You can see the Society’s video of the “Big Snow” of 2010 here.

You can read more about the history of the Fairview area starting here.

Next Meeeting: Date: January 16th, 8pm-10pm

Location: Ash Suite, Cusack Stand, via St Josephs Avenue

These meetings are held on a regular basis. You can see the minutes of the last meeting (October 2011) here.

Click here for more information about Croke Park Community meetings.

Croke Park Community - Waste Recycling Service

3rd-19th Jan 2012

Where? Croke Park, Cusack Stand  (via St. Joseph’s Ave)
What do we recycle?

• Christmas trees
• WEEE domestic recycling (e.g. fairy lights / batteries)
• Cardboard

DROP-OFF TIMES:
Mon-Fri 8am - 8pm
Sat/Sun 10am - 4pm

Fairview Residents Association is cooperating with our local community radio station Near fm to organise a variety concert featuring local talent.

Where: Upstairs in Smyths of Fairview

When? Friday 21 October 2011 - doors open at 7.30

How much? That’s up to you - we’re taking donations on the night.

Donations? Yes!! The proceeds will go to an Older Persons Charity organisation right here in Fairview.

Who will be playing? Local musicians, dancers and singers. Local poets & storytellers with a connection to Fairview will also feature.

Places are limited. You can pick up a ticket from FRA Committee members Pádraig & Glen or from Fairview Parish or Forest Friends on Fairview Strand or even from Smyth’s itself.

The concert will be recorded to be broadcast on Near fm. Our community radio station is currently making a five part radio series called “The Changing Face of Fairview”.

Among the performers will be traditional singer Bláithin de Burca, 1916 historian Niall Ring, Environmentalist Fr. Anthony, Pat Farrell’s 2 piece Blues band, Bram Stoker expert Denis McIntyre, Storytellers Carol Jordan and Joseph Dunne and the Marino Waltz dancers.

And More!

Their proposal comprises a series of earth mounds and walls along Clontarf Promenade between Alfie Byrne Road (Fairview end) and the Bull Wall to protect nearby roads and properties from coastal flooding. The total length is circa 3km. They propose to combine this project with the North City Arterial Watermain - essentially the water pipe will be buried under the mound of the flood defence.

Paragraph 1.3.2 of the EIS states that “the flood defence will comprise an earth bund ranging from 0.85m to 2.75m (average 1.7m) in height depending on the location and existing ground levels on site”.

It is this height that has residents on Dublin’s Northside so concerned.

Clontarf Residents Association point out that:

• The sea view when driving along the Clontarf Road will be eliminated.
• if this plan is implemented, pedestrians or joggers using the pathway close to the sea will not be able to see the road
• Equally importantly they will not be visible from the road which produces its own potential security risk.
• Cyclists using the cycle path will not have a view of the sea.
• Householders who currently have a sea view at ground level will no longer be able to see any part of the sea.
• There will be limited access points to allow you to move from one side of the berm to the other (unless you are able to walk up and over it).
• The area on the sea side of the berm will no longer be visible from the road and this will make that part of the promenade much more difficult to police and thus increase the potential for anti-social activity.

On 11 October, DCC issued a letter which undertook that the project will not be advanced for a further 2 week period - this means the project will not progress until the end of October at the soonest.

There will be a Protest Meeting against Proposed Flood Defence Wall on Clontarf Promenade on Sunday 16 October at 3pm at the Wooden Bridge.

The issue was covered on RTE radio’s Liveline on 10 October 2011 - you can listen to it below.
[See post to listen to audio]

Click here to see the heights of the proposed mound / wall at different points along Clontarf (PDF format).

Click here to see the Environmental Impact Study for the proposal (PDF format).

Venue: Marino Library

Time and Date: Wednesday 28th September 6.30pm.

Booking Highly Recommended Phone: 01-8336297 email: marinolibrary@dublincity.ie

Marino Library will host a talk on the History of the O’Brien Institute (OBI), Marino with local Historian Jim Cantwell.

Since 1982 the OBI has served as HQ for Dublin Fire brigade Service. Very little is generally known about the History of this imposting redbrick building. Jim Cantwell has spent several years researching the history of the OBI and this talk is an overview of it’s very interesting past

All welcome - We look forward to your company on this evening - please phone the library if you have any queries

Location and Access

Baldoyle is located north east of the city, and borders Donaghmede, which was formed from its western part, Portmarnock, Sutton and Bayside. It can be accessed from the coast road from Dublin to Howth, which includes a cycle track, from Sutton Cross via Station Road, or from Donaghmede, or Portmarnock. Baldoyle is served by Dublin Bus and Irish Rail, the latter currently via the Sutton station on the Howth Branch of the DART, and in future by the Grange Road station on the Northern Branch.

Name

The district name derives from baile meaning town and dubh-ghaill meaning “dark stranger”, the name given by the Gaels to the Danes to distinguish them from the Norwegians or “fair strangers” (finn-ghaill) who first settled in Ireland in 841-842. While it is sometimes rendered as “Doyle’s town” with reference to the personal name Doyle which itself derives from dubh-ghaill, there is no evidence for this usage.

Features and Development

Baldoyle village today has a coastal main street, with a Roman Catholic parish church and community hall, a branch library, and some shops, pubs and a secondary school for girls, St. Mary’s. Slightly inland, among the older suburban houses, are a small shopping precinct, a football club and other amenities. On the approach from the coast road is another large secondary school, Pobalscoil Neasain and the well-known pub, the Elphin, while on the road into Donaghmede is a light industrial estate. There are also two primary schools, St. Peter & Paul’s Boys Primary School, and St. Mary’s Girls Primary School.

Among the local residents are the retired members of the Congregation of the Irish Christian Brothers, whose retirement home is located in the town.

For most of the 20th century, Baldoyle was famed for its racecourse, which was one of three in the greater metropolitan area. Over the early 2000’s Baldoyle has been at the centre of a large house building programme, with the former Racecourse, long closed, having being sold to developers. The new developments have begun, as “The Coast”, facing a new local centre (previously marketed as “Capital North”) at the edge of Donaghmede, Clongriffin. The new rail station being constructed at Grange Road will serve Baldoyle, including Racecourse developments, and northern Donaghmede, including Clongriffin.

The old Race Course area and the Mayne River used to be good for wintering Short-eared Owl and Green Sandpiper. Merlin and Buzzard also occur. This area featured prominently in the Flood Tribunal.

Historical Notes

Baldoyle, with its sheltered waterside location, was a Viking base for many years, eventually suppressed by an attack by the King of Leinster.

A description of Baldoyle from Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Dublin, 1837 gives a useful summary of what was then a substantial rural fishing village: The village is pleasantly situated on an inlet or creek of the Irish Sea, to the north of the low isthmus that connect Howth, with the mainland: it comprises about 200 houses, and is much frequented in summer for sea-bathing. Some of the inhabitants are engaged in the fishery, which at the commencement of the present century employed nine wherries belonging to this place, averaging seven or eight men each; at present nearly 100 men are so, engaged. Sir W. de Windsor, lord-justice of Ireland, held a parliament here in 1369. The creek is formed between the mainland and the long tract of sand on the north of Howth, at the point of which, near that port, a white buoy is placed; it is fit only for small craft. The manor was granted to the priory of All Saints, Dublin, by Diarmit, the son of Murchard, King of Leinster, who founded that house in 1166.

The parliament mentioned above was held at Grange Church, better known as “Grange Abbey”, which now lies in Donaghmede and was partly restored in the late 20th century.

On 31 October 1973, one of the most spectacular and audacious escapes from an Irish prison took place when three of the Provisional IRA’s key personnel were airlifted to freedom in a seconded helicopter from Mountjoy Prison. The helicopter touched down at Baldoyle racecourse where the IRA members escaped in waiting cars.

Thanks to Wikipedia for most of this information.

Location and geography

Located about 12 kilometres from the city centre, Sutton neighbours Howth, which occupies most of the peninsula, and Baldoyle and Bayside, which meet where Baldoyle Road reaches the coast. It is served by the main road from Dublin to Howth, the DART suburban rail system, on which it has its own station, and Dublin Bus route 31 and its variants and the 102 to Dublin Airport.

At the coastal side of Sutton is a tombolo connecting Howth (which used to be an island) to the mainland. The original village of Sutton was situated on the city-facing (south-western) side of Howth Head, where there are today housing terraces and a small harbour, but the area is now centred on Sutton Cross, where there are two shopping areas, one anchored by Superquinn (which replaced the local cinema), and the Marine Hotel.

Sutton is part of the Dáil Éireann constituency of Dublin North East, whose three elected representatives are currently (after the 2011 General Election) Tommy Broughan of the Labour Party, elected in 1992; Terence Flanagan of Fine Gael, elected in 2007; and Seán Kenny of the Labour Party, initially elected in 1992.

Leisure and features

Sutton is surrounded by many beaches. There is dinghy sailing off the coast, and golf at Howth Golf Club. Suttonians Rugby Football Club, at Station Road, provides for local rugby players and supporters while Sutton Tennis Club has 12 outdoor courts and 3 indoor squash courts (it is the biggest for junior squash in the Republic of Ireland).

The area is also home to one of Ireland’s Martello Towers, built in 1804 (the first tower built in Dublin) and now a holiday home, at Red Rock. Sutton also has a former home of the Jameson Irish Whiskey family, which became the residence of Belgian businessman Albert Luykx, made famous during the Irish arms trial. It subsequently became Sutton House Hotel and then Sutton Castle Hotel, before being converted in 2003 to private residences.

A major leisure walk, which goes all the way to Howth village, begins near the site of the old village and Sutton House.

There are small streams in the area, but they are largely culverted.

Education

Sutton contains two primary schools: the Burrow School, on the Dublin Road between Sutton Cross and Howth, and St. Fintan’s National School, on Carrickbrack Road.

It has three secondary schools: St. Fintan’s High School (boys), Santa Sabina Dominican College (a.k.a Santa Sabina) (girls) and Sutton Park School (mixed). Sutton Park school is also a primary school.

Religion

Sutton comprises a parish in the Catholic Church, with St. Fintan’s parish church at the base of Howth Hill, adjacent to Santa Sabina School, at the junction of Greenfield Road and Church Road. There is also a Methodist church at the junction of Church Road and Howth Road.

Sutton contains one of Dublin’s main burial grounds, St. Fintan’s, which is divided into two parts, “old” and “new.” The former contains a ruined chapel, and the latter, an abandoned keeper’s cottage.

Uphill from the older graveyard is the still-flowing holy well of St. Fintan.

Transport

• Sutton railway station opened on 30 July 1846 as Baldoyle & Sutton, being renamed Sutton in 1901.
• The Hill of Howth Tramway ran between Sutton railway station and Howth railway station until 1959.

Notable residents

• Gerry Gannon, one of Ireland’s biggest property developers, part owner of the K Club and MD of Gannon Homes, currently building, for example, Clongriffin housing estate, and with extensive land holdings in the area
• Jim Fitzpatrick, artist (Celtic style work but also the iconic two-tone portrait of Che Guevara created in 1968), Burrow Road
• Philomena Lynott (mother of Phil Lynott)
• Ian Dempsey, Radio and Television presenter.
• Patrick Hillery, Former President of Ireland lived in Sutton for many years until his death in 2008.

Thanks to Wikipedia for most of this information.

The Fun Day is open to all members of our community FREE of charge. Adult volunteers are needed to supervise games, etc.

Over the past number of years members of the Marino community have come together to organise a family fun day. The first was held in 2000 to celebrate the new Millennium, it was so successful that a committee came together to try and hold the event every year.

The day consisted of a living history pageant, speeches, four specially commissioned videos celebrating the heritage of the area from 1014 -1916, the unveiling of three plaques in various historical points in the local community and a luncheon.

St. Joseph’s School had a powerful 1916 exhibition consisting of over 500 rare historical photographs pertaining to the role that Marino & Fairview played in 1916. Both schools organised a living history pageant depicting the ICA, Irish Volunteers & Cumann na mBan on parade through the streets of Marino towards Fr. Matthew Park (St. Mary’s School) wearing authentic uniforms (for the first time in 96 years).

The event was limited to 250 guests, with some travelling from as far as South Africa. The event was filmed by a media crew for possible broadcasting for the 2016 Celebrations. The event was a critical success and was received well by the citizens of Marino and Fairview. The event firmly places St. Joseph’s CBS School in Fairview as Ireland’s most historical school!

You can read more about the history of the area starting here.

The Marino Local History Society can be contacted by e-mail at marino-history@hotmail.com

Marino memories

The Society can be contacted by e-mail at marino-history@hotmail.com

You can see the Society’s video of the “Big Snow” of 2010 here.

You can read more about the history of the area starting here.