Clonsilla

Clonsilla (Irish: Cluain Saileach, meaning "meadow of the willow or sally tree") is an outer suburb of Dublin in Fingal, Ireland.

Clonsilla Irish: Cluain Saileach
Suburb
St Marys Church
Clonsilla Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°23′N 6°25′W
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	Dublin
Local authority	Fingal
Dáil constituency	Dublin West
EU Parliament constituency	Dublin
Postal district(s)	15
Dialing code	01, +353 1

Clonsilla is also a civil parish in the barony of Castleknock in the historic County Dublin.

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.

Transport

Blanchardstown Shopping Centre[1]

Callaghan Bridge near Clonsilla Railway Station between the 12th and 13th locks of the Royal Canal

Clonsilla railway station is the main exchange station for commuter services going between Dublin and Maynooth and M3 Parkway lines. Passengers travel to Maynooth to transfer to Dublin to Sligo 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 routes including the 39, the 39a and the 239 from Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.[2]

Clonsilla straddles the Royal Canal, which is navigable by barge, though there is little traffic currently.

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.

Clonsilla today

Development

There has been significant residential housing development in Clonsilla. Estates such as Mount Symon, Castlefield, Charnwood, Limelawn, Ravenswood, Manorfields, Portersgate, Aldemere, were built during the past 20–30 years, and Lohunda was also expanded significantly during that time. As a result, the population of the area has risen dramatically over the same period. Clonsilla is roughly equidistant from Blanchardstown and Castleknock.[3]

Places of interest

• Luttrellstown Castle – dating from the early 15th century and once owned by members of the Guinness family, it is now a hotel, with associated golf course, and was thrown into the spotlight when David Beckham and Victoria Adams married there. American Rock music band R.E.M. also stayed here during the Monster World Tour in 1995.
• The Shackleton Gardens at Beech Park, home to a famous walled garden containing many rare flower species and formerly owned by the Shackleton family. Opposite Luttrellstown Castle, it has been purchased by Fingal County Council and is being renovated prior to reopening to the public.
• Beech Park – a public park opened in May 2009, maintained by Fingal County Council
• The Royal Canal – many varied species of freshwater fish such as pike, perch and roach can be caught along the banks of the canal.

Education

Hartstown Community School

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, Luttrellstown Community College and Castleknock College. There is also an Educate Together primary and second level school located in Hansfield, Clonsilla.

Religion

Entrance lobby and spire/tower of St Mary's church, Clonsilla

LDS Meetinghouse, Clonsilla.

Porterstown-Clonsilla is a parish 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 parish is part of "Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla".

There is also a Latter-day Saint meeting house in Clonsilla.

Sport

The local Gaelic Athletic Association clubs are St. Peregrines GAA, Castleknock Hurling and Football Club, and Westmanstown Gaels GAA club. The local soccer club is St. Mochta’s F.C., at Porterstown Road. The local karate club is Clonsilla Kenpo karate located in the Clonsilla hall.

People

• Glen Crowe is an Irish professional football forward. He was a prolific goalscorer in the League of Ireland and has represented the Republic of Ireland national football team on two occasions. Crowe has played for Wolves, Bohemians, Shelbourne and Sporting Fingal. Glen was born and raised in the Clonsilla area.
• The Ipswich Town player Mark Kennedy (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, was buried in Clonsilla and left a bequest to build a chapel in his memory.
• Emma Ledden, TV and radio presenter, is from Clonsilla.

Civil Parish of Clonsilla

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

References

1. "Blanchardstown Centre – Dublin, Ireland". www.blanchardstowncentre.ie. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
2. http://www.dublinbus.ie
3. "Campus & Student Life :: Life in Blanchardstown". Institute of Technology Blanchardstown.