Knocklyon () is a suburb of the city 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 ...

, located in

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

, Ireland. Unlike many Dublin suburbs, Knocklyon was not developed around a village; rather it largely consists of modern housing, with a number of old cottages and farmhouses along Knocklyon Road attesting to the area's rural past.

Etymology

The area has been known historically in 14th-century scrolls as ''Cnoclín'', literally '

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

'. Until recently, roadsigns in Knocklyon had an incorrect "reverse anglicised" translation, giving ''Lyon's hill'' or ''Cnoc Liamhna'', so for example, the Irish-language wording on signs for Knocklyon Road showed ''Bóthar Chnoc Liamhna''. The local authority have updated their translation based on recommendations from the Irish Placenames Commission.

Location and housing estates

Knocklyon is located among the southwestern suburbs of the city of Dublin, in the foothills of the

Dublin Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: '' Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Where the mountai ...

and immediately south of the line of the

River Dodder The River Dodder () is one of the three main rivers in Dublin, Ireland, the others being the River Liffey, Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the River Tolka, Tolka. Course and system The Dodder rises on the northern s ...

. It is bordered to the west by

Firhouse Firhouse () is an outer suburb of Dublin, in the county of South Dublin, in the south of the traditional County Dublin in Ireland. It developed from a rural village by the River Dodder, with a second settlement, Upper Fir-house, nearby. It is ju ...

and Ballycullen, to the east and south by

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside (Dublin), southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Dublin. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16, 16. It is between the Lo ...

and

Ballyboden Ballyboden () is a locality within the suburb of Rathfarnham, County Dublin, at the foot of the Dublin Mountains between Whitechurch, Ballyroan and Knocklyon. It is in the local government area of South Dublin, and is a townland in the civil p ...

, and to the north, across the River Dodder, by the village and district of

Templeogue Templeogue is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location Templeogue is from Dublin city centre t ...

. Knocklyon was divided when the M50 motorway was constructed, with most of the suburb today lying east of the motorway.

Housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

s to the east include Idrone
Green Acre Court
Knocklyon Avenue, Beverly, Dargle Wood, Coolamber, Knockcullen, Lansdowne, Delaford, Knockaire in the old Knocklyon townland, whilst Orlagh, Scholarstown Park and Templeoran are within the townland of Scholarstown. To the west of the M50 are estates such as Castlefield, Glenlyon, Dalriada, Glenvara and Woodstown. The western and eastern portions of the suburb are linked by the

Road, by the motorway flyover at Junction 12 of the M50, and by a footbridge close to where the Old Knocklyon Road formerly met Ballycullen Road.

Population

The population figure cannot be isolated from published census data as Knocklyon is composed of Firhouse-Knocklyon

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

(ED) (population 39,602 in 2011), plus fractions of Ballyboden ED (57,085) and Firhouse-Ballycullen ED (77,773), not divided and published distinctly.

Amenities

Knocklyon Shopping Centre contains a supermarket and other retail outlets. There are also two smaller shopping sites, in the Orlagh and Woodstown estates, each anchored by a convenience store, and with takeaway food shops, beauty salons and other outlets. There is also a local

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. A division of the voluntary

St. John Ambulance St John Ambulance is an affiliated movement of charitable organisations in mostly Commonwealth countries which provide first aid education and consumables and emergency medical services. St John organisations are primarily staffed by volunte ...

was established in 2010, and provides first aid training in the community. The Rutland Centre, a private addiction rehabilitation facility, is located on the Knocklyon Road. Knocklyon has a number of open spaces within its residential estates and along the

, including the home ground and playing pitches for both a

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

club, Ballyboden St. Enda's GAA, and a soccer club, Knocklyon United Football Club. As well as the Roman Catholic ''Iona Centre'', which hosts community organisations, there is Knocklyon Community Centre, which is available for sports and social organisations.

Schools

St. Colmcille's national school opened in September 1976. The school is the largest primary school in Ireland and one of the largest primary schools in Europe. It educates 1,600 students and employs 80 teachers, 23 special needs assistants, and 11 ancillary staff. Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna is an

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

that teaches over 200 children. It was established in September 1996 with 36 pupils. St. Colmcille's Community School (formerly Knocklyon Community School) has around 700 secondary students and opened in September 2000.

Religion

The

Catholic Parish In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecc ...

of Knocklyon was established in October 1974 under the patronage of

Saint Colmcille Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...

. It forms part of the Dublin Archdiocese and was delegated by it to the

Carmelite Order The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

until 2022, and since 2023, is in the care of the Divine Word Missionaries. The parish church opened in April 1980, with the Iona Pastoral Centre formally opened in 2000. The Iona Centre hosts prayer groups and social activities (such as pilates, mother and baby groups, knitting and bridge), as well as a chapter of St Vincent de Paul, AA Meetings and GROW Mental Health Movement. The Catholic parish publishes the Knocklyon News magazine, which has been in continuous publication since 1982 and includes article from the wide and varied community groups of Knocklyon, as well as faith-based content, and news from the parish and the diocese. The Knocklyon News is published 3 - 4 times per year, and has a print run of 5,000. Residents in Knocklyon, who are members of Church of Ireland, attend Rathfarnham Parish Church. The Knocklyon

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

is an autonomous Christian congregation with premises on Knocklyon Road, near Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna.

Transport

Knocklyon is served by the following

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus () is an Irish State-owned enterprise, state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann ...

routes: 15, 49, 65b, S6 and S8.

Sport and leisure

The

(GAA) is represented in Knocklyon by Ballyboden St. Enda's GAA Club while

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

is organised locally by Knocklyon United F.C. The local Brothers Pearse Athletics Club was founded in 1956. The district is also served by Knocklyon Junior Badminton Club and Knocklyon Social Badminton, which operate out of the Knocklyon Community Centre. A branch of

Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland () is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 45,000 members, including over 11,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 people between the ages of 6 ...

and the South Dublin Model Railway Club each operate from their own premises. There is also a brass band and music school, the Knocklyon Concert Band, operating for over 20 years. Local businesses and community groups are supported and promoted by Knocklyon Network, an active networking organisation.

Notable people

* Chloe Agnew, singer-songwriter, best known for being an original member of

Celtic Woman Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble, formed in 2004 for a one-time event held in Dublin, Ireland. They started touring internationally as a group after multiple airings on PBS helped to boost the group's popularity. Celtic W ...

Alisha Weir Alisha Weir (born 26 September 2009) is an Irish actress and singer, best known for her leading roles in the films ''Matilda the Musical'' (2022) and ''Abigail'' (2024); for the latter, she received a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young ...

, actress and singer, grew up in Knocklyon

References

External links

St. Colmcille's Community SchoolKnocklyon Parish
{{Dublin residential areas Towns and villages in South Dublin (county) Places in South Dublin (county)