It was formerly known as Worlds End Lane and Montgomery Street.

Initially, Foley was known as Worlds End Lane or World's End Lane in the Georgian period, and denoted that the street was at the very edge of the city at the time[2] and its proximity to the shoreline which was known as World's End.

On John Rocque's 1756 map of Dublin, the area shows market gardening and some industrial activity.

The theatre company Anu Productions created an interactive theatrical piece based on the documentary in 2012[7] as part of their four part Monto Cycle of plays.

[8] The Dublin City Council has its art office and gallery space, the LAB, on Foley Street.