Parnell Street
Parnell Street (Irish: Sráid Pharnell) is located on Dublin's Northside and runs from Capel Street in the west to Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square in the east. It is at the north end of O'Connell Street, where it provides the south side of Parnell Square.
Originally Parnell Street was part of the ancient road connecting the old city to northern coast, with Father Matthew Bridge connecting Church Street and Wood Quay in the east, to Ballybough and Fairview in the west. During the 18th century development of Amiens Street and Annesley Bridge provided a new coast road, while Parnell Street and its continuation to the east, Summerhill, became home to Georgian architecture.
The western end of Parnell Street has been substantially redeveloped in recent years. This urban regeneration came after road plans by Dublin Corporation devastated the street during the 1970s, when it was scheduled to be part of the [Inner Tangent Road scheme, massive dereliction and blight caused. Virtually all of the original Georgian architecture was destroyed and subsequently replaced by buildings of much larger scale. The eastern end of Parnell Street, having remained comparatively undeveloped, is now home to a thriving immigrant community. Most notably, a plethora of authentic Chinese and Korean restaurants have lent the east side the reputation of being Dublin's "Chinatown". There is also a significant presence of African and East and Central European businesses at the eastern end.
History and culture
Formerly Great Britain Street, the street is named after Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891) after Dublin Corporation adopted a resolution to rename the street following his death. The Rotunda Hospital, the Ambassador Theatre and the Gate Theatre are on Parnell Street itself while the Garden of Remembrance, the Dublin Writers Museum and the Hugh Lane Gallery are on the north side of the Parnell Square. The James Joyce Centre is immediately off Parnell Street on North Great Georges Street, while located just off the eastern end is the historic Mountjoy Square.
Retail & services
Shopping Centres
The Ilac Shopping Centre: The Ilac Shopping Centre is the oldest shopping centre in the city-centre. It is a large single story complex which contains many shops. One entrance leads out to Moore Street's famous market and there are also a public library and chapel inside the centre.
The Moore Street Mall, a recently opened shopping centre, also has an entrance on Parnell Street.
Chinatown
The Cineworld (UGC) cinema on Parnell Street is the largest cinema in Ireland with seventeen screens.
The street also has flagship city centre stores for German discount supermarket chains such as Aldi and Lidl.
Smiths Toys, Maplin Electronics and Toymaster are on Jervis Street, just off Parnell Street.
A Stringfellow's restaurant and strip club operated on Parnell Street for a number of months before closing because of poor trading performance. Various residents' associations, women's groups and Christian groups had campaigned against it, and its demise has been linked to those protests.
The street also has many other bars, restaurants and shops and internet cafes.
See also
External links
Coordinates: 53°21′09″N 6°15′42″W / 53.35250°N 6.26167°W