As a new nation in 1922, Ireland went on a spree of renaming things. This happened at a county level (Kings County became Offaly, Queen’s County became Laois) and town level (Kingstown reverted to Dun Laoghaire, Queenstown went back to Cobh) – are you sensing a theme here? It also happened with street names, mostly in Dublin. This blog is an incomplete attempt to arm researchers with changes that are specifically post-independence for searches on the new 1926 census. If a street is presently named after a man (it’s always a man!) who died for Ireland or was pivotal to Irish independence, then it likely had a different name before 1922.
I’m happy to update it with any additional details commenters may have (please provide a source).
Counties
- King’s County: Offaly
- Queen’s County: Laois1
Towns
- Maryborough, Co. Laois: Portlaoise
- Philipstown, Co. Offaly: Daingain
- Kingstown, Co. Dublin: Dun Laoghaire
- Queenstown, Co. Cork: Cobh
- Parsonstown, Co. Offaly: Birr
- Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford: Bunclody
Street Names
Dublin
| Old Name | New Name |
| Sackville St | O’Connell St |
| Great Britain St | Parnell St |
| Rutland Square | Parnell Square |
| Great Brunswick St | Pearse St |
| Queen’s Square | Pearse Square |
| Gloucester St | Sean McDermott St |
| Clarence St | Macken St |
| Mabbot St/Corporation St | James Joyce St |
| Montgomery St | Foley St |
| Pembroke Quay | Sarsfield Quay |
| Albert Quay | Wolfe Tone St |
| Stafford St | Wolfe Tone St |
| Wentworth Place | Hogan Place |
Cork
| Old Name | New Name |
| George’s St | Oliver Plunkett St |
| Great George’s St | Washington St |
| King St | MacCurtain St |
Limerick
| Old Name | New Name |
| George’s St | O’Connell St |
| Brunswick St | Sarsfield St |
To help find other new names, consult old maps on Shane Wilson’s site or Tailte Éireann, city directories like Thom’s or Guy’s, and books. Here’s two I used on Dublin:
Dublin Street Names: dated and explained by C.T. M’Cready (1895)
The Complete Guide to the Streets of Dublin city by Neal Doherty (2016)
- If you want to know how to pronounce this & other counties, check out my pronunciation guide on my YouTube channel. ↩︎
This is a topic close to my heart. I love maps and I do a lot of research amongst the streets of Dublin. I enjoy learning about street name changes. Plus, I have maternal and paternal family from Queen’s County too 😉 Thanks for the post.
You are welcome!