Blanchardstown

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Blanchardstown
Baile Bhlainséir
Suburb of Dublin
Blanchardstown Centre
Blanchardstown Centre
Blanchardstown is located in Ireland
Blanchardstown
Blanchardstown
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
County Fingal
Government
 • Local Authority Fingal County Council
 • Dáil Éireann Dublin West
Elevation 56 m (184 ft)
Population (2006)[1]
 • Urban 68,156
Irish Grid Reference O055383

Blanchardstown (Irish: Baile Bhlainséir) is a large suburb of Dublin in Fingal, Ireland, located 10 km north-west of the city centre. It is within the historical barony of Castleknock, the Dublin 15 postal area and the Dublin West electoral constituency. It is largest urban area in the county. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 68,156 in Blanchardstown and its immediate environs.[1]

History

Blanchardstown has grown up alongside its smaller neighbouring town, Castleknock. Both towns shared a common history until well into the 19th century, when their development diverged. The name Blanchardstown comes from the Blanchard family, who were granted their estate some time between 1250 and 1260. The name 'Blanchard' is thought to come from the old French word blanch, meaning white, and could refer to white or fair hair.[2] The townland has an area of over 454 acres.

Blanchardstown was a rural village in western County Dublin until the late 1960s, when the first housing estates began to be developed. Blanchardstown developed in tandem with neighbouring settlement Castleknock, both of which grew rapidly from the early 1970s to the present. During the 1970s/80s, the village became subsumed into the suburban fabric of Dublin. The Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown (ITB) was established in 1999.

A criminal gang from Blanchardstown became notorious as "The Westies"; their leaders were killed in Spain in 2004.[3]

Ecclesiastical history

In the 19th century, the Roman Catholic parish of Blanchardstown encompassed much of the area now within the Dublin 15 postal district. Following the relaxation of the Penal Laws, it became possible for the Catholic adherents to consider the construction of additional churches and to repair the existing stock of religious buildings. Church authorities used the opportunity to implement the Tridentine reform which saw the parish as the basic unit of ecclesiastical organisation and the parish priest as the central figure within the parish.[4]

The new parish priest of Blanchardstown in 1839, Fr Michael Dungan, oversaw the construction of a number of new churches, which are today independent parishes in their own right, and invited a number of religious communities to provide for the education of Catholic children. St Brigid's Church, Blanchardstown – not to be confused with a church of the Church of Ireland in nearby Castleknock – was constructed in 1837 upon the foundation of a church that had been built prior to 1731. It is the Mother church of 12 other churches constituted out of the parish over the following 156 years.[5] They are:

  • Chapelizod - "Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (separated from Blanchardstown 1883)
    • Navan Road - "Our Lady Help of Christians" (separated from Chapelizod 1953)[6]
  • Castleknock - "Our Lady Mother of the Church" (separated from Blanchardstown 1976)[7]
    • Laurel Lodge - "St Thomas, the Apostle" (separated from Castleknock 1983)[8]
    • Porterstown - "St Mochta's" (separated from Castleknock 1986. The present church was constructed in 1890 as a Chapel of ease for Blanchardstown.)[9]
  • Corduff - "St Patrick's Church" (separated from Blanchardstown 1976)
    • Mountview - "St Philip, the Apostle" (separated from Corduff 1979)[10]
    • Blakestown - "Church of Mary of the Servants" (separated from Corduff 1979)[11]
    • Huntstown - "Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" (separated from Blakestown 1981)
        • Littlepace - "Chapel of Ease, Mary, Mother of Hope" (in the process of development since 2002)[12]
  • Hartstown - "St Ciarán' Church" (separated Blanchardstown 1979)[13]
  • Mulhuddart / Lady's Well - "St Luke, the Evangelist" (separated from Blanchardstown 1993)

Geography

File:Royal Canal Aqueduct - geograph.org.uk - 347925.jpg
Royal Canal Aqueduct

Blanchardstown is just outside Dublin's M50 motorway ring road, slightly to the north of the tolled crossing of the River Liffey. The core of the suburb is the townland of the same name.[14] It is bordered to the east by the suburb of Castleknock, to the west by Clonsilla/Ongar, to the north by Tyrellstown/Hollystown and to the south and south east by Porterstown/Diswellstown. The Royal Canal and the Dublin-Sligo railway line pass along the southern edge of Blanchardstown proper from east to west.

For the purposes of elections to Dáil Éireann, it is part of the Dublin West constituency which returns four TDs.

For the purposes of elections to Fingal County Council, the village is split between two local electoral areas (LEAs). They are Castleknock[15] (4 councillors returned) and Mulhuddart[16] (5 councillors returned).

Transport

Rail

There are three Irish Rail train stations in the wider Blanchardstown area: Castleknock, Coolmine and Clonsilla. Train on the Maynooth/Longford line connect the city centre, at Dublin Connolly, Tara Street and Dublin Pearse stations, to Maynooth, Longford and Sligo. At Clonsilla station, the Dublin–Navan railway line connects Docklands railway station to Hansfield and Dunboyne.[17]

Bus

Ballycoolin Industrial Estate is served by a private bus company called AMC Ballycoolin, also known as Express Bus.

Bus Éireann services pass through Blanchardstown on Routes 105,109 and 111.[18][19][20]

Dublin Bus routes include 17A, 37, 38, 38A, 38B, 39, 39A, 40D, 70, 76A, 220, 236, 238, 239 and 270. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Two Nitelink bus routes also operate on Friday and Saturday nights to Tyrrelstown Route 39N[36] and Dunboyne Route 70N.[37] Express bus routes include service from Aston Quay and from Coolmine Railway Station to Ballycoolin Industrial Estate.[38][39]

Features and facilities

File:St Patricks's Day parade, March 2015, Blanchardstown.JPG
St Patrick's Day parade
March 2015
  • St Brigid's Roman Catholic Church is situated behind Main Street at Church Avenue. The foundation stone for the Church was laid on 13 October 1835 and the first Mass was celebrated there on 29 October 1837. The construction of the Church and its unusual Flemish spire was finally completed in 1863.[40]
  • Connolly Hospital
  • Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown - a third level educational institute
  • Blanchardstown Centre - a large retail shopping centre to the north of the village
  • WestEnd Shopping Park - a retail park located beside the Blanchardstown Centre

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Cronin, Elizabeth, Fr Michael Dungan's Blanchardstown, 1836-1968, Four Courts Press (2002), p. 10.
  5. ↑ Cronin, Elizabeth, Fr Michael Dungan's Blanchardstown, 1836-1968, Four Courts Press (2002), p 56.
  6. ↑ Official website of the Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians.
  7. ↑ Official website of the Parish of Our Lady Mother of the Church, Castleknock.
  8. ↑ Official website of the Parish of St Thomas, the Apostle, Castleknock.
  9. ↑ Official website of the Parish of St Mochta, Porterstown.
  10. ↑ Official website of the Parish of St Philip.
  11. ↑ Official website of the Parish of Mary of the Servants.
  12. ↑ Official website of the Parish of Huntstown-Littlepace.
  13. ↑ Official website of the Parish of St Ciarán, Hartstown.
  14. ↑ Placenames Database of Ireland - Blanchardstown townland
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ [1] M3 Parkway
  18. ↑ [2] - Bus Éireann route 105
  19. ↑ [3] - Bus Éireann route 109
  20. ↑ [4] - Bus Éireann route 105
  21. ↑ [5] - Dublin Bus route 17A
  22. ↑ [6] - Dublin Bus route 37
  23. ↑ [7] - Dublin Bus route 38
  24. ↑ [8] - Dublin Bus route 38A,
  25. ↑ [9] - Dublin Bus route 38B
  26. ↑ [10] - Dublin Bus route 39
  27. ↑ [11] - Dublin Bus route 39A
  28. ↑ [12] - Dublin Bus route 40D
  29. ↑ [13] - Dublin Bus route 70
  30. ↑ [14] - Dublin Bus route 76A
  31. ↑ [15] - Dublin Bus route 220
  32. ↑ [16] - Dublin Bus route 236
  33. ↑ [17] - Dublin Bus route 238
  34. ↑ [18] - Dublin Bus route 239
  35. ↑ [19] - Dublin Bus route 270
  36. ↑ http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/39n/
  37. ↑ [20] 70N
  38. ↑ http://www.amconline.ie/routedetails.asp?a=timetable&id=7
  39. ↑ http://www.amconline.ie/routedetails.asp?a=timetable&id=1
  40. ↑ St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/looking-at-places/fingal/blanchardstown-through-ti/blanchardstown-village/

External links

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