Nassau Street, Dublin
Nassau Street (/ˈnæsɔː/; Irish: Sráid Thobar Phádraig, meaning "St. Patrick's Well Street") is a street in central Dublin, running along the south side of Trinity College. It runs from Grafton Street in the west, to the junction of South Leinster Street and Kildare Street in the East.
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| Native name | Sráid Nassau, Sráid Thobar Phádraig (Irish) |
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| Namesake | House of Orange-Nassau |
| Length | 300 m (1,000 ft) |
| Width | 19 metres (62 ft) |
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Postal code | D02 |
| Coordinates | 53.342718°N 6.256892°W |
| west end | Suffolk Street, Grafton Street |
| east end | Kildare Street, Leinster Street South |
| Other | |
| Known for | shops, cafés, meeting of James Joyce and Nora Barnacle |
The south side of the street is commercialised, with newsagents and a music shop to the east of the junction with Dawson Street and smaller shops to the west of it.
Formerly known as St Patrick's Well Lane after a 12th-century well, it was renamed in the 18th Century, after the accession to the throne of King William III, a member of the House of Orange-Nassau. To emphasise the point, one of the houses erected a marble bust of William with the couplet:
May we never want a Williamite
to kick the breech of a Jacobite![1]
The site of the well is in the grounds of Trinity College, near the Nassau Street exit.
Folklore connects the well with Saint Patrick, who (legend states) struck the ground with his staff and brought forth water bubbling to the surface. The well dried up in 1729.
Nassau Street is also very famous for being the location in which Irish writer James Joyce met his lifelong love, Nora Barnacle on 10 June, 1904.
Two separate visits to the street by United States President Bill Clinton have made headlines. In December 2000, the outgoing US First Family visited the Blarney Woollen Mills store.[2] In March 2017, ex-President Clinton made an unannounced stop to the Kilkenny Store.[3]
References
- "Picturesque Dublin, Old and New", Frances Gerard, 1898, London, Hutchinson & Co. (Google Books)
- "The Clintons Shopping in Dublin". RTÉ News. 12 December 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2020 – via RTÉ Archives.
- Calnan, Denise (24 March 2017). "'I still think it's like a dream' - Dublin shop left in shock as former US President Bill Clinton pops in unannounced". Retrieved 31 March 2020.