High Street, Dublin

Street in Dublin, Ireland

High Street

View of High Street in 2013 with dublinbikes stand

Native name| An tSráid Ard (Irish)
Namesake| a High Street, named for its high location and its centrality to the town
Length| 200 m (660 ft)
Width| 23 metres (75 ft)
Location| Dublin, Ireland
Postal code| D08
Coordinates| 53°20′35″N 6°16′24″W﻿ / ﻿53.34314°N 6.27335°W﻿ / 53.34314; -6.27335
west end| Cornmarket, Bridge Street Upper
east end| Winetavern Street, Nicholas Street, Christchurch Place
Construction
Construction start| Has been a settlement site since the 5th century
Other
Known for|

* Medieval history
* Christ Church Cathedral
* Dublinia
* St. Audoen's Church (CoI)
* St. Audoen's Church (RC)

High Street (Irish: An tSráid Ard)[1] is a street in the medieval area of Dublin, Ireland.[2][3]

Map of Dublin in 1610; High Street is marked with "48." Map of late medieval Dublin with city wall and High Street.

## Location

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High Street runs parallel to the River Liffey, on high ground about 200 metres to its south, with Christ Church Cathedral on its east side, in the heart of Medieval Dublin.

## History

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Front of St Audoen's Church (Catholic) in the 1960s.

This ridge of elevated land to the south of the Liffey was the traditional eastern terminus of the Slighe Mhór ("Great Way") that cut Ireland in half in prehistoric times, running along the Esker Riada. A community of farming and fishing Gaelic Irish people lived here by the 5th century AD, with a defensive fort in the vicinity of Cornmarket and High Street.[4] In Anglo-Norman records the street was referred to as "altus vicus".[5]

High Street was at the centre of Viking Dublin and Medieval Dublin (9th–13th centuries); Christ Church Cathedral is located immediately on its northeast end. It is south of the Viking settlement site at Wood Quay and east of Dublin Castle; it was the main street in the medieval period. Patrick FitzLeones, who was three times Mayor of Dublin in the late fifteenth century, bought a house on High Street in 1473.

St. Michael's Church was first built in 1076 and St. Audoen's Church was built on the north side of High Street in 1190. A marble cistern to contain the municipal water supply was built there in 1308. It was commonly called Le Decer's Fountain, in memory of John Le Decer, four times Mayor of Dublin, who paid for the construction of the cistern.

The first General Post Office of Ireland opened on High Street in 1688; it moved to Fishamble Street in 1689.[6]

From the 18th century onward the urban core shifted eastwards, and High Street is no longer a shopping street.[7] St Audoen's Church (Catholic) was built in the 1840s next to the ancient Protestant church.[8]

An excavation took place in 1962–63; found were several Viking pieces of artwork: bone trial-pieces and a gilt bronze disc-brooch of the Borre Style design, a bronze needle case, and a soapstone ingot-mould. The trades practised in the Viking period (10th–11th century) included comb making, leather working and weaving.[9]

The street was excavated again in 1968–71; finds included post and wattle houses, leather shoes and boots, bone objects, metalwork, pottery, coins, animal bones, a Rome pilgrim badge from the early 13th century, a lead seal of Pope Innocent III, a spoon bit, and wood-turning waste.[10][11][12]

Murphy's Prams, the only commercial building to survive the 1970s demolitions.

In the 1970s many of the street's commercial buildings were demolished so that it could be widened to a dual carriageway.[13][14][15] For a period of time following the road widening, the street was mostly derelict and vacant sites.[16] In 1993, Christ Church's synod hall was converted to Dublinia, a tourist attraction educating people about Viking Dublin.[17]

## Cultural references

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High Street is mentioned in Sheridan Le Fanu's short story "Narrative of a Ghost of a Hand."[18]

## See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to High Street, Dublin.

* List of streets and squares in Dublin

## References

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1. ^ "An tSráid Ard". logainm.ie.
2. ^ Allen, Martin (5 December 2016). Early Medieval Monetary History: Studies in Memory of Mark Blackburn. Routledge. ISBN 9781351942522 - via Google Books.
3. ^ "High-street - Dublin Street Directory 1862". www.libraryireland.com.
4. ^ Clarke, H. B. (2002). Irish Historic Towns Atlas, No 11, Dublin, Part I, to 1610. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy.
5. ^ M'Cready, C. T. (1987). Dublin street names dated and explained. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Carraig. p. 50\. ISBN 1-85068-005-1. OCLC 263974843.
6. ^ "The General Post Office, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1".
7. ^ "Dublin High Street @ High.St - High Street shops and High St businesses". www.highstreetuk.com.
8. ^ "ST. AUDEON'S CATHOLIC CHURCH ON HIGH STREET IN DUBLIN - THERE IS AN ANGLICAN CHURCH OF THE SAME NAME NEARBY". DUBLIN STREET IMAGES.
9. ^ "Unpublished Excavations: MEDIEVAL DUBLIN".
10. ^ "Finding The First Dublin". RTÉ Archives.
11. ^ Mcgrail, Sean (11 June 2014). Ancient Boats in North-West Europe: The Archaeology of Water Transport to AD 1500. Routledge. ISBN 9781317882374 - via Google Books.
12. ^ Duffy, Seán (15 January 2005). Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 1135948232 - via Google Books.
13. ^ O'Connell, Hugh. "Demolition work begins on landmark building on Dublin's High Street". TheJournal.ie.
14. ^ Henderson, Arran (9 February 2016). "Tour old Dublin – High Street, Christ Church, Wine Tavern & the Irish House".
15. ^ Clerkin, Paul (2001). Dublin street names. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. pp. 90–91. ISBN 0-7171-3204-8. OCLC 48467800.
16. ^ McDonald, Frank (1985). The destruction of Dublin. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. p. 300\. ISBN 0-7171-1386-8. OCLC 60079186.
17. ^ Michael McHale (13 May 2010). "Vikings invade for the return of Dublinia". Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
18. ^ The Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories. Wordsworth Editions. 5 January 2005. ISBN 9781840220568 - via Google Books.

* v
* t
* e

Streets in Dublin city

North of River Liffey
(Northside)|

* Abbey Street
* Amiens Street
* Arbour Hill
* Bachelors Walk
* Benburb Street
* Beresford Place
* Blackhall Place
* Bloom Lane
* Buckingham Street
* Capel Street
* Cathal Brugha Street
* Cathedral Street
* Clonliffe Road
* Dominick Street
* Dorset Street
* East Wall Road
* Eccles Street
* Eden Quay
* Foley Street
* Gardiner Street
* Great Denmark Street
* Henrietta Street
* Henry Street
* Home Farm Road
* Jervis Street
* Marino Crescent
* Marlborough Street
* Mary Street
* Moore Street
* North Brunswick Street
* North Circular Road
* North Earl Street
* North Frederick Street
* North Great George's Street
* North Strand Road
* O'Connell Street
* Parnell Street
* Queen Street
* Seán McDermott Street
* Sheriff Street
* Store Street
* Summerhill Parade
* Talbot Street

South of River Liffey
(Southside)|

* Ailesbury Road
* Anglesea Road
* Aungier Street
* Baggot Street
* Bow Lane West
* Boyne Street
* Bride Street
* Britain Quay
* Bull Alley Street
* Camden Street
* Christchurch Place
* Clanbrassil Street
* Clare Street
* Clyde Road
* College Green
* College Street
* The Coombe
* Coppinger Row
* Cork Street
* Crampton Court
* Cuffe Street
* Dame Lane
* Dame Street
* Dawson Street
* D'Olier Street
* Earlsfort Terrace
* Ely Place
* Eustace Street
* Fenian Street
* Fishamble Street
* Fleet Street
* Fownes Street
* Fumbally Lane
* Georges Quay
* Golden Lane
* Grafton Street
* Harcourt Street
* Harcourt Terrace
* Hawkins Street
* Herbert Park
* Herbert Road
* Heytesbury Street
* High Street
* Hume Street
* James's Street
* Kildare Street
* Lansdowne Road
* Leeson Street
* Lincoln Place
* Marrowbone Lane
* Merrion Road
* Merrion Street
* Misery Hill
* Molesworth Street
* Morehampton Road
* Mount Street Lower
* Nassau Street
* Northumberland Road
* Newbridge Avenue
* New Bride Street
* Park Avenue
* Parliament Street
* Patrick Street
* Pearse Street
* Raglan Road
* Sandymount Avenue
* Shelbourne Road
* Ship Street Little
* Shrewsbury Road
* Sir John Rogerson's Quay
* South Circular Road
* South Great George's Street
* South William Street
* St Andrew's Street
* Steeven's Lane
* Stephen Street
* Sydney Parade Avenue
* Tara Street
* Thomas Street
* Tritonville Road
* Werburgh Street
* Westland Row
* Westmoreland Street
* Wexford Street
* Wicklow Street
* Winetavern Street
* Wood Quay
* York Street

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