Chapelizod () is a village preserved within the city of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies in the wooded valley of the

River Liffey The River Liffey ( Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the Riv ...

, near the Strawberry Beds and the

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

. The village is associated with

Iseult of Ireland Iseult (), alternatively Isolde () and other spellings, is the name of several characters in the legend of Tristan and Iseult. The most prominent is Iseult of Celtic Ireland, Ireland, the wife of Mark of Cornwall and the lover of Tristan. Her mo ...

and the location of Iseult's chapel. Chapelizod is under the administration of

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council was ...

Location

The

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Chapelizod is part of the barony of Castleknock. The parish consists of a single

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of the same name. However, 465 acres are within the walls of the

while the village proper, outside the walls, contains only 67 acres. It is the only parish of the barony that lies outside the territory of the modern

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Fingal.

History

The origins of Chapelizod are obscure. There is evidence of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

settlement between the southern ridge of the

and the Liffey and several

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

exist to the north of the village. Aerial photography has also revealed several prehistoric and

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

settlements in the vicinity of the modern village. Aside from these archaeological remains, the etymology of the village indicates an association with Princess Iseult or Isolde from the Arthurian legend of

Tristan and Isolde Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

, the village derives its name from a chapel consecrated in her honour. The historical record details the establishment of a manor by Hugh Tyrell after the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169. In

1177 Year 1177 ( MCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January – Eystein Meyla, leader of the Birkebeiner in Norway, is killed. Sve ...

Tyrell, Baron of Castleknock, granted lands at

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In t ...

to the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem (

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

). The grant included a portion of the land that now makes up the Phoenix Park and Chapelizod. In 1200, the land in Chapelizod were leased by King John to Richard De La Field, and was leased by the family for 200 years. During the 1500s, crown yeoman and chief sergeant of County Dublin, Robert Savage, lived in Chapelizod. In the 1600s, Attorney General Sir John Davies and Sir Henry Power lived in the area. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the lands reverted to the Crown and from that time onward were used as a Royal seat. This was made explicit by the

Duke of Ormonde The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. History of Ormonde titles The earldom ...

after he successfully lobbied for the creation of an enclosed deer park outside Dublin in 1662. The 'King's House', a Royal Residence built by and used as an out of town residence by the Viceroy, formerly faced the millrace on the banks of the Liffey. It was used as the royal residence in Ireland until the mid-eighteenth century when the Viceregal Lodge was completed in the Phoenix Park. In 1671, Colonel Richard Lawrence settled a number of

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

in the village with the intention of establishing a linen industry (with some success). Later, King William stayed during the Williamite Wars in Ireland (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: ''Cogadh an Dá Rí''), holding court and redressing grievances. During much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Chapelizod was a prosperous village with a rural atmosphere close to the centre of Dublin.

Transport

Chapelizod is served by

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

route 26 and night bus routes C5 and C6 and by

Go-Ahead Ireland Go-Ahead Transport Services (Dublin) Limited, known as Go-Ahead Ireland is a bus operator in Dublin that commenced trading in September 2018. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. History With the aim of improving efficiency, in 2015 the ...

routes 76 and 76a. There are no train or Luas stations in Chapelizod.

Religion

Chapelizod is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in the Blanchardstown deanery of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin The Archdiocese of Dublin ( ga, Ard-Deoise Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the eastern part of Ireland. Its archepiscopal ...

. In the 19th century, the

of Blanchardstown in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

encompassed much of the area now within the

Dublin 15 Dublin 15, also rendered as D15, is a postal district in the suburbs of Dublin in Fingal, Ireland. It is west of the GPO in Dublin city. Geography and political subdivisions Dublin 15 covers a large area, rising from the River Liffey to at ...

postal district. Following the relaxation of the Penal Laws, it became possible for Catholics to consider the construction of additional churches and to repair the existing stock of religious buildings. St Brigid's Church Blanchardstown, not to be confused with a church of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

in nearby Castleknock, was constructed in 1837 upon the foundation of a church that had been built prior to 1731. It is the

Mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

of 12 other churches constituted out of the parish over the following 156 years. Among these was the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The parish separated from Blanchardstown in 1883. The eastern part of the new parish was, in turn, constituted out of Chapelizod in 1953 as the Navan Road parish of Our Lady Help of Christians. In the Church of Ireland, the church of St Laurence, with its 14th-century bell tower, is one of two churches that today form part of the parish of Crumlin.

Administration

In local government elections, Chapelizod is part of the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh Ward. Since the 2019 local elections, the local elected representatives on Dublin City Council include Daithí Doolan (Sinn Féin), Hazel De Nortúin (People Before Profit),

Vincent Jackson Vincent Terrell Jackson (January 14, 1983 – February 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who played as a wide receiver for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Northern Colorad ...

(Independent), Sophie Nicoullaud (Independent) and Daithí de Róiste (Fianna Fáil).

Amenities

Interesting buildings in the village include the church of St Laurence (Church of Ireland) with its medieval bell tower. The well-proportioned Georgian house, where Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu once resided in his early childhood, stands at the corner of Park Lane facing Main Street in front of the church. The renovated old RIC barracks on Main Street predates the old Constabulary, serving as an army barracks from the reign of William and Mary. Chapelizod Community Festival is held annually between the first and second Sundays in July. First held in 1994, the festival is run by volunteers and funded mainly by local business sponsors.

In literature

The village is the setting of Le Fanu's novel '' The House by the Churchyard'' and short story ''Ghost Stories of Chapelizod''. In

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's short story " A Painful Case", published in ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

'', it is the home of the unsociable protagonist James Duffy, who "lived in Chapelizod because he wished to live as far as possible from the city of which he was a citizen and because he found all the other suburbs of Dublin mean, modern and pretentious." It is the setting—as well as the scene of the home and hostelry of the protagonist Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, his wife Anna Livia Plurabelle, and their family Shaun, Shem and Issy—in Joyce's final major work, ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...

''.

Sport

Chapelizod is home to Chapelizod Cricket Club (CCC). CCC have previously won the Kumasi Cup. The Chapelizod Sports Stadium hosted greyhound racing from 1949 to 1961 and hosted

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

from 1950 to 1961. Chapelizod is also home to Chapelizod F.C., an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club which won the United Churches 3B league in 2012. The club also won the Sydney Bellow cup and the league shield in 2013.

Notable residents

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the '' Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journa ...

* Joseph Sheridan le Fanu *

Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun Arthur Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, 2nd Baronet (1 November 1840 – 20 January 1915), known as Sir Arthur Guinness, Bt, between 1868 and 1880, was an Irish businessman, politician, and philanthropist, best known for giving St Stephen's G ...

Frank Harte Frank Harte (14 May 1933 – 27 June 2005) was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer. He was born in Chapelizod, County Dublin, and raised in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte, who had moved from a farming backgroun ...

* Karl Shiels

References

{{Dublin residential areas Towns and villages in Dublin (city) Civil parishes of the barony of Castleknock