Nassau Street (; ) is a street in 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 ...

, running along the south side of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. It goes from

Grafton Street Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre — the other being Henry Street. It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the low ...

in the west to the junction of South Leinster Street and

Kildare Street Kildare Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location Kildare Street is close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Trinity College lies at the north end of t ...

in the east.

History and naming

Formerly known as St Patrick's Well Lane after a 12th-century well, it was renamed in the 18th century, after the accession to the throne of

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

, a member of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of Or ...

. To emphasise the point, one of the houses erected a marble bust of William with the couplet: The site of the well is in the grounds of

, near the Nassau Street exit. Folklore connects the well with

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

, who (legend states) struck the ground with his staff and brought forth water bubbling to the surface. The well can still be visited by arrangement with the Provost's Office of Trinity College. Two separate visits to the street by

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

have made headlines. In December 2000, the outgoing US First Family visited the Blarney Woollen Mills store. In March 2017, ex-President Clinton made an unannounced stop at the Kilkenny Store.

Redevelopment

From the 1960s onwards many of the Georgian and Victorian buildings on the street were demolished in favour of modern retail and office units. One such development was on the corner of Nassau Street and

Dawson Street Dawson Street (; ) is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House, Dublin, Mansion House. ...

by the Norwich Union Group. A collection of 15 Georgian and Victorian buildings were demolished, including the original

Elverys Sports Elverys Sports is a sports shop chain in Ireland. Founded in 1847, it is Ireland's oldest sports retailer. Elverys sell sports clothes and equipment, both third-party and own brand goods. History Elverys was founded in 1847, and is Ireland's ...

corner store and the 1870 McCurdy's Law Club. The new 5-storey t-shaped office block with street-level retail units was designed by Lardner and Partners. The new building, completed in 1967 was called Nassau House. Permission was granted to demolish this block in 2016, and the construction of a replacement mixed-use development is due for completion in 2022. In the 1970s, a 2.5 acre site facing onto the street was redeveloped as the Setanta Centre.

Popular culture

Nassau Street is famous for being the location in which Irish writer

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 ...

met his lifelong love,

Nora Barnacle Nora Barnacle Joyce (born Norah Barnacle; 21 March 1884 – 10 April 1951) was the muse and wife of Irish author James Joyce. Barnacle and Joyce's life together has been the subject of much popular interest. ''Nora Barnacle'', a 1980 play by ...

, on 10 June 1904.

References

Sources * {{Streets in Dublin city, state=autocollapse Streets in Dublin (city) Shopping districts and streets in Ireland

History and naming

Redevelopment

Popular culture

See also

References