| Seán McDermott Street | |
| Native Name: | [1] |
| Map Type: | Ireland Central Dublin |
| Former Names: | Great Martin's Lane Gloucester Street |
| Namesake: | Seán Mac Diarmada |
| Length M: | 530 |
| Location: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Postal Code: | D01 |
| Coordinates: | 53.3536°N -6.2537°W |
| Direction A: | west |
| Terminus A: | Cumberland Street Upper, Cathal Brugha Street, Champions Avenue |
| Direction B: | east |
| Terminus B: | Buckingham Street, Killarney Street |
| Junction: | Gardiner Street, James Joyce Street |
| Construction Start Date: | early 18th century |
| Known For: | Monto, Scots Presbyterian Church, Matt Talbot |
Seán McDermott Street [1] is a street in northeast Dublin, Ireland. It is divided into Seán McDermott Street Lower (east end) and Seán McDermott Street Upper (west end).[2] [3] [4]
Located in the north inner city, it runs west-east as an extension of Cathal Brugha Street, for about 530 metres (mile) until it intersects with Buckingham Street.[5] [6]
The street was originally named Great Martin's Lane or Saint Martin's Lane, having that name by 1712. [7]
In 1764 it was renamed Gloucester Street for Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, brother of King George III.[8] [9] Many fine Georgian townhouses were built, but they were allowed to degrade into tenements by 1900 with most being demolished during the 20th century.[10]
In the 1860s–1920s, Gloucester Street was the northern end of the notorious Monto red-light district, where thousands of prostitutes lived and worked.[11] [12]
Its intersection with Gloucester Place was known as the Gloucester Diamond, and was a centre for street football in the mid-20th century.[13] The Gloucester Diamond is mentioned in Pete St. John's song "Johnny McGory", about a First World War veteran who returns to Dublin having lost a leg.[14]
An IRA safe house was located at 36 Gloucester Street Lower during the Irish War of Independence; Conor Clune, Dick McKee and Sean Fitzpatrick were arrested there on 21 November 1920, the day before Bloody Sunday.[11] [15]
In 1933 the street was renamed for Seán Mac Diarmada (McDermott, 1883–1916), an executed leader of the Easter Rising.[16] [17] The area was plagued by juvenile crime, including by the so-called "animal gangs."[18] In 1943–53, over 500 new homes were provided in the area by reconditioning.[19] Nevertheless, the area continued to be plagued by poverty and crime, with Michael Keating criticising the squalor of the area in the late 1970s.[20]
A Magdalene laundry for unwed mothers, including "repentant" prostitutes, opened in 1887 and did not close until 1996.[21] [22] [23] [24]
A temporary Catholic chapel was built in 1915; it was replaced by the Romanesque Revival Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1954.[25] The church is known for its association with the ascetic Matt Talbot (1856–1925), whose remains were translated to the church in 1972.[26] [27] Pope John Paul II visited the street in 1978, but did not enter the shrine. A banner was erected reading "John Paul Rules OK".[28]
Today, the Irish headquarters of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul are located on Seán McDermott Street as well as a Simon Community hostel which is housed in the former carpenters' asylum, an impressive regency style former guildhall at number 35.[29] [30] [31]
There is also a large public swimming pool, closed since 2019 for refurbishment.[32] [33]
Since the establishment of the street there have been numerous notable buildings, some of which have now been demolished while others are in a state of dereliction.
The Scots Presbyterian Church is a notable Greek-revival style church built on the street in 1846; it was later a Salvation Army building and a grain store and the façade of the building remains a landmark on the street as of 2021.[34]
Gloucester Terrace was a Regency terrace of six houses constructed around 1831 with a unified pediment located at what was later referred to as 45 to 50 Lower Seán MacDermott Street but originally forming a portion of Gloucester Street. The houses were demolished in the 1950s to be replaced with an ESB substation and other public buildings.[35] [36]