Walkinstown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walkinstown (Baile Bhailcín in Irish) is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, which incorporates the area of Greenhills (Irish, Na Glaschnoic or Na Cnoic nGlas), and one area of Ballymount, which is divided in to three areas, is situated on the Southside of the city. It borders Crumlin, Drimnagh, Clondalkin, Tallaght and Bluebell and some smaller estates. Its Dublin post code is 12.
[edit] Name and History
The area was a dairy farm until house building began in the 1950's. Building ended in the area in the 1970's. At that stage most of the available land was built on. The origin of the name was Wilkinstown - named after a tenant farmer who lived in the area in the 15th Century. Over the centuries the name became corrupted to Walkinstown.
[edit] Local landmarks
One 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 towards 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, Walkinstown Church or the Assumption of St. Mary, near the Long Mile Road, and a library on Percy French Road. One particular part of Walkinstown, north of Cromwellsfort Road and east of Bunting Road is known as the "Musical Roads" because of the eponymous sources, e.g. Count John McCormack.
Walkinstown houses six and a half pubs and they are (1) the Cherrytree and (2) the Kestrel House, located on opposite sides of Walkinstown Roundabout, (3) the Halfway House, which is at the end of Walkinstown Road, opposite Superquinn, (4) The Black Forge, (5) The Elanora, or The Lady Elanora, (6) The Traders, which is situated in the Greenhills area of Walkinstown, and to end this on a half note, The Submarine Bar has its main entrance on Cromwellsfort Road.
Walkinstown also houses Eamonn Campbell of The Dubliners, who is notable for playing guitar with the band since the early 1990's
The Superquinn supermarket on Walkinstown Road was once the location of Walkinstown House, the family home of the Flanagan family, including the infamous "The Bird Flanagan" [1].
Walkinstown is well served by Dublin City Bus. Route numbers 19A, 77, 77A, 56A, 50, all pass the Walkinstown roundabout. The 150 passes the Ashleaf Shopping Center/Submarine Bar.
[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. As of 2005, the local elected reps on Dublin City Council are Charlie Ardagh (Fianna Fáil), Eric Byrne (Labour), Joan Collins (Independent), Anne-Marie Martin (Fine Gael) and Robert Smithers (Sinn Féin).
Walkinstown is part of the Dublin South Central Dáil consitutency. The elected TD's for the area are Gay Mitchell (Fine Gael), Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Sinn Féin), Seán Ardagh (Fianna Fáil), Mary Upton (Labour) and Michael Mulcahy (Fianna Fáil).
