To Hell or Monto: The Story of Dublin’s Most Notorious Districts

by Maurice Curtis

There was a time when the two most notorious red-light districts, not only in Ireland but in all of Europe, could be found on the streets of Dublin. Though the name of Monto has endured long in folk memory, the area known as Hell was equally notorious, feared, and renowned in its day. In his new work, Maurice Curtis explores the histories of these dark remnants of Dublin’s past, complete with their gambling, dueling, and vice, their rowdy taverns, and houses of ill repute.

Genres: History, Irish Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2015

Reviews

[Cora Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this to use as research for a short story I was writing, and it proved to be enormously helpful. Lots of good facts, complete with maps and photographs helped me navigate two notorious sections of Dublin as if I were there. There was some repetition--not always a bad thing when you're reading about a bunch of different people, streets, and buildings, but more than I needed. Overall, it was definitely worth the money I spent!

[Deirdre McGing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining read but with caveats. A lot of problematic and sensationalized language is used in the book around sex work (not sure if the author is aware that “prostitute” is now a slur). Lots of hear-say too that’s not backed up anywhere.

Felt like I was on a walking tour as I moved through the book—again it was entertaining to read but I’d question the historical accuracy of much of it.

[AshleyS · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a nice idea to the two areas, which allows a longer time period to be covered.

The writing style is quite dry and the content seems to be largely derived from other books "The Story of Monto" and "Monto: Madams, Murder, and Black Coddle". Different chapters and even paragraphs are poorly connected and the same character or event is introduced multiple times as if for the first time.