Sheriff Street
alt=Collage of three pictures. They are all taken during the day. The sky is blue with white clouds on all of them. The picture on top: A bridge on a stream, there is a construction crane of some sort on the bridge. On left side, there is a neatly maintained lawn. Below this picture, there are two photos side-by-side. The photo on the left - picture of road with pedestrian path. In the background, there are houses on both sides of the road, with a traffic light, and a car. In the photo on the right, there are tall buildings on both sides of the road, there are cars and vans parked on both sides of the road.
Sheriff Street, Dublin
Sheriff Street is located in Dublin
Sheriff Street
Native nameSráid an tSirriam (Irish)
NamesakeSheriffs in general
Length1.2 km (0.75 mi)
Width12 metres (39 ft)
LocationDublin, Ireland
Postal codeD01
Coordinates53°21′02″N 6°14′26″W / 53.350569°N 6.240527°W / 53.350569; -6.240527
west endCommons Street
east endEast Wall Road

Sheriff Street (Irish: Sráid an tSirriam), known by locals as "Sheriffer" or "The Street", is a street in the north inner city of Dublin, Ireland, lying between East Wall and North Wall and often considered to be part of the North Wall area. It is divided into Sheriff Street Lower (west end) and Sheriff Street Upper (east end).

History

Sculpted head of a man with goatee and curly hair presented on a block. The pavement around it is circular. In the background, there is a neatly manicured lawn, and construction crane. There is a walkway and stream on right corner.
Sculpture of the singer Luke Kelly on Sheriff Street. Sculpture was erected in 2019

It is one of a group of streets named after civic offices and concepts: Mayor Street, Guild Street, Harbourmaster Place and Commons Street are all nearby.[1]

The Sheriff Street area might be defined as Upper and Lower Sheriff Street, Mayor Street, Guild Street, Commons Street, Oriel Street, Seville Place, Crinan Strand and Mariner's Port. One of the most visible buildings is St. Laurence O'Toole's Roman Catholic church, which was built in the 1840s and officially opened in 1853, and is accessible via Seville Place. Traditionally, work on Dublin's docks provided employment for local men, but the arrival of containerization led to mass unemployment in the late 1980s.[2]

Sheriff Street has a reputation as a run-down area with a high crime rate.[2] the area was for many years notable for the Sheriff Street flats which consisted of St Laurence's Mansions, St Bridget's Gardens and Phil Shanahan House. Issues with poverty and crime peaked during the heroin epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1990s, the flats were demolished and the area underwent gentrification. Many residents of the flats were housed nearby whilst others left the area. Many of the now gentrified buildings, constructed on the former site of the flats, are accessible on Mayor Street. Lower Sheriff Street remains a working-class area consisting of houses. Noctors's Pub is a longstanding business in the area.[citation needed]

In the media

In 1973, RTÉ Radio 1 producer, Seán Mac Réamoinn set out to capture life in the North Wall and Sheriff Street area of the city in a radio documentary, Inner City Island, looking to the past, present and future, which aired on RTÉ Radio 1 on 17 March 2009.[3] Parts of the film In The Name Of The Father were shot in Sheriff Street in the early 1990s, as well as the film The Commitments.

Notable people

References

  1. ^ M'Cready, C. T. (1987). Dublin street names dated and explained. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Carraig. p. 117. ISBN 1-85068-005-1. OCLC 263974843.
  2. ^ a b 'You keep your mouth shut and your head down', Rosín Ingle, The Irish Times, 24 July 2010
  3. ^ "Inner City Island". RTÉ.ie. December 2009.
  4. ^ 'In Sheriff Street, a Musician Draws Inspiration from Her Surroundings', Dave Donnelly, Dublin Inquirer, 22 July 2020
  5. ^ 'Gemma Dunleavy’s love letter to Dublin’s inner city', Una Mullally, The Irish Times, 6 Feb 2021
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