North Brunswick Street

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North Brunswick Street, in Irish Sráid Brunswick Thuaidh, is a street on Dublin’s north side. It runs from Stoneybatter in the east to Church Street in the west, parallel to North King Street, with Grangegorman to the north and Smithfield to the south. The street is named for the House of Brunswick, rulers of the British and Irish crown from 1714 to 1901. Its former name was Channel Row, likely named after a canal connected with the Bradogue River. It should not be confused with Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street) on the south side.

Historically, the street formed a route between two main exits from the city before the River Liffey’s tidal estuary. It may appear as a laneway off Church Street on John Speed’s 1610 map. The area nearby was already used for institutions from 1728 with the Linehall. By 1756, Channel Row shows buildings on both sides. In 1773 Dublin opened its second house of industry in a former malthouse on the street. By 1790 the building was considered unsafe, and a new building designed by Richard Johnston began in 1791.

In the 19th century the street and surrounding area housed several medical, penal and welfare institutions, including Hardwicke Fever Hospital (1803), Richmond Surgical Hospital (1810), St. Brendan’s Hospital (1815), Whitworth Hospital (1816), Richmond General Penitentiary (1820), North Dublin Union (1840) and the Carmichael School of Medicine (1864). Many of these buildings are now part of the Grangegorman campus of Technological University Dublin.