Blackrock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Blackrock
An Charraig Dhubh

Location

Statistics

County:

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

Elevation:

0m to 80m

Population (2002)

28,557[1])

For other uses of the name, see Blackrock (disambiguation).

Blackrock ('An Charraig Dhubh' in Irish) is a suburb of the city of Dublin, in County Dublin, Ireland, situated 3 km north-west of Dún Laoghaire, and which has service and computer-programming industries.

It is a large area, rising from sea-level on the coast to 90m at White's Cross on the N11.

1 History
2 Institutions
3 Architecture
4 Infrastructure
5 Trivia

[edit] History

There are many places of historical significance within the area. The childhood home of Lord Edward FitzGerald Frescati House was here until 1983, when it was demolished as part of the completion of Roches Stores' new shopping centre.[2] The Cross Avenue was the site of the assassination of Kevin O'Higgins, and was also where Eamon de Valera lived after his Presidential term ended. Linden Convalescent Home where de Valera died is also in Blackrock.

[edit] Institutions

Also located in Blackrock are: a college of education; several secondary schools, such as Rosemount College (run by Opus Dei), Sion Hill Dominican College, St. Andrew's College, Newpark School and Blackrock College; a private clinic, Blackrock Clinic, (in Williamstown); and Newpark Music School, incorporating the acclaimed Newpark Jazz School.

Carysfort College was a large teacher training college located in the area, until its closure in 1988 and is now operated as the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business.

[edit] Architecture

Blackrock street scene

The town hall was completed in 1865 while the Carnegie library was built in 1905.[3]

The Blackrock baths have fallen into dilapidation since their closure. [4]. The local council sold the public amenity that was the Blackrock Baths to the developers Treasury Holdings, who want to build high-rise apartments on the site.

Talbot Lodge before demolition

[edit] Infrastructure

Blackrock has a station on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) line, which is 15 minutes away from the city centre, and runs on the track that was built in 1834 as the Dublin-Kingstown railway.Dublin Bus also serves the area with multiple bus routes.

Rock Road was once directly beside the sea, and the railway line was built about 50 metres from the coast, giving the impression that the trains were running on water. However, the intervening area soon became marshland, and the area between Williamstown and Blackrock became Blackrock Park.

More recently, in the 1980s, the Blackrock bypass, part of the N31 which joins the ferry port at Dun Laoghaire to the national Primary Route network was built.