Kildare Street

Kildare Street (Irish: Sráid Chill Dara) is a street in Dublin, Ireland.

Kildare Street
North end near Trinity College
Native nameSráid Chill Dara  (Irish)
NamesakeJames FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster and 20th Earl of Kildare[1]
Length400 m (1,300 ft)
Width15 metres (49 ft)
LocationDublin, Ireland
Postal codeD02
Coordinates53°20′36″N 6°15′20″W
north endNassau Street, Leinster Street South
south endSt. Stephen's Green North
Other
Known forLeinster House, National Library of Ireland, National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Alliance française
Leinster House
The former palace of the Duke of Leinster. Since 1922, it has been the seat of both houses of the Irish parliament.

Location

Kildare Street is close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Some Irish government departments have their offices on this street but Leinster House, the current seat of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), built by Richard Cassels in 1745 is Kildare Street's most important building. The Archaeology and History section of the National Museum of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland are located on either side of the Leinster House and were built in 1885.

Trinity College lies at the north end of the street while St Stephen's Green is at the southern end, with the well-known Shelbourne Hotel on the eastern corner. The Dublin offices of Alliance française are located at 1 Kildare Street. deVeres Auction House is situated at 35 Kildare Street.

History

In 1972, in advance of Ireland joining the then European Economic Community the then Chief Justice, and later President of Ireland, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Patrick Hillery, seeking for the street to be renamed Rue de l'Europe.[2]

Architecture

On the corner with Leinster Street is the former Kildare Street Club, which before the partition of Ireland was at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy.

In 1969, the Irish government announced it would be building the largest office block built in Dublin to that date on a plot of land on Kildare Place behind the Shelbourne Hotel. The plan was to build a 8-story block providing the Department of Agriculture with 4 acres of office space. Named Agriculture House, it was designed by Stephenson Gibney and Associates. It is constructed using Armagh limestone aggregate which helped the building sit in its surroundings.[3]

See also

References
  1. http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000058513
  2. "Revealed: the gaffes of Ó Dálaigh". Irish Independent. 24 November 2012.
  3. McDonald, Frank (1985). The destruction of Dublin. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. pp. 180–181. ISBN 0-7171-1386-8. OCLC 60079186.
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