Booterstown

Booterstown ("Baile an Bhóthair" in Irish) is a coastal townland and civil parish, situated in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council about km to mi | 8 | abbr=yes | precision=0 south of the city of Dublin in Ireland. Along the coast to the southeast is the small district of Williamstown and then Blackrock.

The area is home to Booterstown marsh, a well-known bird sanctuary which has been leased for many years by An Taisce, who have worked to protect it.

Name and history

The name "Booterstown" is an anglicised form of the original Irish Gaelic name "Baile an Bhóthair", meaning Town of the Road.

The Congregation of the Irish Christian Brothers had their headquarters at St. Helen's, Booterstown from 1925 to 1988. St. Helen's was built in 1760 for Thomas Cooley, MP and was known originally as "Seamount". It was extensively refurbished a century later while in the ownership of Viscount Gough, Field Marshal of the British Army whose wife Marie Frances opened the gardens to the public. The house is now a hotel of The Radisson Group.

Kevin O'Higgins, Minister for Justice in the Government of The Irish Free State was assassinated on the Booterstown end of "Cross Avenue" on his way to mass at the local parish church, on 10 July 1927 by members of the IRA whose ire he had aroused by ordering the execution of many republicans during his tenure in office. In later years, it became known that he was the lover of Lady Lavery, wife of Sir John Lavery and whose portrait appeared on Irish currency notes over many years from the foundation of the State.

Community

Booterstown is home to, among various schools, Coláiste Eoin and Coláiste Íosagáin, two Irish language schools. It is also home to St. Andrew's College, which moved here from Clyde Road in 1973.

The Catholic Church of the Assumption is a focal point of the area.

Transport

Booterstown is serviced by the DART, with a railway station between the stops of Blackrock and Sydney Parade. Booterstown railway station opened in January 1835. [cite web | title=Booterstown station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | accessdate=2007-08-31]

ee also

* List of towns in the Republic of Ireland

References

* [http://www.birdweb.net/booterstown.html Birdweb item on Friends of Booterstown marsh]