Named after the Carmelite friars whose priory lay just 90 metres to the south, this gatehouse appears on John Speed’s 1610 map of Dublin as a rectangular tower with a vaulted archway beneath, marking the western entrance to St Stephen’s Street. The structure’s strategic position at this busy junction made it a crucial checkpoint in Dublin’s medieval streetscape, though today no visible traces remain above ground.

The gatehouse’s history reveals fascinating glimpses of medieval Dublin life through surviving city records. In 1465, Dublin’s City Assembly granted the Carmelite friars permission to build gateways at both ends of the lane running between St Stephen’s Church and St Kevin’s Church, though it remains unclear whether this refers to the Whitefriars’ Gate at the junction or a second gate on Whitefriar Street itself. By 1502, the tower above the gate had become residential property; the assembly records show Sir Nicholas Kenan, a chaplain at St Patrick’s Cathedral, leasing the tower for 31 years at an annual rent of twelve pence and a hundred apples to be delivered to the Mayor each Christmas. The tenant was also responsible for paying whoever maintained the gate’s security.

The exact fate of the medieval gatehouse remains somewhat mysterious. By 1756, John Rocque’s map of Dublin shows a Watch House standing roughly where the medieval gate once stood, though whether this structure incorporated remnants of the old gatehouse or was built nearby is unknown. What is certain is that this corner of Dublin, once marked by its distinctive tower gateway, continued to serve as a point of civic control and surveillance well into the 18th century, maintaining its role as a watched threshold between the city’s quarters long after the medieval walls had lost their defensive purpose.