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O'Connell Street (Irish: Sráid Uí Chonaill) is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry Street. The Luas tram system runs along the street. During the 17th century, it was a narrow street known as Drogheda Street, named after Henry Moore, Earl of Drogheda. It was widened in the late 18th century by the Wide Streets Commission and renamed Sackville Street (Sráid Saicfil) after Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. In 1924, it was renamed in honour of nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell, whose statue by John Henry Foley stands at the lower end of the street facing O'Connell Bridge. The street has played an important part in Irish history and features several important monuments, including statues of O'Connell and trade union leader James Larkin, as well as the Spire of Dublin. It formed the backdrop to one of the 1913 Dublin lock-out gatherings, the 1916 Easter Rising, the Irish Civil War of 1922, the destruction of Nelson's Pillar in 1966 and the Dublin Riots in 2006. In the late 20th century, a comprehensive plan was begun to restore the street to its original 19th-century character.
