Fishamble Street
Encyclopedia
Fishamble Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 within the old city walls.

The street joins Wood Quay
Wood Quay
Wood Quay is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. Dublin Corporation acquired Wood Quay gradually between 1950 and 1975, finally announcing that it would be the location of their new offices. Finds made during the initial excavation of the site led to a massive, but...

 at the Fish Slip near Fyan's Castle. It is mentioned in the 14th century as Vicus Piscariorum and as Fish Street. In 1577, Stanihurst named it as St John's Street. In 1610, some editions of Speed
John Speed
John Speed was an English historian and cartographer.-Life:He was born at Farndon, Cheshire, and went into his father's tailoring business where he worked until he was about 50...

's map call it Fish Shambles.

The street was known as the official fish market for Dublin until the end of the 17th century, when the city markets were moved to the north bank of the Liffey. ("Shambles" were meat markets and open-air slaughterhouse districts, and the word occurs in several British and Irish street names, such as The Shambles in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

.)

From 1680, around about the time the fish market was moved, the General Post Office was located here and remained for 30 years.

In the 18th century, a tavern on the street, the Bull's Head, was one of the most popular and well known establishments in Dublin, and was in demand for anniversary and celebratory dinners by the various city guilds and bodies. It also provided accommodation for assemblies of the Grand Lodge of Irish Freemasons. The Bull's Head Musical Society was also well known and undertook the building of a Music Hall which was formally opened in 1741.

The street is famous as the site of the first performance of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...

which took place in the aforementioned Music Hall on 13 April 1742 before an audience of approximately 700 people.

The Church of St. John the Evangelist
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Dublin
The Church of St. John the Evangelist was a former Church of Ireland church located on the west side of Fishamble Street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in the 12th century, and a great many of its parish records survive.-The Church:...

 was located here until it was demolished in the 1880s.

Also the birthplace of James Clarence Mangan
James Clarence Mangan
James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan was an Irish poet.-Early life:Mangan was the son of a former hedge school teacher who took over a grocery business and eventually became bankrupt....

, 19th Century poet.

Podcasts

  • You can hear the 2010 concert of Handel's Messiah recorded at Fishamble Street in Dublin at http://www.podcasts.ie/2010/04/handels-messiah-concert-fishamble-street-april-13th-2010/
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