Westmoreland Street

Coordinates: 53°20′44″N 6°15′33″W / 53.34556°N 6.25917°W / 53.34556; -6.25917
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Westmoreland Street
Clockwise from top: Lafayette Building at its intersection with Westmoreland Street; the Lafayette Building on Westmoreland Street; the Westin Hotel
Westmoreland Street is located in Central Dublin
Westmoreland Street
Native nameSráid Westmoreland (Irish)
NamesakeJohn Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland
Length220 m (720 ft)
Width29 metres (95 ft)
LocationDublin, Ireland
Postal codeD02
Coordinates53°20′44″N 6°15′33″W / 53.34556°N 6.25917°W / 53.34556; -6.25917
north endAston Quay, O'Connell Bridge
south endCollege Green
Other
Known forrestaurants
Bank of Ireland, College Green, seen from Westmoreland Street

Westmoreland Street (Irish: Sráid Westmoreland)[1] is a street on the Southside of Dublin. It is currently a one-way street. It carries a segment of the R138 road for northbound traffic; nearby D'Olier Street carries southbound traffic of that segment.

Location[edit]

It is one of the two broad avenues, along with D'Olier Street, that converge at their northern ends at O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey.[2] Westmoreland Street links the bridge to Trinity College at College Green at its southern end, from where traffic diverges between Grafton Street to the south and Dame Street to the west. Westmoreland Street also constitutes the eastern border of Temple Bar.

History[edit]

The street is named after John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1789 to 1794.[3][4] It was one of the last streets laid out by the Wide Streets Commission, with the original plans set out in 1792 by Henry Aaron Baker and accepted in 1799.[5]

Architecture[edit]

Westmoreland Street in the early 20th century

One of the dominant buildings on the street is the former Educational Chambers on the corner of Fleet Street. The original building and facade were significantly altered with a design by architect Sam Stephenson in the early 1970s for EBS. The terracotta facade was demolished and replaced with dark mirror glass which was dubbed a "diabolical black box" by a city councillor at the time it was constructed. The EBS had also acquired three adjoining buildings, the Paradiso restaurant, the main office of The Irish Times, and Graham's pharmacy with plans to demolish these and replicate the dark glass treatment. However, the planers insisted on solid granite elements for this side of the facade, which rendered the whole scheme lop-sided. The facade of the former Paradiso, an art nouveau design, was retained within the centre of the redevelopment and houses the building's atrium.[6]

Luas[edit]

Westmoreland Luas stop is on the Luas Green Line (northbound only). This line connects with the Red line and runs between Broombridge or Parnell in North Dublin and Brides Glen in Dublin. Construction started in June 2013 with services beginning in December 2017.[7][8]

See also[edit]

  • Pat Ingoldsby, Irish poet and TV presenter who frequently sold his books on the street.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sráid Westmoreland". logainm.ie.
  2. ^ Christine Casey. Dublin: The City Within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road, with the Phoenix Park. Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-300-10923-8; pp. 420–424
  3. ^ Bardon, Carol and Jonathan (1988). If Ever You Go to Dublin Town. Belfast: The Blackstaff Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-85640-397-0.
  4. ^ M'Cready, C. T. (1987). Dublin street names dated and explained. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Carraig. p. 141. ISBN 1-85068-005-1. OCLC 263974843.
  5. ^ Clerkin, Paul (2001). Dublin street names. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 189. ISBN 0-7171-3204-8. OCLC 48467800.
  6. ^ McDonald, Frank (1985). The Destruction of Dublin. Gill and MacMillan. p. 176. ISBN 0-7171-1386-8.
  7. ^ "Green light given to Luas link-up, first passengers 2017". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Taoiseach launches new Luas Cross City service in Dublin". RTÉ. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.