Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-03-21
DUBLIN STREET
Many Who Think Action ot Ped,
 lioners is Far Fetched.

iuC piVPOcslOh " iCtbONV Ouph4 street from the list of street names III Waterbury has aroused good deal of unfavorable comment in all quar- ters of the town. One woman who was born there and still considers 1t the Eden of Waterbury cried when she read of 1t In the papers and want ed to know what we are coming to when descendants of Irishmen afs willing to come forward and admit that tho name of the capitol city of Ireland Is something of a reproach, when used as street name. But the objectOrs are by no means all exlles of the Gaels or their descendants. On the contrary the strongest words of condemnation have come from old American families who remember the people who lved- on Dublin street when 1t was one of the prin- cipal thoroughfares in the city and included as it does. even at the pres- ent time many of the best known and most esteemed citizens of this com l munity.
 T don't like that thing said Judge Cowell this morning. 1t seems to me that the ghosts of tho whole souled, honest, God feariuX Irishmen who named that street | would want to rise up from their graves in the cemetery across the way and smite those who are now | drowning down upon it. It was not intended as nickname and 1 never heard it regarded as an eyesore ,ln- | til now You may say from me that | no resident of that street ever was hung or sent to state prison and l l think that is more than can be said of any other section of the city. When | the Irish people first commenced to come to this town many of them found employment in Brown & El- tons. and located out east. Their | friends looked them up when they came here and according as one of them got hold of enough money to
 buy lot he started to dig cellar
 and build a house. His neighbors | helped him and in this way nearly crty and beqneathed this and good reputation to their children. Tho street was named at the request of the people, If it had been given the
 name of some alleyway or back yard ! in Ireland one might say it was in-
 tended as reproach, but when you
 stop to consider that it was christen.
 ed after one of the oldest and hand
 somest cities in the world you will
 see that by no stretch of imagination
 could anybody torture any meaning
 from it. other than compliment to
 the Irish people who were then com. | mencing to be factor in the upbuild- | ing of Waterbury. I can't recall the names of all the fine old Irish families | that I used to know on Dublin
 street and who were always csteem- | cd in the community as men of good
 character. There were the Nevilles, the Delaneys. the Martins, the Ban mons, the Hogans. the Ropers. the Thompsons, the Ryans, the Slavins
 the Tobins. the Allmans. the Claffcys, the Phclans. the Bropheys. the
 Byrnes the Downeys. the Dunns. tho
 Dorans. the Dunphys. the KeenaHs. the Bowes the Boylans, the Caln-
 pions. the Corcorans. the Classes, and many others whose names don't come to my mind just now. all model citi- zens, who from modest beginnings
 worked their way through life and In
 most instances left their children \
 competence. venture to say that
 none of these men ever thought the
 name of the street handicap. They
 took a pride in it, and their offspring who think differently are laboring
 under misapprehension. The Irish.
 men and the Irishwomen of Dublin,
 as whole have nothing to feel
 ashamed of so far as the conduct of
 their fathers and mothers go, and the
 same is true of the name of the street. It is glorious name and 1t must
 hurt the pride of the patriotic Irish
 people to hear it made light of in
 public way. especially in district
 where it ought to command respect.
 There Is room for improvement on
 Dublin street. just the same as there
 in in many of our public ways. but
 our good friends who set up the claim
 that the trouble is due to the street
 have taken hold of the wrong 1orn
 of the dilemma"