I THOUGHT THAT I HAD MADE AN ERROR BY REFERRING TO IT AS CABRA PARK LANE IN THE PAST
It’s a small lane connecting Cabra Park and St. Peter’s Road and it is situated in Phibsborough which is frequently described as a vibrant neighbourhood on Dublin’s Northside.
Previously known as Cabra Park Lane. The recent name change to St. Peter’s Lane is a reference to the nearby St. Peter’s Church, a prominent landmark on the North Circular Road. As a matter of interest there another location for street art on the Southside named Peters Place near Charlemont Tram Stop.
Was An Urban Art Hub
St. Peter’s Lane had gained a reputation as an open-air canvas for street artists and one could expect find vibrant murals, stencils, and other forms of street art adorning its walls, making it an interesting spot for photography enthusiasts. Back before the Covid-19 lockdowns the artwork was ever-changing, so you might find something new on every visit!
Ambiance
The combination of street art and older surrounding architecture once gave the lane a unique and somewhat bohemian atmosphere and as it was much less known than other similar locations it offered a more “local” experience.
How to Find It
If you’re exploring Phibsborough, St. Peter’s Lane is easy to find off St. Peter’s Road or along Cabra Park. Online maps will guide you precisely, and websites like Excellent Street Images (my site) feature extensive photography of the lane’s artwork.
Additional Notes
According to a not so current tourist guide “due to its growing popularity as an artistic spot, expect to encounter other people appreciating or photographing the artwork. However, Like any urban environment, be mindful of your surroundings”.
Today there were three elderly women who appeared lost and somewhat horrified by the condition of the complex of lanes and I was the only photographer.
Much of the street art that I saw in Limerick was no longer to be seen when I last visited the city in 2022 as many of the locations had been demolished.
On a wall (maybe) somewhere along the River Nore near Kilkenny Castle,
I visited Kilkenny in August 2018 and ended up with photographs for which I could not identify the exact location as I did not have GPS. As a result I decided that I must get a GPS solution and I did so.
JONATHAN SWIFT LIVED FOR A WHILE IN TRIM COUNTY MEATH
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin on 30th November 1667 and was given over to a nurse to be minded in England. He did not meet his mother again until he was 21 years old, this was not unusual in those days.
The cost of his education was funded by his uncle Godwin Swift. He was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin where he was awarded a B.A. in 1689. He was appointed secretary to Sir William Temple and in 1692 received an M.A. at Hart Hall, Oxford.
In 1694 having taken holy orders, he became Prebend of Kilroot, County Antrim but soon tired of that isolated life and returned to Moor Park, Surrey in 1696.
Between 1696-1699 he wrote many books and like most of his writings they were all published anonymously. Although Swift was not a native of Meath he lived for some years in the Trim area, as Vicar of Laracor, near Trim together with Agher and Rathbeggan.
His best known book popularly called “Gullivers Travels” was published in 1726. He won immense popularity when his “Drapiers Letters” foiled a plan to foist on the Irish a new debased currency “Wood’s Halfpenny” – the patent for which had been obtained by bribery. His Modest Proposal “suggested that the people should be relieved by the sale of their numerous children as food for the rich”.
Swift was one of the most commanding intellects and writers of his day. His prose is unmatched for simple strength and clarity. His satire was savage in its mockery. His letters are among the best in English literature. He died on 19 October 1745 leaving £ 8,000 in his will for a home for the insane and to this end St. Patrick’s Hospital, Dublin was built.
Swift was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
St Patrick’s University Hospital is a teaching hospital at Kilmainham in Dublin. The building, which is bounded by Steeven’s Lane to the east, and Bow Lane West to the south, is managed by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.
The hospital was founded with money bequeathed by the author Jonathan Swift following his death as “St. Patrick’s Hospital for Imbeciles”.
In March 1747, Dr. Steevens’ Hospital agreed to provide a small amount of land fronting Bow Lane for the purposes of building St. Patrick’s, however it was nearly three years afterwards before construction commenced, as the governors became involved in lengthy discussions over plans and architects. In considering the challenges of building such a hospital, it is important to remember that no such institution for housing lunatics had ever been built in Ireland before, and except for Bedlam in London, there was no comparable building in England either. The first step the governors agreed upon was for a high wall to be built around the site. This was achieved in 1747-8 at a cost of £146.
By 1753, the building (designed by George Semple) was completed, but the governors did not have the money to furnish it, to employ staff, or to maintain charity patients. Thus the building lay empty for another four years. On Monday 26 September 1757, the hospital finally admitted its first patients, consisting of six men and four women, referred to as ‘pauper lunaticks’ in hospital records.
In “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift”, the poet anticipated his own death:
He gave the little Wealth he had,
To build a House for Fools and Mad: And shew’d by one satyric Touch, No Nation wanted it so much: That Kingdom he hath left his Debtor,
I wish it soon may have a Better.
Swift himself was declared of unsound mind by a Commission of Lunacy in 1742. Will Durant said of him: “He went a whole year without uttering a word.”
Richard Leeper, who was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent in 1899, introduced a series of important initiatives including providing work and leisure activities for the patients.[9] Norman Moore, who was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent in 1946, introduced occupational therapy, including crafts and farm work to the patients.
After the introduction of deinstitutionalisation in the late 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline. In 2008 the hospital announced the expansion of its outpatient services to a series of regional centres across Ireland. A mental health facility for teenagers known as the “Willow Grove Adolescent Inpatient Unit” opened at the hospital in October 2010.