Saving Moore Street

The proposed redevelopment of Dublin’s historic Moore Street is getting increased scrutiny after an Irish television documentary alleged the Dublin City Council made secret deals with the builder.

“Sometimes called the ‘Alamo of Ireland,’ the laneways and streets surrounding Moore Street are some of the most historic in the nation,” Robin Mary Heaney blogged on Irish America magazine’s website. “They are among the last remnants of battlefield Dublin from the Easter Rising of 1916.”

Here is the doorstep where republican patriot The O’Rahilly of Ballylongford, Co. Kerry, wrote a letter to his wife as he bled to death from a gunshot wound:

Darling Nancy I was shot leading a rush up Moore Street and took refuge in a doorway. While I was there I heard the men pointing out where I was and made a bolt for the laneway I am in now. I got more [than] one bullet I think. Tons and tons of love dearie to you and the boys and to Nell and Anna. It was a good fight anyhow.

Now elected officials in the Dublin council and the national government are fighting over who should have the authority to investigate allegations of “backstairs deals” with the developer, The Irish Times reports.