Blackrock, Dublin

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Blackrock
An Charraig Dhubh

Location

Statistics

County:

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County

Elevation:

0m to 80m

Population (2002)

28,557

For other uses, see Blackrock (disambiguation).

Blackrock (Irish: An Charraig Dhubh) is a suburban town and district located south of the city of Dublin, in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland, 3 km (1.9 mi) northwest of Dún Laoghaire.

It has a large area, rising from sea level on the coast to 90m at White's Cross on the N11. The town has a range of industries, notably in the IT and service areas.

1 History
2 Institutions
3 Architecture
4 Transport
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[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.^[1] 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 President de Valera died, is also in Blackrock but is now an apartment complex although the original building is still intact. The writer James Joyce lived in a house known as Leoville on Carysfort Avenue for one year in the early 1890's. This house is still extant. The writer Flann O'Brien lived at 4 Avoca Terrace and later at 81 Merrion Avenue. Both houses are still extant.

[edit] Institutions

Also located in Blackrock are several secondary schools, such as Rosemont Secondary School for Girls,^[2] Sion Hill Dominican College, St. Andrew's College, Blackrock College and Newpark School, as well as Newpark Music School, incorporating Newpark Jazz School.

The primary schools in the area include Carysfort N.S., Guardian Angels N.S., Willow Park (at Blackrock College), St. Augustine's, All Saints and Our Lady of Mercy N.S.

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, part of University College Dublin.

There is also a private clinic, Blackrock Clinic (in the Williamstown locality). This was built on the site of Rosefield House.

[edit] Architecture

Blackrock street scene

The town hall was completed in 1865 while the Carnegie Library and the Technical Institute were built in 1905. The site for the Technical Institute was presented to the Town Commissioners by a resident, William Field MP, in 1898.^[3]

The Blackrock baths have fallen into dilapidation since their closure^[4] and have been sold to developers Treasury Holdings, who have raised the possibility of building high-rise apartments on the site.

Talbot Lodge before demolition

Blackrock is home to the Ian Davis School of learning set up in the late 1980’s to help under privileged youths with foreign language studies. In 2004, a plaque was dedicated to Ian Davis in the centre of the village.

[edit] Transport

View from Blackrock railway station (1834)

"Blackrock Dolmen" (1987) by Rowan Gillespie with Blackrock Catholic Church in the background

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. Blackrock railway station opened on 17 December 1834.^[5] 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 Dún Laoghaire to the national Primary Route network was built.