Monto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monto is also the name of a town in Queensland, Australia

Monto was the nickname for a one-time notorious red light district in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The name is derived from Montgomery Street (now called Foley Street), which runs parallel to the lower end of Talbot Street towards what is now Connolly Station. 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.

In its heyday from the 1860s - 1900s, 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 and the third biggest in the British Empire.

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 (later King Edward VII), 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.

The area fell into decline in the 1920s following the formation of the Irish Free State and the subsequent departure of the British soldiers garrisoned in the city.

There is also an Irish folk song of the same name, popularised by The Dubliners.