Monto


Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in Dublin, Ireland. Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street in what would now be called Summerhill. The name is derived from Montgomery Street, which runs parallel to the lower end of Talbot Street towards what is now Connolly Station. Montgomery Street is believed to be named after Elizabeth Montgomery, who was married to Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy.
It was immortalised as "Nighttown" in the "Circe" chapter of James Joyce's famous work, Ulysses, where the central protagonists Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus together visit a brothel.

History

In its heyday from the 1860s – 1920s, there were anything up to 1,600 prostitutes working there at any one time, with all classes of customers catered for. It was reputed to be the biggest red light district in Europe at the time. Its financial viability was aided by the number of British Army barracks and hence soldiers in the city, notably the Royal Barracks.
Monto was also a hive of IRA activity, particularly around the time of the war of independence, with several safe houses for the flying columns which included Phil Shanahan's public house.
The then Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Edward, according to popular legend, lost his virginity there. In the 1880s the Prince, accompanied by his wife Alexandra and their son Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence strolled unrecognised through the area, having slipped away from their bodyguards and walked through Dublin.
Between 1923 and 1925, religious missions led by Frank Duff of the Legion of Mary, a Roman Catholic organisation, and Fr. R.S. Devane worked to close down the brothels. They received the co-operation of Dublin Police Commissioner, General William W.R.E. Murphy, and the campaign ended with 120 arrests and the closure of the brothels following a police raid on 12 March 1925, its financial viability having already been seriously undermined by the withdrawal of soldiers from the city following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the establishment of the Irish Free State.

In popular culture

The Irish folk song, "Monto ", was written by George Desmond Hodnett in 1958 and popularised by The Dubliners several years later. Irish singer Róisín Murphy named her 2016 album Take Her Up to Monto in reference to the song. Monto is also twice mentioned in the Irish folk song "Waxies' Dargle". It is referred to repeatedly in the Pete St. John song "Johnny McGory". Monto, Frank Duff, and the L.O.M. are also mentioned in the Peter Yeates song "Honor Bright", the story of the 1925 murder of a prostitute who used the pseudonym "Honour Bright".
The song is sung at the top of Act Two of The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth as the Carney boys come in from the harvest. In 2019 Pierce Turner included a version on his collection of traditional songs, Vinegar Hill.