Foley Street is a street in

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 ...

running from James Joyce Street to Buckingham Street Lower. It was formerly known as Worlds End Lane and Montgomery Street.

History

Initially Foley was known as Worlds End Lane or World's End Lane in the

Georgian period The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the Hanoverian Kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is often extended to include the relatively short reign of Willi ...

, and denoted that the street was at the very edge of the city at the time and its proximity to the shore line which was known as World's End. The area was further developed in the 1780s following the construction of the

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting c ...

. On

John Rocque John Rocque (originally Jean; c. 1704–1762) was a French-born British surveyor and cartographer, best known for his detailed map of London published in 1746. Life and career Rocque was born in France in about 1704, one of four children of a ...

's 1756 map of Dublin, the area shows market gardening and some industrial activity. The street was later named Montgomery Street after the wife of

Luke Gardiner Luke Gardiner (c. 1690 – 25 September 1755) was an Irish property developer and politician. In the Irish House of Commons he represented Tralee from 1725 until 1727 and Thomastown from 1727 until his death in 1755. He was appointed to the I ...

, Elizabeth Montgomery. It is from this street name that the name of the historical red light district, the

Monto Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in the northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street (formerly Gloucester Street) i ...

, was derived. It was then renamed Foley Street, named after the 19th century sculptor,

John Henry Foley John Henry Foley (24 May 1818 – 27 August 1874), often referred to as J. H. Foley, was an Irish sculptor, working in London. he is best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial in Lond ...

. In 1975, a documentary was made about some of the children of the street called ''The Boys of Foley Street'' by

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...

, with follow-ups in 1988 and 2008. The theatre company

Anu Productions ANU Productions is a theatre company based in Dublin, Ireland. The company ANU was founded in 2009 by 5 artists from various disciplines Owen Boss (visual artist), Louise Lowe (director), Hannah Mullan (producer) Sophie Motley (director), an ...

created an interactive theatrical piece based on the documentary in 2012 as part of their four part ''Monto Cycle'' of plays.

Notable buildings

The

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...

has its art office and gallery space, the LAB, on Foley Street. This building is shared with Dance Ireland. It was opened in 2005.

References

{{reflist Streets in Dublin (city)