__NOTOC__ Leeson Street (; ) is a thoroughfare near central

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland.

Location

The street is divided into two parts by the Grand Canal: Lower Leeson Street, in

Dublin 2 Dublin 2, also rendered as D2 and D02, is a historic postal district on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. In the 1960s, this central district became a focus for office development. More recently, it became a focus for urban residential developme ...

is to the north of the canal, linking to

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...

, with Upper Leeson Street, in the Dublin 4 region, south of the canal.

History

Originally known as Suesy Street, it was renamed in 1728 after the Leesons, a family of local brewers, who branched into property development and subsequently became Earls of Milltown. In

1769 Events January–March * February 2 – Pope Clement XIII dies, the night before preparing an order to dissolve the Jesuits.Denis De Lucca, ''Jesuits and Fortifications: The Contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture ...

Magdalen Asylum Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries, were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house " fallen women". The term referred to fe ...

was established by Lady Arabella Denny in the street for Protestant women. The street is home to several prominent buildings including the main office of the

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

and the embassies of Portugal,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Palestine and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. The largest building on Lower Leeson Street, along with several adjoining buildings and significant land holdings in the area, is owned by the

Catholic University School Catholic University School ''(C.U.S.)'' is a private (voluntary) secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1867 by Bartholomew Woodlock as a preparatory school for the Catholic University of Ireland, the predece ...

. In 1990,

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of h ...

's lost masterpiece, '' The Taking of Christ'', was recognised in the residence of the Jesuit Communication Centre on Lower Leeson Street. Broadcaster Gerry Ryan lived and

died Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

on this street. There were formerly streetwalkers along the canal district in Dublin.

Gallery

File:Leeson Street junction Earlsfort Terrace and Stephens Green.jpg, Lower Leeson Street junction with Earlsfort Terrace and

File:Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, Ireland.jpg, Bus lane on Lower Leeson Street File:Upper Leeson Street - geograph.org.uk - 1779470.jpg, Upper Leeson Street File:Dublin - Burlington Hotel area - Leeson Street Upper - geograph.org.uk - 1616259.jpg, Upper Leeson Street File:Grand Canal, the lock at Leeson Street Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 862763.jpg, Grand Canal at Leeson Street Bridge File:Iveagh House morning.jpg, Iveagh House, adjacent to Lower Leeson Street File: EDWARDI VII (7247430400).jpg, Triumphal arch erected on Leeson Street Bridge for the visit of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

to Dublin in 1903

References

External links

TripAdvisor review on the area
{{Streets in Dublin city, state=autocollapse Streets in Dublin (city) Historical red-light districts in the Republic of Ireland St Stephen's Green

Location

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links