Ballyboden


Ballyboden is a locality within the suburb of Rathfarnham in South Dublin, at the foot of the Dublin Mountains between Whitechurch, Ballyroan and Knocklyon. It is a townland in the civil parish of Rathfarnham in the Barony of Uppercross.

Population

According to the 2006 Census, Ballyboden has a population of about five thousand.

Religion

The Roman Catholic parish of Ballyboden was set up in 1973. It is managed by the Order of Saint Augustine. Within the Archdiocese of Dublin, Rathfarnham parish is the parent of several local parishes. To accommodate the increasing need for ministry to the huge residential development of the Rathfarnham area over the last century, Terenure was developed in 1894, Churchtown, Ballyroan, Tallaght, Ballyboden and Knocklyon.
There had been an Augustinian house of studies in Ballyboden since 1955. It was the home of students of the Order following the two-year course in Philosophy. When the new church in Ballyroan was opened in 1966 the Augustinians took an active part. The Augustinians had acquired Orlagh as a Novitiate in 1872. When U.C.D. moved from Earlsfort Terrace to the new campus at Belfield in South Co. Dublin, the order acquired St. Catherines, Ballyboden, previously the residence of Mr. Justice O’Byrne.
The Church of Ireland is located in the a pre-Reformation parish church at Whitechurch.

Culture

About 700 metres east of Ballyboden centre is the Pearse Museum.

Sport

Ballyboden is home to two Gaelic Athletic Association clubs, Ballyboden Wanderers, who play in Mount Venus Road, and Ballyboden St. Enda's, who have a new playing facility at Sancta Maria College.
Republic of Ireland football player Damien Duff is from the locality as was League of Ireland Premier Division player and Brownlow Medallist Jim Stynes. Local player Scott Cullen has won countless 5-a-side games and attributes his success to residing in Ballyboden.

Transport

Ballyboden is served by Dublin Bus routes 15b, 61 and 161