Sir, – If the naming of the new bridge over the Liffey should continue in the now established literary tradition, I propose that it be named after one of Dublin’s most famous, and certainly one of its most successful, playwrights, Dion Boucicault. Born on Gardiner Street in 1820, Boucicault dominated the international stage during his long career as both playwright and actor. The bridge would link the Abbey Theatre, which has revived Boucicault’s work successfully in recent years, to the sites of two theatres long since gone, the Theatre Royal on Hawkins Street and the Queen’s on Pearse Street, both of which staged Boucicault’s famous triptych of Irish melodramas over many, many decades. It is time that Dublin, particularly given its status as a Unesco City of Literature, acknowledges one of its most neglected sons. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The “Gore-Booth Bridge” to honour the two sisters Eva and Constance would be my first option. But there are other historic figures, such as Anne Devlin, Maud Gonne, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, or famous stage names such as Siobhan McKenna and Maureen Potter. One might also consider some of our living heroines, such as Mary Robinson, Adi Roche, Marie Collins, or women of letters such as Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill?
In these times of gender quotas, should our female icons not be honoured equally with their male counterparts? – Yours, etc,