Grafton Street

Grafton Street

South end of Grafton Street
Native name	Sráid Grafton  (Irish)
Namesake	Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton
Length	500 m (1,600 ft)
Width	12 metres (39 ft)
Location	Dublin, Ireland
Postal code	D02
Coordinates	53°20′29″N 6°15′37″W / 53.34139°N 6.26028°W / 53.34139; -6.26028Coordinates: 53°20′29″N 6°15′37″W / 53.34139°N 6.26028°W / 53.34139; -6.26028
north end	College Green
south end	St. Stephen's Green (northwest corner)
Other
Known for	shops, Bewley's Oriental Café, busking

Grafton Street (Irish: Sráid Grafton) 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 (to the lowest point).

Originally a fashionable residential street, the character of Grafton Street changed after it was connected to the Carlisle Bridge and formed part of a cross-city route. It suffered from dilapidation and prostitution through the 19th century, with several run-down buildings. During the 20th century, it became known for the coffee house Bewley's and has acquired an international reputation for being a popular spot for buskers.

History[]

Grafton Street circa 1870

The street was named after Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, the illegitimate grandson of King Charles II who owned land in the area.^[1][2] The street was developed from a then-existing country lane by the Dawson family, after whom the parallel Dawson Street is named, in 1708.^[3] In 1712, Dublin Corporation funded a project for the building of a crown causeway.^[1]

Grafton Street began as a laneway connecting College Green to St Stephen's Green, which was developed and widened in the early 1700s. From its inception, it was a mixture of residential and commercial. Advertisements from the 1750s and 1760s describe first-floor apartments featuring a dining room, bedchamber and closet. It was largely rebuilt in the late 1700s,^[4] following the completion of Carlisle Bridge (now O'Connell Bridge) in 1758, spanning the River Liffey, Grafton Street part of an important north-south thoroughfare,^[1] as well the widening and rebuilding which took place as part of the Wide Streets Commission from 1841. By the latter part of the 19th century, the street was primarily commercial.^[4] It became increasingly dilapidated through the 19th century; by 1849 several buildings had broken windows that were patched up with paper.^[5] During this time, it became known for prostitution; in the 1870s, 1,500 prostitutes were reputed to work in the street.^[6]

The English Grammar School was founded at No. 75 Grafton Street in 1758, by Samuel Whyte, first cousin in law of the actor and impresario Thomas Sheridan. Students included Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Robert Emmet, Thomas Moore and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. It closed in 1824.^[1][7] Hodges Figgis first bookshop was at 104 Grafton Street, opening in 1797. It moved to its current location in Dawson Street in 1920.^[7]

As part of a wider set of proposals to rename a number of Dublin streets in 1921, it was proposed that Grafton Street be renamed Grattan Street in a report by the Dublin Corporation street naming committee. This new naming scheme was not implemented.^[8] This new name was first proposed by a columnist in The Irishman newspaper in 1862.^[9]

Ernest Bewley opened Bewley's Oriental Café on Grafton Street in 1927, on the site of Whyte's Academy.^[7][10] It became a popular place for locals and travellers to meet and socialise.^[11] In late 2004, it was announced that it would be closing before Christmas, along with its Westmoreland Street café, putting 243 jobs at risk.^[12] Following a campaign by many, including the then Mayor of Dublin, Catherine Byrne, the café on Grafton Street, which had closed, was reopened, including its small performance area.^{[citation needed]}

Buskers, including musicians, poets and mime artists, commonly perform to the shopping crowds on Grafton Street.^[13] This was portrayed in the opening scene of the 2006 film Once, starring Glen Hansard of The Frames, a former Grafton Street busker.^[14]

In 2008, Grafton Street was the fifth most expensive main shopping street in the world, at €5,621/m²/year,^[15] and the thirteenth most expensive main shopping street in the world in 2016 at approx €3,300/m²/year.^[16]

Pedestrianisation[]

By the 1960s, Grafton Street had become congested, with the street full of cars and buses, causing serious pollution.^[7] The pedestrianisation of Grafton Street was first trialled in September 1971 for a period of 4 weeks.^[17] After prolonged delays, it was made permanent in 1982, and then repaved in 1988 along with new street lighting.^[5] Objections came from councillors and small business owners, who alleged that pedestrianisation would lead to an increase in petty crime and antisocial behaviour.^[18][19] The North end of the street, between Nassau Street and College Green, is not pedestrianised.^[20]

Architecture[]

Grafton Street in the 1940s

There were a number of periods of rebuilding during the history of the street, with redevelopment schemes in the 1860s, 1880s, early 1900s, and 1990s. The demolition of some buildings led to the collapse of their neighbours. This all resulted in a mixture of periods and styles, with few notable interiors extant. Some of the Georgian plot sizes and facades are still visible on some buildings, such as Nos. 31-33 and 63. No. 14 retains the window pattern of an early Dutch Billy house.^[21] At the north end of Grafton Street is the Provost's House, Trinity College, home to the head of the college.^[1]

Monuments[]

The northern end of the street was the former location of the Molly Malone statue, a well-known tourist attraction and meeting-place, which was moved from Grafton Street to nearby Suffolk Street in 2014, to make way for an extension to the Luas tram system.^[22] A life-size bronze statue of Dublin musician Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street, off Grafton Street near the Stephen's Green end, in August 2005.^[23]

Notable buskers[]

• Paddy Casey – ex-Grafton Street busker and musician^[24]
• Mic Christopher – musician^[25]
• Glen Hansard – ex-Grafton Street busker, Academy Award winner and frontman of The Frames and The Swell Season^[24]
• Keywest – English-Irish pop rock band based in Dublin^[26]
• Thom McGinty ("The Diceman") – former street performer and actor, during the 1970s–1990s^[27]
• David McSavage – stand-up comedy and music, later television performer in The Savage Eye^[28]
• John Nee – imitated Charlie Chaplin^[29]
• Damien Rice – ex-Grafton Street busker^[30]
• Rodrigo y Gabriela – Mexican guitar playing duo^[31]
• Hudson Taylor (group) - Musical duo from Dublin^[32]
• Bono - Lead singer of U2, has performed on Christmas Eve^[33]
• Allie Sherlock – YouTube singer, songwriter and guitarist.^[34]

Cultural references[]

• Grafton Street is mentioned several times in James Joyce's Dubliners and in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the scene of the meeting between Stephen and Emma.^[35]
• There is a line in the poem "On Raglan Road" by the poet Patrick Kavanagh: "On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge"'^[36]
• In the song "Before the Worst" performed by The Script, Grafton Street is mentioned in the lyrics; "It was Grafton Street on a rainy night, I was down on one knee and you were mine for life".^[37]
• American singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith wrote and recorded a song called "On Grafton Street".^[38]
• Bagatelle, an Irish rock band in the 1970s refer to Grafton Street in their song "Summer in Dublin"; "And young people walking down Grafton Street, everyone looking so well".^[39]
• Noel Purcell made the song "Dublin Saunter" well known; it includes the line "Grafton Street's a wonderland, there's magic in the air".^[40]
• Dido features a track entitled "Grafton Street" on her album Safe Trip Home. This song is a tribute to Dido's deceased father, who was Irish.^[41]
• Grafton Street is mentioned in Ed Sheeran's song "Galway Girl" on his album ÷ (2017).^[42]

See also[]

• List of streets and squares in Dublin

References[]

Citations

Sources

External links[]

• Media related to Grafton Street at Wikimedia Commons