Castleknock () is a

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

located in the south-western corner of the modern

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The civil parish is part of the ancient

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Castleknock Castleknock () is an affluent village in County Dublin, Ireland, located west of the centre of Dublin city. It is in the modern county of Fingal. In addition to the village, the name "Castleknock" also refers to older units of land division: a ...

. It is centred on the suburban village of

. The

of Castleknock itself is the location of the eponymous "Cnucha's Castle" – Castleknock Castle. The town with the biggest population in the parish is

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern Counties of Ireland, county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchards ...

. In geology, the parish rests on a substratum of limestone and comprises 2943 statute acres, the whole of which is arable land.

History

In 1831, there were 4251 inhabitants in the parish of whom 3409 were Catholics. Lewis' ''Topography of Ireland'' of 1837 reported the same number of inhabitants. Lewis recorded that Abbotstown demesne was the most notable

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

in the parish. It was the residence of the

Falkiner baronets There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Falkiner, one in the Baronetage of Ireland and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the U ...

who later married into the neighbouring Hamilton family. In 1897, Ion Trant Hamilton was ennobled as

Baron HolmPatrick Baron HolmPatrick, of HolmPatrick in the County of Dublin, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours for the Lord Lieutenant of County Dublin and former Member of Parliament for County Du ...

Ecclesiastical parishes

Like all civil parishes, this civil parish is derived from, and co-extensive with a pre-existing ecclesiastical parish of the same name, as used in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

. Along with other civil parishes in Ireland, its use as a unit of the local administrative unit was gradually replaced by the creation of Electoral Divisions in the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898. The parish formerly belonged to the priory of Malvern, in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. In 1773, an Act of the Privy Council united the parish with the curacies of Clonsilla and Mulhuddart. The living (of the ecclesiastical parish) was a

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or Minister (Christianity), ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of n ...

in the Diocese of Dublin which was: "... endowed with a portion of the great tithes, and united to the

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

of Castleknock and the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

of Clonsillagh and curacy of Mullahidart, with cure of souls: it is in the patronage of the Bishop." In 1837, the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s amounted to £560. In the Church of Ireland, the

Archdiocese of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Ire ...

unites Castleknock and Mulhuddart in the "Grouped Parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla".Church of Ireland
- Grouped Parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla There are three extant church buildings that are still in use by the grouped parish: * St. Brigid's, Castleknock, situated in the centre of Castleknock. The building – a listed

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

– was completed in 1870.Saint Brigid's Church of Ireland Church, Castleknock Road, CASTLEKNOCK (WITHOUT PHOENIX PARK), Castleknock, Fingal
- Register number 11362003 It was rebuilt by a loan of £1000 from the

Board of First Fruits The Board of First Fruits () was an institution of the Church of Ireland that was established in 1711 by Anne, Queen of Great Britain to build and improve churches and glebe houses in Ireland. This was funded from taxes collected on clerical inco ...

and large subscriptions, in 1810. It features a three-stage tower to the west gable with a Gothic tympanum at the entrance and a stained glass window by

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau ...

that is dedicated to

Saint Hubert In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ortho ...

. * St. Thomas', Mulhuddart, situated on the Kilbride Road near Hollystown Golf Club. The building – a listed

– was constructed in 1870.Saint Thomas's Church of Ireland Church, Ratoath Road, HOLLYSTOWN, Fingal
- Register number 11346001 It features a polygonal bell tower in the south corner. * St. Mary's, Clonsilla, situated at the western end of the Clonsilla Road near

Clonsilla railway station Clonsilla railway station is a train station, railway station that serves Clonsilla, in Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Description The station underwent an upgrade in 2000 that saw the platforms lengthened and a new station building ...

. The building – a listed

– was constructed in 1846.Saint Mary's Church of Ireland Church, CLONSILLA, Clonsilla, Fingal
- Register number 11353005 It features

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows by

Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editi ...

. In the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, the

divides the civil parish between the following ecclesiastical parishes: * "Our Lady, Mother of the Church", Castleknock. Parish of
Our Lady, Mother of the Church, CastleknockCatholic Church
- Our Lady, Mother of the Church parish * "St. Brigid's",

. Parish of
St. Brigid, BlanchardstownCatholic Church
- St. Brigid's parish * " St. Thomas, the Apostle", Laurel Lodge / Carpenterstown. Parish of
St. Thomas the Apostle, Laurel Lodge / CarpenterstownCatholic Church
- St. Thomas the Apostle parish

Gallery of church buildings

St Bridgets Castleknock 2012.jpg, Church of St. Bridget
in the Church of Ireland, Castleknock St Mary's Church Clonsilla - geograph.org.uk - 546391.jpg, Church of St. Mary
in the Church of Ireland, Clonsilla Castleknock Catholic Church.jpg, Our Lady Mother of the Church
in the Catholic Church, Castleknock ST Brigit Spire.jpg, Church of St. Brigit
in the Catholic Church, Blanchardstown St Thomas the Apostle.jpg, Church of St. Thomas, the Apostle
in the Catholic Church, Laurel Lodge

Location and composition

The whole parish is within the

Dublin 15 Dublin 15, also rendered as D15, is a List of Dublin postal districts, postal district in the suburbs of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of the General Post Office, Dublin, GPO in Dublin city. Geography and political subdivisi ...

postal district A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

. Most of the territory of the parish is within the county of

and administered by

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...

with the exception of three townlands that are in the city proper and administered by

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

. The core of the parish is centred on the townland and village of the same name. To the north of the parish, the Huntstown Power Station and Corduff sub-supply station are located. The townland at this northern extremity of the parish is Huntstown, not to be confused with

Huntstown and Littlepace Huntstown and Littlepace () is a set of modern housing developments that forms an outer suburb of Dublin city in the county of Fingal in Ireland. It was built in the townlands of Littlepace (westerly) and Huntstown (easterly) which are the south ...

in the neighbouring parish of

Clonsilla Clonsilla () is a northwestern suburb of Dublin in Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Clonsilla (civil parish), Clonsilla is also a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Castleknock (barony), Castleknock ...

. To the south, it is bounded by the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, 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 Tributary, tributaries include t ...

and

Chapelizod Chapelizod () is a suburban village of Dublin, Ireland. It lies in the wooded valley of the River Liffey, near the Strawberry Beds and the Phoenix Park. The village is associated with Iseult of Ireland and the location of Iseult's chapel. Chap ...

. To the west, it is bounded by the civil parish of

which is the location of Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. To the east lies the 8th lock of the

Royal Canal The Royal Canal () is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from Dublin to Longford in Ireland. It is one of two canals from Dublin to the River Shannon and was built in direct competition to the Grand Canal. Th ...

in the townland of Pelletstown and the Cabra Gate of the

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park () 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 tree-lined avenues, and since ...

Populated places

Populated places in the civil parish include: Blanchardstown,

, Ashtown, Cabra,

Corduff Corduff (Irish language, Irish: ''An Chorr Dhubh'') is a northwestern suburb of Dublin, in Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, 10 km from Dublin city centre. It is a part of the wider Blanchardstown area and is in the Dublin 15 postal dist ...

, Laurel Lodge.

Townlands

Within the civil parish of Castleknock, there are 22

townlands A townland (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Middle Ages, medieval Gael ...

per the table below. For convenience, the table groups the townlands by their location in one of the modern

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

areas.

Gallery

Castleknock Castle Nov2018.jpg, Castleknock Castle Castleknock Railway Station, Midsummers's Day 2014.jpg, Castleknock Railway Station Royal Canal at Castleknock - geograph.org.uk - 347930.jpg, Royal Canal at Castleknock Corduff Fort1.jpg, Ringfort or mound at Corduff Ragwell at Diswellstown 2020.jpg, Ragwell at Diswellstown

References

From From official parish websites From From Other sources {{commons category Civil parishes of the barony of Castleknock Castleknock