Eccles Street

Eccles Street
Native nameSráid Eccles (Irish)
NamesakeSir John Eccles
Length430 m (1,410 ft)
Width18 metres (59 ft)
LocationDublin, Ireland
Postal codeD07
Coordinates53°21′30″N 6°16′01″W / 53.35839°N 6.26685°W / 53.35839; -6.26685
west endBerkeley Road
east endDorset Street
Construction
Inauguration6 March 1769
Other
DesignerIsaac-Ambrose Eccles
Known for7 Eccles Street
Mater Hospital
Georgian architecture

Eccles Street /ˈɛkəlz/ (Irish: Sráid Eccles)[1] is a Georgian street in Dublin, Ireland.[2]

History

Eccles Street began on 6 March 1769 when Isaac-Ambrose Eccles leased three parcels of land in the area.[3] The street is named after his family, including his grandfather Sir John Eccles,[4] Lord Mayor of Dublin 1710–11[5] who owned property on the street.[6]

The street was mainly laid out from 1772 by the Gardiner estate ran at that stage by Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy.[7]

The architects and property developers Francis Johnston[6] and his brother Richard Johnston had lived on and developed numerous houses on the street from at least 1793. Francis lived at number 64 until 1829 and developed four houses on the street from number 30-33 in 1822 for himself and his half brother Andrew Johnston.[8] Johnston's double fronted house on the street also acted as a museum of curios and architectural ornaments and experiments including a large belfry and gothic folly in the rear garden which has since been mostly demolished.[9] It also features classical plaster roundels on the front facade and an octagonal room with an elaborate roof lantern to the rear. The original house was adapted by Johnston but maintained an external appearance in keeping with rest of the street.[10][11]

From 1847 to at least 1858 William Henry Seale (1835-1898) lived at 60 Eccles Street. A History of Irish Music  records: Two organs associated with Handel are still in Ireland. One of them, brought by Handel from England, became the property of the John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely, at whose sale, in 1811, it was purchased by Francis Johnston, who removed it to his house, Number 60 Eccles Street. On his death, in 1845, the house, including the organ, became the property of William Henry Seale, who later opened a clothing shop on Grafton Street in 1859, E & W Seale. For a period, number 60 including the organ became the property of Isaac Butt.[12][13]

The main hospital building was developed in 1861.[14]

In James Joyce's novel Ulysses (published 1922, set in 1904), the protagonist Leopold Bloom lives at 7 Eccles Street, and the building was treated as a landmark by Joyce fans. No. 7 was demolished in 1967 by the neighbouring Dominican convent as part of an extension development to their school.[15] The door was saved.[16][17]

Other notable people associated with the street include the publisher Fergus O'Connor (c.1876–1952), who had a premises at number 44.[18]

Mater Hospital redevelopment

The Mater Hospital purchased a plot of land on the north side of the street in 1975, building the Mater Private Hospital on the site which finally opened in 1986.[19] The site also has a large surface carpark.[20]

The development saw 36 Georgian houses demolished, despite preservation orders and resistance from groups including An Taisce and the Arts Council.[15] The order then began buying up more Georgian properties on the south side of the street. The windows and doors of three listed houses were illegally blocked up and others were left vacant.[20]

The Mater invited an inspection of the three Georgian houses by Dublin Corporation in February 1988, when they were deemed dangerous. As a result, the buildings were ordered to be demolished to first or second-floor windowsill level. The houses were occupied by the group Students Against the Destruction of Dublin, and legal proceedings ultimately led to them vacating to allow the demolition to go ahead. The legal case revealed that the Mater Hospital Pools had funded the purchase of 28 of the houses on the south side of the street. By 1988, 2 properties were derelict, and 13 were partly or wholly vacant, including 3 already condemned. It emerged that they were aware the roofs had failed in the three condemned buildings as early as 1986, and had done no repair work allowing for the ultimate destruction of the buildings.[20]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eccles Street.

References

  1. ^ "Sráid Eccles / Eccles Street". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland.
  2. ^ "Eccles-street - Dublin Street Directory 1862". www.libraryireland.com.
  3. ^ "Eccles Street – The Historical Picture Archive". www.historicalpicturearchive.com.
  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. ^ Pierce, David (22 July 2014). Reading Joyce. Routledge. ISBN 9781317865070 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ a b Clerkin, Paul (2001). Dublin street names. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-7171-3204-8. OCLC 48467800.
  7. ^ "64 Eccles Street, Dublin 7, DUBLIN". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  8. ^ "Dictionary of Irish Architects". www.dia.ie. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Francis Johnston's belfry and Gothic folly in his garden, Eccles Street, Dublin". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  10. ^ "Slice of history in Eccles Street". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  11. ^ "64 Eccles Street Dublin 1". O'Connell Mahon Architects. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  12. ^ "Handel and Arne in Ireland (2)". www.libraryireland.com. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  13. ^ lists, Parliament commons (1878). "Return of the name of every member of the lower house of parliament of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with name of constituency represented, and date of return, from 1213 to 1874. 2 pt. [and] index". Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  14. ^ "1861 – Mater Misericordiae Hospital". 18 April 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  15. ^ a b McDonald, Frank (1985). The destruction of Dublin. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. pp. 148–149. ISBN 0-7171-1386-8. OCLC 60079186.
  16. ^ "The Joyce Project : Ulysses : Seven Eccles street". m.joyceproject.com.
  17. ^ Stirling, Jessica (1 February 2015). Whatever Happened to Molly Bloom?: A historical murder mystery set in Dublin. Severn House Publishers Ltd. ISBN 9781780106021 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ Horgan, John (28 January 2017). "The Press in 1917: Wars and Rumours of Wars" (PDF). 1917 – Aftermath of Rebellion. Dublin City University.
  19. ^ "No 7 Eccles street - James Joyce Online Notes". www.jjon.org.
  20. ^ a b c McDonald, Frank (1989). Saving the city: how to halt the destruction of Dublin. Dublin: Tomar Pub. pp. 108–112. ISBN 1-871793-03-3. OCLC 21019180.
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