Clonsilla

St Mary's Church Clonsilla.

Clonsilla (Irish: Cluain Saileach, meaning "meadow of the willow or sally tree") is a suburb of Dublin in the district of Fingal, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Castleknock. Clonsilla is also a parish in the Blanchardstown deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.

Location and access

Clonsilla used to be a small village, but it is now a large residential suburban area, with Ongar and other localities developing their own subsidiary identities. It falls into the Dublin 15 postal district, the Dublin West Dáil constituency and is locally administered by Fingal County Council.

The townland of Clonsilla is in the civil parish of Clonsilla which is in turn in the barony of Castleknock. The barony (an old administrative division) is one of seven and a half comprising County Dublin and stretches from Cabra to Blanchardstown (from east to west) and from Finglas to Chapelizod (from north to south).

Townlands in the civil parish

The Parish of Clonsilla in the seventeenth century comprised the townlands of Ballstown, Barberstown, Blackstaheney, Barnageeth, Clonsillagh, Coolmine, Cusanstown, Hartstown, Huntstown, Ininstown, Killiestown, Luttrellstown, Pibblestown, Ringwellstown, and Little Stackheney.^[1] The table below ^[2] represents the current lists of townlands in the parish.

Transport

Rail

Clonsilla railway station is the main exchange station for commuter services going between Dublin and Maynooth and M3 Parkway lines. Passengers travel to Maynooth to transfer to Dublin to Sligo intercity service. Residents of Ongar and Hansfield can use Hansfield railway station.

Road

Near N3/M3 national road between Cavan and Dublin city centre.

Bus

^[3]

Clonsilla is served by several Dublin Bus routes including the 39, the 39a and the 239 from Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.^[4]

Canal

Clonsilla straddles the Royal Canal in the Fingal and is navigable by barge.

History

Clonsilla used to be home to horse studs including the famous Ongar stud owned by Prince Aga Khan and his then wife Rita Hayworth.

Clonsilla today

Development

There has been significant residential housing development in Clonsilla. Estates such as Mount Symon, Castlefield, Charnwood, Limelawn, Ravenswood, Manorfields, Portersgate, Aldemere, were built during the past 15 years, and Lohunda was also expanded significantly during that time. As a result, the population of the area has risen dramatically over the same period. Clonsilla is roughly equidistant from Blanchardstown and Castleknock.^[5]

Places of interest

• Luttrellstown Castle - dating from the early 15th century and once owned by members of the Guinness family, it is now a hotel, with associated golf course, and was thrown into the spotlight when David Beckham and Victoria Adams married there. American Rock music band R.E.M. also stayed here during the Monster World Tour in 1995.
• The Shackleton Gardens at Beech Park. Home to famous walled garden containing many rare flower species and formerly owned by the Shackleton family. Opposite Luttrellstown Castle.
• Beech Park, a public park opened in May 2009, maintained by Fingal County Council
• The Royal Canal. Many varied species of freshwater fish such as pike, perch and roach can be caught along the banks of the canal.

Education

Clonsilla has a number of national schools, including St. Mochta's, St. Philips, St. Ciarans (Hartstown), and Scoil Choilm Community National School (Porterstown). There are five secondary schools in the vicinity, Hartstown Community School, Castleknock Community College, Coolmine Community School, Luttrellstown Community College and Castleknock College. There is also an Educate Together primary and second level school located in Hansfield, Clonsilla.

Hartsown Community School

Sport

The local Gaelic Athletic Association club is St. Peregrines GAA. The local Football Club is St.Mochta's FC, Porterstown Rd., Clonsilla.

People

• The Ipswich Town player Mark Kennedy (footballer) is from Clonsilla and started his career at St.Mochta's FC.
• Thomas Luttrell of Luttrellstown Castle ( died 1554 ) Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, was buried in Clonsilla and left a bequest to build a chapel in his memory.
• Emma Ledden, TV and radio presenter, is from Clonsilla.
• Glen Crowe is an Irish professional football forward. He was a prolific goalscorer in the League of Ireland and has represented the Republic of Ireland national football team on two occasions. Crowe has played for Wolves, Bohemians, Shelbourne and Sporting Fingal. Glen was born and raised in the Clonsilla area.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

• Mount Symon Residents Association
• Fingal County Council
• The Dublin 15 Community Council
• Hartstown Community School
• Inland Waterways Association of Ireland

References

53°23′N 6°25′W / 53.383°N 6.417°W / 53.383; -6.417