James's Street, Dublin
James's Street (Irish: Sráid San Séamas)[1] is a street in the Liberties area of central Dublin, Ireland.
 Buildings, some disused, on James's Street in Dublin | |
  | |
| Native name | Sráid San Séamas (Irish) |
|---|---|
| Length | 740 m (2,430 ft) |
| Width | 12 metres (39 ft) |
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Postal code | D08 |
| Coordinates | 53°20′35″N 6°17′26″W |
| west end | Mount Brown |
| east end | Thomas Street |
| Other | |
| Known for | St James' Church (Church of Ireland), St James' Church (Catholic), St. James's Hospital, James's Luas stop, St. James's Gate, New children's hospital, |
History
St. James's Gate, 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 in Galicia (Spain).[2] Though the original medieval gate was demolished in 1734,[3] the gate gave its name to the area in which it was located,[4] and in particular to the St. James's Gate Brewery (which was taken over by Arthur Guinness in 1759).[3]
As part of a 1966 TV special named A Little Bit of Irish, singer Bing Crosby sang amongst the keeves and vats at the Guinness Brewery in James's Street with the Guinness Choir.[5]
Location
The street runs from approximately the steps of Cromwell's Quarters to the junction with Watling Street and Thomas Street.
Notable people
- W. T. Cosgrave (1880-1965), first president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, was born on James's Street
- Mark Sheehan (1976-2023) of the band The Script was originally from the James's Street area
References
- James's Street / Sráid San Séamas. Placenames Database of Ireland.
- "The Pilgrimage". Irish Society of the Friends of St.James. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.
- "Archive Fact Sheet: St. James's Gate" (PDF). guinness-storehouse.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2018.
The medieval gate of St. James was demolished in 1734, 25 years before Arthur Guinness took over the Brewery on the site
- Stephen Mansfield (2009). The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World. Nelson. ISBN 9781418580674.
Called St. James's Gate because of the church and parish by that name nearby, it stood for five centuries before crumbling to the ground. The name was retained for the location though, largely because there had been a holy well on the site that was the centrepiece for an annual summer festival
- O'Reilly, George. The Making of the Television Show "A Little Bit of Irish". Printcomp. p. 1.