Santry

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Santry (Irish: Seantrabh, meaning Old tribe) is a suburb on the Northside of Dublin, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin and Ballymun. Today it straddles the boundary of Dublin City and the new Fingal County Council area.

The character of the area has changed in the last 100 years, from a district centred on a large estate, and later small village, to a modern, rather dispersed, mixed-use suburb. Much of the old village is gone and where there were once fields full of crops, and wild woodlands of all sorts there are now housing estates, an athletics stadium, a shopping complex, industrial parks and busy roads leading to Dublin Airport. Morton Stadium is now the home to the newest League of Ireland club - Sporting Fingal, until their permanent home ground is constructed in the Swords/Donabate area.

Where the new Santry Demesne public park is situated was once a palatial old house and gardens, built in the 1700s. This was once the largest house in North County Dublin and people traveled from far and wide to be received by the owners - the Barry Family. Many clues of the house still exist and the park is worth visiting to find the house foundations, front steps, tree-avenue and walled garden. A small bend in the Santry River (which forms the boundary of the park today) was widened to create a small pond for the boating pleasure of Georgian Ladies and Gentlemen who resided at, and visited the house.

1 History
2 Swiss Cottages
3 Transport
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The ancient history of the area is interesting. Santry is an anglicisation of the Irish placename Shean Triabh (pronounced Shan-treev) which literally means "old tribe". Although nobody can be quite sure, the book of Leccan refers to a tribe called the Almanii who inhabited the area, who might have been the source of the name.

During the Viking invasions a number of peaceful Norse farmers moved into the North Dublin area, which proved to be excellent farmland. These Norsemen were famous for their agricultural prowess, crafts and fishing skills. They also brought new pastimes and strange Scandinavian phrases which are thought to survive to today further away from the city. The gregarious, direct, rogueish and outgoing character of the Norsemen may be something that endures with what Dublin people understand as a "Northsider".

After this time people began to refer to the area from Santry and North to Swords, Lusk, the Naul and beyond as "Fingal", which translates as Fair-Haired Foreigner. The name was confined to songs, poems, folk memory and some antiquarian titles until a re-organization of Local Government in the 1990s set up County Fingal and Fingal County Council.

In the 12th century, the neighbourhood of Santry was plundered by Murcadh Ua Maeleachlain, King of Meath, in revenge for the death of his son at he hand of Mac Gilla Mocholmog, chief of Fingal, who sets his base in Santry.

In 1581 Santry was awarded to William Nugent who then lost it after falling out of favour with the Crown. The Barry family became the Lords of Santry where they remained for several generations. King Charles II made Sir James Barry, then only a knight, Baron of Santry (for services rendered). By this time the territory of Fingal had long been absorbed into the County of Dublin, initiated by King John in the 1200's.

Santry was the scene of violence in the early months of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, when a punitive expedition led by Sir Charles Coote massacred a group of local farm labourers, who were sleeping in the fields there. Coote had assumed they were rebels who were preparing to attack Dublin.

During the Williamite war in Ireland, in 1690, the Catholic King James stationed his Jacobite army just to the west of Santry, near Balcurris (now Ballymun) before setting out to oppose William of Orange at the battle of the Boyne.

In the Irish Rebellion of 1798 United Irishmen from all over Fingal marched south towards Dublin city but were met by a company of local Yeomanry (government miliita) from Santry village and were massacred. The bloodshed was so bad that the area at the Northern gateway to Santry Demesne (now near the Little Venice Restaurant) was known as "Bloody Hollows" for several years after.

[edit] Swiss Cottages

The expansion of Santry was inevitable given the northward sprawl of Dublin City. The Swiss Cottages that are still associated with Santry no longer exist. The cottages were built in 1702 by Lady Domville who, after a visit to Switzerland, decided to build 11 Swiss style cottages for visiting gentry. Unfortunately 10 of the 11 cottages were destroyed by fire in 1902. While the last remaining cottage still stands in Santry, it isn’t in its original conception. The building was adapted into an office block in 1984 and today houses a pharmacy. Morton Stadium now stands on the site of the Barry gardens of the Barry mansion. The only contemporary reminder of the Swiss Cottages is found on the name of a local pub, ‘The Swiss Cottage’.

[edit] Transport

Public Transport in Santry is made up of bus routes, operated by Dublin Bus, running through the Swords Road ^[1].

16 - From Ballinteer to Santry
16a - From Lower Rathfarnam to Dublin Airport
17a - From Finglas to Kilbarrick Dart Staion via Santry
27b - From Harristown to Eden Quay - turns away from Santry at the Santry Demesne junction
33 - From Balbriggan to Lower Abbey Street
41 - From Swords Manor to Lower Abbey Street
41a - From Swords Manor to Lower Abbey Street (no return service)
41b - From Rolestown to Lower Abbey Street
41c - From Swords Manor to Lower Abbey Street
103 - From Clontarf Dart Station to Omni Shopping Centre
104 - From Clontarf Dart Station to Cappagh Hospital
746 - Dublin Airport to Dun Laoghaire

There are plans for an underground metro which will run through Ballymun, a nearby area.