The street is named for the House of Brunswick, holders of the British and Irish crown from 1714 to 1901.

The street formed from medieval times as a natural connecting point between two of the main routes out of the city before the River Liffey's tidal estuary.

[4] By the time of John Rocques's map of 1756, it is firmly shown as Channel Row with buildings taking up most of both its northern and southern sides.

[5] In 1773, Dublin's second house of industry opened in a former malthouse on the street.

[9][10] Many of the buildings now form elements of the Grangegorman campus of the Technological University Dublin.