Fishamble Street

This narrow, unassuming street in the shadow of Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest street in Dublin — and the place where Handel's Messiah was first performed. On April 13, 1742, George Frideric Handel conducted the world premiere of his oratorio at Neal's Music Hall, a newly built venue that held about 700 people. To squeeze in as many paying customers as possible, gentlemen were asked to leave their swords at home and ladies to come without hooped skirts. Handel had his own organ shipped from London for the occasion and declared that "the Musick sounds delightfully in this charming Room."

Fishamble Street's history goes back far further than Handel. The name comes from "fish shambles" — the medieval fish market that operated here when this was the commercial heart of Viking and Norman Dublin. Excavations since the 1960s have uncovered the foundations of Viking houses, an amber worker's workshop (the floor was strewn with hundreds of waste flakes), and evidence of a thriving 10th-century settlement. The houses along Fishamble Street were slightly smaller than those found at nearby Castle Street, suggesting a working-class Viking neighborhood.

The street today is quiet — a steep downhill lane connecting Christ Church to the quays, lined with a mix of old and new buildings. A small hotel marks the approximate site of the original Music Hall. Every April 13th, the Our Lady's Choral Society performs Messiah on the street itself, keeping a 280-year-old tradition alive in the open air.

Walking down Fishamble Street, you're literally walking on layers of civilization: Viking settlement, medieval market, Georgian concert hall, modern city. Very few streets in Europe can match that depth.