page_title: O'Connell Street, Limerick
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: O'Connell Street, Limerick / History
caption_attribution_description: Thanks to elainsor for the information that George Street as was, is: "now O'Connell Street, the building in the foreground is where Roches Stores was until recently . The building with the clock is where Penney's now stands." And bringing us right up to date is info from DannyM8 that Roches Stores is now Debenhams. Date: Circa 1890? NLI Ref.: L_ROY_05290
context_page_description: O'Connell Street is the main thoroughfare of the city of Limerick. It was previously known as George's Street until it was renamed after Daniel O'Connell. The street runs in parallel to the River Shannon and forms part of an overall thoroughfare, along with Rutland Street and Patrick Street, that bisects Limerick City Centre in a north east to south west direction. The street is about a mile in length, starting at the Arthurs Quay / Denmark Street junction and ending at The Crescent. A monument to Daniel O'Connell stands at the centre of The Crescent overlooking O'Connell Street. The street is noted for its Georgian architectural heritage.
context_section_description: O'Connell Street dates from the late 18th to early 19th century as part of Edmund Sexton Pery's plan for the development of a new city on lands he owned to the south of the existing medieval city. In 1765, he commissioned the engineer Davis Ducart to design a town plan on those lands which have since become known as Newtown Pery. The centrepiece of this development was O'Connell Street. The street along with the rest of Newtown Pery was built to Georgian design and is part of Limerick's Georgian Quarter.
  The street prospered from the time of its construction and quickly attracted the city's wealthier residents who then resided in the Englishtown area of medieval Limerick. The cramped and lofty Dutch styled dwellings of Englishtown and Irishtown were no match for the new, grand and spacious housing & thoroughfares of Newtown Pery. Although the street functioned as the main retail & commercial district of the city, this was (and remains today) primarily focused on the northern end of the street. The southern end of the street, in contrast, was more residential in character with the barrier being located about midway on the street (from the Cecil Street junction). Today, most of the residential townhouses on the street are now occupied by offices.
  From the 1950s onwards due to accidental damage from fire, neglect and poor planning by the city authorities a lot of the Georgian heritage has been lost on the northern end of the street around the retail core and has had an overall negative impact on the appearance of the street. Notable architectural losses include the façades of Cannock's Department store and its landmark clock tower (now Penney's), Todd's Department Store (now Brown Thomas) and Cruises Hotel (now Cruises Street) amongst many more. Nevertheless, some of the finest examples Georgian townhouse architecture in Ireland still survives on the southern end and along the Crescent area of the street.
  For a time the O'Connell Street & William Street/Sarsfield Street junction was historically an important crossroads junction in the west of Ireland with four national primary routes converging at the one place. The N7 from Dublin and the east, the N18 from Galway and the north, the N20 from Cork & Kerry and the south west and the N24 from Waterford and the south east all converged at the one place. Most of O'Connell Street was part of the N20 prior to the opening of the Limerick Southern Ring Road in 2004. It now forms part of the R527 regional road.
caption: View of Cannock's Department Store (now Penney's) and its Landmark Clock Tower on O'Connell Street in the early 20th century
exif: {}