The street is part of the area developed by Humphrey Jervis after 1674 and named after him. Jervis purchased a portion of the St Mary's Abbey estate in 1674,[1] on which he developed. Jervis Street first appears on maps in 1728.[2] He also developed Stafford Street, now Wolfe Tone Street, Capel Street and Mary Street.[1]
In 1913, Jervis Street was one of the streets photographed by John Cooke, Honorary Treasurer of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), for presentation to the Dublin Housing Inquiry into the conditions of housing of the working classes of Dublin.[6]