Talk:O'Connell Street
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[edit] Date of Name Change
O' Connell Street is mentioned by name in Joyce's Ulysses - which would lead one to believe the name had been changed as early as 1904. At any rate, it means the name of the street was changed from Sackville Street by at least 1922. The article claims 1924. 83.71.1.102 12:26, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
- Looking thru the Irish Statute Book it appears that until at least 1924 Sackville Street was the formal name but O'Connell Street was the common name, see [1][2]. Djegan 18:04, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
- Looking thru the debates of the Oireachtas the term Sackville Street pretty much disappears after 1924 and by 1929 is regarded as the former name[3]. Djegan 19:47, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
- Ever since the opening of O'Connell Bridge in 1880 and the unveiling of O'Connell Monument in 1882, if not earlier, a movement got into motion to change the name of Sackville Street to that of O'Connell. It appears that Dublin Corporation didn't have direct control over the naming of streets until the passing of the 1890 Dublin Corporation Act, but in spite of this, as Yvonne Wheelan notes in her work 'The Iconography of Sackville Street before Independence': "It is significant...that Dublin Corporation was not always successful in its efforts to 'nationalise' the urban landscape. Plans to rename many of the city's streets in the decades before 1922 met with limited success".
- Certainly Sackville Street was known by most people of a nationalist disposition as O'Connell Street many years before it was renamed; indeed there are stories, perhaps urban myths, of Unionist taxi cabs refusing to acknowledge the destination of patrons wishing to be dropped off on O'Connell Street. The thoroughfare was officially renamed post-independence in 1924. GrahamH 22:47, 16th June 2006
[edit] Dancing rabbit statues
Does anybody know anything about those stupid dancing-bunnywabbit statues that the city elders have decided to foist on O'Connell Street and Parnell Square? The one that has been unceremoniously plonked at the gates of the Garden of Remembrance is particularly offensive. If I could find some material (and especially opinions) on them I'd put it in, in NPOV style of course. 83.71.28.145 17:24, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
No point - they'll be gone soon! They're part of a travelling exhibition that was brought here to celebrate the reopening of The Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square. Not a fan of them either - especially on O'Connell Street! GrahamH 20:19, 14th July 2006
[edit] Ulster Unionist March, 2005
The article gives a link to the UUP in NI marching on O'Connell St in 2005 and causing havoc.
Wasnt it a parade by "Love Ulster" not UUP?
As far as I know, Love Ulster is an amalgam of Orange order groups and the UPRG, and not connected to moderate Ulster Unionism, or at least the UUP. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Icanseeformilesandmiles (talk • contribs) 23:39, 11 April 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Europe's widest urban street?
Don't know where this information comes from but it's clearly not true. To name but two, the Champs-Élysées are 70m wide and the Avenida da República (Lisbon) is 60m wide. --Jcmo 11:21, 24 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yup. Unless the "Urban" prefix, or something about the definition of "Street" (versus "Avenue"), somehow puts the Champs-Élysées and O'Connell street into different categories, I agree that this is a somewhat dubious claim. Unless a source is available which confirms why O'Connell street is "Europe's widest urban street", when there are (apparently) others which are wider, then - for the time being at least - I'm going to change this to "It is one of Europe's widest urban streets". Guliolopez 12:05, 24 May 2007 (UTC)
- Agreed it is a dubious claim. Since nobody to my knowledge has measured every principal street in Europe, I fear we will never know the answer to this question! As such I have reverted the article back to 'one of'. And as well-intentioned as the description 'urban street' is, it is at the end of the day a tautology in this context, given all streets within cities are urban ones! GrahamH 02:29 30 May 2007 (GMT)
