Coolock Local History Blog

Guest Post: ‘The Village of Artane’, 1908

Eoin Bairéad writes:

I came across this in a little history of Donnycarney, written sometime in the 1970s by the local Labour Party. The name “Jack Teeling” is hand-written at the end of the verse.

I put it on the Killester Facebook page, and relatives of Jack Teeling contacted me – absolutely wonderful

Digitised leaflet available here: Donnycarney Booklet

The Village of Artane, 1908

I love the village of Artane, where I spent my youthful days
I love its dear old neighbours, their generous homely ways
That’s where we used to dance and sing around Killester Lane
Along with the boys and girls I knew from the village of Artane.

We had a cabin for a clubroom with a roof of ancient thatch
That’s where the Parnells gathered, to discuss their football match
We had musicians and comedians and tenors to entertain
Our friends, from around the district and the village of Artane

We had a few step dancers and I am sure they could compare
With either Ginger Rodgers or the famous Fred Astaire
We had no bus or cinema but of that I don’t complain
We had twice as good as Hollywood in the village of Artane

I remember in my time the old village had a king
Although his castle was pulled down his praise I’d like to sing
He retired like a hermit for the reason I’ve explained
With the faith of our Irish martyrs did this monarch of Artane

But the old place has changed now – some say it’s for the best
Some of our friends have departed to their final place of rest
Others have emigrated but there is still a few remain
Who will remember the happy days we spent around the village of Artane

Now to conclude and finish I think it’s only fair
For our dear departed neighbours we could offer up a prayer
May they rest in peace eternal may we ever more retain
The tradition of our ancestors around the village of Artane

Jack Teeling

 

Lecture on history of Coolock & Artane

At 7pm on Thursday, 23rd November 2017, there will be a lecture by Ruth McManus entitled From fields to family homes: developing Coolock, Artane and surrounds from 1950s in Parnell’s GAA Club, Coolock Village.

Additionally, a new Coolock History Society will be set up.

H/T: @HistFest on Twitter.

Coolock in 1837

This is an entry from Samuel Lewis’ A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837. It provides a pretty thorough description of Coolock, from the soil quality to the number of inhabitants, as well as its ‘big houses’, churches and schools. I have added some footnotes to expand on a few points mentioned by Lewis.

If you fancy perusing a map of Coolock from about this time, check out the Ordnance Survey Ireland website, specifically their mapviewer (click to open), which is free to use. On the right-hand menu choose ‘Historic 6″ B&W’ which is a bit easier to see than the colour version. The 6″ map dates from 1829-41 so suits Lewis very well.

Coolock, a parish, in the barony of Coolock, county of Dublin, and province of Leinster, 3 3/4 miles (N.N.E) from Dublin, on the road to Malahide; containing, 914 inhabitants, of which number, 190 are in the village, which contains 26 houses, and is a constabulary police station1. The parish comprises 1691 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act: the soil is fertile, and well adapted for corn. Limestone abounds, and a quarry near the glebe-house is worked for agricultural and other purposes.2

There are numerous handsome seats and pleasant villas, from most of which are fine views of the bay and city of Dublin, with the adjacent country. Of these the principal are

Beaumont, residence of A. Guinness, Esq.3
Newbrook, of E.H. Casey, Esq.
Belcamp, of Sir H. M. J. W. Jervis, Bart.
Brookeville, of R. Law, Esq.
Coolock House, of H. Brooke, Esq.
Coolock Lodge, of T. Sherrard, Esq.
Shrubs, of W. White, Esq.
Bonnybrook, of T.W. White, Esq.
Newbury Hill, of A. Ong, Esq.
Priors Wood, of T. Cosgrove, Esq.
Gracefield, of R. Eames, Esq.
Lark Hill, of E. Hickson, Esq.
Moatfield, of M. Staunton, Esq.
Darendale, of F. Gogarty, Esq.
Clare Grove, of General A. Cuppage
Airfield, of Alderman Sir E. Nugent, Knt.
Cameron Lodge, of H. Jones, Esq.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, and in the patronage of the Marquess of Drogheda, in whom the rectory is impropriate: the vicarial tithes amount to £249.4.71/2. There is a glebe house, with a glebe comprising 17a, 2r, 25p. The church, dedicated to St. Brandon, a neat edifice, was partly rebuilt and enlarged, by aid of a loan of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1818.

In the R.C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Clontarf. The chapel was erected in 1831, at an expense of £800, raised by subscription : it is a very neat edifice, in the later English style, with a belfry over the principal entrance ; the interior is very well arranged and neatly decorated.4

The parochial school, for which a house was built at an expense of £300, the gift of Sir. Compton Domville, Bart., is supported by subscription, and attended by 30 or 40 children.5

A school of 30 children, for which a handsome cottage has been built in the grounds of Beaumont, and an infants’ school in connection with it, are wholly supported by Mrs. Guiness ; and in connection with the R.C. chapel is a school to which W. Sweetman, Esq., gives £20 per annum.

On a common near the church which is now enclosed, a great concourse of persons connected with Emmet’s insurrection was assembled, ready to march into Dublin at the appointed signal. In the grounds of Newbrook, through which flows a small stream, are the walls of a holy well, dedicated to St. Donagh ; the spot is much resorted to, on St. John’s Eve, by poor sick people, who, after rubbing themselves against the walls, wash in a well in the adjoining grounds of Donaghmede.6 In the grounds of Shrubs was anciently a nunnery and human bones are frequently dug up there.7 There are ancient raths in the grounds of Bonnybrook and Moatfield.8

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1 This refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary who had come into force the previous year in 1836. A separate police force, the Dublin Metropolitan Police, were in the capital. They were replaced in 1922 by the Garda Síochána.

2 The quarry was situated in the present day park at Millbrook Avenue and Streamstown Road in Donaghmede. (If this park has a name, I can’t find it.) Essentially, it was just behind the Donahies School. The Glebe House referred to was situated where the youth centre is on the Tongalee Road.

Quarry
Quarry pictured on 6″ Ordnance Survey Ireland map.

3   Yes, it is that Arthur Guinness. However, he had died in 1803. This building still exists and is now part of Beaumont Nursing Home. I will discuss these ‘big houses’ individually in later posts.

4  Now known as St. Brendan’s, a thatched chapel had been erected in 1820, with a larger chapel built in 1831. Apparently, the foundation stone of the 1831 chapel is now in the garden of the present day Community Centre.

This school stood where the Bank of Ireland is in the village today.

6 St. Donagh’s Well seems to have been located in what is now the green between Holy Well and St. Donagh’s Road in Donaghmede.

7 Shrubs House stood on the hill where Atlantic Homecare is, opposite Northside Shopping Centre. The bridge there over the Santry River was known as Shrubs Bridge.

8 Moatfield House stood just outside Coolock Village, where Cadbury’s is today, and the mound can still be seen. Bonnybrook House was located where Riverside Road is today.

A historical walk of Coolock with Pat Liddy

Last summer, Pat Liddy hosted a historical walk of Coolock which took in Cadbury’s, Mercy College, St. Brendan’s Church and St. John the Evangelist Church.

NearFM have uploaded the footage to Vimeo and it can be watched below.

 

Sheaf Tossing in Coolock (1951)

In 1951, shortly before Coolock was to be transformed by housing estates and was still a country village, we get this lovely description of a sheaf tossing event that was held at that year’s Coolock Fête.

The Irish Independent reported that:

Sheaf tossing is a seasonal occupation at this time of year and in North County Dublin ‘Tossing the Sheaf’ is an old, still popular custom. I saw this for the first time last Sunday evening at Coolock Fête. The Wheat Sheaf, weighing over a stone, is tossed over a bar, which, after it reaches 16 feet is raised by a half-foot for each round of the contest. When the finals are tossed off on the last night of the Carnival week, only the champion tossers will remain in the field.

Mr. Patrick Connor, who with Mr. Patrick Foran is in charge of the Sheaf-Tossing events at Coolock, assures me that the men of the fields think nothing of tossing over the bar at anything from 20 t0 25 feet. Mighty men are Messrs. Connor and Foran an indeed they would need to be, one of the duties of their stewardship being to catch the sheaf at the other side of the bar, tidy it up, and throw it back for the next toss. Taking a wallop from a stone of flying corn every two minutes for about three hours, is in itself a strenuous way of spending the evening.

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Irish Independent, Aug 31, 1951.

This image from the Tinahely Agricultural Show which was held in Co. Wicklow only a fortnight ago gives an idea of how the set-up would have looked. Does anyone want to organise an event for the next Coolock Community Day?

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Image from visitwicklow.ie.

Stardust Memorial Park Leaflet (1993)

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(Click through for high resolution images)

The Stardust Memorial Park was commissioned to commemorate the 48 people who lost their lives in the Stardust Nightclub fire of 14th February 1981. In 1991, on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey and his son Seán Haughey, the then Deputy Lord Mayor, attended the sod turning ceremony. The park was officially opened on September 18th 1993 by the then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Tomás MacGiolla.

The cost of the park was in excess of £500,000 and included a playground, all-weather pitch, football pitch and a garden terrace with seating. New bridges were placed over the River Santry which runs directly through the park into a small lake in the middle. 8,000 trees, including maple, lime, mountain ash, oak, beech, larch and pine were planted. Additionally, 50 birch trees commemorating 400 years of Trinity College were planted around the main fountain. A sculpture in the centre of the fountain depicts two young people dancing and the fountain is enclosed by 48 pillars, each symbolising a person lost in the tragedy.

Interestingly, the leaflet suggests that a portion of the site was a monastic settlement in the 12th century. My mum kept this leaflet safe in a copy of Douglas Appleyard’s Green Fields Gone Forever, a great book about the history of the Coolock Area.

stardust map

As you can see from this recent satellite image of the park, it remains largely unchanged today.

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