Dublin’s Disappearing Bilingual Street Signs
The green and white bilingual street signs of Dublin, once subtle symbols of cultural resistance and identity are gradually vanishing from the city’s landscape. These distinctive markers featuring Irish and English street names in a unique Gaelic script have long adorned the capital’s walls quietly telling a story of national pride and historic defiance. Now a research project at Trinity College Dublin is racing to document what remains. Led by Dr Nicole Volmering the CLÓSCAPE project is appealing to the public for help capturing photographs of the city’s old street signs before they are permanently lost. The signs which began appearing around 1901 were the result of a decision by the then Municipal Council of Dublin to introduce bilingual signage across the city. The Irish language names were printed in cló gaelach a traditional typeface used in writing Irish and Latin as far back as the sixth century. This script is also found in early manuscripts, including the famed Book of Kells. According to Dr Volmering, cló gaelach became more than just a visual style it was part of a quiet protest against British rule. “There are some references to it in early Gaelic document” she said “that some of the earliest signs which feature this unique Irish lettering were actually a form of silent rebellion.”
In several cases attempts to erect Irish language signage led to legal pushback from British authorities. It is quite unbelievable despite their historic significance these signs are not protected by national heritage laws unless located within designated architectural conservation areas. As such they are vulnerable to removal during building renovations or demolitions and are often replaced by modern blue and white signs in standard Roman fonts. “Every time we lose a sign, we lose a little bit of the history of Dublin and the history of Irishness” Dr Volmering explained. She noted that once removed the signs typically disappear without record erasing traces of the city’s linguistic and cultural evolution. To date around 600 of these signs have been identified mostly in Dublin’s inner city. Some of the oldest examples featuring decorative borders and light green backgrounds are found in areas like Kimmage and date to the early 20th century. Others, such as the darker green signs with postal codes appear in neighbourhoods developed during the 1940s and 1950s.The CLÓSCAPE initiative aims to build a digital archive of these historic signs, combining current photographs with any historical images or records that members of the public can provide.
The collected material will form part of the Irish Historic Street Signs Archive hosted by the Digital Repository of Ireland and will be publicly accessible. Submissions can be made at www.nicolevolmering.ie/closcape, where contributors can upload photographs and share details about the locations and conditions of the signs.Dr Volmering hopes to eventually expand the project into a nationwide survey. “The most interesting thing for me,” she said, “is where you have historic photographs, maybe, and accounts of people who lived on a street when these signs went up, or even when the signs were removed. “Architect Ultan Ó Conchubhair, who has independently studied these signs also emphasises their artistic and cultural value. He describes the original signs as “a small act of disobedience” and points out the craftsmanship that went into their creation. “These were made by individual craftspeople,” he said. “You can see between the variations of sign, a difference in the hand, in the actual individuals and painting style.” Many were hand-painted using enamel on metal, with each bearing subtle differences that reflect their maker’s touch.
Ó Conchubhair warns against replacing the signs with inferior modern imitations and advocates for preserving the originals wherever possible. “There’s such a rich amount of history contained within them” he said “that it would be a real shame to see them replaced. “Today, the use of cló gaelach on public signs is not mandated under the current Official Languages Act, and no formal policy exists to preserve these signs outside of conservation areas. Yet, their presence remains a reminder of a time when language, art, and politics quietly met on Dublin’s walls. With community support and archival dedication, the CLÓSCAPE project hopes to ensure these disappearing pieces of the past can still be seen and understood by future generations.
