Camden Street () is a street in
Dublin 2
Dublin 2, also rendered as D2 and D02, is a historic List of Dublin postal districts, postal district on the Southside, Dublin, southside of Dublin, Ireland. In the 1960s, this central district became a focus for office development. More recentl ...
. It links
Ranelagh
Ranelagh ( , ; , ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of Dublin 6.
Ranelagh was originally a village called Cullenswood. It has a history of conflict, including the at ...
/
Rathmines
Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...
(
Dublin 6
Dublin postal districts have been used by Ireland's postal service, known as ''An Post
(; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of Mail, postal services in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal serv ...
) to the southern
city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
of
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. It is divided into Camden Street Upper (southern end) and Camden Street Lower (northern end).
History
The name is likely derived from
the 1st Earl Camden (1714-94). The fact that the street name first appears on maps in 1778 would rule it out as originating from his son,
the 1st Marquess Camden (1759-1840), who became
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...
, as the 2nd
Earl Camden
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used.
The titl ...
, in 1795.
An attempt to connect the name to
Saint Kevin (Old Irish ''Cóemgen'') is regarded as spurious.
A prominent company located on Upper Camden St for over a century was
Earley and Company
Earley and Company (1861–1975) were ecclesiastical furnishings and stained glass manufacturers and retailers, based in Camden Street, Dublin, Ireland. In the 19th century they also had an outlet at 51 Lower Clanbrassil Street. The firm was one o ...
(1861–1975). They were ecclesiastical
furnishings
]
The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...
and stained glass manufacturers and retailers. The firm was one of the largest and most prestigious ecclesiastical decorators both in Ireland and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
.
Architecture
An intact
Edwardian
In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
shop interior existed at number 39, Carvill's Off Licence until the early 21st century. The Bleeding Horse pub is also a notable building, with a public house sitting on the site since 1648. It is mentioned in the work of
Sean O'Casey
Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...
, and both
James Clarence Mangan
James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan (; 1 May 1803 – 20 June 1849), was an Irish poetry, Irish poet. He freely translated works from German, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and Irish, with his translations of Goethe gaining special interest. St ...
and
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (; 28 August 1814 – 7 February 1873), popularly known as J. S. Le Fanu, was an Irish writer of Gothic literature, mystery novels, and horror fiction. Considered by critics to be one of the greatest ghost ...
were patrons.
There were two cinemas on the street: The Camden Cinema and the
Theatre De Luxe. The Camden Cinema was located at 55 Upper Camden St., where the headquarters of
Concern Worldwide
Concern Worldwide (often referred to as Concern) is Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency. Since its foundation in 1968 it has worked in 50 countries. According to its latest annual report, Concern helped 28.6 million of the world's poor ...
is now located. It closed around 1912. The Theatre De Luxe was opened in 1912 by Maurice Elliman, a Jew who escaped the pogroms in Eastern Europe. The first building was designed by Frederick Hayes, MRIAI, and built by George Squire & Co. It was enlarged and rebuilt in 1920.
[Irish Times, 4 September 1920] The exterior was remodelled in
Art deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style in 1934. It closed in 1975.
The building is now a hotel, Hotel De Luxe, and a night-club.
References
{{Streets in Dublin city, state=autocollapse
Streets in Dublin (city)