If you want to explore the darker side of Dublin’s history, there are few places with a story quite like Monto.

Once Dublin’s notorious red-light district, Monto became infamous during the second half of the 19th century for its brothels, drinking houses and colourful characters. At its height, the district attracted everyone from sailors and British soldiers to wealthy businessmen and members of Dublin’s upper classes.

But behind the stories of vice and Victorian Dublin nightlife was a much darker world of extreme poverty, exploitation, violence and limited choices for many of the women who lived and worked there.

Monto has long since disappeared, but its extraordinary history remains part of Dublin folklore and offers a fascinating glimpse into a very different side of the city. It is also one of the darker chapters of Dublin history explored on the Ghostbus Tour, where history, storytelling and black humour combine to bring some of the city’s most gruesome tales to life.

Monto Dublin – Inside Dublin’s Notorious Red-Light District

If you want to explore the darker side of Dublin’s history, there are few places with a story quite like Monto.

Once Dublin’s notorious red-light district, Monto became infamous during the second half of the 19th century for its brothels, drinking houses and colourful characters. At its height, the district attracted everyone from sailors and British soldiers to wealthy businessmen and members of Dublin’s upper classes.

But behind the stories of vice and Victorian Dublin nightlife was a much darker world of extreme poverty, exploitation, violence and limited choices for many of the women who lived and worked there.

Monto has long since disappeared, but its extraordinary history remains part of Dublin folklore and offers a fascinating glimpse into a very different side of the city. It is also one of the darker chapters of Dublin history explored on the Ghostbus Tour, where history, storytelling and black humour combine to bring some of the city’s most gruesome tales to life.

What Was Monto?

“The Monto” was the nickname given to Dublin’s notorious red-light district, which flourished in the north inner city during the second half of the 19th century and into the early years of the 20th century.

The name came from Montgomery Street, one of the principal streets at the heart of the district. Montgomery Street no longer appears on the modern Dublin map – it was later renamed Foley Street – but during Monto’s heyday the surrounding neighbourhood had an infamous reputation throughout the city.

Brothels and houses associated with prostitution could be found across Montgomery Street and surrounding streets and lanes including Tyrone Street, Mabbot Street, Beaver Street, Purdon Street, Elliott Place and Faithful Place.

Monto was particularly well positioned to develop into such a large district. Dublin Port, Amiens Street railway station – today’s Connolly Station – and several British Army barracks were all nearby, providing a steady flow of sailors, soldiers and visitors to the area.

By the late 19th century, Monto had become synonymous with Dublin’s underworld, with brothels, lodging houses and drinking establishments operating alongside the ordinary homes and businesses of one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods.

How Big Was Monto?

Monto was remarkably large for a red-light district concentrated within a relatively small part of the city. At its height, estimates commonly suggest that as many as 1,600 women may have worked in the district, although precise figures from the period are difficult to establish.

Monto has consequently been described as one of the largest red-light districts in Europe at the time. Its scale was helped enormously by its location. The busy Dublin docks were nearby, while thousands of British soldiers were stationed in barracks around the city. Sailors and soldiers formed an important part of Monto’s clientele, alongside local men and visitors from virtually every level of society.

Flash Houses, Kips and the Madams of Monto

Not every brothel in Monto was the same. The district catered for customers from very different social backgrounds, and there was a considerable difference between the establishments frequented by wealthier visitors and those at the poorest end of Monto.

The more expensive establishments were sometimes known as “flash houses”. These could operate from substantial houses with furnished parlours, alcohol and entertainment provided for customers. Wealthy businessmen and members of the upper classes were among their clientele, and stories of aristocratic and even royal visitors became part of Monto folklore.

At the opposite end were the notorious “kips” – cheap brothels where conditions could be extremely poor. Women and their customers might occupy small, overcrowded rooms, while elsewhere in the district encounters took place in lodging houses, tenements and dark lanes.

The brothels were typically controlled by madams, some of whom became notorious figures in their own right. They could exercise enormous control over the women working for them, particularly through accommodation and debt. Clothing and other necessities might be provided on credit, making it extremely difficult for a woman with little money or support to simply leave.

The Women of Monto

Behind the colourful stories and notorious reputation of Monto was a much harsher reality for many of the women who lived and worked there.

Poverty was widespread in Victorian and Edwardian Dublin, and opportunities for women from poor backgrounds were extremely limited. Some came to the city from rural Ireland looking for domestic service or other employment, only to find themselves particularly vulnerable once they arrived.

Amiens Street Station – now Connolly Station – stood close to Monto. Accounts of the district describe young women arriving by train and being approached with promises of accommodation or employment. Some were offered what appeared to be domestic work before being drawn into prostitution.

Once inside a brothel, leaving could be extremely difficult. Madams could provide clothing, food and accommodation on credit, creating debts that women were expected to repay from their earnings. For those without money, family nearby or another source of income, there could be few realistic alternatives.

Violence, disease, alcoholism and unwanted pregnancy were serious risks. An unmarried mother also faced enormous social stigma, and women who could no longer work could find themselves without either an income or accommodation.

It is this side of Monto that can sometimes become lost behind the legends. Its history is full of extraordinary characters and stories, but for many of the women themselves, Monto was less a world of Victorian vice and glamour than one of poverty, exploitation and survival.

Monto’s Most Notorious Characters

Like many parts of old Dublin, Monto developed its own cast of colourful and notorious characters. Some of its best-known figures were the madams who controlled the district’s more successful brothels and became well-known personalities in their own right.

One of the most famous was Becky Cooper, whose name became closely associated with Monto. Stories surrounding the district’s madams grew with each retelling, and separating documented history from Dublin folklore is not always easy.

That mixture of fact, exaggeration and storytelling is part of what has kept Monto alive in the city’s imagination long after Montgomery Street itself disappeared.

Monto in Dublin Culture

Monto’s notoriety ensured that it eventually became part of Dublin’s cultural history as well as its social history.

Most famously, the district provided inspiration for the surreal “Circe” episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Joyce transformed Dublin’s night-time red-light district into a strange world of hallucination, temptation and fantasy as Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus wander through Nighttown.

Monto was also immortalised in the traditional Dublin song “Monto (Take Her Up to Monto)”. Its enduring place in literature, music and local folklore means the name Monto remains familiar to generations of Dubliners, even though the district itself disappeared a century ago.

How Did Monto Come to an End?

Monto’s decline accelerated following Irish independence. The withdrawal of British forces from Dublin in 1922 removed a major source of customers, and the district’s fortunes began to change.

The decisive moment came in 1925, when the newly established Irish state launched a major campaign against Monto. Members of the Legion of Mary, led by its founder Frank Duff, were heavily involved in efforts to close the brothels, while Gardaí carried out raids and arrests.

The campaign effectively brought the era of Monto to an end, but the story did not necessarily have a happy ending for the women involved. Closing the brothels did not remove the poverty and social circumstances that had brought many women there in the first place.

Some women subsequently entered religious institutions, including Magdalene laundries, where women could experience confinement, unpaid labour and harsh treatment. It is another uncomfortable chapter in the history of how vulnerable women were treated in Ireland.

Where Is Monto Today?

Walk through Dublin’s north inner city today and there is little to immediately suggest that this was once the location of one of Europe’s most notorious red-light districts.

Montgomery Street is now Foley Street, while redevelopment has transformed much of the surrounding neighbourhood. Connolly Station still stands nearby, however, and several of the streets associated with the old district remain part of modern Dublin.

It takes some imagination to picture the area as it would have appeared more than a century ago – a maze of tenements, lodging houses, pubs and brothels filled with soldiers, sailors, railway passengers, wealthy visitors and some of the poorest inhabitants of Dublin.

Although the physical Monto has largely disappeared, its stories have survived through books, songs, local folklore and Dublin’s enduring fascination with the darker side of its past.

Discover Dublin’s Darker Side on the Ghostbus Tour

Monto may have disappeared from the streets of modern Dublin, but the darker stories of the city certainly haven’t.

The Ghostbus Tour of Dublin takes you on a journey through centuries of Dublin’s strange and gruesome history, combining live actors, storytelling, comedy and some of the city’s most atmospheric locations.

Along the way you’ll discover stories of grave robbers, notorious Dublin characters, restless spirits and some of the more unsettling episodes from the city’s past – all delivered with the theatrical storytelling and black humour for which the Ghostbus is famous.

Discover the Ghostbus Tour and take a journey into Dublin’s darker side.