The amount of litter to be seen is disappointing to say the least.
There is a small pedestrian lane that connect James’s Street on the south to Bow Lane West on the north. It was previously known as Murdering Lane or The Murd’ring Lane, and first appeared on maps in 1603, until it was renamed ‘Cromwell’s Quarters’ around 1892 when Alderman McSwiney called for the lane to be renamed in order to “preserve historical continuity”. The Cromwell in question was not Oliver Cromwell but his son Henry, who became Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1657. It is currently an unmarked pedestrian stepped alley. The lane is also locally referred to as “The Forty Steps”, even though there are only 39.
There is a laneway with forty steps, beside Dublin Castle, connecting Ship Street to Castle Street. It is, officially, Hoey’s Court but local tourist guides refer to it as Dean Swift Alley as 100ft from here Jonathan Swift was born in 1667. He was the Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and a celebrated author and satirist.
To add to the confusion Swift’s Alley Free Church was an Episcopal Church of Ireland chapel in Swift’s Alley and Francis Street. In 1653, a Baptist meeting-house (the first in Ireland) was established by Thomas Patient in Swift’s Alley, Dublin, the essayist and baptist John Foster preached there in 1795 as the congregation dwindled. In 1835, it was sold, and an Episcopal Chapel was established, the church was officially consecrated in 1843 by the Church of Ireland. The church had a Sunday School and Fellowship Society.
Bow Lane West runs from Bow Bridge to James’s Street along the southern side of St Patrick’s University Hospital. Bow Bridge crosses the River Camac.
The Mill on Bow is marketed as being Dublin’s only Indoor Combat Centre offering a range of shooter based activities for all ages. The ideal venue for Birthdays, stag and hen dos, corporate team building and just a days fun with mates.
Decoy is a professional muralist and street artist living and working in Dún Laoghaire. He has worked extensively with Dublin collective Subset, and has worked on the Grey Area Project which saw many grey walls transformed across the city.
There were two places where one could be guaranteed to find worthwhile street art. The first place is Peter Place near the Charlemont tram stop and the second is Peters Lane in Phibsborough.
Unfortunately the artwork on Peters Lane has not been updated for a long time and it would appear that the location attracts illegal dumping on a large scale.
Dublin has an amazing network of laneways and back lanes and many will be unaware of most of them and I am willing to bet that very few are aware of Back Lane near Christ Church Cathedral.
Tailor’s Guild Hall has an historical connection with Back Lane. It was meeting place of the Guild of Merchant Tailors but it was also used by the Catholic Committee during the campaign against Penal Law in 1792, becoming known as the ‘Back Lane Parliament’. It was used later by the Society of United Irishmen, illustrating its long associations with Irish history and political issues.
Mother Redcaps is located on Back Lane but there are rumours that it is to be demolished. The current building is officially described as a terraced four-bay two-storey former factory, dated 1875, subsequently in use as public house and market, having shopfront and integral carriage arch to front (north-east) elevation. Archaeological excavations held on the site in 2006 revealed deposits ranging from Hiberno-Norse to post-medieval, indicating the long history of occupation at this location. The carved keystone over the door provides contextual interest, bearing the initials of James Winstanley, for whom the building was erected as a shoe factory in 1875. This building forms part of the Mother Redcaps complex, in which a substantial indoor market was held from the late 1980s until 2005.
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