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Drumcondra

Droim Conrach
Inner suburb
Drumcondra Road Lower
Drumcondra Road Lower
Drumcondra is located in Ireland
Drumcondra
Drumcondra
Location in Ireland
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
County Dublin
Administrative County Dublin City Council
Elevation
25 m (82 ft)
Population
 (2006)
 • Urban
8,637
Irish Grid Reference O158368

Drumcondra (Irish: Droim Conrach, meaning Conra's Ridge) 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 Parish of Clonturk, and the two names were used equally for the religious and civil parishes, but the new suburban district of Drumcondra now also encompasses the old Parish of St.Mary.

The Cat and Cage Pub on the Drumcondra Road 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. The Cat and Cage is located at the corner of Church Avenue.

Local government and subdivisions

The Drumcondra, Clonliffe, and Glasnevin Township Act 1878 was a local act of the UK Parliament sponsored by businessmen in Drumcondra to create a township, called Drumcondra, Clonliffe, & Glasnevin, encompassing Drumcondra and the neighbouring districts of Clonliffe and Glasnevin, governed by 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

Drumcondra Road Upper, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland - geograph.org.uk - 332205
Drumcondra Road Upper
  • The district is served by Drumcondra railway station, on the main Drumcondra road. The station initially opened on 1 April 1901 but closed on 1 December 1910 with the termination of Kingsbridge (now Heuston Station) to Amiens Street (now Connolly Station) services. Part of the original building was demolished in late 1918. It reopened on 2 March 1998 as a station on the Maynooth/Longford commuter line.
  • The proposed Metro line from Dublin city centre to beyond Dublin Airport is scheduled to be linked with Drumcondra railway station.
  • Many Dublin Bus routes serve the Drumcondra area, including the 1, 11, 13, 16, 33, 41 and 41C. In addition, the Aircoach express coach service to Dublin Airport stops at the railway station.

Features

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' (as it colloquially known) is the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association and also houses the official GAA Museum (on St Josephs Avenue, which is off Clonliffe Road). The stadium has the right to host the final matches 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. Bertie Ahern took U.S. President, Bill Clinton, here in September 1998.

Kennedys Pub on Lower Drumcondra Rd is one of the oldest pubs in Drumcondra, predating Fagans by a number of years. Formerly called McPhilips, its been named Kennedys since 1961.

Fagan's Public House, Drumcondra Road Lower, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland - geograph.org.uk - 332331
Fagan's Public House, Drumcondra Road Lower.

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.

Religion

The oldest church in the district is Drumcondra Church (Church of Ireland), 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 (changed to Hill Street in the 1800s), 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 (later named Drumcondra Hospital). The gravestones can be seen behind the Hospital.

In the Catholic church, Drumcondra is 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 (the diocesan seminary). Together they occupy an extensive site bounded by Clonliffe Road and the Drumcondra Road (to the South and West) 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.

People

Sport

Tolka Park Dublin
Tolka Park in Drumcondra.

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. (Drums) 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 and Social Club is situated off Grace Park Road, Rosmini Gaels (GAA) is also based in Drumcondra.

Education

Primary schools

  • Drumcondra N.S. (for boys and girls), Church Avenue, Church Of Ireland.
  • St Patrick's N.S. (for boys), Roman Catholic, parish of Drumcondra.
  • Corpus Christi N.S. (for girls), Home Farm Road, Roman Catholic, parish of Drumcondra.
  • St. Joseph's School For Children with a Visual Impairment, (for boys and girls), Roman Catholic, parish of Drumcondra.

Secondary Schools

  • Dominican College Griffith Avenue (Girls)
  • PobalScoil Rosmini (mixed)
  • Maryfield College (Girls)

Third level

Two campuses of Dublin City University are located in Drumcondra:

  • All Hallows College
  • St Patrick's College, Dublin

Notable people

  • Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach
  • Sarah Atkinson, writer and philanthropist, lived for thirty years on Drumcondra Hill
  • William Bathe SJ, the Jesuit priest, musicologist and writer, was born in Drumcondra Castle.
  • Dermot Bannon, Architect on RTE 'Room to Improve, lives in Drumcondra
  • Dermot Bolger, writer
  • Nevill Coghill, Victoria Cross recipient
  • Emmet Dalton, soldier and film producer
  • Eamon Dunphy, football player and broadcaster, lived on Richmond Road.
  • Gabriel Fallon, Abbey actor
  • Michael Feeney Callan, writer
  • Charles Franklin, motorcycle racer and designer
  • Orla Gartland, popular singer
  • Aidan Gillen, actor
  • Alan Glynn, writer
  • Eoin Hand, football player and manager
  • Michael Holohan, composer, member and former chair of Aosdána.
  • James Joyce, writer, lived for a time on Millbourne Avenue.
  • Richard Kirwan, scientist
  • Nuala McGovern, broadcaster/journalist
  • Seán O'Casey, playwright
  • Peadar O'Donnell (1893-1986), Irish socialist republican revolutionary, lived at 174 Upper Drumcondra Road
  • Mary O'Kelly de Galway an Irish Belgian resistance operative, grew up in Waterfall Cottage, Richmond Road
  • Fintan O'Toole, journalist
  • Noel Rock, politician
  • Roisin Shortall, politician, born and raised here
  • Rejjie Snow, rapper
  • Thomas Tickell, poet

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