Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Leeson Street: Upper and Lower
    Leeson Street: Upper and Lower
    Leeson Street: Upper and Lower
    Ebook85 pages53 minutes

    Leeson Street: Upper and Lower

    By Hugh Oram

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Leeson Street tells the story of two very different thoroughfares with the same name. Lower Leeson is architecturally dull, its buildings a pastiche of late eighteenth-century style. The remaining buildings from the earliest days of the street were swept away in the 1970s. In the years since, Lower Leeson Street has become a byword for late-night nightclub entertainment, but it is also home to educational establishments, while many commercial firms have offices there.

    Upper Leeson Street is an entirely different story. Its houses, many of which date from the early to mid-nineteenth century, remain untouched, private residences usually with fine front gardens separated from the street by black iron railings. This part of Leeson Street is altogether more spacious and leafier, although with the same traffic problems as Lower Leeson Street.

    The entire street is a repository of much history over the past two hundred years, and many famous personages in the arts, in politics, and in public life have had connections with Leeson Street by living there. Their stories and the legends of many other aspects of Leeson Street life are depicted within the pages of the book.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateMay 9, 2018
    ISBN9781490788685
    Leeson Street: Upper and Lower
    Author

    Hugh Oram

    Hugh Oram is an author, broadcaster and journalist with countless articles and books to his name, who has lived and worked in Dublin for many years.

    Read more from Hugh Oram

    Related to Leeson Street

    Related ebooks

    History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A River Runs Through It

      Sep 18, 2020

      A River Runs Through It
      5 min read

    • Article

      Before Sissinghurst

      Dec 27, 2023

      Before Sissinghurst
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Mile Of Shopping

      Apr 1, 2020

      A Mile Of Shopping
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hilltop Havens

      Oct 5, 2018

      Hilltop Havens
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Local Revival

      Nov 1, 2023

      A Local Revival
      7 min read

    • Article

      Historic Towns Lewes

      Jan 7, 2022

      Historic Towns Lewes
      4 min read

    • Article

      The TOLKIEN TRAIL

      Sep 9, 2022

      The TOLKIEN TRAIL
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Georgian legacy

      Apr 24, 2024

      A Georgian legacy
      4 min read

    • Article

      Steeped In History

      Dec 2, 2021

      Steeped In History
      3 min read

    • Article

      Historical GEMS

      Feb 20, 2020

      Historical GEMS
      4 min read

    • Article

      Little Angel

      May 10, 2019

      Little Angel
      5 min read

    • Article

      In The Footsteps Of Tennyson

      Jun 24, 2021

      In The Footsteps Of Tennyson
      8 min read

    • Article

      No Bones About It

      Feb 5, 2020

      No Bones About It
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Norfolk heritage

      Feb 17, 2021

      A Norfolk heritage
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Royal Restoration

      May 3, 2019

      A Royal Restoration
      3 min read

    • Article

      Anything But Prim

      Nov 4, 2020

      IT takes good legs to get to the top of Primrose Hill, but the view rewards the effort. The London skyline seems to rise from the foot of the grassy slope, an arresting sequence that takes in the dome of St Paul’s, the spike of the Shard and the less

      3 min read

    • Article

      Glasgow High Street

      Apr 14, 2022

      Glasgow High Street
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Tudor riddle

      Sep 28, 2022

      A Tudor riddle
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dublin In Five Places

      Dec 21, 2023

      Dublin In Five Places
      3 min read

    • Article

      Burns Country

      Feb 21, 2020

      Burns Country
      4 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 national Trust Houses

      Aug 24, 2023

      Top 10 national Trust Houses
      8 min read

    • Article

      Victorian London Museums

      Mar 21, 2024

      Victorian London Museums
      4 min read

    • Article

      Echoes Of The Past

      Jul 22, 2021

      Echoes Of The Past
      7 min read

    • Article

      Madresfield Revisited

      Jun 14, 2023

      Madresfield Revisited
      2 min read

    • Article

      Shear Delight

      Dec 4, 2020

      Shear Delight
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Leeson Street

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Leeson Street - Hugh Oram

      Copyright 2018 Hugh Oram.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

      All photographs by Hugh Oram,except for National Library of Ireland (page 7),Fennell Photography (page 34) and Magdalen Asylum (page 73)

      ISBN: 978-1-4907-8867-8 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4907-8866-1 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4907-8868-5 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2018905319

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      Trafford rev. 05/02/2018

      33164.png www.trafford.com

      North America & international

      toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

      fax: 812 355 4082

      CONTENTS

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      Famous Characters

      Businesses and Organisations

      Pubs, Restaurants, Night Clubs, Places to Stay

      Religion

      Crime and Mayhem

      Shops

      Recommended Reading

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      I am especially indebted to my beloved wife Bernadette, who in my 40 year long book publishing career, has given me infinite help all along the way. I also owe a great debt of gratitude to friends who have been unwavering in their support as well, Thelma Byrne, Dublin; Aisling Curley, Dublin; Miriam Doyle, Co Dublin; Maria Gillen, Achill and Athlone and Mary Murphy, Caherlistrane, Co Galway.

      I also much appreciate the help given by Joby Hickey, artist, Dublin; Ruth Chadwick of Elevate PR in Lower Leeson Street, Joanne Smith of Fennell Photography and especially Pádraig Allen, of St John’ s Ambulance in Upper Leeson Street. I also very much appreciate all the technical assistance given by Dean Lochner of the Bondi Group, Ballsbridge, Dublin.

      In compiling this book, I depended on my own local knowledge of the district and the people who live and work there, but I am also greatly indebted to the work of Deirdre Kelly. Her 1995 book on the Four Roads to Dublin contains a vast amount of information on the earlier development of both Lower Leeson Street and Upper Leeson Street. Deirdre’s work on this part of south Dublin was monumental, but sadly, she died in 2000 at the age of 61.

      INTRODUCTION

      Leeson Street is divided in two halves, one much more attractive than the other. Lower Leeson Street is made up of replica 18th century houses, some of which are used for offices and for the many entertainment facilities the street is famed for. Lower Leeson Street also has a considerable number of houses that are divided into flats; these buildings are often poorly maintained. The present day Lower Leeson Street is architecturally unappealing, a pastiche of late 18th century architecture, a completely different story to that of Upper Leeson Street, where the houses are largely original.

      The two sections of the street are divided by Leeson Street Bridge, which crosses the Grand Canal. The bridge was built in 1790 and was originally known as Eustace Bridge, after Colonel Charles Eustace, the vice- chairman of the Grand Canal Company. In high summer, the bridge takes on another activity, when many youngsters from the locality take great delight in jumping off the bridge into the murky waters of the Grand Canal.

      Untitled-17.jpgUntitled-18.jpg

      Upper Leeson Street has much more architectural presence than Lower Leeson Street. Many of the fine terraced houses in Upper Leeson Street were built in the 1830s and have a considerable amount of style. They also have substantial front gardens, fenced off from the street by iron railings.

      There’ s another curious anomaly, too, in Upper Leeson Street. Immediately past Leeson Street Bridge, heading in the direction of Donnybrook, the road divides into two. On the right- hand side is Upper Leeson Street, a one way thoroughfare carrying traffic into town, with on one side, the elegant Christ Church. On the left- hand side, the road curves round into Sussex Road. This follows the line of the medieval road that led from the city to Donnybrook; two centuries ago, this road was narrow and full of pot holes, lined on both sides by mudbanks topped with thorn hedges. It was a dangerous road, as it wove

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1