Stillorgan

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Stillorgan Shopping Centre

Stillorgan (Irish: Stigh Lorcáin, previously Tigh Lorcáin or Teach Lorcáin), formerly a village in its own right, is now a broad suburban area of Dublin in Ireland. Stillorgan is located in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, and contains many housing estates, shops and other facilities, with the old village centre still present. Stillorgan neighbours other southside districts such as Kilmacud, Mount Merrion, Sandyford, Leopardstown, Dundrum, Blackrock, Goatstown and Foxrock.

The suburb had a population of 15,894 at the 2006 census.

1 Name
2 Transport
3 Development
4 Places of interest
5 People
6 Education
7 Sports
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Name

Stillorgan was named after an old chieftain probably called Lorcan or Laurence. What may have been his burial chamber was found in the area in 1716.

The local Roman Catholic parish church of St. Laurence is usually presumed to be named after St. Laurence O'Toole, or Lorcán Ua Tuathail, who was born at Castledermot, County Kildare in 1128, died at Eu, Normandy, France, on November 14, 1180, and was canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius. He was one of four sons of an O'Byrne princess and Murtagh O'Tuathail, King of the Ui Muirdeaigh. III.^[1]

[edit] Transport

The N11 road leads out from the city, passing through Stillorgan, towards the major commuter town of Bray. It has bypassed the village centre since the mid 1970s when the Stillorgan Bypass was opened to the east. The N11 hosts the 'Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor' (QBC) which runs along the N11 in both directions from St Stephens Green to Foxrock. Stillorgan is a major bus interchange and the Stillorgan QBC is the most heavily used in Ireland, featuring the busiest and most frequent bus route, the 46A to Dun Laoghaire. Aircoach provides a direct link to the Dublin Airport via Dublin city centre.
Stillorgan also has a station on the Luas green line, next to the reservoir and Sandyford Industrial Estate. It has a commuter bus link to the shopping center. The green line is 9km in length with 13 stops and links Sandyford and St Stephen's Green.
Stillorgan railway station opened on 10 July 1854, closed for goods traffic in 1937 and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1959.^[2]

[edit] Development

The first shopping centre to be built in Ireland opened in Stillorgan in 1966 ^[3]. To enable the construction of the centre, many of the original early 19th century cottages were knocked down. They used to run from the Christian Brothers' school Oatlands College right down to the end of the Dublin Road and up the Lower Kilmacud road.The rubble was used to fill in and level the lands that are now Pairc De Burca belong to Kilmacud Crokes. Discussions have been ongoing for many years about expanding and updating the centre. It is due to be redeveloped by Treasury Holdings in 2008. The 'Blakes' site has also planning permission for a multi story apartment complex with some commercial units. The Leisureplex area to the Library is also due to be redeveloped.

[edit] Places of interest

One of the most prominent architectural features is the large 18th century obelisk designed by Edward Lovett Pearce for the second Viscount Allen; Pearce resided in Stillorgan in a house known as The Grove, which was demolished to make way for Stillorgan Bowl (now LeisurePlex).
The present St. Brigid's Church of Ireland was built in 1706 on the site of an earlier church, thought to have been linked to St. Brigid's Monastery in Kildare.
A large open reservoir, called Stillorgan Reservoir, is situated near the Sandyford Industrial Estate. The water is piped from the Vartry Reservoir near Roundwood in County Wicklow.
Stillorgan's oldest pub is Bolands, latterly styled Bolands on the Hill. In its older manifestation it was a local drinking refuge of many South Dublin writers, among them Brian O Nuallain (Myles na gCopaleen) and Maurice Walsh. The Ormonde Cinema is located next door.

[edit] People

The famous artist William Orpen grew up in a house called 'Oriel' on Grove Avenue.

In the late 1800s, Stillorgan (then named Cill Na Barraig) was chosen as the location for the first demonstration of light transference theory by the physicist Arthur Randall. The demonstration was a failure, due to the chill northerly wind that deflected the channeling and destroyed the effect. However, Randall's name was assured and remains to this day part of local folklore; to have 'Randall's Hope' is to maintain optimism in the face of outrageous odds, while 'Randall's Dance' is the name given to the same northerly wind that destroyed the first demonstration.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Education

There are 5 national schools in the Stillorgan area: St. Laurence's (Boys/Catholic), Oatlands (Mixed/Catholic), St.Raphaela's (Girls/Catholic), Mount Anville (Girls/Catholic), St. Bridgid's (Mixed/Interdenominational), and there are 3 secondary schools in the area: St. Benildus College (Boys/Catholic), St. Raphaela's (Girls/Catholic), Oatlands (Boys/Catholic).
The campus of University College Dublin is slightly to the north, towards the city centre.