A recent correspondent to this newspaper referred to the adoption by estate builders and developers of "pretentious, upwardly-mobile, British-sounding names". He supported Limerick Corporation's proposal to use only names with a local connotation.
"Pound" and "sterling" excepted, I am not sure that British-sounding names necessarily indicate upward mobility, but regardless of that, should developers be totally restricted in their choice of names? Such stipulations smack of the language fundamentalism which is failing in France, particularly during "le weekend".
Growing up in the Maida Vale district of London, I was aware of some names in the area which had local connotations, such as "Westbourne", meaning land on the west side of the bourne or river. But there were many other names, such as "Maida" itself, which had been introduced without any historical connections to the area (the original Maida being the site of a battle in southern Italy).
Irish names
Moreover, the whole of London is criss-crossed by streets carrying far more Irish names than can be found in Dublin, let alone Limerick. Perhaps Limerick Corporation should ponder the following and entertain the odd stray name in its new topography.
One of the oldest streets in the heart of the City of London is Ireland Yard. William Shakespeare bought a house in that street in 1612. For more emblematic names, the outer London suburb of Bromley offers an Erin Close, while the Shamrock lends its name to a Road in Croydon, a Street in Clapham and a Way in Barnet. Ecclesiastically, London caters for at least three of Ireland's principal saints. Patrick has a Passage and a Road, Bridget (in her anglicised spelling of Bride) has a Court, a Lane and a Street and, as St Bride, has two Avenues, a Close, a Passage and a Street. Additionally, Bridewell Place is on the site of a medieval church dedicated to St Bridget. The district subsequently became notorious for its Bridewell Prison, which was demolished in 1864.
The four provinces are well represented right across London. Leinster has a Gardens, a Mews, a Place, two Roads, a Square and a Terrace named after it; Munster has an Avenue, a Court, a Gardens, a Road and a Square. oddly, Ulster has merely a Gardens and Place, while Connaught (sic) comes out on top with four Avenues, four Closes, a Drive, two Gardens, a House, a Lane, a Mews, a Place, no fewer than 15 Roads, a Square, a Street and a Way! A veritable Irish enclave exists, surprisingly not in Kilburn or Camden Town, but in Winchmore Hill, north London, where you can stroll from Connaught Gardens to Munster Gardens via Connaught Way and from there to Ulster Gardens via Kenmare Gardens.
Although all four provinces have been imported to London, only 18 counties are commemorated. Currently, there are London streets bearing the names of Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Tyrone, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. Perhaps London-based Irish developers could be encouraged to increase the county representation. They would be taking a leaf out of the book of Captain Frederick Penton, owner of the entire Pentonville district, who in 1906 named Donegal Street in honour of his wife who, came from the Ards peninsula of that county.
Ranelagh
The London streets named after Irish cities, towns and villages are too numerous to list here, but the following is a small selection: two Carysfort Roads, Celbridge Mews, Doneraile Street, Dunleary Court, Granard Avenue and Road, Killarney Road, Kylemore Close and Road, Lifford Street, two Lismore Roads, a Close and a Walk, Macroom Road, Newry Road, Rathgar Avenue, Rathcoole Avenue and Gardens, and Tarbert Road and Walk. Pride of place must go to Ranelagh, which has given its name to two Avenues, one Drive, three Gardens, a Grove, a Mews, a Place, and nine Roads.
Sadly, too little is known about many of the Irish developers, local government councillors and their ilk whose lives were dedicated to the betterment of their fellow London citizens, but their contributions are acknowledged in street names across the city: Conlan, Connell, Connor, Patrick Connolly, D'Arcy, Doran, Kelly, McAuley, McCarthy, McDermott, John McKenna, Murphy, O'Shea, Sinott, Tracey and Whelan, to name but a few.
Among the Irish-born whose fame endures beyond their London place-names are the writers Goldsmith, Shaw, Sheridan and Swift, the painters William Orpen, William Mulready and Daniel Maclise, charity worker Barnardo, poet Thomas Dermody, composers Balfe and Stanford, political philosopher Burke, and the explorer Shackleton.
Two prominent Irish-born politicians of the 19th century who famously fought a duel when both were in the same Tory cabinet have three streets named after them, while a third has about 60. George Canning (prime minister of Britain in 1827) is recalled in Canning Passage and Place, both in Kensington. The unpopular Viscount Castlereagh (foreign secretary from 1812) has only a single Castlereagh Street in the West End named after him.
Political leaders
Remaining in the political sphere, Kevin Myers pondered some months ago on the links between the surnames of the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael leaders and their British or Irish antecedents. Without drawing any similar conclusion, it may be of interest to record that four Labour leaders had surnames which also exist as London street names: Johnson, Norton, O'Leary and Spring; two Fianna Fail leaders: Lynch and Reynolds; and four Fine Gael: Dillon, Fitzgerald, Dukes and Bruton. Playing a similar game, three of the major party leaders in Northern Ireland have surnames corresponding to London street names: Adams, Hume and Paisley. If the peace process succeeds, Tony Blair may entertain the thought of a Trimble Street for London. Alternatively, it might be an idea for Limerick Corporation.