Fingal


Fingal is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and, within that, is part of the Dublin Region. Its name is derived from the medieval territory of Scandinavian foreigners that settled in the area. Fingal County Council is the local authority for the county. In 2016 the population of the county was 296,214, making it the second-most populous county in the state.

Geography and political subdivisions

Fingal is one of three counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. Swords is the county town. The other large urban centre is Blanchardstown. Smaller towns include Balbriggan and Malahide. Suburban villages with extensive housing include Baldoyle, Castleknock, Howth, Lusk, Portmarnock, Skerries. Small rural settlements exist in the northern and western parts of the county. The motto of the arms of Fingal reads Flúirse Talaimh is Mara meaning "Abundance of Land and Water". The motto reflects the strong farming and fishing ties historically associated with the area. It also features a Viking longboat, which represents the arrival of the Norse in Fingal, where they became integrated with the existing Irish.
Fingal is bordered by County Meath to the north, by Kildare to the west and by Dublin city to the south. At the Strawberry Beds, the River Liffey separates the county from South Dublin.

Towns and villages

Fingal varies enormously in character, from densely populated suburban areas of the contiguous Dublin metropolitan to remote rural villages and lowly unpopulated agricultural townlands.
Fingal County Council is also responsible for the northern-most parts of Ballymun, Santry and Finglas. The part of Kilbarrack now known as Bayside, along with Sutton and Howth, were transferred from the city of Dublin in a somewhat controversial move. Clonee, part of County Meath, has housing estates in its hinterland that merge into the estates of Ongar in western Fingal.

History

Terminology and etymology

The name "Fingal" derives from the medieval territory of Fine Gall, the Viking settlement north of Dublin. The Vikings referred to the hinterland of Dublin as Dyflinarskiri.
In Ireland, the usage of the word county nearly always comes before rather than after the county name; thus "County Clare" in Ireland as opposed to "Clare County" in Michigan, US. In the case of those counties created after 1994, they often drop the word county entirely, or use it after the name; internet search engines show many more uses of "Fingal" than of either "County Fingal" or "Fingal County". The local authority uses all three forms.
Fingallian is an extinct language, a hybrid of Old and Middle English and Old Norse, with Gaelic influences. It was spoken by the people of Fingal until the mid-19th century.

Legal history

Not until the Norman invasion of Ireland did the settlement and its hinterland become an administrative area. In 1208 the Lordship of Fingal was granted to Walter de Lacy by King John of England. The modern county of Fingal was established on 1 January 1994 with the division of the administrative county of Dublin under the Local Government Act, 1993. The Act provided for the legal establishment of the following local government administrative areas:
and also recognised the local government administrative area under the jurisdiction of the extant Dublin Corporation, vesting its powers in a renamed entity – Dublin City Council.
The statutory instrument giving effect to the Act provided for the abolition of Dublin County Council – the entity that previously had responsibility for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. The four entities collectively comprise the former entity known as County Dublin. The former County Dublin, which had been created as a feudal entity in the 12th century, was abolished under the Acts.
Fingal is within the remit of the Eastern and Midland Region, established in 2015, one of three such regional authorities in the state.

Early Gaelic history

In the 2nd century AD, Ptolemy identified Eblana as the capital of a people called the Eblani. In later centuries the territory north of the river Liffey was known as Mide or Midhe, i.e. "the Kingdom of Meath". The west of this area was known as Teffia, and the east as Bregia. Bregia comprised five Gaelic triocha-cheds or the later baronies, and was ruled by the king at Tara. These princes, and various Gaelic chieftains, held sway over the area until the coming of the Vikings in the 8th century.

Vikings and Hiberno-Norse

By 841 AD a Scandinavian settlement had been established at Dublin; this was abandoned in 902, re-established in 917, and developed thereafter. It was so established by the 11th century that it was regarded even amongst the surrounding native Gaelic population as a minor kingdom ruled by Hiberno-Norse kings. The Norse Kingdom of Dublin stretched, at its greatest, from Drogheda to Arklow, and while mostly a thin strip of coastal land, from the Irish Sea westwards as far as Leixlip in the central part.
After the Battle of Clontarf, when High King Brian Boru curtailed the power of the Vikings in Ireland, the Norse-Irish Kingdom of Dublin continued, with its own bishop, part of the Westminster hierarchy rather than the Irish, though it gradually came under the influence of the Kings of Leinster. Diarmait Mac Murchada established himself there before his expulsion by the High King in 1166, a series of events which led to the area being invaded in the late 12th century, by the Cambro-Normans. This was to form part of the heartland of the area known as The Pale during the successive periods of rule by Anglo-Norman and the latter kings of England.

After the Anglo-Norman invasion

Early Anglo-Norman grants

With the arrival of the Anglo/Cambro-Normans in 1169, the territory of the old Gaelic Kingdom of Meath was promised in around 1172 to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry II of England. At that time, Meath extended to most of the current county of Fingal, County Westmeath and part of County Kildare. Fingal was therefore implicitly included in the grant of "Meath" either as part of Meath proper or under the additional element of that grant "and for increase to the gift, all fees which he has or shall acquire about Dublin". This element of the grant related to his role as Bailiff and was copied into the Gormanston Register.
Strongbow was probably also assigned some fees within the royal demesne of Dublin, as in the case of Hugh de Lacy's custodianship of Dublin, in payment of his services. This appears evidenced by several grants which he made in his own name within the city to St. Mary's Abbey, and his foundation of a hospital of St. John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham. Therefore, both Strongbow and Hugh de Lacy exercised lordships within the royal demesne of Dublin.
In addition to Dublin city, the royal demesne itself also consisted of the royal manors of Crumlin, Esker, Newcastle, and Saggart, in the south-west of the county, and the royal demesnes of O Thee, O Brun, and O Kelly in the south-east of the county, which were rented from the Crown by Irish-speaking tenants. Over half of the land in the county of Dublin was granted to religious houses and priories, as well as archbishops and monasteries, and minor lay lords. In such way too, an estate was given to the Irish chieftain MacGillamocholmog, who held sway over the territory of Cualann when the Anglo-Normans arrived.
De Lacy parceled out most of this land to his vassals, who were to hold these lands from him, as he had held the Lordship of Meath from King Henry, by military tenure. D'Alton also provides reference to the enumeration of these grants given in Hibernica, by Harris. Hugh de Lacy was appointed Viceroy in 1178, and again in 1181 after a brief period of royal disfavour.
By virtue of his grant of Meath, Hugh de Lacy was appointed a Palatine Count in that territory and divided it amongst his various vassals who were commonly called "De Lacy's Barons". These were: Hugh Tyrell, Baron of Castleknock; Jocelyn de Angulo, Baron of Navan and Ardbraccan; De Misset, Baron of Lune; Adam de Feypo, Baron Skryne; Fitz-Thomas, Baron of Kells; Hussey, Baron of Galtrim; Richard de Fleming, Baron Slane; Adam Dullard or Dollard, of Dullenvarty; Gilbert de Nugent, Baron Delvin and later Earl of Westmeath;Risteárd de Tiúit, Baron of Moyashell; Robert de Lacy's descendants, Barons of Rathwire; De Constantine, Baron of Kilbixey Petit, Baron of Mullingar; Meyler FitzHenry of Maghernan, Rathkenin, and Ardnocker. As Burke points out, to some of these there descended the De Genevilles, Lords of Meath; Mortimer, Earl of March ; the Plunkets, of Danish descent, Baron of Dunsany and of Killeen, and later Earl of Louth and Earl of Fingall ; the Prestons, Viscounts Gormanston and Viscount Tara, the Barnewalls, Baron Trimlestown and Viscount Barnewall; the Nettervilles, Barons of Dowth; the Bellews, Barons of Duleek; the Darcys of Platten, Barons of Navan; the Cusacks, Barons of Culmullin; the FitzEustaces, Baron Portlester. Some of these again were succeeded by the De Baths of Athcarn, the Dowdalls of Athlumny, the Cruises, the Drakes of Drake Rath, and others.

John of England

In 1184, Prince John, then Lord of Ireland and Earl of Mortain gave half the tithes of Fingal to the episcopal see of Dublin, which grant was confirmed in 1337 by King Edward, and in 1395 by King Richard II when in Dublin.
This John was none other than the same who featured so prominently in the tales of Robin Hood during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart absent on the Third Crusade. In 1189, on the breaking up of Robin Hood's company, Robin Hood's great companion Little John, is said to have exhibited his feats of archery on Oxmanstown Green in Dublin, until having been detected in a robbery, he was hanged on Arbour Hill nearby. Another Robin Hood-type, known as McIerlagh Gedy, is recorded as a notorious felon responsible for many thefts and incendiary acts in Meath, Leinster, and Fingal, and was taken prisoner, brought to Trim Castle and hanged.
Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath, son of Hugh, gained seisin of the Lordship of Meath by charter in 1194 during Richard I's exercise of the Lordship of Ireland, having previously been a minor when his father Hugh de Lacy died in 1186. Walter succeeded to all Hugh's lordships, including of Fingal, which by grant of King John in 1208 was subsequently confirmed in perpetuity under the same terms as the palatine Lordship of Meath, and no longer limited by the original conditions linked to service as bailiff of Dublin.

Feudal administration

Prescriptive Barony, 1208

The first known administrative provision related to the original name was a palatine grant of the Paramount Lordship of Fingal, confirmed by letters patent from King John. This feudal barony or Prescriptive barony was granted to Walter de Lacy and his heirs in perpetuity in 1208. The grant was based on Hugh de Lacy, Walter's father, having held the same on a basis of grand serjeanty for his services as bailiff to the King. The grant describes the scope of administrative responsibility, and the limits of powers delegated. The gist of the grant is recounted as follows:
Grant and confirmation to Walter de Lascy, on his petition, of his land of Meath; to hold of the King in fee by the service of 50 knights; and of his fees of Fingal, in the vale of Dublin; to hold in fee by the service of 7 knights; saving to the King pleas of the Crown, appeals of the peace, & c., and crociae, and the dignities thereto belonging; the King's writs to run throughout Walter's land. Further grant to Walter of the custody of his fees, although the lords thereof hold elsewhere in capite; saving to the King the marriages of the heirs of those fees.

Other derivative or related grants and titles

As mentioned above, by the time King John granted Finegal as part of his inheritance to Walter, Walter's father Hugh had already sub-infeudated parts thereof to his vassals. Therefore, Finegal was already a superior lordship when originally granted, consisting of lesser baronies, even though some of these may have been granted by Hugh in his capacities as Bailiff or as Viceroy, and later confirmed as held of the Crown in capite, and in perpetuity. The lordship of Fingal was therefore a paramount superiority over several sub-infeudated smaller baronies, and thus eventually accrued vicecomital attributes.
In addition, several other baronies existed as feudal holdings or were created within geographical territory of Fingal, and in other parts of Dublin: Howth and Senkylle.
A later, related, development was the granting of the first viscountcy in Ireland in 1478 to a Preston, Lord Gormanston, the Premier Viscount of Ireland, who at the time was a major landowner in the Fingal area, and a direct descendant of Walter de Lacy. That viscountcy was called after Gormanston as the latter was the principal seat and Manor of the Prestons at the time, having been acquired upon their relinquishment of occupancy of the Manor of Fyngallestoun. The Viscounts Gormanston continued to retain the Lordship of the latter under reversion., and the prescriptive barony of Fingal was also retained by the Viscount Gormanston as an incorporeal hereditament in gross, until passed to the late Patrick Denis O'Donnell.

Medieval taxation, and the Pale

Geographically, Fingal became a core area of the Pale, and that part of Ireland most intensively settled by the Normans and in due course the English. Records during the period 1285–92, of rolls of receipts for taxes to the King indicate Fingal as a distinct area, listed along with the baronies or lordships of Duleek, Kells, and Loxuedy, as well as Valley, and sometimes under, sometimes separate from Dublin. Later records of rolls of receipts e.g. "granted to the King in Ireland of the term of Trinity a.r.21 " for the period 1293–1301 also include references to Fingal listed as a lordship, again along with the baronies of Duleek and Kells, and Dublin City, and Valley, all listed under Dublin County. Several other references also exist in the chancery records of the 14th century.

Abolition of feudal system

The feudal system was finally completely abolished in the Republic of Ireland under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act passed by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2009. The Act accordingly abolished feudal tenure, but preserved estates in land, including customary rights and incorporeal hereditaments.

Earldom of Fingall

A peerage title as Earl of Fingall was created in 1628, by King Charles I of England, and granted to Luke Plunkett, 1st Earl of Fingall, Baron Killeen, whose first wife, Elizabeth Plunkett née FitzGerald, thus became Lady Killeen The Plunketts also intermarried with the Prestons, Viscounts Gormanston. The Fingall Estate Papers, acquired by the Fingal County Archives, do not however relate to any properties in Fingal, but rather to lands in Meath. That Fingall title became extinct upon the death of the 12th and last Earl in 1984, along with a peerage barony of the same name, not to be confused with the titular prescriptive barony of Fingal previously mentioned.

County Dublin

In the 1208 grant, the bulk of Fingal, considered to be "in the vale of Dublin", was part of the County Dublin, when the latter was established as one of the first twelve counties created by King John during his visit to Ireland in 1210. Its history forms part of that of Co. Dublin for the following eight centuries.
The part of Fingal within County Dublin was in later centuries subdivided into the following administrative baronies: Balrothery West, Balrothery East, Nethercross, Castleknock and Coolock.
In 1985, County Dublin was divided into three "electoral counties", with "Dublin–Fingal" as the northern one. In 1994, the administrative county of Dublin was abolished, and three new administrative counties similar to the electoral counties replaced it, with "Fingal" in place of "Dublin–Fingal". It encompasses that part of the area anciently known as Fingal which lay within the former County of Dublin, excluding the areas north of the Tolka but within city boundaries. With the enactment of the Local Government Act 2001, Fingal is determined and listed as a county.

Local government

Fingal County Council is the local authority for the county. It was established at the same time that Dublin County Council and the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire were abolished in 1994, by an Act of the Oireachtas, the Local Government Act 1993. It is one of four councils in the Dublin Region. The County Hall is in Swords, with another major office in Blanchardstown. The county administration is headed by a County Manager, leading a team of functional heads and directors of services. The county council is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The Council has 24 elected members who are elected are by single transferable vote in elections held every 5 years.
For elections to Dáil Éireann, the county is divided into Dublin North and Dublin West, with Malahide and Howth situated in the constituency of Dublin North-East and small parts of Mulhuddart being located in Dublin North-West.

Economy

Fingal is Ireland's primary horticultural region, producing 50% of the national vegetable output and 75% of all glasshouse crops grown in the country. However, the areas of production are coming under severe pressure from other development and the rural towns are increasingly becoming dormitories for the City. Howth harbour is the biggest fishing harbour on the east coast, and the fifth largest in the country.
head office
Dublin Airport is located within the county, along with the headquarters of Aer Lingus and Ryanair. The Dublin Airport Authority has its head office on the grounds of the airport. In addition Swords has the headquarters of ASL Airlines, CityJet, and Ingersoll Rand.
In 2006 Fingal County Council was lauded by prominent Irish construction industry figures, politicians and EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs for becoming the first local authority in Ireland to introduce mandatory sustainable building requirements. The policy, which relates to all construction in 8 parts of the county—including roughly 13,000 new homes—stipulates that the amount of energy and CO2 emissions associated with the heating and hot water of all buildings must be reduced by at least 60% compared to Irish Building Regulations, with at least 30% of the energy used for heating and hot water coming from renewable sources such as solar, geothermal or biomass.

Demographics

Education

The Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown is the largest third-level education facility in Fingal.

Sport

Fingal is home to Morton Stadium, Ireland's national athletics stadium and 2003 Special Olympics venue.
Between 2007 and 2011 Morton Stadium hosted the home matches of the former soccer team Sporting Fingal FC.
The county has many GAA teams which are still organised under the County Dublin GAA since the political county changes have not affected the GAA Counties. However, a team representing Fingal competes against GAA counties as a sub-region of the GAA county of Dublin in the Kehoe Cup, Division 2B of the Allianz National Hurling League and the Nicky Rackard Cup.