Rathmichael () is a suburb south-east 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 ...

, in the administration of

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown.svg , area_total_km2 = 125.8 , area_footnotes = , seat_type = County town , seat = Dún Laoghaire , blank_name_sec1 = Vehicle indexmark ...

, near the southern border of 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 ...

. It is situated west of Shankill from which it is, roughly, separated by the M50/ M11 motorways. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Rathdown.

Etymology

The modern Irish name ''Ráth Mhichíl'' appears to be derived from an English corruption. Thus, ''Rathmichael'' is likely to have come from ''Ráth Mhic Táil'', meaning "Mac Táil's Ringfort".

Location and nature

Rathmichael is an affluent suburb, characterised by extensive tracts of low-density dwellings, with large houses and gardens interspersed with open areas. It rises to the west towards the hill of

Carrickgollogan Carrickgollogan () is a hill in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in Ireland, towards the southern border of the historic County Dublin. It is high, on the eastern edge of the Dublin Mountains, rising above the districts of Rathmichael and Shankill. I ...

in the foothills of the

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

. The chimney of the disused lead mines and the ruins of Puck's Castle on the northern flank of Carrickgollogan overlook the area. Multiple small streams come together to form the Wood Brook or Crinken Stream in the area, flowing to the sea north of Bray.

History

The ruins of a church are found near the remains of what would once have been one of the largest

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wale ...

s (''ráth'') in Ireland.Pearson, p. 44. The church is believed to be dedicated to a saint called Mac Táil, which was later corrupted as “Michael”. Round Tower at Old Rathmichael Church

At the west end of the church are the remains of a

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

, high.Corlett, p. 141. It has a circumference of .Ball, p. 92. The tower is known locally as "The Skull Hole", a reference to the occasion when skulls and bones from the adjoining burial ground were deposited there rather than being re-interred when the graveyard was cleared to create additional space. There is a story of an underground passage that leads from the round tower to the sea and of a piper who descended into the passage playing his instrument never to be seen again. The remains of a passage – possibly a

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ''sous terrain'', meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought north ...

– have been found close to the tower.

Amenities

There are two schools, ''Rathmichael Parish National School'', attached to the Church of Ireland Parish of Rathmichael, and ''St. Anne’s National School''. Aravon Preparatory School, which closed in 2013, was the oldest school of its kind in Ireland, being 151 years old. Also present are Old Conna Golf Club (on Ferndale Road), Rathmichael Church and graveyard (Church of Ireland), and the oldest house in southern County Dublin, The Old

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

House;

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, ...

may have written part of

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

while staying here.

People

Michael Fingleton Michael Fingleton is a former chief executive of Irish Nationwide Building Society. He joined the building society in 1971 and retired in April 2009 as the effects of the 2008–2012 Irish banking crisis became apparent. He is known as "Finger ...

, former chief executive of

Irish Nationwide Building Society Irish Nationwide Building Society was a financial institution in Ireland from 1873 to 2011. One of the country's oldest financial institutions, it was originally called the Irish Industrial Building Society; it changed its name in 1975 when it had ...

lives in Rathmichael with his wife Eileen. *

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Champ ...

, international golfer and winner of the 2007 and 2008

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

and the 2008

USPGA The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 men and women members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish ...

tournaments, lives in Rathmichael. * Ireland men's field hockey internationals,

Kyle Good Kyle Good (born 10 December 1991) is an Ireland men's field hockey international. He was a member of the Ireland team that won the bronze medal at the 2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship. He also represented Ireland at the 2016 Summer ...

and

Alan Sothern Alan Sothern (born 28 July 1987) is an Irish field hockey player who plays as a forward for the Pembroke Wanderers. He competed for the Ireland men's national field hockey team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Club career Alan Sothern won two Ir ...

, both attended Rathmichael Parish National School.

Sources

* * * *

References

{{coord, 53, 14, 09, N, 6, 09, 20, W, source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Towns and villages in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown National Monuments in County Dublin Civil parishes of Rathdown, County Dublin