Drumcondra, Dublin


Drumcondra is a residential area and inner suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is administered by Dublin City Council. The River Tolka and the Royal Canal flow through the area.

History

The village of Drumcondra was the central area of the civil parish of Clonturk, and the two names were used equally for the religious and civil parishes, but the modern suburban district of Drumcondra also encompasses the old Parish of St. Mary.
The Cat and Cage Pub, on the corner of Drumcondra Road and Church Avenue, was the site of an old postal stop and the point at which rebels, during the 1798 rebellion, seized a postal cart in order to signal to others in north County Dublin to revolt.

Local government and subdivisions

The Drumcondra, Clonliffe, and Glasnevin Township Act 1878 was a local act of the Westminster Parliament, sponsored by businessmen in Drumcondra, and created a township called Drumcondra, Clonliffe, & Glasnevin, encompassing Drumcondra and the neighbouring districts of Clonliffe and Glasnevin, governed by a body of town commissioners. The portion of the electoral division of Drumcondra outside the township was renamed Drumcondra Rural. The Dublin Boundaries Act 1900 absorbed the township into Dublin county borough as the wards of Drumcondra and Glasnevin. Part of Drumcondra Rural electoral division was transferred to the city in 1930. The remainder was split into Drumcondra Rural Number One and Drumcondra Rural Number Two in 1971.

Transport

One of the main sights of Dublin is Croke Park, where Ireland's national games of Gaelic football and hurling may be seen. Boasting a capacity for 82,300 people, it is one of the largest sports stadiums in Europe. 'Croker' is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association and also houses the official GAA Museum. The stadium hosts the finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The stadium is a 20-minute walk from Dublin city centre, or a 5-minute bus ride.
Fagan's Public House, Drumcondra Road Lower, where Bertie Ahern took U.S. President Bill Clinton in September 1998. Kennedys Pub on Lower Drumcondra Road is one of the oldest pubs in Drumcondra, predating Fagans by a number of years. Formerly called McPhilips, it has been named Kennedys since 1961.
Tolka Park, the home of League of Ireland side Shelbourne, is situated on Richmond Road.
The National Council for the Blind at Whitworth Road, is located near the Church of St. George cemetery.

Notable buildings

Belvedere House

Formerly the home of the Coghill family, this Georgian building became the residence of the Superior General of the Irish Christian Brothers, and a training centre for the order, in 1874. In 1881, the Congregation bought and moved to Marino House, and sold Belvedere House to Cardinal Cullen, and St Patrick's College, Dublin was established shortly afterwards, with the house become the college president's residence, until St. Patrick's incorporation into Dublin City University in 2016.

Clonturk House

Clonturk House was built in 1830, on Ormond Road, by the City Architect. Renovated in 1880, the stone balustrades from James Gandons Carlisle Bridge were moved to Clonturk by its owner. It was run by the Presbyterian Church as accommodation for girls attending school until 1960, when it became part of St. Josephs School for the Blind, when it was used as a home for blind men. Thomas Dudley was cared for by the Rosminians in Clonturk House.

Drumcondra Castle

Originally the site of an Elizabethan castle built circa 1560, the castle built by Meath man James Bathe on ecclesiastical land, granted to him. It was owned for many years by the Bathe family. In 1591, when the Castle was the residence of Sir William Warren, who had married the widow of John Bathe, acquiring the lands in Drumcondra, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone married Mabel Bagenal here after he had eloped with her.
In 1677, James II granted the Drumcondra property to a Giles Martin and in 1703 it was purchased by Captain Chichester Philips. In 1870 it became St. Joseph's Asylum for the Male Blind when the Carmelites the lands of Drumcondra Castle. The Rosminians were appointed by the Archbishop of Dublin to run services for the Blind in St. Joseph's, Drumcondra, Dublin in 1955, the School, and since 2012 it is known as ChildVision, in 2014 the Rosminian order sold the lands in St. Joseph's, but took out a 25-year lease on the houses and buildings which it will use for ChildVision. The Grace Park Woods housing estate is being built on the former St. Joseph's lands.

Drumcondra House

was purchased by Rev. John Hand and in 1842 All Hallows College was established. Daniel O'Connell played a part in the purchase of Drumcondra House for All Hallows, from Dublin Corporation. Designed by the architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and was built in 1726 for Sir Marmaduke Coghill, from the nearby Belvedere House. The Cogills rented out the House for a time. All Hallows was sold to Dublin City University by the Vincentian Order in 2016.

Hampton Lodge/Carmelite Convent

For 150 years Hampton House and its lands held the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation on Grace Park Road, housing members of this enclosed order of nuns. The order, which had been based in Blanchardstown, purchased Hampton House and moved in in 1858. Prior to it being a convent, Hampton Lodge was the residence of Thomas Williams, the first secretary of the Bank of Ireland, and his wife Mary Ann Williams; their son Richard Williams lived in Drumcondra Castle. The land and buildings were sold by the order in 2016 and were redeveloped as houses and a nursing home.

Distillery

A distillery, the Dublin Whiskey Distillers, was founded in the 1870s on the banks of the River Tolka, and known as the Jones Road Distillery. The distillery closed in 1946 and the property was sold. A number of buildings were built and are still standing and a number of buildings although redeveloped retain the names connected with the distillery such as The Corn Mill, The Granary, The Grainstore and Distillery Lofts.

Education

Primary schools

Secondary Schools

Third level

Two campuses of Dublin City University are located in Drumcondra:

Religion

The oldest church in the district is Drumcondra Church, located at the bend of Church Avenue, abutting All Hallows College. Several notable people including Georgian-period architect James Gandon are buried in the adjoining graveyard.
The "Old Church of St. George" was built about 1668 in Lower Temple Street, then a part of Drumcondra. The Tower of the Old Church of St. George can still be seen in Hill Street and its gravestones are around the walls of what is now a playground.
The "New Church of St. George" was built on the square further up the road at the end of Temple Street in the early 1800s. The original site acquired for the new church was on Whitworth Road, but then the present site was selected, which at the time was open fields. A temporary chapel was built on the Whitworth Road site and its churchyard was retained when St. George's was completed - this site was later taken over by the Whitworth Hospital. The gravestones can be seen behind the Hospital.
Drumcondra is a parish in the Fingal South West deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, served by the Church of Corpus Christi at Home Farm Road. The palace of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin is situated alongside Clonliffe College. Together they occupy an extensive site bounded by Clonliffe Road and the Drumcondra Road with the River Tolka at the northern extremity.
The Respond! Housing Association has its Dublin office located in High Park, Drumcondra, where it also runs training courses in Housing and Social care provision.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church hold services in Holy Cross College, Clonliffe.

Graveyards/Cemeteries

There are a number of small burial places in the Drumcondra area
Drumcondra is home to Croke Park and Tolka Park soccer stadium, the permanent home of Shelbourne F.C. since 1989, 'The Reds' have hosted major European clubs such as Panathinaikos and Steaua Bucharest in the Drumcondra venue. The Club has won the league six times and the FAI Cup four times since moving to Tolka Park. The park was also the base for Drumcondra F.C. which was a League of Ireland club from 1928-1972 before it was merged with fellow Dublin club Home Farm, now based in nearby Whitehall. Drumcondra FC, who played their home games at Tolka Park stadium, was a successful side in the post World War II years, winning five Irish league titles between 1948 and 1965 as well as competing in the European Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on several occasions.
The name lives on today in the shape of Drumcondra FC.
The Ierne Sports Club is situated off Grace Park Road, Rosmini Gaels is also based in Drumcondra.

Notable people