Greenhills
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- For other uses of Greenhills see Greenhills (disambiguation).
Greenhills (Irish, Na Glaschnoic or Na Cnoic nGlas) is a suburb situated on the Southside of the city of Dublin, Ireland. It sits between Crumlin, Walkinstown, Templeogue, Tallaght and borders smaller suburbs such as Kilnamanagh and Perrystown. It is generally understood to comprise the Greenhills Estate (the "saints" roads, e.g. St James' Road, St Peter's Road) as well as Greenpark, Limekiln and Temple Manor. Some would also include the estates of Fernhill, Mountdown, Glenmurray and Perrystown in a broader definition. Its Dublin postcode is 12.
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[edit] Name and history
The area was mostly farmland until expansion in the 1950s and 1960s led to the building of new housing estates. However, Greenhills, situated just below the esker upon which the Greenhills Road now runs, is believed to have housed settlements as long ago as 1800 BC. An urn dating from that time, found in the late 1890s in the former quarry between the Greenhills Road and St Columba's Road, is on display in the National Museum of Ireland.
The name comes from the sand-based hills that were formerly prevalent in the area. Most of these were excavated for building work; the last remaining hill, known locally as the "Horseshoe," was flattened in 2003. It was located in the centre of Greenhills Park.
[edit] Local landmarks and facilities
Tymon Park is situated in the old townland of Greenhills and is located to the south of the Limekiln estate. It is the second largest municipal park in Dublin, after the Phoenix Park, and the largest in the area administered by South Dublin County Council. Tymon is a particularly well-developed local park, with the local River Poddle and its associated man-made lakes providing a backdrop. The M50 motorway splits the Greenhills side of the park from Kilnamanagh and the Tymon North estate (both Tallaght). A smaller park, Greenhills Park, colloquially known as "The Field," is also administered by the SDCC and is used almost exclusively for football.
On of the key features of the area is the Walkinstown Roundabout, or Walkinstown Cross, a major junction which serves seven major local roads - the Greenhills Road into Tallaght, Ballymount Road towards Ballymount and the M50, Walkinstown Avenue towards Ballyfermot, Walkinstown Road towards Drimnagh, Cromwellsfort Road towards Kimmage and Crumlin, Bunting Road towards Crumlin and St Peter's Road towards Greenhills and Templeogue.
There is also a well-known Catholic Church, the Church of the Holy Spirit. It is particularly famous for its verdigren copper roof, which has been said to be reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House. The church stands alongside a local community centre, which was completed in the 1990s, and the clubhouse of local football club Greenhills FC, formerly Greenhills Boy's AFC.
Greenhills is home to a number of schools; at primary level, St Paul's Junior and Senior Girl's National Schools and St Peter's Boy's National School, and at secondary level St Paul's Secondary (girls) and Greenhills College VEC (boys). Greenhills College is also a key centre for Post Leaving Certificate courses and adult education in general.
The Traders is the only public house in Greenhills, although the Cherrytree and the Kestrel House (Walkinstown), The Laurels and The Pines (Perrystown) and the Cuckoo's Nest (Kilnamanagh) are also frequented by locals.
[edit] Sport
Brian Kerr, the former Irish international football manager, currently lives in Greenhills, having been brought up close-by in Drimnagh. Michael Carruth, a gold-medal winner in the welterweight boxing division at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games, was from St Peter's Road and retains close ties to the area. Football remains one of the chief sports in the area, through local clubs such as Greenhills FC and Manortown United, while Gaelic football is also popular, with local clubs such as Robert Emmets, St Jude's (Templeogue), Faughs (Templeogue) and St James' Gaels. Community Games athletics was also particularly popular in both Greenhills and Limekiln, although with the ageing demographic of the area participation in all sports has dropped off.
[edit] Administration
In administrative terms, Greenhills is in the extreme north-west of South Dublin County Council and in local government elections is part of the Terenure/Rathfarnham Ward. As of 2005, the local elected reps on SDCC are Máire Ardagh (Fianna Fáil), Cáit Keane (Progressive Democrats), John Lahart (Fianna Fáil), Stanley Laing (Fine Gael), Tony McDermott (Green Party), Eamonn Walsh (Labour) and Alex White (Labour). Cllr Walsh is the only local representative resident in Greenhills.
Greenhills is part of the Dublin South West Dáil constituency. The elected TDs for the area are Seán Crowe (Sinn Féin), Conor Lenihan (Fianna Fáil), Charlie O'Connor (Fianna Fáil), and Pat Rabbitte (Labour).
