Portmarnock

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Portmarnock
Port Mearnóg
Location
Location of Portmarnock
centerMap highlighting Portmarnock
Irish grid reference
O238432
Statistics
Province: Leinster
County: Fingal (Dublin)
Elevation: sea level
Population (2002) 8,376 

Portmarnock (Port Mearnóg in Irish) is a small suburban village with extensive housing estates to the north and west, north of the city of Dublin in the part of County Dublin now known as County Fingal, Ireland.

Today Portmarnock's village is a single main street, with shops, one of the two local Roman Catholic churches and other facilities. Further north along the same road are the two local hotels and some small office buildings.

Contents

[edit] Location

Portmarnock lies on the coast and, owing to its proximity to Dublin city, is a form of dormitory village 15 km (9 mi) north-northeast of the city centre. In the 2002 census the population was 8,376, although this shows a decrease to 7,973 in the preliminary 2006 census statistics.

Portmarnock is situated between Malahide and Baldoyle, along the northern commuter railway line out of Dublin (also the Dublin-Belfast line); Portmarnock railway station opened on 25 May 1844, [1] is now on the DART network.[2] Portmarnock, on the Baldoyle to Malahide coast road, is served by Dublin Bus routes 102, 105, 32, 42 and 142.

At sea, Portmarnock could be said to border Sutton and perhaps Howth in the form of Ireland's Eye.

Portmarnock lies in the Dublin North Dail constituency, with a change to Dublin North East due in early 2008.

[edit] Name

The district's name derives from the Irish word port – meaning port – and Saint Marnoch or Mernoc, said to have arrived in what is now Portmarnock in the 5th century AD.

[edit] History

The area had been settled in Neolithic times, with a number of remains of activity in the area still evident today, such as flints and other tools having been excavated at the northern fringe of Portmarnock. Further, the remains of a ring fort are visible from the air at the south of the town. The son of Queen Maedhbh of Connaught - Maine - is also said to have been buried locally.

[edit] Portmarnock Strand

Kites in the sky on Portmarnock beach
Kites in the sky on Portmarnock beach

Like many of Dublin's coastal settlements, it is home to a Napoleonic Martello tower.

Portmarnock is famous for its world class golf course which formally opened on December 26 1894, while another links course, opened in the 1990s, was designed by German golfer Bernhard Langer. That golf course and its accompanying hotel are built around the former home of the Jameson distilling family. Anne Jameson's son was Guglielmo Marconi (she married Giuseppe Marconi), who invented the wireless and carried out the first transatlantic morse code transmission in 1902 from Nova Scotia, Canada to England.

Portmarnock Martello tower, on the coast road to Malahide
Portmarnock Martello tower, on the coast road to Malahide

Portmarnock's beach was the starting point for two aviation firsts. On 23 June 1930 Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew took off in the Southern Cross on the first westbound transatlantic flight (to Newfoundland, Canada). The first solo westbound transatlantic flight also began from Portmarnock beach as on 18 August 1932 Jim Mollison, a British pilot, took a de Havilland Puss Moth from Portmarnock to Pennfield, New Brunswick, also in Canada.

Portmarnock's beach areas are popular with wind surfers and kite surfers.

[edit] Education

  • There are in all two primary schools - St. Marnock's and St. Helen's - and also a post-primary school, Portmarnock Community School.

[edit] Sport

  • There are several active sports clubs, such as Portmarnock Tennis Club, Portmarnock A.F.C., Seaview Celtic F.C., Portmarnock Albion F.C. and the Portmarnock Sport & Leisure Club which encompasses 16 sporting activities.
  • Naomh Mearnóg is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Portmarnock station. Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
  2. ^ See rail transport in Ireland for more.