James's Street () is a street in the Liberties area of central

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 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Originally the location of one of the medieval city gates of Dublin,

St. James's Gate St. James's Gate, located off the south quays of Dublin, on James's Street, Dublin, James's Street, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time the gate was the traditional starting point for the Camino pilgrima ...

, it has been the home of St. James's Gate Brewery since the 18th century.

History

, located where the modern street exists, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time the gate was the traditional starting point for the Camino pilgrimage from Dublin to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Galicia (Spain) Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain and nationalities and regions of Spain, historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces o ...

. Though the original medieval gate was demolished in 1734, the gate gave its name to the area in which it was located, and in particular to the St. James's Gate Brewery which was taken over by

Arthur Guinness Arthur Guinness ( 172523 January 1803) was an Irish brewer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The inventor of Guinness beer, he founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in 1759. Guinness was born in Ardclogh, near Celbridge, County Ki ...

in 1759. The

Record of Protected Structures Conservation in the Republic of Ireland is overseen by a number of statutory and non-governmental agencies, including those with responsibility for Historic preservation, conservation of the built environment and Environmental protection, conservat ...

, maintained by

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

, includes a number of buildings and structures on James's Street. These include several buildings associated with St. James's Gate Brewery and

St. James's Hospital St. James's Hospital ''Confirms spelling of name as "James's" and Irish name'' () is a teaching hospital in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its academic partner is Trinity College Dublin. It is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. ...

, St James' Catholic Church, the former St James' Church of Ireland church, the street's former post office, and an obelisk and sundial near Bow Lane West. The latter, which was built in 1790, was originally used as a drinking fountain.

Location

The street runs from approximately the steps of ''Cromwell's Quarters'' to the junction with Watling Street and Thomas Street.

In popular culture

The 18th century obelisk on James's Street, with inset

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

s, is mentioned in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's novel '' Ulysses''. As part of a 1966 TV special named '' A Little Bit of Irish'', singer

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

sang amongst the keeves and vats at the

Guinness Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...

in James's Street with the Guinness Choir. The

interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling, situation or reaction. It is a diverse category, with many different types, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curses (''da ...

"James's Street!" is sometimes used as an euphemistic alternative to "Jesus Christ!".

Notable people

* James Carey (1845–1883), a member of the

Irish National Invincibles The Irish National Invincibles, usually known as the Invincibles, were a militant organisation based in Ireland active from 1881 to 1883. Founded as splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the group had a more radical agenda, and ...

involved in the 1882

Phoenix Park Murders The Phoenix Park Murders were the fatal stabbings of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, on 6 May 1882. Cavendish was the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and Burke was the Permane ...

, was born on James's Street * W. T. Cosgrave (1880–1965), first

president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State The president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State () was the head of government or prime minister of the Irish Free State which existed from 1922 to 1937. He was the chairman of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, the Fre ...

, was born on James's Street * Brendan Grace (1951–2019), comedian, lived at 2E Echlin Street, off James's Street, in the early 1960s * Mark Sheehan (1976–2023), musician with the band

The Script The Script are an Irish Soft rock, soft-rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin. The band currently consists of Danny O'Donoghue (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Glen Power (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Benjamin Seargent (bass, backin ...

, was originally from the James's Street area

References

{{Streets in Dublin city, state=autocollapse Streets in Dublin (city) History of Dublin (city)