The Streets of Dublin

By Frank Chamberlain

Many of the streets in Dublin bear Irish names. This is probably due to the widely held belief in the area that the town itself was named after the capitol city of Ireland. The proponents of this theory point out that many early settlers were Irish. Although the origin of the town name cannot be substantiated, streets with such names as Patrick, Grafton, O’Neal, O’Brien, Harris, Erin, and especially Belfast and Ireland, indicate at least some awareness of Irish culture. The streets of Dublin were little more than muddy trails from the first settlement of the town in 1854 until 1900, when Patrick and Grafton Streets (the two main roads) were paved from bricks from nearby Thurber. Patrick Street remains the main road that leads through downtown Dublin.