Shankill, Dublin

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Shankill Seanchill
Location
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County:	Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County
Area:	6.4 sq km
Elevation:	30m
Population (2006)	13,242

Shankill (Irish: Seanchill, meaning Old Church) is a suburb of Dublin located in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It had a population of 13,242 as of the 2006 census.

[edit] History

[edit] Name

The name Shankill derives from the Irish Seanchill, meaning Old Church. However, there is little evidence of any religious activity or a church in the area at the time when this name was first used, and so it is said that the name actually comes from the Irish Sean Coillte, meaning Old Woods.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dark Ages

Shankill features a number of antiquities, including raths and cromlechs. Around 1230, there were forests that were cleared under the orders of the then owner of Shankill, Archbishop Luke. Courts for serious crimes in the style of assizes were conducted at Shankill during this period. To keep the native Gaelic Irish out, parts of the townland were protected by fortified gates.

The manor of Shankill was overrun by the Irish and completely destroyed a century later. In response to these incursions, a large garrison was re-instated. The Irish were restrained from entering and the land was eventually re-let as grazing land.

[edit] Middle Ages

The Lawless family feature prominently in the history of Shankill. In 1408, family members had control of the seigniory of Shanganagh. Several Lawlesses became residents of Shankill by the 1480s.

Several castles which still stand today, Shankill Castle and Shanganagh Castle, as well as a strong house, called Puck's Castle, were built between 1400 and 1600. The Walsh family comes to prominence in the 1500s, building defensive structures throughout Shankill.

From 1640 onwards, the Irish were subdued in numerous battles, which led to greater agricultural use of the lands and consequent prosperity. Shankill was taken into the Rathmichael parish, becoming more populous.

The Walshes quit the lands of Shankill, primarily due to the Act of Commonwealth that redistributed landowners and tenancies. After this, the Lawless families regained possession for the third time of all of Shankill. The last Lawless died in 1795, whereupon the lands became the possessions of the third Sir William Domvile, resident of nearby Loughlinstown House. The Domvile family was granted the lands surrounding Loughlinstown under the Restoration.

[edit] 19th century

Shankill and Rathmichael were at that time the property of Sir Charles Compton William Domvile (1822–1884). Domvile was known as an uncompromising and ruthless landlord, and sought to change the usage of land from the smallholdings that existed at the time of his inheritance of the estate.

Domvile intended to build grand Georgian style housing developments, squares and streets, to gentrify the area, making it attractive for wealthy Dublin based professionals to live. It must be remembered that at this time Shankill was essentially a rural village.

During Domvile’s time, new roads and streets were laid out, as well as large water mains which feed a relief tank from Vartry Reservoir, continuing on to Stillorgan reservoir.

However, Domvile was an impetuous man, and acted unreasonably with his tenants and prospective buyers of estates on his holdings. His personal debts mounted as a result of his financing two large estates at Shankill and Santry, ultimately resulting in his bankruptcy.

The net outcome of Domvile’s actions was to halve the population of Shankill and Rathmichael during the 1860s. He evicted over 100 tenants, during a period of grinding poverty, and many were forced to re-negotiate their tenancies at usurious rates. Many of the evicted ended up in the local workhouse, the Rathdown Work Union, which is now the site of Loughlinstown Hospital.

A landowner with holdings adjacent to the Shankill townland, Benjamin Tilly, granted quarter-acre holdings to several of the evicted tenants. Tilly’s land straddled the townland border into Shanganagh, and the new holdings along the Shanganagh Road became known as Tillystown. In 1871, there were over 60 houses, and at the turn of the century, this village became known as Shankill proper.

In 1911, a large tract of land to the west of Shankill, known as New Vale, was developed as labourers' cottages.

[edit] 20th, 21st centuries

Shankill initially comprised large agricultural tracts broken into smallholdings for tenant farmers, and larger, grander estates with fine country houses, many which still exist today. Large housing estates have been built on many of these estates, of varying size and quality. Recently, tracts of land such as the caravan park and young offenders prison have been sold to developers, who have built higher density housing than the larger plot housing estates constructed in the 1970s.

There are a large number of local authority housing developments, notably Rathsallagh and Shanganagh Cliffs estates, located near Shankill DART station, stretching to the coastline. Smaller developments are also found on Quinn’s Road.

In recent times, several property developers have purchased adjacent large houses with the intention of developing apartment complexes.

[edit] Geography

The townland of Shankill was originally located on lands further northwest at Puck’s Castle. Today, the area of Shankill can be taken to include the lands of Rathmichael and Shankill, an area of around 1,600 acres. The townlands are bordered roughly by the points between Carrickgollogan hill (252m) to the west, the Ballycorus Leadmines to the northwest, Loughlinstown hospital to the north, stretching to the coast from Rathsallagh River to the southern boundary of Tyrell’s land.

The modern Shankill village centre consists mainly of a single street, with many amenities such as shops, pubs and other services. The village is located on the road between Shankill church and Bray.

To the north of modern Shankill is Killiney, with its prominent hill, to the south, the large town of Bray, County Wicklow.

[edit] Local antiquities

There are several antiquities in the area including ruined churches and standing stones. The ruins of several castles and defensive type structures remain, including Puck's Castle, Shankill Castle, Shanganagh Castle and a Martello Tower.

Some houses of architectural note include Clontra, a coastal Gothic mansion, Crinken Castle House, Crinken, and Shanganagh House, an imposing mansion now surrounded by housing estates built during the 1960s. Clontra was built for Dublin solicitor James Lawson and designed by eminent 19th century architects Sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward in their trademark Italian medieval style. They are better known for their work on the Kildare Street Club and the museum building at Trinity College, Dublin. The local library is itself of note, formerly a courthouse built in an old Victorian style of granite and mock Tudor features. There are also some follys such as a mock round tower built of red brick in the Castle Farm Farmyard.

Traces of South Dublin's industrial heritage remain, such as the lead mine chimney. Other features of note include the 'upside down' houses by the Harcourt Street railway line bridge, which was the site of the original post office, and has its guest rooms downstairs, and its kitchen and living room upstairs. Shankill was accessible via the original Kingstown-Bray train line, which is now five metres from the sea in some places. A coastal wall was built from Killiney to Bray to try to stop the erosion; traces of this can still be seen along the beach. The medieval village of Longnon was sited some 200 yards east of Quinn’s Road beach, but was completely obliterated by coastal erosion.

[edit] Ballycorus Leadmines

Main article: Ballycorus Leadmines

Site of a lead ore smelter, a mile long stone flue and a granite chumney on Carrickgollogan hill, which is visible from much of southeast Dublin.^[1]

[edit] Dorney Court House

Large estate with stand of Sequoia and Scots Pine trees.

[edit] Carnegie Library

Tudor-style library, architect R. M. Butler, 1912.^[2]

[edit] Clontra

Gothic mansion designed by Deane and Woodward, on 15 acres of parkland by the coast.^[3]

[edit] Ferndale House

Large estate on several acres, seat of David Plunket, 1st Baron Rathmore.

[edit] Mullinastill House

Former mill house, listed structure, set for several film scenes.

[edit] Old Harcourt Street line

Former railroad running from Dublin to Bray; closed in 1958.

[edit] Defunct train line

A spur at Tyrell’s land to the main Dublin-Bray line. Closed in 1915.

[edit] Puck’s Castle

The "castle", actually an unfortified house, was built in the late 16th century. It provided a refuge in 1690 for James II and his army fleeing the Battle of the Boyne. One explanation for its name is that a ghost or puca inhabited the castle.^[4]

[edit] Rathmichael Church

Built under Charles Domvile, designed by Deane and Woodward.

[edit] Rosedale House

Victorian country house, built by Guinness master brewer Penny.

[edit] Shanganagh Castle

Located near Mill Lane, and originally built in 1408 by the Lawless family and inhabited by their descendants until 1763, the castle was left in ruins by a fire.

During the late 18th century, a mansion of the same name was rebuilt on extensive lands at the border of Shankill with County Wicklow. It was used as an open prison for juveniles between 1969 and 2002.^[5][6]

[edit] Shanganagh House

A Georgian-era mansion, surrounded by council housing estates built during the 1960s.^[7]

[edit] Shankill Castle

Built by Archbishop Henry de Loundres in 1229; site of the ancient Shankill church.^[8][9]

[edit] Gallery

Shanganagh House.

Crinken.

The old Shankill station house, hidden behind modern offices.

[edit] Amenities

Sporting options in the area include two soccer teams, Vale View Shankill FC, which caters for senior and schoolboy football, and RSFC who cater for junior football. There is also a Bowling Club with an all-weather surface.

One of the leading tennis clubs in South Dublin, Shankill Tennis Club, which opened a new €940,000 clubhouse during 2007, is located on Quinn's Road. During the year, the club won the Dublin Class 1 Under 14 Championships. As well as the option to join the club, everyone is welcome to 'pay and play' on an hourly basis. Coaching is available to both members and non-members.

There is one pub and restaurant complex in Shankill; Brady's, Mickey Byrne's, and Grace's Garden, and the village is served by grocery and convenience stores. The local credit union has a substantial office on the main street. There is also a public library, and until recently, Shankill featured one of Dublin's few remaining campgrounds, the site of which has since been developed into a flat complex.

Shankill (including Rathmichael) has three schools; Saint Anne's National School, Rathmichael Parish School, and Scoil Mhuire. It is also home to a large Naionra, an Irish language school.

The village has a Catholic church, while the church in nearby Rathmichael is Church of Ireland. Like its namesake, the Shankill district of Belfast, Dublin's Shankill also has its own Falls Road. Occasionally the primary schools and community groups in both Shankills hold football or other sporting events to promote better north-south relationships. Shankill native Charlie Martin received an honorary MBE in April 2006 for his work in this field.

[edit] Famous residents

• Des Cahill, RTÉ sports commentator and pundit.
• Padraig Harrington, international golfer.
• Chris Horn, founder of multinational technology company IONA.
• George Morrison, director of Mise Éire and other documentaries.

[edit] Transport

There is a Dublin Area Rapid Transit station located in Shankill; it is the third last stop on the south side of the line. The old Harcourt Street railway line also connected close to the village centre. The Dublin Transportation Office's 'Platform for Change' strategy envisaged reopening this as a metro connection, connecting with the existing Luas green line. However, the recently announced Luas line B2 extension will instead now run parallel to the M11, not through Shankill on the old railway alignment.

The N11 national route used to run through the village, until the M11 bypass was built nearby. The newly completed southeastern motorway section of the M50 connects to the M11 at neighbouring Rathmichael.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
• Shankill Tennis Club
• Shankill weather

Coordinates: 53.226° N 6.124° W