South Circular Road (Dublin)

The South Circular Road (Irish: An Cuarbhóthar Theas) is a road in Dublin, Ireland, one of the longest in the city. It runs from Kilmainham in the west of the city, through Rialto and Dolphin's Barn to Portobello, near the centre. As it runs mainly through residential areas, it is used by numerous bus routes.

Until the early 18th century most of the area covered by the road was countryside. The site of Griffith Barracks was originally known as Grimswoods Nurseries. The first buildings on the site were those of a Remand Prison or Bridewell begun in 1813 by the architect Francis Johnston. It was then known as Richmond Gaol and later became Wellington Barracks. Now Griffith Barracks are part of Ireland's largest private college, Griffith College.

Residential development of the South Circular Road began in earnest at Portobello around 1860 when estates such as Emorville and Portabello Gardens were put up for sale as development land. It quickly continued along the length of the road into the 1890s.

Harrington Street (St. Kevin's) Catholic church was completed in 1871, and the Church of Ireland St. Kevin's in 1883. The Donore Presbyterian Church (now the Dublin Mosque) was built in 1884 (in the 1860s).

In 1887 Richmond Gaol was transferred to the War Department and became Wellington Barracks.

The Dublin tramways system was extended into the South Circular Road in February 1896 when a line was built from Leonard's Corner to Dolphins Barn. It was electrified in December 1899 and extended to Rialto in May 1905.

The first Jews fleeing conditions in Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire) arrived in the early 1870s and eventually settled off Lower Clanbrassil Street. In the following decades many of them settled along the South Circular Road, both sides of Leonard's Corner, and in the side-streets off it. There was a Jewish dairy opposite what was then Wellington Barracks.

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