Nassau Street (; ) is a street in central

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 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 lowest p ...

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 the ...

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 16508 March 1702), also widely 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 the ...

, a member of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...

. 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 ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, 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 of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

have made headlines. In December 2000, the outgoing US First Family visited the

Blarney Woollen Mills Blarney Woollen Mills was built in 1823. It was used mainly for spinning and weaving wool.The Mahony's of Blarney 985by Colman O'Mahony The mill briefly closed for two years between 1973 and 1975, after which it was re-opened as an Irish heritage ...

store. In March 2017, ex-President Clinton made an unannounced stop to 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. Location Dawson Stre ...

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

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

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 The Setanta Centre is a 9-storey office block with ground floor retail space in Nassau Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. History In March 1967, Setanta Investments applied for permission for an office development on the former site of C&C ...

Popular culture

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

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius 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 influential and important writers of ...

met his lifelong love,

Nora Barnacle Nora Barnacle (21 March 1884 – 10 April 1951) was the muse and wife of Irish author James Joyce. Barnacle and Joyce had their first romantic assignation in 1904 on a date celebrated worldwide as the "Bloomsday" of his modernist novel '' ...

, 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