Mission Mater's Magazine - Flipbook - Page 21
History behind every door
No. 7 Eccles Street c. 1930
North side of Eccles St taken from
the steps of No 59; the white
railings are the Ormsby Hotel
No. 7 – Now the site of the Mater Private Hospital, no. 7 was part of a row of threestorey Victorian red brick houses, and was the fictional home of Leopold Bloom, one
of the main characters in James Joyce9s famous novel Ulysses. The novel also mentions
buildings and streets in the area surrounding Eccles St.
No’s 10-11 – The Bertrand Orphan and Intermediate School for Girls,
Headmistress Miss Stanton (1916)
No’s 15-17 – The Dominican College for junior and senior girls. In 1921 No 17
was listed as a training college for teachers of secondary students. Scoil Catriona opened
here in 1928 before transferring to new buildings in Glasnevin in 1972.
No’s 18-21 – The Dominican Convent
No’s 23-24 – St Mary’s University College (1916). By 1921 No 24 was a private
residence for nurses run by Miss Geraldine O9Donell in association with her private
nursing home at No. 62.
No. 25 – Humphreys Alexander (1818-1895) author of the songs 8All things Bright
and Beautiful9 and 8Once in Royal Davids9 City9 was born here.
No. 26 – Nurses Home for the Mater Hospital (1916-1921); by 1930 this had
expanded to 24-26 Eccles St.
No. 27 – The Ormsby Hotel (19509s-c19809s, then demolished)
No’s 32-33 – One of the Nurses’ Homes attached to the Mater where probationer
nurses lived during their training. Currently the Diabetic Day Centre and part of Breast
Check centre.
No’s 34-36 – The School of Nursing for probationer nurses opened in 1891;
currently the Breast Health centre. Housed originally in No 36 alone. No9s 30-36 later
became the Mater Private Nursing Home.
No. 37 – Listed as an auxiliary hospital for the Mater for several years from the
19109s-19209s.
No. 38 - A separate nursing home for members of religious orders called St
Mary9s Private Hospital
No. 39 – Formerly occupied by the parish priest of St Joseph’s Berkeley Road,
now the Dermatology Day Centre.
No. 40 – Formerly occupied by the Rector of St George’s Protestant Church, Hardwicke Place and the Presbytery of
Christchurch Cathedral, currently the Human Resources Department.
No. 41 – The birthplace of Blessed Fr. John Sullivan S.J. [Society of Jesus].
No. 46 - The home of Margaret Alyward, foundress of the Holy Faith Sisters in Ireland, and the site of St Brigid9s
Orphanage for abandoned children of the poor.
No. 48 – In 1842 this building was thought to be occupied by Isaac Butt, noted barrister, editor and M.P. in the UK
House of Commons. Currently the Post-Graduate Medical Education, Institute for Cancer Research and the Fintan Gunne
Lecture Theatre
No. 59 – The residence of the Archbishop of Dublin, later Cardinal, Paul Cullen. Cardinal Cullen died here in 1878;
the house was no. 55 at the time. Currently the offices of the Medical Board.
No. 62 – A private nursing home during the 19209s-19409s run by former Mater nurse Geraldine O9Donell; used
frequently by injured I.R.A. men during the War of Independence and attended by Mater staff.
No. 63 – The birthplace of Frances Teresa Ball in 1794, foundress of the female religious order the Loreto Order in
Ireland.
During the 19309s this house was the home of the Anglo-Irish political activist, suffragist, socialist, Charlotte Despard.
No. 64 – The home of noted architect Francis Johnston, who designed St George9s Church, Hardwicke Place and the
G.P.O., O9Connell Street among others, who had a belfry built in his back garden which he rang at all hours of the day and
night for his amusement. During 1894-1951 it was the Albert Retreat,
