Kilmainham (, meaning "
St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
,
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 ...
, south of 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 west of the
city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
. It is in the city's Dublin 8
postal district.
History
Origins
Kilmainham's foundation dates to the
early Christian
Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...
period, with the monastery of Cell Maignenn (Cill Mhaighneann in modern Irish) established by the year 606. By 795, the ecclesiastical site, located on the ridge of land at the confluence of the
Liffey and the
Camac, may still have been the only substantial structure along the Liffey's banks.
The
Kilmainham Brooch, a late 8th- or early 9th-century
Celtic brooch
The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large; penannular means formed as an incomplete ring. They are especial ...
of the "penannular" type (i.e. its ring does not fully close or is incomplete) was unearthed in the area.
In the wake of the
Viking settlement of nearby Dublin from 841, Vikings were present in Kilmainham too, one of a number of villages that stretched up the river bank to
Clondalkin
Clondalkin () is a suburban village in County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, approximately west of Dublin city centre. It is within the administrative jurisdiction of South Dublin County Council, South Dublin.
Clondalkin is also the na ...
.
Viking cemeteries at the site of the monastery and at nearby Islandbridge were discovered during gravel quarrying, railroad works and the preparation of the
War Memorial Gardens. Dozens of pagan burials with grave goods, dating to the 9th century, have been recorded. The burial sites taken together constitute the largest known Viking cemetery in western Europe outside Scandinavia.
The
Battle of Islandbridge took place in the area in 919, with Viking forces under
Sitric Cáech defeating Gaelic Irish forces under high king
Niall Glúndub. In 1013,
Murchad, the son of
Brian Boru
Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...
, is recorded by the annals as having raided into Leinster as far as Kilmainham.
In the 12th century, in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland, the lands on the banks of the Liffey were granted to the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
.
Strongbow erected for them a castle about 2 kilometres or 1 mile distant from the Danish wall of old Dublin; and
Hugh Tyrrel, first
Baron Castleknock, granted them part of the lands which now form 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 ...
. The
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem remained in possession of the land until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century.
[ Walter Harris: ''The History and Antiquities of the City of Dublin'']
Until the time of
Queen Elizabeth, when
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin.
It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
became the centre of English power, the
Lord Lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...
s often held court at the manor of Kilmainham. In 1559,
Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, on being again appointed Lord Lieutenant, found that the building at Kilmainham had been damaged by a storm, and had to hold court at the
palace of St. Sepulchre. The following year Elizabeth ordered that Dublin Castle be upgraded to enable the Lord Lieutenant to reside there, and Kilmainham fell out of favour.
[
The Manor of Kilmainham formed a ]liberty
Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
outside the jurisdiction of the city of Dublin, with its own rights and privileges. The manor took in parts of James's Street and side streets and stretched as far as Lucan 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 ...
. After the Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, former lords (or chairmen, as they were later called) of this manor included Lord Cloncurry and Sir Edward Newenham. John "Bully" Egan, from Charleville, County Cork, was chairman from 1790 to 1800. These manorial rights were abolished after the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, and much of the area was included within the city.
The portion still outside the city in the latter part of the nineteenth century was within the township of New Kilmainham, a municipality governed by town commissioners, first under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854 and then under a local act, the New Kilmainham Township Act 1868. From 1868, New Kilmainham comprised the 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 ...
s of Kilmainham, Goldenbridge North, Inchicore
Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...
North, Inchicore South, and Butchers Arms. Its total area was and the population was 5,391 in 1881 and 6,519 in 1891. It became an urban district under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...
. In 1900, the urban district was abolished and the area was transferred from the county into the jurisdiction of the city of Dublin as the New Kilmainham ward.
Places of interest
Royal Hospital Kilmainham, constructed on the site where the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem had their priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
in Dublin. It now houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The Richmond Tower marks the junction between the formal pedestrianised avenue leading to the Royal Hospital, and the South Circular Road.
Nearby is Kilmainham Gaol, where the executions
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
of the leaders of the Easter Rising
The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...
took place.
Kilmainham is home to an important Viking Age
The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
burial site, part of a complex of cemeteries which also includes finds at the War Memorial Gardens. The artefacts, mostly discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, during industrial, transport and park works, are now part of the collection at the National Museum of Ireland.
The River Camac runs through Kilmainham and is crossed by bridges at the South Circular Road, Rowserstown Lane and Bow Lane.
Railway station
The Dublin Heuston railway station
Heuston Station, ( ; ; formerly Kingsbridge Station) also known as Dublin Heuston, is one of Dublin's largest train station, railway stations and links the capital with the south, southwest and west of Ireland. It is operated by Iarnród � ...
, one of Dublin's three main railway stations, is nearby.
Notable people
Former or current residents of the town have included:
* Maeve Higgins, comedian.
* Brian Kennedy, singer.
* Gina Moxley, playwright.
* Kathryn Thomas, television personality.
References
External links
* Maps of New Kilmainham:
*
New Kilmainham layer
on OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (abbreviated OSM) is a free, Open Database License, open geographic database, map database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveying, surveys, trace from Ae ...
*
Dublin Historic Maps: Dublin Townships and Urban Districts, between 1847 and 1930
** 1887 Ordnance Survey Ireland sheets availabl
from UCD Library
with index a
1894 sheet XVIII
A tourist map of the area
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in Dublin (city)
Viking Age populated places
Uppercross
Former urban districts in the Republic of Ireland