Clonsilla () is an outer suburb 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 ...

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

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 ...

. Clonsilla is also a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the barony of Castleknock in the historic

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Location and access

Clonsilla used to be a small village in the inner western part of County Dublin, 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 Fingal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolit ...

. Clonsilla is roughly equidistant from Blanchardstown and Castleknock.

History

Clonsilla used to be home to horse studs including the famous Ongar stud owned by Prince Aly Khan and his then-wife

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

. In the late 20th and early 21st century, there was significant residential housing development in Clonsilla. Estates such as Mount Symon, Castlefield, Charnwood, Limelawn, Ravenswood, Manorfields, Portersgate, Aldemere and Windermere, were built during the past 20–30 years. As a result, the population of the area rose over the same period.

Places of interest

Luttrellstown Castle, dating from the early 15th century and once owned by members of the

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ...

family, is now a hotel and golf course. It was thrown into the spotlight when David Beckham and Victoria Adams married there. American band R.E.M. also stayed here during the

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

World Tour in 1995. Beech Park is a public park which was opened in May 2009 and is maintained by Fingal County Council. The Shackleton Gardens within Beech Park is home to a walled garden containing rare flower species. It was formerly owned by the Shackleton family. The Royal Canal is home to several species of freshwater fish such as pike,

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

and roach.

Education

Clonsilla has a number of national schools, including St. Mochta's, St. Patrick's, St. Philip's, St. Ciaran's (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 Coolmine Community School ( ga, Scoil Pobail Chúil Mhín) is a co-educational secondary school in the Coolmine suburb of Dublin. It lies within Greater Blanchardstown in the administration of Fingal. History The school was one of the two ...

, Luttrellstown Community College and Castleknock College. There is also an

Educate Together Educate Together () is an educational charity in Ireland which is the patron body to "equality-based, co-educational, child centred, and democratically run" schools. It was founded in 1984 to act as the patron body for the new multidenomination ...

primary and second level school located in Hansfield, Clonsilla.

Religion

Porterstown-Clonsilla 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 or ...

in the Blanchardstown deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. The church of St. Mochta's, located in Porterstown, serves the village proper. There are other parishes in the wider suburb. In 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 second l ...

, the parish is part of "Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla". There is also a Latter-day Saint meeting house in Clonsilla.

Transport

Clonsilla railway station Clonsilla railway station is a railway station that serves Clonsilla, in Fingal, Ireland. Description The station underwent an upgrade in 2000 that saw the platforms lengthened and a new station building being constructed. The ticket offic ...

is an exchange station for commuter services going between

and

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick ...

and M3 Parkway lines. Passengers travel to Maynooth to transfer to Dublin to

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

intercity service. Residents of Ongar and Hansfield can use Hansfield railway station. Clonsilla is near the N3/M3 national road between Cavan and Dublin city centre. Clonsilla is served by several

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. ...

routes including the 39, the 39a and the L52 from Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. Clonsilla straddles the Royal Canal.

Sport

The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

clubs are

St. Peregrines GAA Cumann Naomh Peregrine is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Clonsilla, Fingal, Ireland. It was founded in 1978 when a group of local people got together with Fr. Joe Madden of the Servite Order and decided to form a GAA club of their own ...

, Castleknock Hurling and Football Club, and Westmanstown Gaels GAA club. A soccer club, St. Mochta’s F.C., plays at Porterstown Road. A karate club meets in the Clonsilla hall.

People

* Glen Crowe is an Irish professional football forward. He played for Wolves, Bohemians, Shelbourne and Sporting Fingal, and represented the Republic of Ireland national football team on two occasions. Crowe was born and raised in the Clonsilla area. * Mark Kennedy, the Ipswich Town 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 The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...

, was buried in Clonsilla and left a bequest to build a chapel in his memory. * Emma Ledden, TV and radio presenter, is from Clonsilla.

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in Fingal Townlands of the barony of Castleknock