147, to those who worked and lived there through the centuries and all the drama and scandals that went on both on the street and behind closed doors.
O'Connell Street will also feature more personal, anecdotal stories of the cinemas, meeting under Clery’s clock, buying engagement rings at The Happy Ring House, witnessing motorcades such as the Apollo XIII coming down the street, the heyday of film stars staying at the Gresham, and scandals and murders on the street.
Author’s Note page 9
1 A Brief Summary 13
2 STATUES AND MONUMENTS 37
Daniel O’Connell 37
William Smith O’Brien 46
Sir John Gray 49
Father Theobald Mathew 52
Charles Stewart Parnell 56
James Larkin 62
The Spire of Dublin 66
Anna Livia Plurabelle 68
James Joyce 70
Patrick Sheahan 72
Nelson’s Pillar 75
Death of Cú Chulainn 86
Fidelity, Hibernia, and Mercury 88
3 LANDMARK BUILDINGS 91
The Gate Theatre (Nearby O’Connell Street) 91
The Rotunda 96
Abbey (Findlater’s) Church 101
Clerys Department Store 106
Eason 119
The General Post Office (GPO) 130
The Gresham Hotel 141
The Happy Ring House 153
4 THE CINEMAS 161
The Savoy 161
The Carlton 167
The Metropole Cinema and Restaurant 169
The Grand Central Cinema 174
La Scala Theatre and Opera House 174 The Capitol 177
The Ambassador 178
5 O’CONNELL STREET BRIDGE 183
6 MURDER AND MAYHEM ON O’CONNELL STREET 201
August 1854 201
Sunday, 31 August 1913 202
Monday, 24 April 1916 206
Sunday, 21 November 1920 208
Wednesday, 5 July 1922 212
Friday, 17 May 1974 214
7 GATHERINGS ON O’CONNELL STREET 217
St Patrick’s Day Parade 217
Celebrity Motorcades 224
American Presidents 232
Funeral Processions 239
Afterword 257
Bibliography 260
Index
