Sir, - Until the recent discussions on the future of the Abbey Theatre, I must confess that I had never heard of Misery Hill, still less had I any notion of the origin of the unusual name. By pure coincidence, however, I was browsing the other evening through an Irish Times article from c. 1959 entitled "Space for Lepers in 200 Year Old Church." Leprosy was an indigenous disease in the Dublin of those days. There was a leper colony in Leopardstown, and the church referred to in the article was St Mark's Church, in Pearse Street. Apparently a gallery in the church, situated above the fine public gallery, had been specially built for lepers.
The article was written anonymously by an Irish Times Reporter, and I quote the following extract: "From the 12th century there had been a leper hospital near the site of St Mark's Church. This was the reason for incorporating the leper gallery in the design. Another may have been the numbers of lepers who would pass by the doors of the church on their way to board a sailing vessel for Spain, perhaps to pray at the shrine of St James of Compostela, patron saint of lepers, or to remain in a continental leper colony. This traffic resulted in a street near the quay being called Misery Hill, a name which has remained to this day. Lazar's Hill, the site of the leper hospital, has long been swept away by Townsend Street." - Yours, etc.,
Peter Boyle, Terenure, Dublin 6W.