Seán McDermott Street

The street was originally named Great Martin's Lane or Saint Martin's Lane, having that name by 1712. [7]

In 1764 it was renamed Gloucester Street for Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, brother of King George III.[8][9] Many fine Georgian townhouses were built, but they were allowed to degrade into tenements by 1900 with most being demolished during the 20th century.[10] Most notably six regency terraced houses with a unified pediment, confusingly named Gloucester Terrace, but located at 45 to 50 Lower Seán MacDermott Street. The houses were demolished to be replaced with an ESB substation and other public buildings in the 1950s.[11][12]

In the 1860s–1920s, Gloucester Street was the northern end of the notorious Monto red-light district, where thousands of prostitutes lived and worked.[13][14]

Its intersection with Gloucester Place was known as the Gloucester Diamond, and was a centre for street football in the mid-20th century.[15] The Gloucester Diamond is mentioned in Pete St. John's song "Johnny McGory", about a First World War veteran who returns to Dublin having lost a leg.[16]

The Scots Presbyterian Church is a notable Greek-revival style church built on the street in 1846; it was later a Salvation Army building and a grain store and the façade of the building remains a landmark on the street as of 2021.[17]

An IRA safe house was located at 36 Gloucester Street Lower during the Irish War of Independence; Conor Clune, Dick McKee and Sean Fitzpatrick were arrested there on 21 November 1920, the day before Bloody Sunday.[13][18]

In 1933 the street was renamed for Seán Mac Diarmada (McDermott, 1883–1916), an executed leader of the Easter Rising.[19][20] The area was plagued by juvenile crime, including by the so-called "animal gangs."[21] In 1943–53, over 500 new homes were provided in the area by reconditioning.[22] Nevertheless, the are continued to be plagued by poverty and crime, with Michael Keating criticising the squalor of the area in the late 1970s.[23]

A Magdalene laundry for unwed mothers, including "repentant" prostitutes, opened in 1887 and did not close until 1996.[24][25][26][27]

A temporary Catholic chapel was built in 1915; it was replaced by the Romanesque Revival Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1954.[28] The church is known for its association with the ascetic Matt Talbot (1856–1925), whose remains were translated to the church in 1972.[29][30] Pope John Paul II visited the street in 1978, but did not enter the shrine. A banner was erected reading "John Paul Rules OK".[31]

Today, the Irish headquarters of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul are located on Seán McDermott Street as well as a Simon Community hostel which is housed in the former carpenters' asylum, an impressive regency style former guildhall at number 35.[32][33][34]

There is also a large public swimming pool, closed since 2019 for refurbishment.[35][36]

• 
  Facade of the Scots Presbyterian Church
• 
  Dublin City Council offices, 52 Seán McDermott Street Lower
• 
  Playground on Seán McDermott Street
• 
  Multi-storey flats on the corner of Seán McDermott Street Upper and Lower Gardiner Street
• 
  Larkin Community College

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seán McDermott Street.

• List of streets and squares in Dublin