A SECTION OF CAPEL STREET [FIRST SUNDAY OF MAY 2021]
This is my local shopping street and I like having such a good selection of restaurants. Before the introduction of Covid-19 related restrictions the street was beginning to attract business away from the Temple Bar area on the other side of the Liffey.
It is sometimes claimed that the street takes its name from the chapel of St Mary’s Abbey; other Capel Streets may be named after chapels, but this one is named after Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1672–1677.
Built by Sir Humphrey Jervis in the late 17th century, he also built Essex Bridge (today Grattan Bridge), and the street was known for its mansions and a royal mint. In the 18th century, it became a commercial hub, with two-bay buildings replacing the “Dutch Billy” houses. The Capel Street Theatre also stood there in the 18th century.
The Torch Theatre operated on Capel Street in 1935–41. The street declined in the 20th century, before a revival around the 1980s. Today it is known for its variety of restaurants, shops, cafés and pubs; as Panti, the owner of Pantibar put it, “You can buy a lightbulb, sexual lubricant, Brazilian rice, get a pint and go to a trad session.” Louis Copeland’s tailor is another notable business.
AN UGLY GAP IN THE STREETSCAPE – WHERE THE ORMOND HOTEL WAS
All construction workers can return to work tomorrow [4 May 2021] and it then that it becomes obvious that some projects have been abandoned. It would be very disappointing if the construction of the new hotel does not restart this week.
The iconic Ormond Hotel on the north quays was purchased for just €2.5 million by Queens Park Rangers owner Tony Fernandes in the middle of the recession. In 2013, planning permission was sought to demolish the old building and replace it with a 170 bedroom hotel but the plan was rejected but eventually the owner was granted permission to develop a smaller 121 room hotel.
The €25 million redevelopment project was expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2020 but there were many problems and the project was delayed and then there was was Covid-19.
You must be logged in to post a comment.