George's Street Arcade is a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

South Great George's Street South Great George's Street is a street in south-central Dublin, Ireland. History Early history and naming The area is associated with Early Scandinavian Dublin. Four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associated ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. It is a Victorian style red-bricked

indoor market A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...

of stalls and stores. It opened in 1881 as the South City Markets.

History

The first purpose-built Victorian Shopping Centre in Dublin was South City Markets, commonly known now as George's Street Arcade. The City Market Company was incorporated in Dublin with a share capital of £200,000 and a loan capital of £50,000, for the establishment, maintenance and regulation of a market on the south side of the city in 1876. In order for the company to require the land necessary to develop the markets an act of parliament was needed and acquired, this gave the company not only the power to acquire the lands but also the responsibility to widen and generally improve the surrounding streets. Noted British architects Lockwood & Mauson won the contract to design and build the market complex. In 1881 South City Markets was officially opened by the Lord Mayor Sir George Moyers after the development was heavily promoted by wealthy families with substantial property interests in the area. The opening was a grand occasion and was well attended by the invited guests who were entertained to luncheon by the market chairman Joseph Tod Hunter Pim. There were no native Dubliners on the guest list and this went down very badly with the locals and was not forgotten.

1892 Fire

Due in some part to the appointment of English builders and architects, the market was not initially popular with ordinary Dubliners. Tragedy struck the markets in August 1892 when the building was destroyed by fire, there were no fatalities but this was devastating for all concerned with the shopkeepers losing their shops and overhead homes but it was the stall holders who were hit worse by having no insurance on their stock. Some of the original letters from the stall holders to the management detailing their losses still exist. After a flood of public sympathy, a relief fund was established for them and was successful.

Rebuilt

The markets were rebuilt in the same style with a remodelled interior designed by

William Henry Byrne William Henry Byrne (17 May 184428 April 1917) was an Irish architect who mainly designed churches. He studied under James Joseph McCarthy before going into business with John O’Neill in 1869. He worked on his own after O'Neill's death in 1883. ...

, this time using local labour and craftsmen and on 13 September 1894 were open once again for business. On this occasion, all local dignitaries of any standing were invited and the George's Street Arcade has traded continually since then.

Arcade today

The property was acquired in 1992 by the current owners, the Layden Family Group from City Properties.

References

External links

* {{Shopping centres in the Republic of Ireland Markets in Dublin (city) Commercial buildings completed in 1881 Shopping centres in County Dublin 1881 establishments in Ireland Market halls