Walkinstown

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Walkinstown
Baile Bhailcín
Location
Location of Walkinstown
centerMap highlighting Walkinstown
Statistics
Province: Leinster
County: County Dublin
Dáil Éireann: Dublin South-Central
Postal district(s): Dublin 12
Population (2006) 5910 

Walkinstown (Baile Bhailcín in Irish) is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the Southside of the city, approximately 6 kilometres south-west of Dublin city centre. The suburb borders Crumlin to the east, Drimnagh to the north, Greenhills to the south and Ballymount, Bluebell and Clondalkin to the west.

Walkinstown is a mature suburb consisting primarily of owner-occupied private residential terraced housing. Light industry, warehousing, car dealerships and commercial outlet stores are concentrated along the Long Mile Road in the western sector of the suburb. The Central Statistics Office census of 2006 recorded a populated of 5910[1] for the area. The layout of the suburb is such that "nests" of smaller roads run off the main roads, usually with green open spaces as focal points. The area is very well served with a library, residents' association, sports ground, community centre, schools, church and retail facilities. A strong sense of community exists.

Walkinstown forms part of the Dublin South-Central Dáil constituency and is administered by Dublin City Council at the local government level. Its postal code is Dublin 12.

Contents

[edit] Name and History

The name of the area is a corruption of Wilkinstown - named after Wilkins, a tenant farmer who lived in the area in the 15th century.

Walkinstown as a suburb is a 20th century creation. The area was a dairy farm until house building began in the 1950s. Building ended in the area in the 1970s when most of the available land was built upon. The 1950s also saw the building of the local Catholic church as well as primary and second schools for boys and girl.

[edit] The extent of the district

There is some ambiguity as to the full extent of the suburb, with some claiming Walkinstown includes Greenhills, as well as one of three parts of Ballymount.

Greenhills was previously linked to Walkinstown in the Catholic church structure to make up the Parish of Walkinstown and Greenhills, at a time when Greenhills did not have its own local church. This combined parish ceased to exist when Greenhills acquired its own parish church in 1971. Greenhills is generally regarded now as a separate and distinct suburb, with its own identity and full range of services.

The distinction between Ballymount and Walkinstown is not so well defined. Given that Ballymount has a less clear identity, many consider it to form part of Walkinstown. The area itself is primarily given over to light industry with much less residential housing than its nearest neighbour, Walkinstown. Most residential housing which exists directly borders on the Ballymount Road which itself is often listed as Walkinstown. Residents of Ballymount do not have their own services and so rely on Walkinstown for schools, church and commercial centres.

[edit] Amenities

There is a branch of Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive - the Walkinstown Public Library - on Percy French Road. The local An Post post office is located adjacent to the Walkinstown Roundabout on Bunting Road. The local branch of the Irish League of Credit Unions, Walkinstown Credit Union, is located on Walkinstown Green.

The local Catholic Church, Our Lady of the Assumption, is one of the largest buildings in the suburb and is situated on Kilnamagh Road, near the Long Mile Road. It forms part of a major concentration of religious and educational services, with a girls school (Our Lady of the Assumption) adjacent to the Church, whilst a boys school, Drimnagh Castle CBS, is situated opposite the girls school on the other side of the Long Mile Road. Both theses schools provide primary and secondary education.

The premises of the Walkinstown Association, which provides services to people with intellectual disabilities, is situated on the Long Mile Road, adjacent to the Halfway House public house.

The 94th Dublin Scout Den is situated on Bunting Road.

Walkinstown is served by six and a half pubs, located in two hubs. The first hub is located at the intersection of the Drimnagh, Walkinstown and Long Mile roads, while the second is situated at the Walkinstown Roundabout. The six pubs are:

  • (1) the Halfway House, located on a triangular site bordered by the Walkinstown and Long Mile Roads, with (2) the Long Mile Inn directly across the road
  • (3) The Black Forge and (4) The Eleanora are located a short distance away on the Drimnagh Road
  • (5) the Cherrytree and (6) the Kestrel House are located on opposite sides of the Walkinstown Roundabout

The "half a pub" refers to The Submarine Bar, which although almost entirely located in Crumlin has its main entrance on Cromwellsfort Road in Walkinstown.

There is no local Garda station. The area is served equally by neighbouring Crumlin's two Garda stations - the Crumlin Village and Sundrive Road stations. The three hospitals which primarily serve the local community are Tallaght Hospital, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and St. James' Hospital.

[edit] Shopping

Superquinn provides the only large supermarket in the area, on the Walkinstown Road. The Ashleaf Shopping Centre, located on the Cromwellsfort Road, is the nearest shopping centre and has as anchor tenant Dunnes Stores, providing both supermarket and clothing retail services.

Small commercial enterprises such as newsagents, pharmacies and fast food outlets as well as local branches of the major banks are concentrated in a similar fashion to the area's pubs, at the intersection of the Drimnagh, Walkinstown and Long Mile roads as well as around the Walkinstown Roundabout. Michael O'Leary famously set up a Newsagent's business for 2 years near the roundabout.

[edit] Local landmarks

There are few local historic landmarks within the area of Walkinstown, unlike the neighbouring suburbs of Crumlin and Drimnagh which can boast much longer histories. One of the oldest buildings in the immediate vacinity is Drimnagh Castle, located on Drimnagh side of the Long Mile Road. The Halfway House pub is the oldest public house in the area, predating all of the housing developments that went to make up the suburb[2]. This pub, which used to be a Coachhouse, situated halfway between Dublin and Tallaght, retains the outward appearance of the country pub, although the interior was recently modernised.

The dominant style of the area is that of a mid-20th century Dublin housing development. The most distinctive buildings of the Walkinstown area are that of the local Catholic church and schools, built in a sturdy style of the 1950s with red brick and green copper roofing.

One of the key features of the area is the Walkinstown Roundabout, also known as Walkinstown Cross, one of the largest, and most accident-prone[citation needed] roundabouts in the Dublin area. This major junction serves seven major local roads - Walkinstown Road towards Drimnagh, Bunting Road towards Crumlin, Cromwellsfort Road towards Kimmage and Crumlin, and St Peter's Road towards Greenhills and Templeogue, Greenhills Road towards Tallaght, Ballymount Road towards Ballymount and the M50 and Walkinstown Avenue towards Ballyfermot,

An area of Walkinstown north of Cromwellsfort Road is known as the Musical Roads. Roads in this area are named after prominent figures of Irish music - examples include the tenor Count John McCormack and composers Balfe and Bunting.

The Superquinn supermarket on Walkinstown Road was once the site of Walkinstown House, a distinctive country house and the family home of the Flanagan family, including the infamous "The Bird Flanagan", a well-know Dublin character and infamous practical joker of the early 20th century. It is said that The Long Mile Road was named after a mile long horse race along this route by the Bird Flanagan. However it was later argued that it was a long mile.[3]

[edit] Local Sports

The first local GAA club was set up in the 1950s in part to help give the new suburb of Walkinstown an identity, in addition to providing a sports outlet for the newly arrived residents. That club has since morphed, changed name and amalgamated with others to form the current St James' Gaels GAA club which is still charged with the promotion of Gaelic Games in the Walkinstown area.

Walkinstown Athletic FC is the local soccer team. W.S.A.F. - Walkinstown Sports and Athletic Association - meet at Moeran Community Hall on Summerville Drive. Mooney's Field, a local name given to the largest green open space in the Walkinstown area (situated on Bunting Road), is used for many field sports. The nearest municipal swimming pool is located in Crumlin village.

[edit] Transportation

Walkinstown is well served by Dublin Bus both in terms of number of routes and frequency. The following routes service the suburb:

18, 77, 77A, 56A, 50, 123, 151, 210, 17, 19A, 150, 121, 122

Route numbers 18, 77, 77A, 56A, 50, 123, 151 and 210 all pass by, or very near to, the Halfway House pub. The 17, 19A & 150 pass the Ashleaf Shopping Centre/Submarine Bar while the 121 and 122 have their terminus at Our Lady's Hospital (Crumlin), approximately 5 minutes walk east of the Halfway House pub. Typical bus journey time to the city centre is 25 minute, and a little longer than this during peak periods.

The Dublin Bus Nitelink 77N service provides a one-way link from Dublin city centre to Walkinstown until late at night after regular bus services finish at 23:30. This route departs from a bus stop on College Green opposite Doyle's pub in the city centre.

Although the Luas does not serve Walkinstown, the route of the Red Line takes it to within walking distance of the suburb. The nearest stops are Blackhorse and Kylemore, approximately 10 minutes north.

[edit] Administration

In administrative terms, Walkinstown is in the extreme south-west of Dublin City Council and in local government elections is part of the Crumlin/Kimmage Ward. Since the last local elections in 2004, the local elected representatives on Dublin City Council are:

Walkinstown is part of the Dublin South Central Dáil constituency. The elected TD's for the current 30th Dáil Éireann are:

[edit] Famous Names

[edit] See also

Ireland Portal

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ CSO 2006 Census
  2. ^ Historic Map of Area showing Halfway House
  3. ^ Walkinstown House, Walkinstown, Co.Dublin

Coordinates: 53°19′16″N, 6°19′50″W

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