- Clondalkin
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Clondalkin
Cluain Dolcáin— Town — Location in Ireland
ClondalkinCoordinates: 53°19′07″N 6°24′33″W / 53.31866°N 6.40919°WCoordinates: 53°19′07″N 6°24′33″W / 53.31866°N 6.40919°W Country Ireland Province Leinster County South Dublin Government – Dáil Éireann Dublin Mid West – South Dublin County Council Local electoral area Clondalkin Population (2011) – Urban 45,165 Time zone WET (UTC+0) – Summer (DST) IST (WEST) (UTC-1) Irish Grid Reference Clondalkin (Irish: Cluain Dolcáin, meaning "Dolcan's meadow") is a suburb situated 10 km west of Dublin, Ireland, in the administrative county of South Dublin. The name is also used in relation to the area's religious parishes.
Clondalkin is home to an eighth-century round tower that acts as a focal point for the area. Acknowledged as one of the oldest and best preserved[1] in the country (despite numerous storms and an explosion which destroyed the local mill in 1856),[citation needed] it is 25.6 metres high and has its original conical cap.[1]
Contents
History
View from 1820
Clondalkin is believed to have been founded by Saint Mochua as a monastic settlement on the River Camac over 1,400 years ago; the round tower was built around a century later (circa 700 AD) as part of the monastery. By the eighth century, Saint Fugillus was Bishop of Clondalkin and noted gospel manuscripts were produced - the most famous of these being the Clondalkin mass book which is on display in Karlsruhe, Limburg, Germany.[citation needed] Clondalkin was sacked by Vikings from Denmark in 832 AD, and the monastery was burned to the ground. One of the early Norse kings of Dublin, Amlaíb Conung, built a fortress on the site in the middle of the 9th century. In 867 a force led by Cennétig mac Gaíthéne, king of Loígis, burned the fortress at Clondalkin and killed 100 of Amlaíb's followers. The district remained under Danish control until the Viking defeat by Brian Boru at the famous Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Clondalkin witnessed another historic event during the Norman invasion in 1171 when there was a battle there between Richard de Clare (Strongbow) and the last High King of Ireland Ruairi O Conchúir.
Centuries later, Clondalkin was the scene for some of the fighting in the 1641 Rebellion, when the Gaelic Irish in Ulster, and later in the rest of the kingdom, and the Old English in the Pale of Leinster rebelled against rule from Westminster.[2][3] (Ireland had its own parliament at this time, but it was severely limited in its powers, e.g. by Poynings' Law.) The rebels had taken hold of the town, but it was quickly seized and burned by English soldiers, who then massacred the civilian population.[citation needed]
Historical populations Year Pop. ±% 1821 597 — 1831 1,632 +173.4% 1841 505 −69.1% 1851 474 −6.1% 1861 668 +40.9% 1871 470 −29.6% 1881 379 −19.4% 1891 310 −18.2% 1901 276 −11.0% 1911 271 −1.8% 1926 345 +27.3% 1936 598 +73.3% 1946 1,042 +74.2% 1951 1,432 +37.4% 1956 3,105 +116.8% 1961 3,434 +10.6% 1966 5,079 +47.9% 1971 7,009 +38.0% 1981 23,444 +234.5% 1986 34,879 +48.8% 1991 38,489 +10.4% 1996 41,335 +7.4% 2002 42,729 +3.4% 2006 43,879 +2.7% 2011 45,165 +2.9% [4] Today
Modern Clondalkin is a busy satellite town of Dublin, with a population of 43,929 in 2006. Retail facilities include Tesco Ireland- and Dunnes Stores-led shopping centres, and Aldi and Lidl stores on the Fonthill Road and New Nangor Road respectively, and the village centre is a base for small businesses including solicitors, restaurants, pubs, hairdressers, pharmacies and more recently a tattoo and body piercing studio.
Clondalkin has a branch of South Dublin Libraries in a building which used to house a Carnegie library.[5] It also has a post office.
Clondalkin also plays host to a large number of online businesses including well known websites such as Elara - a company who specialises in the supply of computer hardware and related products, Get Broadband - broadband comparison website, Office Spot - office supplies and stationery company, Hosting 365 - website hosting and domain registration company, and Dublinplumber - plumbing company founded in Clondalkin. The attraction for online businesses is it's location, great internet facilities and communications infrastructure, an accessible location and modern office space in the Park West and Nangor road area.
Transport
Clondalkin is served by public transport to Dublin city centre, to nearby suburbs, and to neighbouring towns.
Dublin Bus provide bus routes including the 13, 68, 69, 76, 78a and 151. Many of these run from areas near Clondalkin, such as Rathcoole, into the city centre via Clondalkin. Some services, such as the 210, do not service the city centre.
The Luas Red Line runs from the Red Cow Roundabout park and ride station providing links to the town square in Tallaght and Dublin city centre. However, the Luas station is approximately half an hour's walk from Clondalkin village.
Clondalkin railway station opened on 4 August 1846 and was closed for goods traffic on 9 June 1947.[6] Commuter trains are operated by Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) and run between Heuston station in Dublin and Kildare Town in County Kildare.[7] A new station, to replace rather than supplement the previous station, has been built at Fonthill, north of Bawnogue.[8]
Bus Éireann services stop to collect and set down passengers at Newlands Cross, on the N7 road near Clondalkin. These services have destinations all over the west and south of the country; services to the north do not pass Newlands Cross.
Clondalkin is on the preferred route for the proposed Dublin Metro West line, as of the announcement of the preferred route in 2007.[9] The Metro is intended to provide a transport link from Dublin city centre to Dublin Airport which will not have to go through street traffic. It is proposed that the Metro will have stations near Luas and train stations in some cases, including at Clondalkin train station.
Representation
Clondalkin is in the Dublin Mid West Dáil Éireann constituency, and mostly in the Clondalkin Local Electoral Area for county council elections (with Rathcoole, Newcastle and Saggart), with parts in the Tallaght Central Local Electoral Area.
Media
Two local newspapers, the Clondalkin Echo and Clondalkin Gazette, serve the area. The latter is published by Gazette Group Newspapers (part-owned by the Irish Times), and was launched in October 2005.[10]
Sport
The town's oldest sports club is the Round Towers GAA Club, which was founded in December 1884 and is located on Convent Road. Club members have represented Dublin in inter-county competition since the nineteenth century, when Tom Errity won All-Ireland Senior Football medals in 1892, 1894, 1898, 1899 and 1902. More recently, Jim Gavin won an All-Ireland senior medal with Dublin in 1995.
Rugby union is played at Clondalkin Rugby Club, Kingswood,[11] who were winners of the 2006 Spencer Cup and 2006 Under-18 Premier League. The club was formed in 1974 and fields four senior teams and under 19s, 17s, 15s and other youth teams.
The town's two main association football teams are Moyle Park Past Pupils FC,[12] and Neilstown Rangers (past winners of the FAI Junior Cup), with Booth Road Celtic emerging in the Sruleen community. Castle Park F.C. is another Club on the rise over the last number of years.
In basketball, Clondalkin Lakers has teams playing in Division 1 and 3 of the Dublin Men Basketball League, and is based in Clondalkin Sports and Leisure Complex. Leinster Lions basketball team is located in Moyle Park College and Colaiste Bride (U18s boys only).
The National Baseball Facility in Ireland, O'Malley Field, is located in Corkagh Demesne Park, in southwest Clondalkin. This is the home of the Irish national baseball team.[13]
Bernard Dunne the former WBA Super Bantamweight World Champion is from Neilstown in Clondalkin.
Kenny Egan, winner of a silver medal for boxing in the 2008 Olympics, comes from Clondalkin, originally Woodford estate.[14]
Education
Clondalkin has a number of schools from many different denominations, including Clonburris National School, St. Joseph's Boys National School, Scoil Íde, Scoil Áine, St John's, Scoil Mhuire, Moyle Park College (boys only), Talbot S.N.S, Scoil Nano Nagle, Deansrath Community College, Coláiste Bríde (girls only) and three Irish-language schools - Coláiste Chilliain, Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin, and Gaelscoil na Camóige. It also has a range of Secondary level colleges including St. Kevin’s Community College on the Fonthill Road and Collinstown College in Neilstown.
Local organisations
Community organisations include a unit of Toastmasters International,[15] an Order of Malta branch and several youth groups - including Clondalkin Youth Theatre (associated with the Irish National Association for Youth Drama).
The town is also home to St Joseph's Pipe band (established in 1937).
The Clondalkin Youth Band was founded in 1986. A marching band, CYB participates in marching, concert and field-show championships, and is consistently ranked among the top bands in Ireland. In 2009, the band won the All-Ireland concert band championships in Cork. The band has numerous European gold medals under its belt, and in 2005 they gained a World Silver Standard Award at the WMC, Kerkrade. Then, at the WMC 2009, the band picked up a gold standard award, and finished 7th out of 20 bands in their category, ranking them the highest out of the Irish bands to participate in the competition.
Áras Chrónáin, [16] which promotes Irish language and culture (e.g. music and dancing), operates in the village.
Notable people
- Katharine Tynan, novelist
- Graham Norton, comedian and presenter
- Corrina Durran, member of girlband Wonderland
- Mic Christopher, singer-songwriter
- Bernard Dunne, boxer
- Kenny Egan, boxer
- Stephen Quinn, professional footballer
- Brendan Courtney, comedian and television host
- Therese Ridge, Fine Gael politician
- Mary Kennedy, RTÉ television host
- Jim Gavin, Gaelic footballer and manager
- Neil O'Donoghue, American footballer
- Derek Murray, Gaelic footballer
- Cathal Mac Coille, broadcaster and journalist
- Dean McCarthy, dancer and actor
- Sinéad Mulvey, singer, represented Ireland in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest
- Aidan Turner, actor
- Brian Ormond, RTÉ television host
External links
- ^ a b Irish-architecture.com - Round Tower, Clondalkin, Dublin
- ^ Beckett, James Camlin (1981). The making of modern Ireland: 1603-1923. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-18036-1.
- ^ Davies, Norman (1999). The Isles: a history. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-76370.
- ^ http://www.cso.ie/census and www.histpop.org. Post 1991 populations include the total for the Greater Dublin suburbs of Clondalkin village, Clondalkin -Ballymount, Clondalkin -Cappaghmore, Clondalkin-Dunawley, Clondalkin-Monastery, Clondalkin-Moorfield, and Clondalkin-Rowlagh. For a discussion on the accuracy of pre-famine census returns see JJ Lee “On the accuracy of the pre-famine Irish censuses” in Irish Population, Economy and Society edited by JM Goldstrom and LA Clarkson (1981) p54, and also “New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850” by Joel Mokyr and Cormac Ó Gráda in The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov., 1984), pp. 473-488.
- ^ "Clondalkin". South Dublin Libraries. http://www.southdublinlibraries.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=62. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ "Clondalkin station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ^ "Your journey, your station". Irish Rail. http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp?letter=C&action=showdetail&station_id=38. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ "New train station at Fonthill Clondalkin opened". National Development Plan. http://www.ndp.ie/docs/New_Train_Station_at_Fonthill_Clondalkin_opened_-_13_October/2153.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ^ "Metro Orbital (Metro West)". Railway Procurement Agency. http://www.rpa.ie/en/projects/metro_orbital/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-06-30.[dead link]
- ^ See Gazette Group
- ^ http://www.clondalkinrugby.com/
- ^ http://www.moyleparkppfc.com/
- ^ "Baseball Ireland home page". Baseball Ireland. http://www.baseballireland.com. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ Newenham, Pamela (August 27, 2008). "Over 1,000 welcome Egan home". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0827/1219680033030.html. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
- ^ Clondalkin Toastmasters club
- ^ http://www.araschronain.ie/home.html
Categories:- Clondalkin
- Towns and villages in South Dublin (county)
- Towers in the Republic of Ireland
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