North Frederick Street corner with Hardwicke Street in 1912.
Prior to its development, the area north of Parnell Square was noted on early maps as holding barley fields.[1] After initial surveys were made by Thomas Sherrard of the Wide Streets Commission in 1789 and approved by the board in 1790, the land on either side of the street was later let as lots for building in stages to developers and builders from 1793. The most significant of the developers and speculators included the wide street commissioner Frederick Trench who took ten lots for development on the west side of the street.[2][3]Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy was also involved in developing various houses on the street.
The street appears to have officially opened as a thoroughfare around 1793 with development starting from the northern end and stretching towards Parnell Square over time. The majority of the original Georgian houses on the street are still in existence and were constructed mostly from 1790 to 1810. Most are 2- or 3-bay with 4 storeys over a raised basement. The smaller houses near the junction with Hardwicke Street were constructed a few years later around 1820-30 and are 3 storeys over the basement, with ground floors at footpath level. Usually, a few houses were constructed together at a time, normally in pairs but sometimes more than two. For example, numbers 8 and 9 were built as a pair in 1805, 30 and 31 as a pair also around 1805 and 2-5 were built around 1810 as a quartet.[4]
By the mid-19th century, many of the houses on the street were being used as solicitors' offices.[5]
An Stad (Irish for 'The Stop') was founded on North Frederick Street in Dublin in the late 19th century by Cathal McGarvey, author of the traditional Irish song Star of the County Down, as a meeting place for nationalists and Irish language enthusiasts. The activities that took place at An Stad included early morning pro-Independence rallies,[6][7] Irish language storytelling[8] and even reviews in Irish of works of art.[9]
24-27 North Frederick Street were demolished and a 1980s office block was ultimately constructed in their place. The office was initially leased by Eircom from 1981 while from 1999 the lease was taken over by the Office of Public Works.[10] As of 2024, all of the original Georgian houses on the street are protected structures.
Naming
The street was likely named officially for Frederick, Prince of Wales although it is more likely that the chief developer, Frederick Trench, named it for himself before finding a suitable member of the royal family to ascribe it to. Another builder, Frederick Jebb was also responsible for constructing buildings on the street and was likely influential in the naming convention.[11]
