Reply To: Thomas Street & James Street, Dublin!

Good question! Not sure when it was built or demolished to be honest. There are references to it 1485, 1555 and 1599. We found evidence that James’ Street narrowed a lot at the gate in c. 13th century, but we think that might be for a bridge rather than a gate. The Down Survey shows the gate forming part of the confederate defences in the 1640s. There is a reference in the 1730s about how it should be torn down because its a nuisance, but I’m not sure that it was torn down at that time. Rocque’s map might still be showing the gate (or at least most of it) still in 1760, and those structures are still present by the 1840s.

Maybe the overarching part of the gate came down in the 18th century but the side bits of the gate remained more-or-less in place until the 19th century? I think the area was finally widened in the late 19th or early 20th century. It’s odd there are no images of it.